So today is tuesday and apparently in SD/PB it's the thing to do... well i like tacos and when i heard of calamari tacos, lobster tacos and all sorts of other fancy tacos i was stoked.. include happy hour and flip cup and i'm ecstatic... i'm pretty sad that i have to leave this wonderful place they call PB..
but no worries, i shall return, most likely with an army ready and willing to take over PB.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
flagstaff onwards
here is my attempt to recall what happened.
flagstaff was a really nice city. we stayed at the hampton inn courtesy of cole's aunt patty. we enjoyed real food for two days, nice weather, nice city and better yet, the grand canyon.
we hit a couple of bike shops up, one guy was super nice and hooked me up with two tubes and two presta converters for under 5 bucks. the other larger bike shop was not so kind, full price.. ha ha.
i've already blogged a bit about flagstaf so i'll leave it at that. it was an amazing city and we had an amazing time there thanks to aunt patty.
from flagstaff we rode on 40 west and dropped down 95. there was one night we camped at lake havau or whatever it was called and it read 102 degrees at 9pm.. it was hot as balls, we camped out at the home depot parking lot.
the next day it was long but we crossed the colorado river and into california where we camped at a park right over the border in a city called blythe, again it was hot as hell.
pretty much the most difficult days imo were the rides through southern california. the rolling hills were gargantuan and the temerature was constantly in the triple digits. we had to wake up at 3:30 am to ride and even then it was pushing 85 degrees.
the hottest day imo was going through the deseart to quarzithe (sp). the firefighters said it was probably pushing 120 in that stretch, i sure as hell noticed it.
the 2nd to last day we rode though this pass, gained 5200 of elevation in about 5 miles constant uphill. it was pretty rough, but it was the final exam. the last day of riding, though it had its climbs was more of a celebratory climb. we met this older rider who was finishing up his own century and rode with us to PB (pacific beach). from there we just carried our bikes into the ocean.
san diego has been an amazing time. it's wrapping up soon though.
thursday night when we got here the girls had some people over and we grilled up some food. friday we enjoyed the beach took care of a few things at rei, chad and i went out to millers field for happy hour and then we cruised the boardwalk for a while and came back to relax before the night out.. unfortunately we never made it out... by the time 10pm rolled around cole was passed out and i was on the verge of falling asleep.. that was pretty much it..
saturday was filled with fun.
started out with a nice morning hike at torre pines, followed by swimming with the sharks and the some grilling at ricky's place (which is a 4 br house on north pb with private pool).. needless to say flipcup was involved and before long everyone was either running around naked (chad) or doing rolls on the ground, or making rap videos (bordwell). but we didn't let the fun stop there, we decided to go out to miller field but on the way i realize i lost my gum pack which contained all my cc's etc... the 2nd cab went back to the house and found it in the bushes somehow... maybe i should have just went home at that point.. but i didn't and that's why there is more story to tell...
so we're at millers (at this point my stories are actually memories of others and not mine) and i'm somehow walking back with drink after drink, no one knows how i'm getting them and everyone is pretty sure i'm not paying for them. my last recollection of the night was the bartender pouring about 12 shots at once (literally) and i somehow get handed two of them. i think they were delicious. at millers field there is an upstairs (where we all were) and a bunch of people are sitting on the railing, apparently i think it's a good idea to stand on the railing.. thanks to my idea no one else was allowed to sit on the railing for the rest of the night. i know, i'm that guy.. but i made it up.. to the guys at least. so chad tells me i'm in line for the mens bathroom with him (chad tells me he decides to follow me around the bar because i somehow keep getting free drinks and he wants in on the action).. i don't believe in lines and i sure as hell don't like to wait in line when i have to urinate. the mens room has TWO stalls, that's it.. so i'm in line trying to convince guys to pee in the sink to move the process along.... one guy takes the bait and bam.. a revolution has started.. now we have 3 stalls.. i am happy as i have to wait in line 33.3333% less...
there's about a 30 minute gap where no one remembers anything.. i wish bordwell had made another rap video, but she didn't. but she did tell me that i was cut off by the bartender so i gave her some money to get us a couple hefs.. and while we're up there i decide to play bartender and make my own drinks.. the bouncer comes over and tell her "you need to tell your friend he can't just make his own drinks at the bar".. she relays the information to me and that was that... i also have the habit of collecting pint glasses, mainly ones from bar and while the bouncer is there i apparently put the pint glass in my pocket, again instead of telling me he tells bord to tell me i can't take that. with all my wit i tell him (bords words, not mine) "no no no, i'm just bringing this downstairs to put away" something like that.. he takes the glass away from me.. magically though, the cup somehow ends up in chads hands and has just been put through the dishwasher. amazing.
i was then thrown out of the bar, for the 3rd time apparently....
sunday was good, slightly hungover but considering how much was put back saturday i felt like a million bucks. we went out for some grub and spent the next 6 hours on the beach.. surfing, sleeping what not..
then i was taken to yogurtland.. think this.. delicious frozen yogurt and rediculous toppings.. they even had leechee for topping and coconut flakes.. ughhhhh so delicious. 30 cents an oz.. what a deal. the girls said they have never spent more than 3.50 or so.. my first one cost me almost 5 dollars. later that night we had some mexican food that was pretty damn good and called it a night with a movie (pride and glory).
today we're going to check out coney island (i think)... and probably ship out the bikes within the hour...
that is it for now.. everyone talks about how crazy it gets here on PB on tuesdays.. it's taco tuesdays... apparently cheap tacos and drinks all over san diego.. i'm excited to say the least.
