Two Wheels and Other Things

96.2 miles for me today, meeting the team in U Village and heading up to Snohomish and back.

Bike - Klein Performance Touring 53-42 x 12-27 Sun Wheels

Breakfast - 2 eggs, bagel w/ cream cheese and an Ensure.

Ride Food - 1 powerbar, 1 bag of Shot blocks, 1 small botlle of water and 1 small bottle of HEED.  (not enough)

I actually felt great on the way out and tried to run over J Dunn in the sprint at River Road but got shot out of the back so fast on the way back it made my head spin.  I was able to catch the group along with John N and Kurt A but ended up off the main group as I stopped with Tony, Jeff and Gabe at a gas station so Tony could pump up his tire.  I lame ducked it back with the three as I was in no shape to take a pull and then actually hit part of a break off group as it turned out there was another flat (of the 7 total).  I split off from the group and road the trail at about 15 mph all by myself as I started getting shakey and my vision was in and out.  It was a long ride home.

We have some serious power in the group.  Alex T is always in race mode and can dust you without even trying.  Gabe T is the surprise.  I hope he focuses on the road racing and forgets that track stuff as he will own the road season.  Greg is Greg and Tony B is a damn freight train.

I’m having so much fun right now I have a hard time not smiling.  This is going to be fantastic.

Oh… Note to my teammates, LSD is Long SLOW Distance.  Not hammer until people puke.

That’s for February :-)

Saturday’s are team fixed gear rides.  Not necessarily fixie only but the pace is driven by those who are fixed.  Well last night I broke the post on my fixie so I had to show up on my rain bike.  It only turned out to be Martin, RC and myself but I felt a little out of place with gears.

Bike - Klein Performance Touring  53-42 x 12-27 Sun wheels

Route - North Lake WA and Mercer Island

Breakfast - scrambled egg, bagel and an ensure

Ride Food - a bag of shot blocks, 1 small bottle of water

I slept wrong last night and tweeked my lower back.  I took a couple of motrin before I left but our right turn up to Juanita Hill found me getting dropped before the stop light.  Felt like someone was trying to pull my spine out.  I let RC and Martin go, content to sit and spin the rest of the way to the top at a comfortable pace knowing that since they are fixie I would catch them on the down hill.  That plan failed as I got caught at the downhill light and both RC and Martin have sewing machine cadence.  Luckily they waited for me at the bottom and we all shed some gear.  As we road into Kirkland the rain pretty much stopped and the sun started to come out.  Days like today, even when the roads are wet, are some of my favorite.  I love fall.

Martin peeled off at Leschi and RC and I rode back to UW together and I was SO happy to be done as my back was pretty much shot.

Lunch was a well deserved Dick’s cheeseburger (two of them actually), fries and a chocolate shake as well as a stop at Recycled Cycles for a new post.  I spent the next couple of hours cleaning up the bike and working on another two wheeled project.  Now I sit typing away, cursing the fact that Oregon just blew coverage and SC tied it up to 10-10.   I have given up on the UW game… let me check the score real quick…  Ouch, 31-7 AZ.

Tonight is left over Lasagna that Ro made last night (bad ASS) and a few hands of Uno as this wind storm passes over our house.

Tomorrow is the Team ride up to Snohomish and Monroe. Supposed to be fairly good weather.

Stay Beautiful!

My youngest sister…

Visit CCY Junior Cycling Team for more info on how YOU can support.

First of all, my wife should be a paid pundit.  After the debate we flipped from CNN, to MSNBC, to FOX and back again and EVERY single thing that came out of there mouth was exactly what Ro said 2 seconds earlier.  She can either read minds through the tube or has a complete grasp of today’s political battleground.

Both, me thinks.

Anyway, I was amazed at what I like to call the “Mcain regurgatation”.  Last week we saw the REAL Palin and last night we saw the crap force fed to the hockey mom puked out on to the airwaves with a wink and a toss of her hair.

“You Betcha!”

Daily Kos blogs-

Palin was a smashing success because when you pulled the string in her back, she looked down at her cue cards and recited her talking points perfectly. Awesome! Of course, it’s easy to avoid any deer-in-headlights moments when you ignore the questions you can’t possibly answer, but let’s give it to her.

Palin is totally awesome, an asset to the ticket, and really, really competent to be vice president.

