yep

If you are one of the very small number that actually looks at that little MyCyclingLog widget I have over on the right column of my blog you probably noticed I went for a bike ride today. Yep! All 17 miles of the pavement from my house over to the Nashville Bicycle Lounge and back, and it was awesome. First ride after our little one was born. Surprisingly my legs knew what to do when clipped in, even while wearing my new snazzy shoes. The Lounge was awesome as usual and was a good hang with Dan, Fred & Rick in attendance. I even got rained on a little on the way home, but only while trudging up the last hill.

It was nice....

Cleaning House

It's been a long few weeks. But we should be out of the "3 weeks of hell" portion and moving forward to a more civilized lifestyle. Those who know what I'm talking about, know what I'm talking about.

I've been fortunate that things I've tried to sell in the past finally sold this week and things I decided to sell this week sold this week. It's been a good "clean house" for me in bike part form. I sold my old bass guitar cabinet to a good friend on NMB. I decided that my wheelset from my old Ventana was too nice for a polo bike and put them up for sale and sold to another person on NMB. I am still in my search for the perfect new cycling shoe so I had to sell off a recent pair that were just a little too big. I had to resort to Ebay for that sale but the guy who bought them seems extra excited. Odd part of the whole thing is when my parents were just here my Mom gave with an envelope full of cash for me. A present? Kind of, yet it in the end if was my money, just money that's been sitting in two different banks for over a decade untouched. What's someone to do with an influx of expected money added to some reclaimed bike part money? Buy more bike parts I say!

I've got a big purchase on the brain and hopefully in the works. When I ordered my Quiring singlespeed I had plans of mating it with the then-brand-new 2009 Rock Shox Reba fork. I even used it's fork offset and sag axle-to-crown measurements in the design of my bike. I did not have enough money at the time to get the new bike and new fork so I ordered the bike with a rigid fork. Riding fully rigid was something I wanted to try again anyhow so that's what I've been doing for the past year and a half. I will say that I have enjoyed it much more than I anticipated. Though the thought of finally getting the elusive Reba I've had my eye on for so long is tantalizing.

Sure I could of settled and used a different, less expensive fork in the meantime but that would not work. The Reba now has the option of using a 20mm thru axle to stiffin up the front wheel. I wanted to try this and still do. So I have Fred over at Harpeth Bikes on the search for the fork I want with all the bells and whistles.... namely: 29er, 80mm, Reba, remote lock-out, 20mm Maxle lite. This fork doesn't exist in the online retail world. I know because I've looked everywhere in the past couple weeks. All those options are available but apparently no one wants them in one fork but me. I hope Fred can find me a hook up, and it's relatively affordable for a someone in my shoes. I've only found it the way I want on Ebay and the auctions were already over. I'll tantalize you with what the fork could look like. :)

In the meantime I've made a list of all the new parts I'll need with this new fork:
• Reba fork (duh)
• post mount 185mm Avid brake adapter
• Hope 20mm end caps for my front hub

This weekend was also the REI anniversary sale. I've been on the search for what to use for my "man diaper bag" and got the great idea to use a messenger bag from Chris H., fellow cyclist Dad. I thought, what a great excuse to get a cool new messenger bag! My current Chrome bag wouldn't work well with its upper-back-hugging-design so I was thinking Timbuk2. I figured I didn't want to spend good money and end up with another medium size messenger bag similar to my Chrome bag. Then after my "man diaper bag" use was over, I'd have to very similar bags. My first thought was to get a size large bag so I headed down to REI last week to check the bags out in person. The medium is quite roomy. They didn't have a large but after wearing the medium, the large would be huge and totally overkill but the intended use. Then I spotted this new bag called the Bullitt. It's a pannier with a shoulder strap like a messenger bag, or it's a messenger bag with hooks on the back to attach it to a rack like a pannier bag. I think it can be a really cool new addition to my commuting arsenal. With Father's Day coming up Beth wanted to get me this and the next day I got the flier for the anniversary sale! Clearly it was karma. I headed down early Friday morning when REI opened to make sure no one snaked the only 2 bags they had before me.

