Two Things

 

 Testing 1,2,3....

 Just testing out this shiny new laptop I got Friday for this BRAN gig coming up in a couple of weeks. 

I need to be able to update the blog from the road, and well.....  Dragging a PC around isn't very practical. So this laptop was procured and it should provide me with the means to do some writin' on the road. 

I'm still testing this thing out and hopefully images won't be too hard to get the way I want them. You know, technology isn't my best area of expertise, although I will advocate for myself a little here and claim a bit of competency in dealing with new things. 

So, wish me well. 

And for the tech nerds out there I will head off any questions in the comments and let you know what device we ended up with. It is a Lenovo Yoga (I say "Yoda", but Mrs. Guitar Ted doesn't like that!)

So, there ya go. Stay tuned for more from the Yoda laptop soon. 

Note: The above part was posted on the laptop. Now back to the regular PC.... 

Joe Meiser with a Ti Fargo 32 (Image by Steve Fuller)

The 32" Watch: Ti Fargo 32 Completes Century Gravel Ride:

Have you, like me, been thinking a 32"er might be good for gravel road riding? Well, apparently Quality Bicycle Products' own Joe Meiser, a former Trans Iowa winner, thinks it does. He just used a 32"er Ti Fargo to complete the century distance at this past weekend's Heywood Ride. 

Thanks to volunteer Steve Fuller, we have this image and a few details. Apparently Joe chose Teravail Ciclos carbon rims and had these laced to Berd hubs with the Berd spokes which, I would imagine, results in a very lightweight wheel set. 

Those are the Teravail Cannonball 32" tires on there as well. Steve got a quick ride on it and said the bike felt pretty natural to him. It is an XL size, by the way. 

32" Fargos will be available in titanium and steel coming later this year. See your Salsa Cycles dealer for more details. 

And....

I have seen an image of another prototype 32"er which I have been told will work with drop bars or flat bars which will be offered "very soon." This will be coming from a company not known primarily as a bicycle company, by the way. 

Stay tuned..... 

A Digital Infection Affects Cycling's Future

Younger generations find more enjoyment from screen related activities.

Most likely you have noticed something which you feel is true, but maybe you are not sure. It seems younger generations just do not spend a lot of time outdoors, and when you do see youngsters outside, more often than not there is a glowing screen reflecting off their faces. 

Am I dreaming, or is this a real thing?

Well, the National Football League, a multi-million dollar business, has been doing research into trends and fan interest to help them navigate the future. They have found, according to their own research, that younger people are not as interested in watching sports on TV or even live. Their interests are being more and more consumed by "screen time". 

I ran across this because I am a Green Bay Packers fan and I read about this on a site called "Cheeshead TV" here. I'm not certain the cycling industry has the money or is unified enough to accomplish a study like this one I referenced coming from the NFL, but you can safely assume that if the NFL is concerned about "screen time", we as cyclists should be as well. 

Let's be honest, it is hard to sell this over a digital game, unless "you get it".

I suppose it might be a little hard to understand for older folks like myself, but I happen to be a parent of two "Gen Z" people, and let me tell ya, they spend a LOT of time looking at screens! Television used to be The Devil when I was young. I recall a lot of hue and cry regarding how my generation was doomed to fail because we spent so much time in front of televisions. I recall there being concerns over how our generation was going to ruin our eyesight, be heavily influenced to be violent, and be uneducated because we sat in front of television screens. 

Obviously, that all was partially false, or mostly so. I mean, I think I turned out alright. Maybe not.... However; one thing is certain, I did not "fail" because I was born into a generation raised on television. So, perhaps all this hand-wringing over digitally infected minds is overwrought and unnecessary. But also, there seems to be an addictive factor to screen usage. 

According to studies recently published, (detailed in this article from Nicholas Children's Hospital) children are experiencing dopamine release effects similar to those of nicotine or cocaine users while they use digital screens and consume online social media content. That's alarming, and if this is true, it is pretty telling when it comes to the lack of youngster's interests in outdoor activities like sports and cycling in particular. 

We see the effects of this digital infection when we run across distracted drivers.  Even we cyclists are affected when we are consumed by our cycling GPS screens and all the information that gets shoved into our craniums while we are supposed to be enjoying being immersed in nature. It's everywhere, this digital madness! 

So, I hesitate to lay this all on our youth, because if we are honest, we all are being seduced by those glowing screens of doom and those electronic devices we all crave. But one thing is certain, we have a problem, and if we could peel our faces away from the screens to look in a mirror, we might find who to blame.