XXMI and cross-overs

It's a spankin' brand new year and a lot to think about -and more importantly do - for the upcoming year. My truck has been in the shop for repairs for the last three months, hmm... long story. Anywho, the Frontier has been a good transportation vehicle but it's getting a little long in the tooth. I've been giving some thought about a new truck. With all the new AWD cross-overs coming out with modern I4 engines producing as much horsepower as the V6 in my truck along with having excellent MPG ratings, maybe it's time for a new ride. The following is what I posted on the mtbr forums this past week.

I've been driving my '00 Frontier Desert Runner V6, 2x4 since I bought it new a decade ago. Back then I was living in VA and the main reason I bought it is so I could throw my bike in the bed and drive to the trailhead which was 40-50 minutes away. It was great for that purpose and the occasional hauling of miscellaneous stuff. I didn't mind the gas mileage since gas back then was cheap. I had no issues with the rear only drive, since I rarely encountered snowy/mucky driving conditions at the time.

I've moved from east coast to west halfway through ownership and still didn't have issues with the 2x4 in NorCal or later in Sandy Eggo. Gas prices did start to rise but that was a non-issue since I started to bike commute or I'd either take Caltrain or split lanes (miss that) riding my dual-sport moto on 101 to work which averaged 45-50mpg. I still used the truck to throw my bike in the bed and drive to the trail head.

Now, I live in Deutschland and brought my truck over. I can tell you that it's not an ideal vehicle here. Gas prices are high, it can't keep up with the Germans on the autobahn (not that I'm really trying to - it's a truck!), even though it's a compact truck it's hard to maneuver and park in the small European villages and parking spots/garages. There's no weight over the drive axle, I don't have a LSD on the rear and even with M&S rated tires, driving in the snow is exciting and raises the pucker factor. Again, outside of the winter, I've been bike commuting to work so I only drive when I really need the truck. In the winter, like now, I ride the bus or train to commute work. Public transportation here in Germany is way better in the US. I've even used it to get to some trail heads. I get maybe 17mpg and I think that really sucks and definitely want something better.

Basically, my needs have changed since I bought my truck. If I were to do it again, I'd go for one of the newer all-wheel drive compact cross-over SUVs like the Nissan Juke or Jeep Compass. I need more enclosed cargo space, seating for four adults, 4x4 or all-wheel drive capability and better gas-mileage. I might even consider the Toyota FJ and take the hit in lesser MPG but gain the better cargo capacity and true 4x4 capability.

So here are the contenders that are under consideration to replace my Frontier. First on the list is the 2011 Nissan Juke. It's a visually striking vehicle. It's styling reminds me of the rallye racing cars of the Dakar - very cool! The front fascia, the two-door fastback lines and overall look really appeal to me. The direct injected 1.6 liter four valve turbo-charged 4 cylinder engine produces more power and is more fuel efficient than my 3.3 liter V6. Nissan is giving out a 27 city / 32 hwy MPG rating for the CVT transmission model. This one is definitely at the top of the list.

Next we have the 2011 Jeep Compass which gets a remodel from the front bumper back to about the B-pillar. It sorta gives it a mini-Grand Cherokee look which I think looks tens times better than the previous incarnation with it's round headlights and awkward body lines. The proportions of the rear seem to provide more rear cargo room unlike the Juke with it's fastback profile. Along with the new body style, Jeep has also given the Compass a "Trail Rated" badge which means more off-road capability over its competitors. I also like the look of this cross-over and it also gets a similar MPG rating from it's inline 4 engine as the Juke.

Finally, there's the 2011 Toyota FJ Cruiser. This one really doesn't fit the vehicle specs I was looking for - small cross-over, I-4 and good MPG rating - but I really liked the unique styling and true 4x4 capability of the FJ. It's been out for a couple of years so the usual first production teething problems are sure to be gone. Toyota has slowly refined the FJ and it really shows in its specs. It's quite larger than the previous cross-overs and this truck has a not-so-great-with-MPG V6 but gains in horsepower and torque, 260/271 ft lbs. I'm really drawn to the FJ because its three-door configuration, styling and capabilities. I just don't know if I want to give up my requirement for better MPG.

