Product Review: Anti Monkey Butt Powder

I am a fan of chamois cream - or another way to look at it is that I am a big fan of not chaffing. For any ride lasting longer than an hour, I make sure that I "lube up" to avoid any problems after the ride.

I was given a couple of sample packets of Anti Monkey Butt powder at the Outdoor Retailer Show, and decided that my 3+ hour trainer ride at the Diabetes Expo this last Saturday would be the perfect opportunity to give it a test.

One thing you might guess from the name, Anti Monkey Butt powder is a powder, not a cream. So to avoid any over spray, or white fingerprints on the outside of my shorts, I was a little more careful with the application. Even with my carefulness, I still had some white powder on the outside of the shorts.

Now, I said that I was a fan of chamois cream. One thing that I am not a fan of, however, is that initial "eew" factor of having a viscous cream slathered all over your nether-regions. AMB powder definitely wins in this category.

On to the important part of the review, how did it work?  Well, after almost 4 hours of riding, it was remarkably dry down there, and there were no signs of chafing or other problems.

So, even though I'm not a fan of the application process, I have to say that the stuff works great. You can find more information on it, including where to buy, at their website http://www.antimonkeybutt.com/.

Anti Monkey Butt powder gets a "thumbs up" for effectiveness, and a "meh" for application.

Sunday funnies

Caption this

Food Friday - Recipe: Vegan Sausage

Food Friday makes its triumphant return for 2011! As before, it won't be a weekly feature, but will pop up now and then, when I find a recipe or food item that I really want to share.

This week is a recipe that I found on the Vegan Dad blog. He found it on the Post Punk Kitchen blog.

I am a sucker for brats, sausages, chorizo, etc... Out of all of the things I miss from my transition to a vegetarian/vegan diet, brats et al are near the top of my list. I've tried many of the store brands with varying degrees of like. During the spring and summer, I make a weekly lunchtime pilgrimage to the vegan hot-dog cart that is just around the corner from my office for a brat with sauerkraut.

The great thing about this recipe is how simple and quick it is. It takes just a few minutes to mix the ingredients together, and there is no odd or unusual ingredients required.

I have eaten them straight out of the steamer (the first batch I made lasted a grand total of 45 minutes), and fried them up in a lightly-oiled pan with some onions, peppers, and mushrooms. I plan on making some for camping this summer with my boys and trying them on a hot-dog stick over the open fire and wrapping them up in a tin-foil pouch with some onions and peppers. The consistency leads me to believe that they will do just fine.

VEGAN SAUSAGES

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cold vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, grated (with a microplane, or very finely minced)
• 1 1/4 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed, crushed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Several dashes fresh black pepper

METHOD

1. Before mixing your ingredients, get your steaming apparatus ready, bring water to a full boil. The rest of the recipe comes together very quickly.
2. Have ready 6 sheets of tin foil. In a large bowl, mash the pinto beans until no whole ones are left. Throw all the other ingredients together in the order listed and mix with a fork (I mixed it with a fork until it was all wet, then I kneaded it with my hands for a minute or two until the gluten started to get stringy to give it a good texture). Divide dough into 6 even parts. Mold the dough into about a 5 inch log and place on a sheet of tin foil.
3. Wrap dough in tin foil, like a tootsie roll. Don’t worry too much about shaping it, it will snap into shape while it’s steaming because this recipe is awesome.
4. Place wrapped sausages in steamer and steam for 40 minutes.

VARIATIONS

This is such a simple recipe, and just screams to be modified. You could make it into a beer brat by substituting the broth for your favorite micro brew (haven't tried this), and adjusting the spices - swap the fennel seed for 1/4 tsp of dried mustard. Or, just play with it and see what you can come up with.

Enjoy! If you come up with a killer variation, drop a comment and let me know. I'd love to try it!

Will Utah finally get the "Idaho Stop Law"?

Rep. Carol Moss is once again trying to get the Traffic Code amended to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs. Last Year, Rep. Moss tried to pass HB 91 - also commonly known as the "Idaho Stop Law" because of Idaho's status as the only state to allow bicycles to treat stop signs as yield signs - but it failed with a tie vote.

HB 155 proposes to amend the Traffic Code to allow bicycles to treat stop signs as yield signs, as long as they yield the right-of-way, and determines that it will not interfere with the other vehicles on the road.

Here is the Traffic Code, with the proposed amendments highlighted.

