Super Sweet Ride

I don't drink coffee. I've never had a cup before and it's a good bet I never will. My morning ride is plenty to get my blood flowing and get the synapses firing. Most mornings though, there is something else that helps catapult me into the land of the living. It's the strong smell of sweet sweet powdered sugar that emanates from the Vaccaro's pastry facility on Brookville Rd. The smell is so strong, it's like I'm eating one of their cannolis while I ride. After I pass the building and cut down to the capital crescent trail the smell fades away but the cannoli stays in my head for the rest of the ride. 

Usually the mass mails going around Facebook are pretty annoying but this one is pretty cool.

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

Here is my debut album. It's sure to drop soon.

Go forth and kick the crap out of this weekend.

Personal Stimulus, Personal Quest

So the tax man was nice enough to give me some of my hard earned money back this year. Just enough to justify anther bike! (tee hee) I have been working the Giant pretty hard for the last 14 years and I think it's time for it to move to the assisted living community of bike duties... the family bike. This spring I will be installing an IBert and taking it out only for those coveted family rides. Thus giving me the most burly indestructible family bikes around.

Onward and upward. I have to decide what to replace it with. To replace the Giant, a new bike would have to excel at touring, commuting, farmer's marketing as well as the occasional off road beat down. I am leaning toward an all purpose cyclocross bike like a Surly Cross Check. However something like the Long Haul Trucker is peaking my interest as well. A bit more burly and the longer chainstays give it a longer comfort range. It doesn't have to be a Surly, I am just using them as examples. Tonight I am stopping by Silver Cycles in Silver Spring to check out a Soma Double Cross and will post a report.

Please let me know if you have an opinion of suggestions for me. I am taking this bike purchase seriously as the opportunity only comes along every 5 years or so.

UPDATE: HERE

and

UPDATE: HERE

Remembering Last Weekend

I would just like to revisit last weekend for a moment. A few really wonderful things happened that I didn't mention on Monday. First off, I got a plug from the Bike Snob of New York City for some quick photoshoppery for which I am grateful . It's a big internet out there and I need all the help I can get. 

Secondly I traded some home made Bacon Vodka for a jar of Baconnaise. 

This is a good trade where both parties prosper. Not unlike the symbiotic relationship between a Cleaner Shrimp and Moray Eel, or the Oxpecker (tee hee) and the African Buffalo, or maybe most like an alcoholic and a meatoholic.

SuperBowl Ad Winners

This is my favorite by far.

The sound of a dot matrix printer running really brings it home.

And in second place.

Coming in third, this commercial involves MCHammer so it makes the cut by default.

Finally a quick advertising grievance. I have always thought that crappy Budweiser horse commercials are as crappy as their crappy beer.

Monday OUT!