So those are the vehicles I'm considering to replace my Frontier. Why no European brands like the Mercedes GLK, Audi Q5, or Volkswagen Tiguan? Because when you start to option out them out with what you want, the cost to value ratio really sucks. I mean, really, it's a vehicle you drive around in. I'd rather splurge my coin on something that I really enjoy like cycling!

footnote - While we're on the subject of trucks - here are two previous SUV/cross-over from the past that I really lusted after. The first is the Isuzu - remember the old "Joe Isuzu" commercials? - VehiCross from the late 90s-early 00s. It won it's class in the 1998 edition of the Paris-Dakar race. It was a rather unique looking SUV back then, probably explaining its short production run. I really liked the rallye racing styling it had.

The Toyota RSC, "Rugged Sport Coupe" was solely a concept car which never made production which is sad because I would've traded my first-born for it. The design cues came from the cars from the World Rally Championships. Funny, I seem to gravitate towards vehicles that have the styling from the motorsports series I'm a fan of - WRC and Dakar.

Beautiful bird - poem

It's New Years Eve! What a year. I'm gonna veg out and just watch DVDs, listen to music, surf the web and read some comic books today. I'm gonna walk over to the corner bakery to see if its open today. Hopefully it is, I gotta hankerin' for some German baked goodness. Back here on New Years Day to start the novus anum here on blogger.

But before that, here's a poem that's been sitting on my desktop for a while. Thought I'd
publish" it here for the worlds enjoyment. Without further ado, I present "beautiful bird";


Walking through the woods,
I spy a beautiful bird.
She chirps a lovely song
that only something so beautiful can.

Feathers of her wings
vibrant with color.
I'm entranced and captivated
as wings beat to keep her aloft.

I follow as she flies
from tree to tree.
Over hills and creeks
going from one spot to the next.

I am deep in the forest now,
far from the trail.
But I feel safe. secure. calm
even though I am surely lost in the woods.

My lovely bird, I am content to follow you.
Joy and happiness fills me
as I chase your beauty and ethereal song.
I am blissfully lost in the forest.

Suddenly, I lag behind
and can no longer continue at her pace
as she travels through the woods
seeking something I dare to know.

Her beautiful wings and angelic song
quickly diminish to my sight and hearing.
Leaving me
lost in the forest.

Wrapping up the year

Three days remaining for this year. Soon 2011 will be upon us. A lot has happened in 2010, but one event stands out over all others. But first, we'll go through the start of the year and work our way through.

Early in the year, which was the last half of my first German winter. The deficiencies of my 2x4 truck were evident while driving in snowy conditions here. Even with my mud & snow rated "all season" tires, I noticed the back end get all squirelly. I blame that on the fact that there's no weight over the rear drive axle, the truck doesn't have a limited slip diff and the tires are a bit old (5yrs). Because of this, this winter I've resigned myself to taking to public transportation. It's stress free, the experienced German bus driver deals with driving in wintry conditions. Maybe next year I'll get a set of dedicated snow tires/wheels.

Spring was nice. I got to ride my new/first 29er mountain bike, a Salsa El Mariachi. Ride is nice and different. Fun! Rode it quite a bit on the local trails through the woods trying to find my way and figure out the trail system. I'm still not familiar with a quarter of the trail system in the woods between Schonaich and Vaihingen. May - my lovely gal and I went gavalanting up and down the German Romantische Strasse or Romantic Road for a nice little holiday. Starting in the north at Wurzburg making out way south towards the marquee German castles. Saw pretty cool medieval walled towns, castles and a bunch of cool historical stuff with my lovely lady.

Then I started having physical problems. Minor things that I really didn't (and should have) attribute to something else. I started to get a dizzy feeling and my vision would get blurry if I got up from a seated position quickly. In addition, my hearing in both ears deteriorated rather quickly which my co-workers noticed. So in late May, urged by my boss at work, I went to the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor in Schonaich for a check-up. Two hearing tests later she was stumped and she referred me to the clinic at Boblingen for an MRI scan.