41-6a-1105. Operation of bicycle or moped on and use of roadway -- Duties, prohibitions.

(1) A person operating a bicycle or a moped on a roadway at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time and place and under the conditions then existing shall ride as near as practicable to the right-hand edge of the roadway except when:

(a) overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction;

(b) preparing to make a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway;

(c) traveling straight through an intersection that has a right-turn only lane that is in conflict with the straight through movement; or

(d) reasonably necessary to avoid conditions that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand edge of the roadway including:

(i) fixed or moving objects;

(ii) parked or moving vehicles;

(iii) bicycles;

(iv) pedestrians;

(v) animals;

(vi) surface hazards; or

(vii) a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.

(2) A person operating a bicycle or moped on a highway shall operate in the designated direction of traffic.

(3) (a) A person riding a bicycle or moped on a roadway may not ride more than two abreast with another person except on paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles.

(b) If allowed under Subsection (3)(a), a person riding two abreast with another person may not impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic and shall ride within a single lane.

(4) If a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, a bicycle rider may be directed by a traffic-control device to use the path and not the roadway.

(5) (a) A person operating a bicycle approaching a stop sign shall stop before entering the intersection.


(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (5)(a), a person operating a bicycle approaching a stop sign may cautiously make a turn or proceed through the intersection without stopping if the person:


(i) slows to a reasonable speed;


(ii) yields the right-of-way to any vehicle in the intersection or approaching on another highway so closely as to constitute an immediate hazard;


(iii) has reasonably determined the movement can be made safely and without interfering with the movement of any vehicle or pedestrian; and


(iv) is 18 years of age or older.

Let's hope it passes this time.


UPDATE:

HB-155 has failed again. It was voted down in the Senate 11-11. Some of the senators felt that it was a double standard to allow cyclists an exception for stop signs, even though it has been proven to increase cyclist safety to allow them to treat stop signs as yields. Take a look at the story on KSL for more information.

Photo(s) of the Day

This is just a half-block from my office, in front of Este Pizza. I have never seen a Pedersen Bicycle in person. I checked in Este, and didn't see anyone that "looked" like they would ride a bicycle such as this. I waited around (okay, lurked or stalked would be a better adjective), and didn't see anyone wearing tweed nickers approach the bike.  

This is one of those "you'll probably only see a handfull of these in your life, unless you live in Denmark" type of bicycles. I'll bet the BSNYC "Smugness quotient" of a Pedersen is off the charts.

You're the Best Bike in the Whole World!

from an old postcard advertising an art show back in 2009. Don't know who did it, so I can't give credit.

How many of us feel this way about our bicycle?

Outdoor Retailer: Keen Footwear

Posts from the Outdoor Retailer Show keep on trickling in... This time, we have one of the more fun things that I saw at the Show this year.

Keen Footwear always has a great booth at the Outdoor Retailer. This year, they brought one of their sock machines, and were making socks live at the show.

I unfortunately forgot the machine operator's name, but he took a few moments to explain to me how the sock machine works. He said that the machine can weave together up to five different colors, and multiple thread types (wool, lycra, etc...) to make a seamless sock in whatever pattern is programmed into the computer. He also explained that the way the thread is pulled off of the spools is crucial to the finished quality of the socks, if the thread twists as it is coming off of the spool, it can cause loops and defects in the finished product.

Another feature of Keen socks is that they are foot-specific, with each toe box shaped to fit your left and right feet to give you a perfect fit and the ultimate in comfort.

Additional information on their socks, and on their footwear can be found at http://www.keenfootwear.com/

T-Shirt of the Day

I needed a slight recharge of the batteries - cycling wise - on Friday, so I took my lunch half-hour and wandered across the street to SLC Bicycle Co.

I found this shirt on one of their racks



If any of you are looking for a gift for your favorite cycling blogger's birthday which happenes to be in April (no, I'm not refering to Elden, or BSNYC - although, they may like this shirt too)...

Sunday funnies

Caption this - Bike Hacks edition

Bike Hacks featured some of my pictures of this guy and his bike on their blog today. Thanks guys!



Friday Videos: 3M - No White at Night

Many of us commute by bicycle, or enjoy a nice run early in the morning, or after the kidlets have been put to bed for the night. We squeeze in our training when we can, and often that means going out before the sun is up, or after it has gone down.

At those times when visibility is low, we are at the greatest risk. Cars may not be able to see us.

