night out with some friends. Ommegang Witte and then some local absinthe.

made the mistake of trying an expensive (apparently about $100) cigar one of the guys gave me. third time smoking in my life and am now certain that tobacco and i will -never- be friends, even on a social/superficial level.....

Today, I got in a fun 26 miles, which put me at around 8,500 miles this year so far and packed for vacation.

Today I finally got around to take a listen to Passion Pit's new Gossamer album which isn't due for a couple more days; great stuff. :D

Finally hooked up my stereo again. I feel really ambivalent about all these hardwood floors right meow.

Today I got to Mercier Island.

Portland was a nightmare to drive through. Washington has way too many speed changes.

You give us WAY to much credit.

Today I shot some pictures of my bike in my backyard. Can't wait to get them developed.

I forgot to mention earlier that I had a ****ed up, bike-related dream. I was racing in Le Tour for Liquigas, and Sagan was out because he crashed into a cow on the course. Again, I was dreaming, haha. Anyhow, I was dominating. When I was almost up to the finish line, I was suddenly on a track bike of some sort, pulled a 180-hop, rode backwards no-handed while waving at the other riders, and did a Keo Spin across the finish line. My wife, Kaz, MisterKaz, and a bunch of my friends were my support team, and Eddy Merckx shook my hand. As odd as it was, it was the best dream I've had in months.

Also, I'm thinking about renting a theater and hosting a private screening of Premium Rush when it comes out.

Good stuff Bryan haha, definitely beats my recent bike dream in which I was just going in circles backwards, over and over. Heh.

Private screening sounds like fun for sure.

Waking up in pdx with my wife to one side and cat to the other, tis the way it should be.

Am running on mountain time here and the buttcrack of dawn is still an hour away...

heh, cats love to be all up in the mix. i have 3. my cat Ruckus just waits in the wings for a chance, and as soon as he sees one, he hops his ass right in between my wife and I (in bed). always wants to lay between us. he's a big baby - scared of thunder.

Today I'm excited about the Tour De Fat. It goes down every year in a park that's only half mile from my apt.
10am bike parade!! Then yo-yo performers and a psychedelic marching band and all types of fun stuff. bikes bands and beers. wheeeeee!!!

Today I'm going to the renaissance faire. (if I weren't, I'd totally be going to the tour de fat, that sounds fun, LL!) it's gonna be hot out, but we're meeting up with old friends and it will be so good to hang out with them. We all live in the same city but for some reason don't see each other nearly as often as we should. (Actually, I know one reason is one of the couples has a 3-yr old kid, which makes it hard for them to go out. He's super cute and charming though and I'm excited to hang out at the ren faire with him.)

Last year we rode our bikes to the ren faire, but this year we're driving. It's 50 miles away, one way. Just not feeling a century this time.

Have fun Kaz!
PS- I'm thinking about hitting up that alleycat next saturday. Bit nervous though, since I haven't done anything like that before. Obviously there is almost zero chance of winning but finishing would be pretty cool. Advice? Is it pretty serious stuff that I should probably not dabble in until I really HTFU?
From what I've read it seems like goodtimes, but I don't want to bite off more than I can chew.

Kaz, have fun. Eat a giant turkey leg for me.

Jason, I was supposed to have today off for Tour De Fat, but no dice there. It's usually pretty cool. As far as alleycats go, just have fun and don't do anything stupid.

Tour de Fat bike parade was fun. Just stopped back home to grab my phone and my wife. Now it's time for da beerz.

Bryan, I want to go do it for fun but I don't want to be in the way if it's more of an ultra-competitive thing. I know I won't be winning so it's not like I'm going to go balls-out running every red light no matter what and risking my neck. But I do like to haul ass and make moves - I just know when not to chance it. Especially since I won't be winning, no point in causing accidents or getting hurt/killed. Just wanna do it and have fun and survive.

But since this race starts downtown and you need to bring a bag... sounds like it could be pretty serious as far as alleycats go? Everybody's gotta start somewhere right? Just curious if this is a bad race to choose for a newb.

Are you or Kaz racing?

Our cat is really skittish and hates thunder and fireworks, have not seen her for 6 months and she has been beside herself with joy to have all her humans back together. She is not so sure about my daughters as she just met them although they are cat lovers and my oldest is the cat whisperer.

Alleycats aren't really serious business. They're supposed to be fun and competitive. As long as you either know the city you're riding in or have a map/phone with gps you'll be fine. Most of them generally require a bag to hold onto the messenger-mystique that originally surrounded the races. It's pretty normal to use the bag tho'. Sometimes you have to find something and bring it from checkpoint to checkpoint or buy something or whatever. Should be fun.

I'll be racing next weekend in Florida so we'll have some nationwide BFSSFG solidarity.

Nah, man. This won't be competitive at all. It's more for filming purposes than anything. I'll be racing. I'm pretty sure Kaz has class, but maybe when it's over she will come out. I haven't asked.

Today, I'm pulling a twelve hour day on four hours of sleep. Since I've had a cumulative total of twelve hours of sleep and 38 hours of work for the past three nights, my dyslexia is going nuts. The brain just doesn't want to work. On the bright side, I got a new phone and battery ordered, and got the keys to our new apartment.

Also, I just wore completely through my Sambas. These things are like seven months old. My Asics are damned close to that and they're barely four months old. I'm way too hard on shoes.

Hellcat Alleycat 2?

ya, you going?

Sadly no, I was planning on it but I am still recovering from an accident and have to work. However, a lot of people from my Wednesday night ride will be there heading up there, look for a fast dude on a full carbon Felt Footprint.

Today I rode my caad9... every time I ride it I never want to touch my fixed gear ever again.

Today I found at silver Thomson top cap at work. Put it on my 722 and it just didn't look right with the black cockpit. Got bummed and put it back.

Cool story, right?

incredible story^

alternate ending:

"so i decided to order parts for a new silver cockpit"