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By Johnny, February 25, 2010 8:13 pm

So I attempted to start this post on February 8th but failed to continue putting some words around this. That was a few days after I bought an iPhone. I suppose posting back then would be a bit premature since I didn’t really had the opportunity to use this thing out in the wild. But now it’s been 3 weeks and this thing does rock.

Let’s put this in the context of a car-free-bicycling-riding bachelor. The app that I use most frequently is the Maps application. Wherever I am, I’ve been able to find my way back home or to my destination by pulling up directions on the Maps app. I use this thing religiously to find my way on the Metro, in a car, or on a ride out.

I made it a point to use my Google Voice number when I bought an iPhone. Having this number allows me filter my calls based on a schedule during the week or weekends. During the week at 9am – 6:30pm it will ring my work cell and work phone. From 6:30pm – 9am it will ring my iPhone. Then during the weekends, it will ring my iPhone only. If you tried to visit Google Voice from an iPhone it transforms the site to a web application where you can save to your iPhone dock. The web app let’s you text and call anybody in your contacts. You can have your text sent to your Gmail account as well so you can respond as an email. Once a text is forwarded from Google Voice to your phone, you can simply reply to the unique number. Get this, it will text the originator of the text with your Google Voice number even though you’re texting to this other number. What this means is you don’t need to maintain a conversation within the Google Voice app. You can start it there and continue by other means.

I use the Weather Channel app which gives me an expanded weather report compared to the default Weather app that came with the iPhone. I check this app every morning so I know what to expect.

Other apps I use frequently are Pandora for music discoveries, Yelp for reviews, IMDB for the times I need to know entertainment trivia, NPR News for news programs, Twitterrific to stay in touch 140 characters at a time, Flickr for access to my photos at all time, ESPN for news on my favorite sports teams, Mint to help keep track of my finances, and Words with Friends for ongoing games with friends and family.

It’s my complete all-in-one lifestyle device. I can’t believe I lived so long without one. Alright enough gushing but here’s a video I took with the phone which outlines why it is impossible to swallow cinnamon powder.

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By Johnny, January 11, 2010 3:43 pm

Great video featuring a Critical Mass-like ride through LA. I think bicycling is getting it’s mainstream recognition now! Hopefully this video will get more people to ride.

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By Johnny, December 22, 2009 12:42 am

This past Sunday, I had the privilege to be part of a conclusion to an incredible journey made by Victoria Merriman. About 4 months ago, Victoria set-out on a journey which began 4,000 miles away in Boston Harbor. Victoria’s adventure brought her through 12 states and multiple blog entries which she took the time to give us a play-by-play description of her journey. I should know because I’ve been reading her blog since she was traveling through Texas. I actually went back and read all her posts since the beginning or even before the trip so when I met her I felt like I already knew her. Of course, I was teased for being the “super fan” of the night, when in reality it was a privilege just to meet someone so courageous as herself. Did I forget to mention to you that she did all this by herself? Yup, something that myself and many out there would be scared to death to do, she courageously accomplished.

I was invited to welcome her at 3:30 – 4PM on Sunday. The welcoming party consisted of friend’s of Victoria as well as folks she had met when she was in LA 6 months ago. We were informed by text that she was 3 miles away and she would arrive by the bike path. We hustled down from the pier to the bike path and waited for 15 minutes. She arrived to a roar of cheers and applauds. Here’s a quick video I took of her approach.

She quickly got off her bike and greeted everyone. Her emotions then got hold of her and she was crying with much deserved tears of joy. She celebrated her arrival in similar fashion as her departure by dipping the “Supertour” and submerging into the Pacific ocean. I remembered reading how she loved swimming and recalled from her recent posts that she hasn’t done much of that so it was nice seeing her getting in the water.

After a few minutes of soaking in all that is happening, we finally made our way to a public bathroom so she could “freshen up” for our celebratory meal and drinks. We decided to go to a restaurant in Santa Monica which was about a mile away called Library Alehouse. I had the pleasure of riding her bike over to the location for her. As predicted, I was the first one there since everyone still had to walk to their car, find parking, and walk to the restaurant. Isn’t bicycling great! I must digress.

While we waited to be seated she was interrogated by everyone about details of her journey. Something she must have done through-out her journey so I’m sure she was used to it by now. I confessed to her my favorite story was when she got to fly a plane without even planning for it. She obliged and entertained the crowd with the step-by-step account of that day. It was like I was reading her blog again.

We eventually got seated and ordered our food and drinks. More stories were told at the table and more questions was asked. It was great for me to hear a voice to the written words on her blog. It was even better to get a sneak peak of what had happened after her last blog post. At the time of this post, I didn’t know what happened to her from San Diego till now. We had mentioned to the waitress what we were celebrating and she congratulated the accomplishment by comping us 3 dessert plates for us to share. The manager also came by to chat with Victoria about her trip.

Our meal ended close to 10PM. We exited the establishment and took some group photos and got some solo shots with our heroine. Here is my shot.