I visited the 3M booth during the Outdoor Retailer show, and talked to them about their Scotchlite™ Reflective Material. They were showing this video, which demonstrates how far an approaching car can see you at night.

3M™ Scotchlite™ Reflective Material uses retroflection technology. This means it is specifically designed to return light directly back to its original source. Think about cat’s eyes or a deer’s eyes in headlights shining in the night. 3M products feature retroreflection through the use of glass bead and prismatic technologies.

I was surprised at exactly how much of a difference there is in distances between the white shirts and the Scotchlite material. The most easily seen parts of the runners were where the reflective material was applied to areas that were movin, and the movement draws your eyes to it.

Be careful out there while training. Don't become part of the statistic.

2011 Tour of Utah Route Announced

Yesterday, at the state capitol, the host cities, and route were announced for the 2011 Tour of Utah, which will take place on August 9-14.

Unfortunately, due to the fact that this blog is a "labor of love" instead of a source of income and I was not able to take time away from the daytime job, I was unable to attend. Thanks to twitter, however, I was able to keep up with the route unveiling.

Here is the overall route for the 2011 Tour of Utah.  

• Tuesday, August 9 Park City - Prologue
• Wednesday, August 10 Ogden - Stage 1, Road Race
• Thursday, August 11 Provo - Stage 2, Road Race
• Friday, August 12 Miller Motorsports Park - Stage 3, Individual Time Trial
• Saturday August 13 Salt Lake City - Stage 4, Circuit Race
• Sunday, August 14 Park City to Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort - Stage 5, Road Race

From what I can see, there is nothing terribly surprising to this year's course. A couple of the stages, such as Sunday's Queen Stage: Park City to Snowbird race - which has become the signature stage for the Tour of Utah, and the Individual Time Trial at Miller Motorsports park have made a return. Provo is returning as a host city after a 5 year hiatus - It was the finish city for one of the stages in the 2006 Tour of Utah. Ogden is also making a return as a host city.

New to the Tour of Utah is the prologue course. Traditionally held at the Stage capitol, it has been moved to Park City for this year. I can only hope that they include Park City's historic Main Street as part of the prologue course. Also new is the Salt lake City Circuit race. They have held a criterion in Salt Lake City in the past as part of the Tour of Utah, but I understand that this is a longer course, and is in a location in the city that has not been used before.

Just to clear up any misunderstanding, by me saying "nothing terribly surprising", I am not saying there is anything wrong with this year's route. They have worked out a great route, that will still have an insane amount of climbing and will prove to be challenging to the riders, and exciting to the fans watching. It would be nice to see the Tour of Utah leave the confines of the Wasatch Front, and venture down south, but there are understandably some logistical problems with that, such as the oppressive heat in mid-August and a lack of lodging facilities.

Also new to this year, is the fact that last month, the Tour of Utah had been elevated by the UCI to a 2.1-rated event for the UCI America Tour. What that means, is that the Tour of Utah joins the Quiznos Pro Challenge in Colorado and the Amgen Tour of California as the only top-rated stage races in North America. This will allow us to draw more top-level Pro teams to Utah. The total prize money has been increased from $45,000 to $116,000.

15 teams will be invited to race, including international and domestic teams. The organizers have announced that invitations have been extended to 4 ProTour teams already:

• Team RadioShack, home for defending Tour of Utah champion Levi Leipheimer
• HTC-Highroad, No. 1 team in the world
• Team Garmin-Cervélo, home for World Champion Thor Hushovd
• BMC Racing Team, new team for 2010 Tour of Utah Prologue winner Taylor Phinney

The 2011 Tour of Utah is shaping up to be spectacular!

You can find Official information at http://www.tourofutah.com/, and race fans are encouraged to follow updates on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Photo of the Day

Phil Keoghan and me. April 2, 2009 Cedar City, Utah

I've resurrected an old picture from almost 2 years ago for today's post.

Back in 2009 Phil Keoghan set off on a cross-country ride to support MS. He happened to come through Utah on my birthday, and thanks to a very supportive and understanding wife who let me drive the 4 hours to Cedar City, and sleep in her van in a Wal-Mart parking lot, I was able to meet, and ride with Phil. 

Phil is currently on another cross-country trip. This time he is attending screenings of "The Ride", the movie made about his 2009 ride. There are still a couple of stops left before it finishes in New York on Friday. 

