P-lip

Chris Cross

2009-07-21T11:18:00.003-05:00

Officially offical, mark your calendars: December 6th. Meeting point and race details coming along shortly. Plan on 45mins + 4 laps. 1/2 mile lead out & home stretch. Beers and such afterwords at the farm.

Back in Action

2009-07-14T10:53:00.003-05:00

I'm back...I guess. I'll be using this as the go-to for all information for Chris Cross, a cylcocross race I'm organizing for December 6.

Next week monday I meet with the Dodge County Parks commission. The head guy, Bill, didn't think there'd be any problems with a race in Astico park, but wanted to get everyone's input.

So mark you calendars and think about racing or volunteering.

Find something new

2009-02-18T10:38:00.001-06:00

Go here:
Corgimo

or here:
Collars

from now on.

The promised radness actually happened

2008-09-24T11:14:00.002-05:00

The Capital Brewing ones are printed on organic hemp.

It's going to get real rad around here...

2008-08-20T11:05:00.002-05:00

In about one month, a new collar will be unvieled. We've got a slew of ever-changing patterns, cuteness and very nice collars. Megs has started printing her own artwork on organic hemp and organic denim fabrics, and soon, (towards the end of September) we'll show off our new design - our partnership with Capital Brewing!!!! Limited edition, Captial Brewing dog collars. They're going to be as rad as it gets! Hand printed Cap. beer logos on organic denim fabric. I'm not sure how many we'll do, I'm not even sure what the price works out to. We'll keep y'all posted.

Keep on Truckin'

2008-08-01T14:00:00.003-05:00

This weekend is 24-9, all my fit and unfit friends are going to race, eat, drink and achieve collective exhaustion. I went in '07 and in '06. I'm really sad to be missing out. I really like cycling, but co-managing a business with my wife has taken all each of has. Our "free" time is spent sewing collars, taking orders, shipping product, returning emails and attempting to turn a profit. Both of us have sacrificed our social lives, all of it, the friends we have left are probably there by proxy more than anything. Neither of us ever thought starting a business would be so all-consuming. We knew we were going to work hard, very hard, but not that we would run ourselves ragged for months on end.

We now have 6 stores in the Madison area, one in Milwaukee and one in Chicago. We also have 2 humane societies and several breed rescues we donate too. Success is imminent! I want to believe that this is how all business have to start out, even our favorite ones, like Exxon Mobil, they're killing the competition in terms of profit.

In 2007, Exxon Mobil made $1300 per second; for the entire 12 month span. They continue to break profit records. Making an American-owned company record profit of over $11 billion just in the second quarter. This at a time when our economy seems to be slowly disintegrating.

Meanwhile, we have neighbors who walk their 3 pigs everyday.

wow

2008-06-24T13:05:00.001-05:00

Riding = yes
vacation = was good
Collars = going great!
Internets = I'm tired of it.

xoxo
Phil

WTF was that?!

2008-05-30T12:48:00.003-05:00

Here's what my 4 dogs and I saw:

4 legs, dark brown, running from a field across the street about 100 feet in front of us. It moved like a cat, had a big bushy tail, and was maybe about 30# or so.

Breed Standards

2008-05-20T12:20:00.004-05:00

I stumbled upon this picture of a very unlucky Chinese Crested.

Normally, I'm not one for small mostly hairless dogs. Dogs should have fur in my book, a nice fairly even coat, I also like a bit more sturdy bone structure. So I guess, if a Crested was for me, I'd have a powderpuff that was beefed up somehow.

The only ones I know are owned by a good breeder, she's got...4 or 5 or 100, it's hard to remember, all those little barking dogs and her big ornery law-dog son waving his long arms around in a fruitless effort to shoo them away.

There's another woman I know who shows/breeds them. Her Cresteds are terrible rat-like little creatures with little socialization, even training and not much of a dog's life. They live in kennels about 22 hours a day. When they're let out the dogs are left to scrap it out anytime one of her bitches is in heat. She's smart enough to seperate the dogs and bitches, but...damn...get some horny little dogs together with a good looking bitch in heat and all hell breaks loose. It was a terribly stressful place. I'm glad to be freed from her and her dogs.

This little girl is more my style...

It's our little girl, Ci ci. She's doing really well, loves to be outside and is getting ready to do some toy breed agility. She's a little over weight at 7.6lbs, but I'd put her up against most other "family pet" dogs out there. She gets 6 miles a day of walking and eats high protein food, she can jump a fence that's over 2.5ft high. About the only thing she doesn't do well is swim.

Locally famous...sort of

2008-05-16T09:32:00.002-05:00

I managed to finally do it. I made cookies last night. Not just any chocolate chip cookies, though. I used my dad's recipe. Not too many people outside of our family have it. I used to believe they couldn't be made up to par unless I was in his kitchen, with his watchful eye overseeing everything. Last night I made the cookies in my kitchen, without my dad, and I'd say they turned out exactly like his. Most of the recipe is written down, there's a few little things that aren't. I successfully remembered them and.....TADA!!!!! COOKIES!!!!! I'm especially proud because my brother has attempted and failed to make the cookies, he's a great cook & baker. He's made all kinds of stuff, from Bread Puddings, quick breads, donuts, prime rib, crepes, pretty much everything, and yet he can't make dad's cookies in his own kitchen.

I had a lot going against me, first dad uses a nice electric mixer, I mixed by hand. His recipe makes 60-80 cookies, I only made about 30. He uses really nice non-stick cooking sheets, I bought mine at a garage sale for $0.05 each. He has an electric oven with a digital thermometer. I have a gas oven with an innacurate dial thermometer.

As you can see in the picture, they look perfect, and as I can taste, I recreated them perfectly. Maybe I'll make another batch and bring 'em to Wheels on Willy Sunday.

Good Idea

2008-05-08T10:43:00.001-05:00

I have no idea who this is, but he's got the right idea!

More guns = more safety

2008-04-24T11:08:00.002-05:00

The following article is copied from thegunsource.com, an online gun dealer in Green Bay, WI.

GREEN BAY – A regrettable tie to two mass murders on college campuses is spurring a firearms dealer to forgo profit for the sake of preventing future loss of life.

Eric Thompson’s company, TGSCOM Inc., sold Virginia Tech shooter Cho Seung-Hui a Walther P22 through the Web site www.thegunsource.com. Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five people at Northern Illinois University (NIU) on February 14th, received two 9mm Glock magazines and a holster he ordered from the TGSCOM Inc. Web site www.topglock.com.

Ever since the NIU shootings, Thompson has been using his unfortunate coincidence to press for changes that will make it easier for law-abiding citizens to carry a gun to protect themselves, the people they love and their neighbors.

Today, Thompson is backing up his words with actions. For the next two weeks, Thompson will not take any profit on firearms sales from any of his over 100 Web sites. Instead, Thompson will offer guns to customers for the same cost he pays for them.

“I hope and pray I will never again be in a position where I am asked questions about selling items used in a crime,” said Thompson. “The next news story I want to be involved in is how I sold a firearm to someone who helped stop a mass murderer. By forgoing a profit, I hope to help give law-abiding citizens the tools to prevent tragedy.”

By logging onto www.gunsatcost.com, law-abiding citizens will have the chance to purchase a firearm to protect themselves and their loved ones. Customers will have over 5,400 different kinds of firearms from which to choose.

Since learning of the unfortunate and random twist of events that made Thompson’s company a part of both the NIU and Virginia Tech shootings, Thompson has said he has “a special responsibility to work to prevent future tragedies.”

Thompson has since launched a Web site, www.gundebate.com, to help spur a dialogue in search of solutions to stop future mass shootings and also to act as a clearing house for public safety ideas.

Thompson also announced that he plans to visit Blacksburg, Virginia on Thursday, April 24 to speak at a Virginia Tech Students for Concealed Carry on Campus event. Thompson will use the speech to highlight his support for giving law-abiding citizens the right to protect themselves from criminals.

Thompson recently partnered with Students for Concealed Carry on Campus to provide hundreds of holsters donated by his customers and gun manufacturers to nearly 30 colleges and universities for students to participate in the second-annual “empty-holster protest.” The purpose of the protest is to object to state laws and university policies that forbid law-abiding citizens from carrying concealed weapons on campuses.

I heard this article on NPR this morning and was completely shocked at the logic. Both of the killers purchased the guns as "law abiding citizens." I guess, I mean, if you're in the market for a gun, and agree with this man's politics and rationale...well...there's no better time to protect yourself.

Spring

2008-04-22T10:21:00.003-05:00

I think Spring is finally here, nice temps, rain off and on. It's not too bad. Megs and I have been getting some work done. We purchased all our seeds for the garden. It's going to be huge. We still need to get a couple of starter plants - Tomatos and maybe something else...I can't remember what. Here's what we've got: Peas, beans, carrots, green onion, broccholi, garlic chives, zucchini, bell peppers, anaheim peppers, raddish, iceberg head lettuce, royal red lettuce, corn catnip, dill, cilantro, basil, rosemary, oregano, and garlic.

We also put some time in pruning our grapevine, it was pretty out of control, and the fence needs some work.

Tough one

2008-04-11T13:43:00.002-05:00

I'm stuck in a tough spot. Helping my friends at the H8TR and having a lot of fun, or doing what's best for our business and financial well-being. I've been making these decisions for quite some time now, since July or so. Putting everything else in front of what I want. I thought this race was my chance to have guilt-free fun...it's turned out that is not the case.

