Baetis

No, not me. On VFS I'm Hdhntr

Tom Bombadil

I'm an upper-level administrator at the University of Wisconsin. It's been a very good job, where I've had opportunity to make significant contributions to improving higher education. A job that one can feel very good about when they go home in the evening. However in the past couple of years, there have been some stressful projects which have drained me a bit.

This combined with getting 4 daughters through college in the past 9 years has run me down. I can't believe how taxing that was - mentally, physically and financially. So right now I'm on a campaign to get more rest and exercise, thus my renewed interest in cycling.

Other interests include reading, mostly science, science fiction, and history - although history in a bit of a different area - American religious history & communal societies. So I've visited places like the Amana Colonies, Nauvoo Illinois, Oneida NY, and others. I also love small towns, especially river towns and ethnic communities. I've visited just about every town from St Louis to Minneapolis along the Mississippi River.

I also enjoy hiking, following the Red Sox, dabbling in progressive politics (still trying to make amends for having voted for Reagan in 1980), and am a bit of an audiophile. I built a wonderful audio system for about 40 cents on the dollar by patiently buying slightly used gear from other audiophiles, a community of people who are mostly afflicted with "upgraditis."

Overall I'm not quite as active as I was 2-3 years ago, as I feel the need to take a break. But I see cycling as an area where I can be active and still get a break, as a 20 mile ride down a beautiful rail trail is both restful and healthy.

Red Baron

middle management mechanical enginer at a Research & dev Lab. Hold 8 patents - nope- company holds 8 patents. Still going strong at 59, soon to be 60. Like to read 'horse apples and gunsmoke' books are favorite. Not big on any sports (other than cycling), but do dabble in Tri's.

Glad to see the diversity here, pretty unique I'd say.

Artmo 

Retired 9 years ago after 30 yr with a CA-based hi tech company.
Have a 37ft Sea Ray power boat which we use for cruising or just as condo at weekends.
We like to travel and have been to many countries.
Our 2 grandkids are in GA so we spend a fair amount of time on I-75/I-95.
I like reading, mostly mystery, but have also got into political stuff, tho' my current book is "The God Delusion" by R Dawkins.
I'm a board member and past president of our HOA which keeps me sufficiently frustrated.
We spend 3-4 months of each year in UK/Europe and I keep a bike in the UK, soon to be accompanied by a Trek 2000 tandem if I can figure out how to get it across the "pond."
Haven't missed working for 1 second!! I love the lazy life.

DnvrFox

+1

It is really unique. I am proud to be associated with this bunch of individuals.

Thanks for the thread.

CheeseLouise

I work at a medical device manufacturer as a Sales Associate, also known as the unknown person behind the scenes that keeps upper-management looking good and keeps them organized Well, I keep one Director, one National Sales Manager, one Specialty Sales Manager, one National Contracts Manager, and nine Regional Sales Managers organized. So I provide support to 13 Managers/Directors. I have my MOS certification (Microsoft Office Specialist).

Outside of work we have 3 birds, Bert, Greta and Ernie. We spend lots of time with our Fids (feathered kids). We spend our summers towing our 26' travel trailer to our favorite local camp grounds and camping, of course we bring the bikes with

Hmmmm....that's about it.

SaiKaiTai

Well, now, I think this is just great! So many individuals from so many places (I mean, Costa Rica, for cryin' out loud) each and all with their diverse stories and interests. And we all love our bikes.

What about me?
Unix Administrator supporting a public utility website. I, too, love reading but mostly, if I'm not riding, I've got a guitar in my hand. I play dobro and guitar in a band of local old-farts -we go back 20+ years but have only played together for 6- who get to go out & gig a couple times a month.
I see we have a fwe musicians in this bunch. good.

I'm coming up on my 24th year of marriage to the most wonderful woman who bought this bike for me (and now complains I spend too much time riding. Too much? Not enough); we are the proud "parents" of a 13 year old tortie and a 16.5 year old Golden Retriever.

