rpenmanparker 

Tito can fix you up. He has plenty.

RollCNY

An Elliott Spitzer joke, if anyone remembers him:

How do you slow down a prostitute? Put a Governor on her.

Doug28450

Good one.

SpeshulEd 

Bummer! We're headed to Breckenridge and Denver this year to watch the Pro Challenge. Arriving a day early in Breckenridge to watch the finish the next day and staying for the Time Trial...then into Denver to watch the rest. I need to start looking over the course map and seeing where the best spots to watch will be. We're not doing VIP though...this will be my first bike race, not really sure if the VIP is worth it or not.

Bah Humbug

Oh that's rich. I was living in Albany (ok, East Greenbush if you want to get technical) at the time all that went down. I could stick my head out the office window and see the capitol building. The radio station I listened to actually managed to get a copy of a song the lady of negotiable affection in question wrote and sang. It wasn't very good. Not terrible, though.

LAJ

Coming back nicely, @Herbie53.

These journey's are a pain in the ass, but you're right.

Heathpack 

I feel the same way. The process is as satisfying as the results.

FLvector

Coming back is like climbing a ladder, one rung at a time.

Heathpack 

That is too bad. We could've done a meet-up.

I volunteered at the Tour of California at the time trial. Part of the gig was free VIP passes. The VIP thing was pretty fun, not sure what it cost. But I'd recommend looking into it, it might be worthwhile if not too expensive. At the TOC, the VIP section was at the finish, with food & drink and seating. Kind of like a cocktail party & bike race combined.

Ramona_W

About three weeks ago, I made the move from Assembly to Produce. The biggest challenge so far is working in a department where everyone else is taller than I am. They tend to stack the boxes and plastic bins to a height that's convenient for them and the next thing I know I'm hauling down 35 pound crates from above the height of my head. Every day is a good full-body workout especially for the arms, shoulders, and back. A full box of bananas weighs 40 pounds. Each cart that slides under the display table holds four boxes. There are ten of those carts. If you're keeping score at home and if I did the math right, every day I fill up the carts means moving 1600 pounds of bananas. That's in addition to all the other cases of cantaloupe, berries, personal watermelons, apples, zucchini, etc that have to be moved onto carts, wheeled out, and unloaded. Luckily, I don't have to do all the banana carts every day and I don't have to squeegee the floors in the Produce room and cooler every day either.

Of course, our department is seriously understaffed and they schedule us in odd ways but that's true all over the store. (Awhile back, I read that caffeine is bad for you because it makes your body think there's an emergency all the time and my first thought was "Who are you to say that there isn't one?")

But I like working in Produce better than I liked Assembly because- although I love bikes- I don't love WalMart bikes. And I don't have to deal with produce that people have beat all to hell and then returned. Nobody comes in and asks if I can mark down the carrots because they arrived defective from the farm. At the same time, we're not trying to pass along possibly sketchily assembled fruit trays. Produce is a lot more honest is what I guess I'm trying to say. And I can tell other people what they're supposed to be looking for when they're thumping on a watermelon, for example, and I really enjoy being able to pass along knowledge whether it's about bikes or vegetables. Plus I wind up buying a bunch to bring home which is good.

Anyway... Just thought I'd drop in and update you. Also, wanted to say we're riding the tandem to a fairly nearby town tomorrow to spend the night in a 104 year old hotel. Oh, and Saturday night we're doing the World Naked Bike Ride in Portland. That's about it.

rjones28 

Why at night?

rjones28 

Man. I can't believe June is almost over and I haven't had more bike time.

So, time for another epic commute.

LAJ

Bike to Work Day in Colorado. Always an adventure.

Brings to mind the bar days.... It was best to stay away from the bars on Friday and Saturday nights. Amateur hour. Want the real thing? Check in on a Sunday night around midnight.

Trsnrtr

Rain has moved in here for what looks like all day. Time to clean bikes and do a little maintenance.

SpeshulEd 

I'll have to check into VIP...wonder if it comes with free alcoholic beverages?!

Heathpack 

It did at TOC. Food and drink included. There was a bar, I only had a glass of wine but there might have been a full bar, I'm not sure. Beer and wine I know were unlimited. Also continuous food when I was there around lunch time, some nice healthy options too- kale Caesar salad, some kind of quinoa side dish, grilled chicken mini-sandwiches/sliders, grilled asparagus, fresh fruit. At some point there were fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies but I missed those. Not sure what was available in the morning or how long the lunch lasted.

SpeshulEd 

Yeah, it definitely sounds like I need to investigate.

RPK79

Hah.

3alarmer 

...pictures or it didn't happen.

Ramona_W

Because naked. Although, not all of the naked bike riding that day will be taking place at night. I'm not sure if it's a new thing this year but on the actual day of that ride, there are a bunch of naked events. One I was very tempted by starts at 10am and it's a Naked Metric Century. I figured that we know people who've done metric centuries and people who've done metric centuries on tandems but I've never heard of anyone doing a metric century on a tandem while naked. Probably with good reason though I believe it was Bill Engvall who said it's nearly impossible to argue while nude. (We're not going to do it this year. Not enough time on the bike for my liking plus LoP is a bit more shy than I am. In fact, he's doing me a huge favor by riding this on the tandem with me since I've wanted to do it ever since I knew it existed but never get off my ass enough to be able to ride it solo. And last year I put in for the wrong day off.)

But usually even in Portland they try to shelter the somewhat civilized types and the children from more extreme forms of weirdness. This doesn't always work and last year, despite the ride taking place in one of the artier neighborhoods, there were plenty of complaints from parents who were concerned their child might have been traumatized by seeing upwards of 5,000 people naked on bicycles. I think if you're concerned about your child briefly seeing people unclothed and engaged in a healthy activity, you should draw the curtains and deposit your youngster back in front of their videogame so they can continue to steal, kill, and maim undisturbed. Or play Parchesi with them or go out to dinner. Or read a freaking book together. It's one night.

Ramona_W

Only official photographers are allowed to take pix at the event but I'll talk to LoP and we'll see what happens. Obviously NSFW, these are from last year's event.

BillyD

Thanks for dropping by! Always a pleasure.

Oh, and pics or it didn't happen.

Ramona_W

Definitely pix will appear from the tandem trip to Camas today.

Ramona_W

Time lapse video of puppies running for dinner. "Appalachian Spring" always a nice touch.

BillyD

Dogs are the best!