Clean Sweep!

So yesterday we had a first on the bicycle. It was our weekly gun show ride (which was not a first) but the mopping up certainly was. The ride is starting to become local legend now as we've integrated this ride with employees from Saris and a few other random add-ons and yesterday's crew topped out around 20 people including Neil Swanson on a Mountain Bike (with a sweet new disc brake power tap.)

First things first, we are on our way to pick up the Saris guys (like a 1.5 mile ride.) When we ride through the ghetto we see a mini van peel away pissed at us. Huh. Well we get in front of Saris and the same mini van pulls up next to us. All of a sudden, out the window comes a freakin' Swiffer Mop. They swung it at someone and missed and then wound up again and went Prince Fielder on Balsley. Fortunately it was a light mop and it just glanced his helmet. Of course reactions differed. The old guys took down the license number while the Fitchburg crew (we don't really have a name and we certainly aren't a brigade) gave chase. Idiot went down a dead end. But I guess 1991 tan Chevy Astro vans are really bad ass as they started off-roading in it to get away. Somehow they got away which sucked. A call to 911 (I guess they went to Saris to ask about it) and we were back on our way.

Personally, I had my best Gun Show yet. I attacked an uphill mostly so I'd get enough gap that I wouldn't get dropped by the top, which worked. Then we were about 1/2 mile out and I was still there and I gave it my all in a sprint, just about 700 meters too early! But I did hit almost 38mph which I didn't know I was capable of. Another Schwinn guy wins though!

Second sprint and I basically get smoked. I suck at that one and just paced myself in. Of course if the ride wasn't sketchy enough, a co-worker who missed the start caught back up with the help of a motor scooter. Schwinn win again.

Third stage pissed me off. The scooter takes off with a couple Schwinn riders in tow. The pace is fast and furious but I am hanging in there. We hit M in three groups. Clearly the middle group is a bunch of idiots as I almost got to watch 5 people I know die. Yep, hard left right in front of a logging truck and some good brakes by the truck was a lucky break for the riders. And all of them were getting smoked by the guys on the scooter anyways. Stupid. So I quit. I was just too pissed at how stupid cyclists can be, no wonder we get jacked by dudes with Swiffers. After I quit, I wondered to myself if I just dropped off because I suck so I bridged back to the group I was with (needed to prove something to myself.) Then I thought that was stupid too so I dropped off again, put the heart rate at 120 and spun it in. Idiots. Schwinn won again (Jerry I believe this time.)

The good? All the people I like to ride with and consider my friends rode smart and weren't part of the fiascos. The bad? Lots of people are idiots. Some guy named Niles spent a good mile on the left of the yellow line while getting yelled at by our CEO. It wasn't just a quick force to the left as this blog states. Hopefully people and the ride get less stupid. Otherwise I am going to create my own ride and call it the "Un Show". Look out for tan mini vans! :)

Last night was a good time. After a stressful workday we had a kickball doubleheader. I think I went 1 for 7 in the two games, I definitely choked. We lost 2 and still haven’t won this season. After that we went to Tubbys (Texas Tubbs Taco Palace) and rocked some burritos with the Longs, Danielsons and some others. A great time!

The bikes have been found

I've been assured that the bikes have been found. Sounds like the police mixed up the container number when they called the shipping yard. The kids will get their bikes on time!

See ya Jerry!

So today was the Jerry (& Jess and Kieran) going away party. First a ride at Blue Mounds and then a cook out. Got out to Blue Mounds a little after 11am and rode. Jerry dominated the rocks. A good time was had, no one got hurt and I got the only flat of the day, and that was after our first lap, when we decided to go out for more. Got in around 13 miles in around 2 hours of riding. I even had time to ride a small loop by myself and I found a great photo op!

That should be in a catalog or something. Afterward I rocked a 40oz. Nothing like some cold brew after a hard ride. And it was only $1.49. Of course it was full of iced tea, because that is what a hipster would drink.

After the riding I got home in time to catch another last inning of disappointing Brewers baseball. Then we got ready and went back to the Long house. It was quite the hike over there. Oh yeah, while we were gone, Jess installed some new shades and a new mailbox. Our house looks a little less ghetto every day thanks to Jess! And her dad even hung our hanging baskets in the front so our house is real purdy! Anyways, we grilled out and had a great time. I guess we are getting to that age where almost everyone has kids and there had to be about 7 or 8 kids 4 and under, all at about 6 month intervals. It was fun to watch them all interact and to catch up with our mountain bike acquanitances of the last couple years. We stayed for a few hours and now I am hope, having ate to much and I am tired.

