I am the crazy one? Seriously?

Google maps cannot keep up with the sprawl that is Cranberry Township.
I rode past this gem of a street, and vomited in my mouth a little. Its not even on google maps yet.

"Walden Pond Lane"




Here is the MLS listing. For non Pittsburgh people, 700k is like 4 billion dollars elsewhere.

So the house has 4.5 bathrooms, goes for a huge amount of money, replaced farmland with sprawl and is in a subdivision named "Walden Pond" on a road named "Walden Pond Ln."

Should I be offended? Or should I laugh at how ridiculous it is?

I picture some super bitter group of people who are responsible for these housing plots. They are probably trained urban planners or architect who were forced to replace their idealism with a decent paycheck. I picture them having office polls about who can come up with the most ironic, meaningless name. Maybe they have like a big presentation at the end of the year and give out awards. I hope this one wins.

For those of you like Bob, please read at least the wiki page on walden.

Also a great man, and lifelong cyclist Ken Kifer who was struck by a car while riding and died a few years ago, has great notes on Walden.

Because I just figured this out...

Im sure that you know this, because you are probably smarter than me, but:
The dude that Horner gave a ride to awhile ago...

is the same dude that got a Silver Medal in the Nordic Combined.

California dreaming...

Bike (or lack of) stuff:

No I actually have a plane ticket. March 9th I am gonzo to hang out with Matt! for a bit. He contends that LA has amazing riding, and that I will have people to ride with. It was 80 there the other day. I had delusions of doing Redlands and San Dimas... but not having ridden my bike in 10 days would probably make that hard. Jake said Redlands is "really really really hard"... coupling that with poor fitness is not good.

I remember like 15 years ago, I was hanging out with a BMX dude who was talking about all the traveling he has done. At the time, we would all pile 5 dudes and 5 bmx bikes into a car and drive across 4 states to ride new trails for a weekend, then drive home. He thought it was weird that he had been to so many cities, but never experienced them. Sometimes I feel that way about cycling. I have raced a lot of places that I would love to have simply just ridden. Green Mountains, Battenkill, all those mountain bike trails...

Anyway, so my plan is to go out there and ride a bunch, suck up some new roads, maybe do some sort of riding that will get me fit and come home and enjoy the 40 degree rains and probable floods.

Life stuff:
In 1998 my dad bought a Dodge colt new for less than 5,000. In 2000 he was still driving it. He was the president of his company, and by far had the shittiest car in the lot everyday. At that point, the seats were literally held together with duct tape. The car had no power steering, no power windows, NO RADIO, no AC. Guess what, when he got rid of it in 2000, he gave it to my brother who drove it for a few years. It ran until the bottom rusted out and it would no longer pass inspection. My brother then drove it through the woods, and traded it to a junkyard in exchange for the tow out.

Today NPR had a story about the "GM Sunshine," a 5000 dollar minivan available only in china. In the article, they interview the General Manager of GM (GMGM?) and he pretty much states everything that is wrong with some 'Mericans.
-they need gadgets.
-they need SIX TIMES the horsepower of this thing
-they need leather seats
-they need the ability to go 80 miles per hour from a standstill (insert super long rant about seeing the cars sit on the parkway everyday and wondering what the AVERAGE speed of the average American commuter is)...
-they need to pay six times as much

And all of the previous were fine if it is what you want,but the bottom line is what could be a 5-7 thousand dollar car, suddenly becomes a 30,000 dollar car...
Bring me the 5000 dollar car please.


Fifteen wrote: "a little too easy, is just a little too hard"...



