Monday, March 27, 2006
Ping Pong's Post
Hi everybody. This is not Shannon, this is Ping Pong. Since nobody wrote in that they wanted to guest post on this site, and since Shannon is apparantly too busy to update his site, I thought I'd at least let everybody know what is going on. I'll do my best to recreate a shannon-like experience for you. ok, ready? here it goes:
Rode the other day up a really hard climb. Tonkin started really givin'er and then it was just him and me after we dropped everybody else. It was getting close to my half-hour ride limit so I went home and ate a burrito. After the burrito it was time for some kozy shack and I had a hard time controlling myself. I was only going to eat half the tub but I accidentally ate the whole tub. Woe is me.
How was that?
Check this site out: www.burritoblog.com
In other news, Shannon neglected to share with everybody that his dog is no longer his dog. After months of unsuccessfully trying to breed the dog with his cats to create a dog-cat(-burrito) hybrid, Shannon eventually gave up and the dog has moved on to greener pastures (meaning a bigger house with a family to play with it). Next up, a cat-ferrett hybrid (or "carrett"). Eventually he's going to try a cat-cat hybrid, a fearsome animal with the head of a cat, and the body of a cat.
Oh, we also got our team bikes. They are sweet. Madone 5.9 SL with a gold Chris King headset. I think our bikes last year weren't quite nice enough, so we got the upgraded version.
This week is the big sale at work. It is going to be harder than trying to wrestle a burrito away from Shannon. I think I will just wear my bike shorts under my work clothes and count it all as chamois time. Anybody else out there going to do 50 hours this week?
Rode the other day up a really hard climb. Tonkin started really givin'er and then it was just him and me after we dropped everybody else. It was getting close to my half-hour ride limit so I went home and ate a burrito. After the burrito it was time for some kozy shack and I had a hard time controlling myself. I was only going to eat half the tub but I accidentally ate the whole tub. Woe is me.
How was that?
Check this site out: www.burritoblog.com
In other news, Shannon neglected to share with everybody that his dog is no longer his dog. After months of unsuccessfully trying to breed the dog with his cats to create a dog-cat(-burrito) hybrid, Shannon eventually gave up and the dog has moved on to greener pastures (meaning a bigger house with a family to play with it). Next up, a cat-ferrett hybrid (or "carrett"). Eventually he's going to try a cat-cat hybrid, a fearsome animal with the head of a cat, and the body of a cat.
Oh, we also got our team bikes. They are sweet. Madone 5.9 SL with a gold Chris King headset. I think our bikes last year weren't quite nice enough, so we got the upgraded version.
This week is the big sale at work. It is going to be harder than trying to wrestle a burrito away from Shannon. I think I will just wear my bike shorts under my work clothes and count it all as chamois time. Anybody else out there going to do 50 hours this week?
Monday, March 13, 2006
Euro trash
What self-respecting American bike racer isn't into the whole Euro thing? I'm talking stocking caps, shoe covers when it's 70 out, crappy roads, Euro-Disney; all those things make bike racers secretly love to emulate those across the pond even though we actually hate them because they love terror. But this morning I discovered an all new reason to celebrate the Euro thing:
The picture's a little unclear, but it reads "European Style Rice". I discovered this sweet, sweet goodness while shopping at Fred Meyer's this morning. It tastes just like regular kozy shack, but different. It's a little more vanilla, much like I am, descended from the scottish isles. It's a little darker, like those from the mediterranean. It's a little grittier, like the cobbled roads of Belgium. It's more real, like the streets of London.
Peace out.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Seriously
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Tribute to Barry
Since Wicks gave me a shout out on his site (wicknasty.blogspot.com) I thought I'd dedicate a post to him. Check it out:
Back when he was only good enough to ride Ultegra:
Taking a pee break, in the middle of a race:
Barry, you may be tall and fast, but I have more cats.
Ok, and I have to give props to Sacha. Check out the goods: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2006/features/nahmbs064
You know you've made it when you get two features on cyclingnews in 3 months.
That's what I'm talking about.
Peace out.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Blog report
This morning I started my day off pretty easy, checking my own blog to see if any more people had posted comments on the latest post. There was one new one, reminding me that I'd vowed to bring back the phrase "peace out". Yeah, sorry, I forgot.
From there I moved on to mollycameron.com's blog. It's been a little while since I've read hers, so there were a couple entries I had to read through. There was a lot of text, and I felt a little bogged down about halfway through, but she includes some nice pictures and they gave me a nice pick-me-up that got me through.
From there I was getting a little tired from all the reading, so I headed over to cyclingnews to check out some pictures. The Tour of Cali pics are nice to look at, and then I checked out some stuff from the handmade bikes show. There's some cool stuff there, and a couple local builders, including the man who puts the "ill" in "van-ill-a".
After the short break I was rested up, and I went over to toddwells.net to check out his site. There wasn't anything new, but I skimmed through his last post again. Just reading about his training makes me tired. No wonder he's so fast.
And after all this, the end of my blogging was sort of anti-climactic. I checked out eriktonkin.bikeportland.org, but he hasn't posted anything new since he first started growing body hair at age 9.
I wonder if wicks or trebon is taller?
Peace out.
From there I moved on to mollycameron.com's blog. It's been a little while since I've read hers, so there were a couple entries I had to read through. There was a lot of text, and I felt a little bogged down about halfway through, but she includes some nice pictures and they gave me a nice pick-me-up that got me through.
