EMBARRASSING

I like this ad.



Speaking of deodorant, I stocked up today. I've never used Armani Code, but it was free so I'll give it a try. For the guys reading this, I know an $18 deodorant seems like a bit much, but your armpits and girlfriend(s) will thank you.

CTRL.ALT.SHIFT

Written and Directed by: Alexandra Monro + Sheila Menon
Mentor: Jim Threapleton
Music: The Thirst

No Way Through highlights mobility restrictions imposed in the West Bank, that are limiting its habitants’ access to health care, thus violating a fundamental human right.
via.

MY WEEKEND

Was pretty much a bunch of work, a ton of food, some intoxicating beverages, and good company. I wish I had more pictures, or more of a desire to tell you about what happened, but I don't.
Sorry.






Pictures from JP, Theresa, and Fufu.

BLACK FRIDAY

I'm done with work. Waking up at 6:30 to leave by 7:00 was a good idea at the time, but thanks to some rain, I hit zero traffic on my way to work this morning. It got busy a little later in the day, nothing I couldn't handle though. Mark from iMiNUSD posted some pictures from their sale. Looks like a mad house over at the shop.




I'm sure you could use something to help you RLX just as much as I could. See you guys in a few.

TURKEY DAY

Today has been great, minus waking up to a phone beeping like crazy and a raging headache, I was able to spend a day with family, football, and food. I'm still stuck in a coma so here are some pictures of what put me in my current state.






I would also like to take the time to remind my friends how thankful I am to have them in my life. I have no idea where I would be without you.

BIKE CHECK

My favorite bike shop, which is owned by mi amigo Mark, did a bike check on my Cramerotti. If you don't know by now, please do yourself a favor and check out the iMiNUSD site. Better yet, head over to 112 Paseo de San Antonio San Jose, CA 95112 and see the shop for yourself. You will be blown away by the amount of track parts, and great service.



Good looking out Mark!

And if you are like me and would rather buy bike parts than fight the crazy shoppers on Black Friday, be sure to head to the shop from 1-6 for the real deals.

I DO

But I shouldn't.



When Major Taylor said "don't eat cheap candies," he was referring to not using drugs or drinking alcohol. The sober life was the only way for him. Sorry Major, it's 5 o'clock and I have a glass of wine next to me. Time to get the creative juices flowing.via

D.O.A.

Bone Thugs N Harmony Remix

SORRY MARTHA

I will not have my kids help me with a holiday family newsletter. It's not just because you shouldn't need a holiday newsletter for people to know how you are doing (try a phone call once in awhile), but rather the fact that I do not have kids. I have a sweet tooth, so I will continue to eat the entire bag of Dove chocolates even with the ridiculous messages from Martha Stewart.



Can we please go back to getting messages like “Temptation is fun... giving in is even better” or how about "Be mischievous. It feels good."
Thanks.

IT'S OFFICIAL

iMiNUSD is now open, if you didn't know already. This past Saturday, my favorite bike shop, iMiNINUSD held a grand opening party which included the 4th and final race in the SJ Fixed "It's a W.R.A.P." alleycat series.





Rather than just saying go, they decided to try something new. Red light, green light was a sure first in an alleycat for just about everyone. The comic relief definitely calmed the nerves. Having ordered checkpoints always means you will have a huge group of people following you right from the start. Myself and Bill Tran zig zagged to Westgate Mall to try and lose as many people as possible. We were the first to arrive and were greeted with five saltine crackers. I chewed all I could, then coughed the rest out. A little water, then it was on to The Ranch.

I seemed to find myself in the front of the pack again. Not being completely sure of where to go, we made a wrong turn that cost us a few minutes. On the way up Yerba Buena, we dropped a few more people, and were down to a pack of about five. Trangalang and friends were working The Ranch checkpoint and were happy to offer a spoonful of cinnamon or the option to do 30 push ups. I opted for the cinnamon, had half a banana, some water, checked the map and started down the hill. Having no brakes, I walked part of the down hill. Better safe than sorry for sure.



The next stop was up up Alum Rock, 9 miles away. Now down to Andrew, Evan, Collin, and myself, we pacelined to Bird, Dan, and Tina Balls. I did a little dance and went on my way.



Wah-Wah and a few others were at the final checkpoint located in the Piedmont Hills. If you have yet to ride them, I would advise you to do so. A few miles of rolling hills, all of which are easy enough to stay in the saddle, with a nice sized bike lane makes for a good ride for even a beginner. I didn't expect to have to eat something else, but a Taco Bell fire sauce was easier than expected to take down.

