KeithWikle.com

Some days you can’t get a break, and then you do…

I seem to be on a run of bad luck that won’t quit. I’ve finally gotten all the right gear, the right craft, and enough skill to surf big fall storm waves. But now I just can’t seem to get some good luck. I went on a Saturday afternoon, (unheard of in the realms of storm surfing) and suited up. I had a nice northerly break where I could get out easily. Off the pier were some monsters. I caught a couple of ok rides where I had to paddle hard to get on. And then I caught some scary ones where I intentionally capsized to let a monster ten foot wave break over me. I more often than not found myself accidentally righted and then surfing in anyway. I caught one absolutely beautiful ride where a good seven or eight foot wave came up, and I was finally in the right spot at the right time, so I carved down the face diagonally toward the pier, and then saw more green water to my right so I cut back away from the wall and kept surfing all the way to the beach.

When I broke back out I was out maybe 30 yards off the pier. A huge steep dumper took me by surprise. I capsized intentionally to let it go over me, but it took me and threw me from the top to the bottom, it felt like I was thrown a full ten feet in the air and I hit hard, I was knocked into the cockpit luckily but I think the tunnel on my drysuit let in some water. I was sinking hard to stern when I rolled up. I thought for sure the boat was cracked somewhere at the stern. I paddled the flooded boat all the way in, but I took the skirt off to level it out.

I got it dumped out and inspected the boat. No damage. So I looked out there and thought ok, I can’t let it beat me. So I got back in and headed out. I kept thinking about the one sweet ride. I was in exactly the right spot when another huge wave broke where it shouldn’t have been breaking. I capsized intentionally again. The turbulence was incredible. I held onto the paddle for dear life thinking, “hold on, hold on, it’ll pass.” And then my right paddle blade snapped off from my Lendal four piece. After my experience with hand rolling up to find myself presented with a no-win situation, I just got pissed and wet exited.

I swam the boat in again, and a boardie collected my wreckage of foam outfitting shook loose from the boat.

After all my experiences surfing, I’ve sort of gotten it into my head, perhaps erroneously that if I held onto my paddle and could roll up I’d be safe. To have my paddle snapped off by a wave sort of weakens my confidence in that particular piece of equipment. Lendal paddlok’s are supposed to be sort of indestructible aren’t they?

Am I out of my element chasing storms and 10 foot waves in a small kayak? Are my dreams for a perfect ride at my home break a fools errand? Is it really just beyond me and my skill to do it?

I hope not. I hope it’s just some bad mojo that will pass.

Some Days-U2
Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, but most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor
Some days you’re quick, but most days you’re speedy
Some days you use more force than is necessary
Some days just drop in on us
Some days are better than others
Some days it all adds up
And what you got is not enough
Some days are better than others
Some days are slippy, other days sloppy
Some days you can’t stand the sight of a puppy
Your skin is white but you think you’re a brother
Some days are better than others
Some days you wake up with her complaining
Some sunny days you wish it was raining
Some days are sulky, some days have a grin
And some days have bouncers and won’t let you in
Some days you hear a voice
Taking you to another place
Some days are better than others
Some days are honest, some days are not
Some days you’re thankful for what you’ve got
Some days you wake up in the army
And some days it’s the enemy
Some days are work, most days you’re lazy
Some days you feel like a bit of a baby
Lookin’ for Jesus and His mother
Some days are better than others
Some days you feel ahead
You’re making sense of what she said
Some days are better than others
Some days you hear a voice
Taking you to another place

I picked up a new bike on Thursday from Loose Spokes.
The Bianchi San Jose is technically a cyclocross bike. It is a steel frame bike with top tube routed brakes. The bike is excellent, it is crisp and smooth on the pedal and seems to be very tough. I wanted a single speed steel bike for my daily Michigan commute in the off-season. I essentially went through every drive train component on my Felt F1X last winter. And while Ultegra is not Campagnolo it wasn’t cheap either. So I decided to go all out and buy a complete bike. The idea of a Surly single speed was very appealing, but a frame plus all the components I needed would be almost double what I paid for the San Jose.

I swapped out the stock drop bars for the Nitto moustache bars. I dug in and figured out how the brake levers come off, and then how to apply handlebar tape. Not really that hard. But I think I could’ve done a better job.

I think the bars are pretty sweet. Nice hand position. I just need to get my lights on it and maybe a new saddle.

Cyclocross began in Europe as an informal hammer-fest among riders looking to do some off season training. The lads/lasses would gather at the local pub, have a pint and then hop on their bicycles to ride to the next village. To make it interesting, they would trespass onto farmer’s fields by hopping gates and fences, bicycles over their shoulders; and then ride on cow and sheep pastures, two-track and any uneven ground they could find. Their gear was primitive, a single speed racing bike with slightly wider tires, and perhaps some tread for traction. So the slug fest with the mud, snow and dirt began. The Belgians (go figure) of course turned the sport into a religion. Now, when I hear more cow bell, I think of cyclocross.

In the spirit of the genesis of cyclocross, Jason Roon and Chip organized a 60 mile ride from Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, (our local pub) to Founder’s Brewery in Grand Rapids. A pint to pint event. The route would be along two track and power line trail for almost forty miles. And then continue along the Kent trail into Grand Rapids proper.

