A little over 5 years ago I wrote two posts titled “Winds of change” (I and II). The first post highlighted a video from Kodak titled “Winds of Change“. The video has since been removed by the user who posted it, so I’m republishing it below because it was terrific then and it still is terrific. And now at the same time tragic as well. Kodak declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week. They exuded confidence 5 years ago that they were going to conquer this digital thing. Heck, they invented the first digital camera! But, obviously they didn’t conquer it – at least not in their current form. Kodak is one of the true icons of American culture. Kodachrome is lauded in song, and phrases like “Kodak picture” and “Kodak moment” are still used today. Even though when those phrases were coined it referred to film.

The second “Winds of Change” post was about Windows Vista, which I still argue was better than its predecessor Windows XP. But I wouldn’t ask my worst enemy to use it now. However, Microsoft is in a go-either-way position right now. Many are starting to write them off as has-beens. Others are saying just wait, it’s Microsoft’s year. Microsoft can keep trudging along for years before they are in Kodak’s position, but they do need to start innovating again.

The point of this post was originally to just get you to watch the Kodak video again. But it’s also a helpful reminder of many things. First, things change. Constantly. No revelation here. How we manage the change will determine our success. I’m managing some change in my life right now. Some days are better than others. I’m also embarking on some new ventures soon. Some that I hope to write about soon. It involves writing, blogging, and posting more content. About stuff that I enjoy. I hope that it spills over into writing more on this site (or at least cross-posting). That would be a change for the better. This first post of the new year is me managing change – better late than never.

For the past several years I have had a couple of what I like to call “marker” bike rides. They are rides to let me know that I’m progressing adequately in my training. The Virginia MS Ride is one I’ve been doing for 12 years now. It is a ride that involves riding a long distance (75 miles each day), and it includes some hill climbing. No major elevations, but enough to challenge the legs. So my marker rides are a long day in the saddle, and a hill climb.

Today, I did the hill climb. Virginia has the great benefit of having some beautiful mountains in the western part of the state, and beaches in the east. The Blue Ridge Mountains happen to be just over an hour from my home, so I start from a base there and head almost immediately uphill.

This year I brought along some technology with me – my iPhone. Alright, I usually bring my iPhone, but a service called Strava allows me to use the iPhone’s built-in GPS to track my ride and plot my course, as well as my changes in elevation. The result is the page with the map you see above.

I am using the free version (5 rides a month) to get an idea of how the service works. It’s $6 per month to have unlimited rides. I like getting details on rides like the climb to Skyline Drive, but I don’t personally need details on every ride. For me it’s just fascinating to see the data on those special rides, and seeing how hard I did ( or didn’t ) work.

Last year about this time, and certainly during last year’s MS Ride in June, I was convinced that I would take a year off. I had done the ride for ten years in a row. I had my share of bad breaks with two flats the first day and an eye infection that left me wearing my normal glasses on the second day. Let me tell you, the main reason I got contact lenses 25 years ago was that wearing glasses during a hot summer’s day bike ride is a pain. The photo that you see associated with this post is of me at the finish of the 2009 ride. I have a big smile on my face because I’m done. I also had my wife and son greeting me at the finish line.

This was also the time when we were dealing with a flooded basement in our relatively new home. Lots of obstacles seemed to be getting in the way of me training, and therefore, enjoying my rides. I felt slightly less prepared for the ride than usual. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t the first rider in Williamsburg. Well, despite all of what happened last year, I will be riding the 2010 edition of the MS Ride. The reason that I will is that it has become a habit. It’s something that I can still do. The obstacles that got in my way last year are nothing compared to the obstacle that is MS. All of the stuff that got in my way were mere inconveniences. What I enjoy is the challenge every year. Sure each year I ride, I will get progressively slower, and there will always be younger riders that will ride ever faster. The more I do the ride, it’s more about being reminded of the struggle, and how minor it is in comparison to people with MS. I ride for Bruce Lowery, husband of Pam Lowery, whom I work with at the University of Mary Washington. Pam has shared with me that Bruce’s struggle has stabilized somewhat, but life is still a quite a bit of a struggle living with MS.

I hope that you can support my ride this year. Encourage me to suffer for two days and 150 miles, if only to remind me that my life is pretty good.

Visit my Personal Page and donate what you can. Thank you.

Andy

This is just extra special news for me personally. I’ve known about the possibility of this reunion for a few weeks now, but seeing others in my Twitter network tweet about it makes it very much more real. Blur, one of my recently discovered favorite bands, are getting back together and doing at least one summer ‘09 concert. I’ve especially been on a Damon Albarn kick for the last year and a half, having seen his Monkey: Journey to the West opera in Charleston S.C. this past June (more on that in a future post). This is some damn fine news!

