Two Wheels and Other Things

Rosanna and I were over at Dustin and Elizabeth’s for her birthday party. Dustin made sushi rolls and kept popping bottles of wine which I chased with 2 cans of Rainier Beer. I know, classy.

This morning I woke up late, queazy and 171 pounds. 171 pounds!

I was 145 pounds last season.  Sheesh.  Think I should start eating healthier?

But cheeseburgers are SO good!

Anyway, I was running a bit late and was supposed to meet the team in Kirkland so instead of riding all the way over, I drove to Mercer Island, parked and rode up to Cafe Ladro.

Ride - 45 miles

Bike - Klein Performance Touring 52-42 x 13-27 Sun Wheels

Breakfast - nothing

Ride Food - Small bottle of HEED and small bottle of Accelerade

It was a good ride, mostly for the guys I got to ride with.  I haven’t hung out with Brad for a while and I really missed him.  It was good to sit and chat with him and Dustin as they are great friends and I love the time I get to spend with them.  Good friends kick ass.

Came home to take care of my bride.  she isn’t feeling so hot (ahem… too much wine)

Off to have dinner with Jeff and Anna.  They both just ran the Seattle marathon and I am sure they are STARVING.

 First four songs off my new iPod playlist…. enjoy.

Jamie Cullum - All at Sea (live)

Counting Crows - Catapult (live)

Colin Hay - Overkill (Live)

Tool - Lateralus

Hope you are enjoying your four day weekend-

Stay Beautiful.

Monday, Rosanna and I headed on down to the Seattle Aquarium for the Party at the Pier.

First of all, the newly remodeled Seattle Aquarium kicks ass.

Second, Redhook is bad ass.

Was there any argument against either?

It was awesome!!!!!

Alright, I might not have a chance to post until afterwards… Everyone have a great Thanksgiving.  Hug those you love, enjoy your time with your family and if nothing else…

Stay Beautiful.

I woke up this morning and it was Witch Tit cold.  Seriously.

So I drove to the ride :-)

It wasn’t the long Sunday rides I have been doing but there was a ton of stuff I wanted to get accomplished at home so the long ride took a back seat.

Ride - 40 miles

Bike - BMC SL01 51-35 qrings x 11-21 Ksyrium SL Wheels

Breakfast - Ensure

Ride Food - 1 small bottle of FRS and 1 small bottle of water

Good tempo today, nice and relaxed.  Many chances to chat with some new and old teammates as well as a few sprints tossed in to make it exciting.  A small group broke off to hit May Valley and the rest of us continued to Mercer Island then another small group rode around Mercer as Myself, Guy, Gabe and Cathy headed back to Fremont.

I think today would have been much better if Rosanna and I had taken the tandem out.  It was a perfect day for it.  Boo!

Bring on the week!

I’m an Oregon Duck fan so the Apple Cup doesn’t really get my panties in a knot like others here in Washington State.  For those of you who don’t live in the area, today was the 101st meeting of UW and WSU.

The game was actually pretty good.  Too bad WSU came to play the WHOLE game.

Quick, what’s the difference between a dollar and the UW Huskies?

You can still get four quarters out of a dollar.

HA!

Granted, UW has been killed by injuries this year and pretty much the entire team is made up of Freshman and Sophomores… but really.  WSU won?  They (were) the worst ranked team in Pac 10 football… EVER!

I guess this is still leftover from Rick New-shnizel.  Little bastard destroyed this team.

I’ve been fighting this chest crud for a few days now and finally felt a little better this morning. What comes with the crud? The hack. There isn’t a good way to describe the expunging process while riding so I won’t attempt it, just know that you wouldn’t want to ride on either side of me.

Ride - 33 miles nice and easy, couple of sprint efforts but nothing too testing.

Bike - Tempo fixed gear 42 x 16 Open Pro wheels.

Breakfast - Ensure

Ride food - small bottle of Heed.

I didn’t do May Valley with the rest of the group, instead I headed west to cruise around Mercer with a few other of my TPR teammates. Great time today!

Now it’s time to sit back, watch UW and WSU in the (Rotten) Apple Cup and start tearing out the fixtures and tile in the 1/4 bath.

Might ride tomorrow, might not. I really need to rake up the leaves before my neighbor has a fit.

In 2007, Brett Dennen was named by Rolling Stone to be one of the “Top 10 New Artists To Watch”. Understatement maybe?

Born in 1979, Brett has released 5 albums as well as many compilations with other artists, joint tours and a current headline tour across the US

Studio Albums
Brett Dennen (2004)
So Much More (2006)
Hope for the Hopeless (2008)

Live Albums & EPs
Peace - EP (2006)
(More) So Much More (2007)

In my mind, Conor Oberst with talent, depth and an awesome stage presence.

Ain’t no Reason

She’s Mine

Darlin’ Do Not Fear

I left North Coast Electric around 2001 and took the Director of Procurement position at Netversant Solutions about a week later.  Although I ran the department I was mostly there to support the electrical division, Netversant Power.