In June, I get the MRI scan at Boblingen. Immediately after the scan, the tech pulls me toward his computer screen and shows me the images he just minutes before took. He says, "Do you see that white ball in the middle of your head?". Based on the tone of his voice, this couldn't be any good. "It's a tumor, we're going to admit you." I was taken aback. Really aback and I didn't sleep too well that night before an ambulance transported me to the Katarinen Hospital in Stuttgart. It was a benign meningioma or in laymans terms, a good kind (if there ever is such a thing) of tumor. Had two surgeries the last half of June - one to relieve built up pressure of brain fluid stopped up because of the tumor and the surgery to remove the tumor. Because of the difficult location of the tumor - smack dab in the middle of my head, below my brain and next to the brain stem - the 8 hour surgery was only a partial resection leaving a quarter of the tumor. By the end of the month, I get discharged from the hospital and get to continue my recovery at home. Thank god! because the old adage that hospital food sucks doesn't even begin to describe German hospital food. I think the dudes in prisons eat better.

August - I get dumped. My one year anniversary in Germany with SRA came up on the 17th. Two more years and I'll definitely extend past my initial commitment. Life is just too good here. A month after being discharged from the hospital, three days before my birthday, I get crushing news. The remaining tumor that was left after the partial resection was growing. Aggressively, according to my neurosurgeon. I was going to be referred to the Heidelberg University Hospital Radio Oncology department. There they came up with a plan for radiation therapy treatments to "kill" the tumor, stopping it from growing further.

September - I have my referral appointment with Dr Debus at the Heidelberg Radio Oncology Department. I have never felt a feeling of despair as I did that day when they explained the side effects of the radiation treatments. Even when they told me intially about my tumor or even the potential risks of the tumor removal surgery. I still ride my bike recreationally and even to commute to work. Biking is a method of release of stress and my gets to wander towards other things other than the stresses of the world. I bought yet another bike to add to the garage. This time it's for a purpose. A Dahon single-speed folding bike to ease my commute to and from my daily radiation therapy appointments in Heidelberg.

October - I lost my loving grandma. She was the only grand parent I'd ever know and I literally grew up with her as she lived with us since I was born. I was really saddened when she passed but I knew she was in a better place and she lived a long, fruitful life. She will be dearly missed. I also started my treatments in Heidelberg with initial diagnostic scans when I returned to Germany after the funeral, late October.

November - I finally begin my radiation treatments in Heidelberg the first week, two months after my initial Radio Oncology consultation with Dr. Debus. Commuting daily up to Heidelberg via the Deutsch Bahn and my folding bike was an adventure at first but it quickly became a chore. Thankgiving weekend welcomed in the first snow of the season. I opted to stay up in Heidelberg during Thanksgiving weekend rather than commuting back and forth on my days off. Sushi was this years Thanksgiving dinner at Sakura sushi. Two weeks into snow season, I sidelined my folding bike and commuted back and forth using the bus and train.

LB5 was the team that did my radiation treatment using their linear accellerator. I missed one session due to a combination of a late train, a broken linear accellerator and a need to the LB5 team to shuffle patient appointments. The snow also caused delays in the public transportation I was using to commute. That sucked.

December - A swith-up in my treatments the second week of December. Instead of the linear accellerator, I was to get my head zapped by their new HIT, Heidelbert Ion Therapy center. The facility looks like something out of the movie Gattaca. Futuristic. More info here, http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=113005&L=en
The next week my treatments are here, but I miss one session due to weather related train delays. Last Wednesday, December 22nd the folks at Heidelberg said that my treatments were over. Finally!!! I'm suppose to return in February for a follow-up MRI and appointment.

So that's my year as I recall, I hoped the radiation treatments haven't zapped my memory as they did the tumor. A rather eventful year and one I'll certainly remember.

