Sailing Lesson #1

Sailing Lesson #1:
When a big red and white boat with sharp, grinding metal teeth on the front approaches you, be sure to move out of the way.

I'm a celebrity

 I received the following email from my brother yesterday:

 

Hey Pete,
There's a guy I work with here that rides his bike to work so he and I talk about you once in awhile.  He forwarded me the below email/link that's pretty humorous.
Maybe you'll have to post this on your blog.
Matt

------------------------------------------------
Matt,
You think your brother could organize a ride like this one in Boulder, CO.?


Check the link

http://www.dailycamera.com/videos/detail/out-there-guy---naked-bike-ride/

I think organizing a naked bike ride in MSP is a fine idea.  The public is obviously clamoring for one.  There is clearly something about bikers that inspires nudism, as this is only one of many naked bike rides I have heard of.  Or perhaps it's more egg than chicken.  Perhaps people inclined toward public nudity often become bikers.  There's a psychology thesis there for some eager grad student. 

 

Another example of my growing fame, I was recently publicly outed on the internet!

Date:  June 20

Distance:  24

Ride Type/Bike:  Commute/Kuwahara

Month to Date Mileage:  282

Year to Date Mileage:  1825

 

Date:  June 23

Distance:  24

Ride Type/Bike:  Commute/Kuwahara

Month to Date Mileage:  306

Year to Date Mileage:  1849

 

Date:  June 24

Distance:  24

Ride Type/Bike:  Commute/Kuwahara

Month to Date Mileage:  330

Year to Date Mileage:  1873

 

Date:  June 25

Distance:  34

Ride Type/Bike:  Sail Commute/Kuwahara

Month to Date Mileage:  364

Year to Date Mileage:  1907

 

Date:  June 26

Distance:  24

Ride Type/Bike:  Commute/Kuwahara

Month to Date Mileage:  388

Year to Date Mileage:  1931

Til Death Do Us Part

How long have I been married?

Not so long that when VelociNancy left me a voicemail at work today saying she was going to work commando today, I was titillated.

But long enough that I then thought to myself, "I should start a load of laundry when I get home."

Date: June 17
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 210
Year to date mileage: 1743

Date: June 18
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 234
Year to date mileage: 1767

Date: June 19
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 258
Year to date mileage: 1801

Project Suburban: Part Deux

Another green Schwinn Suburban has made it's way into my garage. However this time I'm not the instigator. My Mom retired from work about a year ago and she's been saying for a while that she would like to be able to ride her bike to the library. Like most people, she's also got a list of reasons why she can't ride to the library. Last week Nancy went out to lunch with mom and the subject of the bike came up again. Never one to accept excuses Nancy had the car backed out of the garage and they had the bike down from the rafters before Mom knew what hit her. They loaded it in the back of our Jetta and it's now in my garage. I took a few before pictures, but honestly this bike's in a whole lot better shape than Dad's was when I started it. The serial number on this one indicates that it was manufactured in December of 1971. I thought for sure that this bike was newer than Dad's, but I guess that shows what I know.







But since I won't be riding this, I think I might do a little more than just clean it up. I'm going to look into doing some upgrading while I'm at it. Should be another fun project.

Book tag

Mr. Bill tagged me a few days ago, pulling me out of my blog apathy. Books, there's something I can talk about. The whole "find the book closest to you" part was a little touchy. We have a lot of books in the house.

So when faced with the decision of "which is nearest to me" I decided to be a little less literal and pick the book I'm currently reading: Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride by Peter Zheutlin. Ok so page 123, fifth sentence and the next three are:

"Members of the club met her at Littleton. 'Miss Londonderry when she was seen by a News representative last night was found to be a young lady who looked as she might be an athlete, with coal black eyes, and a face tanned brown as a nut,' reported the Denver Daily News. In Denver, Annie stayed at the Glenarm Hotel for nearly a week."

Sort of reminds me of the Loony Toon where Daffy Duck is pretending to be Sherlock Holmes in the case of the Shropshire Slasher. "I'm brown as a nut and fit as a lass!" You're never too old for the Loony Toons.

Date: June 10
Mileage: 26
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 94
Year to date mileage: 1637

Date: June 11
Mileage: 18
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 112
Year to date mileage: 1655

Date: June 12
Mileage: 26
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 138
Year to date mileage: 1681

Date: June 13
Mileage: 18
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 156
Year to date mileage: 1699

Date: June 16
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 180
Year to date mileage: 1723

Date: June 16
Mileage: 6
Ride type/Bike: Family/Suburban
June mileage: 186
Year to date mileage: 1729

Twice as corny

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. The most common question seems to be, "How old are you?" I went out for a couple beers after work on Thursday with some co-workers. Two of the co-workers in question were interns with our company last summer, and have just started full time after graduating college. I was talking with them and another guy closer to my age. Somehow we got on the subject of speedskating, and my older colleague was talking about Eric Heiden in the 1980 Olympics. He said to Intern Bob, "But that was before you were born."

I said, "Bob would have been a youngster then, wouldn't he?"

Bob said, "I was born in 1985."

I got my driver's license in 1985.




Date: May 22
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
May mileage: 219
Year to date mileage: 1547

Date: June 2
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 24
Year to date mileage: 1567

Date: June 3
Mileage: 20
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 44
Year to date mileage: 1587

Date: June 6
Mileage: 24
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Kuwahara
June mileage: 68
Year to date mileage: 1611

Go shorty, it's your birthday

Except it actually is my birthday.  VelociNancy was a dear and woke up early to please me, and made eggs bacon and toast for breakfast.  Yum.  She has also been bugging me for the last few days about what I would like for my birthday.  I find myself somewhat stumped.  Sure, there's lots of stuff I'd like.  There's also lots of stuff I probably need.  But it seems to miss the point of a birthday present if somebody buys you something you need.  "Happy birthday, smoke up Johnny."  Birthday presents always seem like it should be something you want, but would never buy for yourself.

 

Fortunately, the internet provided me an idea for a worthy birthday gift for myself:  A Gold Plated Bicycle for only £9,500 (approximately $18,726.19 American).

 

The bike started from a Charge Plug, a model that common London cycle couriers have, which starts at some £399.

It was then stripped, polished, plated in copper and then finished in 24ct gold.

The chain, seat and bars have been replaced with white counterparts.

This model is especially hard to ride since they don't freewheel, which means that the pedals keep on turning as long as the bicycle does.

However, bicycles over £4,000 cannot be insured, so it comes with optional extra of its own bodyguard, which will stand by the bike whenever it is left in public.

 

It's own bodyguard!  How fabulous.  That's one less U lock I need to carry.  Happy birthday to me indeed!