Netversant wasn’t your normal contractor, com/ security OR electrical.  it was run by bean counting accountants… NOT folks with a construction background and every month it felt like it would be our last in business.  Controllers all over the country were jumping ship the second they got a chance.  It just wasn’t a good atmosphere.

On April 1st 2005 the Electrical division of Netversant was bought off by the current president, Jim Mackey asked me to join him and I leapt at the opportunity.  I have since moved on from Jim and Evergreen Power Systems and am now purchasing at Cochran, one of the largest Electrical contractors on the west coast.

Why the history lesson?

Because of THIS!

Ha!

* Brian dances a jig *

Well, crap.

People magazine STILL refuses to name me as the sexiest man alive.  I mean, C’mon.

This guy?

I think I was robbed!

Seriously… I’m going to start sending some hate mail.

I mean, honestly.  If this isn’t pure sexiness… I don’t know what is!

gotta love the cycling tan and the shaved legs! 

Maybe I’ll win next year! :-)

Saturday morning was a chance to sleep in as we all decided to wait for a warmer, later start and it turned out to be the right call.  We did the standard south end route and split apart after Coulon with a group heading up to May Valley and another group heading back.  I rode up to Bellevue with John, Tony and Todd and then turned around to cruise around Mercer and then head home.  It was a fantastic fall day!!!  Extra plus was finally seeing Matt T who I haven’t seen since I worked at a bike shop in Port Orchard MANY years ago.  He is riding with the Cycle U team right now and I’ll tell you what… hold on to your shorts.  It won’t take long before he is tearing it up.

Later in the afternoon, Dustin and Elizabeth came over for drinks and and bike building.  Well, actually, Dustin and I went downstairs to the shop and built his rain bike while the girls chatted it up and did crafty stuff in Ro’s craft room.  Later it was down the road for Pizza, beer and other fine foods.  Good times!

This morning I woke up with a little bit of a hangover and hoped for an easy ride to clear my head.  Not happening…

Ride - 92 miles / 3100 feet climbing

Bike - BMC SL01 51-35 q-rings x 11-23 Ksyrium SL wheels

Breakfast - Bagel and cream cheese

Ride Food - 1 small bottle of Heed, 1 small bottle of water (later I stopped for a gatorade) bag of shotblocks, and a snickers.

I missed the move on Hollywood hill but heard it was a well fought climb. I spun to the top to see Gabe, RC and Tony completely cross eyed and Greg sporting a shit eating grin. Freaks, all of them. Paradise lake road has been paved since the last time I have been out there and it just made for a great cruise. Greg and I rode together to Seward park as I wanted to meet up with Rosanna and possibly get a ride home (she was there with her team) but missed her so he and I sat down for a cup of coffee and then he rode with me to Fremont, Nickerson and then along the waterfront before splitting off to go home. I was pretty fried riding home and really started to feel the lack of sleep and the few drinks I had the evening before.

Please, watch.

If you voted yes…. You have no soul.

Junior High School.  All the girls were high on New Kids and the fools who were drooling over Warrant and Poison.

Me?  I was pissing off my parents AND the neighbors.

Rock on.

Welcome to the Jungle

Paradise City

Sweet Child ‘O Mine

and I know… it’s kind of sissy but this song rocks.

November Rain

Stay Beautiful.

My site is pretty boring lately.  Obviously with my legs deep in the off season and the bike only getting a work out 1-2 rides a week I don’t have that much to type about until we get more snow in the mountains OR spring gets here early.  I’m hoping for the snow.

I pulled the board out of the attic as well as our snowshoes.  I think this year will be the year Rosanna gets new skis.  She is running some X-frees from forever ago and I’d like to get her something a little bit better, especially after I rented her some Pocket Rockets at Whistler and Stevens and she loved the feel.  I guess I painted myself into a corner.  If anyone is getting rid of some - hit me up and we can chat. :-)

The leaves are piling up in the front yard but it has been too crappy to go pick them up.  I’m hoping my neighbor gets frustrated enough with how awful my yard looks and sends his lawn service folk over to take care of it. 

My plan to NOT pick up dog poop this year is really starting to come together.  All the rain we have been getting has pretty much made the poo unrecognizable so if you can’t see it, it isn’t there.  Right?

I got the lecture from Rosanna that I have turned into a “Jean and T-shirt” guy.   So I asked her if she wanted me to just be an “underwear” guy.  No response.  She took me down to Southcenter and bought me a few new pants (jeans… she said they were “nice” jeans though) and then headed over to H&M to check out the sweaters, which we ended up buying.  All of a sudden I’m 33 and I hate to shop.  HATE.  Malls kill me.  I wish I could just order everything I need from a bike magazine… or QBP.