Everybody hurts

2008-04-03T09:35:00.000-05:00

oh, that kinda hurts

2008-03-26T17:23:00.002-05:00

I've been squeezing in miles whenever I can - ZERO of them have included saddle time. I'm hoping that foot fitness - walking and running - will transfer (at least a little) to cycling fitness in time for the H8TR. I'm a little stiff today, I put on 6 miles hiking/walking (3 in the morning, 3 in the evening with the dogs) both of hikes I lugged my 60lbs camping pack along. I also ran 3 miles during my lunch. My legs are unhappy today, it's a nice burn, though. This morning I put on another 3 miles with the pack and the dogs. I skipped the lunch run in favor of making today an "easy" day.

So yeah, I think everything is going to work out pretty good.

Weight report: I've lost 2# (probably dehydration) so I'm under 190# now. I'd like to get under 180# for H8TR and be down to 170# or less for 24-9. I'm still up in the air for what I'll be signing up for, I'm leaning towards a 12hr solo. If I can walk/run 9 miles a day, what's 12hrs on a bike? I can coast on a bike.

No means NO!!

2008-03-25T16:41:00.002-05:00

I said GO AWAY, IT IS TIME FOR SPRING, BIRDS ARE HERE, RIVERS ARE FLOODED AND THE TULIPS ARE STARTING TO COME UP. GO AWAY!!!

Thursday
Colder. Periods of snow. Snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches. Highs in the mid 30s. Northeast winds 5 to 15 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Chance of snow 80 percent.

Forcast from the always reliable Weather Underground

Officially, the Madison area has recieved 100.4 inches of snow this season. Looks like a little more won't hurt too bad. I wasn't really interested in starting my garden until July anyways.

not spring yet

2008-03-22T07:41:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the second day of spring, 12 inches of snow fell in roughly 14 hours time.

The new VW rabbit did pretty well considering those fancy boy wheels and low profile tires.
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That ol' familiar ache

2008-03-20T09:01:00.003-05:00

I've not had time to ride, between stupid drives to work and walking dogs, my bikes are getting dusty. The H8TR100 is coming up, lots of the folks have been stacking on miles, not me. I best hope is to keep that bastard attorney in my sights. Anyway, I've been lugging a 60lbs pack with me on the dog hikes. Today we went a bit longer - about 3 miles. My legs hurt, and I'm sure they'll be a lot worse for the H8TR bloodbath.

Stone Cold Killer

2008-03-15T10:36:00.002-05:00

Well...sort of. As I've mentioned before, our dog Lucy has killed a few little varmits...and a couple of Raccoons, too. Returning home after our walk the other day, Lucy and the 3 other dogs took off, barking and charging. It turns out that there was a possum eating our trash, the dogs were circling it, barking and growling and taking turns lunging at it. The possum was playing dead. I rounded up the dogs and got them inside, I went back outside to see that damn possum back at it - eating our trash!!! I tried to shoo it away, but it wasn't having any of that. So I went back in and told Megs, "honey, there's a possum out there eating our trash, so watch out." She said, "you have a gun, kill it." I figured, she's right, so loaded up the old .22 and marched out there, that little bastard was still eating away, I tried once again to shoo it away, then shot it. I cleaned up the trash bag he got into, put him in with his trash and took him in to the dump.

Real gangsta-ass niggas don't talk much
All ya hear is the black from the gun blast

H8TR!

2008-03-14T08:58:00.002-05:00

The plan as of right now

2008-03-04T13:08:00.002-06:00

Last year, I wanted to break into some endurance cycling, this year is no different, my schedule plan is a little more realistic this year. We'll see how it goes.
April 12, H8TR100
April 25-27, support for the one and only djonn at TransIowa
May 24, 12 hours of Kewaskum, 3hrs solo, part of the WEMS series
July 12, 12 hours of Blue Mounds 6hrs solo, more WEMS action
August 2-3, 24-9 12hrs solo, the big race of my season.

Of course, all this has to pass the committe (Megs) and my fitness has to come way up.

I'm down to one race bike. Megs and I have been in some financial hardship, the bikes had to go. I have a wonderful Gary Fisher prototype that djonn's loaning me. I also have my XO1 cross bike...but that's on it's way to market. Boo hoo. Megs sold her Bob Jackson.

Word for now.

Hurts me so.

2008-02-09T15:05:00.000-06:00

Grandpa died a week ago. He had a nice funeral and a military burial. If you've never been to a military burial, it's emotionally difficult, more so than any funeral I've been to. First the preacher speaks and gives him his final dues...ashes to ashes and dust to dust, then a lone trumpter plays Taps followed by a 21 gun salute, then in silence a flag is folded and presented to Grandma. The shells have been collected and each grandchild got one. My family and I are moving on and recovering.

Onto the most popular topic in Wisconsin, the WEATHER! We've had a metric-fuck-ton of snow this year, something like 72 inches. It's snowing again and tomorrow we'll dip below -10 again. Bundle up with a loved one and some brandy and have a nice weekend.

Email from mom

2008-01-24T09:32:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update--Grandpa is scheduled to go home tomorrow. They were trying to make it happen today, but couldn't get ahold of the Walworth County agencies yesterday (due to holiday) to make the arrangements. He will be transported by ambulance, which is good, because they'll be able to carry him in the house. John will be there with Grandma to take care of things on that end. He will have hospice care at home. I'm not sure what services that includes, we'll wait and see.

Mom

Grandpa's been in the hospital since New Year's. He's been battling cancer for over 10 years now. The cancer is winning.

It was kind of like that....

2008-01-18T09:40:00.000-06:00

Foot and Mouth, yeah, kind of like that. Megs and I have been going gang-busters on the Collar biz. We've got 4 retailers now in the Madison area, we're going to Milwaukee on Monday to meet with 7 prospective others. We sold our iMac, we purchased an HP Laptop, the dv9750us one to be exact. It is life-changing, The screen resolution and video card capabilities far exceed that of our $2200 iMac. It's capable. Purely from a financial standpoint, getting a Mac is stew-pud. The HP we purchased has a wireless card with a 5 mile range. Previously, we had been "stealing" internets access with our cell phones. It was only dial-up speed, and was EXTREMELY difficult to efficently manage our business, or even check emails for that matter. For us, the HP simply mades more sense. Someday, when we're not out living in the sticks, I'm sure we'll have a new iMac, however, until then...we'll be completely smitten with our HP.

In other news:
Rosie is having her first period,
Charlie has a skin disease - no big deal, just daily baths for 2 weeks
Lucy fell through the ice - she's OK
I fell through the ice, only up to my cheast, it was very cold.

I have not ridden a bicycle in over 30 days, it's really depressing.

Not quite dead

2008-01-05T11:14:00.000-06:00

no, not yet. Sorry.

More on that coming soon.

winding down...or up

2007-11-28T13:14:00.001-06:00

For most of my fellow cyclists, the season is over or winding down. Many folks are looking into 2008 with plans and goals. I'm no different. Last year at this time, I had roughly 13 races I wanted to do. Then things started changing, I changed jobs which allowed for way, way less time on the bike, from there, I can come up with about 10 other excuses as to why I didn't do much racing or even cycling. Whatever, that's behind me. I miss my bikes.

Megs and I have plans for home buying, business creation and who knows what else, all of which doesn't really afford much time to ride. If I'm to even attempt 3 races in '08, I need to start commuting to work on my bicycle. It's that simple. It should be no problem. I'm up at 5:30am and out with the dogs, we're back around 7:00am, which affords plenty of time to ride 20ish miles to work, arriving before 10:00am. No problem, right? All I need to is get on my bike.

Watch out the BKB is coming, still.

Thanks Fox News!

2007-11-07T11:10:00.001-06:00

An actual news story:

An implausible story about a natural high derived from human waste is causing a stink on the Internet and has forced a local sheriff's department to issue a warning about the "drug."

The Collier County Sheriff's Office in Tampa, Fla., recently released a bulletin warning of a new drug threat in America — jenkem — made by fermenting human feces and urine and huffing the gas produced.

"We wouldn't classify it as a drug so much because it's feces and urine," said Garrison Courtney, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration in Washington, D.C.

"You've pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel if you're experimenting this," he added.

The confidential memo, dated Sept. 26, was meant "for officer safety and awareness," but it was leaked and found its way online, where it was posted Monday on the Smoking Gun, which questioned "what they're inhaling down in Collier County."

Internet pundits were quick to jump on the intelligence briefing, noting that the photos and descriptions of the high jenkem produced came from "Pickwick," a contributor to the Web site Totse.com, who later admitted his "use" of jenkem was faked using flour, water, beer and Nutella.

"I never inhaled any poop gas and got high off it," he wrote on Sept. 24. "I have deleted the pictures, hopefully no weirdo saved them to his computer. I just don't want people to ever recognize me as the kid who huffed poop gas."

A spokeswoman for the Collier County Sheriff's Office acknowledged Tuesday that the report came from their office "just to share, see what's out there" after a parent e-mailed the department. No incidents of jenkem's use have been reported in the county, she said.

Snopes.com, a site that investigates urban legends, labeled jenkem's use in America as "undetermined."

Both the New York Times and the British Broadcasting Corp. have reported jenkem's use among children in Lusaka, Zambia, in the late 1990s.

