Almond Freikers Arrive in Комсомо́льск-на-Аму́ре, Russia

This newsletter covers week #9 from Oct 19th thru the 23rd. Almond continues to post strong results with an average of 110 green commutes a day for the week.

Stats for Week:

• Almond remains the #3 school in the nation. Foothill is still #1 and Eldorado remains in the #2 spot. Almond is starting to close the gap a little bit bug still has 435 rides to make up before the take over the #1 seat! Temps in Boulder are reaching a daytime high in the mid-50F. There have been several days of rain and snow. Winter is quickly approaching!
  
• There are 282 Almond Freikers that are active this year of which 58 have not yet registered at www.freiker.org. Take 5 minutes right now and make sure your child is registered.... I'll wait :)
  
• Round trips logged this week = 551; Total round trips logged = 5,010 totaling 7,515 miles. That is an average of 112 walks/rides per day!
  
• We prevented 5.0 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere; saved 716 gallons of gasoline and burned a total of 375,750 kid calories.

Almond Freikers Arrive in Владивосто́к:

From Magadan we traveled south along the coast of Pacific Ocean and Japan sea for 1300 miles to reach the city of Vladivostok.

Vladivostok (Russian: Владивосто́к​) is Russia's largest port city on the Pacific Ocean and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai. With population of almost 600,000 people, it is the largest city on the East coast of Russia. Vladivostok is 9000 km, 10 time zones, 6 days by train on Trans-Siberian rail road or 10 hours by plane away from Moscow. The city sits at the head of Golden Horn bay in Japan sea not far from the border with China and North Korea. It's the sister city of San Francisco.

Natalie Arsky

I was born here and spent first 10 years of my life so let's see what my 30-plus old memories will bring... The weather in winter is very cold and windy. Huge high pressure system sits over Mongolia bringing very dry and cold easterly wind to the city. Snow is rare. Once winter starts, school soccer fields are turned into skating rinks and kids spent hours every day skating and playing hockey. In summer, wind comes from the sea bringing moisture and it rains almost every day. Fog is so thick, you cannot see your outstretched hand. There are ships from different countries in the huge port, bringing rare treats - mandarins, dates, pineapples. Small fishing boats bring fish. Fried fish, salted fish, small fish that you eat with the heads and flat fish with two eyes on one side. Fish and potatoes, this is what's for dinner. City is surrounded by pine forests. Kids bring pine cones with seeds to eat as snack to school. The Siberian tiger roams in the forests and is featured on the city's coats of arms.

Vladivostok Harbor

Almond Freikers Arrive in Комсомо́льск-на-Аму́ре:

After visiting Vladivostok, we are riding 600 miles north on the frozen roads and arrive at Komsomolsk-on-Amur.

Komsomolsk-on-Amur (Russian: Комсомо́льск-на-Аму́ре) is a city located in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia on the left bank of Amur River. Population: 281,035. The town was largely built in 1930s using volunteer labour from the Communist youth organisation Komsomol, thus receiving the name Komsomolsk. It was built as an industrial center for ship building, metallurgy and timber enterprises. The city's most notable company is Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Production Association, Russia's largest aircraft-manufacturing enterprise. It is among Khabarovsk Krai's most successful enterprises, and for years has been the largest taxpayer of the territory.[4] It has manufactured hundreds of civil aircraft and thousands of various-role military aircraft from the first recon aircraft to modern Su- series fighters and light amphibian airplanes.














The Top 10% Freikers!

Freiker	Tag ID	Trips
Aaron Brown	1248444	44
Dalezilla	1242628	44
Jack Chmyz	972443	44
Brandon	465461, 990409	43
Cole Fontana	1248477	43
Max Chou	995191	43
Nathan Mesel	1244039	43
Andrew Mu	997089, 1249740	42
Audrey Fisher	1238687	42
Austin Townsend	1243628	42
Joely Fontana	463041, 1240059	42
Sierra Townsend	1244049	42
Teddy Chmyz	1240376	42
Tom McCrea	972128	42
Trevor Labuda	1241781	42
Ian Conceicao	1233544, 978754	41
Lily Szalay	1245890	41
Luis Bautista	1245350	41

These Freikers Have ridden at least 75% of the time!

