Ride Without Limits

23 miles in Bryce Canyon...What's your limitation?

Donate here!

As you all know, I love to ride my bicycle (I can hear Freddie Mercury right about now). I also love helping others any way I can. One of my favorite things to do is talk to groups about my story thereby allowing them to question their perceived limitation. I have been extremely blessed in my life to question my own perceived limitations, break them down, and accomplish things that I never dared dream.

Ten years ago I was working construction with my father with no real plans for the future. College was out of the question; how was a person going to get though college if they can't even write? Plus, college took brains, of which I was lacking of course. Now, I am at one the top Universities in the world pursuing a PhD in biochemistry. What changed? With help from others, I was given the opportunity to take a sledge hammer to the perceptions that were entrenched in my mind. Given my life experiences, I have a deep passion to assist, in any way I can, to bring those same life-altering opportunities to people with disabilities.

Ride Without Limits is a beautiful marriage between my two loves, cycling and helping others. This is a charity ride that raises money for United Cerebral Palsy (UCP), an organization whose sole purpose is to provide opportunities to children and adults with disabilities. Each individual they assist has a very different set of challenges that need to be addressed; UCP can provide the specialized service required by each child and adult. These services can be life-altering for these very courageous people.

Exactly what I look like on the bike!

As a rider I need to raise money to ride in this event. How much, you may ask. Last year I raised just over $2,000, which was totally awesome! This year I am setting the bar high; my goal in $3,000. I believe I can do this! I will be riding the 100 mile ride in September, giving me a total of four months to reach my goal. What I am asking is a donation of whatever you can spare! Whether you can donate or not I ask that spread the word. Please send the link to this post to all your family and friends. Use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, your personal blog, church bulletin, company news letter, etc. Most importantly bring it up in conversation and show your own passion for such an awesome cause!


Watch this COOL video about the ride:

To donate, please click this button:

Thank you so much!

Bradley

Hanging Rock NC '12

This weekend I had plans with friends to hike Mt. Rogers, the highest point in the state of Virginia, all 5,729 feet of it.  A friend, who was head-spearing the adventure, parents live in a Tennessee town a mere hour and half from the trailhead. Thus the plans were to spend the night in Tennessee and then hike the mountain the next day. However, an hour before we were to depart everything fell apart. Long story short, we did not go. As such, my roommate, Matt, and I came up with a contingency plan. We would wake up early and go to Hanging Rock State Park, near Danbury NC. And so it was.

I had been to this park before but this time I went on a different trails. We went to four different small falls and the summit of Hanging Rock. This will be more of a picture post. One thing I will say is if you go to this park and want to miss the crowds GO EARLY!!!

 Lower Cascade Falls, this was the largest and most spectacular fall. I am guessing ~25 feet cascade.

Upper Cascade Falls.

This was a hole in rock, or a window, at Window Falls.

Window Falls, the location of  this was really cool, it had a huge rock hanging over it.

Hidden Falls.

All of these falls were very easy and very short hikes, the longest was 0.6 miles I bellieve. Non were huge but charming nonetheless. This wound definitely be a great park for the kids who otherwise my lose interest on longer hikes.

Hanging Rock, approaching the summit.

The Geological Survey marker on top of Hanging Rock.

Looking out from the top of Hanging Rock.

The many falls were great destinations but for physicality purposes this was my favorite hike of the day. It was a mere 1.8 miles to the top but we noticeably gained elevation on this one, my heart rate was definitely higher as I climbed to the top. Gaining elevation is one of my favorite aspects of hiking in Utah. Ever since I moved here I've missed that component and to get a taste, no matter how small, was truly great. All in all it was a great day!!

