Two Bianchis?

This is yet another bike to go with my OTHER bike. Bianchi Single Speed Mountain Bike made of Easton Aluminum, with WTB Tubeless Tires/Rims, a Rock Shox 85mm Reba Fork, nice WTB hubs, Avid Mechanical Disc brakes, 180mm TruVativ Stylo Cranks. The stem and handlebars are nothing great, but the seat post and saddle were good enough to go on ebay. Swaped out for a nice light Dura Ace post and an old school Selle Italia TurboMatic saddle. Now it weighs 23 lbs.

Took this nimble little green (punishmint aka celeste) forest pixie to St Edwards state park yesterday. It rode really well. I went slow and technical, and it was a lot of fun. Couple of the steepest hills were walkers, but to be expected for a first ride.

I got it home and realized this thing was covered in stupid stupid stickers. Here is a list.

1. 4 WTB stickers on the rims
2. 2 tighten the spoke stickers on the rims
3. 1 Frame size sticker on the back of the seat post
4. 7 different stickers on the fork
5. 1 Easton sticker on the frame
6. 1 Made in Taiwan sticker on the headtube
7. 1 YOUR BIKE SUCKS chain slap sticker/guard on the frame (no need on a ss bike, not to mention the your bike sucks thing...what is up with that? Marketing fuckers trying to be cutsie rebels....Uh, not quite polo shirt wanker.)

Maybe I got it down to 22.75 with my sticker removal!

WTF?

So every once in a great while, I will read a random blog. Just curious. As a result, here is what I find:

1. Countless 14 year old girls professing to how much they love somebody....Usually pink background and some sappy music in the background. Ugh.
2. Some beaming with pride new mom showing new pics of their baby....Now mind you, they have 6 kids already.
3. Some random vacation photos of someone. No prob, I do the same.
4. A confession to live your life for Christ. Uh, those are the ones I don't get.

I hit "next blog" and read this.

My first love is for my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is the only reason I exist - to glorify his name in all I do.

As said by a policeman @ a crime scene. "Nothing to see here....Let's move along." So, next blog.

I'm a follower of Jesus...I Love the Lord

Holy fuckstick..Twice? Then, I'm saved, ha ha, I find.

CRAZY funny, fun loving cyclist! That's me!

I look at her profile. She and her husband live in Kenmore. Holy Shit. No pun intended.

Wow..It finally happened!

I the last 6-8 weeks, I've been brewing on single speeds. I got my road fix with my new Bianchi Roger. More recently, I've spend tons of time (ebay and craigslist) and effort (driving to view and demo) in an effort to determine which single speed mountain bike to purchase. Here are the criteria in order:

• High Cool Factor
• Not too expensive (around 1500 total dollars)
• Disc Brakes (hydraulic or cable)
• Decent Components (No crap that I have to replace)
• Not horrible color (To Be Defined)
• Not too heavy ( under 25 lbs)
• Front Suspension

I built this stupid spread sheet to try and help determine which bike would be the best given price and a build vs. buy decision. Frame cost, component cost estimate, components I would replace given a purchase, etc. Overall I have Good News/Bad News/Good News.

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Good News: Doing this helped me determine that basically buy vs build was gonna cost me about the same money, even if I purchased a cheaper frame, and built it out. FYI full bike options were either a Kona Unit or a Redline Monocog Flight. I was leaning towards the Redline since the Kona's top tube is a little too long for me. Going a frame and build out route, were quite honestly between a Surly and Voodoo Wanga, since both had removable canti bosses....The Surly came with a fork but was a little heavy. The Voodoo was a crappy color.

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Bad News: I didn't make any decisions....

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Good News: As I was doing my research, last night, I totally stumbled upon a retailer in California who was doing a closeout on one of my full build out model choices!!! Local bike shops wanted a 300 dollar non refundable deposit to get a bike for a brand they already stocked? That didn't seem right to me. In fact, this bike was one of my top choices, but I had decided it was too expensive. Anyhow, I ordered the bike online, and confirmed my order this AM. It will be here Tuesday.

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My friends Fabien and Michelle have mentioned a local mountain bike racing series, and I've decided this is gonna be my new race bike. Too bad I can't purchase some new race legs. Those would be very handy....maybe just some I could swap in mid race, perhaps?

Valentine's Day

Happy Billy Ray Valentine.

The Flu, the Flu, it made me blue

Caught the flu on Thursday....So I stayed home all weekend, watched TV, and ate a shitload of M&Ms both plain and peanut, of course!

Epic Ride Today

Since we moved to Kirkland, I've had some difficulty "getting" other places via the bike. I mean I don't want to climb 85th, since other people drive faster than I do, and I blast up that bastard @ 50 miles per hour. I could ride up to the 100th street bridge

So today I decided to take the new ride for a longer spin. Maybe a couple hours, maybe more. Here was how it mapped out, kinda. Kirkland - 68th/70th/Old Red Road - Downtown Redmond - Union Hill - Novelty Hill - Snoqualmie Valley Road - Woodinville-Duvall Road - 202 - 130th Ave NE - Locust Road - 522 - Burke Gilman Trail - Juanita Road.

I had a couple of "Hmm, I wonder where THIS road goes?" moments, but I knew that if I kept heading west and south, eventually I would get home. 4 hours later, I did.

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day!

3:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. 121st Trek to Gobbler's Knob for Phil's Official Prognostication! Live entertainment, music, fireworks, and fun with the Groundhog Club Inner Circle. Phil's official prediction at daybreak (approximately 7:25 a.m.). No alcoholic beverages or illegal substances are permitted on the premises. Gates open at 3:00 a.m. Dress for the weather. Courtesy of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

From: http://www.groundhog.org/info/feb2.php
Just like all these people waiting to see Puxataney Phil, I can hardly contain my excrement. Wow.