Socioeconomic school integration - shades of the wire s3
A rather dense but fascinating article on the ramifications of a recent supreme court decision regarding racial integration efforts in schools. Reminds me a lot of the brilliant season 3 of The Wire - only less entertaining and with more statistics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20integration-t.html
- posted by vcmc @  7/29/2008 06:27:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
all city alleycat
I participated in this on saturday, after putting my freewheel & rear cassette/derailleur back on - a) I wasn't about to repeat the drama from the night before (see post below), and b) there's no way I'm doing 25+ miles around the city on a fixed gear.

I lost my manifest out of my back pocket after the first stop (Grumpy's NE) and whatever chances I might have had at that point (arguably close to zero) were gone... I picked up a new manifest at the starting location (which from that point was kept securely in my front pocket or backpack), and proceeded to bike the 5 or so mile round trip there again. Not the best idea - but at that point I was still under the impression I'd be able to hit all thirteen stops before the 9pm cutoff.

My route:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2120602

38 miles later, I'd done eight stops. Although 10 of the stops were posted online prior to the race, five of them had to be done in a specific order, and I ran out of time due to my extra trip to Grumpy's (and wasting time looking in the wrong place for a particular location - 235 W River Pkwy is not where Google says it is.)

With the return home and a short trip later that evening, my mileage total for the day came in at just over 42.5 miles. That's a personal record, but left me useless the next day... if I keep commuting to work a few times a week this month, maybe I'll actually be competitive for the next race...
- posted by vcmc @  7/28/2008 02:37:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
fixed gear biking - drama
I think this is a good reason for me to be more familiar with the fixed gear thing before trying to bike home after drinking. these look tame, but this was after cleaning them up with alcohol...




7-band-aids later, I'm ok. Or will be once these (and the bruises) all heal. (Results not average. Additional injuries not pictured. Hurts so good if "so good" involves my biking-everywhere superiority complex.)

I'm going back out tomrorow regardless. Ok, I might be lame and do the single-speed thing instead of fixie, which is less prone to throwing the inexperienced rider in unexpected circumstances - but in any case, I can't bike enough. Three cheers for self-powered two-wheel transportation devices.
- posted by vcmc @  7/26/2008 02:28:00 AM  |  0 comments

 
gear lust, bike edition


that is all.

- posted by vcmc @  7/21/2008 04:15:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
thanks for making the stone arch bridge nearly impossible to bike on, minneapolis
hear hear:

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentary/25631284.html?location_refer=Wild
- posted by vcmc @  7/21/2008 12:34:00 PM  |  0 comments

 
Fannie Mae - from the brink of insolvency, to $86B, and back
A good article on FNM's problems.

http://billburnham.blogs.com/burnhamsbeat/2008/07/fannie-maes-gol.html
- posted by vcmc @  7/11/2008 06:39:00 PM  |  0 comments