And even if someone is doing it stateside, it's not necessarily illegal, Courtney said.

"It falls into the probables," Courtney said. "Even though it's not illegal, it's part of that experimental thing that people could possibly do to

Where the Red Fern Grows

2007-10-24T12:22:00.000-05:00

I was riding my bike at the Astigo Park with all our dogs, the poms and Charlie keep up, staying right on my wheel, drafting and barking. Lucy zig-zags across the path, running at top speed, totally insane. Anyway, I came around a corner and much to my surprise, was a full grown raccoon, the little bugger surprised me so bad, I slammed on the brakes and almost flipped over the bars. The Raccoon held his ground and hissed at me, out of nowhere came Lucy, growling like nothing I'd ever heard - she hit the raccoon full speed picked him up in her jaws and threw him about 15 feet. Then she proceeded to fight the raccoon, at this time, the other 3 dogs joined the fight, taking turns lunging, barking and generally cheering on Lucy, I had to tackle her and hold her with all my might while the raccoon lumbered off, injured. Lucy is fine, I think. Once she calmed down, she seemed totally unfazed. I bathed her and then looked her over for injuries, none presented themselves. All this happened before 8am this morning.

rumors...

2007-09-25T12:42:00.000-05:00

Today Liz Perry of Nutzy Mutz and Crazy Catz (NMCC) came over. NMCC is a natural pet food store/botique. They have everything from Canadae to BARF, including "just add protien" freeze dried organic dog food. It's a fantastic place, tastefully decorated and Liz really knows a lot about canine nutrition. She's our only Madison Dealer right now, with 90% of our inventory in her store, it's the place to go for handmande dog leads & collars, and, like I said before, Liz is extremely knowledgable about dog food.

She's conviencing me that homemade is the way to go for Lucy, our hearding dog. High protien, high energy and full of everything she needs.

This has me thinking - our dogs eat healthier than Megs and I do...dang.

My weight is down 13lbs from when I raced 24-9 this year. I'm running a lot (for me) and really concentrating on my food and alcohol intake. It's working.

new job...sort of

2007-09-17T11:40:00.000-05:00

Megs and I are both working 7 days a week now, she's at the bank fulltime, I'm at AMS fulltime and we both work parttime at the Everafter Dog Kennel. In addition to cleaning kennels and feeding dogs, Margarita (owner) has enlisted us in the socialization training of her current Doberman litter. She has 3 pups who are about 5 months old. For 1 week each we take one of the puppies home and the dog lives with us, we introduce it to things like: how to go up and down stairs, how to politely meet to people and animals, polite house manners, how to get along with (ignore) cats. We're also getting the animals used to walking on a leash. Finally, we get to use the dogs as testers of our hound collars. So far, Shaun, our first Dob, is doing really well. His tempermant is fantastic and he's extrememly friendly with everyone he's met so far. At the dog park yesterday he played with a variety of other breeds and people. He even let a young boy - maybe about 7 years old - run up and hug him around the neck. He didn't even appear stressed about it. Shaun is a good boy, and Margarita's pretty sure he'll be a champion conformation dog in no time.

Shaun and Lucy have made best friends...

It's hard to see, but his collar is totally hot. Margarita also breeds "America's favorite dog" the Chinese Crested. If you're intrested in one of these breeds, kill yourself, these dogs are mostly hairless, ill-mannered, disgusting little dogs. Ask Vee, he'll tell you the truth about these dogs.

To Bette: I still think you're cooler than Vee, I just don't prefer Cresteds, not even a little bit.

We've been busy!

2007-09-06T15:49:00.000-05:00

It's finally here, corgimocollars.com, we've got hound collars and show leads in production right now, you'll see those up within the next couple of weeks.

Ignorant

2007-08-23T11:57:00.000-05:00

Probably one of the most ignorant things I have ever read...ever.

It's a sport.

love letter or threat?

2007-08-18T10:38:00.000-05:00

From Lord Hayden:

maybe you've already heard...

but I'm coming back to Madison next week, and I'm bringing my love of beer and tiny-bike racing with me

we'll be racing in an homage to one of the finest video games ever made, PITFALL, on Friday, August 24th, at 7 pm.

rolling logs, rope swings, treasures, crocodiles, and of course, Scorpions.

all @ Quarry Park in Madison. It's hard to describe where it is, but someone you know knows where it is.

The kittens have all the details and flyer.

Business!

2007-08-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

Megs has been hard at work sewing, I've been photographing and keeping up with the accounting, here's what we've got. Corgimo Collars!

***

2007-08-06T09:56:00.000-05:00

I rode with Julie this weekend - an up-and-coming-soon-to-be excellent triathlete. For now, she kills dreams on her Merlin Hybrid, passing folks on climbs and decending with the best of 'em. In time, she'll have a fancy-gal bike with them leaner bars and skinny tires, she'll be devil then. We rode about 18 miles peacefully and chatted. A very nice ride.

Megs and I went to Rufus Damond on Saturday, Laura the owner is our first business client for Corgimo Collars, our dog equipment company that Megs has been throwing her all into. Laura purchased 9 collar/leash sets - it's our first real sale!!! This weekend we're going to a conformation show to sling some collars, hopefully we bank.

24-9

2007-07-30T10:28:00.000-05:00

I lost the coin toss to see who would start, John had the coin toss before I even knew about it. The first lap consisted of bottle neck, after bottle neck, after bottle neck, lots of people walking and getting frustrated, Getting stuck on single track behind a legion of geared cyclists all spinning in their 22x34 granny gears sucks a lot.

The second lap kind of let me know where I stand physically, and mentally. It went ok. I crashed once and bent my front disc rotor a little. The little "ching ching ching" as the wheel spun and the disc dragged through the caliper tourtured me for the rest of the race.

So there I was, cracking, dead, walking my bike at only 3pm on my third lap, I had at least one more lap to go provided John kept on his pace. People asked me if I was "ok," Robin felt bad about leaving me, and not riding with me - he figured he was leaving me for dead. Aaron Mock passed me and gave me some words of encouragement and a pat on the back - I don't know what he said, but I remember feeling better after that. John can tell you a story about some "Amy has food" comment or story I told him - I have no memory of ever saying anything like that.

The fourth lap, I was still hurting, my stomach was angry at the apple, 2 power bars and whatever else I ate - I honestly don't really remember. I know that I almost fell asleep waiting in the transisition area for John to come in. I heaved my exhausted body on my bike for what would be my last lap of the race. It started bad, worse than my third lap, then things started clicking, my bike was guiding me effortlessly through the forest, tearing around corners and floating over rock gardens, I started to feel that all too familer slide as my rear tire began loosing air. I figured I'd ride as far as possible before stopping to change it. I rode for what seemed like eternity, so I figured - I'll just blast some CO2 in there and limp it home. For some reason, I also stopped at the Twinke stop and ate 1/2 a Twinke - I was feeling like my body was cracking again. The Twinke saved my ride. I guzzled water and was feeling a lot better, stopping only 2 more times to inflate my slowly dying rear tire.

By the end...I was exhausted I ate some pasta salad, drank two beers and slept. It was a great course, a great race. It was made even better by the presence of the Planet Bike Compound. D*pow did a great job organizing it all. We had 2 EZ-up tents, 2 VW buses, about 10 tents for sleeping in, the Planet Bike Sprinter Van, 4 big dogs, 3 cook stoves, about 5 coolers full of food and beer, chairs, friendly new faces and fantastic old friends.

Spy photo

2007-07-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

24-9 bike

Phil Ligget says it best

2007-07-24T16:59:00.001-05:00

In short, Vinokourov, one of the most respected riders in the peloton, will now leave the sport in disgrace.

Vino

cut

2007-07-19T14:08:00.000-05:00

Lucy's out for 2 weeks, a 1" long 1/2" deep cut in her foot has her sitting the next 2 weeks out, keep the wound dry and keep a cone on her head until stitches are removed. Dang it.

We don't really know how it happened, all of a sudden, after a walk, Lucy was leaving bloody paw prints all over the house. It's different when your dog is bleeding and not you, it's much more concerning.

24-9 is coming, D*pow is creating a "compound." It'll be FANTASTIC!! This guy's getting ready, I saw him in Waterloo, getting motor-paced by a lawnmower. Just to be sure I wasn't seeing things, I went around the block and passed them again, this is the best spy photo I could get.

kind of like improvement

2007-07-13T09:58:00.000-05:00

I've been running lately, it doesn't hurt as bad as it did 2 weeks ago, my heart rate is easier to control, my breathing is becoming rythmic and steady..I rode this morning for the first time in 2 weeks. Lungs feeling way better since running, legs felt different. CX bike nature-made CX course near our house - walking/hiking trails at the nearby campground with suitable storm damage (downed trees) make for fun obstacles and sudden stops.

Megs came out of cycling retirement yesterday with her first 20 mile ride in 2 years. She says it went well. I think the TdF has got her all fired up.

All this running is fueling some wishful thinking of long gone days of triathlons. Everytime I run, I think about Sept 15th, and Devil's challenge. Short swim, short bike, short run. We'll see. It's been 2 years at least since I had to do all 3 in a row. I'd like to get my friend Julie to race too, she a beginning triathlete. She worries/makes excuses too much. "I heard you can get swimmer's itch in that lake, and I heard the bike course really challenging...I'm worried about my fitness." I find myself giving her the same advice I neglected to heed myself earlier this season - just race. Just go race.