I've been having a hard time trying to justify
The clouds arising from the cars we drive
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world waste away
Been having a hard time trying to accept the fact
That paying money for four walls leaves the slavery intact
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world slip away
I know, I know, I know, life has become slavery
Costs two dollars a minute and additional charges to pray to god today
See I've been looking for some guidance but the voice on the phone ain't got a damn thing to say
And a little too easy seems just a little too hard today
And I'm afraid my children are going to have to watch the world fade away
I was born a little too late to see the dream that they called America
See I only want to be a Free man but it's against the law to sleep on the ground in Gods land
And a little too easy seems just a little bit insane
And I'm afraid I'm going to have to run for my life one of these days
I know, I know, I know, life has become slavery
The ground is my body, it's been poisoned with lead and junk food and toxic waste
The sky is my mind it's been clouded with cigarettes and fluorocarbons and petroleum distillates
The water's my heart, it's been broken with booze and drugs and shooting up paste
The sun is my spirit, it belongs to all of us, I guess we're all one sick race
And autonomy shall reward itself with freedom
And humility shall reward itself with peace
And the dissolution of possession and the integration of humanity
Shall bring forth a sharing of our responsibility
For our lives and our earth

Sn-OMG!!!!!!!!. What bruegger's, you want to raise your prices??

So today I had to get up crazy early to beat the 84 year old neighbor to her sidewalk. She came out while I was shoveling her walk and said "I dont want you to slip and fall and get hurt, or get sick." I imagine this is what her children probably told her and she was just passing it on. She is 84 and lived in the house her entire freaking life... awesome.

So I am a big fan of the "day old" bruegger's bagel basket. 6 bagels that are a day old for a cheaper price. It was $2, then $2.5, and now $3. So I have taken to try and make my own bagels, as I can easily eat a dozen per week. This was the best recipe/result yet.

Whole wheat homemade bagels

Math:
5lb (20 cups, 40 bagels worth) whole wheat flour = $3.00
5 active dry yeasts =$2.50
1.5 t salt = .05 tops
1T organic fancy sugar = .10 tops
1T veg (i used olive oil cause im a yuppie) =.10
water and oven heat = negligible

5.75 for 40 bagels
Less than 15 cents a bagel.
Day olds are now 50 cents each, the price a regular bagel was 5 years ago.


Easy directions:
Mix:
4 cups whole wheat flour
1.5 t dry yeast
1T sugar
1.5 t salt
1T oil.
2 - 2.25 cups warm (90 degreeish... too hot will kill the yeast)


Knead the dough for 10 minutes.



I squared it off to make an even cut.


I tried to evenly cut the square into 8 slices (2 cups flour per bagel), then made "bagels" out of the slices. Supposed to let these guys sit for 10 minutes to let the yeast do what it does.

Preheat your oven to 425 and lightly grease a pan.
Boil the "bagels" for 2 - 3 minutes, flipping halfway through. These did not float, but the last ones did?


Put the boiled bagels on the pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes on each side. Careful, this is where finesse comes in, dont let them in there too long or they can burn.


These are like a commercial saying "dont overpay for bagels, look how beautiful they are"




Honestly, if I can do this, anybody can.

Lack of posting. Sorry. Very emotional, equally as not thought out post.

It is winter, I am in full hibernation mode. Sorry for the lack of posting, but I am not about to just write about how much I am riding, as there are enough blogs that talk about that.

I remember when I fell in love with The Smiths. It was my first month of living on my own. I was 17 and making a huge transition. I lived with 5 or 6 others. My bedroom was a closet that only fit a mattress and a small dresser. My rent was like $125 a month, so my days basically consisted of riding my BMX bike around and eating 4 dollar pizzas. One roommate had just gotten back from bumming around for a year. He traveled so much that his day consisted of cooking breakfast, and then playing black sabbath on his guitar, then watching PBS until he fell asleep. Anyway, he picked up a live bootleg somewhere in his travels, which I borrowed and listened to on repeat.

Dont get me wrong, their albums are really good, but their live sets are some of the best things ever recorded. Anyway I was listening to one recently and the lyrics really hit home.

It's so easy to laugh
It's so easy to hate
It takes strength to be gentle and kind...

