The Blog Page

News, commentary and humor about bicycling and other topics of the day

 

Biking around the World

Maricella Miranda, an intern with the Belleville News-Democat,wrote this article about two Thai cyclists who are traveling around the world. Here's a couple a summary of that story.

Charoen, 32, and Orawan Othong, 34, didn’t know when they got married three years ago they were going to spend the next four years bicycling around the world.

It just happened.

Now the couple is two years and 11 months into their journey. From their home in Bangkok, Thailand, they’ve bicycled 13,000 miles through 17 countries and four continents. This week, they traveled to Belleville, where they stayed with Kosit and Saiswat Prieb, a host family. MORE

Charoen and Orawan have a Web site describing their tour. You can see where they've been and where they plan to go, although you will find they were a bit off their originalplan when they stopped in Belleville.

Their trip is something every cyclist dreams of but few can achieve. Most of us have too many responsibilities -- or, in some cases, think they have too many responsibilities -- to take on such a journey. Good luck to them!

Roger 0 comments 11:34 PM

Thursday, October 28, 2004

So much for the World Series....

First of all, congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for sweeping my beloved St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. The Red Sox clearly were the superior team in this series, and they are most deserving of the title after winning eight straight -- four against the Yankess and four against the Cardinals.

That now leaves Chicago's two baseball franchises alone among baseball's most cursed franchises. The White Sox have not won since 1917, and the Cubs, of course, have not won the World Series since 1908.

As for the Cardinals, I am extremly disappointed we saw a shadow of the team that those of us in the Midwest saw during the regular season. They lacked heart, and they forgot the fundamentals that they accomplished so well through the NLCS.

I normally am not a Tony La Russa basher, but I have noticed his Cardinals postseason teams seem to run out of gas at some point during the playoffs. They play with a great deal of intensity during the regular season, but then the bottom drops out. I have no idea why that happens. That's why I design newspaper pages for a living rather than manage major league baseball teams.

It's a shame the Cardinals bowed out the way they did because it does tarnish everything they accomplished in 2004. But still, it was a great season. The Cardinals were picked to finish third in the NL Central and won it running away. They beat the Los Angeles Dodges and Houston Astros -- two most worthy foes -- to get to the series.

Thank you, Cardinals, for a wonderful 2004. Let's hope the Cardinals find what they need to take it to the next level in 2005.

Roger 0 comments 1:44 AM

Friday, October 22, 2004

Go Cards!

Once again, the font size for the title field on The Blog Page is too small. So let's try this:

GO CARDS!

Much, much better!

Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals for their first National League pennant since 1987. Seventeen years seems like a long time between World Series visits, but that's nothing compared with the agony suffered by fans of the Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs.

So many heroes. So little space. Of course, there's the big heroes like Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds. All three came up big in Game 7. Then there are the "lesser" heroes like Roger Cedeno, Jeff Suppan and Julian Tavarez. They came up big as well.

Then, there is Jason Isringhausen, The Pride of Brighton, Illinois. As a native of Brighton, I appointed Jason as The Pride of Brighton, Illinois, among my Belleville News-Democrat colleagues. In the rare cases when he blows a save, I get to take the title back. But with his performance in Game 7, I am most happy to return the title to Jason.

Congratulations, too, to the Houston Astros for a great season. The Astros came back from the dead to get to the playoffs, and they gave the Cardinals all they could handle. I definitely pulled for the Astros to beat the Cubs for the NL Wild Card spot, and I definitely cheered for the Astros to beat the Braves in the Division Series.

Roger 0 comments 11:37 AM

Thursday, October 21, 2004

LET'S GO CARDINALS!

Somehow, that doesn't seem large enough to express my feelings about Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. So, let's try it again:

LET'S GO CARDINALS!

There. Much better.

All hail Jim Edmonds and his game-winning two-run homer in the 12th inning. All hail the erratic Julian Taverez, who came back from a temper-tantrum, a broken glove hand and a $10,000 fine to pitch two solid innings for the win.