Keep the stories coming

Tom Bombadil

16.5 year old Golden Retriever! Wow, that is really old for a Golden. We have a 3 year old Golden. Did some research on the average longevity for Goldens and found that it is 10-12 years. You must treat it right.

Bud Bent

I work full time in a machine shop as a maintenance technician. The software programming that used to earn such a good second income has dwindled to simple maintenance of my site.

I own a bass boat, and once fished quite a few tournaments, but seem to do more crappie fishing these days. The kids have moved out, but they are close by, and visit with the grandkids often. The two Chihuahuas are the babies at home now, and follow me about the house.

Dchiefransom

Mailman at work. Archery, fishing, and hunting occupy my other "free" time.

bobby c

Cool - I used to windsurf off of Gibson Island quite a bit, still do that over at Dewey, but not as much as most of my buddies doing this moved away or had kids...

bobby c

Funny how so many people's lives we parallel, and not just on bikes. I'm 53 and very much working fulltime, I am a partner in a small software company in the DC area. I love many watersports, especially windsurfing. I am a bit of an audiophile and have somehow managed not to spend all my money on that hobby. I also enjoy woodworking and building, my latest project was a dedicated home theater that we really love. I went to school at UW-Madison and still have friends and family there Tom, what a great place to live much of the year! So let's go Badgers and kick some Buckeye butt!

RoMad

Kayaking, travelling in our motor home. I am a project manager which can be stressful. Luckily I can take 4 weeks vacation at once to get away and see the country. Spending time with our 3 sons which has included many soccer games, track meets etc. My youngest son is 16 and he and I have made a cedar strip canoe and kayak together. Would like to start another one. Also dabble a little in rental property. Went to see Blue Man Group last night with wife of 29 years.

lighthorse

I ride 5 days a week (avg 100mi/wk) and play tennis at least three days, including two league matches, each week. Coach Jr. High School tennis. Give tennis clinics to kids one or two days each week. And ride at least one cross country each year on my motorized bike to visit grandkids. Serve on two boards of directors. We finally got out of the sailboat business after 20 years including two years living aboard. This year will include a modified TransAm tour (Oregon to Florida) on the new Burley.
We had more spare time when I was working full time. Now to get the wife to quit working so we can ride more.

will dehne

I read this thread and think, my goodness, thank God for free market system as opposed to central planning. Can anyone imagine central planning messing around with this? No wonder our central planners in government cannot get things right. It may not be possible.
The above posters have much in common. Bikes, physical activity and getting along with others for instance. That does not capture all the other folks out there. Try to imagine all that diversity and you get lost.

Big Paulie

I agree, but with one proviso...

The increasing disparity between the rich and poor in the the Western/industrialized nations will destroy us all. The great irony of our times is that the most vociferous proponants of capitalism work day and night to create monopolies! Runaway capitalism has to be stopped.

Thrifty1

Stopped by whom and replaced with what**********

DnvrFox

It won't be long until a moderator moves this thread to P&R, where it will likely belong.

Digital Gee

I miss the Diegos.

Big Paulie

I was alluding to "runaway capitalism," not merely "capitalism." Your highlight misdirects my words and changes their meaning entirely.

Runaway captialism can to be stopped by enforcing the exisiting laws which have been on the books for decades in some cases, centuries in others.

Big Paulie

"The Runaway Diegos" had to be stopped before they destroyed Bike Forums...

PaulH

I'm an aviation consultant with a midsize high technology firm. My job is to keep track of mostly military technologies developed by the firm and look for projects in civilian aerospace that could use them.

We spend two weeks each summer on a small island in New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee and make frequent trips to Ocracoke Island NC. During the winter, we ski at Mont Tremblant, in Quebec and Canaan Valley in West Virginia. We do this travel in my Cessna 172RG. I used to fly aerobatics in a YAK-52, but our partnership broke up when one member was transferred to Alaska.