Freiker	Tag ID	10/25/2009
Anthony Tong	974684	40
Drew Kim	994375	40
Eduardo Bautista	993855	40
Nathan MacLeod	975174	40
Nikolas Gibson	992699, 1248842	40
Pinky Brandeau	1240682	40
Sean Diamond	979130	40
Abigail Mesel	1244393	39
Ben Parker	975545	39
Bryan Graeser	1230860	39
Eric Warmoth	975978	39
Ethan Xie	460637	39
Evan Labuda	1243290	39
Will Diamond	973104	39
Alex Kolstad	464221	38
Chad Labuda	990053, 1247082	38
Julia Kolstad	1239027, 977343	38
Marcus MacLeod	977847	38
Mia Fagin	991627, 1244580	38
Nicholas Atler	1240081	38
Rachel Mesel	1237770, 1242109	38
Connor Verity	1236055	37
Daniel Casares	970958	37
David Cooper	999490	37
Jeremy Bonte	1237528, 1249479	37
Julia Casares	975625	37
Katia Gibson	1244431	37
Shawn Avidan	978683	37
Brandon Le	991811	36
Ian Hastings	991309	36
Jamie Baum	975327	36
Krishna Brunton	1233028	36
Matthew Carroll	1243372	36
Max Gavenman	992086	36
Natalie Huang	974351	36
Ryan Baum	975817	36
Sevasti Daneilas	973908	36
Thien-Nha Tiet	1238814, 990675	36
Elyse Folkman	1239325, 970222	35
Jacob Folkman	1235668, 979231	35
Kelsey Moran	1241384	35
Nathan Huang	975725	35
Tatiana Gibson	1248482	35
Theresa Landi	1240484	35
Angelique Mszanowki	991134	34
Han-Nha Tiet	1236650	34
Isabella Borkovic	974148	34
Sasha Graeser	1239119	33

Baskin-Robbins Awards For The Week!

Freiker	Teacher	Totals
Aaron Brown	Nguyen	44
Angelique Mszanowki	Garcia	34
Ashwin Krishna	T.Daggett	15
Ethan Apfelberg	Hall	17
Gabriel May	Martinez	15
Genna Landi	Reilly	15
Karen Nagayama	Bence	30
Kota Nagayama	Liu	30
Lauren Limbach	Nguyen	32
Megan Apfelberg	Sanderson	17
Mel Tran	Shelley	31
Nathan Ng	Liu	32
Rory Maclean	Shelley	31
Sara Friend	Jordan	32
Sevasti Daneilas	Wishnack	36
Stella Barretto	Lamb	30
Stella Pietro	Lamb	31
Thomas Walker	Schubert	32
Tristan Mori-Sloan	Chan	15

These Freikers Have Not Yet Registered!

Freiker	10/25/2009
347454	1
350871	15
353816	2
356380	1
358548	4
460124	4
460141	2
461104	5
461817	10
462347	3
463565	5
463633	1
463759	10
464299	5
464550	1
465093	11
465231	15
465238	1
465259	12
465741	12
466473	2
466978	12
467039	12
467182	4
468667	2
468904	4
468988	6
469968	6
961147	1
966505	6
967515	6
971219	2
972777	5
974001	8
976876	8
979071	7
979631	2
991940	2
992324	6
994228	11
994883	1
996690	2
997293	1
998509	25
999382	23
1230739	1
1232700	3
1233339	8
1233626	15
1237597	34
1237715	31
1238072	9
1239413	14
1246952	13
1248088	1
1249195	11
1249239	16

Freikomter Times:

This is just a reminder that the Freikometer is a solar powered computer that gets 100% of it's power from the Sun. Because of this, the Freikometer has limited hours of operation. Make sure your students buzz in during one of the periods when the Freikometer is turned on:

• Start of Day: 8:00-8:30am
• PM Kinders: 11:45-12:00pm
• After School: 2:30-3:00pm

If you miss buzzing in on the Freikometer during one of these periods, you can always enter your child's round trip manually at www.freiker.org.

Helpful Hits at the Freikometer:

Here are some tips that will make it easier for your child to be counted correctly when they get to the Freikometer each day:

1. Have your Freiker RFID tag attached to the top of your helmet or the top handle on your backpack. This gets it closer to the Freikometer and easier to read the tag.
2. Make sure your child's name is written on the Freiker RFID tag with a permanent sharpie. This way, if you loose the tag, Venny will know who to return it to.
3. Make sure your child takes turns going through the Freikometer one at a time. If you get 4 kids under the Freikometer and it buzzes, nobody knows whose RFID tag just got read.
4. If in doubt as to whether your Freiker tag was read, go back through the Freikometer. It will only count you once per day no matter how many times you make the buzzer go off. Have fun with this one...
5. If, for any reason, you can't make it out to buzz in on the Freikometer one day, you can always enter your ride/walk manually at www.freiker.org.
6. Work on your friends! If you have friends that are riding or walking to school several days a week and they are not Freikers, ask them to join. It's not just about the cool awards but showing the rest of the nation just how committed the students at Almond are to their health and the health of the planet.

