The Human Race

On August 31, 2008 at 08:31:08pm the Human Race began at the Los Angeles Coliseum. This wasn't done by divine intervention but by a shoe company - Nike.

A friend in Israel told me about this event, runners from all over the world would be participating in this, the largest 10k race in history. It was scheduled to be run on the same day in several major cities and if you couldn't get to a major city you could run on your own and post your results. It would be a way to join my friend in a race even though we live half a world away from each other.

After I signed up my wife thought that we should do more activities together so she decided to join me. We planed to walk together and although we didn't do any training before the event, we went with the Nike motto: Just do it.

We did it and lots of other people also walked it, though many of those were probably pooped out runners. We were happy just to be out there and complete the course. I'm so proud of Rosie for being such a good sport.

What really mattered here was doing something that is within our capability and have fun so we'd want to do it again. When I ran the L.A. Marathon in 1993 it took me 13 years before I forgot about the pain and to try it again. For most people running a marathon takes to much of a time, mental and physical commitiment. However, there usually lots of 5k and 10k "fun runs" that welcome walkers. Of course you've got to be in shape and the best way to prepare is to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, like walking or biking, three or more times per week.

I know this sounds entirely unscientific and it won't put you on the winner's podium, but believe me you'll feel great and who knows, maybe your cholesterol level will fall and you'll drop a few pounds too.

The Experiment Continues

We're doing some experimenting recently in an attempt at creating a healthy, financially independent lifestyle for ourselves.

We moved our email, blog and web pages from the dedicated server I've been running in our garage to Google. We sold our 10-year old Mercedes and bought a newer used Prius. We're cleaning out the garage in and we'll be converting it to a rental unit. I'm riding my bicycle to work whenever possible. We switched to a low fat vegan diet.

Whoa - what's that? Vegan?

Being vegetarian isn't something new to me. I've been pretty much meat free for about 15 years. Of course it wasn't always easy. There's the peer pressure to deal with and just because you're a vegetarian doesn't mean that you're eating healthy. After all a veggie pizza is loaded with cheese and I know all too well what that can do to my cholesterol level.

Call me a tree-hugging hippie, I don't care, I feel great and my blood test shows just how far I've come since cutting out cheese, and fish--after all aren't we supposed to eat salmon to get enough Omega-3? Not!

Here's how it went so far this year.

                   January June August

Total Cholesterol    289   215   183

LDL Cholesterol      214   121   115

HDL Cholesterol       48    56    42

On January my cholesterol was sky high so I cut out the cheese, started eating more fish and began running every morning. On June 27 through 29 Rosie and I took a Celebrity Chef weekend seminar put on by Dr. John McDougall and decided to follow his low fat vegan recommendations. I also started riding my bicycle to work as much as possible for exercise.

Oh, but not eating meat-that must really limit my food choices. Well, I thought I'd document my meals, just to prove that a low fat vegan diet doesn't have to be boring.

Breakfast

Skipping the donuts, pastries, eggs and yogurt, I went for a bowl of oatmeal and a plate full of fruit at the studio commissary

Lunch

Cucumber salad with peppers and couscous, pasta salad, curried vegetables with brown rice and yet some more pasta. What can I say, I like pasta and as long as it isn't loaded up with Alfredo sauce or oily marinara or smothered with cheese, pasta isn't fattening.

Dinner

Working in the movie industry isn't all that glamorous, I often have to work through dinner. This is the time when trying to pick something out of a "Restaurants on the Run" menu can get quite challenging. No pizza or chicken wings for me, here I went for lentil soup and white bean hummos with pita bread.

You might notice that there aren't any drinks with my meals. Even though I do like a glass of red wine with dinner every once in a while I don't generally drink with my meals anymore. I heard that digestion is hampered by too much liquids, especially cold liquids and the usual cold soft drinks, especially sodas, does not do a body good. Oh and of course milk is out of the question. However, I do take in fluids during the day. I always ride my bicycle with a full bottle of water so that's a couple of liters per day just on my commute. In addition, I sip some herbal tea while working so my toal liquid intake is about 4 liters, about a gallon.

