Monday, April 30, 2007

Inspirational Quotes

During a long ride you are inevitably going to go through some bad patches. You will either be tired, sore, hungry, thursty or all of the above. When those patches come through, and I hope they don't it is better to be prepared for them so that you can deal with them. There is an aspect of physical training that I hope we all have under our respective belts and a mental training so that when a bad patch comes around you know how to deal with it. Sometimes, when I am very tired or feeling spent I repeat little sayings like "Longer and stronger" or the "Longer I go the stronger I get". This all may sound strange but the power of the mind is not to be under-estimated.

Here are some quotes that I like. Please feel free to add others on the comment section.

"Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile." —Sir Wilfred Grenfell

"Security is mostly a superstition. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." —Helen Keller

"Life's strict rule is this: You get more of what you focus on. Ignoring this, we abandon our healthiest, concentrative energies and court emotional upheaval." —Marsha Sinetar

"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit" —Aristotle

"There's no substitute for getting smarter faster. And the way that you get smarter is to screw around vigorously. Try stuff. See what works. See what fails miserably. Learn. Rinse. Repeat." —Tom Peters

"If you overtrained, it means that you didn't train hard enough to handle that level of training. So you weren't overtrained; you were actually undertrained to begin with. So there's the rule again: The guy who trains the hardest, the most, wins."
- Floyd Landis

"Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place."
- Lance Armstrong

The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. Muhammad Ali

Saturday, April 28, 2007

First Official Team PwC Ride

All week long the forecast kept threatening but we never really got rained on. The sun actually peeked out and dried up the roads. 10 of our team riders showed up and wheels were rolling by 9:30. So much has happened these last few weeks that I made a little video montage... Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OilyflicTfM

OK the video is not very good here are some of the better pics...


From left to right, Garrett, Kelly, Matt, Miguel, Tomas (the little guy), Michelle, Tyler, Dimitris, Johnathon Munko, Andrew (Wataru behind the lens)


Kalyan and Matt share a laugh post ride.




We are famous!!!

Check out page 98 of the improper Bostonian!



Friday, April 27, 2007

Alumni Event

John, Michelle and Larry share a moment at the PwC Alumni event.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Steve Jobs, "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds."

I thought this was a pretty cool video.
the best part of this video is the black turtle neck an the comment posted on youtube.
"what irony. The "bicycle for our minds" is also a contributor to physical atrophy across the board. In the context of where man stands in "movement" vs. the rest of creation...I thought this was again, ironic. -and here I sit on my computer. "

The solution for us self proclaimed computer jockeys... Ride your bike more! Alternatively get a really cool cycling computer.

The last 2 days I have managed early morning bike rides. The weather has been warmer and the pavement has been dry. The beauty of an early morning ride is how amazingly quiet everything is. On Tuesday I saw to deer in a field playing. They crossed the road right in front of me and continued chasing each other around! Today, I got out a bit earlier with the help of my niterider lights (http://www.niterider.com/prod_minewt.shtml) and saw a spectacular sunrise. I also saw a family of foxes scurrying into the woods.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Events of the week


Spring has sprung and biking season is upon us!

In this weeks update:

Update on goals:
1. Raise a minimum of $30,000 - We are at $5,160 or 17% of our goal. For those of you have not yet started your fundraising campaigns the time is now! If you have any questions about how to fundraise and who to target please do not hesitate to call me or our resident fundraising leader (Andy Fairbanks)
2. Raise awareness for MS - See Ridapalooza below
3. Build a large team (30+ riders) of PwC employees and alumni - We are at 27 and I am confident that we can get at least 3 more riders. If you know anyone interested get them to sign up ASAP.
4. Get in shape - I hear that many of you have been riding which is great!
5. Have a great time doing it all!


PwC Alumni Event: Thursday 26 th
To register -> www.meetpwc.com/bostonallalumniOn behalf of the partners and managers of the Boston office ofPricewaterhouseCoopers, we are pleased to invite you to our annual All-Alumni Reception. To those of you who have RSVP'd, we thank you!Please register at the web address below.Date: Thursday, April 26, 2007Time: 6:30-9:30 pmPlace: Fairmont Copley Plaza 138 St. James Avenue Boston, MA 02116 617-267-5300RSVP: www.meetpwc.com/bostonallalumni by April 20, 2007

PwC 125 High Ride-a-thon / Ridapalooza: Friday 27th
When is the last time you got to ride to work? When is the last time you got to ride AT work? Your chance is here! Come join us as from 11-2 in the atrium of 125 high for a spin an a few trainers as we raise a few $$$'s raise some awareness, and recruit a few riders. Many thanks to Michelle for pulling this event together!