We arrived at Bell’s around 11 am to enjoy a pint before hitting the trail. Chip and Jason sheepishly pointed out there might be some light trespassing. I wondered if our judicial system perceived trespassing with degrees or depths, but didn’t question the term at the time.

We rolled out of Kalamazoo under bright sunshine and cool breezes. After following some trail signs we crossed some very high gates and began the trail portion. The trail was sort of sucky at first. Lots of downed trees and bushes. There were the obvious mechanical problems with a number of riders at the onset of the trail, bent dérailleurs, flats, and a single speed switch out. I waited with some buddies from Kalamazoo and we quickly became the tail end of the ride.

The route took us along some beautiful farm country, we passed many horse and cow pastures. As we rode on the trail became increasingly more difficult. Lots of sand, and huge mud puddles. After finally getting my bike working like a champ I was sheepish about charging through mud puddles. But it wouldn’t be cyclocross without mud. As the day went on I became progressively wetter and muddier. No one however could be wetter or muddier than Jason Roon. Like a kid on a rainy day he hit every single mud puddle intentionally as hard as he could. Some of them appeared to be 5 feet deep. He flew through one that swallowed him up to his shoulders and then hit something at the bottom and was flung head over the handlebars into the puddle. I tried to take the high ground, but on the few puddles I couldn’t avoid at speed I went through them. I could’ve sworn I saw tadpoles swimming in a few.

As we crossed dirt road after dirt road it was mind boggling to see how much trail there was. It just kept coming. I felt great. My energy was holding even after four hours of trail riding.

The trail became a complete mudpit at one point just shy of the pavement. We spotted some off road vehicles coming at us down the trail. We quickly hopped off and watched them go by. Some good-ole boys were enjoying the same trail. Luckily some of the more savvy riders helped us out by yeehawing as the ORV’s went by through the mud. I think this may have saved us from Deliverancesque behavior on the trail.

Once we hit tarmac the pace picked up substantially. My crank and freewheel had a lot of grit, but everything seemed to be running pretty well. Unluckily one of the guys at the back of the crowd broke his chain with 5 miles left to go to the brewery. Once we hit Monroe street we heard cheering from the inside of the pub. We rolled right in to the entrance.

Overall it was not a technically demanding route. But it was fun to see the entire off-road route between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. I’ve done a lot of rides by myself and it was great to have a pack of folks on cross bikes to absorb the punishment with you. It turns out some folks bailed on the all trail option and took some road detours to reach Founder’s. I can’t say I blame them. 40 miles of trail feels double the same mileage on the road.

As I was soaking in my pint at Founder’s I wondered about the fate of Ubeercross 2008. The pack was fairly big for this year, hopefully it won’t be a victim of it’s own success. I really enjoyed the sense of accomplishment of cycling the trail the whole way. Despite the adversity, it was worth it. I wish I’d had a helmet cam. Stay tuned for the Jason Roon puddle dump video!

Sometimes everyone needs a little technical assistance from Storm Trooper tk1801.

Surfing hydraulics are indeed the stuff of legends. Once the waves start to top out at 8 feet or so they can do some pretty impressive things. When the waves spill the forces within are quite strong. This is an understatement of Olympian proportions.

The forecast was for 8-10 foot waves with wind at 30 knots, gusting to 35 knots out of the northwest. It was every bit the forecast for once. Rain came down in cool, but painfully side ways sheets. It was so wet it was hard to tell up from down at times. The path on the south side of the pier looked like a runway. Flat with a bit of occasional white water. The rocks that are pushed up against the pier were uncovered in the troughs of waves, meaning a serious amount of water was being displaced during each wave period. I broke out with ease for once.

The wave period appeared to be about 5 seconds. People on the west coast will laugh at this, but it is what we get. I caught some decent, (quick rides) Steep waves where I was able to carve a little before riding onto the back of the next wave. I typically saw something big coming paddled like hell and tried to grab onto green water by high brace ruddering to slow myself down to hang in the power pocket. A couple times I was unceremoniously spat out of the green water by a mountain of hissing white water. But for the most part it seemed pretty benign.

After catching some fun rides I got caught at the bottom of a big wave without any hull speed. As I tried to get up to speed I was drawn to the top and then dumped to the bottom by the wave as it curled and collapsed. Funny but I remember the sensation as I was sucked up, and then dropped down in it’s distinct pieces like I was watching someone else. Then when I rolled up I was surfing backwards, “woohoo!!!!”-I thought, but another wave broke on me, and in the ensuing dynamics I was promptly sucked completely out of the kayak, skirt and all.

I took my paddle and began to swim to my swamped kayak. I got in and paddled it for a few minutes and got it close. Then I got out and swam with my paddle all the way in until I could stand.

