I've had a couple of people ask about how I get my mountain bike rides listed in the sidebar here. This blog is run on Movable Type, and the sidebar is created by an MT feature called Action Streams. Action Streams are essentially feeds from other sites which are aggregated together on an MT site by a plugin.

The Action Streams plugin itself can be extended by other plugins, usually to add more external sites and services to poll for content. I created one for Garmin Connect, which can be found on my GitHub account or on its page on the Movable Type plugin directory.

It was easy to write, but hopefully this saves someone a little time.

Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, originally uploaded by Gunnar Gestur.

Wonderful picture from the eruption in Iceland.

These are some very nice improvements to the web inspector in the nightly builds of webkit.

This is pretty cool looking. If it weren't for my deep-seated hatred of Sprint (having been a recipient of their "customer service"), I might consider something like this.

"The product was new and complex, but the deception and conflicts are old and simple."

Go get 'em.

Wally Byam is the creator of Airstream, and responsible for the aluminum trailers that are synonymous with the brand's name. He arranged some fascinating trailer caravans in the middle of the last century, and the Airstream Life blog has an interesting article about those trips and two books he wrote. Airstream Life is publishing these books in one collection for $19. Seems like a good price for an interesting look into the history of an American icon. I've ordered mine.

Ouch. More than a year after the Mino HD, and this is what they release?

Awesome.

It set the new record lap time at Fiorano Circuit, Ferrari's private test track, clocking in at one minute and 24 seconds. That is nine-tenths of a second faster than the mighty Enzo.

Damn.

I was lucky enough to get a few rides in before the recent rains. Although getting back on the bike after 4 months of not riding is painful, it's always great to get back on the bike and get outside. My bike needs some TLC in a bad way, though, after a winter of neglect instead of renewal. The 5-Spot is having the finishing touches put on her, so I should be riding that bike soon and will work on the RFX as time permits.

I recently had an encounter with an old friend: my first really good mountain bike, a matte black 1995 Specialized Stumpjumper. I'd sold the bike to a coworker when I acquired its replacement, a full-suspension version of the Stumpjumper, in 2001. It was my first full suspension bike, and I loved it so much I never imagined getting on the old one again, and I liked the idea of getting someone else on it. Sadly, he crashed on one of his rides on it, and it's been hanging in his garage, in bike purgatory, ever since.

I'd tried to buy the bike back from the friend a few times, but he always insisted he might ride it again. Its fork had blown up, creating a twitchy ride, and even though I told him to take it in he never did. And other than a quick ride on the street with his daughter, he didn't ride it.

Another old friend who I'd successfully gotten into mountain biking, if only for a short time, told me he wanted his decent but much neglected Cannondale hard-tail out of his garage. I keep an extra bike for friends and visitors to ride, and so told him I'd take his as an upgrade to that bike. But then I had an idea....

I emailed the friend with my Stumpjumper, and proposed a trade of this bike--in better condition--for my old original, since he wanted to have a bike to ride. He agreed, and I've picked my old bike up. It needs some TLC, but it's good to see it again, and I'm looking forward to taking it out on the trail again. I rode that bike all over, in several different states on many different road trips, and it's a blast from the past for sure.

Maybe I'll take it on a fairly mellow ride, like one of the recent ones I did with Shane and Erik up in the Long Ridge area, which was a new route for me.

If you're planning on going to the Sea Otter this year, here's how to get $10 off registration.

Airstream has some new models for 2010: the International Serenity and a 30' version of the Flying Cloud. The Serenity's layout looks to be the same as the other Internationals, including our 2008 25' model, with a new interior makeover. I appreciate the look of the lighter colors, although imagine that it could look dirty pretty easily. Likewise, I like the interior of the new Flying Cloud--I've always thought the recliners would be nice, even if a 30' trailer is too long for me to truly desire. Nice additions!

I've been thinking of commuting to work on my bike to start building up my legs, but have put it off since I have to figure out the best route. Looks like Google Maps can help better than before. Good news! Preliminarily, it has a couple of good suggestions to keep me off of really busy areas. I'll probably try its route and then branch out a bit from there.

This upcoming mountain bike DVDlooks pretty cool.

Another look at that sweet Porsche hybrid I posted the other day.

Note to self: Must check this area out.