flagstaff was a really nice city. we stayed at the hampton inn courtesy of cole's aunt patty. we enjoyed real food for two days, nice weather, nice city and better yet, the grand canyon.
we hit a couple of bike shops up, one guy was super nice and hooked me up with two tubes and two presta converters for under 5 bucks. the other larger bike shop was not so kind, full price.. ha ha.
i've already blogged a bit about flagstaf so i'll leave it at that. it was an amazing city and we had an amazing time there thanks to aunt patty.
from flagstaff we rode on 40 west and dropped down 95. there was one night we camped at lake havau or whatever it was called and it read 102 degrees at 9pm.. it was hot as balls, we camped out at the home depot parking lot.
the next day it was long but we crossed the colorado river and into california where we camped at a park right over the border in a city called blythe, again it was hot as hell.
pretty much the most difficult days imo were the rides through southern california. the rolling hills were gargantuan and the temerature was constantly in the triple digits. we had to wake up at 3:30 am to ride and even then it was pushing 85 degrees.
the hottest day imo was going through the deseart to quarzithe (sp). the firefighters said it was probably pushing 120 in that stretch, i sure as hell noticed it.
the 2nd to last day we rode though this pass, gained 5200 of elevation in about 5 miles constant uphill. it was pretty rough, but it was the final exam. the last day of riding, though it had its climbs was more of a celebratory climb. we met this older rider who was finishing up his own century and rode with us to PB (pacific beach). from there we just carried our bikes into the ocean.
san diego has been an amazing time. it's wrapping up soon though.
thursday night when we got here the girls had some people over and we grilled up some food. friday we enjoyed the beach took care of a few things at rei, chad and i went out to millers field for happy hour and then we cruised the boardwalk for a while and came back to relax before the night out.. unfortunately we never made it out... by the time 10pm rolled around cole was passed out and i was on the verge of falling asleep.. that was pretty much it..
saturday was filled with fun.
started out with a nice morning hike at torre pines, followed by swimming with the sharks and the some grilling at ricky's place (which is a 4 br house on north pb with private pool).. needless to say flipcup was involved and before long everyone was either running around naked (chad) or doing rolls on the ground, or making rap videos (bordwell). but we didn't let the fun stop there, we decided to go out to miller field but on the way i realize i lost my gum pack which contained all my cc's etc... the 2nd cab went back to the house and found it in the bushes somehow... maybe i should have just went home at that point.. but i didn't and that's why there is more story to tell...
so we're at millers (at this point my stories are actually memories of others and not mine) and i'm somehow walking back with drink after drink, no one knows how i'm getting them and everyone is pretty sure i'm not paying for them. my last recollection of the night was the bartender pouring about 12 shots at once (literally) and i somehow get handed two of them. i think they were delicious. at millers field there is an upstairs (where we all were) and a bunch of people are sitting on the railing, apparently i think it's a good idea to stand on the railing.. thanks to my idea no one else was allowed to sit on the railing for the rest of the night. i know, i'm that guy.. but i made it up.. to the guys at least. so chad tells me i'm in line for the mens bathroom with him (chad tells me he decides to follow me around the bar because i somehow keep getting free drinks and he wants in on the action).. i don't believe in lines and i sure as hell don't like to wait in line when i have to urinate. the mens room has TWO stalls, that's it.. so i'm in line trying to convince guys to pee in the sink to move the process along.... one guy takes the bait and bam.. a revolution has started.. now we have 3 stalls.. i am happy as i have to wait in line 33.3333% less...
there's about a 30 minute gap where no one remembers anything.. i wish bordwell had made another rap video, but she didn't. but she did tell me that i was cut off by the bartender so i gave her some money to get us a couple hefs.. and while we're up there i decide to play bartender and make my own drinks.. the bouncer comes over and tell her "you need to tell your friend he can't just make his own drinks at the bar".. she relays the information to me and that was that... i also have the habit of collecting pint glasses, mainly ones from bar and while the bouncer is there i apparently put the pint glass in my pocket, again instead of telling me he tells bord to tell me i can't take that. with all my wit i tell him (bords words, not mine) "no no no, i'm just bringing this downstairs to put away" something like that.. he takes the glass away from me.. magically though, the cup somehow ends up in chads hands and has just been put through the dishwasher. amazing.
i was then thrown out of the bar, for the 3rd time apparently....
sunday was good, slightly hungover but considering how much was put back saturday i felt like a million bucks. we went out for some grub and spent the next 6 hours on the beach.. surfing, sleeping what not..
then i was taken to yogurtland.. think this.. delicious frozen yogurt and rediculous toppings.. they even had leechee for topping and coconut flakes.. ughhhhh so delicious. 30 cents an oz.. what a deal. the girls said they have never spent more than 3.50 or so.. my first one cost me almost 5 dollars. later that night we had some mexican food that was pretty damn good and called it a night with a movie (pride and glory).
today we're going to check out coney island (i think)... and probably ship out the bikes within the hour...
that is it for now.. everyone talks about how crazy it gets here on PB on tuesdays.. it's taco tuesdays... apparently cheap tacos and drinks all over san diego.. i'm excited to say the least.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
About time
So lets fill everyone in on what happened between new mexico and california.. august has been mainly a month of photographs and little words and for those who know me i am NOT a man of few words.
i'll start at new mexico.