What about snacks? Motion picture studios are notorious for having lots of junk food on the set but if you look hard enough there's also fruit. My favorite snack is a banana. Not banana chips or banana flavored jelly beans or choclolate covered bananas, just plain peel and eat bananas.

So, the experiment continues. Up until now this blog has been just a personal exercise log and scrap book but we're turning a corner and expanding into other areas. In future posts we will be publishing articles about personal finance, healthy living and even some of our favorite recipies. Hopefully it will attract the interest of others looking to improve their health, wealth and life in general.

Moving the Blog

After years of running my own server I thought it was about time I downsized and simplified my digital lifestyle. As of today the Digiola Blog is moving from the computer in my garage to the Google servers located who knows where.

I tried several tools for moving old posts from the garage server running Gentoo Linux and Wordpress to Google's Blogger. The one that worked for me was BlogSync.

At this time Google has a limit of 50 posts per day and BlogSync is showing the posts in alphabetical order instead of chronological order so things will seem a bit wonky until all the posts are moved over.

After moving the posts I'll have to move the photos, videos and other media before I can pull the plug on my server.

Almost Fell off the Bus

In my quest to become a "green" commuter while staying out of the bicycle unfriendly roads in Los Angeles, I tried riding the bus with my bike today. It seemed like a good idea, ride the bike on the wide flat roads and get on the bus to go over the hill with the narrow roads. The buses here have racks that can carry a couple of bicycles. Well, I never used one of those things but how hard can it be?

I timed my commute, just to see how it compared with mashing my way over the hill. First of all it took me a while to find the bus stop. I found one at the Warner Brother's Studio main gate, turned out that there was another bus stop closer to my usual route but I guess that I never noticed it even though I go past it every day. First leg, DreamWorks Animation in Glendale to Warner Brothers in Burbank, about 20 minutes. Next came the wait at the bus stop, there were a couple of kids there asking me when the bus is coming, (I didn't know but I figured that one should come by every 20 minutes or so) how much does it cost to ride, (didn't know that either, I got a bus pass from work) and how much for a taxi (no help there either)--they got tired of waiting and went off looking for another way to get to their destination. I guess I must have just missed a bus because I had to wait about 30 minutes until the 222 showed up. Getting the bike on the rack was no big deal, I just followed the instructions from the Bike Guide I got from the Metro website. I flashed the pass at the driver and took a seat where I had a clear view out the front windshield so I could keep an eye on my bike. It started out fine but it seemed to sway back and forth a bit more and more each time the bus would brake and accelerate. About halfway into the ride the driver stopped the bus. He was quite visibly angry as he honked his horn and said, "Sir, you bike is about to fall off." I jumped out and sure enough the retaining bar that is supposed to secure the bike in place slipped off the back wheel and it was a miracle that my bike, didn't turn into road kill. I flipped it around and tried the bar on the front wheel and it looked like it would hold a bit better. So much for using the bus to keep from building up a sweat--I worked up more of a sweat than riding over the hill! Total time for the bus ride, 9 minutes. I got off on Cahuenga and Franklin and rode down Cahuenga to Melrose, which was a much better route than Highland with it's narrow traffic lanes and traffic that obeys no speed limits. Last leg, about 28 minutes.

Total commuting time: 1 hour 27 minutes.

That's about 20 minutes longer than biking over the hill and fighting L.A. traffic. Not great, but it's an option when I get off work after dark and want to improve my chances of living through the commute.

All I've got to do to make this work is to figure out how to use those bus bike racks. I think the main problem was the big, heavy, steel, front basket on my bicycle. In fact the Rider's Guide states that:

Tandem bikes or bikes with motors, solid
wheels, large racks, child seats or other
attachments are not allowed.