All Timuk2 bags and accessories were on sale so I picked up a great shoulder strap pad too. I had a 20% off coupon for any regular priced item so I also picked up a small head mounted light; something I've had my eye on for years. I figured it will be very helpful to zip tie to my helmet for urban rides (in flash mode) or map reading for rides like Kanza, should I do something like that again.

So sorry about the lack of posts lately and then the random posts but for a blog mainly about cycling, I haven't been doing much of that recently. Hopefully I'll be able to get more riding in my schedule soon.

Riding? no! Busy? yea!

Time is just flying by. Beth and I have been back in Nashville since the second week of Feb or so and have no out of town plans for months. It's a strange feeling. Right now it's great because we're excited to be able to participate in all the social activities being planned. I have a feeling that we'll get stir crazy though pretty soon...though our lives are changing in a couple months also, so free time will be a rare commodity.

It's strange, my calendar has been full since the day we got back from NYC. Awesome and amazing. I've worked 9 days at home too editing Radio liners for CRS week. It was fun to be able to do a lot of work at home and it also prompted me to re-evaluate my home-studio/office setup and do some rearranging.

New office setup, much better feng shui

Thankfully with all the recent studio work I was still able to schedule in some friend time and got to get out for a friend's birthday and also get to the Ride For Reading Work Day (Party) at their new headquarters. A big crew came out to help Mathew get his new building finished up. I bet we had 20 or more people come to help out. There was lots to do but we soldiered through and got a ton of it done. We got concrete walls cleared off and sealed, studs de-nailed, floors cleaned, electrical sussed out, lights installed, drop ceilings removed, drywall hung and even got started mudding the drywall. All the while we also had time to of course have fun, and eat some awesome lunch that was generously provided by Mathew's neighbor Cafe Coco Italian Kitchen.

I brought my still camera and my new Flip camera but didn't manage to shoot too much footage. I kept thinking I'd grab the camera later, but never did and I was a bit apprehensive about protecting it from harm in the commotion. Here are a few of the images I did get and a short movie of a walkthrough during the day.

The Man, Mathew Portell, doing the work himself!

Dan & Rick scraping off the residual wood paneling

Grant managed to get some solid work done, amidst his many fans calling him.

Rick found his way into some high places

Have You Seen Me?

Last seen before the Ice Age.....



eagerly awaiting the thaw....

Happy New Year!

Never did make it back here to share our trip to Utah. It was a lot of fun, I got to know Beth's family better, found out about some great new beers, did some awesome skiing, and broke my ski boots that were 15 years old. I posted up my photos from the trip on my Flickr page HERE so you can live vicariously through them if you want. The weather was colder overall this year but unfortunately I still was not able to experience the true, amazing, second-to-none dry powder skiing that Utah is known for. But of course I still managed to have a great time on the slopes! I hung out with Beth's sister, her step-dad and his brother's family on the slopes almost the entire first day. It was really fun to watch them pick up skiing and get better and better each run they took. It's tough to learn to ski the older you keep and I have a lot of respect for Beth's stepdad and his brother for trying it over 50, and not getting so frustrated they gave up. I was fortunate to learn when I was young around 4th grade but I've witnessed many an adult try to learn and give up. It's tough!

After Utah we got back to town and only had 3 days to get all our stuff organized and packed for our trip to Atlanta for the Americas Mart Gift Show. We did this same show last Jan and July so thankfully most of our display was already worked out and made. Beth still had to bust out 1 of every style she makes which is a ton, easily over 120 pieces. We were in Atlanta for 6 days selling jewelry to owners of boutiques and other stores. We got back last Thurs and jumped back into work. I had some studio work lined up and Beth had whole orders to fill and retail website orders to get out.

I got all Bob Ross on Beth when she asked me to touch up the white canvases!

