Notice the spelling. This is the “idiot” version of the Iditarod. This happened just down the road from us. I’m so outta the loop!

At least we saw the holiday parade yesterday, which had its own moments of weirdness, albeit less intentional. I may post some videos later.

Hot Rod Roadster Pickup brings a tear to my eye.

Yes, I love this stuff. No, (almost) none of my friends do. What’s wrong with you people?!?

The roadster pickup, or RPU, above is the real deal. This hot rod beauty was built out West in the 1950s. At least that’s what I remember from my conversation with the owner a couple years. He said he attends Bonneville regularly. Awesome.

Now for something completely different…

Hot Rod Model A Phaeton - Perfect for the famliy man.

Next to an RPU a Model A Phaeton is my favorite model to hot rod. This is a rather extreme modern retro monster, it was my favorite at this year’s show, but I would like one someday that is a more conservative rod, late ’40s or ’50s style.

No more typing for me. There are more hot rod pictures over at my Flickr account. Check ‘em out.

Another pass from the other side.

We took a trip to Highlands, NC today to visit some friends. On the way back we stopped at this great waterfall called “Dry Falls.” Dry, because you can walk behind the actual waterfall.

Chillaxin' with my crew. Getting wet at Dry Falls.

You can see the path winds behind the waterfall.

Taken from the back side of Dry Walls. Yes, the path goes right under it.

NC Waterfalls has a bunch of great info about Dry Falls.

This is definitely not the highest and best use for bicycles. But it was pretty fun to watch! We saw this yesterday at the Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival in Asheville. And this was hardly the freakiest site at the festival.

Check out how the hub of the rear wheel on these “bikes” is eccentric, i.e. it’s not in the center, and it makes the bike and rider bounce up and down. I’m sure these things were hard to ride, and they were plenty people who fell off before they even made it to the center.

This festival is “all local, all original.” I love living in Asheville.

Lexington Avenue Arts & Fun Festival

AB Tech Business Incubator Reception

They just can’t get my name right. “They” is everyone. Usually it’s “Siegler” or “Zigler” but this time “Siglar.” At least I had a name tag waiting for me and didn’t have to roll my own with a Sharpie!

Glad I went. I’ve been involved with the Incubator in one way or another for the last few years. Recently I started offering pro bono consulting (marketing), along with several other folks including lawyers, accountants, etc. This is consulting for the entrepreneurs in residence. And there are some very cool startups in there.

One of the coolest, and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about them yet, is Airplanes Direct. That’s right, it’s like Autotrader for planes. In fact, one of the partners founded Autotrader.com, if I heard correctly. They got an award for “fastest launch” or something similar. The guy who spoke for the company said they figured when the economy is bad people will be selling planes and when it’s good people want to buy planes. Makes sense to me.

Another thing I learned is that this business incubator is the largest of its kind on the East coast. Check it out.

I made this flyer recently for my club’s (Asheville Bicycle Racing Club) big annual race: French Broad Cycling Classic. It’s called an “Omnium” because over the three day event there are time trials, road races and criteriums.

You can get the full size flyer (PDF) and more info about this great bike race FrenchBroadCyclingClassic.com. The site is still being updated. Come out and watch the crits if nothing else. More on that later…

I can’t stop playing with Camtasia. This is a ridiculous and self-indulgent video, but I’m sure someone will like it. This is a great bike ride, and if you’re in Asheville I recommend that you check it out. For my out-of-town friends: come visit and we’ll go for a ride. I have some extra bikes!

UPDATE: The castle I mention in the video is Seely Castle. I believe he was the son-in-law of Dr. Grove and he built the castle as his home while he managed the Grove Park Inn. And, yes, Obama did stay at the Inn, I believe when he was preparing for the last debate. It was interesting to watch because the Inn is literally my next door neighbor.

Also, the times I mention in the video, e.g. 85 minutes to Craggy would be pretty fast for someone who is just a weekend warrior. Plan accordingly.

We went to a great bonsai expo at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville. (Don’t let that old school web site fool you, the Arboretum itself is stunning.) I have been interested in bonsai forever and decided to get this Mugu Pine from a vendor in the marketplace. I asked the seller “what kind of tomatoes are these?” but I don’t think she was amused. The truth is that joke is an accurate representation of my gardening and bonsai experience, but I had to get the little guy. Some of the big ones were thousands of dollars. The expo had exhibitions by numerous bonsai clubs from several states. Just as impressive is the permanent bonsai exhibit at the arboretum. I took a bunch of pics and you can check them out at Flickr. Hey, there is a sample below…

My friend Chris Brock is a custom home builder in Asheville, NC. I recently put a web site together for his company, Brock Builders, Inc. They are working on a monster of a house in Biltmore Forest. It’s over 11K square feet with tons of details. I got some pics at the job site this afternoon. The gothic-revival-revival styling may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think anyone can appreciate the art of the framing in this domed ceiling. Or should it be called a vault?

My son Mars and I got to work out with Master Joe Rebelo a couple weeks ago. He has more than a dozen black belts in various degrees and disciplines, and he also the official historian for Kenpo and our art, TAI. Our instructor Derek Croley, Croley’s Martial Arts Center, does a great job getting martial arts big shots to visit and put on seminars. Master Rebelo is a pretty entertaining guy and high-energy to say the least. Mars liked it so much he got “Kenpo Joe” to sign his belt. And we did get schooled, but not as much as the black belts in the class. Near the end of the seminar Rebelo called me up to demonstrate something, on me that is. Mercifully, he changed his mind before I got there, told me to sit down, and called on a young black belt instead. Then, he proceeded to twist and contort the guy’s arms, said “you don’t scream much do you?”, and performed another move that elicited a hilarious squeal.

“Everybody’s wearing a cup, right?!”

KenpoJoe.com