Spectrum

Well, I finally managed to join the Spectrum ride. Of course I did so in my very own special way, having lost them at Arastradero. Somehow I managed to spend too much time in line for coffee at Peet’s in Los Altos, checking out new bikes and bikers from Alto Velo and Lombardi. Both clubs gather there before heading out to their own rides, and it’s fun to see all those bikers in their color-matched outfits. Continue reading

Another Flat

Slow day, not the wonderful Saturday ride I had envisioned. I missed Spectrum again, saw them on Canada and lost them. I am really barely able to keep up with those guys! Then, on a shorter evening ride, a flat. This one was particularly annoying: a nail that punched right straight through the tire. It stuck so deep it took me a lot of convincing to get it out. Remnant of the work they are doing at the intersection of Arastradero and Foothill. Continue reading

Hawaii the Big Island Revealed

I am taking a week off in September to celebrate my birthday by myself and chose my favorite vacation spot: Hawaii. This time it’s going to be the Big Island herself, largest mass in the Central Pacific by far. And of course I needed a good guide book. Wizard Publishing has a wonderful set of books, created and written with care (if with a tiny bit too much enthusiasm) on three of the major Hawaiian islands. Continue reading

Spectrum Ride

Another wonderful Saturday morning, and the first time I tried to get into the Spectrum ride. It’s been three weeks, now, that some Spectrum rider tells me I should join them, so I tried. Of course, I got delayed by something irrelevant (this time the discovery of friendster, the newest dating site that features degrees of separation. Check it out, I think the concept is one of the best around! Continue reading

In Season

Looks like the season is in full swing… I am riding to work every day, and there are more and more bikers that I greet every morning. One skinny guy from Webcor/AV rides against my direction towards Foothill and is as reliable as a clockwork: if I meet him after El Camino, I am fine – otherwise I am late. Of course, this can mean only one thing: it is about time to start thinking about my trip to Hawai’i at the end of next month. Continue reading

The C++ Programming Language (B. Stroustrup)

Sometimes the inventor of a specific thing is the best person to explain it. There is no better way to learn about relativity than to go back to the original article written by Einstein; how better could anyone explain the value of existentialism than Sartre; Kernighan and Ritchie did a wonderful job at explaining C. Stroustrup is not one of these. I recall the first time I read his book, back twenty years ago or so. Continue reading

The Ring of Fire

If you go to Palo Alto Cycle’s web site, you’ll find a list of rides in the area. The first one (at this press time) was called the “Ring of Fire”. Sounded interesting, and it was about around the area that I peruse anyway. I left home and rode peacefully on Foothill to El Monte. A sharp left turn there and I was on my way up Moody Road. Ah! Moody! Continue reading

End of Commuter Month

More successful at collecting food stamps than at spending them, I ended up giving the last four away. I had been riding every single day, although I forgot to turn on the bike computer half the time. In the end, it worked me out and it was fun. California in the summer is really a blast, and riding home at night still occurs at daylight. My colleagues that left for the Tour are back, proud of having mastered Alpe d’Huez and Mont Ventoux. Continue reading

Inside Intel

One would have thought it quite unnecessary to read yet another book on Intel after reading “Only the Paranoid Survive”. The latter, though, is written by exactly the person that is responsible for all the odd confrontationalism that is so typical of the company, so that I needed one more voice to get clarity. Well, as I expected to be true, Inside Intel is indeed much more objective about the company, relating very extensively how the bully nature of the CEO could mold the company into a litigious, litigant and confrontational work environment. Continue reading

2003-07-19 Safari West

Imported Photo Album Continue reading