Update 1:  Upon doing some more research on this supposed letter I came across another slightly different version of the letter at the forums on Snopes.com.  There is no confirmation as to whether or not the letter is legitimate or not, but until its confirmed I have removed the letter from my posting.

As I was perusing my morning news links I came across a reprint of a letter written by a person named Anne Kilkenny. Ms. Kilkenny claims to have known and worked with Sarah Palin on City Council in Alaska. Understandably the letter and statements have to be taken with a grain of salt. As there is always two sides to a story, but the "achievements" that Sarah Palin made while in office do not sound like those that would make one worthy as a candidate for a high ranking office. (Update 2: Removed the text of the letter.)
I read the letter at these two sites originally: fairlyconservative.com and my2bucks.

I am not normally one to comment on politics, but this year's presidential race has been interesting. Obama and his cult like following, always in the media. Everyone was talking about him. They were talking about anything in particular, just him. It's kind of like that old Seinfeld episode about nothing. The media talks about him being here, there, talking to this person and that person, but nothing with any "substance". He was everywhere and you couldn't visit a media outlet anywhere without seeing or hearing his name.
Then a few days ago old McCain announced his running mate Sarah Palin. Poof, Obama was gone. No more Obama this and Obama that. It's all about Palin and her family issues. The issues should not even matter in the first place but it's all that the media is talking about now. Is it possible McCain's pick was more about marketing and putting his campaign in the media than the actual capabilities of the pick? I think so. I am also sure that by picking a woman McCain is hoping to pick up some of Hillary Clinton's supporters. I find it hard to believe that many supporters of Hillary will jump to support someone as "right" as Palin though.
This race has definitely done one thing, it has me watching politics a lot closer than I have in the past, even on a local basis. It seems that there might actually be a candidate for mayor in Virginia Beach that has a chance at beating out our current troll of a mayor. Sessoms seems like he might be a worthy candidate, but I will have to do some research on him before coming to a conclusion. Then again, anything is better than Meyera.

I downloaded and installed Google's new web browser called Chrome.  So far it's nice, not great, not super, not awesome, just nice.  Chrome isn't bloated with excess features and plug-ins, the memory footprint is relatively small, and it's fast.  It opens fast and renders pages fast.  Once opened the lack of menus is the first thing I noticed.  No File, Edit, View, just a row for tabs and an address bar.  The bookmarks toolbar can even be hidden to further simplify the view. 

I wont waste much more time going in to detail about all the capabilities of the browser though.  There are tons of in depth articles on the web like this one at Lifehacker.com if you want to find out about all of the features. 

I dont see Chrome taking over the browser world, but it has it's place.  Especially with the Application Shortcut feature.  This one feature alone would have kept me from just tossing it to the wayside.  Chrome's lower memory usage makes using it to run "desktop web applications" more feasible.  I set up a desktop application shortcut with Chrome for one for one of my favorite online music services called The Sixtyone.  I then right clicked and assigned the hot key combination Ctrl + Alt + S to it.  When opened and running for an extended period of time it is using MUCH less memory than any of the other options like Firefox or Prism.  I tried this same desktop short cut trick with Google Docs, but ironically the right click feature in Google Docs doesn't work when accessed in Chrome.  

The other reason I decided to continue trying it is the simplicity of the browser.  I like the minimalistic, clutter free, interface.  It removes the extra distractions and lets me just browse the web.  Isnt that what a browser is supposed to do anyways?

Awesome! Simply put this new plugin called Ubiquity for Firefox browser has the possibility of being incredible. It's still in beta now and was just released to the public but it's obvious that it could drastically change the way we work with and interact with web based applications and email.
It works similar to a keyboard (hot key) application launcher like Launchy or Quiksilver only it's for commands in the Firefox Web Browser. For instance you want to search Wikipedia for "sack of crap aka Kanye West". You hit your key combination (Ctrl+Enter by default) and start typing Wiki..... and it goes to work. Another option is to highlight text on a page you are browsing and then hit the key combo. There are commands for searching Amazon, Yahoo, Flickr, Youtube, and many other places.
Another function of the Ubiquity is to simplify the insertion of web items in to an email. Things like a Google Map or clipping from a webpage can be inserted much easier than by other means.
Enough from me, check out this video on some of the features:


Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

I came across this site today: Chainlove.com. It's the Woot or Steep and Cheap of the cycling world. One new piece of gear at a "crazy" price every day.