I sometimes think that one of the hardest things is to not deteriorate into a lot of the people around me. CYCLING CONTENT: I especially think that this is hard when one spends a lot of time riding bikes on the road. It is my opinion that when people enter their cars, they become some sort of evil twin of their former self. Yesterday on a rural road in the middle of nowhere, my cycling buddy and I were aggressively honked and yelled at by a woman easily pushing 75 years old.

This is everyday, several times a day. Obviously the awesomeness of riding bikes all the time does not get outweighed by the people who act as if it their job to try to ruin my day. However it begs the question of how happy the average person driving past me in their car actually is. When I really think about the anger and hatred that it takes to honk or scream obscenities at a stranger for taking up 30 seconds (which will be made up by speeding) is fairly mind blowing.

We had better watch out, or the plot of ghost busters is going to come true and all of the negative energy in the world is going to form a super monster hell bent on destroying us all.

The Smiths live Meervaart Amsterdam 4.21.84

Bike riding. It's not funny anymore.

Saturday we had a real group ride. There were so many people heading out Noblestown Rd that some dude standing at a bus stop asked if buses were running on their normal schedule even with the event. What event? 8 dudes riding on a Saturday in Pittsburgh.
Awesome.

Husker Du - It's not funny anymore




You can do what you want to do
You can say what you want to say
You can think what you think you want
It doesn’t matter anyway

It’s not funny anymore

Play what you want to play
Hear what you want to hear
Don’t worry about the result
Or the effect is has on your career

Act like you want to act
Be what you want to be
Find out who you really are
And don’t pay any attention to me


If you like to download music: http://www.mediafire.com/?cwyndhong2g

2010 so far.

2010.
I took up cross country skiing. I skied 13 hours in 5 days, then the snow melted and I started riding bikes again. I was lucky twice. The first day I owned skis I went to North Park and ran into two women skiing. They were actually both ski instructors. Having never even downhill skied before, I thought it was going to take me a long time to get it. However, much like cycling, there is a sharp learning curve and after only a few hours I was pretty good to go. Then I was lucky enough to go with Sharon to the big mountain where there 20+ miles of trails. She has been doing it a long time and stopped me from making any Noob moves.

Other things:
A good blog
Cycling Inquisition interviewed me about making those dumb cartoons. However, the blog is pretty awesome and worth reading.


We/I are working on 2010 sponsors and the team. We have some frames and tires lined up it looks like. ... awesome.

self fulfilling prophecy

Most cyclists in the Pittsburgh area know frick park. It is a huge city park with lots of mountain bike trails. It is in the east end (where most of the hip kids live), and is generally pretty rad. It is a standard ride for me to ride there, ride most or all of the trails, then ride home and get about 2 hours in.

That was today's simple plan. That coupled with the the possibility of a Schenley Park bonus loop if my feet were not too cold. As a non engineer, non crafty person, I came up with a pretty simple idea to try and keep my feet a bit warmer. Today was like 7 degrees when I left, with an 18mph wind.
I cut some tarps up, doubled them over and screwed bolts into the holes for the toe spikes. I figured this would seal them up well enough to block some snow and wind. It would also create a non breathable layer to help my feet stay warm.






Photos of my rig job.

So anyway, I get there a bit late and pedal around looking for Mayhew, Rowley and Hoffman. I am on my crossbike and they are on their mountain bikes. I didnt know how long I would even be able to ride with them, and I was running late. I rode up to where they were parked and thought about where they would go after that trail. I ended up on the ridge trail behind the new Environmnetal Charter School.

I was riding along when I came across a typical East End guy. He was wearing North Face gear, had a dog and was exercising. As I approached he verbally tried slowing his running dog down. This is a typical thing dog walkers who are pretending to care about anybody else do. Its like when you know somebody is going to get up and grab something, but you fake starting to get up and are like "oh you got it? cool."

Anyway, his dog blows past him and runs at me. I just keep pedaling and smile at him when I realize his dog has turned around and started chasing me. As weird as this might sound to some, it is totally standard to get chased in Frick by dogs. It is a part of riding there, despite there being signs everywhere threatening fines for doing otherwise.

