My 500 Days of Summer

I wanna start off by saying that I am sorry to all my readers. I have been neglecting my blog therefore have been also been neglecting you (my reader) as well! I've been up and down this entire summer and now that it has come to an end, I will probably be writing here more! I started the summer with an amazing training regiment (cycling & diet) that consisted of constant cycling in the mornings followed by an easy commute to work. I would normally log in roughly 30-50 miles a day and maybe try to get an easy city cruise in on the evenings. My summer started off well until the unexpected happened! Yes that's right I met a girl, unfortunately there are no words to describe how I felt about her except for if you were fortunate enough to have met her with me, your immediate thoughts would have been "I get it". Many of you that know me, know that I'm kind of an arse towards women and pay them no mind/attention but this girl (let's call her "summer"), summer and I "clicked"...(If your familiar with the movie, I'll tell you now that this story pretty much has it's similarities with the movie). I met Summer at a Tuesday bike night (tarck tuesdays) gathering and she was one of the very few girls that was into "tarcking". At first she was just another girl on a bike in my eyes but after seeing and chatting up with her a few more tarck tuesday nights, I had thought to myself there could be more to this girl so I think I'll try to dip my toe into the water. It wasn't really until a Friday night bike ride (Cmass) is when I thought I would give this a shot. In the beginning of the ride I was pretty much chill but was trying to strategize a way to try to get to know her more (hit me up for more info). But to make a long story short, I get a text from Summer later on that evening asking why I didn't hang out with the rest of our group? (right then I knew I had a shot) The next 3 day's went by fast as we were texting and hanging out quite frequently. It was fun and exciting but on the third day is when I attempted to kiss her and boy was it worth it! The timing couldn't have been more perfect (no homo). We spent many nights together but also many nights separated (her call not mine). So throughout the rest of the summer (july and august) we had many ups and some downs mostly due to her fickleness and constant inconsistent feelings, I for some stupid reason didn't want to give up! I'm not one to give up easily unless the other party gives up (which unfortunately was yesterday). Sorry I have to stop. Call if you want the rest/more in depth of the story or I may continue this at a later date.

p.s. we never dated

Track Bikes

As you can see my addiction to track bikes is a little insane but if your anything like me, you like to have options. I'm not one to argue ones style, regardless if it's not my "style", I'll support your decisions and tell you to "do what you do!". I just recently finished up two of my track bikes (09 Cinelli Vigorelli & 07 FTP), which I can proudly say that this is the end of my track addiction! Now it's time to plan a new road build. I've actually made my decision on which route I'm going to go as far as building a new race bike and then a training bike, which one will come first (I still have yet to decide)? I'm looking into building a TIME RXR ULTEAM and a Moots Vamoots RSL. More than likely the Moots will come first because I've been looking forward to building a bike with a BB30 setup, and since the TIME RXR isn't available with a BB30, I'll be building up the Vamoots first. I just need to pay off my cc's first!

Seattle Bound!

Well it's official! I'm heading to SEATTLE!!! WOOT WOOT! I'll be taking off 5/14-5/17. No, I will not be going alone but with my best friend CORTEEZY!!! Thanks homie for making this happen! I can't wait to head out there and drink coffee and that's all. Just kidding! I'm excited to actually see the Space Needle and visit some friends. I hope their Sushi will be as amazing as their coffee! I would love to bomb the hills out in Seattle but I doubt anyone rents bikes out there (well at least nice ones). If all goes well out in Seattle, I just may buy a one way ticket out there and move on!