We've finally had some time to get organized and get Christmas totally put away, cleaned up and stored. Our downstairs is starting to look normal again and I even had time to get outside for a bike ride. I met up with my friend Graham from NMB and we rode a cold lap at Percy Warner park. I cut it to just one lap as my feet were pretty cold and I'm out of shape truthfully. I have been off the bike completely through the holidays and Monday was my first ride of the new year. We got dinner and some beers after the ride which were earned. I tried to ride just enough to justify a couple pints of the Sweet Potato Stout that was a 2 for 1 deal at the Brewhouse 100.

Oh and I got a new pair of cycling kicks from my mother in law for Christmas anxious to try them out!

I decided to make an attempt to participate in the 365 "project" on Flickr. Post 1 photo every day for a year. So far I'm off to a decent start, though not all my photos have been that interesting, or that high quality. I think it will be interesting to look back at the end of the year and see what all I thought was worth documenting. 2010 will be quite a different year for Beth and I with a baby girl on the way so this should be fun. I'm also going to try to not be too anal about it and not worry if I miss a day here or there. You can follow it if you're interested here: Chewieez 365.

Hopefully I'll also begin to keep this blog more up-to-date in 2010. I have been quite a slacker lately.

Where has free time gone?

I feel like I've gone from wondering what to do with my time to wondering where my time is going. Work has been plentiful lately and Beth and I have been out of town on numerous trips for Freshie & Zero. It's been a month since I put a post up...wow it's flown by.

I haven't gotten back on the cycling train yet but I've made a few meager attempts. I got out to Monty Bell last week for a solo ride. I was leery that the trail would be a sloppy mess with the wet month that Sept was but I was surprised yet again by the resilience of that trail. It was definitely wet, but there was no mud to be seen. My bike wasn't even dirty minus a little bit of wet crushed leaves and trail debris.


I had the entire trail to myself which was quite peaceful. I took it easy since I don't have the fitness I am accustomed to and stopped to take photos. It takes creativity (and a good camera timer) to get self portraits on a solo bike ride. I was using Beth's old Canon which only has a 10 sec timer so it made it that much more difficult, and fun.


We've been to Chicago and Memphis for craft shows this past month and Beth did a show down in Murfreesboro between them. All three shows were a success which is a great morale boost coming off the miserable shows we did in the Spring. We're both pretty worn out those from the cycle of: make a ton of jewelry, travel/setup/sell it, come home and make a ton more, travel/setup/sell it then come home and make more. Beth has also had some big wholesale orders to fill for stores around the country. Lots to do for sure!

Here is a bit of a picture dump from our last two shows:

Chicago Renegade Craft Show (Chicago is so fun!)

Some samples of the healthy cuisine we're treated to on the road.

This is what happens when it rains from 5am-5pm at an outdoor craft show


And I'll end with a new beer discovery. Theakston Old Peculier

Dirt Reunion

Just got back home from a great ride out at Montgomery Bell. I've not been riding on dirt for at least a month and a half. Life has been a little strange these past few months. Studio work slowed down to less than a crawl and I was having to really reconsider my future ideas. I am so fortunate that Beth's business is doing well and continuing to grow and that I can offer her some help with my free time. It was still a time of soul searching without many answers surfacing. I was laying low mainly as a way to conserve money but also as a way to avoid having to face some of the decisions I was trying to make. Being out of town so much helped to keep me busy but also made the whole thing frustrating since I didn't always feel like I could dedicate a lot of time to my thoughts.

I have started working for a studio out in Bellevue this past week and it's been going great so far! I've worked 3 sessions for them already and everyone has been really happy with my work and we all get along well. Between those sessions and filling in for a buddy on some jingle work, I've worked in the studio the past 9 days straight! Talk about a 180 from the past few months. That about equals my past few months of work. We always say the music business can either be feast or famine and no in between and man is that so true. It's strange to be so close to quitting the only career I've really wanted to do since highschool and then have work pick back up again. I know I have some friends who've gone through this same thing with audio engineering, but this was the closest I've come to be totally unemployed since I started.

