I NEED TO RIDE....

I'm not kidding. I haven't ridden since May 10th. This hernia surgery has me under doctor's orders not to ride until June 18th but I've done some research and a cycling based hernia repair article tells me I'm ok to ride gently. I'm going to head out for a nice easy spin tomorrow morning. I can't wait! I will take it easy though. Maybe I should put some slow music in my minidisk player for the ride... nothing too exciting you know... gotta take it easy.

-Mike

This made my day.

Every once in a while I get a little comment from somewhere out there in the world wide web about my site. It's nice to hear that people are actually looking at it you know. This morning I received a HUGE compliment. Totally made my day! Below are excerpts from the e-mail I received:

"While you could have chosen many different subjects to document, you decided to choose the best invention ever. You show a real appreciation of simplicity and deliberate design of the bicycle. Every cyclist has at one point looked at his ride in a certain light and fallen half in love with it. You recorded that feeling.

I don't know if you have already done it, but you have the makings of a very good gallery show (and are on your way to a nice photo book). Let me know if you ever decide to do either one.

Keep it up!

-Robb"

Thanks Robb!
-Mike

Sheila's Yardsale

Yesterday was great. Our good friend, Sheila, had a big yard sale and we were able to get rid of a bunch of old junk as well as score a much needed shower caddy. Sheila and I did some bike part swapping as well... now I have a nice clamp on rear bike rack with a bag for it. Excellent!

Sheila had a ton of retro bike stuff. I had never seen the Shimano 600 groupo but it was pretty neat. I wouldn't mind building up a nice lugged frame with a full 600 groupo some day.

The day was spent flagging nice people down and convincing people that they really did need the things we were selling. My girlfriend and I made a whopping $15.00 for the day. Nice. Sheila fired up her BBQ and we had some tasty burgers and sat around relaxing while neighbors picked through our goods. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Below are a few pictures from yesterday:











-Mike

EVERYTHING MUST GO!

I went nuts on Craigslist.com and started blowing out all my old mountain bike gear for super cheap. If you live in Baltimore and you need good stuff, kinda' good stuff, and plane ol' broken stuff for cheap cheap cheap; best get over to Craigslist and get it while it's hot!

EVERYTHING MUST GO! I WILL NOT BE UNDERSOLD!

Items not to be missed:

• One 175mm Truvative tripple ring crankset
• One Bell Skater style helmet (shown in promotional sales picture above)
• One XTR 8spd rapid fire/brake lever (rear)
• One Club Roost riser bar brace
• One Gorilla Brake Booster for you V brakers and Maggy lovers

-Mike

Lots of news....

So, tons of good stuff has been happening lately. Let's see... where to start... where to start. Let's start with my guts. I had my hernia repair surgery on Thursday May 11th. That went all fine and dandy; stuffed my guts back in, stapled some mesh onto my stomach muscles to help keep em' in and then stitched me back up. I'm still in some pain; hurts to bend over, stand up from sitting and sit down from standing but I'm recovering fast. Should be back on the bike in just a couple more weeks.

We moved into our new place on Sunday with the help of my girlfriend's parents and a moving company. The new place is beautiful. A nice loft right in the heart of Mt.Vernon. The pictures below show it before we actually moved in. My girlfriend and I moved in the day of my surgery and I recovered there while she finished packing the last tidbits of our old apartment in preparation for the moving company. So now our place is entirely filled with boxes of stuff. We're gettin' er' all unpacked and set up nicey nice though. My girlfriend is working hard... I'm doing a lot of pointing and suggesting while she does the hard work. (no lifting for me yet)

Below are a bunch of pictures to show off just how much room we have... (Muhahahaaaaa!)

-Mike
ps: A few great features of our new pad:

• polished diamond plate steel floor
• all new kitchen (fridge, oven, microwave, disposal)
• breakfast bar
• washer/dryer
• recessed zonal lighting (on dimmers!)
• central air
• exposed brick, beams & rafters
• 13 windows
• wood floor

This hurt... ... a lot.

I really destroyed my right leg today, after work, on my way to Trinacria's to pick up some cheese... (yes, all for the glory of cheese - well worth it) While trying to get my right foot clipped in, I slipped off the outside of my Candy C's and the pedal ran it's way maliciously up the inside of my shin. - I know whatcher' thinking and NO... I DID NOT shriek out like a little sissy boy. ... really. I sucked it up and pedaled on with aching burning agony! It was not just a scape but it bruised the bejeebies out of my entire shin and left me with charlie horse like pain for a good 3 blocks. Such is life I suppose. It's better than a crash eh. Isn't it funny how even though you've been riding & racing since 9th grade you still manage to look like a total rookie every once in a while?

I got to Trinacria's and they were closed for some reason. They close at 5. I stood at their door at 4:40, very disappointed. Oh well. Off to Eddies for overpriced mozzarella. The things you do for cheese.

I haven't ridden my road bike in ages (two weeks). I've been on the fixed and on the cross bike a lot. Today I put my Candy C's on the road bike and took her to work. Man she's fast. Fast and light. I missed her. It's fun to switch up your ride just for the joy of a noticeable difference between one another. I felt like a Super Pro hammerin' (gently hammering my herniated self) to work and around downtown Baltimore today. I love my K2.

My K2 is quickly becoming my beater bike.-Mike

That mut's got personality!

Doris is the best little dog. She never bites; ever. She rarely barks and she's the most affectionate little sissy dog I've ever met. Having taken a million photos of her, has landed me some pretty funny expressions... like this one! Quite menacing but she's actually chewing grass. I love this photo hahaha...

-Mike