Also, let's hear it for the Boston Red Sox, who came back from a 0-3 deficit to win the American League pennant! The Yanks pulled off the worst postseason collapse in the history of baseball, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer team. I wouldn't even wish that on the Cubs!

Roger 0 comments 1:33 AM

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Photographs from California trip

I thought I would share some of my photographs from my recent trip to California with you. Some are from the Point Lobos State Preserve near Carmel, while I included two images of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park as an homage to Ansel Adams. I can see now why Adams chose to shoot the vast majority of his work in black and white.


Point Lobos State Preserve

Roger 0 comments 2:02 PM

Foggy day at Point Lobos State Preserve

Roger 0 comments 1:54 PM

Knarled trees at Point Lobos State Preserve

Roger 0 comments 1:51 PM

Half Dome in black and white

Roger 0 comments 1:50 PM

Half Dome in color

Roger 0 comments 1:49 PM

Judy Ride to fight breast cancer

The Judy Ride Foundation's Tour de Judy gives people of all ages an opportunity to join the ride to save lives. The festivities begin at 7 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, the same day of The Judy Ride Spinning fund-raising event, at the Center of Clayton, 50 Gay Ave. in Clayton, Mo. The event includes a 30-mile ride (6:30 a.m. registration, 7 a.m. start), 10-mile ride (7:30 a.m. registration, 8 a.m. start), and a 1-mile kids ride (7:30 a.m. registration, 8 a.m. start). So bring your bicycles, tricycles ... basically anything with wheels! And bring your family and friends, too.

The Judy Ride is a three-hour Spinning experience that brings together hundreds of riders who donate their strength, energy, and time to raise money and promote early detection of breast cancer. This year, The Ride begins at 9 a.m. Oct. 23, also at Center of Clayton. The Judy Ride will kick off at 9:00 a.m.

Not only is there much more in store, but this is also an exciting chance to show your support in the fight against breast cancer. For more information, visit http://www.judyride.org/.

Roger 0 comments 11:35 AM

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Help out some good causes

If you're looking for things to do the next two weekends, here are two suggestions. One is close to home, the fall fund-raiser for the Gateway Council of Hostelling International. The other one is in Chicago, but it may be worth your while because the event revolves around meeting Graham Watson, one of the world's leading cycling photographers. Both help out good causes, so here you go:

MOONLIGHT MASQUERADE: The Gateway Council of Hostelling International will have its fall fund-raiser this Friday, Oct. 22, at the City Museum, 701 N. 15th St. in downtown St. Louis. The event begins at 7 p.m. and continues until 1a.m. Tickets are $25 each and includes parking, food, drinks (two drink tickets), a silent auction, an opportunity to explore the rest of the City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org) and the chance to enjoy Farshid Etniko, a band known for its eclectic mix of jazz and world music. You can listen to some of Farshid Etniko's music at the band's Web site, http://farshidetniko.com/index.html. You may buy your tickets in advance at the Hostelling International office at 1021 S. Big Bend Blvd., Suite 2-N, St. Louis, or buy your tickets the night of the event at the City Museum.

LANDSCAPES OF CYCLING: Meet leading photojournalist Graham Watson (http://www.grahamwatson.com/) for a fantastic dinner, a review of the 2004 European season and the introduction of his brand-new collection of cycling photos, "Landscapes of Cycling." The evening starts with hors d'oeuvres and leads to a four-course Italian dinner. Each attendee also will receive an autographed Graham Watson poster. Tickets for this event are $100 each. This special event is a benefit for the Thunderhead Alliance (www.thunderheadalliance.org), a national coalition of state and local bicycle advocacy organizations working to break down the barriers to safe bicycling in North America. The event will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, at La Strada -Top of the Plaza at 105 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. For more information or to order tickets, visit http://www.veloswap.com/Maxxis_Graham.html or call (800) 811-4210, Ext. 222.

Roger 0 comments 2:21 PM

Come on Cardinals!