In all the time I wasn't working I have decided to start a new business. I have taken over the social media department of Beth's company of 1, I mean 2. In doing so, and after lots of research which is on going, I've decided to try and offer my services and knowledge to other small businesses that either don't understand the great benefits of social media for their business or just don't have any desire to learn and take part in it. I'm not sure what this will turn into in the coming months but I've worked out a couple packages to offer and am slowly putting the word out. If it's meant to work out and turn into something I'm sure it will...and if not, I'll be that much better at the job for Freshie & Zero.

Sooo back to the riding part, this is a blog mainly about cycling right? Well atleast for now. I have some ideas on that too for another time. (Anyone with some Wordpress knowledge or tips, feel free to pass them on).

I finally felt like I was ready to dedicate some time back to riding in the woods. I think I was avoiding it a lot too out of guilt of not working much. Sure I had free time, but what should I do with it? Should I be out riding around enjoying myself or should I be hunkered down trying to work out what to do next, professionally? Well, I felt a weight had been lifted this week, even if just for a short time, and I took the opportunity to get back out and ride. The old crew was ready and willing to let me tag along again and join them for some Montgomery Bell dirt.

Thad, Hilary, Hannah, Jeffy and Wendy all came out to ride. It was such a fine morning that the parking lot was packed with people. The trail was in great shape, a little dusty but I'm not complaining. We varied our normal route some and added some new sections in reverse order. I was feeling awesome for the first 3/4 of the ride. I was actually surprised as how well I felt. Thankfully Jeff and Thad kept a very reasonable pace and didn't kill me. I was able to stick close and chat and catch up on life with them as we winded our way through the woods.

I hit the wall after about 11-12 miles and was ready to be done. I'd had enough and didn't want to stay out so long that it stopped being fun. We all decided it was time to call it and got cleaned up and headed in for some El Monte and 2 for 1 Dos Equis. At lunch, I started following the Leadville 100 race on Twitter after getting a text message from Doug that Lance Armstrong was in the lead by 15 min. It was another great example to me about how cool Twitter can be. I was able to just search "Leadville" and then follow all the spectators who were posting updates about the race in real time. Sure people make fun of Twitter... but there are some cool things with it. (by the way, I just wrote a blog, I'll probably mention that on Twitter.) Lance ended up winning the race, setting a new course record of something like 6hrs 28min and rode the last 5 miles on a flat tire. Wow!

Ok so, until I feel inspired for more blogging....sayonara. Time for some pool action and maybe some wordpress research.

time won't let up

It's funny how things progress. You think you know what will happen for the next month, even week, but life has a way of moving at it's own pace, whether that's lightening fast or dsl slow. I always have lots I want to say and put up in this blog, but then I have trouble with the follow through. I get sucked into other, more engaging online activities like facebook/twitter/research etc and then lose the creative surge of energy to update the blog. I also haven't been cycling much lately which leads to not many updates, but I think this will be changing soon. Life has been giving me lots of lemons here in Nashville for a while, but lately it's changed to pears. I'm still not sure what to do with these pears but I hope to document the journey here.

Beth and I are currently in San Francisco, staying at the historic Hotel Vertigo where they filmed the Alfred Hitchcock movie. We just wrapped up the Renegade Craft Fair which was our first show on the west coast. It is my first trip to the left coast as well. We haven't had much time to explore during the day but we've found a few nice cafe's for breakfast and coffee (we're addicts, yes) and of course some fun pubs to unwind in the evenings. We've enjoyed some local Anchor brewing beer and many other Californian beers. Last night we explored the Mission area and ate and drank at The Monk's Kettle. It's a self-professed gastropub and the menu and beer selection didn't disappoint one bit. Upscale pub food, as it was described on their site, completely under-estimates the level of food. Unfortunately the walk from the 49 bus stop down 16th street was not so enjoyable. Wow, we definitely found a seedy area by accident.