Well, that's all for now folks. I'll update you again next week

Every Ride Counts!
Jon

Almond Freikers Arrive in Магада́н, Russia !

Folks, We have something special for you in this issue of the Almond Freiker's newsletters. Natalie Arsky is going to give us a guided tour of her Russian homeland while we play catch-up for the last 3 weeks that our Freikers have been stranded in Anchorage, Alaska. Probably a freak snowstorm or something like that :) Anyway, over the next 3 weeks we will give you 2 destinations each week that will correspond to the destinations the Freikers would have arrived at if I had been a good tour guide... which, obviously, I'm not !!

So here goes, For the next couple of months we will get to see something truly special of the world we live in.

Stats for Week Oct 12th - 16th:

• Almond remains the #3 school in the nation.
  

  Eldorado	2,418
  Foothill	2,363
  Almond	1,791

• There are 277 Almond Freikers that are active this year of which 63 have not yet registered at www.freiker.org. Take 5 minutes right now and make sure your child is registered.... I'll wait :)
  
• Round trips logged this week = 486 despite the pouring rain on Mon - Wed. Good job kids! Total round trips logged to date = 4,459 totaling 6,700 miles. That is an average of 97 walks/rides per day!
  
• We prevented 4.5 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere; saved 637 gallons of gasoline and burned a total of 334,575 kid calories.

Almond Freikers Arrive in Ана́дырь (Anadyr), Russia:

Ана́дырь, Chukchi: Кагыргын, Kagyrgyn) is a town and the administrative center of Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the extreme north-eastern region of Russia. At 177°30′E, Anadyr is the easternmost town in Russia. Population: 11,038 (2002 Census).
It is the most northeasterly region of Russia and, since the sale of Alaska to the United States, has been the only part of Russia lying partially in the Western Hemisphere (east of the 180th meridian).

Chukotka is populated by Chukchi, an indigenous people inhabiting the Chukchi Peninsula. They speak the Chukchi language. Many of them are reindeer herders. Chukchi who live in coastal areas hunt sea mammals, polar bears and carve walrus ivory.









The climate of Anadyr is subarctic. Winters are prolonged and very cold, with up to six months of sub-zero temperatures, so that the soil remains permanently frozen. Permafrost and tundra cover most of the region.

Almond Freikers Arrive in Магада́н (Magadan), Russia:

Магада́н) is a port town on the Sea of Okhotsk and gateway to the Kolyma region. It is the administrative center of Magadan Oblast (since 1953), in the Russian Far East. Population: 114,873 (2008 est.); Ship building and fishing are the major industries. The town has a seaport (fully navigable from May to December) and a small international airport.

Magadan is very isolated. The nearest major city is Yakutsk, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) away via an unpaved road which is best used in the winter, especially since there is no bridge over the Lena River at Yakutsk.

Magadan was the focal point of the Long Way Round motorcycle journey made by Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman and their team. Although their ultimate destination was New York, they frequently noted how reaching the Russian city was the ultimate measure of success or failure for their adventure. Despite encountering swollen rivers, broken bridges and virtually impassable roads as they traveled through Siberia, they were ultimately able to ride the "Road of Bones" into Magadan, and flew from there to Anchorage, Alaska from where they continued to New York. Recalling his final day in Magadan before leaving for America, McGregor wrote:

"Magadan, Siberia. The place that had been in my thoughts and dreams for two years, like a mythical city forever beyond my reach. I wanted to capture it, somehow hold on to it and take a part of it with me when we began the long journey home."

Magadan Church in winter

This Week's Green Gear Award Winner!

And the Green Gear winner for this week was...... (drum roll).....

Teddy Chmyz

Congratulations, Teddy, for completing 5 consecutive Green Commutes the previous week!

Baskin-Robbins Winners For This Week!

This is a big week. Remember you get 1 free ice cream cone for every 15 rides or walks! Coupons will be passed out in class early next week.