first off, other than the hills of santa fe it's by far the crappiest state in america. why we don't just give the whole damn thing to the indians (native america may be PC but the NA's as i'll shorthand it call themselves indians on billboards/casinos etc.). So we're nearing santa fe and looking for a place to call it a night, cole spots this baseball field and i decide to go check it out. out of nowhere this 100 lb pitbull mix darts at me and i'm pedaling for my life, this one got close, within inches, but my cavendish like sprinting abilities was too much for him and i escaped. shaking still i ask a few people if we could crash at their yard, most say no, this one guy tells me i'm trespassing in private indian land and tells me to leave (but much more rudely of course). i'm thinking, for real? are you looking at me dude, i'm riding a bike across the country, so i ride into your "land" for a few hundred yards, get that chip off your shoulder because if you haven't noticed i'm of asian decent and i'm pretty sure the asians didn't take your land... anyways, i find this nice lady who's willing to drive by me as i ride back to cole and chad, i also ask a cop (who happened to drive by) to go to the house and tell the owners to leash their stupid dog.. i love dogs and all, but if i had a gun, i most likely would have shot that dog because it was without a doubt going to bite me.
so after that's over (i was literally shaking for 10-15 minutes) we ride onwards. did i mention how much new mexico sucks? the roads are terrible, needles everywhere, glass, do they even have street cleaning or does all state funds go towards welfare in that state? anyways, we ride and it gets dark, we pull up to this area and we see a building with lights on that suddenly go off. we think people are leaving work and we sprint to the building only to find that it is actually a house. i knock and give my best sad puppy face and the family allowed us to stay. the father was an architect from seattle and just built his dream house. they let us stay in their backyard which overlooked all of santa fe. it was amazing. they brought us beers (first time i had a pacifico, delish after riding 110+ miles), watermelon, and potatoe salad (wich was the BOMB by the way). they allowed us to use their shower as well. the house was gorgeous, i mean, probably one of the nicest houses i've ever seen in my life, the kitchen, wow, amazing.
from santa fe we left for AZ.... it was hot, real hot, pushing 100's everyday. it was 106 at 6pm at albequerqe which was miserable. the rest of the days i'm too lazy to talk about, it was just hot and lots of nothing since we're in new mexico and eastern arizona.
what i will talk about is getting to flagstaff, probably the worst day of riding (make that 2nd worst) i had on the trip. the wind was blowing at a constant 30mph and gusting to 35-40 at times. it was a north eastern blowing wind and we were riding southwest.. so as you can see it was a rough ride.. i was blown off my bike twice.. riding downhill we topped out at 9mph at best... then we finally got to this gas station and bumped into SHILO.. this dude was out of control, probably in his mid 50's but looked like he was in his late 60's. he was riding rt66 and has done his share of touring and was ever so inclined to tell us everything about touring as if we hadn't just ridden 2500 miles ourselves. he was what you call a one upper and went on talking about everything and anything, oftentimes just to himself.
i'll update more later on.. the clouds are parting and it's time to enjoy saturday.
i'll start at new mexico.
first off, other than the hills of santa fe it's by far the crappiest state in america. why we don't just give the whole damn thing to the indians (native america may be PC but the NA's as i'll shorthand it call themselves indians on billboards/casinos etc.). So we're nearing santa fe and looking for a place to call it a night, cole spots this baseball field and i decide to go check it out. out of nowhere this 100 lb pitbull mix darts at me and i'm pedaling for my life, this one got close, within inches, but my cavendish like sprinting abilities was too much for him and i escaped. shaking still i ask a few people if we could crash at their yard, most say no, this one guy tells me i'm trespassing in private indian land and tells me to leave (but much more rudely of course). i'm thinking, for real? are you looking at me dude, i'm riding a bike across the country, so i ride into your "land" for a few hundred yards, get that chip off your shoulder because if you haven't noticed i'm of asian decent and i'm pretty sure the asians didn't take your land... anyways, i find this nice lady who's willing to drive by me as i ride back to cole and chad, i also ask a cop (who happened to drive by) to go to the house and tell the owners to leash their stupid dog.. i love dogs and all, but if i had a gun, i most likely would have shot that dog because it was without a doubt going to bite me.
so after that's over (i was literally shaking for 10-15 minutes) we ride onwards. did i mention how much new mexico sucks? the roads are terrible, needles everywhere, glass, do they even have street cleaning or does all state funds go towards welfare in that state? anyways, we ride and it gets dark, we pull up to this area and we see a building with lights on that suddenly go off. we think people are leaving work and we sprint to the building only to find that it is actually a house. i knock and give my best sad puppy face and the family allowed us to stay. the father was an architect from seattle and just built his dream house. they let us stay in their backyard which overlooked all of santa fe. it was amazing. they brought us beers (first time i had a pacifico, delish after riding 110+ miles), watermelon, and potatoe salad (wich was the BOMB by the way). they allowed us to use their shower as well. the house was gorgeous, i mean, probably one of the nicest houses i've ever seen in my life, the kitchen, wow, amazing.
from santa fe we left for AZ.... it was hot, real hot, pushing 100's everyday. it was 106 at 6pm at albequerqe which was miserable. the rest of the days i'm too lazy to talk about, it was just hot and lots of nothing since we're in new mexico and eastern arizona.