Is moving away the answer?

2007-07-10T17:05:00.000-05:00

We're back from sunny Florida, my brother is happily married and everyone is about $1000 less rich/more poor. More and more, it seems that Madison, specifically most of Wisconsin may not have all of what Megs and I want. We want to live in the country, with a nice garden and our herd of animals. We also want jobs we can be happy at. WTF Wisco, where's the freakin' jobs?

Granted, it's probably tougher for an ex-con and his artist wife to get jobs than people with "employable" skills. For now, we suffer 9-5...searching for answers.

stars and hearts

2007-06-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

I picked up my '07 BKB kit a couple of weeks ago, it's fantastic. I've had a handful of rides in it, all were splended. Last year there was talk of the BKB living on blood, I think it's true. I got my new kit, and since then, I've donated blood on every mountain bike ride I've been on. Sometimes more than once.

As a result of Megs getting 2 puppies, I've finally resigned to a mtn bike season lost. Well, not completely lost, just way less racing than I want. Saturday was hard for me. With 2 sick puppies and an empty bank account as a result of them (vet bills) I skipped the much anticapted SS State champs in La Crosse. Megs and I had a long chat about life and such, we agreed that nothing will keep me from 24-9 duo with djonn. Following that, I might come out of triathlon retirement and race the Devil's Challenge in September, then Cross season starts, let the pain begin.

Somehow it took me until now to realize that the best way to keep getting my workouts in is to run with my dogs instead of walking them. I don't enjoy running, there's no coasting. If I want to stay/get fit, I must run. I've run for the past 2 days now, today was better yesterday, and I'll feel better on the run portions of the cross races. It's a win-win situation, the dogs don't get neglected because I'm out riding, and I'm still getting a good workout.

Megs has been making some totally hot dog collars, website coming soon, for now, here's a few examples:

Email us if you'd like to buy one or more, corgimocollars@yahoo.com. We can do matching leashes in any length, too.

ouch

2007-06-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

The weekend didn't really go as planned, I ended up riding Camrock 3 with John, D*pow and ZRcycles on Saturday. It was a nice relaxed ride, I got a flat tire, then drank a beer and called it a day. Sunday I spent 2 hours at the Trek Brand trails in Waterloo. They were cruel. I crashed twice, got a thorn stuck so deep in my thigh I had to dig it out with a presta valve, the hole it left bled and dripped all the way to my nice white sock. Monday after work I did some sprints in tall grass/stinging nettles. It was very wet, soggy in fact, energy draining. If not for my dog, Lucy, chasing rabbits and critters down the trails ahead of me, I probably would have turned in earlier. My back aches, my legs are scabbed and bruised, and my arms are covered with scratches from plowing through overgrown brush. The single speed state champs are coming up and I'm feeling...ready?

Outside of cycling:
-Lucy graduated Outdoor Intermediate Obedience, she's a good dog.
-Our garden is kicking ass, lettuce is delicious, everything is coming up good, the corn is almost 60" tall already.
-Megan made some amazing tomato and zucchini pasta sauce for dinner last night.
-Steven's wedding is only 2 weeks from Saturday.

Finally

2007-06-14T13:08:00.000-05:00

I've not really made time for myself much lately. Between full time employement, 4 dogs, 3 cats and (for 2 days) a sick wife, Phil's feeling neglected. Saturday will be LSD day. Long Slow Distance. Maybe I'll ride to Illonios on the H8TR trail. I can hardly wait. Next weekend is the SS State Champs. I'm racing it. I'm pretty sure you won't see my name in the top 10, but I'll be flying the BKB flag and killing as many dreams as my legs and lungs will allow.

The very few rides I've been on have shown me that the bike is perfectly dialed, ready to go, and technically, I'm there, a little more leg/lung strength wouldn't hurt...but I've found what I lack in the lungs I generally make up for on downhills and technical sections. After all, I haven't crashed my bike 1000 times for nothing.

On

2007-06-07T15:27:00.000-05:00

Go!

photos

2007-05-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

Trek T1, 14.8lbs. Fixed gear 44x15, front brake only. Custom rear wheel: bontrager tandem front rim 20 hole paired 2.5mm bladed spoke to bontrager sealed bearing fixed/freewheel flip flop hub.

Lucy and Cici

Charlie, guarding his smoked pig leg.

Solo ride on Monday.

Lawn ornament at some church during my Monday ride.

HollyDay weekend

2007-05-29T10:29:00.000-05:00

I spent the past 3 days doing what love. It was great, totally refreshing. Saturday I did yard work for most of the day, mowing, raking, and prepping gardens 2 and 3 for planting. Sunday was a day in the saddle. Two hours at the Trek Brand trails with Djonn, he was exceptional at boosting my moral. Maybe he was sitting up, relaxing some while I was pinning it for 2 hours, either way, it was great. I felt great, the bike set-up is great. Great great great. John was nice enough to drive me home. It was that or 11.5 road miles on a 32x17 mtn bike. After John left I was feeling sassy. So I refueled and hopped on my cross bike for a "spin" into Sun Prairie to visit Megs and pick up my car.

*my car was in Sun Prairie due to the copious amounts of alcohol consumed Saturday evening*

The 19.8 miles to Sun Prairie was emotionally and physically difficult. Like the last lap of of a 12hrs race, I thought it would never end. A block headwind the entire way. Farm fields don't do much for wind protection. It was a hard, windy 2 hours.

Once getting there I said hi to Megs and left for home. After some pasta and a nap, it's time to get ready for MOTAB. MOTAB was great fun. Kathy showed up, and filled her pannier baskets with other people's beer, her laps were spent handing beers off to fellow racers. Super fun times.

Monday I relaxed with the dogs, did some house chores and rode about an hour on my fancy-boy track bike.

This morning, Megs and I tended to Garden 1, everything is coming up nicely, lots of Broccoli, Zucchini and Lettuce. The peppers, tomatoes, carrots and onions are starting a little slower, but still looking good. I'm hungry.

get it together

2007-05-19T10:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not racing Lake Geneva tomorrow. Instead I'll be spectating the Wheels on Willy Crit. Where's my mind? Where's my fitness. Both are shot, my brain isn't in cycling right now, it's not really anywhere, I'm just floating along, going through daily motions, not feeling one way or the other. The 1 mountain bike ride I've done felt fine, I couldn't really push myself, and I wasn't relaxed at all. Physically, I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I get tired after 20 miles, 30 almost killed me a couple of weeks ago. WTF?! Between 50hrs a week and 4 fucking dogs I have no time. It seems impossible to make time. Today for instance: Up at 5:30am, outside with the dogs, put the puppies away, sip some coffee and walk Charlie and Lucy - it's now 8:30am, I'm back from the walk, Megan has left for work, the house is a mess and I need to leave in 30 minutes for my job. I could have rode to work today, but since I didn't get back from the walk in time, I surely would have been late, no amount of time trialing at my fitness would have got me to work in under an hour.

EDIT: I need a different job. Something back in the bike industry. Jeff at Revolution, I'm looking to you to save my soul.

gardening

2007-05-17T16:21:00.000-05:00

Megs and I will attempt to be "super gardeners" this year. Mind you we've never had a garden, let alone 3 planted months apart so we harvest for about 4 months straight. Plot #1 is planted, and #2 is almost ready to be tilled. I haven't finished the rough cutting for #3 yet. We don't have an actual machine meant for rough cutting, so we weed whack the whole plot, then rake it, then mow it with our push mower on the highest setting, then rake it again, then lower the mower setting 1 notch and mow, then rake, and so on until we're down to almost nothing on the ground but dirt and mulch-able clippings. Plot #1 is 10' by 15'. Plot #2 will be about 30' by 30' and the same goes for plot #3. I want #2 to be dedicated to sweet corn, nothing else. Plot #3...we're kind of undecided on so far.

WORS #2 in Lake Geneva this weekend. It'll be my second mtn bike ride of the year. I'm prepared to suffer.

my life:

2007-05-09T15:29:00.000-05:00

Single speed, 21.2 lbs, unpainted Gary Fisher Big Sur.

Rosie, one of our new puppies.

Megs broke our lawn mower.

I suppose...

2007-05-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

I've got about 2 weeks until my first race, then WEMS #1 on May 26, followed by 12hrs of John Muir on June 9th. I guess I should get my mountain bike built, maybe even ride it once before race day.

green thumbs

2007-05-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

Megs and I have started our garden. Sunday we spent all day tilling, planting, watering and sweating off our hangovers. We planted tomatos, onions, peppers, corn, carrots, and zucchini in our 10' x 15' plot. I'm all excited about "farming" since we live out on a farm, we should at least give it a shot I figure, so I'm thinking about planting a larger plot of corn. Maybe like 5 or 6 rows 10' long. I guess corn stalks only yield 1 or 2 ears each. Right now we'll only get 9 ears of corn - assuming everything planted grows, Megs is Iowan, sometimes all she makes for dinner is corn on the cob and maybe some potato salad, 9 ears of corn won't last long.

Serious technial difficults keep me from posting a photo documentry of our garden or April MOTAB.

name game

2007-04-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

We're working on finding names for our fluffy little pomeranian girls. Megan like Cecilia for one, I originally thought Janet was a good name, but upon further analysis and remembrance of an old friend, Chiquita, I'm thinking the other pup will be named Tjeakneequoa, pronounced "Ja-NEE-qua" It'll look awesome all spelled out on her little show dog papers, once she earned her champion points, "Ch. Tjeakneequoa Vom Page-Scharein" It'll be FANTASTIC!!