Saglife X MashSF

I just recently (2 days ago) got a new backpack (Thanks Ron!). I've been contemplating on getting a new bag to cycle with and have been back and forth about having to go with either a messenger bag or a backpack? After months of in depth research, I've finally come to a decision and decided on the backpack! I knew I wanted to go with "Saglife" but wasn't too sure on which backpack to with because they have several models. After some research I came across one bag that they had collaborated with MASHSF with! I instantly was all gooogly eyes for this bag, because not only for the makers/designers that designed it but mainly for it's functionality. It has several compartments and a huge main compartment to boot! It's very stealth looking, accommodates up to a 17" laptop, many accoutrements, and has several reflective labels on it. I have also used a whole can of ReviveX water repellent spray on it just in case it rains. Most of my research came off of "Prolly's" website. He actually has done a great job in describing the bag and how well it holds up in NY street riding! Once again I'd like to thank Ron for hooking it up with the bag!

my first chocolate cake

The year was 1990 and I was in just starting the 4th grade needed some new sneakers. I was constantly playing basket ball with some BK's that my mom had bought me the year before. As I was hustling up and down the court, I started to notice almost every kid (the cool ones) were all wearing Nike Air Jordans! I looked at my feet and asked myself "where are mine?". After that question was asked I started to plan and scheme ways to manipulate my mom into buying me my own pair. A couple of days later I came to a solution! I had come up with a lie and told my mom that my feet hurt and that I possibly have out grown my BK's and told her that I needed a new pair of basketball shoes. She gave me this look (which was the look of "my son's feet hurt") and I thought to myself "YES" I'm almost home free! So the following weekend my mom brought us (my brother, my sister and I) to Lincoln Wood Town Center Mall to buy us some new clothes and me some new sneakers. As we walked into the mall, we started to shop around for some clothing and picked up some new gear for school but towards the end of the trip my mom remembered that I needed new sneakers! I was screaming "YAY" in my head but then she started moving towards "PAYLESS" then I was screaming "NOOOO!". I had to think fast and told my mom "Mom..I don't like any of the shoes there and told her that I saw a pair upstairs at the "Foot Locker" that I really liked!" She gave me this look of "I know what your up to!" but then I attacked with a sad puppy dog look. She gasped and was like "show me!" I ran as fast as I could to Foot Locker and there it was looking down on me, my first and last pair of Jordans that I would own for the rest of my childhood. The Air Jordan VI's in black and infrared. My mom waved the shoe sales man and then looked at me and was like tell him which ones you wanna try on. I looked up and told him the Jordans! He measured my foot and went to the back and grabbed my pair. I tried it on and my mom was like "how do those feel?" at this point I really didn't care about the feel but about the look! I was speechless and told my mom "I want these!". Mom then looked at the salesman and asked "How Much?" His response was "$98.00". My mom gave him a look of disgust and said "WHAT!!!!" she started to head towards the door and I yelled "PLEASE!!" everyone at school has them! That is when the jigg was up, I spilled my guts and my mom knew what I was up to. She stood there while I explained my situation and even the salesman gave his 2cent's. My mom finally gave in and pulled out her credit card and SWIPE! Right then and there I truly and will always love my mom and appreciate all of the sacrifices she has made to get me my first and last pair of Jordans.

Moving Forward

So I've been thinking of my future plans and where I want to go in life. I always ask myself "am I happy?" and "am I happy here?" Sadly the answer is usually "no" and then I shrug my shoulders and go about my day. One question that I do ask myself and know the answer to is "where would I like to end up and eventually settle" and my honest answer is Seattle. I try to avoid telling people this because they may try to talk down this awesome city but when people ask "why Seattle?" I then ask "why not?" I'm a fan of the west coast and what it has to offer but then again when you move towards the North West you have more precipitation than that of the South West. I personally like having 4 seasons and enjoy precipitation. Although I've never been to Seattle, I can already tell you that I'm going to love it "How?" (one may ask). Well, I know myself and know what I like and dislike. I enjoy an awesome scenery as well as the city life. I was told from one of my good friends that Seattle is kinda like San Francisco (awesome city) but slower. He couldn't have put that description into better words for the city to totally win me over! I enjoy the city life and city night life that is surrounded by down to earth people and if I just so happen to get bored one day, well then I can drive out of the city and enjoy the outdoors. People say that it's raining all the time (I enjoy the rain), it's gloomy (I'm not that much of a fan of the sun), and that people out there are depressed (that's because their losers and need to take control of their life). I plan on visiting Seattle end of May to get a feel for the city and browse the streets on possible residing area's.