About
Why mudworm?
I pretty much randomly chose mudworm as my handle when I registered on the mudncrud forums for lack of a better idea at the time. Later, when I signed up on some mountain bikers, cyclists, and runners forums, I kept lacking a better idea, so this username sort of stuck with me (or rather I stuck with it). It was almost natural for me to come up with the tag line, “Inch by inch, I will get there.” What else do you expect from a mudworm?
However, that simple sentence has kept popping up in my mind, for example, when I was jogging a distance that seemed too far, when I was grinding up a steep hill on my bicycle, when I was reading a 5-lb J2EE book for self-education, or even when I was chewing a tough bagel that almost hurt my jaw. Okay, I made the last part up. I found myself constantly inspired by that little mudworm in my mind. Yes, it’s tough at the moment, and yes, it does not seem like I am going anywhere, but I know that as long as I keep at it just like what a mudworm would do, I will reach the goal.
About me
I realize that I am writing this on the Internet, so there is only so much information I can, or should, give out. I grew up in China. After graduating from Tsinghua University, I left my family (parents and three older siblings) behind and came to the United States. I spent a few years on UIUC campus pursuing graduate degrees. As far as being a student goes, I have always enjoyed it and been fairly good at it. But the time finally came when I needed to start a career. I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for a high tech job and have stayed at it since. Before that move, I had always been a couch potato. But the Californian sun lured me out into the woods and the mountains. I took on hiking and rock climbing, which led me to scuba diving, mountain biking, and road biking. These activities brought me many like-minded friends, who have always been an inspiration to me.
About this site
I’ve had a personal web site for many years. In the beginning, it was used to post photos from my hiking trips. That was when email accounts had pathetic quota limitations, and online photo sharing had not appeared or gained popularity yet. Gradually, I started putting in more and more descriptions to company the photos. Finally, they became full-on trip reports. Just like I have benefited from reading other people reports, I hoped that the information I included will someday be useful to my readers.
While you are here, if you have any comments and feedback for me, please do not hesitate to leave me a note. Is the website’s format working for you? Is there anything I can improve? Did you notice any mistakes and typos? Anything. I will be very happy to hear from you.
- Comments(8)
Jenny Lin Bratton (I work with her) just told me to check out your site. I love Angwin. Sounds like you had fun up there. What are your favorite places to ride on the peninsula (I live in redwood city)?
Jenny is a good friend of mine. I’ll ask her about you (cyclingguru). 🙂 My favorite rides on the Peninsula have to be Water Dog and Skeggs. Both are pretty close to you. Not sure if Angwin will be suitable to ride on Sunday or not by the look of the current weather forecast. Fingers are crossed.
Testing if the comment notification still works. –Mei
Wheee… it’s working! Had to install the HGK SMTP plugin, but it worked nicely.
testing if the title fix worked.
Hi Mudworm,
I enjoyed reading about your mountain biking journey. I went through one similar for myself and ended up with a Pivot Mach 5. But I am a much bigger guy then you. I liked your write up so much that I am looking at getting my wife a FTM as well. But do not know what size frame to go for. I saw you got a small frame, how tall are you and what is your inseam. My wife is 5’5″ and has a 29″ inseam. She rode a pivot mach 4 and loved it in size small but the stand over height was to tall and then she road a mach 5 in xs and it felt to cramped. I like the FTM becuase it looks like I can get a better Stand over height in small and get a mach 4 weight with mach 5 travel! Let me know if you have any advice.
Sorrie fur tha badd spellin.
Thnx
Hi Thanks for kindly leaving your comment. I have sent you an email with details. Happy trail!
Hi there,
I am in the midst of searching for the perfect bike for me as well. After almost a year of riding the carbon FTM how do you like it till now? (that is if you are still riding it). I am a small rider, just 5’4″ and i am wondering if size s will suit me well. Or should I look elsewhere at other manufacturers who make frames in xs. How tall are you?
Any input from your experiences would help tremendously. The do’s and don’ts or the can and can’ts of the ftm carbon.
From a cosmetic point of view, what say you between the black and the blue model?!
Looking forward to your response.