E's Reaction To Grown Men In Pink Lycra

Pretty In Pink

No Sunglasses. Major Shit!!

I had to film a spot with the City Manager's Aide Pam yesterday to be shown on the City's cable access channel. I had filmed a 60 second dealie for the City's web page about trees. In my Just A Minute piece I wore my sunglasses because it made sense. I was outside and it was sunny. The first thing Pam notified me of yesterday was that I wouldn't be allowed to wear my sunglasses this time. I told her that I thought it was bullshit. Stand down. I can tell you to fuck off in such a way that you feel completely loved. My video shoot went well and my cell phone only rang once during shooting. One of my tree contractors called. The boys that live in town will see this thing and give me loads of shit. Oh well.

We buried our co-worker Paul yesterday. A great guy with an unbelievable mechanical mind. When he had his own repair garage our mechanics would stop by for advice. When he got tired of 16 hour days he came to work at the City. I'll always remember the story about the ultralite plane he built for former Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall and how Marshall then took the plane out and crashed it in to some power lines.

Rode my fixie to work today. I really like riding that bike. Going down big hills is still kinda tricky but I'll get used to that.

Track racing night at the Velodrome tonight. No, not me. Wish I had gotten into this addiction earlier in life because I think I'd really love to race on the track.

I Told You I'd Remind You Every Day

Hey Cat 6 brothers. I came to Opus every chance I could and the Velodrome every Thursday. I cheer loudly and sport my new jersey. Come on out on Sunday. You won't miss the Tour cause it's on earlier in the day. Guaranteed that your hands won't freeze like on Stuporbowl day, Tuffy.

You Can Still Coast - Just Take Your Feet Off The Pedals

Yet another picture of my red Surly Crosscheck. It no longer has a coaster brake. Jim and Kevin at Hiawatha Cyclery converted it to a fixed gear bike. For you civilians, that means when I stop pedaling, I don't have the ability to coast and you coast a whole hell of a lot more than you think. The bike remind you in a hurry that you've stopped pedalling because your momentum tries to break your leg. Not the ideal bike for a guy with bad knees? Probably. Took it out to play in the neighborhood yesterday evening. Really fun to ride. Need to practice my trackstands.
Front brake which I'm using quite a bit right now.
New Phil Wood hub that replaced coaster brake hub. Picture doesn't do the hub justice. It's really shiny.

So now I have four bikes. A single speed mountain bike, a fixed gear bike, a multi-geared cross bike and a two speed cross bike. Probably through buying bikes for a while. Mrs doesn't believe that last statement.

Hi

This post is for those of you reading this after 11 pm. Go to the kitchen right now and find some type of pastry. Eat it with a glass of milk. Now go to bed.

It Came To Me In A Dream - Dead Elm Trees Surrounded By A Weird Glow

Don't Forget

My graphic arts designer and friend Kris put this together for me. She'll be unhappy that I used the first draft on my blog. Those of you who have done this race know where we meet. It's at the east end of the Stone Arch Bridge by the gazebo. I know it's close to the holiday but don't use that as an excuse. If you're going out of town, then cool. But if you're hanging around then come on out. There's beer and good looking chicks and I might even get an advance on my allowance and buy you a beer after the race. I'm planning the manifest and my little pea brain has devised stops that will make you question my intelligence and sanity. I'm going to remind you every day this week. Don't make me beg. And Kris, if you make a mistake and check out my blog today, the first draft is awesome.

Our Friend And Co-worker Paul Died From Cancer Saturday. Per His Wishes We Got Together Sunday. Miss You Forever Buddy.

No, These Are New Track Pictures

Mrs donned her jacket as the temperature had plummeted to 80.
Don't worry Morgan, I won't forget your stickers.

One of the other reasons Skibby is cool is his hairdo.
This race is called the Kierin. Motorcycle revs the field to 31 mph and then peels off. Two laps follow. I think.

Ma Always Said, 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow'

My neighbor's wake is this afternoon. His sudden death brings it all back for me. Our family has had quite a few sudden deaths. So when I heard about Mike I wasn't this 48 year old man. I was 8 years old again and thought of the morning I got up to discover my father had died. Ironic that the great insomniac had completely slept through the fire department and all kind of activity just steps from his bedroom. Peace out Mike. I hope they've got talk radio in the next life.

Switching gears. Tonight is track racing night. Tyler and Mikey both got moved up in class so that should be interesting. I want to see if I can get into the infield for pics from a different angle.

Will be out again today marking private trees. I love trees but it's my job to enforce the City's Dutch Elm Disease code. I don't like that part of the job. They're never happy to see you. What people don't understand is that their tree is as much a part of their home as is the furnace or plumbing. The trees we require them to remove are going to be completely dead soon and then hazardous as the limbs become brittle.

Reminder to Mrs: Don't forget your jacket for this evening and for God's sake wear long pants.

I Need A Helper. Not You Tuffy. Fifty Grit, You'd Be Perfect.

She'd Be A Shitty Dragger Partner But Would Never Complain About Her Tree

Shit, it's only June and I'm already tired of dealing with these people about their trees. It used to be that in October my boss and I would always make the statement - I Hate Trees - but hell that's over three months from now. God do I hate voicemail. If you're going to call and leave a 2 minute message then at least leave your fucking address as part of it. What's this rant have to do with today's picture? Not a GD thing.

