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I am Pete Ryan, you may have heard of me...No? Did you find something with peteryan.com labeled on it? I would really like to have it back and there may be a reward! pete at peteryan dot com
This is my little spot on the web where I spew words either every day or a few times a year. Who knows.
4.30.2006
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Weekend Update without Norm McDonald
Friday: Not much. Over to Mr. Rick James' place, watched The Collective and had a bike jumping contest. Your favorite biker won after easily clearing an empty milk jug. Then went home so I could get some stuff done before the Bike Expo at Freewheel Bike.
Saturday: I was representing MORC signing up new members and getting renewals. Met a bunch of cool bikey type people and won a Freewheel pint glass. I also got to bs with Gary Fisher, the Godfather of MTB'ing. He is a pretty cool guy, I also got his autograph on one of his stickers.
I also picked up my Twin Six Team Kit from Brent and Ryan who were nice enough to meet me at Freewheel to make the switch. In the kit is 2 jerseys, 2 bottles, 2 t-shirts, 2 pairs of socks, 2 sets of coasters, 2 patches, stickers, 1 hat, and a poster. All sweet, sweet stuff. Buy some, you need it.
Sunday: Hit the gym, didn't see any of the usual suspects. There was this one guy who looked like Tony Little circa 1993 admiring his legs in the mirror for about 10 minutes. The thing is, the guy's upper body is big, he has obviously spent an obscene amount of time on his chest and arms. But...his legs are tiny. There is nothing to his legs. I have rather large legs but my calf is usually not quite as large as any man's quad. My calf must have had 3 inches on this guys quad. Time to start working on those legs Tony! Since I was at the gym I was also able to weigh myself. 225 -> 219.
Bikey: Poop. Stupid rain, when will you be done so I can get out on the dirt again? Hit The Forum to see when and where we are riding. Or just to hang out when you are bored and bs with us.
MikeyB and I went on a nice little roll from my place down to the river on the east side of the trail. About a week ago this trail had ducks swimming across it. I saw a few bikers coming out of the trail head and asked if it was open. One guy said the North side was pretty good but the South side was muddy in the usual spot. I figured it was still muddy over there. It is until June usually. The river was still pretty high but the trail was in decent shape. There was one spot about 20 meters long that still had some standing water but it was passable in the grass.
We rode down the trail, there was tree shit all over and the trail wasn't in the best share. Both Mikey and I found a nice little rut that helped us test our dismounts. On the way out of the bottoms this way you hit The Murderhorn. This is the loose gravel, rutted out, 22 degree incline out of the river bottoms. She eats men for breakfast and spits them out. I was lucky enough to climb the whole way outta the sucker but she bit MikeyB in the ass at about 80% of the climb. He hiked-a-bike for a few meters and then hopped back on. We rode out and I asked him if he wanted to hit the other down/up through the Bass Ponds and up Old Cedar.
Mike said no. Repeatedly. I couldn't convince him to ride that extra 3 miles or climb Old Cedar. Eh, I will get him next time. ;)
After I got home, I showered the dirt and gnat speckles off me and made me a sandwich and drank a beer. Then I decided to put the new meats on the wheels. See below for the Kenda Karma details.
Distance: Today: 25.90km (16.09mi) April: 368.95km (229.25mi) Year to date: 445.63km (276.90mi)
On Test:Kenda Karma DTC 26" x 2.0 Black Kevlar Price: MSRP $44.99 per tire. Company HQ: Reynoldsburg, OH Made in: Taiwan First Impression: Light. Way lighter than the Specialized Team meats I had on there before. Took it for a quick 2km spin around the block and a little off-roading too. These suckers accelerate FAST. They stick in the corners nicely. The low tread pattern has me a little worried but I think it might be for the best. They roll fast! Plus Jay says they are one of the best trail tires around. Who am I to argue?
Today began like any other day, got up, took a shower, got dressed, grabbed the tablet PC and out the door. God what a beautiful day though, I wanted to turn around, call in sick and take the bike out. But instead I went to work.