For more information about The Ride, and Phil's cause, go to http://www.noopportunitywasted.com/.

Remembering our First Loves

We all have that bicycle from our past that we remember above all of the others, the one that holds a special place in our hearts. It may be our first bike, it may not. It may be the bicycle that sparked our interest in riding. Whatever the reason, it is special to us.

Mine is a KHS BMX bike from 1978. It was dark red, with bright yellow pads. It wasn't my first bike, but it was my first new bike, and the first one that I bought with my own money.

Just down the street from my parent's house there was a field that some of the neighborhood kids had carved a BMX track into. I wanted to ride the course so badly, but my bike at the time was an old muscle bike from the late 60's that was a hand-me-down from my brothers. Not exactly built to take the jumps and whoop-de-do's that were scattered around the track. I asked Mom and Dad for a bike, and in typical parent fashion, they didn't see the need to go spend almost $200 on a new bike when the one I had worked "just fine". I was told that If I wanted a new bike, I would need to save up my money, and buy it myself.

So, that's what I did. I saved my allowances, and became almost obsessive about collecting aluminum cans for recycling - in Utah in the late 70's, there was a big aluminum recycling movement. Every Saturday, a semi truck would pull up in a nearby store parking lot, and people would line up to hand over their bags of aluminum for cash. I was a regular there, filling up garbage cans with my week's haul of aluminum to be weighed, and exchanged for the money that would help me get my bicycle.

I don't remember how long it took, but I know that my parents were surprised when I came to them and said that I had the money and wanted to go get my bike. We went down to the local bike shop and picked out the perfect one. I rode that bike everywhere.

Me with my KHS, and Hoover with "The Wheel" in my back yard.

I wish I had a better picture, but I couldn't find one.

I wish I still had it, I rode it for years, but eventually, bikes slipped down on the scale of importance and what was once my pride and joy became a permanent fixture in the garage. Eventually, it was given or donated away. According to my mom, we put it out in a garage sale many years after it was purchased.

What was your first bike love? Leave a comment with your story, or if you have a blog, write your story this week.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

If you haven't gotten anything for that special person in your life yet, you're in deep trouble! 

You won't be able to get this in time to save yourself, but here's something fun for that special cyclist in your life:

"Velo Love" from Cutaway Clothing.  A fun, cycling-themed play of the famous sculpture by artist Robert Indiana. Order this now, and maybe your nights on the couch will be short...

Sunday funnies

Could you blame me?

It's mid-February, temps are hovering around the mid 40's to low 50's, the sky is blue and the sun is shining.

What else could I do? I had to pull on the stretchy pants and go for a ride.

It felt so good to get outside and turn the cranks. It was a little cold - I wish that I had some long finger gloves - but it was still a great day to ride.

I certainly won't complain if we have more days like this...

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Caption this! - Video edition

Thank You!

I have to say that you all are AWESOME!

3 days ago, I posted asking for help finding a seemingly impossible-to-find part for my bicycle.

My post was read, commented on, tweeted about, retweeted and forwarded to others. On the 9th, I was contacted via twitter by a local bicycle shop saying that they don't have the derailleur hanger in stock, but they could order it.

Whu?!? A part that other shops, one of the largest online suppliers of such parts, and Specialized themselves (via twitter) couldn't identify was found by a shop just a few miles from my house.

I guess my unknown frame is circa 1994, and it is a Specialized.  The eBay listing was correct.

Thank you to everyone who helped in tracking down this part, by either commenting with your suggestions, retweeting, or forwarding this on. And, A huge thank you to Timpanogos Cyclery for identifying it, ordering it, and having it for me just 2 days later - all through twitter! In fact, when I walked into their shop to pick it up, they identified me as "the guy looking for the part through twitter".

Planters Tree-Athlon

Saw this commercial on the TV yesterday. 

Use #2567 for your used tubes

This is a city garbage can.  Not surprisingly, in front of a bike shop.

Pivot Video

Out of everything I saw at Outdoor Retailer, this product is the one that I was the most excited about.

POV (point of view) cameras are gaining in popularity, People are using them to capture their adventures to give that unique perspective of "being there", and they are using them for safety reasons - videos from POV cameras mounted on helmets are being used by cyclists to document unsafe conditions and unfortunate altercations with others on the roads.