The home stretch was a killer. Collin struggled to keep up, but Darin did manage to catch us. We knew we would not pass those in front of us but we wanted to maintain a decent pace. We were lucky enough to have green lights from Old Oakland/13th to San Fernando. Once we go by campus I gave it all and finished the 50 miles of death in 6th place. In typical SJF fashion, once you think you are done, you realize you have to run around the block. I was frustrated enought to say I quit track bikes, which I may still consider. My knees have been killing me lately, but I'll save that for another post. Tim "The Tornado" Tsuruda took home first place and walked away with a Globe Rolls bike.




The after party was amazing. 31 gallons of beer (2 kegs for those of you that are not too good with volume conversion), 36 bottles of wine, a box of chocolates, 30 pizzas and 8 trays of Tofoo Com Chay. I don't remember much after finishing a bottle of 2 buck succc, but it was a great day. Congrats again to Mark on the great store, and a huge thanks to everyone who made the event possible.




Photo credit: Anna Cabarloc, Bird, and Drew.

A QUOTE

for thought.

CAN'T SLEEP

I'm too excited.

MY FAVORITE DAY

I was done. Okay, I thought I was done. Possibly done with track bikes. This however has more than one gear.
I can't wait for our first century.

A STEAL

I picked up a new pair of jeans today. For those of you that notice, I always wear the same jeans. I have 3 pairs of Gap Morrisons, one very well broken in, the others not so much. I also rock 501s from time to time. I am a sucker for a bargain and these Ben Sherman Jeans I got at the Macy's one day sale are just that. Even Andrew, the wise hobo, would be proud of my purchase. Do I love them? Not totally, but for the price I paid I'm sure I'll get some use out of um.



Total savings of $104.25, before my additional employee 20% off.
Thanks Macy's!

HONG KONG

Fixed.

The picture of my green Cannondale made it to the Hong Kong Fixed Blog today!



I cant wait for the to have the rear wheel back from being build up so I can ride this beauty again.

LIGHTS ON

After contemplating on whether it was worth my time totry to learn how to improve my pictures, I gave in and decided to download Adobe's Lightroom version 2.5.



Upon opening this rather expensive program, if you are unlucky enough to pay the retail price, I was quick to find that I had no idea how to do a single thing. Thanks to the internet, I was able to find a few hours worth of step by step tutorials on how to use Lightroom.



I watched and watched and watched, trying to remember exactly what did what. After 8 or so videos, I picked a picture and decided to go to work.

This is the original shot of my 1993 Cannondale Track Bike.



Using Lightroom, I turned that into this.



Some how the original still looks better, which means I still have no idea what I am doing. Back to the books, or tutorials have you, and hours of practicing that will probably have the same end result. Ahhhh I give up already......maybe.

LAST WEEK

SOUTH SIDE SCRAMBLE

JP did a great write up about the South Side Scramble alleycat that was yesterday, so to save some time, I'll just edit his.



TAS Force woke up late Saturday morning after a night of heavy relaxing. I JP walked out of my his room and found Matt me on on my his couch. Devon from SJFixed was throwing a race that afternoon in the South Side. We had no plans of racing since I JP was planning to be out of town for the fight, and Matt I had work scheduled. But in our last-minute attitude, we decided to hop on our saddles and race.

Rather than sprinting to our bikes like these guys,



we decided to take it easy.




That was the route and We rode with a good team. It consisted of Matt me, Andrew, Darin, Johnathan, Prado, and myself JP. Matt Myself and Johnathan knew the South Side very well so they we take all the credit for navigating. We did the route in this order: started at In and Out Burger, Nickel City, Capitol Movie Theaters, Hellyer Park, Los Paseos Park, Kaiser Hospital, and ending at Almaden Lake Park. In total, our route was about 25 miles in about an hour.



Along the way, Prado started to slip back because he wanted to pace himself. I JP don't didn't understand why since he is fast on the track and a strong rider. When we got to the third checkpoint, he was nowhere in sight. We decided to keep going and finish up since Matt I was in a rush for work. Our team kept a good pace and finished strong. We decided to finish as a team and share first place. With that, we swept the table of prizes and this is what I swooped on: a Chrome t-shirt, a Knog rear Skink, a tube a Rando, a House of Commons shirt, and an Urban Velo magazine. It was a nice, quick race and another TAS victory. Thanks for putting this on Devon! Oh, and there is a race on the 21st. So come out and fuck shit up!

Thanks for letting me steal your words JP, even without permission.
Love you. No aero.

GOOD FRIDAY

After a wild Thursday night, it was nice to be home Friday morning. I have put off moving my room around for awhile now, but I had some time before work so I went to it. I picked up a new bed frame and headboard from Craigslist two weeks ago which match perfectly with my setup. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement of my furniture now. Maybe I'll just have to spend some more time at home.




After work I headed downtown to meet with everyone at iMiNUSD. We had a RLX session, then headed to Nhan's for round 2. The night wasn't complete without a carnitas burrito from La Vics.



It was a good day.