Livin' it up in Ben Franklin's town. Riding a bike in the city; damn! watch out for those trolley tracks (slippery when wet!) Whoa, that's what a hoochie mama looks like! I don't think I'm in Delaware anymore.....

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

rain,rain, go away!

NPR rocks, they got old school rap interviews in effect this week. Tune in from 7:30-8pm 90.9fm.

Haven't ridden since an awesome group ride with the "Bread" people on Saturday morning b/c of all the raininess we've been having. I shouldn't complain to much as I could be swimming down in New Orleans instead. I hope everyone that ever cared to visit, visited New Orleans before the flood as that city as we know it isn't going to be there anymore. It's sad, but it's probably just the beginning before some other coastal cities are ravaged by higher seas and stronger storms.

Yey, anyone see the weather the latter part of this week? Perfect baby. I hope to get my 12 hours of riding in from Friday-Monday. Not the best for the body, as I'm going to be cooked, but heck ya, it's going to be californialike.

Oh dude, the big Green Evil Things attacked again. This time one had white fuzzy things attached to it. It looked so EVIL, I couldn't even get the guts up to take a picture, though I did successfully remove the EVIL Green Thing from the Tomatoe plant. I just realized...maybe the EVIL Green Things are the reason why my DSL has been on the fritz???

anyone have 60+cm cross bike for sale?



Thursday, August 25, 2005


A few hours ago that was All leaves Posted by Picasa

Are they taking over South Philly? Posted by Picasa

The Big Evil Green Tomatoe Eating Monst Posted by Picasa

Big Evil Green things invade South Philly

Took off work yesterday, as when the highs are in the low 80's and humidity at real "JoeyThomspon" levels, then you know you have to skip work and ride your bike for most of the day. So that's what I did and I headed out for some tasty hills out west in Valley Forge park. Nothing beats that park. George Washington breathed the same air and probably drank the same water I do everytime I head out there. Also some of the climbs and descents are on one way roads, so you can just cruise up and down with reckless abandon. I was lucky enough to have another friend (DC Anne) who also wasn't working this day and so I picked her up in the town of hills (Manyunk) and then we rolled. Totally rocking ride, ended up getting 5 hours of saddle time, and DC Anne was kind enough to let me tackle a few hills solo so I could tire myself out and so she could hurt me on a few hills later on in the ride.

Later on in the day I headed just down the street to the new IKEA as I need to get a new bling-bling stove for my hopefully soon to be, uber bling Kitchen. All I can say for you single college kids out there is don't head to the bar, head to IKEA!!! It was like an soooper-doooper Abercrombie-Fitch/Maxim photo shoot at that place. Lotsa hotties everywhere, I was actually surprised I didn't see any beds being used with all sextension in the air. Heck, I turned a 30 minute trip into and hour and a half as it was just too fun to watch the action going down. Damn, and it was a Wednesday afternoon, I bet Friday nights get hot and heavy there.

We'll I head back to my place and can't find a spot on my street and I end up parking 2 blocks over and as soon as I get out 2 older dudes are like, Yo, "you live around here, I've seen your car all over." I was like yep, bought a place a few months ago. They asked my name, I told them, they were like, dude, we've heard of you. I was like, great, nothing like the neighbors hearing about you before they even meet you, never a good sign unless it's some hot mama looking for a cyclist to rub shaved legs together with you. Luckily these guys didn't know about the shaved legs, or the fact that I'm the guy who "painted the door all crazy" as most of my neighbors have said to my face. They were cool as could be and gave me the heads up on who's cool, who's hit the rock a time too many, and how South Philly is, coming from being born and raised here. It was actually a damn good talk with these guys, they were as cool as could be and really funny down to earth people. I've been finding that although south phillians look rough, they are actually easy people to strike up a conversation.