American history

2007-04-18T10:30:00.000-05:00

Today, April 18th marks the anniversery of Paul Revere's treason against the British. The poem below, titled "Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow takes some artistic leeway, but it gets the point across. Paul Revere is the type of American we should all aim to be, not spinlesss obese consumers bitching about gas prices. Stand up for your-damn-self.

Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."

Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
>From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,---
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

The artist, Megan Page

2007-04-17T16:55:00.000-05:00

My wife has been yearning for a pomeranian for at least 3 years. I knew, eventually, we'd have one. Yesterday, Megan went to visit a breeder and brought home 2 pomeranian pups. Two girls, six weeks old, Cecilia and Janet. Charlie and Lucy seem pretty happy to have babies around. The cats are just as annoyed as ever and I'm a little bit in shock. We were getting pretty settled in, Lucy's pee pee accidents had all but ceased and we were sleeping through the night. But now, here we are, ready to go through it all again. The potty breaks every 2 hours, the crying pups while crate training. Megan and I are also wreslting with a recent job offer she recieved at Saracuse University, a lecturer position for papermaking and printmaking. It would only be a semester contract...but she'd pack up the pomeranians and take off to live with our friend for the semester, we'd miss each other terribly.

I've decided not to race Bandit cross this weekend, hopefully I can get a nice ride in with Megan. WORS #1 is approaching quickly. My next race, one I will not miss, is May 20 in Lake Geneva. My first WORS race since 2000, when I raced with 2 broken ribs and DNF'd after only 1 lap. This year, I've got the power of the stars and hearts carrying me along.

Bike of choice this year: A gary fisher 26" big sur, no paint, rigid Bontrager aluminum fork, cane creek wheels, hayes disc brakes and full old school XTR 2x9 drivetrain. It's fast, light and agile. Eventually I post a picture of it.

Savage is the word, Brutal is the race

2007-04-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

M-B-M yesterday...a race that changed my life. 38 miles of the best "soon to be a real trail" course Madison has to offer. We started off at Orton Park, the route was rider's choice heading to the trail head at Capital City path and Southwest Commuter Trail's intersection. One block into the race cyclists were heading in nearly every direction. Some of us stayed on the bike path, others (namly Zack and Frank) took John Nolen Drive so they wouldn't have to mess with cross walk. I had to mess with cross walk. Pretty good timing had the lights changing perfectly in time with my arrival. I was trying to hold Tim's wheel, and kind of ended up maintaining about a 30-second gap up to him. We weren't even out of the arb and my heart was pounding in my ears. I thought for sure I'd be battling it out for DFL in about 4 hours. Instead, I cought Tim and dropped him on the Seminole hwy climb, I was pretty sure that I had a good gap on him, however about 500 meters before turning right onto the cap city path, he passed me...holding onto a pick up truck. That was the last I saw of him aside from a few glimpses here and there. I was passed then by Jesse, John, Erik Olsen and D*pow. Dan and I ended up putting in the team effort for most of the race, if not for him, I'd probably still be out there. Roughly 15 miles of the trail was spent in my "granny gear" (36x23), it was tourturous at best...then the trail turned to swamp and I came to grips that this could be my time, I might just die here. At the turnaround I was feeling a new zest for life, and my legs felt less fatigued, it was back into the swamp and the trail was drying and my speed seemed to be increasing...that or Dan was fading...it was impossible to tell. Back on the streets my legs were complete mush, climbing Seminole again I could barely close a gap on a 300 pound man who'd sweated all the way into his jeans. I stared for what seemed like eternity has his swampy ass, thinking "WTF, why can't I pass him?" I finally did pass and never looked back, it was a solo effort form here, arriving back at Orton park in roughly 11th place and beating my goal of 3 hours. It was a fantastic race. Many thanks to the kittens for putting this all together, and to all the racers to came out to suffer. Final standings had Cory winning, Jason in 2nd, and Jesse 3rd.

Saturday

2007-04-02T15:58:00.000-05:00

I spent almost 3 hours in the saddle, straight headwind for first half, of the 8 dogs I saw, only one gave chase. I saw 1 other cyclist, and 2 farmers waved at me. Roughly 45 minutes was spent on rough gravel roads - with good climbs and sharp turns. It was a delightful ride. I passed a nice farm for sale, on Goast Hill road. I imagined Goast Hill Road would be hillier, and scarier, but it was pretty mundane.

Only 2 weeks until MBM Spring Classic.

Another weekend of cycling behind me

2007-03-26T11:22:00.000-05:00

This weekend brought with it sunny skies, great weather and a lot of cycling. Saturday, I planned on a shorter ride and ended up getting somewhat lost out in Dodge County. I eventually found my way home. The unexpected LSD (long slow distance) was really nice. My legs ached a little on Sunday.

Sunday, Megan and I spent a really nice day together, delightful, even. Then I went to MOTAB...and WON!!! It was a fast course with a lot folks sitting around drinking. A great end to a great weekend. I'm back at work now, debating whether or not to ride the bandit cross this weekend. We'll see, Eli's in town this week, and it'd be great to spend time with him.

Sunshine

2007-03-18T18:08:00.000-05:00

Saturday I opted to get some much neglected chores done instead of racing the O'Mally Cat. It looks like I missed out on a great race. My chores were finished up around 3:00pm, which left me quite a bit of daylight for an afternoon ride. My first 2+ hour ride in 2007. I left my house thinking I'll have have most of the headwind out of the way by the second half. I was wrong. I only remember 1 stretch of road without headwind. It was mostly a 3 directional head/crosswind for the entire ride. I cruised along nicely, got chased by 2 overweight Chocolate Labs and while outrunning them, a minivan pulled out infront of me, ahhh.....spring is in the air. All in all the ride was nice, lots of fragrant dairy farms and gentle hills. It was a very theraputic ride.

Possible first race for 2007 - March 31st, Chicago's Bandit Cross Series Race #1.

I am a winner!!

2007-03-12T12:41:00.000-05:00

Mutant Time Trial (MuTT) was this weekend, I won the dubious prize of "bicycle most likely to cause injury to it's rider" My quintcycle (5-wheeler) was difficult to ride at best, it wouldn't go straight, and turning caused your rear drive wheel to come off the ground. All in all, it was dangerous; D*pow, Andrew and myself all had crashes on it - each one was caused by the sudden popping off of the front wheel assembly. We all survived with minor injuries. The nice weather is back, and people are starting to act happier. Kathy's in town, she has a real boyfriend, she has a crazy Chilean landlord, and she's staying with us this week (Kathy, not the loca landlord). It's fantastic having her around. Megs got extremely drunk on Saturday - she skipped MuTT to drink with one of her friends from work. She had 6 beers and 8 shots...and no dinner. She turned into Dave Chappelle's "Lil John" and she's all "WHAT?! WHAT?! OKAAAAYYYY!!!" She's real special. If anyone is looking for a puppy, my uncle Ron's dog is having a litter, AKC Golden Retrivers, from very good bloodlines, he did not linebreed and has taken great care to insure the health of this litter. If you're interested, let me know. On that note: isn't Wisconsin full enough of Golden Retrievers....and backyard breeders. There's a shit load of dogs at various shelters and rescues throughout WI.

Bad news

2007-03-02T15:12:00.000-06:00

Cordova, he's 9 months old and has a terminal aneurysm in his heart. He's not unhappy or in pain, his heart just might blow up at any second, or it may not for 5-10 years. Either way, we're pretty sad.

Winter's unforgiving embrace

2007-03-01T10:59:00.000-06:00

This winter has been the most deadly I've experienced. We're almost through with our first winter in the country and the dogs are still loving it. Just yesterday, I came across a bloody mess along the river banks, no animals or fur or anything, just a whole mess of blood streaked snow. Megs reported that our German Shepherd caught a wounded or sick squirrel and killed it (she said the death scream from the squirrel was pretty bad), once our other 2 dogs figured out what he was up to, they commenced ripping the recently deceased squirrel to bits, Megs had to tackle each dog and pry what squirrel parts they hadn't swallowed from their blood soaked jaws, in the end she was holding a squirrel carcase in two hands and in about 10 pieces. She had to dispose of it high in a tree to keep our dogs from eating it. That's just the most recent episode in our dogs' thirst for blood or decaying animals. Since November we've had at least 2 raccoons, 3 rabbits, countless mice, 1 duck, a rotten turtle shell, and this week's squirrel. Each deceased animal has been torn from it's icy sarcophagus by one of our dogs, ripped up a little and finally removed from our dogs' jaws and thrown into a tree for it's final resting spot. Since it's pretty cold, none of the carcasses stink too bad...yet. It will be a fragrant spring thaw. We buy expensive dog food, and they'd rather eat poopy cat litter and dead wild animals. This week's squirrel was the first animal to actually die in the jaws of our dogs, all the rest have been dead when we discovered them. Winter doesn't waste time on the weak in Wisconsin.