what i will talk about is getting to flagstaff, probably the worst day of riding (make that 2nd worst) i had on the trip. the wind was blowing at a constant 30mph and gusting to 35-40 at times. it was a north eastern blowing wind and we were riding southwest.. so as you can see it was a rough ride.. i was blown off my bike twice.. riding downhill we topped out at 9mph at best... then we finally got to this gas station and bumped into SHILO.. this dude was out of control, probably in his mid 50's but looked like he was in his late 60's. he was riding rt66 and has done his share of touring and was ever so inclined to tell us everything about touring as if we hadn't just ridden 2500 miles ourselves. he was what you call a one upper and went on talking about everything and anything, oftentimes just to himself.
i'll update more later on.. the clouds are parting and it's time to enjoy saturday.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Last post until CA
We want to thank Patty & Bill for being such amazing hosts in Flagstaff. thanks for the hotel, lunches, dinners, snacks, drinks, ice cream, more drinks, bike stuff, rides around N. Arizona and most importantly thank you for allowing us to share our experiences with you two. You both are so hkind and really made this adventure even better than we could imagine. I would write more but B ill's notepad is a pain in the rear to write with, especially with my chicken scratch.
Pics
Sorry folks no updates. I am using a notepad with no keyboard so it world take too long. Enjoy the photographs.
Friday, July 31, 2009
last bits..
arkansas river... riding through big horn sheep? canyon
taking a break for an amazing photoraph
sun setting!
after a wonderful day of white water rafting...
sun setting!
after a wonderful day of white water rafting...
more photographs
more pics from rocky mountain national park
more RMNP (12000+ ft)
on way down back to boulder.. we picked up a hippie hitcher who was burnt out like the kansas girl (he happened to be from kansas as well). gave him a ride down the mountain, he couldn't hold a thought if his life depended on it
the church we stayed at..... sweet place
lunch at a gas station
Random Photos
Here are some pictures from boulder to salida. we are currently at 7000+ ft above sea level. Today cole's cousin levi took us white water rafting, for 10 dollars we rafted for about 6 hours, had lunch. not just any lunch, chips and amazing salsa, veggies with dip, wraps with all kinds of goodness and my favorite, fresh cantelope.. i should have taken a photograph with my phone..
anyways, there are not any pics from the rafting trip for obvious reasons, when i get home i'll post some pics that i took with my camera phone (which was placed in a waterproof phone bag)
pics are from boulder at matts place, at rocky mountain national park, then riding through big horn sheep canyon..
enjoy
my horrible horrible facial hair.. i was going to leave it to see how gross it would get but couldn't handle it and had to shave
on our way up and up and up
at the top.. pretty aye?
anyways, there are not any pics from the rafting trip for obvious reasons, when i get home i'll post some pics that i took with my camera phone (which was placed in a waterproof phone bag)
pics are from boulder at matts place, at rocky mountain national park, then riding through big horn sheep canyon..
enjoy
first night in boulder.. matt makes some bomb lasagna
estes park CO, right before rocky mountain national park
my horrible horrible facial hair.. i was going to leave it to see how gross it would get but couldn't handle it and had to shave
on our way up and up and up
at the top.. pretty aye?
SALIDA, CO
Longest day today, riding through 3 passes in the rockies.. but lets talk about yesterday..
We leave boulder, late start 9am or so.. we're moving slow, the longer we ride, the colder it gets, we climb to over 7300ft and eventually it's so cold we have to stop. we are at monument at a grocery store to eat, it's freezing so i'm sitting inside. we decide that we'll have to bite the nail and get a hotel room.. i decide that it's a good idea to ask strangers to house us. i asked this one lady (cougar) with 3 kids and she said "yeah, let me see what the kids think" she comes out and says her kids said yes, but her bf said no.. oh well, can't say we didn't see that coming..
we're about to leave and this lady comes out (in her late 50's) and smiles at me saying "it's cold out isn't it" i respond, "yeah, it's freezing". we pack up and leave for the hotel and as i'm leaving i say to chad "wait, i'm going to ask that lady". i walk up to her, say hi and ask and she says "no, i'm sorry, i don't know you guys".. i tell her it's no big deal, only 1 person, a pastor has invited us inside his house. so we continue to the hotel and out of nowhere she pulls up next to me and says that her pastor said we can stay at her church.. SHIZAM... this church was awesome.. full kitchen, food, nice bathrooms, big screen tv.. we watched the polar express, made pasta, had pink lemonade.. it was fantastic.
today, was cold... that's about it. it rained on us, that sucked.. we rode a lot, up 3 major passes. i am tired, this is all you get for now.. photographs tomorrow.. oh yeah.. maybe no photos tomorrow.. we are staying with cole's cousin levi, who is a river guide and we are going WHITE WATER RAFTING TOMORROW.... life is good.
We leave boulder, late start 9am or so.. we're moving slow, the longer we ride, the colder it gets, we climb to over 7300ft and eventually it's so cold we have to stop. we are at monument at a grocery store to eat, it's freezing so i'm sitting inside. we decide that we'll have to bite the nail and get a hotel room.. i decide that it's a good idea to ask strangers to house us. i asked this one lady (cougar) with 3 kids and she said "yeah, let me see what the kids think" she comes out and says her kids said yes, but her bf said no.. oh well, can't say we didn't see that coming..
we're about to leave and this lady comes out (in her late 50's) and smiles at me saying "it's cold out isn't it" i respond, "yeah, it's freezing". we pack up and leave for the hotel and as i'm leaving i say to chad "wait, i'm going to ask that lady". i walk up to her, say hi and ask and she says "no, i'm sorry, i don't know you guys".. i tell her it's no big deal, only 1 person, a pastor has invited us inside his house. so we continue to the hotel and out of nowhere she pulls up next to me and says that her pastor said we can stay at her church.. SHIZAM... this church was awesome.. full kitchen, food, nice bathrooms, big screen tv.. we watched the polar express, made pasta, had pink lemonade.. it was fantastic.