So let her free. Take her out of Cheney’s undisclosed location and let her campaign. Let her do media interviews. Let her do town hall meetings. Take her out of tightly-scripted environments, shed the McCain chaperon (which is a bit creepy and quite a bit sexist), and “let Palin be Palin”.

I’m sure she’ll just do great. Because really, all that Palin awesomeness shouldn’t be limited to the single vice-presidential debate. It should be unleashed on the country! If not, Republicans will be deprived of a potent weapon in this final weeks of the campaign.

Who am I though?   What do I know? 

Well, gosh darn it.

*wink*

I found an old Sony cassette tape in a box of my stuff and popped it in the player in my car (Yes, the Land Rover still has a tape deck) and prepared myself for what it might be.  It was titled “Mix Tape #2″ so I knew it wasn’t my solo guitar demo I made in High School (ugh… that was awful) but was scared about just how off the wall the music was.

I was actually pleasantly surprised and the end result was a flood of memories.  The following is a small sample of what was on it.

 
Skid Row - 18 and Life

Warrant - Heaven

INXS - Need You Tonight

Foreigner - I Wanna Know What Love Is

And the favorite track of all on that tape… I know because I put it on there TWICE.

Queensryche - Silent Lucidity

Wow.

All I have to say… is, Wow. How far the musical tastes have come. Man that Queensryche tune rocks though.

I am not gay… but I have friends and loved ones that are.

I’m not religious… but I have friends and loved ones that are

I do not argue with either.  I believe that people are born with a sexual orientation and I also believe that people have faith in certain things that make them feel whole and comfort them.

What I don’t understand is the homophobic religious nut-jobs like the gentleman at Westwood Starbucks this morning, wearing a sign that read “God Hates Fags”.  

Have you no soul?  Ever looked up “hypocrisy” in Websters?  Don’t have a dictionary, I see…

Let’s hear it straight from your bible.

I’ve heard stories of the Tuesday night hammer ride around Mercer Island and have always brushed it off as a rumor.

Tonight Dustin and I joined in and Holy crap that was fast.

When Patrick Stanko rolled up I got scared.  I haven’t done any speed work since LWV 3 and that feels like ions ago.  I knew there was no way I would be at the front of this group.  Luckily, Patrick rode off.  Probably to make someone else feel really really slow.

We were a group of about 10, rolling counter clockwise around Mercer.  slowly at first over the first two rollers and then settled into a nice pace.  Then Aaron Shaw rolled off the front and it was on.  I sat between 2nd and 5th wheel for most of the first few miles and even road off the front with Aaron and a Second Ascent guy for a bit and then came that short steep hill.  Aaron attacks and then Dustin blows past me on the left.  I fight to hold on to third and get taken out by a Garage.  4th isn’t so bad I guess :-)  We continue on East Mercer until the park and turn around.  On the way back I roll off the front solo on the first false flat and am gone for a half mile before Dustin and Second Ascent flies past me.  Aaron and I sit on the front with Hazzard and just wait for them to come back.  When we finally catch, Aaron puts in a HUGE effort and strings it out bad as we hit the longish hill and I get popped off the back. Thankfully Dustin waits for me and we spin back to Leschi together.

I’m sitting here now with a Mondo Burrito from Taco Del Mar and a Bud Light, contemplating swapping out the bottom bracket on the BMC.  OR I could do laundry.  Clean clothes are overated.

Bike - Flyte SRS2 50-34 x 11-21 Ksyrium SL wheels 

Lunch - Subway foot long tuna, pepperjack on wheat

Ride food - Power bar and a small bottle of HEED

Weight - FAT :-)

Good times!

Bumper sticker seen on the road after grocery shopping:

“Don’t steal.  The government hates competition”

HA!

By the way… Thanks for not passing that barrel full of pork otherwise known as a “bailout plan”.  This is nothing that should be rushed in to.  

Oh… and Wachovia?  PLEASE lose my car loan paperwork when Citibank comes to boot you out.  Thanks!

Score - A lot to not very much

Now I feel kind of bad that we went into the Coug’s house on homecoming and spanked the living crap out of them.  It was almost as if the Ducks were playing a high school team.

Oh snap.

This wasn’t even a fair match up. 

USC is going to be crushed next week as is Arizona State after that.  Really, I don’t see an exciting game until Cal.