Each animal's disposal has an interesting story. For instance, a raccoon was frozen in the river, the weather warmed up a little and the ice melted just enough for Lucy to rip the raccoon from its ice tomb, she ran down the path, carrying the raccoon by it's neck, it's lifeless body slapping her sides as she ran. Once I got the raccoon away from her I pitched it up into a large walnut tree, the raccoon slapped the side of the tree and came down and landed on my shoulder like a 20lbs soggy rotten sponge. It took 3 tries to get that raccoon to stay on a branch. Each time I missed the tree, the dogs would attempt to catch the carcase, like it was some kind of fetch game.

absolute carnage

2007-02-19T10:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning, my puppies were remarkably calm, too calm. As I stumbled down the stairs I realized why, one of them had silently uprooted and destoryed Megs' new plant. There was dirt everywhere, and the puppies both had nice fresh soil on their heads and paws. It was a sad way to start a nice warm weekend.

Later in the day, I thought we'd go for a bike ride down the frozen Crawfish River. it started out nice, then when I slowed down as the snow got deeper, Cordova cought me and bit my calf. Not hard, but hard enough for me to notice, he also started nipping at my feet as I pedaled harder to get away from my own dog. Heidi said he came from "extremely good working bloodlines," so good I guess that he's got strong herding instincts. That's OK though, I figure it'll help me in racing because riding to keep away from a tireless German Shepherd has to be harder than racing Sport WORS. At least nobody's trying to bite your legs in bike racing.

Quote of the week

2007-02-16T11:18:00.000-06:00

"To spend a moment on my stage would be to spend an eternity in a blood fart," says front man Mortal Death.

Special thanks to the kittens for their incomparable musical knowledge, if not their taste.

I remember that!

2007-02-14T14:50:00.000-06:00

I miss my truck.

...and that makes 3!

2007-02-10T16:12:00.000-06:00

The newest addition to our pack of canines: Cordova, an 80lbs 8-month old German Shepherd. He comes from "extremely good blood lines" and already has 1 title. However, he's also showing a bit of seperation in his hip joints, making him unsuitable for further competition. So we have 3 dogs and 3 cats, I think that's enough for now. Lucy and Cordova ("dovi") made fast friends. Heidi, Dovi's original owner and handler, wanted to give Dovi a good home with a good family, I guess we're it. She's too busy with her Welsh Corgi, 2 Border Collies and other German Shepherd to have a dog that's not going to compete.

Remember

2007-02-09T17:18:00.000-06:00

Read it.

Stop heckling my team, please.

2007-02-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

Saturday night, at the Mounds Pet Food holiday party, we got to go bowling. Megs has some odd coworkers, dumpy looking crazy animal people. It's like a safe-haven for crazy cat ladies. So, we're at the holiday party with all the crazy cat ladies bowling. Half of the Mounds staff had their own shoes and bowling balls, but that didn't stop me from getting a little drunk and a lot loud. We're bowling, what's to take seriously??? Anyway so I guess my heckling got out of had because one of cat ladies' husbands asked me to stop heckling, because it's hurting his team's concentration. I didn't want to start a fight, I didn't want any trouble, so I stopped. Totally lame, this isn't Pro bowling, why's he so serious? Totally boring people.

Sunday was I lame, sleeping through the Frozen Thunder Ice race. Lame lame lame.

I been thinking

2007-01-26T16:52:00.000-06:00

I've been pretty lucky I guess. I committed a felony almost 8 years ago. Febuary 11, 1999 at around 10:00pm I made a bad decision...and it still bothers me. Shallow people find out and all of a sudden I'm some kind of novelty, like a cheap compass in the bottom of your box of cracker jacks. Earlier this week, at the Great Dane this guy walks in, acting kind of jacked up - he was pretty happy to be at the Dane (and really, who isn't). Something about him, his uncombed hair, nice clothes with no jacket odd. He ordered a drink, slammed it and asked for the payphone's location. A few minutes later he's back for another drink. The bartender asks how he's doing, he's doing "Great! I just got out of jail!" I knew it, somehow I could tell. He was locked down for 18 months for "something he didn't even do." Of course, everyone in the joint is innocent. Everyone. Go ahead, ask around. The people who admit guilt, they're the ones to either watch out for, or trust a little. So I've been thinking, that guy, he's got a long road ahead of him. Over 1 year locked up, all you're credit cards have been cancelled, the balences probably sent to bill collectors, your credit is fucked. If you had people on the outside, hopefully they handled your business. Hopefully they didn't lie about your money and steal from you while you were locked up. No job, no money, no jacket. It's January in Wisconsin and you just got out. Hopefully your crime didn't alienate you from everyone you knew previously. I alienated 6 friends, a slew of drinking buddies and a couple of my parents friends. People I used to know, and shake hands with, they still avoid me in public. Since then, I've grown up, gotten a new group of friends, and basically put my life back together. A celly I had, Champagne, was 18 in 1999 when I knew him, he was sentenced to 10 years for parole violations, plus he was facing 60 years in new charges, from burgley to abscounding to resisting arrest and assulting an officer, ( or 2 if you get the story from him). Here I am, happily married, working, generally content with my life. Champagne is probably in Green Bay Correctional Institution, he was headed there 8 years ago. Eight years behind bars, I wonder if he'll get out, I wonder if he'll go back. I wonder if he's still Mad Latin Deciples. Champagne has his wisdom teeth removed while at Dodge County Correctional Institution, a few weeks after the pain subsided, he still had a couple of pain killers left over. I don't know how he got them, but we each took 6 and passed out in our cell. Your taxes paid for that. He also gave me a mild concussion, he was teaching me how to fight and bounced the back of my head off the wall...on accident. Another guy, Bull, he was on woodpile, it was his job to swing a 30lbs maul all day long, splitting wood. I liked him. He was good, he was going to make it when he got out. He was pretty upset when nobody showed up to visit him on his birthday. Once Bull said something to me, I forget what and I kind of joked that I'd kick his ass, he said "I don't doubt it, little dude, last time I messed with a guy your size, he knocked my tooth out." He took his fake bicuspid out to prove his point. There was also Yates, rumor had it, Yates had all his teeth removed because in Waupon he bit a huge chunk out of a guard once while "resisting." Yates' job was to clean the shitters. He did a good job, and talked a lot about back when he was "crazy." Motown, Davy Crocket, and a bunch of other guys who's names I've forgotten, there's a lot people with pretty effed up lives. I was called "Flaco" by the Latins, "Slim" by the Aryan Pride guys and "Too Cool" by Motown, Davy Crocket and most of the other janitors at Oregon Correctional Center. I was only really scared once for my safety.

beasts

2007-01-26T09:59:00.000-06:00

Pricilla started out as a typical kitten, playful and cute. Now, 4 years later, she's nearly 18lbs.
I have another cat, Mr. Kitty, we adopted him in October, he was 13lbs then, he's now up to 16.5lbs. I think he has a glandular problem, that or he's a lazy fat ass who eats all the food. They're both big cats, but carry their weight differently, Pricilla's big everywhere, Mr. Kitty is like an alcoholic, fat tummy and skinny apendeges.

Lucy, our 18 week old Aussie mix puppy has gained 23lbs since Thanksgiving. She's also left a mess of stuffed animal/squeaky toy debris, death and destruction. When it comes to squeaky toys, she has an unwavering, coldblooded killer instinct.

Killer!!

carrying the ladder

2007-01-22T19:55:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite parts about working for PKK is the outdoor jobs. Monday we spent all day outside, the weather wasn't very bad, the wind was basically calm - wind sucks when you're on top of a 14ft ladder trying to wrestle with a 40lbs letter "C." Anyway, it seemed the only downfall today would be the ice under foot, and thus, under ladder. A slightly sketchy (off kilter) ladder set-up can slid out from under you with little or no notice. The ice was on our side today, nobody fell, nobody even slipped. What we did do though was search the Virchaw Krause building near East Towne mall for about an hour trying to find a photocell or light switch. Turns out now it's all computerized. Somehow they decided computer controlled lighting is better than a little canister (35mm film roll sized) outside the building somewhere that flips the lights on whenever it gets dark. I'm reminded of a quote from an Outcast album, "They said a computer could my job better than I could damn do it."

Already this morning my puppy has thrown up twice and gotten an empty PBR returnables box stuck on her head, she got scared and was running around whimpering and peeing. Everyone is fine now.

MOTAB this Sunday! In other racing news, did you get your team kit? I've got 4 or 5 WEMS races a smattering of WORS and 24-9 planned this year....of course, probably some cross, too.

more liquor more liquor more liquor more liquor more liquor

2007-01-15T16:43:00.000-06:00

Things I've had to remove from my dogs' mouths:
my gloves
Megs' shoes
TV remote
Library books
tampon - new
maxi pad - used
rotting raccoon paw
rotting raccoon leg
frozen rabbit spine w/fluffy tail still attached (I'm not sure where the rest of the rabbit is/was)
bird feeder cap
various pieces of shit - deer shit, bunny shit, dog shit, etc

I'm sure there's more that I've forgotten about. Cats are great, all they eat are plants.

Highpoint this week:

2007-01-12T08:40:00.000-06:00

This past Thursday, I worked with neon lighting for the first time. It's a little stressful, working on 60 amps at 4000 volts. For example, most households have between 10-20 amps at 120 volts, if you stuck a fork in your electrial outlet, you'd be anywhere from extreme pain to muscular paralysis - someone would have to disconnect you from the fork/outlet. We were way past that, 60 amps at 4000 volts will also cause extreme breathing difficulty: so you're paralyzed, getting shocked (burned at the point of contact) and you can't hardly breath. All this at 15 feet in the air. Nobody got shocked though, it was basically uneventful, but stressful.