They leave in two weeks. It'll be really weird to have new neighbors. They are the only neighbors since I was a kid that we really got to know. Everyone else around our neighborhood is older so it was awesome to have friends that live right across the street. So it sucks that they are leaving but they are on to bigger and better things. Plus now I need to find a new bike mechanic. So if you want a house to buy with a great view and great neighbors, I can probably score you a hot deal. If you want to rent a house for a screamin' deal in 2-1/2 weeks, let me know and we can work out a sweet cash rental... :)

Working Class Hero

Wow, after I updated like a rockstar for a week my updating got weak. Busy week, clif notes: Tuesday night I had softball, we won 21-3 and I went 4 for 4 and perfect defense. Maybe my transition to being an old man is complete! I even rocked an inside the park home-run, which is odd since I am not known for my speed. Whack! Wednesday was a pretty basic day. Worked. Had volleyball at night and we went 2 out of 3, which is much better than I thought we could even do. Not bad at all! Before volleyball we went to JT Whitneys with the Longs...man I've missed that place! Thursday I rode the Gun Show. Got dropped, caught back up at the stop, broke away, got caught, got dropped, caught back up at the stop, rode hard with a 30mph tailwind and hung on until about 1/4 mile to go, got dropped. Ouch! That night we were supposed to have kickball, but it was rained out. Jess and I dominated the mall and some REI. Laid back. Friday we went to brat fest for work. It was a fun ride on the fixie. We also got out of work early which was welcome on a Friday afternoon. Of course as awesome as a couple free hours would be, I ended up riding bikes instead with Jerry...but it was the perfect riding weather and we even ran into Kelson and Jen. Bonus. Took in Shrek 3 (creative and went fast) and some Qdoba. And that brings us to the weekend, where I can give a full update!

Saturday I got up early to play some basketball. We then got ready to head to Chicago for a quick overnighter and Bike the Drive. We were on our way down and Dean and Beth called, saying if we went to Dave and Busters at 1pm they could meet us! Sweet! We killed the extra hour at the Mall. The Woodfield Mall is crazy and trendy and stuff, I tried to fit in but I really didn't. Dave and Busters was awesome as usual. We racked up almost 700 more tickets in our quest for some stupid prize. We found a few games that put out some serious tickets. Hopefully we can go back soon. Oh yeah, we ran into my cousin's ex-GF there, she's from MPLS and we are from Madison, so what better place to see someone than Addison, IL. After that we headed to Ikea in the pouring rain. Our bedroom is now fully set to recieve some blinds. No more towels tacked over the window opening! While at Ikea, Kyle and Tracy called, their flight to Hawaii was cancelled and they were stuck at some hotel at O'Hare. Our attempts to meet up didn't happen as when we finally talked they were just tired and didn't want to do much and we knew of nothing to do near O'Hare. We got into downtown and the rain switched to a drizzle. Not too bad. We walked a whole bunch but when it came time for supper, neither of us were too hungry so we ate bananas at Trader Joes. Saturday morning was going to be rough, the alarm was set for 4:45am and we needed to be registered and riding by 5:30am. Oh yeah, we went to bed with a forecast of 80% chance of rain, with scattered nasty thunderstorms. Oh yeah, and I forgot any leg coverings, ready for nice weather. We got up and it didn't appear to be raining. We got registered on time (some how) and lined up to head north first. We headed north and I chased down the leader so I could lead! :) I half-wheeled some TT guy before stopping to take some photos. It's about this time I noticed my left ass-cheek hurt. Huh. We got to the north turnaround and the rain wasn't too bad. I look at my seat and my seat was broken, the shell cracked so my left side had no support. What the hell is my problem, I break stuff all the time! But I endured the pain for the rest of the ride. Heading back south was nice, the wind wasn't bad and the rain let up. This event was super fun and the more we rode, the more people that were around. We got back to the start to head south. South was a little dissapointing. The rain picked back up and it was boring after we went by the new Soldier Field. We turned around at the Museum and headed back north. The rain was pretty decent but we made it back. Just over 30 miles on the Lake Shore Drive and I had one sore ass! We went back to the hotel and showered and got to the Schwinn tent around 8:30 am. We talked to alot of people and had a nice time. Oh yeah, the weather turned nice right around 8:30. We even saw some blue sky and the Sears Tower. It was a really fun event and I am very glad we went! We headed back on some random route that worked well. We tried to stop at Long John Silvers as we saw a sign. Unfortuately the sign was all that was left, so it was rubble so I settled for some White Castle. We got back and crashed hard. We watched the Brewers and the Indy 500 (both were dissapointing) before meeting the Family-Smulka for supper. I was zoned out most of the night but it was fun. Now it's Monday morning and I am going out to Blue Mound, where inevitably, I'll break more bike parts! Then the Jerry going away party, which will be fun, but it will also suck as I'll be back down to knowing zero neighbors...