Bamboo Evolved

I got the following comment just the other day -

Hey Brett, I was wondering where you got the plan for the bike rack ... or are you coming up with it on the fly?

I found a stand of bamboo by my grandparents house in FLA and thought I would go 'green' with the rack idea. plus, a bunch of bikes leaning on each other doesn't look as cool. bikes lined up in a kick ass bamboo rack would look sweet!

Ben (Tri-Bagger)

I'm away from home right now, so I can't post a picture of how it turned out. Will do when I get back. This is what I learned about bamboo so far:

• Fire treating it takes forever. Yet, it is beyond awesome and looks super cool.


• I didn't have plans, but it was assembled by a Texas Aggie and modified by an engineer that builds skyscrapers. Said Aggie and engineer have a combined 80 years of knot-tying in the Boy Scouts.


• Aggies are renowned for being stupid and don't ever ask a skyscraper engineer to build anything less than 500,000 square feet or 40 stories tall.


• Give a Boy Scout a rope and you will get back either "I lost it." or "It somehow caught on fire."

But seriously, we did a pretty slick job of it. It's not as stable as I hoped, but it definitely works. Here is an actual useful list of what could be considered useful information:

• Fire treating the bamboo... it cures it instantly, but I ponder how "green" all the propane use is.  That being said, I didn't use very much propane.


• Bamboo as construction materials = green.  Bamboo as fabric (t-shirts, sheets, etc...) = very, VERY, not green.  They use some extremely toxic chemical to turn bamboo into a pulp for thread.  Stay away from bamboo fabric for now.


• Gorilla Glue is perfect for bonding pieces together.


• A fine-tooth saw can cut bamboo OK.  Use a larger-tooth saw and you're asking for fractured and blown apart pieces.

I'm at the stage of where I've worked with it enough to know how to fire-treat it, saw it, and seen how strong Gorilla Glue can hold it.  I think that's a good place to sit back and try to figure out more uses.  There is a real geometric problem in that the pieces are round, not flat.  It makes joining pieces together difficult because there is not contact surface area big enough to glue.

I've also seen several examples of people building bikes out of it using hemp or carbon fiber to hold the joints.  Joints are often lugged with steel or titanium.  Soooooo...  Basically I'm just sitting back and re-sizing the skill set and the situation before I plunge into it again.  I don't want to spend too much time on something and then realize I built it all wrong. Just writing this, I'm now wondering if a lugged bike rack would be more effective than the wired-and-tied-together model I built.

Anyway, picture and description of all the parts coming soon!

Rocky Raccon Trail Race Podcast

I finally recovered enough from this event to put the audio together for a show. Let it be known that I lost the recorder on the trail and had to walk back into the woods at night to find it. You can find that in the dictionary under "Not Fun."

I've definitely caught the ultramarathon illness. Barring an unforseen reason, I'll be running seven miles to the start of my local half marathon and possibly even running home from it. "Welcome to the dark side" - Chris and Longrunner.

Here's a link to the video I took of the 100 milers starting at 6 AM.

Here's a link to the race results.

SHOWNOTES!

• Intro music by Lamb of God. Buy all of their stuff. Now.


• Getting ready for the race.


• The 100 milers take off.


• Talking with Blinky.


• The 50 miler start.


• Talking with Kai and Emily at mile 17.


• Talking to self while I slowly start going insane at about mile 40.


• Discussing how we abused ourselves with four other guys.

• Riding around the neighborhood on my new Schwinn with David Lee Roth and my Beastie Boys ringtone.

• Race recap.


• Picture of my heart rate sprinting the last half mile on huge blisters.

• VOICEMAILS!

Catching Up

Haven't posted in a few days since I've been busy. Here's the scoop -

• I just helped put on my own city's "Worst Ride of the Year". Here's the link to the inspiration in Portland.


• Blink140dot6 is a running machine.


• I cleaned up the Varsity and tested out 700 cm wheels on it. Here's a funny pic.

• I'm almost done publishing a new podcast with some great audio jewels in it.


• I found out that yet another person uses Zentri for motivation to change their life to be more fit. I love it when I hear that. Keep it up, Jane!


• I'm debating running 7 miles to the start of my local half marathon on Feb 24. I recall that's how Dean Karnazes started training for ultras. I couldn't find that source, but I did dig up a great article about his roots.

I’m an Ultra Runner!

I did it.  50 miles in 12:48:00.

That being said, I'm going to crawl in a hole and die a thousand deaths.

I got plenty of audio and cool stuff (BIKES!) to turn into a podcast, so that's coming soon.

Somebody shoot me in the face!

By the way, I found out that the guy who convinced me to do this had never run a 50 miler before. For some reason I thought of this picture -

Relaxation

Relaxation can occur when you don't have much on your mind.

I have to run 50 miles tomorrow.

Many people would find that stressful. I find it relaxing. 50 miles. One step after another. Food is supplied, gear is tested. Just follow the trail.

I use two techniques to reduce the stress: Simplification and music.

To simplify, I am bringing only the basics. Complication can induce stress. The following may seem like a lot of stuff, but I could be bringing a lot more.

Non-running stuff

• tin pot


• tin cup


• oatmeal


• bamboo stirrer


• bathroom kit


• coffee


• hand-powered flashlight


• sleep in truck with sleeping bag


• camera


• recorder for podcast


• change of clothes

Running stuff -

• several types of layers for the top


• beanie hat and gloves


• shoes and back-up shoes


• running shorts and socks


• MP3 player


• running visor


• Suunto HRM strap and footpod


• headlamp and LED flashlight

There's really not much else besides that.  Keeping it simple lets the brain ease into neutral.  I'm listening to the new album from Radiohead.  It has a nice calming effect.

I've gotten word that my gang of buddies and I are staying in shelter #3.  Come by and visit if you'd like!