Abigail	1244393
Alex	464221
Alex	1236366
Andrew	997089, 1249740
Anthony	974684
Audrey	1238687
Austin	1243628
Ben Parker	975545
Brandon	465461, 990409
Brandon L.	991811
Bryan	1230860
Caris	965375, 996055
Chad	990053, 1247082
Cole F.	1248477
Connor	1236055
Corinne	970397
Dalezilla	1242628
Daniel	970958
David	999490
Drew	994375
Eduardo	993855
Elyse	1239325, 970222
Eric	975978
Ethan	460637
Evan	1243290
Han-Nha	1236650
Ian	991309
Ian C.	1233544, 978754
Isabella	974148
Jack	972443
Jacob	1235668, 979231
Jamie	975327
jeremy b.	1237528, 1249479
Joely F.	1240059
Julia	975625
Julia	1239027, 977343
Katia	1244431
Kelsey	1241384
Krishna	1233028
Lily	1245890
Luis	1245350
Marcus	977847
Matthew	1243372
Max	992086
Max	995191
Mia	991627, 1244580
Natalie	974351
Nathan	975174
Nathan	975725
Nathan	1244039
Nicholas A.	1240081
Nikolas	992699, 1248842
Pinky	1240682
Rachel	1237770, 1242109
Ryan	975817
Sasha	1239119
Sean D.	979130
Shawn	978683
Sierra	1244049
Tanvi	1232178
Tatiana G.	1248482
Teddy	1240376
Theresa	1240484
Thien-Nha	1238814, 990675
Tom	972128
Trevor	1241781
Tyler	1243092
Will Diamond	973104

The Top 10% Green Commuters!

Dalezilla	1242628	39
Jack	972443	39
Brandon	465461, 990409	38
Cole F.	1248477	38
Nathan	1244039	38
Teddy	1240376	38
Andrew	997089, 1249740	37
Audrey	1238687	37
Austin	1243628	37
Joely F.	463041, 1240059	37
Lily	1245890	37
Max	995191	37
Nathan	975174	37
Sierra	1244049	37
Tom	972128	37
Trevor	1241781	37
Abigail	1244393	36
Ben P.	975545	36
Ian Conceicao	1233544, 978754	36
Katia	1244431	36
Luis	1245350	36
Mia	991627, 1244580	36

These Freikers Have Walked/Ridden at least 75% of the time!

Anthony	974684	35
Bryan	1230860	35
Drew	994375	35
Ethan	460637	35
Julia	975625	35
Marcus	977847	35
Nikolas	992699, 1248842	35
Pinky	1240682	35
Sean D.	979130	35
Chad	990053, 1247082	34
Daniel	970958	34
Eric	975978	34
Evan	1243290	34
Ian	991309	34
Max	992086	34
Rachel	1237770, 1242109	34
Will D.	973104	34
Alex	464221	33
Brandon L.	991811	33
Connor	1236055	33
Julia	1239027, 977343	33
Nathan	975725	33
Shawn	467794, 978683	33
David	999490	32
jeremy b.	1237528, 1249479	32
Kelsey	460650, 1241384	32
Natalie	974351	32
Nicholas A.	1240081	32
Ryan	975817	32
Thien-Nha	1238814, 990675	32
Alex	1236366	31
Eduardo	993855	31
Elyse	1239325, 970222	31
Jacob	1235668, 979231	31
Jamie	975327	31
Matthew	1243372	31
Corinne	970397	30
Han-Nha	1236650	30
Isabella	974148	30
Krishna	1233028	30
Sasha	1239119	30
Tatiana	1248482	30
Theresa	1240484	30

These Freikers Have Not Yet Registered!

347454	1
350871	13
353816	2
356380	1
358548	4
460124	4
460141	2
460373	3
461104	3
461817	6
462347	2
463565	4
463633	1
463759	5
464299	2
464550	1
465093	11
465231	13
465238	1
465259	7
465487	1
465741	7
466328	3
466630	3
466978	7
467039	7
467182	3
468667	2
468741	1
468904	4
468988	5
469968	5
961147	1
962704	1
966505	5
967515	4
971219	2
972777	5
974001	7
976876	8
979071	7
979631	2
991940	2
992324	6
994228	11
994883	1
996690	2
997293	1
998509	23
999382	21
1230739	1
1232700	3
1233339	7
1233626	13
1235902	3
1237597	29
1237715	27
1238072	9
1239413	12
1246952	13
1248088	1
1249195	11
1249239	13

Freikomter Times:

This is just a reminder that the Freikometer is a solar powered computer that gets 100% of it's power from the Sun. Because of this, the Freikometer has limited hours of operation. Make sure your students buzz in during one of the periods when the Freikometer is turned on:

• Start of Day: 8:00-8:30am
• PM Kinders: 11:45-12:00pm
• After School: 2:30-3:00pm

If you miss buzzing in on the Freikometer during one of these periods, you can always enter your child's round trip manually at www.freiker.org.

