Today I tried a dry run, testing out my new bicycle to ride into Yahoo Burbank. I also equipped it with a Garmin eTrex Vista CX GPS on a bike handlebar mount, so I can figure out which side streets to take and know my altitutde and speed.

Six miles, and when I got to Yahoo, I was beat to hell–I know I’m out of shape, I’m not that out of shape… But the Garmin told the story: the first mile was a 350 foot drop in altitude, which I knew about. But the last four miles and change was a steady 400 foot climb–which means that while the ground seems somewhat flat, I was working for those four and a half miles. I wasn’t just coasting along supplying energy to beat wind resistance.

Lesson of the day: I’m going to have to take a change of clothes so I can shower when I get to Yahoo–at least until I get into good enough shape that bike riding six miles is a no-brainer.

(Yes, I know; there was no programming content. So to compensate, I give you the Yahoo Developer Center on JavaScript, along with the best book I’ve encountered so far on AJAX: Ajax Hacks from O’Reilly.)