Good Day #2

So I went for a ride this morning to Starbucks to read some Complications and drink some coffee. Had to wait 3 minutes longer than usual, so I got another free coffee coupon; I've gotten like 4 or 5 from there now. I am relatively friendly with one of the Baristas, so I think I'm gonna ask him if they get a certain number of those things they're allowed to give away per month; and then at the end of the month, I'll ask him if I can have all the spare ones they have sitting around, to use at other Starbucks around town.

Anyway after that I went for a ride down to the Mill Creek park to sit and do some homework in the park. Did two hours worth in about an hour. Awesome. Then took these nice pictures of the KHS in some pretty environs:

Nice. Then as I was riding home, I ran into a guy from Critical Mass last night; what are the odds? So we rode and chatted a bit. Then I got home, picked all but 3 of the Morels from the backyard (I'm gonna leave the small ones to see if they grow a bit more). I'm soaking them in salt water now. Then I hsould be able to keep them for 4-5 days in the fridge and cook them later. I heard from my Aunt I should batter then in egg and cracker and then fry them in butter, so I'll do half todays batch like that, and half in egg and flour. Will post a few pictures maybe.

In that picture, the near one is flour breaded, and the far one is cracker breaded. I had already eaten half the batch before I remembered to take a picture. The flour ones were delicious; the cracker ones weren't as good, probably because I had to use Ritz since I didn't have any Saltines. The flour ones had a delicious light mushroom taste, real smooth. I still have about twice as many left in the fridge, so tomorrow I will fry up some more : )

Also: tomorrow, I'm for sure gonna race in the alleycat. Starts at 2pm. I hope to place.

Critical Mass

Alot of fun. Saw a dude blow a tube, wipe out, and taco a new wheel (just purchased, and just BUILT, today). Did some sprints around a local highschool's track too. Got a compliment about my speed from an 45 year old biking monster; this dude was fast. Was gonna race him until he BLEW HIS RIM IN HALF around a corner. Also Kyle and I ran/climbed up to the top of a building. "You think we can get up on the top of that building in 70 seconds?" "Go." Good times.

Dr. Lucien Sanchez Picks up Women

Well, not quite Sanch, but the same actor. Pretty funny, but warning: profanity. Click heeyah.

Small world indeed

On a bike forum:

Mushrooms

Update: Uncle Randy: "Those are definitely morels."

Some mushrooms that I found in my backyard. Initially I just found one of them, and it didn't look like any mushroom I had ever seen before. So, I found some pictures online that looked like it, and it looks alot like a Morel. Then, I found about half a dozen other ones out back too. I emailed my Uncle Randy a picture of it to see if he agrees; he's the family expert on them, as I guess he goes mushroom hunting every year : ) Will post an update as to their identity once it's determined; then will post another update if I eat one, to let you know whether or not it's delicious and / or deadly.

GOOD DAY

Quick summary:
was fun seeing Josh, new handlebars bars make me ride better, I got a free bike.

Long rambing post:
So today, despite being out at the bar til way late last night with Josh and everyone, I still managed to get up and make it to class on time. Got back, Josh and I went and got lunch, hung out for a while, and then he got on the road. It was really good seeing him. I forgot how big a portion of my life no one here knows about; it's nice to have a chance to remember those times.

Then, I procrastinated for a couple hours. I had been noticing recently that as my bike riding has improved, I was feeling like my hand positions on the KHS were limiting my efficiency in certain situations. So I figured I'd try the ergo drops that were on the KHS when I bought it from Angela. I hadn't liked those bars initially, but I had never tried them with the shorter stem, a cross lever, and no brake hoods. So I did that. And despite a complete backwards schedule today, I still had time to take all the notes I needed to take after this. I rode to Starbucks to do the last of the three lectures, and then decided to go for a ride since it was a good summery kinda night.

The drops are awesome. I hate to admit it. I don't necessarily mean the drop position (although I begrudgingly admit that that is great for power, dammit) but they are 2 cm wider than the T2's, and have more grippable area on the flats. I feel like I have more control and leverage with these bars, and can ride comfortable on the shoulders of the bars much like I used to ride on the sides of the TT horns (my wrists feel a little tight right now, but I think that's just since it was so much of a change; I think I'll adjust quickly). So anyway I was having a great ride, feeling powerful and FAST, and rode over to Alex's to see if he wanted to go tool around. We did that for a long time, rode into some parking garage and skidded around corners, etc.

