Ping Pong!

Now I have picture proof of the madness that is Tuesday night ping pong. We all found that it doesn't take all that much time for sensory overload to kick in with balls bouncing everywhere, the music, the lighting and especially the people watching! The lighting at the tables is relatively hideous, to the point that the ball disappears pretty quickly when you get three feet back from the table. When we got to the point that complete blindness started setting in, we took off for a more relaxed setting . . .

Knowing people in good places is always helpful. We took a quick brewery tour at Great Divide and ended up by the brewing tanks in what used to be the parking lot, drinking a beer, soothed by the gurgling sounds of the brewing process. It was way better than fighting the masses in the tap room trying to get a table, especially since it was a lovely evening to sit outside. As the need for food grew, we pondered the options and decided to head around the corner to Biker Jim's for some out of the ordinary sausages. There are plenty of choices . . . I stayed away from the Rattlesnake & Pheasant and opted instead for the Southwestern Buffalo, which was good, but not as good as the generously proffered bite of Jalapeno Cheddar Elk. At the end of our dining experience, we hopped back on our bikes for the ride home. I am always reminded at the beginning of the warmer season how pleasant it is to ride around town at night. Perspective is way different out of your car and the concerns of traffic and parking go out the window, especially when headed to areas where parking is generally a pain. I am looking forward to many evening adventures, in good company, this spring and summer.

Surrounded by Excellence!

In my spare time . . . (pause for laughter) . . . I decided to start a cycling team since I wasn't really planning on continuing to race as actively/seriously as I had in the past and putting up with the shenanigans of the old team was no longer necessary. Enter Local Velo! The team is made up of 50 or so riders of all different skill levels, age groups, motivations, etc. The overall goal was to have a group of people who would support the sponsors, all small local businesses, and further the sport in some way, shape or form. We have a wine sponsor, a coffee sponsor, a biscuit sponsor, a pizza sponsor, a yoga sponsor, a bike shop sponsor, an optical shop sponsor, a locomotive service sponsor, and even a high end Italian furniture sponsor. A few team riders have made their way onto the podium in some of the early season races. Curtis won the Cat 4 race out at the Denver Federal Center and then celebrated in style, spending some of his race winnings at Rise & Shine.

Fellow Rise & Shine colleague Josh took second place this past weekend at the Mead Roubaix road race. Using his mountain biking skills and new found strength on the road, he found himself off the front after the first dirt section of the course and spent 32 of 35 miles off the front solo before getting reeled back in by the pack with two laps to go. It is cool to see him learning as he goes and gaining an understanding of race strategy.

Apparently Local Velo racers suffer from something akin to pika as they all tend towards kissing/licking/tasting metal . . . just saying.

Exciting and New . . .

It seems like the current trend for businesses in the n-hood over the past year or so has been high propensity for change. Pearl Street has seen some pretty dramatic changes, not just the Seems Like Olde Times/Deli Den/Ototo space. The list of casualties included The Crushery, Ototo, India's Pearl, and Pearl St. Grill. India's Pearl is really the only loss that made me sad as the other spots never really did it for me. This week, in a semi-constant state of riding induced hunger, I made the rounds and hit up some of the newcomers to the block(s).

I don't remember where I read about Cinque Soldi, but deli sandwiches, cured meats, cheeses . . . yes, yes, and yes! Curtis and I stopped in Thursday for lunch after letting Dempsey and Avery (the german shepherd) play tennis and tire themselves out in general. I let the counter staff take the wheel since they know what's what on the menu. They did not steer me wrong with the Chicago Beef sandwich on a baguette. At $7 for the sandwich and chips, it was definitely good value. Thursday evening after some general trouble making, we headed over to Sexy Pizza which took over the Crushery spot. It is quite possibly one of the dumbest names I have ever heard for a pizza place and there is absolutely nothing sexy about it. They chef up some pretty solid slices and it is nice to have a pizza joint in the neighborhood that sells pizza by the slice and doesn't have the world's most blown out, tired slice pie sitting around . . . true story, another pizza restaurant in my general area got so bad that I started ordering the kids' pizza because I knew it was at least a little fresher . . . you know who you are! Good thing I am riding a fair amount again, because I rounded out the weekend with a stop at Buffalo Doughboy Bakery. I knew I was going for a long ride Saturday so two pastries seemed appropriate and some how not excessive. I had the Crocodile which was croissant stuffed with apple, cinnamon, brown sugar and walnuts as well as a dark chocolate croissant. I did not eat until 2/3 of the way through the ride when we paused on Peak to Peak Highway for some snacks. Even then, the small bag of M&Ms was sufficient for making it home without being completely cratered. It is nice to have the motivation to resume with the blog updates, thanks source of inspiration . . . who was that masked person?

Shake Your Fist!

Nothing like walking into something that should be entirely familiar and sensing quickly that something is amiss. I did some vehicle shuffling yesterday evening to clear out a little space in the garage to get a few things done. The good news is that the time share pickup truck started right up and made it all the way around the block to its parking spot on the street!

I the truck around front, stopped to pluck a few dandelions from the grass in the front yard. After a few minutes, I made my way back through the house to grab a few small items from the garage. I immediately noticed looking through the windows on the house side that the garage door was open . . . not the state it was in when I drove away because I always watch to make sure the door closes fully before driving off! I ran to the man door (yes, the small door is called a man door) and the dirty thieves locked the deadbolt from the inside, let the fist shaking begin!

The dramatic conclusion of the encounter was me running through the garage in time to see the perp driving off down the alley with my new bicycle tossed in the back of their truck. I dialed 911 to report it hoping that perhaps Denver's finest would be in the vicinity, shook my fist some more, called in the insurance claim and carried on with my evening plans.

I like to think that I maintain a pretty steady sense of calm in situations where others tend to freak out. There is very little I can do that will make my bike come back at this point. It is only carbon fiber/metal/plastic bits and nobody suffered physical harm, unlike "the incident" . . . let us never speak of it again . . . I will find out just how well my insurance works. With any luck, I will be on the replacement bike in short order. It is supposed to rain today anyways.

Signs

I am a little bit confused as to where this one is going. Quality bits of advice taken separately, but why are they together? What's on the other side of that door? If I keep said door closed at all times, how am I supposed to exit?


I did eventually open the door and pass through, but it wasn't the sign that caused my delay . . . it was by choice.

Yesterday evening, I ventured out to the Exdo Event Center for some Tuesday night ping pong. I haven't played in quite a while, the last real game being when I was at an old job, way back in the day. The skills are still there somewhere, fortunately, no real games with scoring took place. They have quite the setup with the ping pong, DJ, bar . . . but I most enjoyed the roving ball boys/girls with their fishing net ball picker-upper contraptions and the constant supply of ping pong balls at your table. We never had that growing up!

Even If . . .

. . . the revisited blog is just to make fun of dumb things (and maybe people), it is back . . . in some capacity.

I don't think anybody is really following this thing anymore, but when the masses return, they can expect updates on life, the yard, some cycling, state of the stupid, ill conceived plans, life philosophies, ect., etc.

Since I promised some mocking, how about Groupon? I knew I didn't really like their business model getting daily deal updates in my email box that rapidly turned to a smattering of random services (mostly nail salons and massages) occasionally sprinkled with a deal from a restaurant on the verge of going out of business. I have been tickled pink by the stories of class action lawsuits and SEC investigations following their IPO. That Google cash offer is looking pretty sweet right about now huh?