Good night Coug fans, you knew it was going to happen.

PS - Man I wish the UW game had gone differently, what a heartbreaker.  If only we could put an electric collar on Locker…  Every time he tries to be a lineman you could hit the button to back him off.  Don’t worry Dawgs,  it’ll get better.  There are flashes of brilliance that just need to fire at the same time and the U will be back on top.

First of all… big props to my wife for her kick-ass ride on the tandem today.  It was her second time as stoker and she was all about riding with the boys and throwing down.  Nice job babe!

Ro and I woke up early to scarf down some breakfast and toss the tandem on the car to head up to U Village.  The TPR northend ride was heading out at 8:30 and I thought she would love to meet some of my new teammates and get a ride in at the same time.

We headed up north on 25th, Lake City way, the BG trail to Beardslee blvd and up to Clearview.  We got dropped on the hill coming out of Canyon park but it was all good.  I knew it would happen and all we needed was each others company anyway.  Ahhhh… the beauty of a tandem :-)  On the way back we stopped at Starbucks at LFP Village and sat outside sipping coffee and soaking up the sun before heading back down to the car.  Ride map attached-

Then it was time to work.

Got up on the roof to inspect the flashings and stink pipes.  I need to replace the flashings on the chimney and clean the gutters but that will have to wait until next weekend as I promised Ro I would finish treating the deck off the house and the steps to the patio from the master.  I love staining :-)

So now I’m sitting in the TV room, sipping on a beer waiting for my dinner to be done.  I think I’ll ride to work tomorrow as it’s supposed to be super nice.

Have a fantastic Sunday evening everyone!

What a great morning for a quick fixie ride with some friends!

Saw J Tripp down at Leschi and talked with her for a while.  It’s so good to see her smile right now.

Martin, Todd, Alex, Gabe and myself headed around the south end of the lake about 8 in the morning.  This is my first fixed ride since last year as well as it being the first on the Tempo and need to make a few modifications to the bike later on.

Good times today, sun peeked out just as we were crossing the bridge back to Leschi.  Ran into Nick from Second Ascent and then Hank from Byrne (now Dewars!  Congrats on the move Hank!)

Headed home to mow the lawn and play with the dogs.  Ro and I plan on walking town to Fauntleroy for dinner at Endolyne then it’s back home to make sure the tandem is up to snuff for tomorrow’s ride.

Good luck to all of those racing at Evergreen tomorrow.  Too bad it won’t be muddy ;-)

b-

 
Thanks WAMU. 

Your CEO is canned and he gets 12 million dollars when he walks.  Your interim CEO gets a 7 million signing bonus and only works for a week.

chew on that for a while and enjoy our Swedish friends Abba.

My WAMU shares are worth 15 cents now.  I’m to shocked to cry.

Hit Mercer Island with Dustin, Alan, Allister and Alex Tuesday afternoon, catching some great sunshine in the process (even though I was in full arm/ knee warmers.  Sunny but a light chill.

I took the Klein just because I want to make sure it’s set up right and 20 miles is a good indicator.  Some small seat angle and height mods and a stem height adjustment was all it really needed and the only uncomfortable change between the BMC to this is the crank length.  Some people can’t tell the difference between 172.5 to 170 but it feels like I’m peddling a trike.  Toss in the fact that the BMC has the Q-rings on it instead of round and my legs really feel out of whack compared to the race rig.  I went through the same adjustment last year so I just need more time on it.

We took it pretty easy as Dustin’s hole where his appendix used to be is still healing.  It was really nice to just BS, spin around the island and pretty much have a great time.  The company made it so nice.

Halfway around the “Tuesday McSickness Hammerfest” blew past us at about 35 miles an hour going the other direction.  Only saw one guy smiling in that crew and it was Aaron Shaw.  He’s just a happy guy :-)

Have a fantastic day!

Just a warning to folks who regularly hang out at Greenlake.  There has been a crazy nut running around the lake and everyone is sure he is up to no good.  Authorities have issued a statement asking that if ANYONE sees him to call the police as soon as possible.

Folks were able to snap a picture from their cell phone before whacking them with his cane.

Be on the lookout, 

Crazy Nut.