The existing POV cameras on the market currently have a minor problem: Mounting. The camera has to be mounted somewhere; helmet, handlebars, chest mount. At the best, the camera is about 5" away from being a "true" POV camera. If you have it mounted on your person - either chest or helmet - you need to be mindful of the parallax effect, or you may miss capturing what you really wanted to film. Then you have the problem of having an additional appendage on your person that you might not be used to: Say you're mountain biking along some narrow single-track, You have your POV camera mounted to your helmet to capture the experience. You come around the corner, and there are some low-hanging branches across the trail. You duck your head to go under the branches, but you don't duck quite low enough... yeah.

I had a chance to review a POV camera from another company last year. Fortunately I didn't have any problems with low-hanging branches, but I did have a lot of footage that was slightly on an angle, because the weight of the camera on the side of my helmet tipped it on my head.

Enter Pivot Video. Pivot is a new company to the POV market. What sets them apart from the other players is they provide a true POV experience by incorporating the camera into the bridge of their sunglasses giving you a hands-free, mount-free POV camera

Pivot's true point-of-view means what you see is what you get, no parallax problems, or issues with mounting.

They also have some impressive specs:

• HD 1280 x 720 video @ 30 fps
• 12 Mega Pixel camera
• 44 kHz audio recording in MPEG-1 format
• 32 GB micro SD Storage, giving you up to 10 hours of video storage.
• Rechargeable Li-polymer battery offers up to 2 hours of HD recording time per charge
• Upload video footage to a computer using a Micro USB 2.0 cable.

Operation is very simple. On the top of the left earpiece, there is a switch. Toggle it forward for video, backward to take a picture. The right earpiece houses the micro SD card and the micro USB 2.0 interface.

4 different styles are available, all of the glasses have 100% UV protection and Swiss- made hydrophobic, anti-scratch lens coatings. One model, the Recon, comes with 3 interchangeable lenses - clear, yellow, and grey.

 From top to bottom:

Moab

Aurora

Recon

Durango

I tried on a pre-production pair at their booth, they were comfortable, and did not feel much heavier or bulkier than a normal pair of sunglasses.

Their product is about 90 days away from release. I am really hoping that I can get a pair for review, and give you a hands-on review of this product, what I saw of it at Outdoor Retailer has me truly excited.

MSRP will be around $300. More information, and some video footage (Unfortunately, I wasn't able to copy the video over to my blog) can be found at http://www.pivotvideo.com/

Help!

This is a cry for help. Well, maybe more of a whimper.

Last April, I was looking for a frame to build a fixed-gear bicycle out of on eBay. Instead, I found a frame that would become my new (to me) road bike. A bike of unknown make (it had a Chris King headset - alone worth more than what I paid for the frame), that had been powdercoated pink at some point in its history. The seller said that it was a Specialized Allez Pro frame from the mid to late 90's.

Frame purchased, and components swapped over, my new road bike sprang to life.

After some time, I noticed that the replacable derailleur hanger had become slightly bent. As I took the wheel and the derailleur off to examine the problem closer, I noticed another, slightly bigger problem... the screws that held the hanger to the frame had stripped out the holes on the hanger.

Not that big of a problem, I thought. I'll just pop on over to my local bike shop and purchase a new derailleur hanger.

They couldn't find a match for it in their databases.

They couldn't find a match for it in anyone's databases.

The small problem all of a sudden became slightly bigger.

There are a couple that look similar to it, but they don't match exactly. I have checked online, with Specialized, and everywhere that I can think, all with the same results: No match.

My derailleur hanger isn't broken, so everything is fine - for the time being. And, as long as the rear wheel is on the bike, the hanger stays put. But, I am concerned that there could be a problem in the future.

Here are some pictures of the derailleur hanger and the rear dropout. I am hoping you, my dear readers, can help me find this part.

Here's what I do (don't) know:

• aluminum frame
• 1" headset
• "supposed" to be a Specialized Allez Pro
• mid/late 90's
• no identifying marks/serial numbers that I can see on the frame.

I know this is a tall order, any help would be greatly appreciated.

If you think you know what I have, and need additional pictures or information, I can provide whatever you need.

Thanks.

Superbowl ads

So, the Super Bowl was yesterday. 

Meh.

I actually watched it, we were at my cousin's house for his birthday/Super Bowl party and we watched most of it.  Well, I watched the commercials.  There were a few funny ones (watching Rosanne getting laid out by a tree will never get old), and a few ones that caught my attention like this one:

That's all we need, another thing in cars to distract them from their surroundings.  How stupid that you can now check your FaceBook status while driving.  That is an epic FAIL as far as I'm concerned. 

