To any crazyguyonabike.com addicts

[DeniseGoldberg]

I suspect that I'm not the only one who is going through crazyguyonabike.com withdrawal pains.

I received an email from Neil (cgob.com webmaster, creator, owner) last night. He is working to identify and fix a problem with the site where it randomly hangs (sorry, I really don't have any technical details). He asked me to pass on the word to anyone who is interested that he is actively working on the problem and will get the site back up as soon as possible.

--- Denise

[swlsue]

Thanks Denise - I tried to get to your diary yesterday and was unsuccessful.
Susan

[DeniseGoldberg]

Susan -
If crazyguyonabike.com isn't up when I get home tonight - I have a backup copy of the journal I mentioned (my packing lists) on my computer at home, and I'll load it into a blog site so that you can access it.

I'll let you know where it is if that is necessary.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

Thanks Denise - I tried to get to your diary yesterday and was unsuccessful.
Susan

Susan -
I've created a blog for my packing for tours article / journal. You can find it at http://denisepacksforbiketours.blogspot.com/.

Hopefully it will help as you make the final decisions on what you are taking on your upcoming trip - but if you have any questions about my packing (in)sanity, please ask!

--- Denise

[annie]

So that's what going on w/ crazyguy........... I wondered if it was my connection.

annie

[DeniseGoldberg]

So that's what going on w/ crazyguy........... I wondered if it was my connection.

annie

Nope, it definitely isn't you. I heard from Neil tonight. After fighting to diagnose and fix the problem, he has requested that the hosting service replace the hard drives on the computer. Once that is done, he will rebuild the system; he said that he has everything backed up on his workstation. I'll let you know if (or I should say when) I hear anything else.

Of course occasionally trying to get to the site will hopefully get the right response at some time...

--- Denise

[Jo-n-NY]

Thanks Denise for the update. I was fine bringing up the site at work, then had the problem over the weekend at home and thought it was my computer. I wanted to hear how your last day was and will look forward to reading it when the crazyguy takes care of the problem. It sounds like a doozy.

~ JoAnn

[MomOnBike]

Here's hoping that Neil gets the site back up soon. I'm undergoing withdrawal, as are quite a few others, I'd bet.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I heard from Neil this afternoon, and while he had hoped that everything would go smoothly today, unfortunately it didn't. So while we're still missing our crazyguyonabike fix, I'm sure that he is as frustrated as we are.

He's still working on the problem. I'll keep you posted as I hear from Neil (hopefully with good news on his progress...). And I'm sure he'd appreciate any good thoughts we can send his way!

--- Denise

[MomOnBike]

If you talk to him again, do send my good wishes. I really appreciate the site and all the work he's put into it.

Oh, and pass on my sad spaniel eyes while you're at it.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I exchanged emails with Neil again last night.

Needless to say, he hasn't really been having fun this week. After a frustrating week dealing with the support staff at the hosting site who were trying to tell them that what appears to be a hardware problem was a problem with the crazyguyonabike site, he is in the process of rebuilding the site at a new ISP. (And yes, he does have backups of both the software and of the contents of the site, journals, photos, etc.)

At this point it sounds like things are moving in a forward direction. I'll let you know when I hear from him that the site is up again.

--- Denise

[MomOnBike]

How frustrating for him. And of course, the hosting site is completely blameless (yeah, right...). :mad:

I've been trying to send calming and supportive thoughts Neil's direction, I hope it's helping.

For all that, I have complete faith that CrazyGuy will be up and running again soon. And boy, will we have a bunch of journals to wade through....

[DeniseGoldberg]

Just to show that we're not the only addicts desperate for our crazyguyonabike fix, and we're not the only ones sending good wishes to Neil...

I thought you might be interested in the comment below posted by Timonabike on the bikeforums.net site.


Hi All!

Neil reurned my call late yesterday (7/7) afternoon to share the status of the problems he's been dealing with. There was some finger pointing going on and Neil is digging into his hardware stores, see: closet :>)

He expects to have a working server system back up towards the end of the weekend, certainly in a matter of days, not weeks.

