How I Spent my Summer Vacation...

A brief recollection of everything the alcohol didn't wash away.

Lake Powell:





Taking in the wildlife:





A visit from Mother:



Riding with the Young and Inexperienced:





Mmmmm.....
Now it's "to go":




Pollard's fault:



Alas, many times the camera was not in hand for there were several opportunities to exploit digital media.
Tried to go see the Melvins. Guess how that turned out...

All in all the moral of the story is:
"Beer puts on weight way faster than you can work it off."
And with that,
Get back to work!

Returning Soon...

may be returning that is...

Whoa!

I almost forgot my blog!
Dang...
Summer time is lazy time, bike time, vacation time- don't expect much blogging to happen.
I'm in Vegas right now- chillin' in the 115 degree heat, then its off to Utah for a week of houseboating on Lake Powell.

I'll write when I write.
Till then, why don't you enjoy my favorite music video-

Sold Out...

Tried to go see Boris at the Casbah last night...
Shoulda' bought a ticket earlier.

(sigh)

James helped ease the pain though with a couple of pints and some late night take out food.

He's a cool guy.

The Long Walk...

Yes... Look closely now-



The best way to get over a bad hangover is to sweat it out. And while today's temperatures reached sweaty goodness, I felt a ride was in order.
Things were going great.
Single Speed time = fun time.

Interestingly enough, another biker on the trail asked, "Seen any snakes?"
To which I replied, "Never seen a snake out here..."
Lo and behold-
Snake-
Rattle Snake-

To avoid running over it I spiked my brakes (hard) and went over the bar.
Now, as I am careening through the air towards what will almost certainly end up in a face bite- I miss the snake.
Now granted, It was a little one- maybe about two and a half feet- and unfortunately I wasn't quick enough with the camera to provide evidence of my encounter...

So you'll just have to make up your own story for how I did this-

Yay! School's Out...

Time for the end of the year staff drink-a-thon!!!
But, as we all realize only after it's too late-

A coupla' these-



Plus a coupla' those-



Equals this...

Mr. Buddy to Return Soon...

Its the end of the school year
And children are going nuts.
If teachers keep complaining,
Ima kick some ass.

Maybe James should write me a Haiku...
He's good at shit like that.

Wow....

Now we can rice out our bikes too...
Really- this is the worst thing I've ever seen happen to a bike.
Worse than the drunks in El Cajon inverting the handsbar on their stolen road bikes for Cobra runs.
Worse than people with too much money buying really expensive bikes that they don't know how to ride.
Worse than this monstrosity.
Worst bike stuff ever...

Hey Beeridolator!

I thinks someone's calling you out...

Moving On...

What a loss.
I took some time to reflect on yesterday's news and I depressed myself further.
I want to be a bike commuter in the worst way.
I want to get up early everyday and ride my bike to work.
I thinketh that bike commuting will improve my fitness, lower my weight, and relieve me of the stress and rage I oft feel behind the wheel.
I would be forced to minimalize- take only what I need and nothing else.
Hell, I might even feel a little bit of camaraderie between me and the other roadies...

Pfff! yeah right...
They would see me on one of these-



and start quaking in their USPS wannabe team jerseys.
Sheesh, If you're gonna wear a jersey with a design on it do it right- a la James

But alas, I live in East County, San Diego and am not in the friendliest biking land and the only beer cans I want to dodge are the ones labeled "BUD". Bike commuting around here just isn't as doable as I would wish.
-Pedestrians on bikes
-Transients on bikes
-Illegal migrant workers on bikes
-Morons on bikes
-Roadies on bikes
... All except for the latter, either on the sidewalk or going the wrong way in the bikelane or just plain making a nuisance of themselves.
(well, roadies are always a nuisance)

No, I'll continue to take my chances with the rocks and the roots-
Bike commuting will have to go on hold until I'm someplace where biking is a little more established.
I think I'd rather take a header on the trail than offa some asshole's bumper.

Dang...

I was going to return to blogging with a vigor tonight and post about the many joys of traveling by commercial airliner, but I read this over at DC...
The whole thing was explained fully so I'm not going to elaborate...

One Last Thing Before I Go...

I'm Out...

...Flying to Texas tomorrow, early in the AM.
Until I return, read James' blog-
He appears to be enjoying himself over there...