Helpful Hits at the Freikometer:

Here are some tips that will make it easier for your child to be counted correctly when they get to the Freikometer each day:

1. Have your Freiker RFID tag attached to the top of your helmet or the top handle on your backpack. This gets it closer to the Freikometer and easier to read the tag.
2. Make sure your child's name is written on the Freiker RFID tag with a permanent sharpie. This way, if you loose the tag, Venny will know who to return it to.
3. Make sure your child takes turns going through the Freikometer one at a time. If you get 4 kids under the Freikometer and it buzzes, nobody knows whose RFID tag just got read.
4. If in doubt as to whether your Freiker tag was read, go back through the Freikometer. It will only count you once per day no matter how many times you make the buzzer go off. Have fun with this one...
5. If, for any reason, you can't make it out to buzz in on the Freikometer one day, you can always enter your ride/walk manually at www.freiker.org.
6. Work on your friends! If you have friends that are riding or walking to school several days a week and they are not Freikers, ask them to join. It's not just about the cool awards but showing the rest of the nation just how committed the students at Almond are to their health and the health of the planet.

Well, that's all for now folks. I'll update you again next week

Every Ride Counts!
Jon

Mountain Bike Racing in Brazil

So this is what passes for Mountain Bike Racing in Brazil? Legendary mountain biker brothers Dan and Gee Atherton go for a ride through Dona Marta slum in Brazil. The course was designed and built for the unprecedented Red Bull Desafio no Morro race.



Every Ride Counts!

The Morgan Hill Road Race

Well, the Cycling Buddies ran the 4th stage of the yearly classics and this proved to be quite an event. The best way to characterize the Morgan Hill Road Race was, stay out of the sun! This 70 mile road race starts in Morgan Hill, goes around Chesbro Reservoir, up Croy Canyon, past Uvas Reservoir into Gilroy, through Henry Coe State Park then back into Morgan Hill for the final climb of the day up Thomas Grade. What a butt kicker that was!

The starting temperature was warm but bearable at just over 80F. As the day wore on it became more noticeable that being in the shade of the trees in some of the canyons and back road was very nice and somewhat cool but the minute you were exposed to the sun on the open road it was like having a hot blow dryer on your face and upper body. The final climb on Thomas Grade was completely exposed all the way up as the noontime temp approached 100F. Now I know how people die of heat stroke... at one point I looked down at my cyclometer to check my vitals - my heart rate was at 192 bpm and I was starting to go cross eyed!

The story of my performance for the day was too fold - it does not pay to be the photographer since you are constantly chasing to catch back on and 'close, but no cigar'! I must have come in 4th, 5th or 6th on almost every KOM or sprint during the race but only ended up in the points once... 1 lousy point! But hey, I'm not complaining - it's all good when you are riding your bike :)

The post ride festivities were signature Fletch. The chinese chicken salad was to die for and the margs and beer were flowing as people tried to get some lactate inhibitors in their bloodstream. It is always fun to hang with the Cycling Buddies after a hard ride and shoot the shit. It's all about the days race... we chronicle everything that happened during the event from almost everyone's perspective. The podium positions for the day were 1st place: HammerSchlagen (this guy was in the money on every points segment for the day both sprinting and climbing). 2nd place went to Mark Jongsma who also walked away with the polka dot jersey for the most KOM victories. I'm not sure who got 3rd but it sure wasn't me!


View for most of the day... when I could stay close enough!

Stats:

• Distance: 68.63 miles
• Total Ascent: 3,618 ft
• Total Time: 4:00:41
• Ave. Speed: 17.1 mph
  
• Max Speed: 43.7 mph
  
• Ave HR: 143 bpm
  
• Max HR: 192 bpm
  
• Calories: 4,733 cals
  
• Starting Temp: 80F
• Finishing Temp: 102F
  
• Garmin Connect Map

Every Ride Counts!
Jon

Huddart Park, Portola Valley, Altamont

Garmin Connect Map for Huddart Park, Portola Valley, Altamont

To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want

Did you know that women are an indicator species for the bikeability of an area? If you want to know how bikeable your neighborhood is, just go out and count the number of female cyclists:

• If I do a count of the competitive "noon-iacs" (as one of my friends calls them) then the number is quite low - maybe in the 25% range.
  
• If I go out and look at the recreational cyclists on Foothill Blvd the number goes up quite a bit but is still less than 50%.
  
• If I look at the Green Town Los Altos meetings, I am usually the only male that attends on bicycle but there are 2-3 women that show up on bikes.

Here is an interesting article from the Scientific American on the how to increase the cycling population in any given area:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=getting-more-bicyclists-on-the-road

Every Ride Counts!
Jon