http://www.ripton.net/blog Python, Linux, Bicycles, Books, Games, Etc. Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:39:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Stan Miller and I rode the DC Randonneurs 600 together back in early June. We didn't finish, mostly due to the heat. But Stan was determined to do a full SR series this year, and emailed me a couple of days later, asking if I wanted to ride ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=56 This one is no fun to write because it's the first time I've failed to finish an organized ride. Friday night, I did some last-minute work on my bike (which I should have done days before so I'd have time to make sure it was right). Finished about 9. ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=55 Last year's 400 was really hard for me. I got lost and I had stomach problems and I dehydrated and I bonked and I had 4 flat tires (1 blowout, 1 puncture, 2 bad fixes). But I finished. So I was a bit worried this time, even ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=54 My favorite road bike was sometimes making a funny creaking noise that sounded like handlebars but wasn't (because it continued when riding no-hands).  And it had a slow leak in the rear tire that I didn't feel like fixing.  And my rear brake pads were pretty worn and I didn't ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=53 I biked to work all winter, except for a couple of weeks when record snowfall made the W&OD Trail nearly impassable. But I hadn't done a ride longer than 35 miles since November. And I was still carrying way too much winter weight, which would make climbing hard. ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=52 At PyCon, Maciej from the PyPy team asked for programs that the PyPy JIT did a really bad job on. I have a directory full of over 200 little Python programs that attempt to solve Project Euler math problems. Only 186 of them get the right answer, and fewer of ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=51 They plowed the W&OD Trail! Woo-hoo! It's now rideable with a road bike, without studded tires, at least until the next time it snows. Great job by the park maintenance crews, and thanks to whoever made the decision to finally do this. And all the fallen trees I ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=50 If you somehow haven't heard, the Washington DC area got about 30 inches of snow in early February.  Too much to bike through.  They plowed the big roads, and then the small roads, and then most of the very small roads.  But not the bike paths. My commute is from Ashburn ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=49 PyCon was in Atlanta this year, which got me away from the record snow in the DC area.  Yay for winter conferences being in warm places.  (Nothing against Chicago, but Chicago conferences should be in the summer.) Attendance was about 1100, a little more than last year, but nothing like the ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=48 I've been working on Slugathon on-and-off (but mostly off) since 2003. The bare minimum feature set that I consider necessary to do a serious alpha release is almost done. (Release early, release often; but if you release before you actually do anything useful you might just leave a ... http://www.ripton.net/blog/?p=47