TOOK A RIDE......

Ran into Erich-the-bald last night on the local trails. We took a ride and did some exploring and reconniscence. We put our heads together and made an ass out of ourselves....get it?

I hit up the trails again tonight with The artist formerly known as Coooop..
We also took a nice ride and did some exploring. Both nights I rode the pedal bike pictured above and recall thinking on a number of occasions that it would have been a much better choice than the Salsa for the muddy conditions in Rockford on Sunday.
I continue to learn all my lessons the hard way.
I also recall thinking about reading Spicyride's blog post about her local trails and the different names people give to certain parts of their trails. Everybody does it......I mean Sheboygan has The Equalizer, Crystal Ridge has Craters of the Moon, there is a section on the Rhinelander course called The Wart....and the list goes on.
On our local trails in Tosa we have areas like Harley Woods, Monkey Ridge, Homo Holler, and Ass-Water Creek. I also understand there is a piece of trail being labeled The Bubba Trail....I don't know the significance of the name, but it's a pretty nifty section.

OUT WITH THE OLD...........

AND IN WITH THE NOT QUITE AS OLD...........

I scored a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer....

I realize it's not quite the "chick-magnet" I had with the Caravan, but I guess I'll just have to get by on my charming personality and sexy pedal bikes for a while until I can afford that Toyota Yaris "babe-catcher" I've got my eye on.
If I play my cards right, I should be able to slide behind the wheel of the Yaris just as I'm easing into my mid-life crisis in a couple of years.

Yeah...I'm gonna miss that old van....

And speaking of things that have lasted waaayy longer than I ever thought they would......

Gusto is still hangin' in there some 13 months after we adopted him from the Humane Society. He has still got some issues for sure...bad hips and breath that could drop a charging rhino at 50 paces among other things.... but he's mellower than Barry White and a great dog and we will just continue to spoil the shit out of him for whatever time he has left.

BUBBA'S GETTIN' A NEW SET-A-WHEELS.....


Well folks.....The trusty 95 Dodge Caravan was threatening to nickle n' dime me into submission, so I thew up the white flag before it had the chance.

I should not complain though considering back in 95 when I bought it, Meg was not even 2 years old and was doing the bulk of her training in a stroller.....I never thought she would actually be legally driving it. It was a dependable car for a long time.



So.......With the help of Coooooop...I headed out lookin' for a ride that fits my personality. I had some criteria that needed to be met however....

1....I had to find something I could live in if I get myself into a predicament...and

2...I had to find something that was better on gas than my old GMC pick up.





I ended up compromising..... a few MPG's for this baby.






I'll post a few pics of the exterior after I pick it up tonight.

MEMPHIS CHOKED.......................

Dear Coach Calipari,

Let me begin by congratulating the Memphis Tigers on a successful 38-2 season.

Also.... if I may, offer a piece of advice to your team for future reference....
A little less time in the tattoo shop and a little more time in the gym practicing your foul shots might be helpful next time around.
Yeah...your guys looked real bad-ass while they were blowing chow all over themselves at the freethrow line down the stretch last night.

Strong letter to follow....

Signed,

You hillbillies cost me $50.00 in my office pool.

What else is up??....Well....

This is some pretty cool shit...Dude...I'm linked up on a pro's blog.
This is gonna be a nice ride..
This too...
This might be after some tweaking.....I'm just not used to all that suspension anymore.

I am riding pretty consistantly 4-5 times a week, but would like to get in a few longer rides and would really welcome the opportunity to ride on some dirt soon. Afterall...I do fancy myself a mountain biker...A slow, old mountain biker, but a mountain biker none-the-less.

I am losing a few pounds, but it's a slow process....I blame Chipolte.

Some people can just blog about dropping weight and the pounds seem to melt off....not me.

My kids are completely out of control...

Jamie got a tattoo.

Megan is talking about having her lip pierced now that she is getting her braces off next month. Her orthodontist had been advising against it while she has braces because apparently she could accidently wire her mouth shut or something.........Her orthodontist thinks that would be a problem...I pretended to agree.

And this one......Safe to say it's gonna take some creative parenting to keep her out of the teen lock-up because to quote her....."I'll do what I want".....Next time you see her, ask her how that attitude is working out for her.

That's it. Now you know everything.

Oh....I will be doing the Rock Cut race on the 20th. A long ride on dirt should be just what the doctor ordered.

MARCH MADNESS.......................

I am currently in the lead in my office pool of 18 participants. I would have escaped day 1 "clean" except for the UNLV-Kent State game.

Today's upset specials......St. Josephs over Oklahoma (11 over 6) and St. Mary's over Miami (10 over 7). I realize I'm really not going out on a limb here, but I have office women to beat.....besides an upset is an upset.

BENJAMIN BUFORD BLUE....WTF???..

Personally, I thought Dopey the Dwarf was workin'.

On the scale at the "Y' tonight I weighed 228 lbs. This is the first time I have been under 230 in well over a decade. Just for comparison...last year at this time I was probably in the 243 range and my avg race weight in mid-summer last season was around 237.