37-32 Boise State

Losing Roper in the OT win over Purdue just flat out killed us. With him still out against the Cougars, I think this might be a long game next Saturday if we have to rely on true freshman Chris Harper.

My advice?  Screw the QB and snap that ball straight to Blount.  Do it.

If only we could sneak Joey back into a ducks uniform

Sitting on the couch before running out to Starcrossed, Rosanna and I were flipping between the UCLA/ Arizona game and VH1’s “The Drug Years”.

Relaxing….

And then this happened.

What the hell?

It’s a god damn blanket with arms. Just put on another sweathsirt or put on your bathrobe.

You look like a monk.

Richard Wright, an original member of Pink Floyd passed on earlier this week.

I’ve already done a Pink Floyd FMI but it was many months ago but due to recent events I wanted to put something up.

He wasn’t the most talented keyboardist, just like David Gilmoure isn’t the most talented guitarist but it’s the passion and emotion that both of them put into every sound they produced. 

So here you go, 2 of Richard’s most famous works…

Great Gig in the Sky (live)

Us and Them (live)

And just because I couldn’t go without another one…

One of my favorite live videos of “One of These Days” from the Delicate Sound of Thunder Tour.

Let’s put “the way back machine” into drive.

Years ago.. and I mean YEARS.  Let’s say… 1987 ( I guess that’s not TOO long ago for some of you old farts) there was a family that lived behind us, The Vesey’s.  Cool folks they were.  Our parents were friends and evan and I rough and tumbled it with the three kids all the time.  They had a woodsy back yard and lived in a cul-de-sac so it was always good to play kick ball or hide and seek.  Good times.

One afternoon in the middle of a kickball game, my mom shouted from the back fence that we had to come home.  I underhand lobbed the ball to Adrianne (the oldest of the Vesy kids) and ran home.

Sounds innocent, doesn’t it?

Little did I know that when I walked in the front door I would be confronted by my parents asking why I flipped of the Vesey’s.  My mom and dad were PISSED.  I told them I didn’t do it… begged them to believe me but to no avail.  I got a butt whoopin and was made to write and hand deliver an apology that read. “I’m sorry I was rude and obnoxious.”  Mr. Vesey was a naval officer and pretty intimidating for a kid of my size so with him standing in the doorway i felt as small as an ant.

To this day I remember this incident.  You know why?  Because I was innocent. I didn’t flip ANYONE off. 

I guess it was future punishment for all the times I snuck out to throw pine cones at cars and drink beer with my friends.  They knew I would need it!

:-)

It’s that time.  Time to shuffle the race bike to the back of the shop and bring a couple others forward.

I’ve been having a really rough few days of work and what helps me relax more than building bikes?  Yes, I know… I’m supposed to say my wife but she’s out at happy hour with a friend so I’m stuck with the dogs, a few beers and two bikes I need to rebuild.

Last year I turned Dad’s Klein into a fixed gear and absolutely loved it.  This year I’ve decided to throw some gears back on it and build my 1987 Schwinn Tempo into my fixed gear.  So as soon as I got home I popped the cap off a beer, took the tools out on the deck and started assembly.

1990 Klein Performance Touring Bike

• Sun M13 wheels w/ 6 speed freewheel
• Cinelli bars and stem
• Tektro “campy style” brake levers
• Campagnolo Record side pull brakes
• Campagnolo Record Cranks
• Shimano Dura Ace Rear der
• Shimano Ultegra Front der

Pictures- 

1987 Schwinn Tempo Road Bike

• Mavic Open Pro wheels Ultegra Hubs
• ITM Stem and Bars
• Tektro “campy style” brake levers
• Shimano Dura Ace side pull brakes
• Shimano 105 Cranks
• 42 x 16 drivetrain

Pictures -

I’m super stoked to ride both of these.  Bring on the crap weather!  Wait.  Did I just say that?  Somebody smack the hell out of me.

Pardon me while pour myself a glass of scotch. :-)

Join the Movement.

Does it look like we had a great time?  I sure hope it does because this was THE best 2 day ride I have ever been on.

Huge props to Rosanna for her massive coordination and attention to detail.  Her hard, countless hours of work turned into something more than just a ride.  Her and her staff did an amazing job and made this one of the greatest supported rides in the Northwest.  As I am writing this the tally for MS fundraising is at 1.3 million dollars and growing every hour.

My wife kicks ass.