The beginning of the season

So it has begun, the 2012 cycling season. Yes folks, the cold weather, or lack thereof, has ceased, warmth has come and thus biking has begun! Now, my readers (or the lack thereof) may ask, 'But Bradley, winter never came, relatively speaking. So, why did you stop cycling?' While it is true that the winter was very mild it was sufficiently cold to keep me off the road. While 30-45 degrees is more than warm enough to hike it is not warm enough, for me, to get out on the road for a prolonged period. You see, when one cycles the feet are relatively stationary, they are rotating but are not moving themselves. As such, the feet get cold due to low circulation, cold enough to get numb. Thus, I like to  bike only above ~50 degrees. Yes, perhaps I am a wimp.

In the latter part of March I took seven bike rides, six of which were on a route I call 'Baby Bear'; I have 'Mamma Bear', 'Pappa Bear', and 'Mamma's Sister' also. As one might gather, 'Baby Bear', a 20 mile loop, is the smallest route. I do the same routs because I take several measurements during each ride, including heart rate, speed, cadence, elevation, GPS coordinates, etc. Taking the same routs allows me to do a fair analytical comparison of different rides. Anyway, starting with 'Baby Bear' allows my body to get back into shape, and boy did my body need it! There is a rather steep hill on my route; the first time I went up it for the season I thought I was going to die.

This morning I took 'Baby Bear' and I could tell that I was running on all cylinders. When I needed energy it was there, every time.  When I was coming to the proverbial finish line I felt that I could go another ten miles, which incidentally was good (read below). I downloaded all the data from my bike computer and several criteria showed that I was indeed finally getting back into shape. i.e. my average speed went from 15.4 to 16.0 MPH (trust me, a 0.6 MPH higher speed between adjacent rides is awesome).  It was by far the best ride of the season; I felt amazing!

A picture to complete
the awkwardness.

After my rides I am usually plenty sweaty, thus requiring a thorough shower. Luckily I have access to such facilities close to my lab. This morning I was getting ready to head over to the shower when I realized I had carefully packed shorts, a t-shirt, a towel and ... that was it. With horror I realized I had forgotten the most important part of any outfit, the underwear. What choice did I have? Stay in my spandex, all sweaty and gross, go commando, or ride all the way home. As the former two were out of the question I got back on my bike and headed home. As I often do, I concocted an analogy as I thought about this odd experience. Here I was, dirty from a long, arduous ride out in the world, wanting to get clean but having no underwear to change into. I needed to ride home (continue working) to get the complete change. So it is with life. If one is dirty from exposure to the world they must put all things in order, especially in having good support, even if it means working a little harder to get it. Ok ... horrible analogy (horribly funny!). If you don't get it you're better off not thinking about it.

PHENIX: Santa Fe

Every six months I attend a Phenix developers workshop. Phenix is a software package for structure determination via xray crystallography. My lab is mainly concerned with the validation step (there are many steps in structure determination). This spring the workshop was held in Santa Fe, NM.  We stayed in an old hotel, La Fonda, in the heart of the city (the building on the right-hand side of the picture is La Fonda).

We arrived late Sunday evening. The format of the workshop is pretty free, meaning that the developers work on their projects like any other day. The difference here is that all the developers are together in one room. This is very advantageous as the developers can collaborate face-to-face, which is infinitely more effective, and thus more productive, than long-distance communication. There is also a day of talks and an industry roundtable discussion. During the day of talks various developers give presentations on new features they have incorporated into the Phenix package. This essentially puts all developers on the same page. The industry roundtable discussion allows people from industry (think of a structural biologist at a drug company) to have input on what they would like to see developed. These workshops are very productive and also leaves the developers with new ideas and a lot more work!

I've been to three of the four workshop locations, which rotates among the four different labs working on the project. I've been to Berkley, Santa Fe, and, of course, Duke; In September I'll be going to the final location in Cambridge, UK. So far Santa Fe is my favorite. Santa Fe is a cute small town with amazing shops and fun art galleries. I had ample time to walk around the city; what else was I going to do at 5:30 AM when everyone else was asleep? I love the pueblo architecture, the rich history, the food, the dry desert air, and just about everything else about Santa Fe. Here are a few pictures from my phone:

I bought a new bolo!!