Three Days...

...Of beer drinky, food eatey, bike ridey goodness.



Yes, 16.44 miles of-



and



All made possible thanks to-



Indeed it was an epic day for me out on the trail.
Post ride was nice too...
Balboa Park was having yet another event and we went for the Colombian Food-





Jennifer Approves...



OK
Here we go-
The added bonus of the three day weekend is the four day work week to follow...
Good Luck!

Inspiration Comes in Many Forms...

...Usually in stealing other people's ideas, Like my hero Stevil's Bottle Opener Saddle that I could've purchased here.
No, I decided to save a dollar and spend an hour in the garage instead of doing any homework fabricating one of the cooler things I have ever built-





What is it?
What does it do?



Yeah, the .308 Mag casings / wind chime was pretty creative...
But this seems so much more functional.
Plus, this should make James green with envy.

Total Awesomeness...

Tonight, several cool things happened...
First- Happy hour = copious amounts of beer
Second- My new LBS...
I called them to ask what time they closed, "Seven O'clock" they sez...
Then, due to the aforementioned copious beering, I call them back at about two minutes to Seven and say, "Dude! Don't close yet! I need a new seat post collar 'cause I busted mine on my last ride!"
And then, the guy in the shop sez, "cant find the one that will fit your bike so... Here's mine (off of his bike). See if that works and if it does- come back tomorrow and give me some money- if it doesn't, just bring it back. Cool?"
I know what your thinking-
I am a total stranger that just got a Salsa seatpost collar for free...
And-
This guy trusts me to do what's right...
Maybe I imagined it because of the aforementioned copious beering.
Whatev- He'll get his 30 bux and my lifetime customer loyalty.
And THEN I went to costco to get a pizza and guess what I see in the line in front of me?
Apparently, at the costco, you can now buy a miniature astronaut for your home-



And to think that costco zenithed when they started selling these...

Doing My Part...

*EDIT*
All of this touchy-feely stuff was immediately replaced with rage after crushing my seatpost collar shortly after picking up the latter said plastic bag.
Ride 100 feet, adjust seatpost +
Ride 100 feet, adjust seatpost +
Ride 100 feet, adjust seatpost +
Ride 100 feet, adjust seatpost
= Grrrr...

Every body who rides a bike should pick up at least one piece of trash they find out on the trail.
Then stuff like this won't get in the way-



Now, I'm sure that some irresponsible biker did not leave this nicety out on the trail... I'm sure it blew in from off of the road.
Still, I come across beer cans, water bottles, powerbar wrappers and the occasional chainring bolt in my travels. Not that I have anything personal against beer cans, I just believe that they should get packed out like everything else.

Now nobody is perfect, including me. Yes, occasionally I'll drop shit on the trail and not realize I've lost it until I return to the trailhead- still I hope that one cyclist will take the initiative-

And I promise I will do the same...

Into the Woods...

The beeridolator is going camping with his family and I wish him luck...
Just recently during ridetime this was spotted-



Look closely now...



Yes, The Jesus was there, hanging around and bummin' everybody out.

At least the ride was awesome-



I love this particular ride because it reminds me of the East Coast trails I first started biking on.



Sweet.

We rounded off this particular ride with a little whale watching-



Not bad... not bad

More Tomorrow...

So sleepy,
School is a drag.
Higher education is costing me, emotionally and physically right now.
Coupla' more months...

Watch this in the meantime...



These guys had plenty of time at their disposal...

This Just In...

My friend Tony sent me this.
Hmmm... Time to start synchronizing my plans for summer.

It's All About Me...

...If I felt any better, there would be two of me.

Didn't Want to go There...

I really didn't want my blog to become just another means of communicating with my friend the BeerIdolater...
But, I recently commented on one of his postings that even I found to be a little out of taste (not necessarily the post itself, but one of his links- I'll let you experience the joy I felt when I stumbled into it) and he has taken it as a direct attack upon his artistic freedom and now wants to be a quitter.

We all know what never happens to quitters right?

Now to be honest: I myself make it a point to be, at the least, as offensive as I can be without making anybody cry... But, eventually somebody will start crying and I'll feel bad for about (about) a minute, then I will do my best to make amends, kiss and make up, etc... because no matter how cantankerous I pride myself on being- I still believe that diplomacy is the best policy.

