WELL SAID.

I've been ultra-busy this week and highly focused. I'm at a loss for being creative on my blog this week so I looked (during a quick lunch break) for creativity from others and was not let down. My man Joel Gwadz has once again come through with a GEM worth reading...

"Obama wins? the world wins!
Bush did fail... our country lost... the world lost"
BRAVO JOEL.

WELL SAID.

Moments Captured

Instead of my rattling off a bunch of colorful words, I figured I'd post a few photos instead.

First a few shots taken by Homme Dave Jewett while I was filming a cheeky fellow named Addison. He may be the host of a new Nat Geo show but to get there one has to have a solid 'pitch tape' which is what we worked on. Fun time to be on U Street for sure...









The potential host...



This was the big day - here we are about to depart from mi casa - ready for a cold day on the move.

It was fun having free reign of the road and a bit surreal not seeing many cars on the typically congested streets.

When we got close to the Mall the energy level picked up...

We ran into 2 cold popsicles otherwise known as Anna and Jeff. They pedaled from FREDERICK at 3am and were just headed back. It's a 3 hour commute EACH WAY. Talk about core. I got cold just looking at them.


This kid cracked me up.

The Helo "Drivers" (in Bush-speak) were having a blast buzzing the monuments and pulling G's.

Every now and then you'd see a sniper pop up from his perch and scope out the crowd.

So here we are riding along when the masses burst through the bus lines and we literally got swept up in a river of people...

Where's Waldo? Can you see Dave?




It was fun tho, the energy was positive (for the most part, I did get some shoves for having my bike in the mess) and we soaked up the heat.





We found a Sbarro pizza shop that wasn't inundated and scored some hot, fresh pizza. Oh that was nice...

Check out this dude's hair...

We figured the parade was long over so we ducked into J Pauls in Georgetown and found the patrons going nuts watching the parade just getting started. We downed a Dogfish Head then rode back to the Whitehouse to catch the finish. I think the best part of the day was in that bar seeing so many people stoked about Obama.

Eyes were watching everywhere...

I thought this interesting - promoting Veganism by wasting trees...

Out of nearly 2 million people downtown I have no idea how we ran into our friends Olshongs, CB and the gang but that meant a stop at another bar!


And then a cold-ass ride home.

No Time

after having home boy DJ in the house all week I'm slammed with trying to catch up. I've had a few people e-mail me asking for more 'pole' photos so here's a couple till I get a story put together. Just imagine as people walked by and looked on in horror, hearing a muffled "Oh...Bahhhh....Muh....." coming from me...

I continued my victory chant (as I had heard all morning) and grew louder...
"OHHH....BAHHHH....MUHHHHH!"


The chanting turned to a "HEWP, HEWP ME..."

I tried my best but no one stopped to offer help. Probably because the photographer 15' away was laughing so hard he almost pissed himself...


And a personal favorite from the day...

Day 1

Full report on today's experiences maybe tomorrow morning. I'm a bit cold from being on the bike the last 6 hours. Amazing day to live in DC. Absolutely amazing. Time for pasta and some vino. Oh, and a quick photo from today. Home boy Dave Jewett made the amusing observation that strawberry powerbars look very similar to a real tongue...

It's Cold.

I just got back from our Wednesday Night Ride and while I might sound like an idiot for stating the obvious (brain is still frozen) - it's damn cold out. My lips are frozen. I felt a significant drop in my aerobic capacity after the half-way bourbon-break. Olsen brought 1729 and I my trusty Knob. 2 hits of each and I felt it. I also slung my leg over the bike seat at one point early on and straight into a tree. Top 5 worst charlie-horses ever. My nostrils froze together (shut) on the last downhill.

But I'm home and thankful the heat didn't shut off like it did last night. I'm home and hobbling around my little house. I'm home and got a hot meal in me. I'm home and about to ride the flannel sheet express to la-la-land.

I'd like to say something core like "Long Live Cold Rides" but truth is I'm just happy to be home.
Big thanks to the hearty boys of Gripped Racing - Olsen, Matt and Iggy who joined me. I wonder if they've thawed out yet.

One Final Word

from our beloved President Bush who exits his presidency, the worst rated in American history, defending the federal response to Hurricane Katrina.

That's perfect. Thank you Sir, for not seeing what a massive and gigantic TURD you are. Now please step aside Mr. Puppet and let a real man lead our country.

Getting The Bugs Out

Winter rides are for getting all the ghosts out of the machine - hopefully for the season. Yesterday was one of those days. After receiving some bum info on the trail conditions at Gambril I drove 45min up to the Frederick Watershed only to find it completely caked in ice. I guess Poz parked at the bottom of the mountain where the trails looked rideable, he texted me before departing up the hill. Karma gave him a busted up elbow.

Matt and I arrived, looked at each other like "WTF was Poz thinking" having noticed no Poz-mobile in sight. We got suited up anyway and Matt gave it a shot. I was taking photos of the ice when I heard 2 crashes. Both Matt. Game over in the shed.


We drove back down the icy roads, got caught behind a tow truck pulling a car out of the woods. I would venture to guess the hispanic guys driving had not so much as seen ice like this let alone driven on it. They had sailed about 60' into the woods and their car was taco'd around a tree. I think the tree was ok tho. This took 30 minutes then we pressed on towards Matt's house in Ashburn/Leesburg. Amidst the sprawl Matt has carved a nice trail along Goose and Broad creeks. It's a simple out and back but once we got to the furthest point of the ride and switched bikes (we were testing out the 2009 Scalpel and Rize)

Matt got his derailleur caught in a vine and with a violent SNAP! his ride was over.

He tried to rig it as a single speed. It didn't work so well.

Luckily for Matt the bike was very light and made for easy carrying.

Hope your weekend had less bugs.