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By Johnny, January 13, 2011 1:45 am

I finally had a chance to edit a quick video of the beginning of my ride from San Francisco to the first checkpoint in Daly City. The video was shot by my sister’s iPhone and my Canon SD870 IS point and shoot camera (which had the time lapse feature). My original plan was to use this to shoot video of the entire trip but due to the fact that the camera drained so much battery, I opted to stop shooting after the first half day and then a video at the end (which I’ll hopefully get to with a photo montage). I know it’s been months since the ride but I’m finally inspired to put something like this up here and share it with the world. Some highlights of the video include me taking off from the starting line and riding through the beautiful city of San Francisco. I then cross the Golden Gate Bridge. I find myself flying down a few hills that brings me to the south coast of the city and eventually make my way up a street in Daly City. There’s an easter egg there if you watch the video all the way until the end. Enjoy!

2010 California Coast Classic Tour from Johnny Lam on Vimeo.

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By Johnny, January 7, 2011 1:44 am

Wow, it’s been a heck of a while since I last updated this thing. I’ve been spending too much time posting on Facebook (yes, I broke down, started a page, and now I’m an addict) and Twitter. Having an iPhone and being able to quickly comment on things on the go is so nice. Blogging requires some thought into what I want to write about. Even though this post seems a bit random but I have been walking around thinking about what to write about that maybe insightful or even helpful. There are some ideas but I’ll save them for another post. It is 12AM after all on a school night.

But I digress. Happy new year to my few readers out there! The holidays came and went without much fanfare. As I grow older I realize I don’t want as much “stuff” as I once did. I’ve been on a consumption diet as of late. Leo Babauta of ZenHabits wrote a post entitled, “The Case Against Buying Christmas Presents” which I am very much in agreement with his views on what Christmas has become and why I don’t view it innocently like I once did. On my time off (compliments of my new employer) I spent time to reflect on myself. What really matters to me these days. I don’t want stuff to matter. I want experiences and relationships to matter more. Therefore, I’ve told folks I would rather spend money on an experience to enrich a person’s life rather than on something that can eventually break or be forgotten. If you’re reading this and you know me personally, please do not give me any more “stuff”. I would rather you take the money and donate to a fund-raising effort. I’ll take this time to pimp those out: 1. Tour de Cure which is a ride to cure diabetes. 2. CCC ride for the Arthritis Foundation. This will be my second year. The first year was AWESOME!

I’ve also been reading another blog called The Path Less Pedaled which documents the journey of a Long Beach couple, Russ & Laura, who decided to sell all their personal belongings and go on an epic bike ride in 2009. I have been reading their past posts non-stop on my in and out of work. This was when I ride the bus this week. So far I’m at August 2009 where they made it up to Portland, OR and have been cruising around there and are at the state of Washington. Both authors can write so I enjoy reading their recollection and Russ is a photographer so his pictures are amazing! Some are taken from his iPhone and edited on the fly. As I poured through their entries, I am constantly reflecting on my own situation. I don’t think I own as much stuff as they did but it is a considerable amount. I need to start going through my crap and throwing things away. Even though I’m not going anywhere (yet), I’d like to lighten up the possessions. I guess I’m striving for a more simple life. I’ve been striving for a few years now. To try to minimize as much as I can.

Another interesting point in one of Laura’s post mentioned the critical mass of stuff that needed to make a home feel like a home. To fill it up with the right things so that it was more inviting. Since they had to go through this mass cleansing, they found themselves torn apart by their stuff and their overall goal to get out on the road. I have similar sentiments about my current home of 2 years. I’ve be reluctant to furnish the place fully. My bedroom just has a bed and a side table that was given to me by a friend. My living consist of a lounge chair given to me by a friend of my dad and a futon bed given to me by a buddy of mine. Coffee table is something my uncle gave me that was sitting in his garage collecting dust. My rug was bartered for some work I did for a carpet company. I got my tv stand as a present for the gf. I did splurge on the TV. I’m slowly regretting that purchase but can’t bring myself to admit it because everytime I turn it on to watch sports, I am reminded why I “had to have it”. I’m being owned! On the other hand, I’m feeling the pressure to “feather my nest” so that it feels more inviting. I’m so torn.

On another note, I am going to be getting a new bike! The one thing I don’t feel guilty about buying for myself is this custom built Surly Cross Check built by the Flying Pigeon LA guys.

Isn’t she beautiful? Build details will come later when I go pick it up this weekend. It’s missing some lights and a chainguard in this picture.

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By Johnny, May 5, 2010 12:11 am

I unofficially kicked off my fundraising campaign for the California Coast Classic ride. I decided to look through my Gmail contacts and come up with the names of friends who maybe able to help. After 125 emails later, not even one donated to the cause. I did get an email from Tammy who said she will be donating pretty soon.

Hopefully my second group of people, co-workers, will fill this void. The good part about these folks is that our company has 100% match after $25 donation. I’m hoping to see if I can at least raise a few hundreds with these folks. My next approach is to do a letter writing campaign to the businesses that I frequent and see if they can contribute. Other ideas that is in the works is a fundraising party in which Ron has graciously offered to brew some beer for. I was also offered a fundraising ride with the help of The Flying Pigeon LA guys. I’m also thinking about jumping in the Facebook world and get contributions from people I haven’t talked to on a regular basis. Yes I’m that desperate to be thinking about breaking my silence and joining the Facebook masses.

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By Johnny, April 16, 2010 4:41 pm

One of the items on my bucket list is to ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles on a bicycle. I was planning on participating on the ever-popular AIDS/Lifecycle ride but that normally takes place earlier in the year. This pretty much gives me 2 month’s time to raise $3,000. Yup. Not gonna happen. So instead I found another ride for the Arthritis Foundation called the California Coast Classic. This will start and end at the same location and I also have to raise $3,000 to participate. Fortunately, the ride will take place from September 25th to October 2nd. This will give me plenty time to fundraise. I’ve included a donation progress meter to the right of this post to track my progress. >>>>>>>>>

Please help me reach my goal by donating or if you like, join me on this great adventure! If I know you personally, I’ll be asking you soon. The next task is to learn more about the organization so I can sound half-way knowledgable about who I’m helping here. Big plans are yet to come for this so I’ll keep ya’ll posted here.