I didn't get caught

In fact, I didn't do anything against the rules. Technically.

Several of my colleagues thought my previous posts offering objective yet helpful criticism to the suggestions published by a certain corporation were risky. Or stupid. I thought they were entertaining, but apparently the suggestions that prompted the blog were a burst of brilliance and the suggestion box has now been crammed with the typically mundane "let's serve our customers better, hooray for our wonderful company" crap. In other words, nothing interesting to make fun of.

So I've started writing about the stuff that I think about most of the time and that, in addition to supporting my family, is about all that motivates me to go to work every day. If you're still reading, from now on I will be mostly writing about skiing and bicycling. I'll still try to make fun of things, though, so that part won't change.

I started skiing when I was 10. That was an Olympic year for those keeping score at home, and I was inspired to say the least. Though I no longer have any interest in racing on skis, the thrill I felt that first day on the slopes has pretty much gone unchecked since then. Even after 30 days on snow this year, I am sad to see it melt. I have never experienced anything, at least not anything I'd talk about in such a public forum, that rivals the thrill of skiing deep, light powder. It is like no other thrill in this world.

During the warmer months, I ride bikes. I started out several years ago, when I was really fat, as a road biker. I was too fat to do anything else as exercise (that's the nice thing about biking--anyone can do it). After I lost some weight, my wife and I decided to run a marathon together, and I became a runner for several years. Then I bought a mountain bike and completely lost interest in running. Two years ago, I got sick of driving to the trailhead every time I wanted a workout, so I got a road bike "just to keep in shape." Now in terms of number of days, I probably get out on the MTB more often, but I spend more total hours on the road bike. Both are fun for different reasons.

I should also mention that I'm very geeky about the technical aspects of sports. So if why stuff works the way it does interests you, then you might enjoy what I have to say. My sisters, if they ever read this, will just roll their eyes and wonder whether we are really related.