Hey guys!

I need some advice - I'm looking for a good commuting road bike with a sleek and skinny frame and I'm looking to spend around $600.00. I've looked at Specialized, Gary Fisher and Cannondale (which seems clearly out of my price range) and I was wondering if any of you have any suggestions of other places to look.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance for any comments left!

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Send some lovin' thanks to your friends with our holiday vgifts!

Photos of the week

We're so delighted with the immense talent of our growing, global lj_photophile community that we've decided to introduce a poll. Each week, we'll choose a half-dozen photos (based on user comments and staff feedback) and ask you to select a photo of the week. The winning photo will be announced in the next newsletter. If possible, please limit photo size to 350x350 to ensure that images display properly on friends pages. We want to thank you again (and again!) for sharing your passion.

Check out this week's photo poll and more fantastic user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks for joining us. To our American friends, have a fantastic Thanksgiving. To all of our international neighbors, we'll eat a little extra for you!

'I’ll lend you for a little while...

I’ll lend you for a little while a horse of mine, god said,
For you to love while she’s alive, and mourn for when she’s dead.
It may be for ten or twenty years, or maybe more than these
But will you, till I call her back, care for her, for me?

She’ll bring you joy to gladden you, and should her stay be brief
You shall have her memories, and solace for your grief.
I cannot promise she will stay, for all on earth return
But there are lessons taught down there, I want this horse to learn.

I’ve looked the wide world over, in my search for teachers true
And from all the throngs that crowd life’s lanes, I have selected you.
Will you give her all your love, and not think the labor in vain?
Nor hate me when I come to call, and take her back again?

Will you shelter her with tenderness, and love her while you may?
And for all the happiness you have known, forever grateful stay?
But should the angels call for her, much sooner than you planned,
Brave the bitter grief that comes, and please try to understand... '

By Edgar Guest

Don't cry for the horses that life has set free.
A million white horses, forever to be.
Don't cry for the horses now in God's hands.
As they dance and prance to a heavenly band.

They were ours as a gift, but never to keep
As they close their eyes, forever to sleep.
Their spirits unbound, forever to fly.
A million white horses, against the blue sky.

Look up into Heaven. You will see them above.
The horse we lost, the horse we loved.
Manes and tails flying, they gallop through time.
They were never yours, they were never mine.

Don't cry for the horses, they will be back someday.
When our time has come, they will show us the way.
Do you hear that soft nicker close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses, love the ones that are here.

It's official. I am now a bike commuter.

I have moved from my apartment 500 yards from work, into the house my wife and I are buying 4.5 miles away. I rode in four days last week (I was just plain tuckered on Friday), and after taking yesterday off for a stout rain, I cycled in this morning. It was a beautiful thing.

One of these days I'll post a shot of the old Raleigh as set up for commuting, but for now I just had to brag.

Ride on!

65redroses
Eva is a vibrant young woman with Cystic Fibrosis who survived a double lung transplant. Read about her difficult recovery and personal triumphs over pain, isolation, and fear. Back in school, Eva now works part-time in a children's center and enjoys running and cross-country skiing. A documentary on her story, entitled 65 Red Roses, won three awards at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

meet_other_moms
A warm and welcoming "Add me" community for moms of all ages and backgrounds from around the world. If you're a mom, just post a little about yourself and start connecting with other mothers based on similar hobbies, musical interests, book/TV/movie preferences, or taste in humor! A great way for busy moms to socialize online.

kitchenfaq
Want to share a fabulous home recipe for coconut bread? Suddenly run out of confectioner's sugar with company on the way and need to find out a quick in-house substitute? Searching for tips on what to charge for a custom-designed wedding cake? Whether you're a professional chef, an aspiring culinary wizard, or a happy home-baker, you'll get delicious guidance from fellow and sister foodies.

Got to play with both horses this morning and managed to get inside just in time before the rain.

Freckles' session was brief and focused mostly on the friendly game with a tube of wormer. She hates being wormed. It was a little rough at first with her head tossing all over the place but, I was feeling pretty proud because by the end of the session she was actually taking the tube in her mouth and holding it in her teeth. I would say it was a pretty productive session, unfortunately my experience has been that it does not necessarily carry over. Next time I go out to play with the tube of wormer it will start all over the head tossing.

My session with Tucker was kind of a mix. We were back to ear pinning when asked to do certain tasks, but other then that things went really well. I focused A LOT on the EXTREME friendly game. I tend to get a little complacent when it comes to the friendly game by not really using my stick and string as forcefully as I can. I also really tried to mix it up today. I would whip the ground as hard as I could, jump up and down and really try to create a commotion. When he was pretty calm about that, which did not take too long I took him to various parts of the pasture and played it there. Lots of leaves & sticks on the ground made for some good noise makers. He would get a little defensive about the game at times, but for the most part it went very well and he was pretty calm about it.

We played the circle game with obstacles and there was one jump that was pretty fun because after going over it his adrenaline came up. The energy did not last long but it was fun to have it to play with for a little bit. In this session I felt like I was making the mistake of asking way too "loudly" for things. I would skip phases and put more pressure on than necessary. To combat this I decided to sit down and see how little I could do and get him to play with me. Well that did not go so well. He would yo-yo well while I was sitting down, but other than that he just stood there and looked at me if I asked him to do anything else. I guess it is just something I will need to keep playing with.

Another note on the ear pining when asked to do certain things, like trot with me in zone 3. I'm not sure how to fix it. I have read/seen to get busy in zone 1. Bump them or drive them or do something to put some pressure in that area and stop the behavior. Every time I do this, it does help with the ear pinning, but it stops the game and seems to confuse him and cause a little bit of lack of confidence. I would really like to get some outside help on how to clean this up. Lance and I are hoping for a Parelli lesson in Dec or beginning of next year and this will be on my list of things to ask about.