today, was cold... that's about it. it rained on us, that sucked.. we rode a lot, up 3 major passes. i am tired, this is all you get for now.. photographs tomorrow.. oh yeah.. maybe no photos tomorrow.. we are staying with cole's cousin levi, who is a river guide and we are going WHITE WATER RAFTING TOMORROW.... life is good.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
misunderstanding
this is john's sister blogging for john...apparently there was a miscommunication and john is no longer banned from all R.E.I.'s, nor was he ever terminated, as he was told by his manager, Nancy.
i should write embarrassing stuff about john since i now have his password, but i won't go there =)
PG-13
One last note before I leave.. this blog is going to be a lot more PG-13 from this point on.. my father called me and told me that it's probably not the best idea to be telling stories from freshman year, especially with family and potentially younger kids reading this. Mind you, he's cracking up while telling me this.. but it's probably a good idea, i'll curb my tongue a little bit, for the kids.. not the adults.. you folks all laugh inside, but tell me it's bad.. ie; dad.. ha ha
Last blog for a while
So we've been busy in boulder and i haven't updated over the past 24 or so hours.. Lets just say it has been interesting, lots of highs and lows.
It's been great to see luther and matt again. we all went out for margaritas on monday night, i ended up eating way too much food (my plate and part of dans) and drinking way too much margaritis (mine and part of dans).. the sheer volume of food and liquid in my stomach wanted to make my explode.. needless to say i got back and passed out before 10:30pm.
the next day dan and matt both had to work so we woke up early and and breakfast at luciles a creole type breakfast that was literally inside of a house, neat setup. food was pretty delish. we walked around the pearl street area and felt like uber tourists....
from there we went to rocky mountain national park, gorgeous place. a must visit for all, one suggestion, bring a jacket, it gets freezing up there, even in the summer. if i wasn't leaving soon i would post some pictures up.
from there the night gets interesting. we go to REI boulder to pick up our bikes because they call us and say they are done with them.
i go in and have to return a camelbak that was purchased the day before because it was a lot smaller than i thought. the manager of the store calls me over and tells me (in front of a bunch of other customers) that i have been banned from all rei because i have commited fraud against them. at this point my jaw is on the floor and i am thinking if it was some kind of sick joke.
long story short: monday we go to rei to bring our bikes in for a warantee tuneup. i go inactive (due to cycling across country) at rei and was told my employee discount would not work. well monday i'm in there making a few exchanges on items that just broke/died on me during the trip no big deal everything goes smoothly as normal (though i did feel like "that" customer while making the exchanges), i apologized to the CS guy for making him tag so much stuff, he's cool, doesn't care. then i needed sunblock so i grab one, i'm wondering if i went inactive (wondering out loud mind you at CS) and say well try my employee discount, if i'm inactive it probably won't work. well, what do you know.. my employee discount works, i'm thinking i must not have been made inactive if it works (come to think of it now.. i should have not used it as i should have known i was inactive, therefore none of this would have happened, but c'mon, i'm a sucker for deals and honestly felt that i was not made inactive if my discount still worked).. well since my employee discount worked i was now able to afford a few things i couldn't so i made a few more purchases (said camelbak earlier and a few things to keep cool in the AZ heat).
well apparently REI claims that i have committed fraud because i "stole" from there. the stealing part comes when i used my employee discount. the boulder manager tells me he has called the boston manager who said i was terminated before the trip, which is an obvious surprise to me. last time i checked i left for vacation and was put inactive, if i was "terminated" i was not made aware at all, not even a courtesy call. that i'll have to find out today when i call nancy to find out what really happened.
but the true question is how this all happened. it actually all happened because i offended the bike tech in the bike shop, who decided to check on a few things. it definitely didn't happen on monday since everyone was around and said i didn't say anything to her, plus everything felt normal. tuesday i spoke with her once, she called about my bottom bracket, i asked a few questions and told her to do what she had suggested, i requested to keep my old bottom bracket since it still worked according to her. everytime i spoke to her someone was by my side and everyone claims the conversation was completely normal. so i don't know... kind of miscommunication of some sort.
anyways, that was a slight sour point in boulder, everything was going great until that. hopefully when i talk to nancy later today we can clear a few things. i had no intentions of "stealing" from rei, i just simply thought that if i was inactive my employee discount would not have worked. in hindsight i probably shouldn't have done it, but hey when i'm talking out loud and saying "i wonder if i'm inactive, i guess i'll try my emp. number and find out" and the guy at CS punches my number in like it's no big deal and then allows me to use the discount you can see how it would be difficult for me to think that i was doing something wrong to REI.
but hey, hopefully it will be clear that this was a misunderstanding, if not i'm banned from REI's for one year.
the funniest part of the night was when they tried to not give cole his warantee tuneup.. he busted out sally jewel and the managers almost shat themselves, they promptly give him the warantee tuneup (and chads as well).
but hey, today the sun rises again and after i talk to nancy this will be over and done with. we have 1300ish more miles to ride, we leave for new mexico today!!! hopefully we'll find people nice enough to invite us inside and allow me to blog here and there.. if not.. i'll talk to everyone when i get to sunny san diego!!!