The best part of the night, however: We're riding down Wyoming, and all of a sudden, like a tiger spotting an antelope concealed in the grasses, I spotted a bike sitting in the trash in front of a house. I immediately stopped to check it out. Kids' sized Murray road bike, 18 speed or so, drop bars, flat tires, but perfectly rideable otherwise. Exactly the right standover height for Naomi. So, I chained it up to a street lamp, we finished our ride, and I came back with the Acura to get the bike. Brought it home, straightened the brake levers out, adjusted a few things, aired the tires up, and voila. Another bike. This weekend will probably flop and chop the bars and setup the brakes on the horns, seeing as I know that's how Naomi would want it. Eventually might remove the chainrings, leave the rear cassette on, and make a half-ghetto single-speed, as Naomi "doesn't want to bother" with shifting. Furthermore, I bet I could sell it on CL easier as a small single-speed to some hipster chick, if I find Naomi a better one.

Also, I was invited to race in an alleycat on sunday. I am SO excited for that.

Penis Cancer

Check this out if you have a strong stomach.

highline

i'm getting better at walking a highline. strung one up at about 4.5 ft, developed a pullup mount that works for me. alright. maybe i'll see if i can rig up some sort of harness so i can try even taller ones, and falling won't kill me : )

bragadocious

today i (re??)learned how to mantle up onto the line by hanging below it, then swinging a leg up over in in a "kip up" maneuver, so I ended up sitting on the line and could then stand. i also figured out how to lay down on my stomach on it again. soon i hope to be able to effectively transition that back to sitting and then back to standing. man i forgot how much i missed slacking. also today we went on a group ride based out of the LBS. gotta say, i was tremendously unimpressed with the friendliness of the shop employees. really, really disappointed. that being said, the ride itself was fine (despite being painfully awkward), and i feel like alex and i outclimbed pretty much everyone else : ) makes me feel good.

I'ma, I'ma get on the TV mama, I'ma, I'ma put **** down

This was on the news tonight:

Here's some keywords, so hopefully if someone Googles this, they'll find it: Slackline Kansas City Loose Park Bruce Tjaden Broo Slacklining.

More Slackin

So the weather has been excellent recently. I've finally been able to have some days like we used to in Boston; bike riding, beer drinking, and slacklining. It's kind of funny that here, with more grass, places to ride, etc., days where I get to take advantage of those things remind me of the city. I guess that's where I first developed a love of riding and slacking though, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Alex and I have been doing alot of riding recently. The KHS is performing great. I''ve gotten my cadence up alot and that makes me feel mighty good. He also introduced me to the 75th Street Brewery, where they brew their own good beer, and they have delicious chicken and black bean nachos. We've been going to Loose Park to slackline too. Alex and Caleb are improving. I've actually retained my skills pretty well; hit some jumps and some great surfs today. Going to work on my 180 jumps, and laying down on my stomach too... used to be able to do both those. Soon will be able to lie down on my back on it as well. There's also a ton of kids at this park usually, and I've been showing all kindsa kids how to do it. Learned some techniques to teach smaller people to do it, which was cool.

A guy was filming in the park with a TV camera today, and I knew as soon as I got there he was filming one of those "great weather" montages. So, I proceeded to set up the line, and I watched him as he watched me do that, and I could see when he got that photographer's look like "something's going on here and I need to film it." So, I did a pretty good run, and then he was gone. A few hours later, Caleb calls me and says he just saw me on the local CBS channel for a 30 second clip. I called the news station, and they said they might use it for later tonight as well, so Kathryn's gonna Tivo it for me. I also emailed the station and asked if, while they're converting some clips for their website, whether they could also convert that little clip into a digital format and send it to me. I told them it'd help me win a bet (which is untrue); we'll see if that inspires someone to acquiesce to my unusual request. *update: well, I haven't heard back from the news station yet, but if you check the next post, you can see a crappy quality recording I got off the TV tonight.*

Today, before all the riding and slacking fun, I took notes over a lecture outside the coffee shop, got complements on the bike locked up out front, tried to ride a classmate's motorcycle (but the clutch sucked, and I'm unused to it, so I couldn't really get the damn thing going more than across the street, stalling it numerous times), mowed the lawn, started my compost bin in the back yard (2/3 green grass clippings, 1/3 brown dead leaves) stripped and polyurethaned another walking stick, and developed a quick way to make an interchangeable-tip rabbit spear for camping this year. Also, I took a picture of the beater bike's latest incarnation, which I have decided to name "The Shitbird:"
Suicide hub, single chainring now, new chain, mountain bike seat, seat clamp off of the Midget Racer, chop and flops wrapped in innertubes and duct tape. It is a beater, if ever there was one.


So all in all, it was basically a great day. Will try to study a bit tonight.

Slackin

a movie that bjorn and i filmed a couple years ago at BU. might be difficult to tell us apart at this resolution; i'm on the line first. this was bjorn's 1/2" line too; real springy. i have a mighty fine run about halfway through the video. 1:10 is pretty cool.

pygmy hedgehog

walking sticks

one's a full-sized walking stick, and the other one is just about cane-sized.... and that one, i sharpened up a branch spur on it, so i can use it to hunt rabbits with next time i go camping

check out my new haircut; also i love jagerbombs

i actually like it. i look relatively clean cut for the first time in a while.