Target Marketing?

I'm riding the stationary bike tonight and watching Ultra Extremely Extreme Cage Fighting (kinda like the UFC without the budget). I know, it's violent, but it relaxes me.

Anywhoo, I typically don't pay too much attention to the commercials because I use that time to crank up the tension and hammer as fast as I can. But tonight, I noticed two different "male enhancement" commercials. One was for a pump and the other a pill. Are people (guys) who watch MMA the target audience for such products? Do guys who watch MMA have little wangs? Does watching this make my wang shrink? It occurred to me how they target the watchers of these events with products they may want.

What about the guys in these commercials? I wouldn't want to be an actor and be known as the guy in the male enhancement commercial. What a stigma! I could see it now, "Hey here comes the guy in the small penis ad"! They don't differentiate wheter these are actual users or paid actors. Hmmmmmm. If my agent brought me this gig, I would not only turn it down, but probably look for a new agent. But I guess in this economy work is work.

I'm in Arizona!

I know, I live in Arizona; but on my virtual bike ride across the country, I'm now in Arizona! If you want to see a map of my ride click here. A little less than a year ago, I began this "virtual ride" across the country with a few "virtual friends". We log our actual ridden miles at mapmyride.com and plot our course across the country. If anyone want's to start doing this, fee free to join our group.

Today we had Emma's birthday party and Terri & I got her a cool new princess bike. She absolutely loves it. My garage is starting to look like a bike shop (which is kinda cool). The kids have a blast riding their bikes out front with the other kids in the neighborhood. Watching this is awesome. I can't help but wonder if one of them will really get into cycling like their old man. Hmmmmmm

Hello, My Name is Eric, and I'm an Addict

I'm driving from one end appointment to another along a pretty seculded road this morning at the direction of my trusy GPS when I see a sign along the road with a picture of a bike and below i reading "Share the Road". What a cool sign! I wish there were more of these out there.

Anywhoo, shortly after seeing this sign, I see a lone cyclist silently churning up a fairly long grade. I was overcome with jealousy. I wished that it was me climbing that hill on a bike, not in a car. Oftentimes, when I'm out driving, I see cyclists and long to be in the saddle along side them (preferrably passing them). Every time I see a cyclist on the road, I have to turn to see what he's riding. I haven't seen too many singlespeed/fixed gear bikes out there-yet. I think what it comes down to is that I have an addiction. There, I said it. My name is Eric & I have a cycling addiction. They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I don't think this addiction is a problem though. It's improving my health, I feel better, and it's fun. Nobody get's injured except me (well there was that one guy in the Mira Mesa mall parking lot...his fault-not mine). This addiction is good for the environment too. I'd much rather ride my bike to the store or run errands than drive - saving polution. If I'm not working, my thoughts are usually on cycling. Even my son, when we go to the store...."Dad, let's go look at the bikes!" Brings a tear to my eye. Matthew spends a lot f his time out front riding his bike with or without the other kids in the neighborhood. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit proud of that. So, that's it. I'm keeping my addiction thank you very much. No twelve step program for me. I plan on riding until I can't ride anymore.

New Year, New Ride, New Goal

With a New Year approaching, my riding has also begun anew! My wife (who is awesome, by the way) got me a new ride for Christmas. For the past year, I have bee riding my “hardtail” mountain bike with either the urban assault tires or slicks to log miles. By “hardtail”, I mean no suspension. Many of the mountain bikes you see out there are full suspension or at least front suspension. I believe this takes away the true feel of riding. Some people swear by full suspension, but I’m not buying it.

My new bike is a ’08 Scattante Americano Single Speed. This bike has a flip flop back hub that I can flip over to change the bike to a fixed gear. A single speed bike is like the bikes we rode as kids – no gears. I bought a bike trailer from a guy in 07 who rode a fixed gear bike and swore by it. Ever since talking to him about fixed gear bikes, I have been intrigued. I did some research and found this bike that can be either single speed of fixed gear. Once I get the feel for hoe the bike handles I will get a new cog and make the switch to fixed gear. A fixed gear bike is an interesting machine. Basically, you can’t coast; if the pedals are moving, so is the back wheel. Stop pedaling, stop moving. Once I make this switch, I’ll be sure to post about it.

With the New Year also comes a new mileage goal. In 2008, I rode over 2000 miles on either my mountain bike or the stationary. It’s only the 30th and I still have 2 more riding days left in the year. Yesterday’s ride put me at 2048 for the year. In 2009, I am shooting for 3000 miles. This should be doable as I really only started counting 2008 miles in late February while helping my wife train for her first triathlon.

Stay tuned for how my progress is going.

I did it!

This summer, I decided that I would set a goal of riding 2000 miles by the end of the year. I am happy to report (as if anyone reads this) that on December 16th, I accomplished my goal. It was nothing special. In fact I was in a hotel gym, by myself with he TV going (satelite was fading in & out even). I hit my goal for the year and silently kept going. I don't know what I was expecting, but it was quite low key. Anyway, I did it, & I'm happy about it. Maybe I'll shoott for 3000 for next year....

I'm out of Texas!

I know my header should be "I'm in New Mexico", but my dislike for Texas leans me to be more excited to not be there (virtually). I ronically, I fly to El Paso next Tuesday where I'll probably break my 2000 mile mark for he year (if the hotel gym has a bike). Yes, I'm only 36.78 miles away from the 2000 mile goal I set for myself this summer. Kinda cool!

I saw something on the road the other day that struck me as odd. A guy was riding his bike down the sidewalk (a huge pet peeve) and got all torqued when a car pulled across the sidewalk to check for a break in traffic so he could go wherever. Dude had no reason to be honed off; he shouldn't have been on the side walk. There was a perfectly good bike lane righht next to him on the street. For those who like to ride on side walks-please stop. Cars do not expect a bicycle to come flying down the sidewalk and the possibility of being hit is far greater than if you're on the street. Now if you're 8 years old and going to school, that's different. Adults should ride in the street (in the bike lane) and obey the same traffic laws as cars.

What's Killing all the Fish?

Emma & I ran some errands today by riding. Well she rode in the trailer and I pulled her on the bike. We rode a little over 15 miles and on one stretch of the ride, we rode along one of the canals. When I first pulled onto the tow path, I noticed lots and lots of trash floating in the canal. I woouldn't have been surprised to have seen a trash truck overturned in the canal up stream.

Then I started seeind dead fish floating. What's killing them? I believe that this is the water that irrigates our crops. I wonder how much disease and funk is being washed over our crops and into the ground water?....All the more reason to keep my garden growing. Terri was saying something about a recent law that says all crops have to be irradiated and you will need a license to have a garden. I say bullshit. I will not only continue growing a garden, I am going to expand it.

Sorry to get too environmental, but it's important that we take care of the planet we have. I guess that's why I ride a bike to do errands instead of driving.