Second race, second place but what about Mary's Prayer?

June 27, 2008

Do you remember that 80s song, Mary's Prayer by Danny Wilson? For some reason I was wasting time surfing tonight and that song was floating around my head? Unfortunately that seems to be the best of the songs floating around my head lately. It's a challenging time for music right now. There seems to be absolutely NOTHING inspirational! That being said, I'll answer the question everyone asks me all the time, “What's on your iPod Mr. DJ?” and the answer is as follows: Two albums from last year from M.i.k.e, “Moving on in Life” and “The Perfect Blend”. Also, there's a new'ish group called Alter Ego with a fantastic new album title, “Why Not?!”. “Gary” and “Jolly Joker” seem to be the stand out songs for me. UNKLE are also doing the rounds once again and Sasha's, “Involver” is back in heavy rotation. What a truly amazing album that was. By the way, he's got a new one coming out as soon as he stops spending time with his new son… It's not going to be similar to Involver 1, 2 is going to be a much more up beat affair. Plenty of Access Virus on Involver 1 and I'm sure it will appear on #2 as well. Oh, I bought one of those by the way "

The Access Virus TI Snow arrived a short while ago and I've been busy digging into this amazing sonic machine. I fell in love almost instantly and it lived up to ALL m hopes and dreams. For a while I either felt like 'a kid in a candy store' or 'Alice disappearing down the rabbit hole'. The Virus has a huge variety of presets and millions of sonic possibilities but gets complicated fast. Finding my way around the hardware and software were not an issue for me, nor was getting it to make unique sounds. Getting it to make practical sounds or the exact ones I wanted, well that's another story. I still have no clue what I'm doing. It's clear though that even though I have what I believe to be, the best synth in the world, it's still not easy to make a great record and I need to spend more time working on my skills as a sound designer. These are skills I work on augmenting when I'm not riding my bike which is a nice segue into weight loss and bike riding …

Race #2 and I placed second. I was, it must be said, grossly disappointed to place second! I was the best on the day by far. I hate to lose but I especially hate to lose by a few inches on the line! Let me run through the details ...

The race was certainly slower than the first one. This time we averaged only 22mph (approximately), I use the term 'only' loosely. I was certainly comfortable the entire race, despite getting only 5 hours of sleep. I attempted two breaks but both failed due to break away partners that didn't have the legs to maintain the massive pace and energy it takes to ride off the front of the race and stay off. This was an awful shame as all I needed was a few laps out front, 10 seconds gap to the main filed and 2 laps to the finish I could have ridden almost anyone on the day off my wheel to a solo win. Unfortunately, the riders on the day seemed to take great pride in getting off the front, looking back and thinking, "Wow, that was great we got a big gap." Only to say two seconds later, "oh shoot, now I'm have nothing left - it's over."

On this Sunday there were plenty of return riders that knew full well how fast my sprint and final kick to the line would be and so they marked me pretty heavily. This created a number of problems as I didn't have a team to draft my way to the line so needed to do a great deal of work myself. I spent a great deal of energy staying in the first few places from the front and even needed to take the race into my own hands to bring a break away back in order to make sure it all came together for the final sprint. Determined to NOT let a break away ruin my day or chance to win. I know this was a stupid thing to do but I waited as long as possible and realized now one else had the legs or the tactical intelligence to realize the race was over if we didn't bring this guy back and fast. So in one or two laps (I forget) I rode flat out on the front and brought the entire race back together then slipped back in to rest up for the finishing sprint.

With 3 laps to go we were all together and I stayed in second place from the front doing no work to pull the peloton to the line. With 2 laps to go I was pretty surprised at the tempo change in the last mile and half. We accelerated from 22mph to 28 strung out in a straight line (if you weren't in the front now, you weren't in with a chance to win). We rounded the final corner and came into the finishing straight at 30mph(!!!) where I was very quickly boxed in. I saw a break in the line of riders boxing me in and yelled at them to get out of the way and accelerated through. From there it was a full on sprint at 35mph to the line. I beat 5 sprinters and noticed out of the corner of my right eye one starting his sprint approximately 4 seconds later than me, this was the guy that beat me on the line!