Burning a holiday and lusting over carbon.

So I'm sitting at home surfin' the innerwebs, gonna watch some DVDs, listen to music, buy some music, read comic books, etc. All on a work day. Why? Because I have an extra holiday on the books that I need to burn by the end of the year or it falls of the books. Use it, or lose it. So I'm using it this fine December morning. It's cold, overcast, and a good layer of snow is on the ground out. I'm warm and cozy in my flat and I'm gonna chillax son!

I've got a new Niner frame clamped to the work stand in my apartment. Been looking at it all bare, no parts affixed to it. Planning out in my head how I'll kit it out with part. So far the only bit I have is the Fox fork I got for it. Pretty cheap from Universal Cycles for a song with some nice discounts by using some store credit and their kick-ass 15% off coupon codes they have throughout the year.

Anywho, I have this bare frame waiting to be built into a rideable bike and thoughts are running in my head about future bikes. (hehe!!!) In a previous post I wrote about the lust worthy Dahon IOS XL bike, now the flavor I'm lusting for is carbon. In this case 29er carbon, since I already have a handful of 26er bikes. I've always lusted after carbon frames ever since the GT LTS carbon full suspension and the early Trek carbon hard tails of the late 90s. Luckily, we're entering the second decade of the new millennium and carbon mountain bike frame technology has progressed for the better.

Enter my current list of lust worthy 29er mountain bike frames. Two are from US bike companies, the other from "across the pond" as they say or rather, in my case, "in my back yard" in the UK. The Niner Air 9 Carbon was the first in the market. Capable of single speed or geared with their innovative bottom bracket system design. Matching rigid carbon fork is nice too. The Brits over at On One will soon make available (in early 2011) their Carbon 29er Race frame. I'm leaning towards this one. I like the lines of the frame, the matte paint, geared or single-speed swappable drop outs and the chainstay disc brake mounts. I think this latter feature sets it apart from it's competitors and , to me, makes for a cleaner look. And the matching rigid carbon fork. Nice!
Lastly, but certainly not the least, Santa Cruz bikes will release their version next year. Based on the photo properties on the posted pic on their blog it's tentatively going to be name the "knife". Sounds very cross-country racer'ish. They've already garnered acclaim for their first 29er entry in the market. That bike? The Santa Cruz Tallboy. They really went balls out with their first 29er. Full-suspension AND carbon! Usually, you'll see a bike company start with a hardtail and steel or aluminum. Not SC, they went balls out! Gotta give em props for their gumption! Anyways, I sorta digress. Here's a teaser shot of their upcoming carbon frame.

It's gonna be slow

I woke up a little later than usual and caught the 734 bus at around 7am. It didn't follow it's regular route, sorta did half a 734 route and half of the 760 bus route. Maybe the buses are running on a holiday schedule. Either way, I got to the train. In Boblingen. Guess the Germans are taking their holiday as the bus and train crowd was light. Really light. I'm not complaining since I actually got to sit down for the trip up to the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof.

I had to renew my monthy bus/train pass. 115.50 euro. I'll probably have to buy monthly passes through March when the weather gets warmer to be able to bike commute to work. My new years resolution next year will be to bike commute and get down to a fighting weight of 145 lbs by the end of August.

Such a purdy bike.

I like bikes. I now have six of them, seven if you count the new Niner RIP 9 frame I recently bought (on sale bitches!). I regularly peruse the innerwebs for bike porn and this particular bike, the Dahon IOS XL gives me wood.

It's got the similar frame style of my Mu Uno - curved hydroformed aluminum that is simple and sexy. 24" wheels, disc brakes, IGH hub and the pretty cool integrated headlight. Me likey!

I'm done!!!

This past Wednesday was my last time traveling up to Heidelberg for daily radiation treatments. Hooray!!!

Gone are the lengthy bus and train delays (damned snow!). No longer will I have commute times of six hours or more. I can now get home at a reasonable time and have time to myself. I'm really grateful that the only side effect of my treatments were minor hair loss where the radiation beams entered my head. Things could have been worse.