So, to my friend the beeridolator, I offer this-



Quit yer bitchin'
Write your blog
Know that you still have a friend that cares over at the real angrybike.

So Happy...

...Endorphins are good for you.
The greatest hurdle I seem to face in trying to be fit is convincing myself that after exercise, I will feel better...
Indeed such is the case.
Though I will never feel as good from exercise as this video makes me feel...



Happy Tuesday!

Stellar Weekend...

Went on a field trip, saw some stuff.
Saw some friends, ate some stuff.
Climbed a hill-



-Had a nap.
Not bad...
Until,
Woke up this morning and it was back to work.
More on that later...

Mister Buddy Said...

...Since you have readily admitted that you are no longer angry I have taken it upon myself to don the angrybike moniker and to make it my own. If this is unacceptable to you feel free to meet me in San Diego and we can discuss the terms of your surrender over several pints, of many I am sure you are enjoying in your new life. Fare thee well, no-longer-angrybike-man, Fare thee well...


The field of battle has been set..
The truly angry forces of Mr. Buddy have mounted against you...
The last sound you will hear will be the clinking of empty beer bottles...

Now Taking Suggestions...

Apparently angrybike already exists...
I don't even know the guy but I think he's a jerk for preemptively stealing my idea.
Yeah, yeah so he was here first.
He hasn't posted in months...
What should I do?
-Change the name of my blog?
-Challenge him to a ridebeerbaconeatingcontest?
... Or, should I give up entirely and focus on bigger things like homework?
This is officially my first real blogging dilemma.

I am a thief, I have wrongly taken what is not mine- and I want to keep it.

So I put this task to you, my 1/2 dozen readers...
Help Mr. Buddy choose his next adventure-
Decide the future for ___________.blogspot.com

Work is really Getting in the Way of my Leisure Time...

If it wasn't for this-



-my feet would go without touching pedals for days and days at a time...

My trusty work bike enables me to get from one point of the campus to another without generating too much interest within the middle school population.
It has been my experience, that if you run somewhere on a middle school campus, mass hysteria will set in and 1100 kids will begin to run in the same direction as you.
Not good.

But alas, my work bike still holds an enigma it will never shed:
work bike.

Too much time on the work bike and not enough time on the SS/XC bike...

Spoiled Rotten...

A month of on-line classes has made me complacent in my education. As is the National way- I suddenly find myself back in a chair, obligated to be someplace several times a week...
When I graduate I want one of these-



Yes...
It's a coffin
It's a cooler
It's a long way past my bedtime...

It's Saturday Night...

I just wrote two papers, split up only by a one-hundred and ten question final exam on a subject I know absolutely nothing about...



Sweet Dreams...

Finally...

... The weekend is here.
You can guess what I'll be doing-



The biggest dilemma I will probably face is which of these I shall be most comfortable in-



I recently acquired that big comfy one on the right... I officially have an office chair collection.
Alas, much of this is a delusion. I really have a lot to do this weekend that will occupy my beerrideloungebeer time.
Professional development, Online class homework and Father Inlaw's Birthday...
My bikes will need some quality alone time with me next week.
(sigh)

The Asuncion of PBR...

In Honor of May-Day...
My Tribute to the Peebs

El Alacran...

A student showed this to me today-



...And I though to my self:
1) How neat! A poisonous arachnid in children's candy!
2) Hmmm... I don't think I've ever eaten a scorpion.
3) What must it taste like?

It was explained to me that:
1) It's from Texas
2) They cut off the poison bit and squeeze out the rest of the guts.
3) "Not very good" as was explained at the end of the day.

Go figure.

Gripe of the Day:



Taggers get on my nerves.
They write on shit that doesn't belong to them.
They write on public toilets?!? WTF!
The worst part is that taggers are wannabes claiming shit that would get them shot out in the real world... Such a sad thing to aspire to.
To make matters worse-





OK! We get it! We knew there was a problem when boys started wearing make-up...

No, really, quit crying on the bathroom wall...
Clean off your make-up, listen to Iniquity and take a look at the real world around you.

This gripe paid for by the Campaign to Catch Taggers and Destroy Them Foundation.