We have all day tomorrow to explore the city. We don't have any set plans other than to rent the tour buggy which has a GPS guided tour. Should be a blast if I can get a hang of the motorcycle controls, wonder if it will be front brake on the right or left. We've had a very nice view of the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz from the festival pavilion but we're hoping to get a closer look in the buggy.


I've been a busy bee lately emmersing myself in everything social media and learning ways to promote independent, small businesses online. I've setup Beth's jewelry company, Freshie & Zero with a Facebook Fan Page and also a Twitter Acct. If you're interested, follow us, I promise you'll get a much more up-to-date account of our travels and business experiences. I'm hoping that this may become something I can offer to other indie style businesses in the future. I've already talked with one company about it and need to continue brainstorming and follow up. It's all about follow through in life right?

So, hey look, insomnia can lead to productivity! Here are a few pics of our trip so far. I'll most likely wait until my return trip to upload the lot of them to Flickr.

Yes, that is a guy playing the piano, that he pedaled to the show.

random musings

no riding going on here so I've been sitting in front of the computer a lot lately. Doing some Facebook work (yep I said work), Google Analytics learning/setup and basical SEO learning. Today I found out about Drupal. I've been reading up about that over a beer. It sounds awesome...yet another thing with a learning curve for me to get my head around and learn. It's added to the list.

I've been frequenting Crema a lot lately. That place has THE best espresso based drinks in Nashville as far as I'm concerned. I have yet to experience their 'basic' coffee so unfortunately I can't comment or rate that yet. I've been too busy enjoying their other drinks like the cappuccino, americano and the cuban. All have been stellar. I'm serious.... if you know me you know I have a love for coffee but this place is above all else in Nashville. I knew it would be good when I started with their cappuccino and it rivaled those I'd had on my honeymoon in Italy. It's rare to find a place that can make a European style cappuccino. The Cuban is also a treat and is their best selling drink.... basically it's a latte but the cream portion is split between creamer and condensed milk which adds a bit of sweetness. YUM! (oh and they won't gouge you on the price...check it MENU. Cheaper than most in town, including *$)

Anyhow....in my attempt to make the best use of my extra time of late, I've been brainstorming how I can help Crema out. Nothing is planned out yet but ideas are floating around and I hope to have things worked out soon. Stay tuned for more info here....and maybe other places as well, we'll see.

Another random thing I happened upon today as when Crema added me as a contact on Flickr. I was checking out their profile and noticed a group they were a member of.

Baristas and Their Bikes

wow... hehe What an off the wall group yet oddly endearing and cool. Not a lot of photos yet but it's great to see more people in the world enjoying their bikes and proud about it.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

dog days of summer still sticking around

Man it's hot... no humid, yes, humid and hot.


I attempted a ride on Labor Day with a fun group up at Lake Barkley but it didn't go so well. After sitting outside for 12+ hours in Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday, I wasn't too prepared for the exertion and humidity I faced on the trail Monday. Stupid me wasn't hydrated and hadn't been on the bike but a couple times in the past month. Oh well, the trail was great. The swimming afterwards was a very welcomed addition to the trip. We were worried the lake would be the only good thing about driving up to Barkley, but the trail was a lot of fun. It has a little bit of all the trails around here wrapped into a 10 mile loop. I'm sure it will be a lot more fun when I am in better physical shape. I learned that lesson at AEDC last year. I hated that place after one trip, but went back this year and really enjoyed it.

if this man asks you if you want to swim.... run the other way!


I have a lot of work to do if I want to enter Swank 65 this year. A lot of work and a lot of things going on in my life the next few months. We're getting closer to closing on our first house. We have some renovations placed before we even move in. Then there will be the fun process of moving (anyone wanna help for free Yazoo?) We also have craft shows the next two weekends and then a few more in Oct and Nov. I know I can 'make it work' if I really dedicate myself. But it sure seems daunting thinking about how to fit in some decent ride time and also trying to fit in finding some work to pay for this new house.