So I have to admit that I ride with people who bring their dogs along. My brother takes his dog to Frick all the time. The google link above has a video of a friend's now deceased dog, and a link to the DirtRag editor's photo of 2 dogs. None on leashes. I generally dont mind, as I think MOST people are reasonable and they know their dogs well enough to judge their behavior.

On the flip side, when a dog walker gives me attitude for not slowing down at a dog that charges me, or when I get chased and nipped at, I try to convey to the owners that they are breaking the law and should really put the dogs on leashes.

Mayhew and I have gotten into debates over what is cool and what is not regarding dogs. He has 2 big dogs that I have never had a problem with, and I dont think they have ever caused any problems. My points are basically that it is racist to think that white yuppies should be allowed to disobey the law and you should not fear their dogs, however if a bunch of black dudes from Homewood started walking pit bulls around Frick without leashes, I think the law would quickly be enforced. Also my little Somali buddies are forbidden by their religion to be touched by dogs, and I am sure as East End liberal yuppies, most dog walkers would want to be culturally sensitive while walking dog, before driving their Volvos the 3 blocks from Frick to the food coop

I have gotten into a few verbal matches with people that pretty much boil down to me saying "you are breaking the law, if I kill your dog because it runs in front of me while I am bombing down single track... it is going to be a double whammy when I sue you because I mess up my bike or my body while killing your dog."

Sorry, back to the story again... today I am riding along and in a great mood. It is 7 degrees, I am riding, the conditions are great, I am not cold. I look over at this dude's happy dog that is chasing me, and say "my brothers dog is so much faster than you" in the voice that you use talking to an infant or a dog. I look up and keep pedaling until I feel this giant dog bite into my thigh.

He didnt nip at it. He didnt just hit me with his nose. I have had a puncture wound before and I know what it feels like. I stop and turn around, screaming at the owner that his dog just bit me. The owner says "dude" and "sorry" like 500 times. I have about 30 seconds to decide this dog's fate. I tell the guy that I think if I call animal control the dog will be destroyed (I used the F word like 30 times and may have told him that it should have been destroyed)...

I pulled down my pants and realize that I do a pretty poor job shaving my legs in the winter, and that the dog indeed broke my skin and that I was bleeding and already bruised.

I should have taken his information and made him give me like millions of dollars cash while threatening to have his dog killed. Or at least take his fancy 600 dollar snow outfit. Instead, I rode off as he apologized a bunch more.

While riding out I passed a half dozen dog owners letting their dogs run the main trail off-leash. I actually got nervous for a second. When leaving the park, I saw Rowley and Hofman, they said that MAYHEW GOT BIT TOO!!!!!!! Different dog though.

I got home, scrubbed the cut with antibacterial soap for 10 minutes then dumped alcohol and peroxide into it.


Yes this is my thigh.


This is the maddest I have been in awhile.

In search of Burt Hoovis' house.

Found it. Burt is nothing but class.

Somali xmas rager.

So Amy's mom convinced her coworkers that instead of buying each other scented candles and lottery tickets, or whatever crap office workers buy one another, they should all sponsor a Somali refugee from the hood (mine and Amy's neighbors.)In years past we had just donated used toys and things, which was awesome, but this year each kid got to open a new gift. All 14 of them. Some people from outside her office gave Amy's mom money, with which she bought a shop n save gift card for the Grandma/Matriarch of Little Somalia.

They were all really stoked and it was a good time. Somehow my favorite dude didnt end up with a gift. I bought him a 7 dollar soccer ball. Best 7 dollars spent in a long time.

Photo Summary:
We had pizza. We opened gifts. We had them write and read thank you cards. Oriel, my brother in law who is black but not Somali, told stories about fishing on his Island to the kids. Santa showed up. We had cake.

Little Ibihim fell asleep so hard in the car on the way home he was snoring like an adult. I carried him to his door. He woke up and said "Where is my train..." That is nice.