The Fort Lee Criterium that is coming up on September 14th is going to be a blast! It's in the older section of Fort Lee, the scenery is nice, rest rooms are close, and there will be plenty of places to just sit back and watch the action. The course itself is a long rectangle covering about five blocks. The start will be on one of two long straight sections and will have a small climb. From there the racers will go in to a 90° turn, a short straight away, then a sweeping fast turn that leads in to another long straight away. This one will be down hill and should be fast. Go 5 blocks make a right turn, another short section, another right turn, and it's back up a slight incline to the finish line. The layout will be a nice change from the ovals that a lot of racers have become accustomed to in "VACA land" and the long straights should make for some awesome sprints! If you haven't registered make sure you do by going here.

Sorry for the lack of posts for so long. I spent last week on an awesome vacation with my family. Now I am back to work playing catch up. Fun, Fun, Fun!
Hopefully this weekend I will get some pictures from our vacation processed and online.

I came across this picture on a blog called Damn Cool Pics.


There are more pictures from the Hamsterlympics here.

Wick, aka Wicknasty, has started up his own blog. Check it out: BigWickNasty

There is this "little" race series that goes on up in Richmond called Go Fast Turn Left. This weekend will be the third installment of the series. It is one of the few events on the VACA calender that you can race both your road bike and track bike on the same day! This event it has been sponsored and promoted a small crew consisting of Braden from Carytown Bicycle Company and few volunteers.
Earlier this week Braden released an email. It stated that due to low pre-registration the event may have to be cancelled. He could not afford to lose money on the event due to a poor turn out. Several people like Kazane Racing and Altius Sports Medecine stepped up to the plate and helped out with sponsorships. With the additional help Braden decided to keep the event on the calendar, but now it's up to the racers to step up and pre-register! If I weren't going to be on vacation five hours away from Richmond I would be there racing!

This really is a fun day! Help support Braden and his efforts and go race!

Picasa Web Albums - Gilbert Craven - Chesapeake Crit

He even caught the picture of me to the left with my "game face" on. Ok, so maybe it wasn't a game face it was more me worrying about keeping my wheels on the ground!

What a great day for a race!  Saturday wasn’t too hot, there was only a mild breeze, and the humidity wasn’t bad.  I was excited about this race.  I got out to the Chesapeake Municipal Center with plenty of time to spare, registered, then started to pedal around to warm up.  I was feeling really good.  I had taken a week off the bike because of everything going on with work, the heat, and getting ready for vacation.  So I was doubtful as to how I would feel out there. 

The race started and in typical Cat 5 fashion there were people all over the place.  I moved up in to the top 5 and attempted to hang there for most of the race.  Richie from, my team, Fat Frogs did his normal thing and rode up on the front setting the pace.  He did this for the lion’s share of the first half.  I made the mistake once again of sitting up towards the front too long once again and dropped back in to the peleton for a few laps.  I stayed there until the last half of the race when I moved my way back up towards the front.  It was a pretty fast race as far as a 5 race goes and the course was a lot of fun.  A little “S” in the back of the course a few 90’s and a nice long straight section on the back. 

With about three to go someone came across from the left clipped my rear wheel then proceeded to go sliding across the pavement.  Having someone come across my wheel like that was a first for me.  It was quite the ahhhh “interesting” experience.  I was a little shook up after than and dropped back a bit.  In the final lap I managed to work up my confidence and get back in to the race.  We hammered it in the back turns spreading the peleton out and went in to the final turn doing almost 30.  Thank god it was a good solid group that was in the turn when we went through it at that speed!  We sprinted for the line for a clean finish.  I placed 8th.  The Frogs had some great placing for this race.  Richie took 2nd, Matt Keane 7th, myself 8th, Bud 10th, and I think there possibly two or three other Frogs in the top 15.

There were a lot of photographers on hand to catch all the action!  They got a lot of awesome photographs! 

Here’s some links to the pictures I have found so far:

Martin's Picasa Album for the Chesapeake Criterium (Martin took the picture that is part of this post)

Pablo's Gallery

Harold (Solo Fed)'s Pictures

You don't truly realize how small the car is until it's squeezed between two gas guzzling giant SUVs.