From there I was getting a little tired from all the reading, so I headed over to cyclingnews to check out some pictures. The Tour of Cali pics are nice to look at, and then I checked out some stuff from the handmade bikes show. There's some cool stuff there, and a couple local builders, including the man who puts the "ill" in "van-ill-a".
After the short break I was rested up, and I went over to toddwells.net to check out his site. There wasn't anything new, but I skimmed through his last post again. Just reading about his training makes me tired. No wonder he's so fast.
And after all this, the end of my blogging was sort of anti-climactic. I checked out eriktonkin.bikeportland.org, but he hasn't posted anything new since he first started growing body hair at age 9.
I wonder if wicks or trebon is taller?
Peace out.
Friday, March 03, 2006
the update to end all updates
That's a lot to live up to, but I think I can do it. Let's see...last time I updated, I was debating whether or not to do Cherry Pie. I didn't do it. Instead, we went on a long MTB ride out to Scappoose and back.
In the meantime, Ping Pong headed down to, and back from LA. He rode more in the two weeks that he was down there than I have all year so far. But I have a sweet stars and stripes jersey. How do you like that, Ping Pong? He was saying that he's never seen so many Benzes, Porsches, Lexuses, and other nice cars. While he was down there I guess there was an ongoing story about some dude with some million dollar plus lamborghini that crashed it while going an estimated 167 mph, crashed it into a telephone pole, and the car sheared in half. No kidding.
I didn't get a new cat this week. That's news, right? I'm still stuck at 4 (and one dog).
Ok, so race season is officially into full swing, with the Banananana belt series starting this weekend. I'll do this one for sure, unless it's really really crappy, but I think it'll just be kind of crappy. I'll be riding my Vanilla cross bike with dura-ace (you know, my backup cross bike. what's your backup cross bike?) because the new Trek Madone 5.9 SL's haven't shown up yet. I gotta get with it, I have to glue road tires onto my carbon wheels. Life is rough, I know.
Verdict on the 29er: I like it. It feels just a tad slower than a regular one, but I know it's not. How do I know? Because everybody tells me so. Anyway, it only feels slower when you're trying to accelerate, and I think there's an advantage pretty much everywhere else. Except it's a little heavier. Bottom line: come in, buy one, and if you don't like it, sell it for a substantial loss on craigslist. Plus it's like the new thing to do. 29ers are the new pink which is the new black.
Latest favorite show: Project Runway. Who watches this? It's on bravo. It's one of those reality TV shows, and it's based on people who want to be fashion designers. This show combines two of my favorite things: TV and me watching TV. I like it because as opposed to the other reality shows, it's judged based on actually producing something. So unlike the Apprentice or even American Idol, you're basically rewarded for working hard. That's kind of like pomegranates. I mean, it's kind of like bike racing.
I wonder how I would have done at the Tour of California? I think I would have done really well, because I heard the rider accomodations were really posh. I'm really good at relaxing and kicking my feet up, and I think I could do even better when it's in sunny California. I mean, I'm sure the racing would be hard and all, but I'm all about the recovery. Hotels, massages, maybe a soak in the hot tub, then the nightly buffet. I'd be all over that. Ping Pong saw the last stage, and said it was a pretty big deal. He even heckled Tom Danielson. Good work, Ping Pong.
In the meantime, Ping Pong headed down to, and back from LA. He rode more in the two weeks that he was down there than I have all year so far. But I have a sweet stars and stripes jersey. How do you like that, Ping Pong? He was saying that he's never seen so many Benzes, Porsches, Lexuses, and other nice cars. While he was down there I guess there was an ongoing story about some dude with some million dollar plus lamborghini that crashed it while going an estimated 167 mph, crashed it into a telephone pole, and the car sheared in half. No kidding.
I didn't get a new cat this week. That's news, right? I'm still stuck at 4 (and one dog).
Ok, so race season is officially into full swing, with the Banananana belt series starting this weekend. I'll do this one for sure, unless it's really really crappy, but I think it'll just be kind of crappy. I'll be riding my Vanilla cross bike with dura-ace (you know, my backup cross bike. what's your backup cross bike?) because the new Trek Madone 5.9 SL's haven't shown up yet. I gotta get with it, I have to glue road tires onto my carbon wheels. Life is rough, I know.
Verdict on the 29er: I like it. It feels just a tad slower than a regular one, but I know it's not. How do I know? Because everybody tells me so. Anyway, it only feels slower when you're trying to accelerate, and I think there's an advantage pretty much everywhere else. Except it's a little heavier. Bottom line: come in, buy one, and if you don't like it, sell it for a substantial loss on craigslist. Plus it's like the new thing to do. 29ers are the new pink which is the new black.
Latest favorite show: Project Runway. Who watches this? It's on bravo. It's one of those reality TV shows, and it's based on people who want to be fashion designers. This show combines two of my favorite things: TV and me watching TV. I like it because as opposed to the other reality shows, it's judged based on actually producing something. So unlike the Apprentice or even American Idol, you're basically rewarded for working hard. That's kind of like pomegranates. I mean, it's kind of like bike racing.
I wonder how I would have done at the Tour of California? I think I would have done really well, because I heard the rider accomodations were really posh. I'm really good at relaxing and kicking my feet up, and I think I could do even better when it's in sunny California. I mean, I'm sure the racing would be hard and all, but I'm all about the recovery. Hotels, massages, maybe a soak in the hot tub, then the nightly buffet. I'd be all over that. Ping Pong saw the last stage, and said it was a pretty big deal. He even heckled Tom Danielson. Good work, Ping Pong.
I wonder what Tonkin's doing right now?