I do a lot of birding and bird photography, particularly falcons and hawks. Other than that, it's reading sailing, and free diving.

I've been married for 14 years; have an 8 year old daughter.

Paul

Digital Gee

I'm going to bite my tongue. I'm not going to talk about what REALLY happened.

ollo_ollo

Retired Revenue Officer for the State of Washington, wife (of 46 years) still working for our Attorney General but plans retirement this Summer. Miss daily bike commuting but still rode 3000+ miles last year. I built our present home & am starting construction of a new one in Oregon so we can live near our oldest son & his kids. I have mixed feelings looking forward to the tumult of selling our home, moving & dealing with the local bureaucrats as it will surely impact my cycling for a year or two. On the plus side, its nice to have the opportunity to upgrade & improve my workshop and our living space. We will find a church & make new friends. Don

centexwoody 

Well, since so many of you have such interesting backgrounds and are willing to share same with us, here goes:

I'm a registered landscape architect with 19 years' teaching in a professional design college at a large state university. My cycle commute to work is 8 miles RT. I'm involved in advocacy work in our community on various task forces (parks board, hike & bike, etc.). I ride the lanes & routes that are advocated to the city council and professional staff. With our community growing like it is, there is much work to be done as annexations capture the county almost annually.

A motley collection of faculty have a Latin rock & blues band (Roca Azul) that plays locally. I get to play percussion, sing & play harmonica in the group. The music is a great excuse to gather and jam in one member's garage on a weekly basis whether we get to play gigs very often or not. Our wives & GF's form a great bunch of groupies for us.

My professional legacy is that a third of the registered landscape architects in Texas are graduates of our accredited bachelors & masters programs. And that the best work of Texas l.a.'s is documented in an archive to provide inspiration to students and other professionals. My website (https://aslatx.tamu.edu) receives an average of 5,000 'hits' a day, round the clock, from servers all over the world.

An inveterate traveler, I've been an advocate of study abroad for design students for two decades and have had the privilege of teaching overseas every coupla years since 1994. Speaking Italian (worked in Florence 1975-76 for a landscape architect) and German (worked in Bonn 1982) has allowed me to lead the students through historic gardens and cities to see how folks live without always driving their cars (). I truly love teaching and consider myself very fortunate to have found my calling and been able to stay in it this long.

This May I will defend my doctoral dissertation in historical geography on the publication of atlases in Paris, Amsterdam and London between 1475 - 1800 that documents the emergence of the capitalist world-system (see Fernand Braudel Civilization & Capitalism; Immanuel Wallerstein The Modern World-System) that originated in northern Europe. So my other great interest is old maps and I've had the privilege of working in archives around the country, pouring through huge dusty leather-bound volumes whose maps document the networks of trade before the discovery of the longitude. The whole research started when I wondered when and how, as Big Paulie seems also to worry, the capitalist view of 'land as commodity' began. The early modern European atlases tell that story...and contemporary landscape architects work within this milieu today.

Our combined household is my lovely physical therapist wife, 2 sons & a daughter with the two boys both in college next fall, the girl a freshman in high school this year. We have a 13-year-old poodle, a 10-year-old long-haired cat named Oliver who has run through at least 8 of his 9 lives, and a 10-year-old hairless Rex that lives on a heating pad in a laundry basket on the dryer and is very shy. MC & I work in the yard, ride our bikes and support our kids emotionally, financially and affectionately.

MC & I started riding our bikes regularly less than 3 years ago and this forum provides excellent inspiration to me. MC does not participate in this but does ask me questions since she assumes that the BF 'knows all'. I assure her this is true and that it justifies the time I spend on the forum (with, unfortunately, little to contribute compared to the rest of you). We'll do our first credit card touring in Germany & Holland this July when I finish teaching a course in garden history in Duesseldorf for first summer school session.

I am loved, have people to love and love my work. Many blessings for which I am daily grateful...