I think this is the end of my update.   I’m planning on taking the dogs down to Lincoln Park by the ferry and walking stairs, or just let them scope out some other dogs and smell some poo… if there is any that is still recognizable.

Stay Beautiful-

Woke up to rain of course but not the downpour I was expecting.  So on with the old orange and blue (3 more weeks!) and off to Ladro in Fremont.  I met up with Greg and had a cup of coffee and a chat before heading over to Leschi to meet up with Dustin.

Not much of a team ride if only 3 people show up.  I guess weather and cross races factor into that.

I love rides like today.  The sun came out and off came the rain jacket, I even pulled my gloves off as the temperature went up in our favor.  nice and easy pace full of man-gossip and stories, bsically shooting the shit.  This is why I ride.  Not the race or the drool inducing hill repeats up Zoo.  I love my friends.

So anyway…

Ride- 92 miles

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

Breakfast - Bagel with turkey and cream cheese, Ensure

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

a few observations… I need a 39.  That 42 ain’t gonna cut it.  Anyone have a 135 BCD 39 tooth they need to get rid of?  Also, I need to put 42 ctc bars on.  the 40’s are just way too narrow and I’m pretty uncomfortable.

Time to get to work so I can pay the bills…

I have had a bunch of emails about what happened last weekend.  I must say I’m sorry I didn’t follow up.

No I did not go to the doctor, yes I think I had a concussion, no I did not sacrifice my “man bag”

The only thing I am suffering from right now is a really stiff and sore back.  Those of you that do know my back history should understand when I say this… ouch.   I’m slowly getting better though.  Pretty stiff in the mid to upper with a lot of pain at night but I have to thank the folks who make Aleve.  You all rock.

Anyway.

I picked up Ro from the airport last night at about 9.  She was out cold.  This morning was breakfast at Easy Street records and now she is in her craft room painting while I try to kill an 18 pack of PBR while I watch the Ducks own Stanford (aka the Pac 10 bitches).

As I type this, UO just got a safety.  !#$%^*!!!!

anyway… the goal of this weekend is to relax and I am.

Stay Beautiful.

Soul.

Pure soul.

My Girl

Try a Little Tenderness

These Arms of Mine

and of course…

(Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay

Matt (and the band) killed it at the Showbox last night.  Walking on stage like a champ to Queens “Flash” and then rocking us for a good hour and a half, Matt grabbed a hold of the audience, smacked the hell out of us and rocked our pants off.

Classic Matt. His great music mixed with some classic 80’s tunes  (Take On Me!) and the hilarious “Matt Banter”… it all ended way too soon.

I have already done a Musical Interlude on Nathanson a few months ago and although I really want to do another one for tomorrow, I’m gonna save it for later since I have already written one up.

It was great to hang out with my brother and his woman as well as Allison who got Rosanna’s ticket after an emergency work flight to Chicago (missed you babe!).  Beers at Kells before the show was much needed.

“I’m Wide Awake and So Alive!”

Yes.

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for.  If you don’t know by now and are still undecided, you haven’t been paying attention.

It’s the right thing to do.  Besides, if you don’t, you can’t complain.

Friday night I fell down the stairs.  Well… I actually fell ON the stairs.

Let me explain.

We don’t have a guard rail in our attic for the stairs below and I am ALWAYS telling Rosanna to be careful when she goes up there because it would be very easy to take a wrong step and end up head first into the stairs.  Well, I pulled a field test and ended up falling backwards from the attic to the stairs.

Holy hell I’m lucky.

I smacked my head pretty good, enough to make me nauseous for the afternoon.  racked my upper back, smacked my tailbone and re-injured my right hamstring.  I’m alive still though and that’s all that really matters.  I could have snapped my neck.

Later that night we headed over to Tony and Amanda’s for a rocking Halloween party.  Good times with our friends.  Those two are awesome and I wished we lived closer to each other, maybe soon…

Saturday was nothing but preparation for Halloween dinner.  Rosanna made a killer roast beast along with a great pasta/ pumpkin dish as well as a handmade pumpkin ice cream.  Add a bunch of friends and a leeetle bit of alcohol and we’re lucky the cops didn’t bust our party.  I mean, Greg K almost started stripping in the street.  Crazy.

Today was recovery.  I needed to slam 2 Excedrin, 1 small glass of water and an electrolyte recovery drink just to stop feeling a little sideways.  Ro and I crawled our way to Easy Street Records for a grease heavy breakfast and then it was nap time on the couch.  As soon as the sun peeked out I tossed on my riding gear and hit my West Seattle loop only to get poured and hailed on halfway through.  It was nice to get back out on the BMC… I think it missed me.  That bike is SO damn comfortable and responsive.  Why did I even think about another bike?

Shame on me.

Ride - 35 miles  2800 feet of climbing/ West Seattle repeats

Bike - BMC SL01 51-35 qrings x 11-21 Ksyrium SL wheels

Ride food - 2 bottles of water

Weight - 166 (damn I lose weight fast!)