I get to work and there isn't a damn spot left in any of the main lots. Too the back lot. Nothing. I get stuck in the corner today. It is nice out, I can walk. My walk literally takes 11 minutes to get from my car to my desk, that's a 0.62 of a mile walk. I am sure that there are plenty of you out there that walk farther than me to work every day. I work for a big company with tons of room to open a parking ramp or two. Our profits are good, our market cap is high, how about some fucking parking around here! And more bike racks! They were full, again today. Wait until bike to work week.
So I get to my desk, sit down, unpack my tablet, and reach into the bag for breakfast. Poop. Forgot breakfast. Well I guess now would be a good time to head upstairs to grab a yogurt or something. On my way up I notice a few kids with their parents. No. It..It can't. How did I not know?
Bring your little brat to work day. Son-of-a-bitch. My day is now shot.
I get to the cafeteria and there are kids freakin' everywhere. For some reason this is the most stressful day of the year for me. It is impossible for you to go anywhere because these little cracker eaters are always bumping into you, the parents never watch their kids. GET A LEASH! My day is shot and it isn't even 11am. I just want to leave.
Today is the best birth control, I really don't like too many peoples kids. There are about 10 I like, total. I hope I will like my own kids someday. :)
Kate has a good post over at her blog about the Vikes lead in song. She suggests “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin. I have to agree with her about this one but I can't get this outta my mind. Maybe the will put one of those kittens on the new jersey. Those suckers look mean.
#1: Only 1000 days left in with the dummy in office.
#2: Since we were such wusses yesterday we decided to make some of it up today. Did the smaller Lakeville/Farmtown loop twice with MikeyB. It was a beautiful night but a little chilly. I had to break out the long sleeve t-shirt, I was iffy on it at the start but by the end I was happy I had it. It got a little chilly once old Sol started to dip down behind the trees. We cruised the first lap and the first half of the 2nd lap.
Then we started to bonk a little. That damn wind on the first lap killed us, we need a little caloric pick-me-up. We hit the SA off 50 and picked up a little food. Back on the bikes in no time. We pushed it a little to get home before it got too cold. MikeyB was ready to cut glass by the time we got back. MikeyB's neighbor gave us some info about the Cannon Valley Trail. Looks pretty cool except the website uses Comic Sans. Puke! Looks like a nice little trail, 31.7km(19.7mi) in one direction between Cannon Falls and Red Wing. Post up to the Forum if you want to ride it sometime.
We were not prepared for the weather. We have gotten weak. This easy spring has made us into wusses. After all the 60's, 70's, and 80's we got some 30's, 40's, and 50's. I think we would have been fine without the wind but man, I should have pulled out the tights and the full finger gloves for the ride. I was damn chilly. Everyone was damn chilly. We decided to make this a very short ride. 6.76km. We are wussy boys. James, MikeyB, and myself are all wussy. Since we were riding like little girls and I didn't get any pictures, enjoy a picture from the 17th.
Tomorrow is another day and it looks to be beautiful. My leg feels great, almost like it was never crushed by a car's bumper less than a week ago. I can't wait to roll tomorrow. With a decent ride tomorrow I will be over 300km/200mi for the month. Looks like I will be getting in some more test products in the next few weeks. Watch for the reviews over the next month or so. The End.
Weather Stats: 44°F, Wind Speed 17mph, max24mph.
Bike Stats: Today: 6.76km April: 294.67km (183.10mi) Year to date: 371.35km (230.75mi)
Linky3: Gas Map - Go prices go! Puma v. Adidas - Brothers, I had no idea. Geek Squad Sued - They always used unlicensed software when I was there...
Anne and Fredo were in town for the weekend and what a beautiful weekend it was. We went for a ride Saturday along the MPLS side of the River Road via LRT. FYI, if you take this route and decide to stop in for a tasty treat at the Dairy Queen near Minnehaha Falls, the don't take plastic. Cash is what they will need and I am not talking Johnny. So we hit the BK Lounge and had some burger goodness. Anne felt pretty bad about eating at the BK, like somehow she was betraying Culvers. We shot down to the 50th street station and hopped back on the LRT to MOA.
