The Holy Trinity website project took a back seat the last few months as a long overdue home firewall wall upgrade has been in progress sucking up all free time that climbing doesn’t already consume.  Another week or so and I hope to have that wrapped up and back working on the website.

Heather’s Mom, Anne, was in town for ThanksGiving and it was great to hang out with her and Heather.  We will most likely be visiting her in Iowa for Christmass.  Gotta run.  Peace and blessings to all.

A few brief notes on the upgrade.

1. ubuntu server would not auto recognize flash thumb drives … manual mount
2. named runs under it’s own bind user and the config files for it must be bind group read only
3. apache configuration can be tricky.  You must enable mod_rewrite, set up NameVirtualHost * in the httpd.conf, enable vhost files, create some soft links, etc.  … it’s a battle
4. rsync needs correct sudoers setup
5. postfix has to be configured to forward to ISP

However, there is trouble in paradise.  Where to begin.  First, the nifty shuttle that for a fee whisks riders from Poncha Springs gas station up to Monarch Pass summit three times daily on weekends at 8 am, 10 pm, and noon.  The current shuttle capacity per time slot is just over 40 riders for a grand total of 130 riders per day.  The day we did the ride all three shuttle time slots where at capacity days in advance.  The shuttle is not inherently evil - it meets a need.  Yet, it lowers the barrier to entry for those who would otherwise skip the ride due to the extra logistics of running their own shuttle.

Second, for reasons already illuminated this is a very popular ride.  Our group estimated conservatively that over 250 people did the ride that day.

Third, short sections of the trail, some up to a half-mile in length, have developed into broad loose challenging ‘v’ shaped runnels.

Fourth, recreational riders with poor equipment and skills abound.  I can’t recall any other time when I saw so many riders in sneakers on jalopies (e.g., one with an unleashed dog to boot).  Lastly, riders of all abilities displayed less then stellar trail etiquette on occasion.

Bottom line don’t bother to do the ride if it’s a weekend and you’re a serious rider with other options.  If you have to cow to the weekend scene I advise the following:

1. Lower your expectations.  No matter the start time, shuttle option, solo or in a group, or how sweet the rider your going to have to share the trail like it or not.
2. Communicate.  Ask other riders if they would like to pass or if you can pass.  Try to do so with a kind heart.  Due to the crowds your not going to be setting any time records, so why not make some friends along the way instead of enemies.
3. Stop to smell the roses.  It’s really easy on this ride to get into head down mode.  Take a few breaks with your group, especially early in the high altitude buffed out trail sections, to enjoy your surroundings.

To appease the nerd in me I dumped the raw available numbers (i.e., range, strength, weight) into an Excel spreadsheet and started calculating.  BD C3s are the clear winner on weight and CCH Aliens hold the upper hand for both strength and range.

This MP.com thread has strength and weight chart images.

Note:  I wasn’t able to figure out how to use Excel to come up with a nice looking cam min/max range floating bar chart so if someone could pave the way great!  Download the Excel spreadsheet if you wanna give it a go.

I couldn’t find any numbers for head width to gauge how deeply cams need to be placed for all lobes to engage.  Further, I don’t have a clue about cam physics.  How does cam lobe shape and design impact holding power in sub optimal placements (e.g., tipped out vs. over camed)?

Enlighten me.  I am more interested in hard numbers then nieve allegiance/bias towards a particular product.  Granted CCH has had QC issues, but their base numbers on paper look good from a non scientific view point.

The current version of the Results Query Engine is looking rough around the edges, but it will be fun to plug some of the holes and round this into a fully functional tool. The following lists serve as feature enhancements and bug fix trackers.

Enhancements

1. Clean up the entry form and give it a professional look.
2. Add form inputs for racer names as jQuery using SelectCombo and JSON.
3. Form selects on any give field will activate population of subsequent input fields (e.g., select race, then years are populated, user then selects year(s) and racers are populated).
4. Form option to generate results as download-able file (i.e., Excel XML, Google Docs, etc.)
5. Backend/Frontend to Upload new race results to DB directly, this will be tricky and might be a fantasy feature, but let’s dream big.
6. Figure out a smoother layout in table rows for interval and delta times.
7. Include interval distances as part of interval/delta calculated info.
8. Enable reporting for all races not just the two MTB ones.
9. Calculate split times against all other times to show virtual race place at the time of the split.
10. Race result names could link to another report that would show that racers results for all previous races of that type (e.g. SR 50).
11. Race result names could also have a pop up box on hover that would show abbreviated results for past races, maybe even all race types instead of the one currently being reported on. Screen space might be a problem here. Another possible fantasy feature.
12. Race result racer home towns could link to a Google map or such.

Bugs/Problems

1. Form validation for all inputs.
2. Steamline code base using PHP PEAR HTML_QuickForm.
3. Use javascript to set form values on results runs, this will keep the form from “blinking” on reloads.
4. Change current race and year inputs to use better multi select - default multi is junk and a nightmare to end users.
5. Racer name input box not working.
6. Space the form submit buttons farther apart to increase ease of selection.
7. Is the race data correct for SS type riders, let’s double check the database input program.
8. Tighten up table columns by simplifying header names and using HTML breaks where possible.

Another catch in our office setup was we only had one desk. Sometimes we would both be at the desk each with their own chair plugging and chugging at our keyboards. Sooner then later we drove each other nuts.

I ordered up a Mac Pro (i.e., Two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeons, 5G Memory, ATI Radeon X1900 XT and 250G + 500G HDs) and dual 24″ Dell 2407WFP-HC panels to be mounted to Ergotron LX Desk Mount LCD Arms. Mom loaned me Dad’s old desk which became my wife’s new desk and I set the new goodies up on my old desk.

Compared to the Windows machines I have used for the last 15+ years this is a big improvement.

1. Very fast start up times
2. Only one crash in three months and that was caused by third party software
3. General administration is a snap
4. Unix (i.e., Darwin) as the base OS is a huge plus for a CLI guy like me
5. Runs for weeks at a time without a hickup

True I have had to make some software sacrifices like forgoing OutLook Business suite and bowing to Mac Mail and I still don’t have Adobe CS3 Suite. But other then that my computer life has proceeded normally. If anything the Mac Pro just feels right. With XCode and MacPorts I can compile just about any standard piece of Unix software known. Setting up Time Machine was so easy I was not sure about it so I kept poking around looking for something more to do. The overall philosophy of Mac is just so different then Windows it’s hard to summarize. Mac puts you in the drivers seat and faithfully handles the rest without a bother. That’s a far cry from the Windows way.

Online support for the switch was close by as I did stumble a few times with keyboard shortcuts and the like the first few days.