It was not a misstake, I had no choice but to wind up my sprint when I did. If I waited to execute I would probably have finished in the pack. My sprint was flawless, my kick was consistent even though midway through I had expected to be able to sit back down and ride to the line easily dropping everyone. Unfortunately that wasn't the case, the field was too strong, no one was tired because the race had been too slow, so everyone had legs. I was in the worst pain I've ever been in on a bike midway through my sprint but held it still for another 5 yards to the line. Unfortunately I was beaten on the line but truth be told, I started too early, maintained the fastest sprint I have and couldn't have given it anymore. So, I was beaten because I went too early and had absolutely no lead out. I didn't like losing, did I say that already?

I return to race one week from Sunday where I expect to register a win with my new team and my new team uniform. I'm very excited to ride with a team again and am looking forward to winning. I'm very happy with how this season has been going. Especially if I look back on where I was and all I went through last year, I'm lucky to be here and excited to be making it onto the winner's podium.

One thing I'd like to improve is my recovery. Unfortunately I'm either getting older and not recovering like I used to or simply working too hard. I've been feeling horrible since the race, perhaps because I needed to dig so deep? I've also had bike fit issues. Bike fit issues should be resolved as I've consulted with Sean and Scott and spent 2 hours fitting me back on the bike again in the most aerodynamically and racing special way. I also upgraded a number of parts on the bike, it's now got beautiful white all over it ?

So, recovery aside, it all seems to be coming together this season and I certainly look set to get a lot of wins under my belt. This season is definitely much harder than last year, I probably enjoyed last year more, but I love going out there and tearing my bike apart in an attempt to be the best and prove it every week! If I can win next time I may take a few weeks off to recover and give my knees, back, elbows and everything else that hurts a rest. It would be nice to ride my bike slowly for a while and enjoy riding again ?

I'll keep you all posted on how things are going ...

The need and difficulty to recover completely

June 14, 2008

I think I underestimated the need and time it would take to recover from the effort and pain it takes to do well in a race. I'm not convinced it's all physical recovery either.

I've spent the week feeling a little tired but my body read: legs are certainly fatigued. My legs have had lower power than what I was capable of putting out during the race. Thankfully I managed to ride yesterday and do over 32 miles in less than 1 and half hours, naturally exceeding a 20mph average speed. It felt good to be out on the road and riding for an extended period of time. For no other reason than it was a change from the short high intensity racing. My legs felt strong yesterday but still not 100%. Thankfully I made the call not to race this weekend but will target next Sunday and look for a win in the final sprint. Yesterday I focused on consistency and a high power output, one of my 1 hour long intervals. I started with a 20 - 30 minute warm-up then went hard for the duration. It felt good. There were quite a number of climbs to test my sprints and give my legs a good work out. Mentally I had recovered from the pain of the race and my brain had managed to block out the pain I'd feel after working so hard. My lungs and chest were hurting again last night but I feel good today.

This week will be about working on my control and sprinting at speed. My recovery now from all out efforts is the best it's ever been. It takes me approximately 30 seconds to recover from an all out effort. I probably will only improve that through sleep and rest prior to the race. So, an intense work out on Tuesday and Thursday and then a rest day on Friday followed by a recovery ride of one hour on Saturday and I'll be ready to do battle on Sunday morning.

Additionally this week I need to focus a little on my machine. I'm still having shifter problems when sprinting or exerting significant wattage on the pedals. I hope to get that resolved before the race or Sunday could be a disaster.

Thankfully I'm no longer nervous about racing, I managed to get that behind me with the season opener but I am quite nervous about consolidating my energy and effort during the race, following the wheels and perhaps even attempting a break in the last few miles of the race. I certainly have the top end speed now to power along at approximately 28 mph for a mile or two. If I happen to notice some drops in speed of the peloton then I'll definitely attempt the break. Otherwise I'll sit in the pack and wait for my moment to jump at the end. At least that's the plan anyway. No field sprints for me this week, it's about the win! It's all about sitting there and doing nothing. I will probably also position myself a little further back this time so I can check out the race and who's strong. I know I have the legs to move around the peloton so sitting 14th won't be a problem.

I'll let you all know how training is going ...

The dream synth has arrived, well sort of ...

June 14, 2008

For anyone that knows me, you'll know how fond I am, read infatuated, of the Access Virus and it's incredible sound. For quite some time, since I started producing, I've wanted to add one to my collection. Not for the sake of having one but because I wanted to own and use what I've, for a long time, considered the finest synth ever made. Of course it entirely depends on the sound you're after and the flexibility you need when sound shaping - the Access Virus is perfect to me.