Team Ride Chez Miguel: Saturday 28th with a potential rain day on Sunday 29th
Here is a proposed ride route. There are a million options to shorten or lengthen the ride. Bring 2 water bottles a bit of food. Plan on riding for 2 hrs and going 20-25 miles with a coffee break.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=858351

I think this may be a bit over 25 miles but there are lots of places to cut it down a bit depending on the weather, how the team is feeling etc...
Exact start time for the ride will be posted on Friday but I am leaning towards 8-9 am start time. To minimize road traffic and maintain family bliss. If you are planning to ride please be sure to drop me an email so that I have an idea of how many people to expect. Again my address is 50 Glen St Dover MA 02030 and will serve as the starting point for the ride.

and last but not least BIKE PORN....
Here is my latest project that was finalized and christned today. I have not named her yet but she is Italian and was born in the 70s I am leaning towards Giuseppina.



http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=my6ha63.52ldvo2z&x=0&y=a5psbn


Giuseppina came to me at the Dover dump and was quickly turned into a single speed. At the time her paint was white with rainbow stickers. Her wheels were missing and her bottom bracket rusted but functional. Over the winter. She was sanded, primed, painted and clear coated with great care and attention. Her bottom bracket was shipped in from Italy (given the reverse threading). A new 46 tooth crank was added, the profile design threadless converter was also added (this little beauty turns quill style fork into a more update threadless stem) This was perfect as I already had a Ritchey stem and a handle bar kicking around. The brakes are a bit of missmatch... Campy chorus in the back and an old school pull breaks in the front.

I rode Giuseppina about 20 miles today and what a fantastic ride she was. Giuseppina needs no timer or speedometer, she makes her own time.... While not breaking any sound bariers atop my "new to me" steed her silky smooth ride has me on the fence about which bike to bring down to the GMG.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Mark your calendars weekend rides are here



Hello Team,
I hope you had a great weekend. The Saturday morning ride was super fantastic! Crisp clear weather, dry roads, and low traffic made for a great time on the bike. Over the next 2-3 months I would like to schedule a couple of team rides. Team rides are a great time to get to know each other, get into shape and learn new routes. They are also a great time to learn bike handling skills, basic maintenance and upkeep etc...
Michelle and I wanted to propose to you all that we arrange for 3 team rides.
20-25 ride in late April /early May,
40-45 mile ride in mid to late May and a
60-65 mile ride in early June.
20-25 mile ride West of Boston - APRIL 28th (APRIL 29th rain day) We can use my house as pit stop / watering hole and there are support vehicles in case of break down.
40-45 mile ride South shore -MAY 12th - (NO RAIN DAY /May 13th is mothers day) Michelle volunteered the Lambert estate as a meeting point / watering hole.
60-65 mile ride Cape Cod - JUNE 2nd - (JUNE 3rd rain day) Beers and Barbque to follow. I think it is key to experiment with a ride that mimics the actual ride in length to sort out your nutrition, bike set up etc.... We can use my parents house in Chatham as a watering hole.
I know many of you may not be early risers (on weekends specially) but I would strongly recommend early starts for all of these rides so that we are exposed to less road traffic. Rain days would only be used in the case of major rain. A few showers would not stop the riding. Let me know what you think of these dates and ride locations.
As we get closer to these dates I will post ride cue sheets.
I look forward to riding with all of you!
Miguel

Friday, April 6, 2007

Team Update #3 - Friends, Riders, Countrymen Lend me your ears.


This week we are at 23 riders and we have raised $3,465 to date. Fund raising is starting to pick up but many of you (including me) need to start the process in earnest. A special thanks to Andy Fairbanks our resident fund-raising champ for setting a great example. Andy gets the special gold star award for the week. I also want to thank you for coming out and meeting the team last Tuesday at the Black Rose. Watching the new MS video and getting to know you all was a pleasure. A couple of other announcements.



