Category: General Page 3 of 17

I got an email from my friend, Gary Rossi, who runs the Ride Across California for the Rancho Penasquitos YMCA. You remember, the ride Emily and I did last spring. He needs some help in relief efforts for San Diego County families who have been devastated by the recent wild fires.

Here is what Gary’s email said:

I am working with the Community Wild Fire Task Force that is helping meet the needs of the fire families in Poway, Rancho Bernardo and Ramona. We have a group of over 30 organizations finding a variety of items for these families.

I am responsible for finding sporting equipment to replace those items that have been lost.

We are in the process of locating a donor or two for bicycles, 16” and 24”, with the accessories as well as two skateboards with the helmets and pads.

So here’s the question: Can any of YOU help Gary help the families of San Diego County? Put yourself in the place of these kids who have lost everything and please help.

Send me an email or call our voice mail line at 206-203-FRED (206-203-3733) and I will put you in touch with Gary.

THANK YOU!

As you know, less than two weeks ago I was riding my bike from Irvine to San Diego as part of the MS Bay to Bay Bike Tour. Other than a little rain on Saturday morning, it was a wonderful weekend. We were privileged to be riding through some of the most beautiful communities in the nation.

Now all of that has changed.

As you know, Southern California is enduring one of the worst firestorms in memory. I have friends and teammates who right now are camping out in evacuation shelters, hotels, friends’ homes, and offices. All of them are wondering whether they have a house to go home to. And, as Tim Jackson notes on his blog, there are folks in the bike business who are touched by this tragedy as well.

At a time like this, it is impossible not to be concerned and emotional. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone (from Santa Barbara to Mexico) who has been touched by this tragedy.

If you’d like to help out, please take a look at this article from the L.A. Times.

(photo: Mario Anzuoni/Reuters – as seen on the Kryptonite blog)

As promised, I prepped and recorded Show #85 on Tuesday night. I still have a bunch of post-production work to do, so expect to see it in iTunes or your podcatcher some time on Wednesday.

Thanks for your patience. The FredCast should finally be back to a regular schedule.

I hope. 😉

I have at least two more shows from Interbike to bring to you, but business travel and bandwidth issues have prevented me from getting them done. I will be back home late Wednesday night and hope to get at least one out before the weekend.

As for the bandwidth issues, some of you may know that the site was down over the weekend because The FredCast exceeded its bandwidth limits (which are already pretty high). I had to spend a bit more money just to keep the site back up and will likely need to do so indefinitely. As they say in business, this is a good problem to have.

Thanks, as always, for your understanding. Sometimes life just gets in the way of podcasting. Can’t wait to get home and go for a ride. The bike is now outfitted with both the SRM and the PowerTap, both for reviews. Yeeha!

Anyone who knows me or listens to my shows, knows that I drank the Apple-flavored Kool Aid many years ago. The first Apple product I ever owned was my treasured Apple IIe that my parents bought me as a high school graduation present. Between then and now, I’ve owned literally dozens of Macintosh products from the Mac-plus and SE through to a brand new MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and my wife’s new 20″ aluminum iMac.

So it should come as no surprise that as soon as Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, I wanted one. At first, the rational side of my brain kicked in and told me not to buy one. I’ve got an iPod video, I own a smart phone (a Treo 700p that I actually like), the iPhone doesn’t have a GPS, and this is a v. 1.0 product.

But then I got a new job and Apple dropped the price, so last week, against my better judgment and against the admonitions of my wife and daughters, I bought an 8 GB iPhone.

Like teenage romance, it was like at first sight, and I was certain that I would grow to love the iPhone. Unfortunately, after a week of use, I returned it to the Apple Store and will now wait for v. 2.0. Click the ‘more’ link for my 10 reasons why (in no particular order):

Read More

The Spokesmen will be broadcasting LIVE from Interbike on Wednesday between 12:45 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. PDT. To view the show live, just click here.

The complete schedule of all live Interbike TV is as follows:

Wednesday, September 26

8:30-9:00 Good Morning Interbike
9:30-10:30 Specialized
11:00-11:30 Vital BMX
12:00-12:30 Cycling.tv
1:00-1:30 The Spokesmen
2:00-2:30 World Championship Sports Network USA Crits Final
3:00-3:30 VeloNews
4:00-4:30 Dirt Rag
5:00-5:30 Quickrelease.tv/YouTube Competition

Thursday, September 27

8:30-9:00 Good Morning Interbike
10:00-10:30 Max Lelli Bikes
11:00-11:30 BMXer
12:00-12:30 Cycling.tv
1:00-1:30 Rodale Publications
3:00-3:30 VeloNews
4:00-4:30 Dirt Rag
5:00-5:30 Bicycleworld.net

Friday, September 28

8:30-9:00 Good Morning Interbike
10:00-10:30 2008 BPSA-BLC
11:00-11:30 Crooked Cog Network
12:00-12:30 Cycling.tv
1:00-1:30 Rodale Publications
3:00-3:30 VeloNews
4:00-4:30 Dirt Rag

TechPresident.com, a blog that tracks how the 2008 U.S. presidential candidates use technology and the web, recently covered the Fred Thompson / The FredCast issue. Said they:

Fred Thompson has been forced to rename the FredCast section of his site — devoted to audio and video — because someone else had dibs on the name. Cyclist David Bernstein is the man behind the “The FredCast Cycling Podcast,” which has been in operation for two years. Apparently cycling super-enthusiasts refer to themselves as “Freds.” Who knew?

Overall, the coverage of this issue has been exceedingly fair. I am usually skeptical of the media, but I have found them to be (if you’ll excuse the term) fair and balanced on this issue.

Just a quick note to let you know that thefredcast.com is now optimized for use on mobile devices such as the Palm Treo and the Apple iPhone. Enjoy!

As mentioned on The FredCast Episode #80, SockGuy is sponsoring a contest to design the next limited edition FredCast cycling socks.

The winner will receive two (2) pairs of FredCast socks along with a pair of any other style SockGuy socks, a pair of SockGuy elite tech socks, a SockGuy baselayer, a pair of SockGuy arm warmers, SockyGuy booties, and SockGuy coversocks. The winner will get to choose styles, colors, and sizes.

Wow! Talk about an awesome prize package!

So start working on your designs right away and be sure that they arrive no later than midnight on October 15, 2007. Keep in mind that the socks will have a 3″ cuff.

Simple rules: if you’re me, my wife, daughter, sister, father or mother . . . you can’t enter. All designs will become the property of The FredCast.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

I recorded The FredCast Episode #80 this afternoon, but I am unable to post it online due to a technical glitch with my hosting provider. I am certain that they will get it fixed soon. I hope to have it online in the morning.

Thanks for your patience!