Everyone said their good byes including myself. She is such an inspiration that I can’t wait to go on my camping trip next week. That’s right, I’m going on a 4 day excursion to Lake Cachuma up near Santa Barbara by bike. Even though the trip is only 200 miles, Victoria was excited for me which I know she’s taking pity on my meager mileage given the fact she just finished 4000 miles.

Read her blog to find out more about her journey at http://www.victoriasblog.com. She’s a great writer and you will be entertained as much as I was.

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By Johnny, December 3, 2009 11:49 pm

The much anticipated ride for this week was for LADWP’s Festival of Lights bike ride that was held on Thursday, December 3rd. I got out of work a bit late and raced over to Griffith Park. Luckily I made it there before they started lighting the displays so I was able to cruise through to the south entrance of the park where the ranger station was suppose to be. It was quite pleasant to ride through the street without any cars since they had already started diverting car traffic away from this area. In fact, I was the only bike since everyone was waiting near the Zoo entrance.

I made plans on Twitter earlier in the week to meet up with a few folks. @FunctionalCycle and @LACycleChic showed up with their daughter around 5:30PM. A few minutes later, JHarv from the Bike Oven showed up and we began our ride through the light display.

It was nice to cruise through the lit displays with Christmas music blaring from speakers that was strategically placed throughout the course. The music certainly helped bring out the feeling of Christmas! One of my favorite display was an animated sequence that resembled LAX airport with a plane taking off from a blue landing strip. Our other favorite thing was riding through the 2 huge tunnel of lights. Here are a few shots of the tunnel.

It was a very short ride to the other side where we ran into more folks from Twitter, @dudeonabike and later @danceralamode joined us when we rode through the displays the second time around. People really got into it by decorating their bikes with lights and colorful props and outfits.

Besides the evening being very chilly, we were dodging wobbly bicycle riders and people scattered all over the street. Not really the best situation when you mix pedestrian and bicycle in an area. Everyone seemed to handle it very well. I wished it was ALL bikes and no foot traffic. I have to say I don’t know how people can see this through their cars? Sitting in long lines of traffic stretching out to the 5 freeway every year. Sucking in carbon monoxide while people are rolling through display to display at snail pace. On bikes, folks can still stop and enjoy each display without ever impeding traffic and smell nothing but maybe your occasion funk from the skunk. If you haven’t been through this I encourage you to go but the remaining nights are car free w/pedestrian and shuttle until December 17th. The rest of the month after that will require you to drive.

Enjoy the 6 minute video I shot with my digital camera while riding my bike. Not the best quality but you get the idea.

LADWP Festival of Light Ride from Johnny Lam on Vimeo.

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By Johnny, November 13, 2009 1:45 am

After a “long week”, I attended a Happy Hour over at Henry’s Hat last night. The attendees at this particular Happy Hour are my co-workers who are part of the company’s racing team. Racing as in triathlon, running, etc. Upon arrival I was told by 2 separate individuals that they saw footage of me on TV. Specifically, it was a video about the 2009 Nautica Malibu Triathlon race recap on Fox Sports West. When I got home, I immediately scoured the net and found the video on the actual Nautica Malibu Triathlon website. It is the first video segment of the 2009 video series. I am seen running at the 1 minute mark for 2 seconds. Woohoo I’m famous!

Here’s a screen shot of the page and video just in case they remove it in the future:

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By Johnny, October 13, 2009 2:07 am

Meet Rosie Swale Pope. Rosie completed a 20,000 miles of walking all by herself. The 61 year old grandmother started her journey back in 2003 when her then husband had passed away. As a way to mourn, she embarked on this epic journey which took her through Europe, Russia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada, America, Greenland and Iceland. She endured frostbite, heat, pneumonia, running out of food, being knocked unconscious by a truck, breast cancer, and breaking 5 ribs. This resilient woman shows us all that it is still never too late to do the impossible. Another inspirational story that I will add to my list to keep me motivated on my future journey.

Rosie isn’t a stranger to the public. Back in the 1970s, she sailed through the tropics naked with her first husband and gave birth to her son onboard. Here’s a video of the conclusion of this trip.

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By Johnny, October 7, 2009 1:00 am

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Found this on the BikeMore! LA blog. Like Ron, I too am waiting for LA to be more like Boulder, CO. I wished I had known about this when I went to Colorado 3 years ago. Of course, it was freezing then and when I visited Boulder, I didn’t remember seeing that many bicyclists around. Not to mention I was not in the bicycling scene as I am for the past 2 years so I did not seek out the bicycling scene. It was already strange being one of the few Asians there.

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By Johnny, October 6, 2009 2:27 pm

I’m floating around at various parts. Video compliments of Stephen Box.

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By Johnny, September 20, 2009 10:38 pm

Incredible how everyone was in sync.

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By Johnny, September 15, 2009 4:36 pm

While I’m waiting for my pictures to be doctored up, here is a video of race day.

I make a brief appearance at the beginning and end of the video.