Then there was this one:

Loved seeing the racers, and the messenger riding around on pennyfarthing bicycles. I don't know what you thought, but it looked to me like the messenger was going to blow through the intersection...

Sunday funnies

Caption this

Injinji Footwear

Another quick mini-review from Outdoor Retailer.

Injinji Footwear are designed to enable the human foot to function naturally and efficiently inside a shoe. They offer a seamless design that allows the foot to move naturally - just like being barefoot. They are also currently (to my knowledge) the only performance sock that will work with Vibram's popular 5-finger shoe line.

I have a pair of their comfort toesocks that I recieved last year at the Outdoor Retailer show. The initial reaction when you first put them on, and while wearing them for the first while is "there is something wrong down there!" Having each of your toes with their own little home is unusual, but you quickly get used to it. After a couple of washings, the socks develop a "memory" and they are easier to put on, and conform to your toe-shape better.

The first day of this year's show, I wore my regular socks, and by the end of the day my toes were sweaty, sticky, and it was really uncomfortable. The 2nd day, I wore my toesocks, and I didn't have any problems (my feet still hurt from all of the walking...).

New to the lineup this year is a thin liner toesock. They are perfect for wearing under other socks for additional warmth, or inside tight-fitting footwear where the additional bulk of normal-weight socks can cause some constriction, such as cycling shoes. I'm currently wearing mine while I spin on the trainer in the basement. Lenghts are available from micro to crew lengths.

More info can be found at www.injniji.com

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Groundhog Day

The groundhog didn't see his shadow yesterday.

That means an early spring.

Thank goodness! I'm so over you, Winter.

Rant of the Day

I will apologize in advance for this rant.

Most days, I go down to the sub-basement-dungeon below the parking garage at my office to the so-called "fitness center" during my breaks to escape - however briefly - from the hell called work.

Most of the time - I would say about 85-90% of the time - I am completely alone when I go down there. I prefer it that way. I don't turn on any music, instead I use the time to think. It's rather nice. I enjoy the silence.

The rest of the time, someone else is down there. More often that not, they have the radio blaring away. On those days, I will try my best to ignore the music - and the people down there.

On rare occasions, someone will come in while I am already there.

Here's where the rant comes in.

Without fail, they will walk over to the radio and turn it on. That is what happened today. Three ladies came in while I was doing some sit-ups and immediately turned on the radio. I think that is extremely rude! It would be like me walking in on them, and either turning it off, or changing the station/CD because I don't like what they are listening to.

They see me in there, and they hear that there is no music playing. They have to possess the mental capacity to put 1+1 together and come up with the logical answer that the person currently occupying the space would rather not have music on at the moment. It ticks me off to no end, and completely ruins my mood. It shows a complete lack of respect for other people, and their personal space. Are you so wrapped up in your own little personal problems that you fail to use any common courtesy, or is it that you just don't care.

What the hell!?!

It would be different if they asked me if I minded that they wanted to turn on the radio - I would of course tell them to go ahead - but not once has anyone asked me that question.

Am I in the wrong? Please comment and let me know if you agree with me or not that it's completely rude and insensitive for someone to come in and turn on the radio without first asking the person in there if they mind.

Riding for a Cure

There are as many charity rides out there as there are causes. Unless you are a hermit and eschew all human contact, you can pick any one of the causes out there, and you probably know - or are related to someone whose life has been affected by it.

For the past 6 years, I have ridden in - and raised money for the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. I have several family members and good friends that are afflicted with diabetes, and this cause has become very important to me over the years.

Last year, a good friend asked me to ride with him and his family in the local Bike MS ride. This is a ride that I have thought about doing before, as my sister-in-law has been affected by multiple sclerosis for most of her adult life. I had such a great time riding with my friends over the course of 175 miles and 2 days, that I decided that this ride needed to become a regular event on my yearly calendar.

This year, I am registered for both rides, and have fundraising goals to meet for each one. I am asking for your help in raising money for both of these very worthy causes. Any amount will be greatly appreciated. Seriously, $1 will be as welcome as $10. Any amount.

If you would like to help in my fundraising efforts for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Cure, click here, or on the ADA logo.

If you would like to help in my fundraising efforts for the Bike MS Best Dam Bike Ride, click here, or on the Bike MS logo.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give me, and thank you for your support of these causes.