While riding back Anne was in a mood to learn how to get up curbs on the bike. She had mini wheelies down but curbs were still a little tricky for her. She tried a curb with an uphill after it and didn't do so hot with it. We found a better place to practice and she got up right away. Next, bunny hops, then tail whips. She'll get it.
After Anne left I had some sushi for dinner and then watched The Hard Road. After that I went for a quick MTB sprint up a hill and around The Mall. It was around 8k total. I felt like shit because of that damn hill right off the bat and I hit the sucker at about 20mph and finished at the top around 13mph. My lungs hated me, the legs felt great. Stupid lungs.
I need a road bike, I like the road. But......I can't wait for T.O. and the river bottoms to open.
Bike Stats: Saturday: 33.8km Sunday: 8km April: 287.91km (178.90mi) Year to date: 364.59km (226.55mi)
Ahh, I found a way to keep my leg cold and drive away that last little bit of pain. I have to tell you, These Molson products. Molson Canadian, Molson Ice, and the King, Molson XXX. Let's take a closer look. Molson Canadian: 5.0% alc. /vol. Molson Ice: 5.6% alc. /vol. Molson XXX: 7.3% alc. /vol.
Damn, that is some strong beer. With the XXX after one I can feel it, and as most people can attest, I am no lightweight. The Ice is a pretty good beer too. I really do like it. I usually stick to the Molson Canadian, 12 bottles for $9.99. Not bad, great twin labels too. I pioneered this been within my group of friends and I have seen each one of them overjoyed with the labels and a darn good beer. Except for the Andy's, one doesn't drink and the other is a girl drink drunk. :) Here is my favorite Molson Canadian commercial:
Anyway I am still a little sore about cars. I have always had a little issue with cars. (Sorry a H3 commercial was on and I had to flip off the TV. Big pile of shit) Now with gas prices going up again I am starting to evaluate my car needs. Anne and I have been talking about looking at houses in the Lake Nokomis area. We are still a while off, I have my apartment until fall and it is pretty cheap. The Nokomis area would place us near LRT, Downtown, closer to where Anne wants to go to school more, and closer to work for me. Easily a biking distance. I guess we will see this fall and how much our parents want to toss in but I think we have a good handle on the situation, even if it is just me with a job. Mom, Dad, wanna toss some cash toward a down payment? I think we will be close to 20% depending on the house. ;)
Back to my feelings about cars. I know we need them, I need one. But do we really need to use them so much? Do you really need to use the car to go 3 miles to the store? Can't you use a bike and panniers? Anyway, enjoy Hitler in the car.
No Riding today, haven't been able to get to the gym to weigh myself but I know I am under 225 for sure. I will update when I get to the gym.
p.s. for some reason I have quadurpled my stats in the last few days. What is with you people.
p.p.s. for some other reason if you still search for lifetime fitness sucks on google I am your #1 link.
p.p.p.s. 10 of you readers a week search for lifetime fitness sucks. For the record, I like Life Time Fitness. Even though they raised my rates again, during the most beautiful week in spring. Note to Life Time: Raise rates in November! Not April! Less people will quit because of it!
Check out: WaPo's article on Iraq spending. I am sure glad we aren't using this cash to fund schools, the space program, or Bush's Oil Independence Plan. Health insurance for all kids? Fuck it! I want to blow shit up! Listen, I know Saddam was an asshole, but why did we go to war with fake intelligence? Why are we still there? Really, the place isn't on the brink of civil war? Right.
Wow! We are cleaning house now! Card, gone. PresSec, gone. Whew. The house is clean now. I am sick of this guys crap. Impeach both him and the puppeteer.
4.19.2006
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Smacked by a car, and he is to blame...
News Flash: I got hit by a car today... Read more to find out the details...