Thankfully with the release of the Access Virus Snow it's now possible to purchase this amazing synth in perhaps it's most appealing form, portable. The Snow arrives early next week along with the Ableton Live 7 upgrade so I'll post a review of each in ... Eh ... Probably a few months when I've finished playing with each.

Before the synth arrives and I become distracted, I'm hoping to complete another song so I can release a 4 track EP on iTunes in the coming months. Lots going on, it's all very exciting to finally be releasing my music globally and from the biggest music store in the world.

Hope you're all enjoying the great weather and the Summer ... Bri

The 2008 racing season is now underway with a 1:05 hour pre-race conditioning ride yesterday and a 15 mile race today. See the results below …

June 8, 2008

It's been a weekend of high temperatures. Not only are we registering temperatures in the 90s, it's also humid. I've been working hard for months, tearing my body inside out for this day, the first race of the 2008 season. Thankfully all of my hard training has paid off with an exciting and hard race.

My condition has been coming for months now and I've flirted with peak performance during the month of May. Thankfully I managed to interval my way through May and get myself back on track and arrive at peak performance for June so today was a dramatic improvement on last years race. Now, onto the results of the race …

The race was 15 laps with 3 sprints thrown in at intervals throughout. Below are my placings in those sprints (yes I contested each one!):

1st Sprint: 2nd place

2nd Sprint: 3rd place (there was a break up the road)

3rd Sprint: 1st place (the break was crushed by the pace of the field)

Finale: 8th place finish

My goal for the first race of the season was simply to finish the race. If I had the legs I promised myself I'd work hard and follow the wheels and see where they led but that I wouldn't put myself too far in the red. Today was tough, even during my warm-up I was observing my heart rate peaking much higher than it should for my power output and speed. Thankfully though I was able to find some almost 1,000 watt moments during the sprints.

I've learned a great deal this winter and studied the last race and the tactics I employed. Remembering how stupid I had been to ride in the wind and not use every opportunity to conserve energy. I was determined to correct all of those mistakes this year.

Today I stayed out of the wind as much as possible. Making no mistakes when conserving energy. Perhaps the only mistakes I made were to start my sprint from 8th place in the group and to sprint for the line 800 yards out. Thankfully though in all cases today I not only had the legs to reach top speed but passed everyone as I came from behind. At one point no one wanted to lead out the sprint and I demonstrated patience to wait for the jump. I saw someone go on the right and I swooped across the field from the left to grab the wheel, determined not to open up the sprint and lead someone else out! Once I knew we were clear of the group and I felt the rider in front of me start to slow I took the inside line and opened up to win by a clear margin. It was extremely satisfying to not only have the legs to pass everyone from so far back but to be able to look back during the sprint and see the rest of the pack far behind. My awareness of who was around me and what was going on was spot on. I believe this helped me today dramatically along with the ability to maneuvre in a large group.

The average speed today was 24.4mph. My top speed, most likely during the sprints, was approx. 33mph. I'm pleased with that result but would like to work on improving my top end sprint speed.

I've come a long way during the winter months. Today I did go into the red several times. I even worried that I may have a heart attack and unfortunately these moments came at the worst part of the race, when the pace was high. Thankfully my hard training and mental preparation helped me get through. I've learned through hard training that these moments are what separate great cyclists from people who like to race bikes. Those are the moments when you either lose the wheel in front and watch the race ride away or you dig deep and hang on. Thankfully today I not only hung on but was a marked rider during the sprints; I hung no worse than 8th position in the pack and I can't wait for next week when I will conserve energy throughout to contest the overall win. Watch this space …

RIAA Drops Allofmp3 Lawsuit; Pretends Mp3Sparks Doesn't Exist

June 1, 2008

It's been quite some time since we heard about Allofmp3, the Russian online music download store that offered extremely low prices on DRM-free downloads (you even got to pick your format). The company insisted that it was legal in Russia, and had all the appropriate licenses. Multiple times, the company was brought to court in Russia, and every time, it was found to be legitimate. In fact, the company even tried to pay royalties for the music it sold, but the recording industry refused to accept the payments.