Finish line in sight

Yesterday was week seven of my radiation treatments for the benign tumor in my head. The last couple weeks have been tiring to say the least. Not because of side effects of the treatment, but because of the constant delays in both the buses and trains on my back and forth commute to Heidelberg. Very frustrating.

But it looks like I'm closing in on the finish line. I'm back in the LB5 for treatments ( the linear accelerator ) today 12/21 and tomorrow 12/22 along with a chat with a physician. I'm very pleased and surprised (thank God!) that the only side effects I've experienced throughout this whole ordeal was hair loss.

When will it end?

So last week was the sixth week of my radiation treatments at Heidelberg and also a change of therapy. They started my on ion therapy treatments at their new HIT, the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center. It's a relatively new facility with only three treatment suites. Looks pretty high speed and the building decor looks like something out of the movie Gattaca. Today I go back to the LB5 team but when will this end?

who cares?

I picked this blogging thing back up to record my experiences and thoughts while undergoing daily radiation treatments. Lately... well, I really haven't been up to it.

Ist kaput!

The linear accelerator that zaps my tumor every day broke today. Same shit happened last week but I was able to get my treatment at 6pm. This week they said they couldn't repair the machine and to go home, come back tomorrow. I really wasn't pissed about it. I get more pissed off when the train is late.

bikeless

I went sans bike yesterday during my normal commute to Heidelberg. I found it to be less of a hassle. Normally:
-I'd take my bike from home to work
-ride to the train station
-fold the bike for the trip up to the Stuttgart / Heidelberg Hbf
-ride bike to the hospital
-reverse steps above

It was nice to be unemcombered by bike. Not that it's convenient. It has it's strengths but it also has it's weaknesses. I just don't want to mess with lugging the bike around and riding in the snow/sleet this time of year. So I'll be taking the bus/train til the end of my radiation treatments.

Only losing hair, riding inside and tires.

Today marks the end of the fourth week of radiation therapy. Traveling to Heidelberg has been an annoyance and burden lately. Blame it on the winter weather. It's caused delayed trains and a delay in getting home. The cold weather doesn't help any.

I really haven't had any time to myself lately. I get up, go to work and go to radiation treatments. The latter task tasks a lot of my time during the week, mostly due to traveling on public transportation. The only time I have to myself is on weekends. It's cold out and I'll be watching DVDs and riding on the trainer.

This past week, I had two close calls driving on snowy roads. The traction with my mud & snow all season tires suck in the snow. They're not very confidence ispiring. It may be the fact they they are close to five years old when I bought them as Rodney, my co-worker, suggested. Or maybe, dedicated snow tires are what I need. I'll have to do some online research this weekend for snow tires. One of the reasons I purchased a monthly bus/rail pass this winter is the fact that driving my truck in snowy conditions raises the pucker factor exponentially. I don't like that.

Longest commute ever

It's 10pm and I'm finally f'n home from my daily trip up to Heidelberg. Let's see... I left work a little after 2pm this afternoon to get up to the Stuttgart Hbf. As luck would have it, or rather misfortune in my case, my scheduled train was going to be 90 minutes late. Guess the winter weather is still causing havoc with the trains today. So over to the posted train schedule to see if there was another train leaving for Heidelberg. I find one and get on it. Train arrive at 5pm, bike over to the hospital and guess what? The f'n particle accelerator machine that zaps me is broken. The dude who has an appointment before me (mine is 4:30pm) is still f'n there and it's like 5:15pm. Here's the rest of the timeline (I'm too tired to narrate any further):

-6pm: finally get zapped
-6:15pm: leave for train station
-7:20pm: train leaves station (surprise! it was late!)
-8:00pm: arrive Stuttgart
-8:40pm: leave Stuttgart on S-Bahn
-9:10pm: arrive Boblingen
-9:35pm: board bus for home
-10pm: finally f'n home

That's one long fuckin' commute (8 freakin' hours!) for a zap session that's less than 10 minutes.