It's been great to see luther and matt again. we all went out for margaritas on monday night, i ended up eating way too much food (my plate and part of dans) and drinking way too much margaritis (mine and part of dans).. the sheer volume of food and liquid in my stomach wanted to make my explode.. needless to say i got back and passed out before 10:30pm.
the next day dan and matt both had to work so we woke up early and and breakfast at luciles a creole type breakfast that was literally inside of a house, neat setup. food was pretty delish. we walked around the pearl street area and felt like uber tourists....
from there we went to rocky mountain national park, gorgeous place. a must visit for all, one suggestion, bring a jacket, it gets freezing up there, even in the summer. if i wasn't leaving soon i would post some pictures up.
from there the night gets interesting. we go to REI boulder to pick up our bikes because they call us and say they are done with them.
i go in and have to return a camelbak that was purchased the day before because it was a lot smaller than i thought. the manager of the store calls me over and tells me (in front of a bunch of other customers) that i have been banned from all rei because i have commited fraud against them. at this point my jaw is on the floor and i am thinking if it was some kind of sick joke.
long story short: monday we go to rei to bring our bikes in for a warantee tuneup. i go inactive (due to cycling across country) at rei and was told my employee discount would not work. well monday i'm in there making a few exchanges on items that just broke/died on me during the trip no big deal everything goes smoothly as normal (though i did feel like "that" customer while making the exchanges), i apologized to the CS guy for making him tag so much stuff, he's cool, doesn't care. then i needed sunblock so i grab one, i'm wondering if i went inactive (wondering out loud mind you at CS) and say well try my employee discount, if i'm inactive it probably won't work. well, what do you know.. my employee discount works, i'm thinking i must not have been made inactive if it works (come to think of it now.. i should have not used it as i should have known i was inactive, therefore none of this would have happened, but c'mon, i'm a sucker for deals and honestly felt that i was not made inactive if my discount still worked).. well since my employee discount worked i was now able to afford a few things i couldn't so i made a few more purchases (said camelbak earlier and a few things to keep cool in the AZ heat).
well apparently REI claims that i have committed fraud because i "stole" from there. the stealing part comes when i used my employee discount. the boulder manager tells me he has called the boston manager who said i was terminated before the trip, which is an obvious surprise to me. last time i checked i left for vacation and was put inactive, if i was "terminated" i was not made aware at all, not even a courtesy call. that i'll have to find out today when i call nancy to find out what really happened.
but the true question is how this all happened. it actually all happened because i offended the bike tech in the bike shop, who decided to check on a few things. it definitely didn't happen on monday since everyone was around and said i didn't say anything to her, plus everything felt normal. tuesday i spoke with her once, she called about my bottom bracket, i asked a few questions and told her to do what she had suggested, i requested to keep my old bottom bracket since it still worked according to her. everytime i spoke to her someone was by my side and everyone claims the conversation was completely normal. so i don't know... kind of miscommunication of some sort.
anyways, that was a slight sour point in boulder, everything was going great until that. hopefully when i talk to nancy later today we can clear a few things. i had no intentions of "stealing" from rei, i just simply thought that if i was inactive my employee discount would not have worked. in hindsight i probably shouldn't have done it, but hey when i'm talking out loud and saying "i wonder if i'm inactive, i guess i'll try my emp. number and find out" and the guy at CS punches my number in like it's no big deal and then allows me to use the discount you can see how it would be difficult for me to think that i was doing something wrong to REI.
but hey, hopefully it will be clear that this was a misunderstanding, if not i'm banned from REI's for one year.
the funniest part of the night was when they tried to not give cole his warantee tuneup.. he busted out sally jewel and the managers almost shat themselves, they promptly give him the warantee tuneup (and chads as well).
but hey, today the sun rises again and after i talk to nancy this will be over and done with. we have 1300ish more miles to ride, we leave for new mexico today!!! hopefully we'll find people nice enough to invite us inside and allow me to blog here and there.. if not.. i'll talk to everyone when i get to sunny san diego!!!
Monday, July 27, 2009
July 25th: Colorful Colorado
Woke up in the horse barn, it smells like poo, but whatever.. we ride to anton and on the way i get a flat (my 2nd one and first one not due to a huge 5 inch nail) and eat some pavement.. my wrist and elbow hurt but otherwise i'm ok..
best state sign so far.. leave it up to the hippies to make one instead of using a metal sign..
i had to climb up it.. did you expect anything else from me?
chad pulling up..
so our last stop was at this gas station... i was craving ice cream so i had 2 snicker ice cream bars (the best ice cream snack in the world by the way).
we ride and it's raining and we stop at last chance colorado.. population TWENTY THREE... no on is home and it's in the middle of nowhere.. we have 2 choices to stay.... abandoned homes.. or side of a church.. the decision was simple..
i was the only one to shower that night, due to the high amounts of mosquito's.. as a result of showering i have 5-6 bites on my rear end.. not worth the shower..
this dog has a crush on chad
best state sign so far.. leave it up to the hippies to make one instead of using a metal sign..
i had to climb up it.. did you expect anything else from me?
chad pulling up..
so our last stop was at this gas station... i was craving ice cream so i had 2 snicker ice cream bars (the best ice cream snack in the world by the way).
we ride and it's raining and we stop at last chance colorado.. population TWENTY THREE... no on is home and it's in the middle of nowhere.. we have 2 choices to stay.... abandoned homes.. or side of a church.. the decision was simple..
i was the only one to shower that night, due to the high amounts of mosquito's.. as a result of showering i have 5-6 bites on my rear end.. not worth the shower..