However, the entertainment industry had US diplomats lean on Russia, claiming that if it didn't shut down the site, the US would block Russia's admittance into the WTO. So, eventually, Russia did shut down the site through somewhat questionable means. Of course, within minutes of it being shutdown, the company reappeared under the name Mp3Sparks. In fact, Allofmp3.com accounts worked just fine on Mp3Sparks. And, of course, there are a dozen or so other Russian online download stores that also offer the same sort of deal (and all of which are playing by Russian copyright laws).

For some reason, though, Mp3Sparks just hasn't received nearly as much attention as Allofmp3, and it seems like The Pirate Bay has taken on the role of "public enemy number 1" for the recording industry. So, it should come as little surprise that the RIAA has dropped its lawsuit against Allofmp3.com, saying that the company is now defunct, while totally ignoring Mp3Sparks.

RIM Tells India That It Simply Cannot Snoop On Blackberry Email

June 1, 2008

A few months back, we noted that the Indian government was demanding that RIM let government officials snoop on emails sent via Blackberry devices, or they would be banned in India. I'm not sure why it took so long for RIM to point this out, but it finally has explained to the government the nature of its encryption scheme which means that RIM itself cannot decrypt messages sent via the network, since they're based on an encryption key set up by the end user. It's not clear how India is going to respond, though the article notes the two sides are "talking."

Microsoft Apparently Still Confused About The Long Tail Concept

June 1, 2008

The concept of "The Long Tail" seems so common to be almost a cliche these days. While it used to be a part of nearly every startup's VC pitch, it's long passed the point where VCs now roll their eyes when they hear about a "long tail" company. However, it appears that plenty of folks are still unfamiliar with the concept. For example, Microsoft seems to be killing off Xbox Live games that aren't performing well, even if they have some audience. Microsoft claims that it's because it's too confusing to find games, but as Chris Kohler points out in the link above, that's a problem of Microsoft's Xbox Live interface -- not the fact that there are too many games. Cutting off the games doesn't make much sense. It doesn't "cost" Microsoft much to keep them on the shelves, and these unwanted games can bring in plenty of revenue in the aggregate. The real problem is that Microsoft needs to fix its UI.

Loveparade 2008

June 1, 2008

Trailer for the Loveparade 2008 in Dortmund, July 19th - what some call "the greatest Party in the world".

Announced artists include: Richie Hawtin, Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren, Carl Craig, Dubfire, Anja Schneider, Audion and Underworld.

Moby On DJing, The Detroit Electronic Music Festival

June 1, 2008

Moby is making his Movement debut at this weekend's Detroit Electronic Music Festival.

Here are a few of the highlights:

What goes into putting together a live show versus a DJ set?

When I DJ, it's just me playing my favorite records by other people. One of the things I love about DJing is the impromptu spontaneity of it. Every time I DJ it's quite different. You establish this symbiotic relationship with the audience, where they're responding to you and you're responding to them, and you never know what your next record is going to be. It could be this fantastic moment where everyone in the crowd throws hands in the air or it could be a trainwreck where everyone decides to go to the bar and ignore what you're doing.

What do you spin?

It all depends. I mean, sometimes I'll play brand new electro tracks, sometimes I'll play old house and techno, sometimes I'll break out some old hip-hop records, sometimes its Guns N' Roses and Pulp. It depends on where I am, and what seems to be appropriate and/or inappropriate.

Do you DJ with vinyl?

I used to, but I stopped playing vinyl about a year ago because I was traveling too much, and traveling with vinyl it's just really heavy. If you have two big flight cases filled with vinyl it weighs about 75 pounds, so running through an airport with two big flight cases of vinyl logistically was just a pain in the (behind). So now, like most of the DJs I know, I'm DJing with CDs, and the great thing about that is they weigh nothing, you can carry all your music with you and if you lose something you can burn it again off your laptop.

This is your first appearance at Movement. Has this festival been on your radar?

Oh yeah, I've known about it for years. The first time I went to Detroit was in 1991 or 1992, and I believe the first time I came to Detroit I played at St. Andrews with the Prodigy and Richie Hawtin. So I've been coming to Detroit regularly for almost 18 years, and, it goes without saying that Detroit is definitely the American center for electronic music, so it makes perfect sense to have DEMF there. Also, without the originators Juan Atkins and Carl Craig and Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May electronic music today would probably look very different. It's very safe to say they're the ones who started it.