Luckily I hadn’t been out further than the pier. Or I could have been in for a long confused swim. Also again, I had a lifejacket, helmet, and drysuit. But my skirt did not hold very well. I’ve been using a touring deck that is neoprene from mountain surf. It’s pretty decent, but not as good as a pure white water skirt obviously. Although I’m not sure any skirt would have held me in.
It was an interesting experience that maybe I can ward off next time with a tougher rand on the skirt. But I’m not sure I’m ready for the seat belt! In my three years of small boat, or surf boat surfing this is the first time it’s happened. And it never happened while sea kayaking other than when I had a crappy nylon skirt when I first started out.

But float bags are on the list too. I’ve delayed on common sense for too long on those.

There is no garland of ivy leaves for the average runner. Each mile is its own reward. If you make it to 26.2 someone might tell you “great job”. But you must want to make it the distance on your own. No one can do it for you. You might have training partners, you might even have someone to run the race with, but really every step is your own.

When I ran my first marathon I trained every mile alone, and then planned to run Chicago with Joe. I never found him in the crowd. I ran the whole distance surrounded by a crowd, but I was completely isolated inside my own head.

I am embarking on this training journey again. I don’t necessarily relish every run. It is sometimes hard to want to put in all the time necessary. It is hard not having someone to run with, but at the same time, moving at your own pace means you never have to depend on anyone else.

All of the miles and training in complete isolation are also tied with a victory that is solely your own. You do not share the proverbial crown of ivy leaves (if you get one) with a triumvirate of team mates. It is yours alone.

Ok, my work life has been interfering with my enjoyment of web sites for some time. I may have to step onto the pulpit here to proclaim the importance of usability on the web.

My daily work consists of working on corporate consumer sites, designing usable interfaces for the web. In this work I look at a lot of web sites and I have a mental list of quite a few that really irk me. But nothing irks me more than when I am interested in a product, a product I may purchase I might add, and then I am presented with a user experience that is so poor that my desire for the product is totally killed.

Crumpler Bags is just such a site and a product. I was reviewing one of my favorite blogs, Commutebybike.com and found a cool image of the Crumpler hard laptop case. Wow! Cool product. So I go to the web site. Low and behold, it is possibly the worst consumer product web site I have ever seen. That is a stretch, there are worse. But it is pretty bad. Let me give you a few reasons why.

• Navigation

  All Flash sites can be done well, or poorly. Typically the failing is in how the information is laid out, (or the information architecture), and how the navigation is handled. On the crumpler site when I finally receive the home page after watching their none too clever flash loader, I receive their home page. The home page has no text navigation present on the page by default. The user has to roll over each item to reveal its meaning. Clever, but pointless some text above or below each item to indicate to the user what each item is would instantly allow the user to see what they wanted to click on. All of the navigation is non-standard and tells no story the user is familiar with when the page finally loads.
  User’s don’t care about your clever artists, they want your information. If they don’t find it, they will go somewhere else, so why make them guess.

• Annoying Music

  This is more of a pet peeve than a usability issue, but why would you put annoying/blaring music on your site by choice in 2007? Why…. And then to make it worse, the shutoff for the music was the music symbol in the lower left. Why not make the music off by default and if the user happens to find your icon they can turn it off and on at will, rather than coming to a page with annoying music that is controlled by non-standard navigation that is not labeled.

• The diarrhea button

  I have a sense of humor, the diarrhea button was pretty sweet. However the chain pull where you have to click and drag to clear the poop from the screen was a drag, it took me a while to find it and know what it was for. Maybe a little text to explain it would help? More non-standard controls that interfere with finding information, no matter how much it appeals to my juvenile sense of humor still makes a poor impression.

• The shopping experience

  I finally find the computer bags link on the bottom and go to the shopping experience. All of the products are listed in a scroll bar frame at the top. Not great, in terms of being able to see all of the offerings at once on one page that scrolls, (yes user’s scroll), but it’s ok. The computer bag is selected on the page, I do have some clear default options that are labeled. If all I wanted to do was go with the default option and click to add the item to the cart I would be fine. But let’s say for now I wanted to look at the tech specs first. The tech specs display below the product area, and are displayed on a color background that is hard to read, not organized very well. As red/green color blindness is the most common amongst men, 7% of most adult male populations, why, oh why would you do this?....

  Let’s say after not being able to understand the nav, or shut off the music, or clear the diarrhea from the screen you chose to purchase this computer bag. Once on this screen, I have a page where I am being asked to make a purchase decision on a colorful product, with no picture of the product. I have to select the product with the tiny drop down box, with no color sample from a color abbreviation name. So let’s say I can’t remember what color red/dk red is, how do I go back and look at the color on the last page? Oh sh#t I can’t. This page has no navigation to go back to the previous page to look at the color selection. So I hit my back button to look at the color selections. Now I’m pretty sure I like red/dk red, so now I am going to go back to the cart, oh sh#t how do I get back to the cart? Hmm there is no navigation to do that. I can either click add to cart, or use the forward button in my browser. I’m pretty savvy, I hit the forward button. Oh terrific, it adds another bag to my cart, now I have to remove the second item from my cart.

  Guess what, no I don’t! I’m leaving the site and buying another Chrome Messenger Bag product because their site kicks ass.

  User testing and thinking about how someone will actually use the web site you make will sell your products.

  You can still have your diarrhea button, but you gotta get the basics down first.

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