Running fixed gear or single speed this winter, and trying to figure out what your gearing is, what it would be with different combos of tires, cogs and chainrings? Trying to figure out what your cadence is at given speeds without dropping another $40 for a bike computer with cadence for the rat fixie? Check out the Human Powered Vehicle gear calculator, a handy utility website, now also added to the blogroll. Oh yeah, and if you were wondering, I'm running about 67 gear inches, which allows a nice combination of zone 2 training (about 17.5 / 18 MPH at 90 RPM) and big ring drills on the uphills.
We're picking up a dog tomorrow with a little luck, a "smooth" or short haired collie named Bandit. I can't wait. He's a rescued dog. We've met him before, he's a lovely, smart dog. I'm thrilled to death, I've been dog-less for three or four years. That's too long. Here's what he looks like:
We had been looking at German Shepherds and similar breeds, and only came across collies thanks to a visit to the Scottish Games a month or so ago. It turns out they have a lot of characteristics that make them really good family dogs. I never really liked the long haired collies, but the short haired ones are just gorgeous. Both variations are smart, very trainable, generally easy going, good with kids and usually with cats, and very companionable. I'll give you updates, of course. Meanwhile, if you're interested in finding out more about collies, here's our local collie rescue organization, SaveCollies.org.
5 comments:
Good luck with the dog. Every boy should have one. Your son will enjoy it too ;)
Again, I'll second Chris on this. Congrats, Jim! It's great when a homeless dog can find a home... and hope you've got some energy to keep that collie entertained!
It's 7:00am... time to take the vizslas out for walk #2.
A+M+M+J
But please for the love of Pete you have to call him Santa's Little Helper.
My only motivation to move right now is that our condo building doesn't allow dogs. It is an intolerable situation.
If only it was that easy.
Now you've got 2 kids to clean up after. Just like I've got 5. 2 boys, a girl, a border collie and a sheltie. The last 3 all need to be brushed twice a day. The first 2 and the last 2 need to be run for a minimum of an hour a day.
Everytime I reflect on such things I realise why my prime sleeping hours are from 1am to 4am. Often only 5 days a week though, wouldn't want to go soft now.
Thanks for rescuing that dog!
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