He had some beautiful sideways game this morning and it was a good lesson for me on how focus impacts a horse. When I would really think about what I wanted him to do I could sideways him to the fence or between poles or over poles with hardly any movement on my part at all.

All in all a pretty good session, even though things were not perfect it gave me things to keep in mind and work on for our sessions to come. Unfortunately our sessions seem to only be happening about once a week. The time change and my busy schedule is just not allowing for more right now :( I suspect the holidays will not offer much relief in this area.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and
other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

Postcard winners!

We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude for sending so much joy our way. Frank is still blushing with excitement over the love notes, proposals, propositions, and occasional intimate photos sent from his admirers around the world (China, Norway, Japan, and Poland just this week)! At his request, we blindfolded Justin, one of Frank's BFFs, spun him around in five dozen counterclockwise circles, and asked him to point to ten random postcards/envelopes pasted to the wall. After a brief trip to the bathroom, he chose the following lucky winners, to whom we will give a six-month paid account token (for paid, basic, and plus users) or, for our permanent account holders, a $15 voucher for the LiveJournal gift shop.

So, without further ado, the winners are:

1. seraphene
2. fotog
3. boykitten
4. seshat_6
5. anti_aol
6. lisalees
7. katrinkacat
8. mistyboston
9. _woody_lein
10. another_slender

Bugs, Tweaks, and Enhancements

1. We fixed a bug from the last release that was causing screened comments to become unscreened if they were edited
2. If you happen to be gaming around the corner, check us out on Facebook and be sure to spread the word!
3. We've added new vgifts to celebrate Thanksgiving! Check out our feathered friend, below!

Give more with charitable vgifts

In honor of national adoption month, we're offering a charitable vgift (priced at $2.99) to support Love Without Boundaries, an organization that provides healthcare and adoption to orphans suffering from life-threatening diseases. LiveJournal will donate 100% of gross proceeds from the sale (we'll cover the cost of credit card transaction fees). To learn more about Love Without Boundaries, please visit lj_cares. You can purchase your Love Without Boundaries vgifts in the Virtual Gift shop. We'll keep you posted on how much we raise!

Photos of the week

We're delighted to showcase yet more incredible photos from some of our brilliant LiveJournal photographers around the world. Keep posting (and tagging). And be sure to show some love by commenting on the awesome view at lj_photophile.

Check out this week's photos and more amazing user content after the jump!

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Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. See you next week!

OK, so I have a cateye computer with a cadence sensor (not wireless) on my first bike.
I have a garmin 305 for running.
I have already determined that it plots paths that involve me cutting corners through cornfields even though I know I've stayed on the road when I take it with me on the bike (it seems to do better at my 6mph jogging pace than an 18mph bike ride).
I'm not sure how accurate I need my world to be but I'd like a good general idea of speed and cadence.
I'm trying to decide what I should do about a computer for my new bike- like, should I try just getting a garmin quick release mount and cadence sensor and put it on the bike? If the cadence sensor works the rest really doesn't have to 'cause bike #2 is a single speed so I can correct with math knowing how far 1 revolution of the pedals takes me but... a cheap computer may be less expensive than cadence sensor + mount for the garmin and if accurate not require me to do math... thoughts?

thanks!

givesushope
It's that glorious time of year when we reunite with loved ones (we neglected all year), stuff our faces to excess, and pass out in front of the TV. Perhaps a recalibration of the thanksometer is in order. A spin-off of the popular GivesMeHope.com site, this community invites you to document moments of kindness, generosity, and pure human love.

veggieslackers
Despite its mainstream appeal, Thanksgiving is not for everyone. There are those struggling with food disorders, for whom this day causes endless conflict. There are the cash-challenged, who can't afford the gluttony we've grown to expect. There are the lonely, who don't have loved ones nearby. And let's not forget the vegetarians, who decry the animal cruelty. But there's one more group we often overlook: the terminally lazy! This community of lazy vegetarians offers easy recipes for an animal-friendly feast.

fashin
Just in time for holiday shopping season, this fashionista community brings you the world of haute couture in the form of sumptuous photos, video clips, and candid commentary. There's also a sugary sprinkle of mainstream movie discussions and debates on such pressing social issues as manicure styles and celebrity colonics. If you need a break from the daily grind to indulge your girlie side, this is twinkly pink on steroids.

I had a great session with Tucker today. We warmed up online and I focused on LOTS of variety in our games.

Right before mounting I took the two hula hoops I keep in the ring and hung them both over one of the fence posts. BOY did this give us something to play with once I was in the saddle. Tucker has been exposed to the hula hoops for years. They've been on his head, neck, legs, tail and we've played with them being on the ground in all sorts of ways. Putting them on the fence post mixed it up though. At first he was unsure of them so it gave me the opportunity to do lots of approach and retreat. We would approach head on then turn and off to do something else. It was fun to watch the transformation from unsure to curious where he was wanting to walk up to them and put his mouth on them.

We also did some transition work. He struggled with trotting in a tight circle to the left at first. I had to really focus on my ask and my seat to make sure I was not sending him a confusing signal or causing him discomfort. He would drift off the circle and not turn in a flexible warm way. I made the circle bigger and allowed him to loosen up a bit. It took some work but we got two really clean small circles and I decided to move on.

The rest of the session was pretty good. It was a really nice day out and I was in less pain today than I have been so it was great to be back out there on Tucker. I enjoyed him today and I hope he had as much fun.