Nice long bicycle ride today. I went a total of just over 45 km (28 miles) up Sierra Highway. It took just a shade under two hours. Beautiful scenery up there and the traffic was pretty light. I didn't realize until I turned around at the top that I had a tailwind the whole way up. It's a 400m (~1300') climb so the headwind on the way back wasn't so bad since I was going downhill. The bike performed well. I went through 2L (2 qt?) of water, finishing just as I pulled into the driveway. Note to self: bring a snack for the half-way point!
posted by Matthew Manuel 8:28 PM

Thursday, July 12, 2001

US Consulate in Montreal, Quebec, Canada for those who are interested.
On Monday morning ChrisP and I were running at 5:45 a.m. About five minutes into the run I commented on how dark it was and that the sun was usually up by then. Just as we were running along Via Princessa on the way to the Whites Canyon hill, as I said that, the sun peaked up over the hills to the northeast. Very cool. We were able to see the sunrise as we ran along for a few more minutes in that direction. FYI, I figure it's almost four miles were doing now and we did it in 35:15 Monday morning.
posted by Matthew Manuel 1:30 PM

Friday, July 06, 2001

Just got back from a little trip to Victoria. Great visit, but not long enough. Visit with Kim mostly. We say A.I. (really good) and Shrek (also really good) at the theatre. Nice hike up Mount Finlayson (steeper than I remembered!)
Tip for LAX: write down what lot and space you parked in for long term parking. I could see people really screwing that up after a week away. I remebered to put it in my cell phone memory.
Another tip: don't believe the signs for 'Parking Lot Shuttles'. Those don't go to the official long term parking. Use the 'LAX Shuttle' bus stops.
Watching a movie on a flight on my own notebook computer is a great way to travel. I saw most of Blade on the way up and most of Men of Honor on the way down. Makes the flight go quickly.
posted by Matthew Manuel 11:23 AM

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Another long-overdue update.
Going to Victoria via Vancouver next week. I'll be in town from Monday July 2 through Thursday July 5. Great deal from Alaska: LA to Vancouver for $160 return including taxes.

Relay for Life: 24-hour event last weekend on the soccer field at College of the Canyons. Raised money for the American Cancer Society. I hung out for a couple of hours in the morning and early afternoon around the time I did a 45-minute leg of the relay running around the makeshift track. Back at 10:00 pm for my hour-long run from 10:30 to 11:30. I stayed until a little after midnight. Good time. Lots of people. Played Frisbee with ChrisP and a knocked the volleyball around for a bit too.

Joined a volleyball league at Spectrum Club (fitness center) in Valencia. Wednesday nights for one-hour games. I wish the games were longer but some is better than none. I've played on the open nights (Monday) the past two weeks, too. It's great to be playing again and this past Monday was a highlight with almost three hours of play, culminating in a few games of 3-on-5 and 3-on-4.

Still no visa renewal for Kim, hence the short trip to Victoria next week.

Brother Chris visiting this week for the Disney "Management Journey." We went to Santa Monica for dinner (Fritto Misto) with ChrisP and then to the Griffith Observatory for a look over the city at night. Nice evening. Traffic was pretty bad on the 10 on the way to SM but clear after dinner.

New music: Cowboy Junkies "Open", Bran Van 3000 "Glee" and even Radiohead's latest (borrowed from ChrisP.)

Huge bike ride two weekends ago with Jesse. We rode to Towsley Canyon and then around the hiking trail. Pretty extreme. Loads of fun. Vertical of 300m (1000') on just the trail portion. My slicks (street tires) are not really up to hill climbing on dirt trails: I'm constantly overpowering them. If I lean forward to keep the front wheel from lofting the back tire slips. Vice versa if I lean back a bit. Oh well.
posted by Matthew Manuel 12:06 PM

Wednesday, May 09, 2001

Two weekends ago I did a great bicycle ride over the Ward and Maryellen's house and back. It was almost 20 miles / 32 kilometers round trip. A good first ride after getting my cycle tuned up. This past weekend I did a shorter ride to Christina's studio and then along the Saturday running route. I estimate it was somewhere between 12 and 15 miles total.
Lessons learned: bring water, bike seats are uncomfortable if you haven't been riding regularly
posted by Matthew Manuel 11:01 AM

Wednesday, March 14, 2001

By the way: Chris Petkau and I ran for an hour together last Saturday morning. That works out to around 10 km (6 miles), which happens to be our goal for this summer. It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, but I have been working up to it over the past few months. Another personal best: 10 reps of 610 lbs in the leg press after the run. Yay!
posted by Matthew Manuel 12:13 PM

Bridge Builder game This little game asks you to build a bridge for a train across a body of water. Simple premise, but very engaging. It's a tiny download (~122 kb) and worthwhile. If only all games could be this simple and fun. (But of course, not everyone wants to play at being a civil engineer!)
posted by Matthew Manuel 12:11 PM

Earthquake ArtThis page shows a few interesting pictures that resulted from the recent Seattle-area earthquake. You should look at the page to see what the earthquake created. It's worth a visit.
posted by Matthew Manuel 12:09 PM

Tuesday, March 06, 2001

Fit Commitment - Fit Commitment

On January 29, 2001, I weighed 229 lbs with 20% body fat. My goal is 200 lbs with 12% body fat by August, 2001. Yesterday, March 5, I weighed in at 222 lbs and 17%-18% body fat. Pretty good improvement in five weeks. I'm jazzed. I've been running 3 or more miles three or four times a week, plus weight workouts three times a week. The weight training is under the supervision and instruction of Christina from Fit Commitment, a private personal training studio in Santa Clarita.
posted by Matthew Manuel 5:20 PM