Rode with my Bianchi Guy from 50th and 12th down to 73rd and 12th. Said he saw me ahead of him yesterday and tried to dig in but couldn't catch up. Whatever dude. Get rid of the saddlebags and then give it a shot.

Well, time to get out the orange paint and go meet and greet the lovely citizens of the picturesque little burg. I'll take photos of some of my finer work and post them with a critique of my paint jobs. First time reader? I'm the City forester and I make people remove trees that they ordinarily wouldn't remove without prompting.

It Was Parked In The Lot Of A Vegetarian Restaurant

Do I really need to come up with some type of smart ass comment for this photo? It has Wisconsin plates that say "Yummy" on it.

My neighbor across the alley (Mike) died Sunday night. Nice guy. Really soft spoken. Did the lettering on many of the cabs in town. Only 64 years old. I guess I'm still in shock over that one.

Almost got hit in the lot by one of my co-workers this morning. We both kind of contributed to it. Glad for both of us that it didn't happen.

From the looks of the radar it appears that riding a bike this morning in Minneapolis is going to be a soggy adventure. Maybe it'll miss us.

They're Really Fast But Don't Have Lights Or A Bell On Their Bikes

This guy acts like he won something. I was pretty close to the finish line when he came through.
Both of these photos were bootlegged off the NVGP page. We were going to take the Dragger downtown but somehow listened to the weatherman and took the train. We still got soaked standing around and more soaked walking half a block to the News Room. Good thing for Sammy and Jeremy (Rocket Scientist) that Debbie and I had our umbrellas. Otherwise the boys would've gotten wet.

Went on Hiawatha Cyclery Saturday morning ride and didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day. Had an engagement party to attend Saturday night. I even ate with a fork.

Mrs and I did the Hopkins loop on Sunday with a stop for snacks at the Holiday gas station immortalized by the Cat 6 boys on Opus nights. So, after dining on trail mix, stale cookies, Powerade and coffee we headed back to Minneapolis. It's a 41 mile round-trip which is a whole bunch on the Dragger.

Velodrome Photos To Replace Weekly Opus Photos

Super Rookie representing Logan Square, Chicago, Illinois where we eat punks like you for lunch.
Mikey looking to see what's coming. Timmy, Little Guy needs to consult you on wardrobe choices.
Man in black cool. Man in black - really f-ing fast.
Directeur Sportif - You need to have a talk with him.
I think the guy out front is taking a quick peak at the parking lot to see if his car is ok. The coolest thing about him was when he passed the stands and his kids yelled - Go Dad.
I wish I had gotten a better picture of you honey without the distraction in the background.
Tyler and Tuffy digging in.
Super Rookie's private plane returning to pick him up after racing.

Fun time at the track last night. Nice to know so many people racing. Tyler was awesome and now gets moved up in class. Debra, get that snowsuit in the car. E probably has one she'll lend you.

Mrs Will Sell You Her OFS Sticker For $1500. The Purses Are A Throw-in On The Deal.

It's Thursday, I Can See My Way

Raining right now which may put a damper on racing at the track tonight. I was really looking forward to tonight. Super Rookie was going to race and tonight would be marking the world track debut of Tuffy. Morgan, you seemed on the fence for the time being. I'm sure you'll be racing out there soon. My track racing debut will have to wait for my next life but if I did race I'd have to do the Madison with Skibby's Madison partner Big Dave Gray as my partner. What a swath we'd cut through the field.

Planted a tree on the boulevard for a guy that I'd had contact with several times. While riding lime green at lunch yesterday I noticed that he had moved the tree off the boulevard into his own yard. He picked a nice spot but the boulevard tree planting program is set up to provide shade trees ON THE BOULEVARD. The tree is now dying. My boss wants me to send him a bill for the tree. Only unhappiness can come out of the billing procedure.

Note to Mrs: Even if track racing is cancelled I'll still let you take me to dinner. What a guy!

Family Princess

Yeah I'll Pay Your Cab Fare Home - You Can Even Use My Best Cologne...

Nature Valley Grand Prix starts today with a time trial in Saint Paul. Not sure if I'll be able to make it today. I'm more interested in making it to the Velodrome on Thursday and the Minneapolis portion of nature Valley on Friday.

Mrs and I watched E last night. The girl's a blast. Since her mother, grandmother and half of the state of Wisconsin are in a never ending search for toys, there's plenty of stuff to amuse her.

Now that I've ridden lime green about 60 miles I have a pretty good idea about it. The bars and reach are perfect. Not too hunched over and not too upright. Disc brakes are awesome. Glad I finally have a bike with them. 46 x 17 is a really good commuting gear. Still getting used to the seat but that's always the case with a new bike. I'm going to wait to put full fenders on till winter. Oh, I'd forgotten how easily those platform pedals with the little prongs can bite you when you're moving the bike.

Work sucks but then that's nothing new. Let me take part of that back. If everyone who called was as nice as that last lady who called me honey I'd work here forever.

Velodrome Pictures From Last Thursday - I'll Soon Be Racing The Lime Green Bike There

My man Tyler ready to pounce.




This shot really shows the banking on the turns.
This was actually a picture of that guy's head but I think I also captured a shot of a certain superstar on a white Tiemeyer.


I think I've met the woman on the red Masi but I'm not sure. When I met her she wasn't wearing spandex. Oh, excuse the shit out of me - I mean lycra.