I've signed off on the drawing/geometry of my new Quiring frame. I have been over-thinking all aspect of course, but I think I'm content with the current design. I need to start collecting the new parts I'll need. Once I have a firm-ish date to expect my frame, I'll need to rebuild my wheels with 29er rims. At that point I will of course have to start telling everyone how much better my bike is and how I can't believe anyone would still ride small wheeled bikes. I need to continue my 29er research so I sound as authoritative as possible when I belittle everyone elses bikes. :)

On the bike product front I received my Swiftwick shipment last week, hand delivered by Mr. Swiftwick himself. I finally got myself some Olefin Zero 'no show' socks. I wore them all weekend at our outdoor craftshow (as did Beth) and then got to try them on the trail at Lake Barkley. For this hot weather, I really like the low cut of the zero style sock. While not a true 'no show' they stay up on your heels better than any sock and don't bunch up around your toes. I doused them in sweat during our super humid Barkley ride and they still stayed put. I'm not sure if I truely was 5% faster on that ride though... hard to tell during all the panting and stops to clear my head and lungs. Beth loves her zero and one olefin socks. I'm still waiting on a pair of one olefins to try that are on back-order. (guess they are quite popular) It's crazy to have a professional sock maker on the race team with you, but man is it nice when they make a superior product.



I'm still rocking the Ernesto Hippy Lube on both bikes as well. I'm still on the first application but don't see signs of needing to reapply. I still have the benefits of a super quite drivetrain so I'm in no hurry to mess with it. My Prolink has now been relegated to lubing the stantions on my Reba fork and not much else. Thanks to Thad for cluing us into the power lube and to Ernesto for making a great product!

Got a light work schedule this week so I'm hoping to get out on the bike this afternoon for a little time at Hammy and get a ride into the Tap Room thurs with J5. I'm all out of wack with my riding schedule so hopefully I can reign it back in.

been busy, real busy

yep, I know, it's been forever since I put up a post here... life got busy again and it remaining busy. I haven't even had time to ride my bike but once since my last post about my fit at Harpeth.

Work has been slow this summer. Heck, it's been slow the past 2 years, but it's summer and it's always slow in the summer. This makes this summer slower... fun. I've been trying to make the best of the time I have free from commitments. I think I was doing a pretty good job. I was rdiing a lot, spending a lot of time with Beth, getting things done around the house and helping Beth with Freshie & Zero. When I had some work, I also tried to make the best of it and make sure I was giving 110%. The quirk of freelance work being that each gig can be thought of as a job interview which I think is good. It keeps you honest, and keeps you working hard and hopefully not getting too complacent.

Fast forward through July and to the first week in August and between a couple days of work and a trip to Virginia for a craft show, I had no free time that week. The trip was a lot of fun as my brother lives where the craft show was, the Roanoke/Blacksburg, VA area, so we were able to visit with him and his growing family. My parents took the opportunity to come and visit also so it was a mini Lawrence reunion for the weekend. Sales wise the show could of gone better but we debuted a lot of new displays and booth setup stuff which all worked very well and looks great. We've officially stepped up the Freshie and Zero booth to the next level of professionalizum.

(our new track lighting setup, canvas displays and mesh sidewalls... yea we're big time now!!)

I started right into a session starting on the Monday after we got back from the craft show. I was starting what turned out to be a marathon 3 day session of Gospel music. I was the head engineer on overdubs and editing though which was a lot of fun and more responsibility. It was a lot of work and long days, like 11am-4am, but equally rewards and as it was frustrating. So this session ended very early Thurs morning and I slipped in a small project I needed to take care of later in the morning on Thurs and tried to recover the rest of the day with a nap.

Beth's parents took us all out for a belated birthday dinner celebration for Beth's 30th bday Thurs night and then I started right back into more session work Friday. Three days of assisting on some mix sessions for Blake Shelton and we are now up to date. Tomorrow I start back working with the Gospel clients again for the next three or four days so I'm trying to get my body ready for the late night sessions.

