Places To Go

Thanks to the creative people at Imodium, you can now enter a location, either by zip code or city/state, and get a list of bathrooms in that area. Add this to a web-enabled phone and it could be quite handy on a long ride. Visit the Bathroom Finder.

My Camera

I am on hold right now with Canon customer service trying to resolve the problems I am having with my Powershot A570. I am using some tips I learned from The Consumerist on How to Mind Control Customer Service Reps (great article!) and the supervisor, James, has just put me on hold after listening to my tale to "see what he can do".

At this point, I want a new camera and to never have to deal with the Canon repair facility again. They took my camera, repaired what was wrong and then broke something else. They returned the camera to me without even testing it or the problem would have shown up. I returned the camera (on their supplied UPS label) and got it back with that problem solved, but with a brand new problem--the focus lock no longer worked. I called and they emailed me another UPS label. I sent it and a week later got it back. And the focus lock still doesn't work consistently.

James transferred me to Roderick who, I was told, is their highest ranking customer service person and he took my information. He is sending me an overnight label to send the camera to the manager of the repair facility so they can check the camera out and see what's going on.

Final resolution...to be determined.

Why I Hate Ticketmaster

Ticket cost: $22.00
Convenience charge: $5.75
Order Processing Charge: $4.80
The least expensive option for delivery is $14.50.
Total is $47.05.

Groan

Had my first $50 fill up earlier in the week. Makes these gas rewards credit cards (h/t to consumerist.com) even more appealing.

Threadless

Two of my favorite cycling-related shirts from Threadless:

Trails

Traillink.com is a good resource for finding trail information on the web. It's searchable by location and doesn't require a subscription like this web site.

Camera Problems Part 4

Camera Problems Part 4
Originally uploaded by frankshapiro

I have camera and customer service problems.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Gas Saving Tips

Cyclist and the price of gas
Originally uploaded by richardmasoner

With gasoline prices like these, who would you ask for tips on how to save gas? How about UPS? Would you believe that one of their tips is to make fewer left turns? Or, you could ride your bike. They didn't think of that one.

You Too Popeye?

How to Really Escalate Customer Service at a Big Company

I like The Consumerist for its take on customer service issues. If you ever find yourself at your wits end after lengthy customer service calls, escalations to "supervisors" and you are just plain not being heard and not getting fair treatment, you may consider something they call an Executive Email Carpet Bomb. Even if that doesn't work, it has a nice ring to it.

Game Theory and Doping

This interesting article from the current issue of Scientific American is by cyclist and writer, Michael Shermer, Ph.D. It's worth reading for its excellent analysis using game theory of the pervasive use of drugs in cycling. He then uses game theory to propose a number of recommendations for cleaning up the sport.

Funniest Typo Ever

The Large Hadron Collider is a gigantic scientific instrument which may revolutionize our scientific understanding of the universe .

It is not, as has been reported, called the Large Hardon Collider.

April 1

Don't believe everything you read today.

Graphic

The Indexed blog takes Venn diagrams to a new level. This one relates to cycling. And one that just plain silly.

Complaint Department

Hey, I'm just a guy that likes to ride a bicycle so I'm no expert, but keeping last years' winner out of this year's Tour de France just seems stupid to me. That goes for the third place finisher as well-- some guy named Levi Leipheimer.

Via Trust but Verify I see that WADA is mad at UCI for suing their former president (a certain Dick Pound) for injurious and biased comments against UCI. There's also stuff in this article about the French Cycling Federation (FFC) sanctioning Paris-Nice outside the oversight of the UCI and using the French anti-doping agency, AFLD, to be in charge of the doping controls for the event. The UCI warned that they would discipline any rider that participates in the event.

Tell me again why this is good for the sport.

Technology Meets Swimming

In the "Things-You-Never-Thought-About-Department" we discover that a new swimsuit designed by Speedo with help from NASA and lots of other organizations containing smart people is helping swimmers set new world records. Video of the awesome suit is here. Predictably, swimming's world body, FINA, is concerned about the advantages this suit conveys and will be meeting next month to discuss the thickness of the material used and, possibly, the ethics of using it at all.

I wonder if doping is also a concern in swimming?

Wait, was that Dick Pound's beeper I just heard going off?

In the Beginning...

"In the beginning God created the bicycle, saw that it was good, then went for a nice Sunday ride on the bike lanes He'd made the day before, and they were good, too, because they were new and He had the angels keep them clear of debris. Later, of course, God would get cross and have the flood wash all the good ones away."

--Cycling Plus, January 2001

Another Thing I'm Not

I just learned that I'm also not one of the "World's 50 Most Powerful Blogs" either. Yeah, me and forty two million others...

Setting Out

Saturday morning. I'm still learning how to use my camera and what the best default setting would be for when it's in my jersey pocket. I like to use the continuous drive mode while riding, but this limits which shooting modes I can use. I am also learning that most changes to default settings are lost when the camera powers down. The net result of all this is that this shot was overexposed. I did my best to fix it in Photoshop and felt it looked better in black and white. Still not happy with it. Also, I missed a later shot of the xXx-Athletico paceline when I inadvertently put the camera in timer mode, not continuous drive mode. Damn gloves!

Oh, and it was a great day for a ride too!

The Pornography of the Bike

Holy #$%, this movie is in town tomorrow night! Here.