Oops. I guess I should either remove the basket or get another bicycle just for bus commuting. Hum, that bike my brother gave me could make a cool fixed gear conversion.

Sign of the Times?

I'm interested in all things somewhat off the mainstream, recumbent bicycles for instance. One of the best recumbent bike blogs, therecumbentblog, recently closed down and the author went with a more "mainstream" bike blog, ecovelo. Furthermore, long time make of long wheelbase recumbents, easyracers, has started distributing folding electric bicyles that they have built or designed.

Of course it does make sense. I'm planning on combining the bus with the bicycle for my daily commute but there is only enough room for two bicycles on the bus bike rack. A folding bike would take care of the rack problem and the electric motor will be a blessing should I miss the bus and have to ride the bike all the way.

Besides, the Ecobike Vatavio is cool!

Vespa LX50 HyS - Hybrid Motor Scooter

I'm getting to like being almost car free. Last week the only day I took a car to work was to show it to a co-worker who wanted to buy it.

Although I'm really liking bicycle riding and I just got a free bus pass from work, there's still something holding me back from selling my car. What about when crunch time hits and I'm going home late at night? How about when we have to take our one car to the shop and I've got to pick up my wife? I can't have her ride on the handle bars of my bicycle and although the bus system in Los Angeles is quite extensive, we're spoiled after so many years of owning our own cars.

A motor scooter is one possible solution--I just got my motorcycle permit just to keep my options open. There are some interesting all electric scooters, but what if I run out of juice on the road? Recharging the batteries takes longer than filling a gas tank. In addition, the electricity in our area is generated by burning oil so it isn't exactly clean energy. The old two-stroke scooters are dirty, noisy and don't get great gas mileage, but the new 4-stroke models are a big improvement.

Of course the Vespa is pretty much the standard when it comes to motor scooters and their smaller, 50cc engines, reportedly get up to 80 miles per gallon. However, Piaggio, the company that makes the Vespa, announced a hybrid model that get something around 140 miles per gallon.

So when I'm not riding the bike or the bus I might be running around town on a Hybrid Vespa and saying, "Ciao!" (Eddie Izzard reference.)

Here's the lowdown on the little Vespa Hybrid scooter.

The HyS (Hybrid Scooter) models are parallel hybrids, combining four-stroke combustion engines with electric motors. The electric motor provides power assist, supplying a 25% boost in power for acceleration over the first few meters (a good feature for lunging through urban traffic), while at the same time supporting a 20% decrease in fuel consumption.

The rider uses all the normal controls (accelerator, brakes and additional handlebar commands) as well as a specific switch to choose one of four operating modes:

* Standard hybrid
* High-charge hybrid
* Low-charge hybrid
* Electric-only

In the first three modes the HyS manages power output from the engine and the motor using a drive-by-wire type system. The electronic management system interprets the rider’s request for more torque and selects the assist ratio based on the battery’s state of charge.

Regenerative braking recharges the batteries.

In standard-hybrid mode the battery charge is maintained at optimal traction levels (batteries at 75%). The high-charge hybrid function is geared to maximize the range of the electric motor (batteries at 95%).

If, on the other hand, the rider wishes to recharge the batteries using the 220V battery charger by plugging into a power outlet, he or she can use the low-charge hybrid mode (batteries at 20%) to obtain maximum performance with minimum consumption. (Charging time is about three hours.)

In electric-only mode, the Piaggio HyS shuts down the combustion engine and turns into a silent, zero-emission electric vehicle—an important consideration for those European cities that are increasingly placing restrictions on emitting vehicles.

The control system not only manages the combined power output of the engine and motor, but also forces the engine to work when it can be most efficient, thereby reducing specific consumption, with advantages in terms of lower consumption and emissions.

Why did the Snake Cross the Bike Path?

When commuting by bicycle you get to see all sorts of weird stuff laying on the side of the road. I had to stop and take a photo of this rattlesnake that almost made it accross the bike path.