Truly feast or famine. This work couldn't come at a better time though as I could use some extra money to help fund my new bike purchase, and also Beth and I are starting to house hunt so more money for that will always be much appreciated. I'm hoping to have a slightly more relaxed schedule this week and fit in a few rides. Hope to make it out to the tap room since I missed last week. I have a big order of super hero socks to pick up from Sharpie also that I'm super excited about. Finally going to be able to try the olefin material and also the hip no-show cut! I'll report back soon I'm sure so stay tuned. Hope I haven't bored everyone too much lately.... it's life, my life at least. :)

I snapped this shot while at the craft show in Va. Is this bike locked? I don't think so. I couldn't help but find some humor in it. Luckily the guy was in a small town. He didn't even lock his daughters bike up at all.





I helped record a campfire performance out on a farm in Leipers Fork a couple weeks ago. Fun stuff, but HOT with no A/C!











Gotta love a trip to Peter's Sushi in Brentwood. They having opened in their new, larger location (right next door to the old place). YUM!!

coffee at home... nothing finer

coffee at home... nothing finer
Originally uploaded by Chewieez

a very full day of work today, 3 whole hours in Franklin. My drive was almost longer than I worked. I was able to squeeze in a nice lunch and a pint with Thad, Troy and their work buds though. We even spied a sweet crosscheck outside Starbucks, not locked up even.

This week is slowly shaping up for an almost solid work week. Recorded background vocals yesterday, remastering work today, assisting on a mix for a Donna Summer song thurs and possibly fitting in some editing on a Kelly Pickler project sometime this week. It's strange but it's starting to feel like I'm gainfully employed!

Gas is up again, wait I mean gas is still going up, more. I'm thinking twice about driving to mountain bike 40 miles away. Thought about meeting some NMB folks at Chickasaw this morning but didn't feel up for the hour+ drive alone. Turned out great in the end as my phone rang at 8:45AM with some work for the day. We need to work out some kind of mountain bike car poolers system to save gas and money. Who's in? I drove alone to Lock4 last week and I'm avoiding it again at all costs. drive to ride.... like driving to the Y?

Anyhow, I'm back at home now, should start on some Google work and enjoy my cup of brewed goodness.

Props go out to the daily bike commuters out there! Inspiring!

Dan, braggin' on his Walz cap

Dan, braggin' on his Walz cap
Originally uploaded by Chewieez

another fun night out with the Yazoo team.... I rode down from my house to Thad's and met him and Matt, The Manondale. We took a different route into town this time and rode in on Hillsboro Rd all the way to Green Hills then cut over to Belmont, down Music Row and into downtown and to the Tap Room.

Again, my legs felt tired from the get go. I wasn't sure I'd make it to Thad's without giving up, but I just kept pedaling. I'm starting to realize how my body likes to warm up and what hurts at first tends to just ease away as the ride progresses.

Thad and Matt were both riding their road bikes so the pace was faster than normal. It was a fun ride in and thankfully uneventful as far as ad drivers go. A few closer than comfort drivers but nothing extreme.

Everyone enjoyed a few beers at the tap room and then a group headed over to Mafiaozas on 12th for some dinner. After a detor with a flat tire we arrived at Mafiosos and sat down and ordered drinks. Pizza came and we scarffed it down while Sharpie was our explaining the teams inner workings with a couple fun young ladies. Thad went to help real him back in yet got sucked into the fun and let his pizza get cold.

Another uneventful ride back to Green Hills and I split off from Thad and Matt and headed home. Another fun thurs night comes to a close. Great riding, great people, great beer, great food and some fun pictures....not much more to ask for really.

sad

It's a sad sight. I'm referring to the mycyclinglog stats that are shown to the right....

0 rides in the past 7 days.  40 miles in the past 30 days.  

Life is obviously keeping me busy. I felt a little guilty driving home from work at 7:30pm watching all the trick-or-treaters on Belmont Blvd. I've been in my own world and quite content with not participating in Halloween this year. Tonight reminded me the fun to be had. 

time to crash for the evening. Hopefully I'll be off work in time for a ride tomorrow.