SoCalCross

John, over at ProllyisnotProlly, had made an awesome post about SoCalCross, a cyclocross event ridden strictly on track bikes. The significance is in the difficulty of such an event. A normal cyclocross race is usually done on geared cyclocross bikes or even mountain bikes with suspension, on a dirt course that has hills and obstacles requiring the rider to dismount and shoulder their bike while they run/jump over said impediments. Doing this on a track bike is so much rougher: lack of suspension, lack of brakes, no freewheel, and only one gear!

One of the riders was this gentleman:



Drop handlebars on his authentic, brakeless track bike. It's a great image.
I hope to still be riding strong at his age!

Also,

Doggie race:

View my Screencast here!

Survey time

I would like to know how many people in our class can ride a bike, and if they can, when they learned. So, please take a look at the survey here!

Whether you can or cannot, will be answered by adding a value of 1 to either Yes or No.

As for whether you can remember when you learned how to ride... not everyone can remember such a specific detail, so answer as best as possible.

Book Report: Marketing For Dummies

Very recently, I have read Twitter Marketing for Dummies. Basically, what is discussed are the commonly known in's and out's of using the, Web 2.0 application, Twitter, as a social networking tool for marketing and, in my opinion, how these can also benefit one's success with social sites on a general scale.

I have never read a "For Dummies" book before but I found the content to be almost informal and easy to follow along. The visual layout made reading it casual and quick. The book is split into five comprehensive sections. The first section is basically what is covered in CIT154 about Twitter and how significant it is today. The next sections covered the heavier marketing aspects including creating a marketing strategy, this includes marketing principles and practices that can be made through Twitter. Multimedia to gain interest, frequent Tweets to maintain attention, and using the system of tweeting to test waters of the market.

The marketer's job is to educate an audience, have this audience's interest enough to sell a product to them, and provide service through the use of Twitter. To do this, acts of common courtesy is required which reflects the human nature of wanting to help others as we socialize. That level of interaction makes this application successful in joining customers to service providers. Using a website as a means of advertisement means that the followers are the customers and a websites content should be appealing to them, the customer. To use a website is to use a computer, and not many people like to talk to a computer, but rather the people behind them. For the reason that we are communicating with others, there are rules of etiquette. One basic rule is to be honest. Honesty is important for any relationship. The goal is to create a fanbase, listen to their wants and suggestions, and applying this input. Marketing tweets should often consist of other media content, such as links to images or videos but it is most important to build a relationship. This includes posting about day to day life, having a sense of humor, and relating to the followers. Becoming someone others can identify with makes others reach out so it is important to communicate with them, sending a thank you and replying to their comments. Work that is done offline is as essential as the work online. Although one should be personable but also know that anything personal, or anything that should be said in person, should be said in person.

The final section consisted of chapters that consisted of checklists of do's and don't's which is a common sense summary of the book; following these rules and implementing them in the Twitter I have made in this class would give an extended purpose for that Twitter. If I were to contine using Twitter and had an agenda to build a business from it, I would definitely recommend this book as a starting point. I would also recommend it in general as a starting point to "success" of a Twitter (many followers, building relationships and communities, having a free voice, and being heard). It is interesting to note that this book was published in 2009. Almost three years have passed since it was written. During its infancy, I knew it as an interesting way to blog, social networking sites such as Twitter have a foothold in society today. Twitter will continue to be a household name and we will continue to hear of them in news and everywhere we go.

Flickr

I had uploaded four images onto my Flickr that are significant to me and this blog. The images are in chronological order, with the first one being a picture of a friend's bike in downtown Las Vegas.

This picture is of a new 2011 Cinelli Vigorelli. The colors on the past versions on this frame model were lighter on a blank, white canvas but this year's edition uses yellow and red on a black background. The frame is constructed of airplane-grade aluminum and costs a pretty penny. This bike belongs to a friend of mine and this was when he brought it out for me to see for the first time.

The second image in the Flickr slideshow is a picture of my bike being ridden in the street-wear boutique, Stussy by Neek. He's performing what's called a trackstand - on a fixed gear bicycle, when you pedal backwards, you go backwards. Trackstanding is balancing between going forward and backwards, allowing you to be stationary on the bike.

The third image is a shot I took with my phone during the Mash Drag race during this year's Interbike. The race was a A to B race hosted by MashSF .

The fourth picture is a shot I had taken in the Philippines. Me and my family had finished eating McDonalds and we were waiting for our driver. A few people on bicycles road up to the restaurant's parking lot, ready to pack their bikes into their cars. I was able to stop these two guys and asked to take a picture. I suppose it was odd for them 1) I'm a foreigner 2) no one really stops people to take pictures of their bicycles! I was interested in his bike first and foremost. The only other KHS I've seen in person has been an entry-level track bike constructed in Taiwan and sold as an affordable way to start riding fixed gear.

PI

Hello all! There has been a delay in posts due to my travels. I am posting from the Philippines! Even though there are modern amenities here such as the Coffee Bean that I am posting from, a lot of the country is still very poor and behind technologically and thus my lack of access to the internet.

I have added a Picture gadget to the blog and posted an image of a "tricycle" as they are referred to. Here in the Philippines, any and all modes of transportation are used. There are modern air-conditioned taxis and public transit like buses but there are also other forms that are more affordable to the lifestyle of the people here such as  Jeepneys and bicycles, both motor powered and man powered. The streets share all these vehicles and on several instances I've even see horse-driven carriages.

Bike Wiki !

JudyNV had posted http://bicycle.wikidot.com  as an example wiki on our Wiki Assignment, an informative and organized wiki that I hope to add  more to. Luckily, my blog is also on the topic of bicycles.

Here is a link to as well as a small contribution to that wiki. The article is on how to travel with your bicycle. Information about how to pack it and ship it in an economical fashion are described.
 http://bicycle.wikidot.com/bicycle-on-airplane