He believes that nearly all e mails have been captured and will be posted to keep journals up to date.

I had spoken with his wife after tracking down the home phone # and she is very pleasant taking a message for Neil. I was hoping to just check in but was nicely surprised to have Neil call back and share his persornal concerns about the site. He really appreciates the compliments that he and the site receive. He almost seemed shy about the shared value many of us place on the knowlegdge and vicarious pleasure we receive from the site and being able to share amongst ourselves and newcomers, like myself. Thanks Neil!

Regards,

Tim

[DeniseGoldberg]

I received an email from Neil timestamped at 3 this morning (midnight his time). He said that has rebuilt the server after purchasing larger hard drives, and plans to take it to the new ISP today (well, his email said tomorrow, but I assume that means Monday since he sent the email Sunday night) and will then complete the configuration changes that are needed to run in that environment.

Hopefully it won't be much longer before our addiction is satisfied once again.

--- Denise

[emily_in_nc]

Denise, slightly off-topic yet on topic at the same time, I finally had a chance to check out your gorgeous photos from your tour (on the other site). Wow! Are you a professional photographer? If not, you could/should be. They were absolutely lovely. I truly enjoyed them, especially the darling puffins and the gorgeous flower close-ups. Very artistic! Thanks so much for sharing your tour with us. It's just wonderful and quite inspiring that you got back to something you love so much. I can't wait to do the same! :)

Emily

[DeniseGoldberg]

Denise, slightly off-topic yet on topic at the same time, I finally had a chance to check out your gorgeous photos from your tour (on the other site). Wow! Are you a professional photographer? If not, you could/should be. They were absolutely lovely. I truly enjoyed them, especially the darling puffins and the gorgeous flower close-ups. Very artistic! Thanks so much for sharing your tour with us. It's just wonderful and quite inspiring that you got back to something you love so much. I can't wait to do the same! :)
Emily

Emily -
Thanks so much for your compliments. I'm so glad you enjoyed my photos - I've often wondered if I could turn my love for traveling and capturing images into something professional, but for now it's just for fun. The puffins were truly amazing, and I really wished that I had a camera with a big lens for that visit. I'd go back to that island to watch the birds again in a heartbeat.

This trip really meant a lot to me, because it proved to me that I really am back. And you will be too... but it does take time. I remember last summer hoping that I'd be able to do my planned trip to Hawaii in October as a biking trip even though my docs told me that it was probably too early. By the end of August I realized they were right, and while I did go to Hawaii and have a fabulous time, it was a hiking and driving and resting trip. So the best advice I have for you is to listen to your body and to give yourself a chance to recover. It sounds like you are (and have been) actively working on your recovery, so I have no doubt that you'll be back on your bike (outside!) when the time is right. And I know how hard it is to be moving slowly, but moving is a good thing, and making good progress is a good thing...

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

Ah, I just (on a whim) tried crazyguyonabike.com, and it's back!

I'm so glad... I've missed reading, and I've got to finish my journal!
Happy reading to everyone.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

I just heard from Neil Gunton, and unfortunately the crazyguyonabike site is misbehaving yet again. The site is now hosted at an ISP in Corvallis, Oregon and even more unfortunately, it's after hours there, so Neil will have to wait until morning to debug the problem. Hopefully he will be able to resolve it quickly. In the meantime, we're back to the waiting game.

--- Denise

[DeniseGoldberg]

crazyguyonabike.com (http://www.crazyguyonabike.com) is back!

Neil - our devoted but probably somewhat crazy webmaster - has had a rough couple of weeks, but he has now replaced what turned out to be a bad disk drive, and everything is back. For anyone who is interested, here's a link to the message that he put out about the latest issue: http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/whats_new/news/.

--- Denise

[MomOnBike]

Boy, do we have a lot of reading to catch up on!

Does anyone else find it amazing that Neil provides the CrazyGuy service just out of the goodness of his heart? I'm awed and humbled. What a guy.