Speaking of the "Y"...they were playing this in my pump class tonight.(try being a macho weightlifter with the vision of that guy dancing around in your head).....O.K. Baron..I know it's not 80's gay, but it sure is gay.

MAIDEN VOYAGE.......

I took a bunch of old bike stuff to the swap in Madison and wound up selling just about all of it. I came about a ten dollar bill short of making enough to score this Dos Niner frame. I bought it anyway.
First ride was tonight with Coop. We took a leisurely stroll through Tosa and rode around Pigsville for a bit and called it. The initial reviews are very positive. The suspension soaked up the potholes real nice, but this is no road bike boys and girls. We shall see how it handles the singletrack........sometime in late June by the looks of things.

NEW LINKS AND NEW LOOK...........

Same old waste of time.

ALL DUCK-TAPED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO.......

I hit the road at 3:20 pm feeling like I just might have shaken the dreadmocus that's rendered me uncharacteristically slow and sluggish for the last 2 weeks, but I still feel the tail end. So, what I had hoped to be a good long ride wound up only being 20 miles total with a stop in the middle to pay a visit to my ma.
My ma had some re-grafting surgery on her neck and chest from a burn accident 3 years ago. She spent some time recovering at the burn unit at St. Mary's and then had to transition at Franciscan Woods in Brookfield because apparently, at 71, you don't bounce back quite as quickly from that kind of stuff .

At first, when they said she had to go to rehab.......she said.... no.....no.....no......but she went anyway. She will be going home Saturday, so it's all good.

YOU CAN'T POLISH A TURD...........

But you can give it a black backround and a little color.

4 MORE YEARS..........

Dude musta won Ohio and Texas because he was all the news I heard today.

I'M FIXED..........

Dave Torgler gave me this bike when he moved to Colorado. I have a few rides on it now and I think it's going to be pretty cool. A few tweaks fit-wise and I should be good-to-go.

I have come to find out that this bike has been passed around like mashed 'taters at Thanksgiving dinner, but so what.
Sound off if you have owned this beauty in the past or would like to get on the list to own it in the future.

MOVIN' THE TOOLSHED........AND THE 40 YR OLD...


Saturday..
I joined Coop and a half-ass (literally) bunch of other local mofo's to help relocate The Rusty Toolshed. Hard to believe he was able to update his blog so fast given the pile of shit we down-loaded into his new place. I was thinking he might not even find his computer until the the middle of March.

Friday..
Went to John Buran's 40th birthday party in Bayview with many local clowns attending. I managed to sneak out of there before I got all liquored up and started talking really stupid. I understand others were not so lucky.
Some mugshots of said clowns...
See them in real action here.

LOOKIN' FOR SOME MOTIVATION......

After reading that Dano is rockin' to some vintage Zappa on his ipod, I thought putting a few of the "classics" on mine might be just what I need right now as well.

MY KID GOT A JOB WORKING THE POLES...................

....I meant working at the poles....Sorry.. I should have been clear.

She had to actually apply for the job. The application required her to answer a few essay-type questions like....
Why should you be selected as a representative from your school?...and ..Why is this experience worth missing a day of classes for? etc....
So, she asks for my help answering the questions and then decides it would probably be best NOT to use my answers....And she gets hired anyway.....Can ya' believe it???

In other news...
I am getting some remodeling projects done and squeezing in some workouts at the Y when I can. I can't wait for the race season to get here to hang out and BS with all the usual suspects. I am hoping to try some different stuff outside of WORS this year too. Sounds just like this guy.....(minus the top 5 Elite overall finish...of course...... SHOWOFF... )

I'm voting tomorrow, but considering nobody has coughed up a midget sidekick yet...my vote is still up in the air.
How tall is Hillary?

WANNA-BE CASA...............

The lengths people will go to have a house on the river like Bubba..?..?..

BLOGLECT...................

But I'm not the only one.

CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED............

Meg got her drivers license on Tuesday.

I told her she should probably get her CDL with air brakes right away too. While she's at it........Double/triples and haz-mat endorsements couldn't hurt either.
No time like the present to start preparing for the future.........Right Dano??

Who was it that said Obama is not connected enough to get talented people surrounding him??

And then you've got Huckabee and his future "Secretary of Kickin' ass"

STILL UNDECIDED.............

AT LEAST MY BIKE WILL BE LIGHTER THIS SEASON.....

I, however have yet to lose a pound.

Gone is the suspension fork, front shifter, a few chainrings, and derailer. The tires are lighter too I think. I pretty much rebuilt it all by myself too. I got by with a little help from my friends. This is monumental as those of you who know me well know that I am pretty inept when it comes to turnin' a wrench. I have yet to ride it though, so I have my fingers crossed.

I've been hitting the "Y" pretty hard for the last few months and am feeling pretty good and getting into pretty good shape.......but not the right shape for cycling. A little top heavy. I am getting in the right shape to thump your neighbor for playing lame music too loud at all hours of the night though....So just say the word.