1. Weekend rides. I will be riding Saturday morning and would welcome anyone to join. I will be riding from my house (50 Glen St Dover, MA) and will be leaving at 9 am sharp for a 2 hr slow ride. This ride will take us through the gentle rolling hills of Dover, Sherborn, Medfield and Needham. Ride time will be 1.5 to 2 hrs. The weather should be brisk so layer up. Following the ride you are all welcome to join us for an Easter egg hunt on the Dover green. This is mostly for kids but should be fun nonetheless.

2. Future Weekend Rides will be posted on the Blog at : www.teampwcms150.blogspot.com there are also many great rides at www.crw.org if you are looking for places to ride (and people to ride with)

3. 125 High St Atrium Ride - Currently finalizing the plans but it looks like it will be either April 26 or 27th. Our preference would be for the Friday but we will see what happens. Michelle and I will keep you posted. If you are interested in this little fund-raiser/rider recruiting event please let us know. Our time slot is from 11 - 3 so we will need at least 4-5 riders and a few people to stand guard at our information table.

4. For those of you who are alumni, I hope you are considering going to the Alumni Event at the Fairmont on April 26th from 6:30 pm on. These events are a great opportunity to catch up with current PwC colleagues and past acquaintances. Team PwC will be there recruiting alumni riders.

regards,
Miguel

Team Update - Weekly Update #2

Hello Team PwC,
I just wanted to provide everyone with a quick update on the current status of our Great Mass Getaway Goals.
The goals for this year are:
1. Raise a minimum of $30,000 - We've doubled last weeks' fund-raising amount and are currently at $3,060 - 10% of the way there and still 3 months to go! (and I'm sure many of you have checks at home that haven't been entered on-line so we're probably even higher than that...)
2. Raise awareness for MS
3. Build a large team (30+ riders) of PwC employees and alumni - We're at 67%! Keep recruiting!
4. Get in shape - We are looking into the possibility of renting out a spinning room at a gym and having an instructor teach a 60-90 minute spin class with all the proper cycling techniques. We'll be keeping you posted.
5. Have a great time doing it all!
We now have 20 riders officially signed up for the GMG 2007 and another 2-3 on the fence or lurking around the fence. If you see or know any of those people get them to commit asap.
Upcoming Events:
April 3rd 6pm - 8pm at the Black Rose we have a Tour Kick Off Celebration. We will show a video and have some appetizers.
At some point during the month of April, Team PwC will be having a ride-a-thon in the 125 High atrium. The plan is to have 3 Team PwC members ride, in FULL cycle gear, from 11-2 one day to raise awareness of the event. We will have a table where people can sign up, donate, or start their own teams. We currently have 3 people willing to make fools out of themselves :c) however, if anyone else is interested, we would like an additional 3 people so no one has to ride for 3 straight hours. Let me know if you would like to ride or run the table...
Thanks to everyone who has signed up so far!!!

Team Update - Weekly Update #1

Hello Team PwC,
Thank you so much for signing up for the Great Mass Getaway. I am really getting fired up for all the great events that this year will provide us with. I would like to also thank you for helping us get closer to our desired goals of:
The goals for this year are:
1. Raise a minimum of $30,000 (ok so we are 5% there)
2. Raise awareness for MS (today I received an email from one of our alumni at Stonebridge that was so inspired by our efforts that she decided to start her own company team!!! Our lost is her gain! Unbeknownst to her I have channeled all of her donations to team PwC.....)
3. Build a large team (30+ riders) of PwC employees and alumni (40% met!)
4. Get in shape
5. Have a great time doing it all!
At the close of the day today we now have 12 riders officially signed up for the GMG 2007 and another 10 - 15 on the fence or lurking around the fence. If you see or know any of those people get them to commit asap. We have raised over $1,450 and the donations are still coming in. I know that some of you just joined the team but there is no time like the present to get on the fund-raising wagon. I also need to get your desired shirt sizes as the order is going in this Friday.
A couple of other events worth noting:
March 22 by close of business - I need your desired shirt sizes (check out sizing below) If I don't hear from you Michelle will be making executive sizing decisions...
April 3rd 6pm- 8 pm at the Black Rose we have a Tour Kick Off Celebration. We will show a video and have some appetizers.