In a less expensive part of my life, the Price Is Right minivan is starting to get a little "character," The fuel gauge is innacurate, so we have to base our fill-ups on mileage.

One year

2007-01-05T13:42:00.000-06:00

One whole year has gone since Megs and I got married. We're still married, still completely smitten. She's great. Don't we look nice, all dressed up at our wedding party?

Goodbye my friend

2007-01-04T17:56:00.000-06:00

The Acura has been finally put to rest. After a long difficult life, it's gone. This Legend was built in 1992, and probably had a fine living until 1999, when my brother, Steve, bought it. It was pretty much down hill from there. The car suffered through street drag racing, countless car audio overhauls, a few accidents and 2 break-ins. Then I adopted it in 2005, at this point the car's Speedometer and Odometer were working intermittenly, often you had to guess how fast you were going. According to the odometer, since 2005, we've only 1000 miles on the car, that's false, we've probably put close to 20,000 on. Also at the time of my adopting it, the SRS light was on, the car was in a minor fender bender and the air bags should have popped, but didn't, our auto mechanic informed us the bags could pop at "any second." They never did though. Then Madison gets a golf ball-sized hail storm, the Acura is renamed "dimples." Shortly after that something went wrong with the idle or something, when driving it you have to keep your right foot always on the gas otherwise it'll die, and even with the gas on, sometimes it'll die anyways. All this stopping with the left foot and the gas pedal depressed with the right caused the brake warning light to lite, and the ABS light. For some reason, maybe just a sign of impending death the Check Engine light also came on. When we traded it in last week, we were informed that "every warning light is on," and in the salesman's own words "if ever there was a $100 car, this is it." He also said, "I don't mean to pry, but what's that purple stuff all over the inside of the trunk?" It's a quart of screen print ink I informed him, Megs is an artist, and a fast driver. In the weeks before the car's final goodbye, we hit over 110mph just for fun. I was following Megs home (she was driving the Golf). The Acura preformed well, even it's last moments.

I guess I got a job

2006-12-20T16:56:00.000-06:00

I'm back working for PKK Lighting again, it's nice to have a paycheck, and I don't really mind the work. Occationally the co-workers can get to me. I have 3 uncles that work there, Burt Reynolds (AKA Dave), Ron and Dick. Dick talks politics a lot, and he thinks he knows everything. He wants us to be more sympathetic to the Native Americans but he's all for GWB's big wall to keep the Hispanics from "taking our jobs and stealing our charity." Then there's the guy I worked with today, Dustin, he's an outspoken Republican't. I almost hit him. I was able to tune most of his blabber out. Until we were walking around a large financial building testing all the emergency lights when he said, "We're not going in this one." The building had about 8 different institutions in it. I asked if we were short on time and implied that we could go faster if he wasn't waddling his fat Limbaugh-lovin' ass so slow. But I was wrong, we didn't check one office because it's "full of Arabs" and "they can fucking burn in hell for all I care." Well, that was about it for me. I polietly said, not all Middle Eastern people are terrorists... he cut me off, he doesn't care, they should all die for killing 3000 Americans in NYC. I didn't press the issue. Instead I changed the topic to my time in the clink, and how Uncle Dave was really a great family member to me during that time.

In other news, Bette's advice of reading Patricia's books helped and I'm sticking to a hay bed for my puppy - she really likes it. We start family dog training classes on Jan. 10th. Lucy is now a whopping 21.4lbs, she stands taller than Charlie and her new favorite toy is dirty socks. She likes wool hiking socks better than the sissy thin bike socks.

Do not worry, the birds know

2006-12-11T16:45:00.000-06:00

We got this new Safflower bird feeder and put it up last weekend, nicely positioned, and full of delicious, fresh safflower.
For 7 days, nothing happended, in fact, when I was filling out other feeders (a Nyjar and a "wild bird" mix) I noticed that nothing had happened, none of the birds were the least bit interested in our safflower. I began to wonder if Megs had purchased some bird seed for seasonal birds. So that was Thursday, today is Monday, I'm out surveying our property with Charlie and Lucy and I prepare myself for a full bird feeder, much to my surprise it was empty. Totally gone. Sunday we saw 2 birds out there, and I guess those 2 invited all their bird buddies and they ate our safflower seeds.

Today is my birthday, it was celebrated internationally. Well maybe not celebrated, but at least recognized, Elisabeth in Japan emailed me, Dana in China emailed me and Kathy in riotous Chile called! She's OK, but I guess it's pretty crazy since Augusto Pinochet died.

Finally, I made perhaps the worst sober decision of my life today. Whenever we leave, Lucy goes crazy and rips up whatever's in her kennel, so I thought "hey, we've got an old chicken coup full of hay we're not using, I'll bring that in for her." Well, she loved the hay, didn't go real crazy when I was gone, and was sleeping when I got back. HOWEVER, upon my return I realized the whole house smelled like Kathy "I live in Chile" O'Connell. I removed the hay, and cleaned the kennel, the house still smells like a dirty old barn and Lucy was noticeably dissapointed as I was removing her lovely new bed. Maybe some fresh hay wouldn't smell so bad.

Dogs do not belong on countertops.

2006-12-07T19:45:00.000-06:00

Lucy, our new puppy is a handful. She's 75% Austrailian Shepard and 25% Lab. Totally crazy, all the time, it's great, being unemployeed (still) helps - I get to spend a lot of time with her. It's so great. It's so much constant work, last night for instance: potty breaks at 10pm, 1230am, 3am and 6am, taking her out to potty is better than cleaning up shit and piss all over my house, so Megs and I and take turns. We've had Lucy for 7 days, in that time she's put on 1 pound per day - she's up to 17lbs, the Vet says that we can expect a "healthy" 75-80lbs dog! That's a lotta dog. Today (like most days) we practiced "sit" "come here" and walking on a leash, in addition we go on 2 walks consisting of 1 hour each. We also play in the house, we go to the dog park for about 45-60 minutes. EVERYDAY we do this - all to keep her from getting bored and chewing up shoes, table legs, carpets, bags and whatever else is within her reach (drapes). Tonight's potty breaks will be slightly coolder than last night's - the Forcast: Clear and cold. Lows around 3. Three! I had a nice conversation with the Columbus Liberarian today, she said "those people in Florida, with their swimsuits and nice tans, they don't know what they're missing." I agreed. They have no idea what 3 degrees feels like.

Megs works at Mounds, all day she sees people who have no idea what they are doing with their puppy - we will not be one of those people. Just the other day, at the vet, a woman was there with her puppy (same age as Lucy, 13 weeks) the woman has not even attempted to put a leash on her dog, nor did her little dog go anywhere except in her lap or on the countertop when she was paying her bill. I swear I could hear the jealousy in her voice when she complimented me for having such a young puppy walking on a leash.

puppies!

2006-11-28T14:49:00.000-06:00

Racing rreeeeecap: Bike pile is built, beer is slammed, pile dissassembled, race! About half-way through the most grueling 24 minutes this side of the Mississippi River I get behind a leisurely rider.

Side Note: Leisurely riders are both welcome and encouraged to show up to MOTAB. There's been a number of times that leisurely rider has been myself, or that leisurely riders account for most of the attendees.

Back to the racing, Saturday I was in no mood to take it easy, Gregor was in town, Racist Pete was racing for America and we all had a few beers. So I get behind the leisurely rider coming out of turn 1, still behind her we're heading into turn 2, I get impatient and try to cut on the inside coming out of the turn, my front wheel's 28c tire doesn't agree with my angle of attack and instead of mounting the 2" asphalt step-up, it slides quickly out from under me. I was leading a paceline of about 3 other drunks...er....riders, so I grab my bike and flip it out of the way (drunkenly) in doing this the handlebars smash me in the face and my recoil bounces the back of my head off the asphalt. But I'm OK!!

I might even have a job at Saris...we'll see if I impressed Roy enough.

One last point: The leisurely rider I couldn't wait to pass won the race. Way to go Lindsey. She kept up the all-female winning streak - it's been 3 in a row now for the women. The kittens have all the juicy gossip.

Wait, I'm not done yet - WTF does the title have to do with racing - Megs and I are probably getting a puppy this week. SNAP!

It's been a whole year...

2006-11-24T19:45:00.000-06:00

Last year was difficult at Thanksgiving, my mother-in-law died in the morning, and Megan and I spent the day driving and making funeral arrangements. This year was easier, some of the pain is gone, and we were able to spend time with some of my favorite extended family. It was really nice, Charlene made 6 pies, 3 of which were sugar-free because a few of my relatives have diabeties and everyone deserves pie! Back at home after the feast and family, we started a small fire in our burn pile, within about 30 minutes, we'd moved a case of beer and our camp chairs out there. For the next 6 hours we sat, watched the sun set, watched our fire and relaxed. We ran out of downed tree branches and brush pretty quickly so we resorted to using parts of the barn that has been falling in for the past 5 years. It was really great.

MOTAB's COMING!!!!

2006-11-20T18:02:00.000-06:00

You son's a bitches!! It's race time, and everyone's favorite Racist is going to be there, Racist Pete!! Hooray racis....whatever, let's all hope nobody gets arrested.