MikeyB and I decided to do a little Tour de Bloomington this evening. We set out on our 33km tour, I didn't think there were too many hills along this route, I never have ridden this route before but wanted to check it out. There were hills and we added another one because I wanted to see how the river bottom trail was. Wet. The river is about 3 meters higher than it is a good portion of the time.
The hill was pretty gradual on the way down but it was pretty long. Up sucked. Up hills always sucks. We made it as we always do, only girls walk their bikes. ;) Then we found more up hills, who knew that all the way from Lyndale to Normandale was all up hill?
We swing down Normandale to near 494, we gotta pee, we hit the Holiday Gas station and take a leak. Mikey grabs a powerbar or two and we swing through the parking lots. We ran into my boy Justin when we were biking past Major's, he was outside having a smoke. I know Justin from the old Geek Squad days, back when the weren't shitty and owned by Best Buy. Told me his wifey is pregnant, congrats to Justin and Stacy.
On we go, we head back East towards MOA and Ikea. We find Lyndale and decide to hit The Castle. mmm...Sliders. We eat the burgers and head out toward 90th. We didn't get to far. About a block or so.
Stop. Stop. Stop! Christ! Ow, my fucking shin. It is dark out, we are on the side walk heading North. Car turning right from 94th onto Lyndale. We have the green, he has the red. I start to cross, he starts to pull out. I don't remember all the details but I remember my shin grinding across his front bumper and I am pretty sure that there is skin on his bumper. I feel okay, my shin has a sweet little bump on er. See the pictures to the right.
I am pretty sure the older guy that hit me was a little shook up. I kinda feel bad about it. But he did turn on red. I have gotten a ticket for turning on right.(side note - it was a bullshit ticket from a U of M rent-a-cop, the sign was like 10 meters from the intersection and there wasn't one across the street! Come on!) The older man, Jim, kept saying, "I hate those right turn on reds."
I was actually more concerned about my bike. My sister can attest to my ability to freak out about my shit being broken instead of me(I may or may not have lodged a 3-wheeler sideways under the rear bumper of a truck maybe while getting the mail, ask to see the road rash on my arm). There is a nice rub mark on my new fork and my rear wheel was pulled out a little. I tossed it up in the stand when I got home and checked it out quickly before hopping in the shower. It should be alright but this is the second time I have been hit on that bike. Go steel bikes! Don't worry, the Banjo Brothers bag is fine also and held all my shit tight.
I hop in the shower to wipe the blood, skin, and dirt off. I decide to shave around the wounds to keep that crap outta there when I am picking at the scabs in a few days. My left leg looks like The 40 Year Old Virgin's chest after the waxing. Feels alright now and I am typing this with a frozen bag of mixed veggies on it, but I guess we will see how she feels tomorrow. I am guessing no softball. :(
Stats: Moving Time: 1:52:00 Distance: 33km(20.5mi) Moving Speed: 17.7km/h(11.0mph) avg. - 45.38km/h(28.2mph) max. Elevation Gain: +391m(+1,281ft)/-387m(-1,271ft) Max Grade: 23.9° Temperature: 16.1°C(61°F) Wind Speed: SE 11.5knots(13.2mph) avg. - SE 13knots(15mph) max.
I guess my blog is worth $2,258.16. Wanna buy it? I take PayPal, Visa, MC, and Cash. I also make some cash with Google AdSense and my 1and1.com referals. I figure $5000-10,000 should cover everything. Seriously though, I checked how much my blog was worth a while back and all I got was a big $0.00. So I guess I went up in value.
Have a good day.
Linky3: Pete Ryan - Not me but pretty neat. MN Bike Links - Poorly designed but good info. Got Wood? - Get your shit fixed here.
What a fricken ride. It was going to be me and MikeyB but he bailed at the last minute because of the rain. I had my shit all set to go so I decided to try for 9 quick miles. I figured that should take me about an hour.
I ate more mosquito and gnat offspring that I ever have before. I immediately realized that I should have put some glasses on also, I will be digging bugs outta my eyes for a week. I was really pushing it hard because of the impending rain.