July 24th: HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT
Talk about a slow ride....... 11.9 miles into oberlin and we just dragged like we haven't dragged before. The heat was killing me.. we stopped at an A&W for some food, had the best root beer float ever. for our next stop i had a TIDAL WAVE.. a 44oz sprite. From that point on was the easiest 41 miles i've ever ridden... pretty much cruised at 20mph all the way to st. francis KS.. the craziest thing happened though, i farted NONSTOP the whole way, i blame it on the 44oz tidal wave.
these folks (young couple, probably our age) had all sorts of animals... the geese vs dogs went on until sunset..
i was upset for the natives when i read this.. yeah, poor settlers who were "slaughtered" but nothing about the complete eradication of a culture.. i call BS on that.
So we were at this gas station for our last stop... cole is out looking for this outdoor shower a guy told him about, i'm on bike watch when this total burnout walks by and sits down next to me. she's smoking a butt so i already want punch her in the face for making me smell the terrible 2nd hand smoke. thankfully the cig was on its last pull and she finished. this girl is clearly a burnout townie, judging by her looks she was in her mid to late 20's, but who knows. so she sits down next to me and starts talking and i realize she is baked out of her mind.. her shirt is way too large for her so her bra is popping out and she smells funky. so she's asking me what we're doing and i tell her, yadda yadda.. nothing special, i just want her to leave, but i'm alone at the moment so i'll entertain myself at her expense. then she did something that made me want to throw up, she touched my leg. my natural reaction was to just make this face as if someone rubbed feces all over me. i think that did the trick because she retracted her hand..
she continues to ask me if i smoked, i said no because it's disgusting and terrible for you. she then asks me if i smoke pot, also i said no..
at this point i'm done her entertainment value is next to zero and cole starts to walk back. i tell her to ask him, maybe he does and maybe he'll use her shower (she offered her shower at her home). i'm desperately hoping that i can pawn her off to cole.. he returns and she lights up again.. i now want to slap her across the head.. i tell this girl i'm cycling across the country to promote healthy living and healthy eating and she lights up in front of me.. i literally turn my back to her and write in my journal..
here is the exact writings from my journal: "This baked chick came over and is smoking a cigarette and it's nasty. she touched me leg. so gross. she offered me a shower at her place. OMG this girl offends me" i'm surprised i didn't mention that she was a complete waste of space on this planet... i really should have taken a photograph of her..
but that's enough about her.... later on that night we're at the farm, the weather is amazing. the guy says no rain for the night so we pitch our tents without the fly... then the wind picks up and we scramble.. well, here is the video.. wind is so strong my tent poles SNAP!..... cole almost gets picked up..
while cole, myself and clay (the owner of the house) move my tent to the horse barn we instruct chad to stay in the tent so it doesn't fly away.. he is spread eagle in the tent and says the wind was so hard the tent was flat on top of him.. his exact thoughts were (from chad) : "well, if i'm going to die getting swept up by a tornado would definitely be on the top of my list, you'll just pick me up in nebraska or something tomorrow"...
parents: DO NOT WORRY, we got safely into the horse barn and slept safely and well... i think the funniest part of the night was when i called chad out to help me put the footprint on.. i was yelling instructions but i forgot he has clawhand and was just terrible at putting the footprint on.. i couldn't stop laughing in the middle of a windstorm.. i decided he was useless at helping and ordered him back into the tent so it wouldn't fly away.. he thought it was the best thing ever.. until we left him there alone.. ha ha
chad being voyeuristic
these folks (young couple, probably our age) had all sorts of animals... the geese vs dogs went on until sunset..
at A&W, chad decides it's so hot he needs a whole gallon of water for the next 30 or so miles..
i was upset for the natives when i read this.. yeah, poor settlers who were "slaughtered" but nothing about the complete eradication of a culture.. i call BS on that.
So we were at this gas station for our last stop... cole is out looking for this outdoor shower a guy told him about, i'm on bike watch when this total burnout walks by and sits down next to me. she's smoking a butt so i already want punch her in the face for making me smell the terrible 2nd hand smoke. thankfully the cig was on its last pull and she finished. this girl is clearly a burnout townie, judging by her looks she was in her mid to late 20's, but who knows. so she sits down next to me and starts talking and i realize she is baked out of her mind.. her shirt is way too large for her so her bra is popping out and she smells funky. so she's asking me what we're doing and i tell her, yadda yadda.. nothing special, i just want her to leave, but i'm alone at the moment so i'll entertain myself at her expense. then she did something that made me want to throw up, she touched my leg. my natural reaction was to just make this face as if someone rubbed feces all over me. i think that did the trick because she retracted her hand..
she continues to ask me if i smoked, i said no because it's disgusting and terrible for you. she then asks me if i smoke pot, also i said no..
at this point i'm done her entertainment value is next to zero and cole starts to walk back. i tell her to ask him, maybe he does and maybe he'll use her shower (she offered her shower at her home). i'm desperately hoping that i can pawn her off to cole.. he returns and she lights up again.. i now want to slap her across the head.. i tell this girl i'm cycling across the country to promote healthy living and healthy eating and she lights up in front of me.. i literally turn my back to her and write in my journal..
here is the exact writings from my journal: "This baked chick came over and is smoking a cigarette and it's nasty. she touched me leg. so gross. she offered me a shower at her place. OMG this girl offends me" i'm surprised i didn't mention that she was a complete waste of space on this planet... i really should have taken a photograph of her..