Elk tenderloin on the last evening  (Coyote Cafe)

Banana-cream pie (Coyote Cafe)

Edgar Meyer, Double Bass

This evening I went to an amazing performance by a very talented artist, Edgar Meyer. Meyer plays the double bass, the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra according to Wikipedia. He first played Bach, Suite No. 7 BMV 1007 to be specific. Then he favored us with some of his own work  and work of other modern composers. Overall the performance was outstanding; Meyer is truly a master player. The pieces selected were varied, which I appreciated. Bach was Bach, I enjoy Bach a great deal but it was something I've heard before. The rest of the pieces were new and I really enjoyed them. The two that I thought were most excellent were 'Barnyard Disturbance' and 'Pickles' (which was entirely strumming). Here is a piece for your hearing pleasure.

Barnyard Disturbance (try to imagine just the bass solo)

It was a great performance!

Duke UNC round one 2012

Earlier this week I found out that the first Duke vs. UNC game of the season was coming up. I had no idea where I was going to watch the game. Last season I watched it with my lab mate, Daniel; we lost that game. As such, I decided it would be best if I find another venue, because where I watch it definitely determines the outcome of the game. The LDS institute was showing the game and my roommates wanted to go. I was hesitant at first as the institute is in Chapel Hill near the arena where the game was taking place. Plus most of the people who hang out at the LDS institute are UNC students. Was this really a good idea? In the end I decided to go.

The first half was pretty tight, I’m not sure how tight as I was actually working on lab stuff the whole time. The second half was disappointing, that was until the final two and a half minutes. Harrison Barns made a field goal with 2:38 left putting the Heels up ten. Then the Blue Devils went on a run, complete with Tyler Zeller (UNC star) tipping a three point shot in for Duke, but it was a two since it was tipped in, by a Heel mind you. With 15 seconds left, and no timeouts, Zeller made a free throw putting the heels up by 2. What happened next makes this game an instant classic. The Devils whittled away the clock not wanting to give the Heels time at the other end. With mere seconds left the ball was in the hands of the most productive player on the court, Austin Rivers (yes, Doc Rivers son). At this point in the game Rivers had 26 points, 15 of which were 3-pointers, he was 5-9 from behind the arc. So with the game on the line the ball naturally goes to him. Despite the fact that he had demonstrated incredible proficiency from deep Zeller, the 7-footer who was guarding him, decide, ‘Hey, its Austin Rivers, I better give him plenty of room!’ Rivers shot, the buzzer went off, and then the Tarheels hearts were ripped out as the ball hits the bottom of the net. The four Dukies in the institute, myself included, went wild as the other 25 Tarheels were attempting to process what just happened. It was unbelievable!

As I drove back to Durham with my two roommates, Han and Mat, we decide to go on campus. We went to Cameron where the team would be arriving shortly. There was a fair amount of students and avid fans awaiting the arrival of the team bus. There were intermittent chants reflecting the excitement ignited by a magical finish. For fifteen minutes the crowd grows and then the bus finally arrives. The bus can’t get near Cameron due to the crowd so they let the players and coaches out 30 yards from the arena. The players were having a good time with their fans as they headed toward Cameron. Just to give you an idea on just how crowded it was, at one time I was in the middle of a tight pack group; I was probably touching 5-8 simultaneously. The crowd was so tight that it moved as one entity as the players pushed there way through. At one point I was right next to Austin Rivers as he got up on a small ledge letting out the excitement, which I’m sure was fed straight from the crazy fans.

This was a night I will not forget!

Puzzle Fun

Learning to live life post-prelim has been interesting. I have a lot of time on my hands now. When you do research all day you need to come home to something else. I haven't been biking as of late due to the cold temperature that accompanies these winter months. As such I needed something else to do. I hate television, only have so much patience for reading (although I do read quite a lot), and don't want to waste time on the internet. Enter in puzzles! Here is a picture of my latest 1000 piece puzzle which I completed this weekend.

Springbok: Cathedral Rock