Three of the big hills on this short route, I have never done all three in one day. Usually only 1 or 2. I was feeling good today and I wasn't going to let these climbs get me. I didn't walk one inch. Two of them were tar, crappy tar, and the third was loose gravel with ruts from top to bottom cris-crossing the trail. Never hit the granny gear either, not even in the granny ring on the bike. All in second baby.
The rain was just sprinkling when I got back and I wanted to puke. I just didn't want to get soaked with rain so that last hill I passed a roadie going up the hill. I am pretty sure he was just doing the hill over and over. He was on a beautiful 80-something Trek. I wouldn't mind having one of those.
The wind and hills felt like hell, a cool windy hell where only my legs burn. Especially right off the go. The legs were needing some help and I didn't have anything for them. James, Corey, MikeyB, Kris, and I were rolling today. Good showing! That first 7 miles don't look like much, but good god that headwind was a bitch. I don't remember that downhill though. I do remember that long uphill from 9 to 15 miles.
James and I took off on the last 6 miles and pushed it a little harder. We didn't really mean to, we just looked back and everyone was dropped. Sorry, we were just doing a bunch of talking and climbing. :(
There was a roadie on a bright bike ahead and he saw us coming up quick and took off about 500 meter ahead of us. Somebody said some crap to James and I, I missed it but James wanted to catch up with him and chew him out. He hit a red light about 2 kilometers up Cedar Ave.
We pushed it hard but the light turned green and he was gone. We hit the light and looked left. The roadie was just pulling up. We toasted him when we were trying to catch that car. Poor sucker, I am sure he did like 100km that day but what a blow, you get overtaken by a soccer player and a fat boy both on mountian bikes with buzzing tires on the pavement. Made me feel good though.
In other news, Easter was good, I am glad we got to see the nephew, he was having a great time. I was tossing around and all he could say was more and up. He is getting big and heavy. His second birthday is coming up quick, what the hell do you get a 2 year old? Easter was also his grandpa(my dad)'s birthday. He only has 50 years on Derek. :) My sister was sick so Derek came with grandpa, and he is a darn good kid so far. I think my sister lucked out.
I have a sports filled week coming up, today was bikey, tomorrow is basketball and more bikey, Wednesday is bikey if it is nice out, else gym, Thursday is softball practice, and Friday is Anne in town so maybe a nice little bike ride. I love the busy season. :)
Ride Stats: Moving Time: 1:32:07 - 4:39 pace Distance: 32km (20 Miles) Moving Speed: 12.9mph avg. 31.7mph max. Elevation Gain: +775 / -794 Temperature: 59.5°F avg. - 66.2°F high Wind Speed: ESE 9.0 avg. - ESE 12.7 max
Monday: Frickin' beautiful out, the boss at work wants to leave a little early and grab some beers on the patio at Jake's in Eagan. Who can say no to a beer when you are suppose to be working? Here is the thing though, I am suppose to ride with the guys tonight. Okay, I will just have a couple of lighter beers and drink some water and I will be fine. First beer went down easy, mmm. Beer 2, sweet. Now water, water, water. OH SHIT! Forgot to eat first...feeling buzzed...oh shit, the wind is picking up...this is going to suck.
Get to Eric's, unload the bike, get set. Eric takes us on a tour of Lakeville's hills, into the wind the whole way of course. I am eating shit the whole way. I stayed with the group the whole way but wanted to puke and my legs were dead after like 200 meters. We did about 15k(9 miles) in what seemed to be about 4 minutes, I am guessing it was closer to 45 mins. This was the first time this spring I was thinking about walking the bike up a hill. That f'ing wind. Oh, how I hate it. When we got back to Eric's I was still eating shit, luckily for us Dosdall has arrived and the pizza was not to far behind. I will take my $5 Domino's one topper and eat the majority of that. Before the pizza man rolled up we had to play a little bocce and football because it was too damn nice to just sit on our asses inside.