Stormyva’s blog - Vox

There's a new photographer in town! Or at least one that I didn’t recognize, but he had some nice glass out at the Peter Teeuwen on Sunday!

Pablo Custodio took some great shots of all of the struggling racers. They can be seen and even downloaded for free here: http://www.digitalimagesbypablo.com/  The picture to the left is was taken by Pablo of Noni Williams…. who like always has a big grin on her face.

Keep an eye on his site after the Chesapeake Criterium on August 9th.... he will be there shooting too.

On Saturday I took the trip of to the MINI Guiness World Record Attempt that was put on by hrmini.com and sevencityminis.com at the Rockahock Campgrounds in Lanexa, VA. More detailed info on that excursion can be found in previous posts so I wont repeat myself here, but here's a link to the PHOTO GALLERIES.
Yeah that is the Mini Oscar Meyer Weinermobile in my side mirror! That was quite the interesting vehicle!

My least favorite actor/comedian does one of Amber's favorites ... Blinkx Video: Will Ferrell is The Phantom of the Opera

My wife directed me to the new Beach Eye Care website today. I found out that Dr. Neatrour has a blog there, but he is a bad bad blogger! He hasn't made a post since May. Come on Dr N..... you can do better than that! :)

About Eyeblog 20/20 | EyeBlog 20/20

Results from the second PLT Time Trial of the 2008 Va Cycling Season have been posted to Bikereg.com. Congrats to all of the Fat Frogs for the great showing and awesome times. Too bad my time sucked!


The Peter Teeuwen Memorial Omnium 23 Mile Time Trial #2 ALSO The VIRGINIA AGE-GRADED STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS Results

This was a pretty eventful weekend…. I got the MINI back on Friday night.  I took it even though Phillips STILL does not have the car fixed 100%.  The only thing that is left for them to do is fix the liner in the wheel well.  Then there was all the fun traffic and the MINI Guinness World Record Attempt.  Sunday was the Peter Teeuwen Time Trial.  With all that stuff going on I forgot to make a post about USAA.  So, here is the post that I promised to some folks. 

This weekend a fellow cyclist and I were talking about my recent blog posts.  She said I sounded very angry with the MINI insurance claim.  She was right, I was very angry when I made those posts, but I am not angry with USAA Insurance anymore.  The service that the new claims adjuster has provided has been excellent.  I can not complain about a single thing since he took over the claim!  He has stayed on top of everything and has helped out tremendously.  It is unfortunate that it took a scathing blog post to get that kind of service though.  Service that I would have expected from a company like USAA right from the start.  He also did a couple of things for me in the end that were not only un-required but completely unexpected. 

When we originally started this whole fiasco I opted for a standard sized car that ran $6.50 per day more than the compact car that USAA had agreed to cover.  The $6.50 a day was not that big of a deal for the original 6 days that I was told would be required to fix the MINI.  For anyone that reads this blog, they will know that that 6 days ended up being 19 days.  With the exception of approximately 4 of those extra days the delays were entirely due to Phillips Automotive’s lack of quality control and workmanship.  Despite that USAA has agreed to cover my out of pocket costs for the upgrade.  That to me is going well above and beyond.

I have changed my opinion about USAA Insurance.  It does appear that they do have some good people, ones that do care about taking care of the customer and providing good customer service. 

Hopefully I won’t need to deal with any more insurance claims any time soon!

Time Trials SUCK!  I went in to this one knowing that but was determined to do well anyways.  I did not succeed in doing well!  It started out with the never ending 6 mile stretch in to what felt like a steady head wind.  Then a turn in to more wind.  Then a turn in to more wind.  It did not feel like the wind ever let up.  Then about 35 minutes in to the ride I started to feel dizzy.  A couple more minutes then the nausea kicked in.  Another mile or two and I started getting the chills.  Now that was a weird feeling!  Riding along, I could feel the heat from the pavement and the warm air.  Yet I still had goose bumps and a chill.
I kept on riding and pushing as best I could, but I was not doing well at all.  It took everything I had just to make it back to the finish line.  Once off the bike it took a few minutes before I could actually stand with out holding on to something.
I can not remember ever having to push myself that hard for such a horrible result.  I think my time was right at or slightly under one hour.  That's a horrible time especially for what seemed like such a hard effort.  Maybe time trials just arent "my thing".