JRA

2006-11-19T17:05:00.000-06:00

So there I was, in the last chase group - 10 of us, overweight, with fancy bikes, weezing along attempting to close an unclosable gap....well, uncloseable by us. Anyway, So we're riding and nobody's even trying to work together, we're just trying to keep our lungs from exploding. But nobody's talking about it. So this goes on and one by one we break off, eventually becoming solo riders, riding just to "make our fathers proud" we all failed. BUT! We raced, I rode as hard as could. It was a fantastic course, lots of off camber and tight corners. T'was a great race. For the 1/2/pro race DP and the Planet Bike crew relocated the keg, and the people followed, we turned the perminate-fixture beer pavilion that the course goes through into a super fan alley!!! So loud, nearly every racer who went through couldn't help but gas it and smile at the sheer volume of excitement we created. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!! Tomorrow I'll resume attempting to find a job.

I'm back, mothafuckaz

2006-11-16T20:11:00.000-06:00

Well, sort of, I'm more or less back by default. I'm jobless, Trek Travel isn't a part of Trek anymore, and I'm not a part of Trek Travel. Without getting to into it: I'm pissed, I'm bitter, and I can't get that fucking knife out of my back. Fuck Trek Travel! They're on track to loose $1.2million this year, unless someone pulls some serious shit, it's going to be near impossible to turn a profit next year. No profit means no pay, no pay means no employees, fuck 'em. Fuck them. They don't give a shit about bikes, and they don't have anything even close to a grasp on reality. In other news, Megan has two (2) jobs, she works about 50-60 hours a week, between Mounds and UW Madison. She works all the time, I don't work, there's a little tension at home sometimes. I need a job. If any of y'all stumble on this stale-ass blog and are looking to hire a hard working bike dork - drop me a line.

This weekend is the WI State Cross championships, I plan on finishing in the top 75% of the CAT 4's. At least better than my last race, when I was crashed out by some fellow racer, ended my race for the day less than 1km into the first lap. Next season I'll be dedicating more of my life to racing, I've been bit by the racing bug for sure, it'll be less thrown together like this season, more planning = more tolerable for my wife. Instead of this season's "Honey, I think I'm going to race on Sunday." This was our typical Friday night conversation. She'd just laugh and order another round of beers. She's great that way.

Well, check out this, this, this, and this. It's more interesting than my life.

It's what the birhday boy wants

2006-08-14T15:10:00.000-05:00

And the birthday boy is none other than the Spritual leader to us all: Johnny Mac.

Here's what he wants: ThunderSlolam on August 26th Saturday. I really want to get a bike polo match on the 25th and a picnic/cookout as part my birthday weekend! That’d be polo on Friday, ThunderSlol on Saturday and MOTAB on Sunday. THIS NEEDS TO HAPPEN!!!

You hear that, it NEEDS TO HAPPEN! C'mon kids, lets have fun riding bikes.

Too dang busy

2006-08-01T16:19:00.000-05:00

A lot has happened, 24-9 last weekend, me and Nick got 12th out of 28 teams in the 12hrs duo comp. It was good to see the Brothers Smith and the mighty Randell Meier. Roy turned in a record 3.5 hour night lap, his trick was walking and vomiting for most of it. I'm officially BKB now. Got my kit, and raced in it. Today was Beat the Boss time trial at work. 11.47 miles, if you beat the boss, you get $100. I missed it by about 20 seconds. He was riding the new red TTX with carbon front wheel and carbon disc rear. AERO! I was also riding a red bike, but mine is the T1 track bike - I ran single speed today. Oh well. Megan might have a full time time in addition to teaching at UW, our new dog is great and it's kind of warm in Wisconsin. Pics coming soon.

11 more days

2006-07-18T16:55:00.000-05:00

24-9 is just around the corner, I weighed myself for the first time in a while - I'm done 12lbs since May. I guess I'm coming into race shape, I felt horrible over the weekend and all day on Monday, today's ride to work was almost painless, I felt really good, strong.

Whoops

2006-07-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

In not so thrilling news, I got in trouble with the legal department, my beloved Sheronda bike has an Icon Stem on it, one of the ones that was recalled about 6 years ago. Bob Burns, the head of Trek's Legal department saw it, introduced himself to me and "strongly suggested" I remove that stem and deliver it to him, he'd make sure Trek got me a replacement of equal quality. Well...in the land of Trek, 26.0 clamp, 1" quill stems don't exist anymore. So that put's me S.O.L. I bitch a little and we decide that I'll settle for a 25.4 clamp stem and new handlebar. So it's goodbye to my bullhorns and hello to moustashe bars. I guess that works.

We've moved!

2006-07-05T13:06:00.000-05:00

Megan and finally moved. What can I say, our new home is beautiful. And the cats really happy. I can ride my bike to work everyday easily now, which I did today. I got 2 flat tires from riding through some glass at some point. The ride was still great, only 45 minutes from home to work (flats included) it's not too bad. My friends are awesome, they all helped out a lot and didn't really complain.

Well...Shit.

2006-06-26T17:22:00.000-05:00

Email of the day:

Hello All,

We're in, our team is registered in the (5) person open class as International Bicycle Center. Event info at www.24-9.com.

Current line-up: Randell Meier, John McNeill, Kevin Smith, Roy Dahnke, Gregg Smith

Philip Scharine - Philip would you be interested in being registered as a 12HR solo and subbing (for Dahnke after 1 lap) as necessary?

Technician, spiritual guidance and amoral support:
Holly Driscoll

I'll ship team jerseys this week, Philip & Holly - please forward address info.

Thanks,
Gregg Smith

I signed up. 12 Hours solo, and I'm helping out a team of old men, most of whom are way faster than me. Happy Monday! I need to find some lights.

24MOTAB JUNE

2006-06-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

60 degrees, strong wind, rain and some thunder created a low turnout for 24MOTAB, rest assured, all went well. Everyone rode strong, Travis had his own custom-made biopace chainwheel, even. It was super fun. Just serious bike riders, super fun. The Basco H8RS represented for the first time in Madison, I won DFL. Super fun. I ripped my USA Flag handlebar tape...not sure what to do now. I really wanted it for July 4th, dang. I want to bring Sheronda in to show all the Trek Travel Sissy Triatheletes what a real bike looks like, ripped tape, dirty as hell, and fixie.

Last Sunday of the Month

2006-06-23T12:23:00.000-05:00

It's MOTAB Time!!! In a not-so-recent interview of Snoop Dog, he was asked, "What's the best part about being a Rapper?" An extrememly stoned Snoop replied, "All the Bitches." Here is more info on the upcoming 24MOTAB.

Big Cat

2006-06-23T06:54:00.000-05:00

Last night my kitty's size was finaly accurately described. We can thank Kathy for that. Normally, people meet Pricilla and say something really unoriginal, "wow, that's a big cat." Or my favorite, "She's really fat!" Not Kathy, no sir, she said "Phil, your cat's like a piece of furniture, big and hard to move. Kind of like a large ottoman. Comfortable, but sometimes in the way, and difficult to move." Thank you, Kathy. Pricilla's a big girl.

Recap!

2006-06-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who attended my race. From what I'm hearing - the racers loved it. There's going to be another....but when?????? MOTAB is next - 1 week away. WHEEE. In order: Djonn, Frank, Vee, Michael. All worthy cyclists, dedicated. Thanks again to everyone. And another thing, a dedication if you will: shut your fucking pie hole and ride your bike.

debbie downer

2006-06-16T10:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Phil,

Something stinks on your blog, maybe you should update that thing.

Matthew Gutowski

Tech Support

Trek Bicycle Corporation

The Team

2006-06-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

BKB!

BKB!

It's almost time!

2006-06-15T16:47:00.000-05:00

DMDR my friends! Months of planning and swearing and changing plans will be unleashed upon the masses this Saturday at 4pm. Show up, bring $5 and be ready to race your ass off. Get ready for the pain train my friends: climbs and decents, bars and graveyards, my race will not dissapoint. Mr. Sansing got some shizzle for prizes, there's even something special for the DFL! So show up at the Trek Store, bring $5 and lets go for a bike ride.

Ready...Set........GO!!!!

2006-06-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

*hint* it will involve fruit.

UPDATE!

2006-06-04T11:55:00.000-05:00

Tonight Dactyl's race starts at the High Noon Saloon - 5pm and bring $5. We're down to 13 days until DMDR. I've got a lot to do to finish organizing it. Including finding volunteers (ahem...) if you're interested, please let the kitten factory know. Here's the final flyer, all cleaned up and ready for action. Now...I must ride!

Motab...SUCCESS!!!

2006-05-29T19:56:00.000-05:00

This MOTAB was fantastic! Lots of new kids, great old friends, fireworks all kinds of meyham. Megan made her big return after a 2 or 3 year vacation, she's back at MOTAB - flicking cigerattes at racers, cursing and generally adding to the "fun for the whole family" event. Lyle won, Vee got 2nd and some girl who's name I never got won DFL. Great great great. Go here for all the details. That was sooooo Sunday night, though. Today, djonn and I rode the DMDR course, it's great. Just a lot of bike riding this weekend. Going back in time, Friday Megan and I took the Cruisers out - got a little drunk, Megan had a low speed crash. Saturday went to the Milwaukee Art Mesuem and Miller Brewing. Sunday we took the tandem out on a date before MOTAB.