Tuesday: I didn't do shit. Thank god.
Wednesday: MikeyB, Kris, and I did a little trip around AV/Lakeville/B'Ville. Another great day and we put on 300 meters(1000ft) of climbing and around 25k(15.5miles) on the bikes. See the route to the right. We had to bike up to the Eric's on 42 to get Kris' crank fixed. I must say, even though they were pretty busy the fixed in on the spot and only charged him for the replacement crank arm, nothing for the quick install. They did leave a poop load of grease on his bike but that is the price you pay when you let a wrench touch your bike.
All in all it has been a good bikey week. 40k, can't complain.
Over 65 miles since Tuesday. Rode with Kris, Mikey, and Aimee(seen at left) today and we put on 18+ miles in addition to the 22+ we put on yesterday. Sounds like we are going out again tomorrow. I am guessing we will have hit 80 by the end of the day tomorrow. All on roads and bike paths, all on the MTBs. It is so much more fun riding with people then going alone. Last summer I rode a ton alone, it was nice some of the time, but I always wanted a few people to go with me. As soon as the river bottoms dry up I will be down there riding like crazy.
Test Item! Banjo Brothers Small 40 Cubic Inch Seat Bag. Price: $9.99 (Got it on sale for $7.49+tax @ Penn Cycle) Company HQ: MPLS, MN Made in: China First Impression: Looks good, works well. Test Time So Far: 1 Week. Distance: ~80 Miles Detail: I have been using it on my Specialized MTB(see image on right). It has been holding my tool pack(fat old Park Tool), billfold(pretty thin), and my mobile phone(RAZR). It is a tight fit but works pretty darn well. I was a little concerned about how it opened(zips from the top, around the bottom and up to the other side top. I thought my stuff might fall out but it hasn't so far, even when the bike has been laying down. The only issue I had with it was on the Light Rail when it was in the rack and I needed to get something out. I just had to be a little more careful. While riding it was silent, it didn't bounce around and the zipper didn't ever move. So far it is a great, nice little bag. Watch for more soon.
Anne did! That Dukes of Hazzard colored Fisher is it. And she loves it. We added a matching orange bottle cage when I was in Madison, no streamers though. She was able to pull a wheelie on her first attempt. Go Anne. Now she wants Egg Beater pedals, she clipped right into mine. I couldn't do that on my first 5 attempts.
Me and some of the PL Boys went for a ride Tuesday and then again Wednesday. 7 miles on Tuesday and Wednesday MikeyB, Rundell, and myself went out again. It was very nice out so we did almost 18 miles. Here is our route on the MTBs: G-map MikeyB was on his Trek, I had the Specialized, and Rundell was on his Target Bike That Cost as Much as it Weighs(BTCAMAIW for short(er)). Rundell had some bike issues within the first mile and had to curbstomp his wheel back strait. We rolled over to James' place and I proceded to hand tighten the 5/8ths inch nut on the back and then secured it with the box end wrench. We then proceded to B'ville, Rundell was working damn hard on his BTCAMAIW. He made it with us for about 6 miles. He rode another 3 back home. MikeyB and I pressed on to Corey's. It was a pretty easy ride there, mostly downhill with the wind at our backs.
We met Corey just as he was pulling in and we were leaving. He let us come up and MikeyB take a leak. His bike was in pieces scattered across the apartment. He needs to fixer up by next weeks ride. We decided to get back on the road so it isn't too dark when we get back. The first half of the ride back was pretty much all uphill and into the wind. Needless to say both MikeyB and I started to bonk. My legs felt good but I had no energy, I needed food. We got back and I was hungry and MikeyB needs to get a better seat, his sit bones(ass) were hurting him. Sounds like we might be going again this weekend if it is nice, downtown here we come. If you want to ride along, check the rides part of the forum.
So everyone has told me I seem angry in the last few posts. I guess I just have been posting some of my bad experiences. 99% of my days are positive or neutral, you just get to hear about the 1% sometimes. So cowboy up, and don't worry about it.