For the last several weeks, I’ve been trying to make a dream, reality. I had been seeing this bird house in my dreams, and as of October 30, 2008, I now have it behind my new home in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. So now that it is over (well, almost – as of this writing we still have a small truckload of stuff to move yet) I can apologize to my DTLT colleagues for being such a basket case the last few weeks. Alright, more of a basket case than usual. I made the classic mistake of falling in love with a house that I wanted to buy. I was also bucking the trend in these poor economic times of going forward with this major purchase. However, along the way I learned more about my determination and more importantly about my friends and family, to make this one of the most valuable processes I’ve ever gone through. This post is to remind me for the future, when I re-read it a year from now, or 5, 10, or 20 years from now, the value we put on things versus the value we put on people.

Now as for a bird, I don’t know how much thought is put into whether a given bird house is in a good neighborhood or not. I don’t know whether the contemporary design will lead to higher resale, or how the previous owners kept the place, but the one pictured above looks like a pretty nice unit. I wonder also if a bird flying in from high in the sky sees this house and wonders whether it’s still on the market. Do they get disappointed if it’s not available? If it is occupied, do they rationalize that “I guess it was not meant to be”?

This was a refrain that I heard from my wife numerous times as we went through the hurdles of buying a “short sale”, which previously I thought meant that the process of buying the house somehow is an abbreviated/quicker version of a regular sale. Boy, was I wrong! A short sale is one that “shorts” the bank who has the mortgage and they agree to sell it instead of foreclosing. The owners of these homes owe a considerable amount of money, so many times these homes are great bargains for the future buyers. We knew the house that existed in front of that bird house was a bargain – but was it meant to be OUR home? When things looked like we weren’t going to get this house, my wife said, “well, maybe it isn’t meant to be.” I said bullshit! (thankfully, I’m able to express myself this way to my wife, and she can be heard to express herself this way to me).

I have the answer to the question for everything as to whether something is meant to be or not. Whatever happens, is what happened. Period. Meant to be? Stop it. There is no plan and the sooner we realize this, the better off we will be. The fact that there is no plan is what’s great about life. If I had listened to my wife about maybe it wasn’t meant to be, then it wouldn’t have been. I would have given up. Now, some amazing things did happen to get this sale done. The title company said that it was the shortest (or at least one of the shortest) amount of time that they ever finished a closing. My real estate agent wanted this to happen as though we were her children. Let me also declare my unpaid endorsement of Virginia Credit Union for all your banking and mortgage needs! People made this happen because lots of hard-working people wanted it to happen. Other things, and people, were merely obstacles to be overcome. Many of the obstacles we encountered had many options for ways to deal with them. We got creative and I/we did our research to maximize our options.

Now, I have to question why I wanted it to happen. It’s a nice house to be sure, but is it better than our old one? There are many memories that we experienced in our old home, not the least of which is that it’s the only house my son has ever known. A few times I got emotional about leaving it. However, something in my wife and me said it was time to go. OK, so I wanted a place to build a new home theater. I wanted a bigger, flatter yard with less trees. I wanted a gas fireplace in the family room and a bigger, more up to date kitchen for my wife (she’s the better cook in the family, just so we’re clear – it’s not because I expect her to be in the kitchen). Of greater importance, though, were things I wanted for my son. A flat place to learn to ride his bike, and more kids his age to play with. I also wanted sidewalks for him and me to walk on, as well as woods (behind the bird house) we could explore together. And maybe, just maybe, there is one more little Rush to come into our family in the near future.

So there. It’s out of my system. I (and others) made it happen. I will invite the many people who were working for us, and cheering us on, over for a big celebration. Time to get to back to work.

Since I’ve had a blog, I haven’t ever used it to solicit pledges for the annual MS Ride that I do. However, this year is somewhat special in that it will be my 10th year of riding for Team BRUCE (Bikers Ride Until a Cure Exists). BRUCE is actually Bruce Lowery, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 1992. Bruce’s wife Pam works here at the University of Mary Washington, and she was at one time my boss in the early days of Instructional Technology on this campus. She recruited me back in 1999, and since Lance Armstrong narrowly beat me out to lead the new U.S. Postal Cycling Team , I told her I would love to do it.

Every year when spring comes and I really think of training seriously for the 2-day, 150 mile ride, I always struggle trying to balance the end of the semester, getting ready for Faculty Academy, and training for the two consecutive 75 mile rides. Then I think of Bruce, who struggles daily with his disease, and Pam, who struggles with him. We ride from Richmond, VA to Williamsburg, VA the first day, and then back again the next. Quite by accident I have established a streak of finishing first in Williamsburg for the last 8 years (I rode a mountain bike the first year – ouch). I consider it a challenge to not just ride, but to finish it as fast as I can and push my body for about 4 hours. I’ve ridden through a lot of weather – rain, heat, and even Tropical Storm Barry just last year. We ride because it’s a little bit of suffering to highlight the larger suffering that goes on daily with people with M.S.

So in honor of my 10th ride, I’d like to take advantage of my larger network and encourage you to help me raise finds for this year’s Virginia Credit Union Ride 2008 (formerly the “Virginia Dare”). Please visit my MS Participant page and click the Donate button. You can also throw me some good vibes on May 31 and June 1. Although I will ride in any weather that they tell me is safe to ride in, I prefer sunny and about 75-77 degrees. You can also check out some photos from Bruce’s Flickr photostream.