Another Snow Commute

Two inches of snow have fallen. The temperature is in the low 20's. I took the long ride home - maybe 10 miles. At least there was no wind. Snow was on the edge of the road. The streets had been treated. All the motorists had gone home early. I had the road mostly to myself. I didn't slip at all, but my generator kept losing traction on the tire. So I would slow down until it caught grip again. The picture is taken in my heated workshop so the snow is going away. It's kinda crowded down there with bike stuff! I have the Minnehaha canvas saddlebag on the back and an old Madden pannier. The tires are 700C X 35. I wouldn't mind bigger but these did fine for the days ride. I had 40's on there before and the ride was very pleasant. The fenders are stainless steel Berthoud. They reach almost to the ground.

The snow was sort of powdery and a little on the wet side once it warmed up.

You can see that the light is still slightly illuminated due to the standlight feature of my generator light. It stores energy in a capacitor within the light unit. The capacitor acts like a battery and allows the light to stay on for a couple of minutes after the generator has stopped.

Admire the new handlebar wrap - Fizi'k! I love the stuff. I just swapped handlebars with my sons bike. I grabbed a stem from another bike and voila! I have a comfortable adaptable cockpit. The stem is longer so I have more forward reach. The bars have a consistent width so I can mount more devices on them. I have a Minoura bar extender that holds a camera mount and a light mount. I have a bell and a Delta Zounds air horn. I think I'll be able to fit it all on there. Maybe I'll even put the GPS on too!

Foxes can't stop Devils' Zajkowski

High school boys basketball: King George at Culpeper

Date published: 12/8/2010

BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

Josh Luzier is a first-year head coach for King George High School.

But he was an assistant for the Foxes' boys basketball team last year.

So Luzier knew Culpeper's Bobby Zajkowski is a sharpshooter.

He told his players to guard Zajkowski tightly at the 3-point line to make him drive to the basket.

They didn't listen.

Zajkowski was consistently left open last night as he burned the Foxes for eight 3-pointers and 31 points as the Blue Devils rolled to a 91-71 season-opening Battlefield District home victory.

"The boy can shoot the lights out," Luzier said. "The problem I have with my guys is their assignment was to get up on him and make him dribble the ball because a 3 for him is basically a layup. My guys wanted to lay off him and give him that one inch. You can't do that."

Culpeper also got 21 points from junior guard Josh Majors, while Eastern View transfers Drayton Shanks and Walter Banks combined for 23 points off the bench.

The Blue Devils (1-0, 1-0 Battlefield District) looked nothing like the team that finished 6-9 last season and 0-21 two years ago.

"It's only one game," Culpeper head coach J.T. Thompson said. "We looked good."

Thompson said the Blue Devils' size advantage is what made the difference last night.

Forwards Shanks, Devonte and Dante Deans combined for 31 rebounds.

Still, King George (1-2, 0-1) trailed just 61-60 entering the fourth quarter after outscoring Culpeper 20-13 in the third.

"After my halftime speech, they bought into what we're trying to do," Luzier said. "When we run what we're supposed to run and stick to our set plays, we're pretty deadly."

The Blue Devils blitzed the Foxes with a 10-1 run to open the final period as Zajkowski connected on two 3-pointers. Shanks' put-back gave Culpeper a 75-64 advantage and the Blue Devils never looked back.

"We just let up on defense and we weren't boxing out," King George senior guard D.J. Lewis said. "We have to get our defense and rebounding better."

Lewis' offensive game was intact. He poured in 29 points. Fellow senior Matt Mohr added 23 points.

Lewis opened the game with a 12-point first quarter on 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line. But that's also when Zajkowski buried three 3s and tallied 14 of his points.

"It's no secret. That's what he does. He shoots 3s," Thompson said of Zajkowski. "But if you paid attention to the game, he made his 3s, but missed two point-blank layups."

That was just a minor detail.

Luzier said Zajkowski and the Blue Devils could be a force in the Battlefield because of their quickness, athleticism and shooting ability.

"They come at you with athlete after athlete," Luzier said. "The shooting they have, the penetration they get, the speed of their team, it's hard to combat."

Scoring

King George (1-2, 0-1): Wayne Wyatt 4, Derrick Joines 8, Matt Mohr 23, D.J. Lewis 29, Damian Carrol 4, John Brown 2, L.J. Baylor 1. Totals: 25 19-23 71.

Culpeper (1-0, 1-0): Josh Majors 21, Bobby Zajkowski 31, Dante Deans 8, Devonte Deans 8, Nik Stewart 0

Date published: 12/8/2010

This is on a ride to work when the temps were in the low 20's. I have on my sweatpants, a Sugoi softshell jacket with a Pearl Izumi nylon shell over it, my balaclava from Campmor and my fingerless removable mittens. The bag under my arm is the camera bag. I am using a Kodak z981 with 26x optical zoom, 26mm to 676mm 35mm focal length equivalent. It uses 4 AA batteries. The previous models used 2 AAs and had a problem with battery life. The camera takes up to 14MP shots. I got the camera on Craigslist for $140 a couple months ago. It is selling for about $200 new now. It is still the latest model. It offers an LCD screen or the viewfinder to save batteries. It does NOT have a hotshoe for an external flash. The built in flash works fine for me.