Were they an influence on you?

Oh yeah, in the late '80s I would basically buy any electronic record that had a 4/4 kick to it. So whether it was house music from Chicago or the early Transmat records, it was very inspiring. A lot of the music that came out of Detroit in the late '80s and early '90s was more thoughtful, intellectual dance music. Something like a record by the Suburban Knights, it was a great record to listen to, but it was not exactly a floor filler that you could play at 2 o'clock in the morning. Then there were the crossovers, like Strings of Life that ended up being such a huge dance hit, but such an unlikely dance hit, because it doesn't even really become a dance song until about a minute and a half into it. So it was interesting when tracks like that would cross over.

Have you become friends with any of those Detroit originals?

I've known them for years. I've toured with all of them at this point. I toured with Richie Hawtin and the Plus 8 sound system, Dan Bell, Derrick May, and I remember DJing with Carl Craig in 90 or 91. Kevin Saunderson and I, we had the same manager for a long time in the early '90s, and Juan Atkins, I toured with him in '96. I haven't actually seen or talked to any of them in probably a year or more, but I run into them all in the most random places. You'll find yourself in Stuttgart at 5 o' clock in the morning at a truck stop, and you're buying a magazine and a coffee and there's Derrick May.

Whatever would we do if the government didn't protect us from, not only each other, but ourselves!?

June 1, 2008

It appears that EU officials are way too worried about social networks! Thankfully there aren't any big burning issues for them to resolve in the world which gives them free time to focus on non existent issues with social networks.

What is it about politicians that make them absolutely freak out about things that they really shouldn't be worried about? The latest is that the EU internet security agency ENISA is calling for all sorts of new laws to be put in place concerning social networks. It sounds like most of the proposed laws will take care of really minor "problems" that might occur at the expense of annoying just about everyone. For example, it wants laws to be put in place saying that you cannot post someone's photo online without their consent. You can understand the extreme case they're looking to prevent (someone putting up embarrassing photos), but that's rare, and the trouble it will cause for normal folks just taking snapshots will be immense.

ENISA is apparently also really worried about the fact that (I kid you not) people don't realize that you can befriend people via a social network that you don't really know (gasp!). The thing is, social conventions seem to take care of most of these problems without the need for any sort of special legislation, but if you're a government agency, I guess it's only natural to think in terms of what laws can you add.

Alexander Courage, Composer Of Star Trek Theme, Has Died

June 1, 2008

Alexander Sandy Courage, who composed the theme for Star Trek in the 1960s, has died. He was 88.

Courage, who had been in declining health since 2005, died May 15 at an assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, said his step-daughter, Renata Pompelli.

After launching his 54-year career as a composer for CBS Radio in 1946, Courage became an orchestrator and arranger at MGM in 1948.

Over the next dozen years, he worked on a string of classic musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun, Show Boat, The Band Wagon, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Gigi. He later was an orchestrator for musicals including My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, Doctor Dolittle and Fiddler on the Roof as well as for films including The Poseidon Adventure, Jurassic Park, Basic Instinct, Hook and The Mummy.

He made a very big contribution to the musical life of Hollywood from the end of the second World War to recent years, Oscar-winning composer John Williams told The Times on Thursday.

He was known to most musicians in the community as having been one of the architects of what we used to refer to as the MGM sound, which meant that most of the musical films from MGM had a particular style of orchestration, which was an extension and development of what was done in the theater in the 1920s, Williams said. They actually took that to a very high art form, particularly in the musicals produced by Arthur Freed.

He began composing for television in 1959 and wrote music for more than 350 episodes of series that included The Untouchables, Laramie, Daniel Boone, Judd for the Defense, Lost in Space, Land of the Giants, The Waltons, Eight Is Enough, Falcon Crest, Flamingo Road and many others.

On Star Trek

Courage was no science-fiction fan when Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry asked him to score the pilot episode in 1965.

I never have been a sci-fi fan, Courage later told film music historian Jon Burlingame. But I thought, 'Well, what the heck. It's another show.'

Roddenberry, Courage recalled, said he didn't want the show's score to sound like space music, nothing far out.

He wanted something that had some . . . drive to it, Courage recalled. In fact, he told me to always write that way through the show, all of it.