The situation doesn't look good for my beloved St. Louis Cardinals. The feisty Houston Astros swept all three games at that bandbox they call a ballpark, Minute Maid Field, although I must acknowledge Jeff Kent's game-winning home run Monday night was a legitimate home run in just about any park. Nevertheless, the Cardinals' offense needs to wake up -- NOW!

I hope being back at Busch Stadium will help, but it would have been nicer if the Cardinals were up 3-2 rather than the Astros.

Roger 0 comments 2:16 PM

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Back in Belleville

After spending two weeks in California, I'm finally resting at home and working somewhat hard at the Belleville News-Democrat.

The Knight Ridder visual journalism workshop and the Society of News Design's annual workshop, both in San Jose, both were useful for me. It's always good to get fresh ideas to recharge my creativity, and it's good to know that what I'm doing generally is on the right track. I had the privilege of meeting Buck Ryan, the University of Kentucky professor who developed the Maestro Concept, a method of encouraging reporters, photographers, graphic artists, editors and page designers to work together to plan newspaper story telling.

The use of graphics to convey information is increasing. I know that creates concern for reporters, some of whom are convinced that a long story is the best way to tell a story. The reality is that more and more newspaper readers are skimmers, and you are lucky if a reader gets past the first three or four paragraphs of a story. That's why it's imporant to have infographics and strong visuals so people can get the facts quickly.

I'm hoping our staff will embrace story planning as the way to go.

The second week of my trip was a vacation with stops in Monterey, Carmel, San Francisco and Yosemite National Park. I had never been to California before, and I feel privileged to have seen those parts of the world. Point Lobos State Reserve's rocky shoreline is absolutely gorgeous, and the Carmel Mission provided great moments of peace after a long week of newspaper design workshops. As for Yosemite, words cannot describe the power of seeing such landmarks as El Capitan and Half Dome. I found myself spending lots of time trying to capture the right mood in photographing Half Dome. I don't know whether I succeeded; I know I didn't quite match the power of Ansel Adams' famous photographs of the park, but I gave it my best shot. I hope to post some of those photos here or somewhere else on my Web site sometime in the near future.

Roger 0 comments 11:44 AM

Root, root for the CARDINALS!

All right! The National League Championship Series opens tonight with my beleved St. Louis Cardinals taking on the Houston Astros!

The Astros will be a worthy adversary for the Cardinals. Nothing -- except for the Cardinals winning the NL Central -- made me happier than the Astros edging out the Cubbies and Giants for the wildcard spot. The Cubs were the poster boys for underachievement this year in baseball. It was good to see them fail. I'm still making plans for my 100 Years of Cubs Futility Party in 2008! While I feel bad for sincere, well-behaved fans of the team, some of whom are my friends, I thought all along the Cubs were the most overrated team in baseball in 2004. Sure, the starting pitching ranks among the best in baseball, but the offense and relief pitching proved to be rather suspect.

I predict the Cardinals win the NLCS in six games. The Cards are fortunate in that they won't have to face Roger Clemens until Game 3 and Roy Oswalt in Game 4. While the Astros own the edge over the Cardinals in the regular season, I think the Cards have too many weapons not to move on the World Series.

Wouldn't a Cardinals-Red Sox World Series be sweet?

Roger 0 comments 11:26 AM

Friday, October 01, 2004

Fun with newspaper design!

We just got through with the first full day of the Society of News Design's annual workshop. Lot's of interesting stuff, but, man, is it ever tiring. At least Knight Ridder is taking those of us from its papers to dinner and drinks tonight!

It was great seeing Deborah Withey again. Deborah led the redesign of the News-Democrat more than four years ago, and I had the privilege of working with her last year for a few days in Detroit. She's now a deputy managing editor for presentation at The Virginian-Pilot.

I also met with Danny Vandegriff, a former colleague of mine at the News-Democrat. He has done well at the Fort Worth Star-Telegraph, and the newspaper's doing some interesting things.

I'm keeping this short because I need time to decompress and let the day sink in.

Roger 0 comments 7:47 PM