but that's enough about her.... later on that night we're at the farm, the weather is amazing. the guy says no rain for the night so we pitch our tents without the fly... then the wind picks up and we scramble.. well, here is the video.. wind is so strong my tent poles SNAP!..... cole almost gets picked up..
while cole, myself and clay (the owner of the house) move my tent to the horse barn we instruct chad to stay in the tent so it doesn't fly away.. he is spread eagle in the tent and says the wind was so hard the tent was flat on top of him.. his exact thoughts were (from chad) : "well, if i'm going to die getting swept up by a tornado would definitely be on the top of my list, you'll just pick me up in nebraska or something tomorrow"...
parents: DO NOT WORRY, we got safely into the horse barn and slept safely and well... i think the funniest part of the night was when i called chad out to help me put the footprint on.. i was yelling instructions but i forgot he has clawhand and was just terrible at putting the footprint on.. i couldn't stop laughing in the middle of a windstorm.. i decided he was useless at helping and ordered him back into the tent so it wouldn't fly away.. he thought it was the best thing ever.. until we left him there alone.. ha ha
I bid you goodnight
i'm tired and sleepy but i'll leave you folks with one story that i had forgotten about..
so i'm staying with matty ice.. a buddy from college.. he makes his an amazing meal and we go hit up a bar with some live music... it's myself, ice, chad, luther and cole.
so we're having some beers and shooting the shit when matt reminds me of an incident that happened freshman year..
matts roommate was pat who we called big gay pat because, well, he was big, really gay (like tells you stories about how he gives fellatio out of the blue gay) and was named pat.. well one day (this is freshman year mind you) the doors are open and we're just having some drinks at the dorm... ice's high school friends are up and we're all chilling and what not..
pat storms out of his room and begins to flaunt how great this new drink he just made up is..
this is how the event unfolds:
big gay pat: "holy fucking shit, this is the most amazing drink ever, you guys gotta try it" pat begins to hand drink to me.
me: i'm pretty drunk at this point, so what do i do when someone hands me a drink when i'm drunk? i reach out for it like a normal air breathing human being..
ice: from about 25 feet away mind you (and with complete, sincere concern for my well being)..."TRAAAAAAN, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE SUCKS COCK WITH THAT MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
me: apparently i make this hideous face in response to that saving gesture and immediately hand the drink back to pat..
we never got to what happened after that.. my stomach was hurting i was laughing so hard..
i never did thank ice for that, but i will be sure to do so over an ice cold brew later tonight....
p.s.- LUTHER IS ENGAGED.... wtf? chad and i decided that no matter what he does for his wedding, there has to be an open bar.. or else we won't come.. PERIOD.
so i'm staying with matty ice.. a buddy from college.. he makes his an amazing meal and we go hit up a bar with some live music... it's myself, ice, chad, luther and cole.
so we're having some beers and shooting the shit when matt reminds me of an incident that happened freshman year..
matts roommate was pat who we called big gay pat because, well, he was big, really gay (like tells you stories about how he gives fellatio out of the blue gay) and was named pat.. well one day (this is freshman year mind you) the doors are open and we're just having some drinks at the dorm... ice's high school friends are up and we're all chilling and what not..
pat storms out of his room and begins to flaunt how great this new drink he just made up is..
this is how the event unfolds:
big gay pat: "holy fucking shit, this is the most amazing drink ever, you guys gotta try it" pat begins to hand drink to me.
me: i'm pretty drunk at this point, so what do i do when someone hands me a drink when i'm drunk? i reach out for it like a normal air breathing human being..
ice: from about 25 feet away mind you (and with complete, sincere concern for my well being)..."TRAAAAAAN, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE SUCKS COCK WITH THAT MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
me: apparently i make this hideous face in response to that saving gesture and immediately hand the drink back to pat..
we never got to what happened after that.. my stomach was hurting i was laughing so hard..
i never did thank ice for that, but i will be sure to do so over an ice cold brew later tonight....
p.s.- LUTHER IS ENGAGED.... wtf? chad and i decided that no matter what he does for his wedding, there has to be an open bar.. or else we won't come.. PERIOD.
July 23rd.. CENTER OF THE USA
late morning for us.. 6:30 alarm.. old man was very chatty, but a nice man.. we dragged our feet all day.. but passed 4 miles from the geographical center of the united states of america.
below is a photograph of my dinner the night before.. i totally forgot to mention the nice guy gave us some fresh homegrown tomatoes that were really good.
photograph of myself and mr. lahodny
4 miles away from the dead center of the states..
we got there 15 minutes before they closed. 6.99 dinner special with all you can eat salad bar.... they had some really good deviled eggs!! that night we crashed in the back deck of the meyers of norton, KS.. they sent a pic of us to my gmail which i'll post later on. it was great.. mr. meyers offered us his shower.. oh man, a real shower feels soooooo good.
below is a photograph of my dinner the night before.. i totally forgot to mention the nice guy gave us some fresh homegrown tomatoes that were really good.
taking a break... we had to stop here.. for chad of course.. the lover of pickles.
photograph of myself and mr. lahodny
4 miles away from the dead center of the states..
we got there 15 minutes before they closed. 6.99 dinner special with all you can eat salad bar.... they had some really good deviled eggs!! that night we crashed in the back deck of the meyers of norton, KS.. they sent a pic of us to my gmail which i'll post later on. it was great.. mr. meyers offered us his shower.. oh man, a real shower feels soooooo good.
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