We'll I head back to my place and check the plants, as when it's this dry, they need that love and attention, so I'm giving them a nice good drink and what do I see, but a BIG Evil Green thing mowing a tomatoe plant down. This plant had ALL of it's leaves about 3 hours before and magically this BIG EVIL GREEN thing made the leaves dissappear. At first I was in awe of it, I didn't even care about the leaves being gone, then I realized all the time and effort I had put into this plant, for it to only have grown one beautiful Roma tomatoe so far, so I got pissed at it (after taking it's picture of course) and put it in a jar so hopefully a bird would see it, since it wouldn't be camoflaged in the tomatoe branches anymore. Well, I came home today and noticed some more tomatoe plant was missing and sure enough there was second BIG EVIL Green thing mowing the plant down, so this time I decided to throw these guys, like the drunks in movies, into the dark alley next to my house, and heaven knows if they will live to see daylight tomorrow.

Today was another fine day, but way too beat for any bike rides. Can't wait for this weekend as the we are now definitely in the last hurrahs of summer.

Ride on!

Monday, August 22, 2005


To the left Posted by Picasa

To the right of my house Posted by Picasa

My Door, pre-paint...hmm what color(s) will it be?


Posted by Picasa

a Beautiful night in the City

Ahhh, tonight is one of those nights which makes the city tantalizing to urban cowboys everywhere. Clear skys, a cool breeze with fresh air, and the big city lights sparkling in the skyline. You can even seen a star or two in the sky. This is just the perfect weather for skipping a day from work and riding this week!

OH snap!!! This weekend, I not only had a Kenny and Cass sighting, I actually rode with them!!! You would think that Cat 3 Kenny and Cat 1 Cass would have depreciated to at least a Cat 4 and to a Cat 2 status, especially since they have been working non-stop on their house since last November (they are doing a total gut and rebuild) and they have just been riding their trainers once a while. But my oh my are they staying strong. We did a 3 hour ride out to Valley Forge park and Kenny made sure the pace never became easy. He even dropped Cass and I on a few hills, though Cass was feeling the leg-pain from her previous day's leg workout at the gym, so I was really the one struggling. I think Chopko must have given them the secret squirrel training manual he used so well back in the DE days.

Since I had felt so crummy on the ride with Ken and Cass, I decided I needed more pain on Sunday to remind me what it feels like when you slack off and drink one two many margaritas for training. Off again, but this time the real heat was out in force, especially since I didn't get out the door until 9. It was great, I love the heat once you get out of the city, but riding through it and stopping every other minute b/c of a redlight will have you seeing heat stars before you know it.
It was a small ring warm up for about an hour as I was feeling the KaCa smack down the day before, but as soon as I hit the first hill outside of Conshocken, the legs woke up and it felt great. I don't know what's up with my body, but I will hurt all day on flat ground, but make my non-climber self start to climb and I don't really feel much pain...Weird stuff...Anyways, another great ride, though a lot slower. Tonight I took it nice and easy, and I can tell my legs are already getting stronger, though we will see at tomorrow's TUESDAY WORLD Championships (AKA the Drives).

Ah, this weekend I also had the pleasure to see a playoff game of the Philadelphia Area Disc Association (www.pada.org) (Disc=Frisbee) I have 3 cousins who play on a team and they had 2 back to back games in Fairmont. So I had nothing going on Saturday afternoon and so I packed a cooler of Woodchucks and made myself a sweet Margarita on the rocks and then drove up there. I totally wanted to ride the bike, but last time I went to a game, I was lucky enough to give a hot mama a ride back to South Philly. Anyways, don't worry, no drinking and driving, though as soon as I parked the car, I tried that margarita and it was fan tast ic. I had poured 50% tequila into a mixture of Ice, 1 whole squeeze lemon (I didn't have any limes) and a wee bit of Margarita mix into an insulated mug) It had about 20 minutes before I drank it and I have to admit it was the best damn Margarita I ever had. Anyways, the game was wicked fun to watch, and you know people take the sport seriously when for hydration they have PBR and Yuenleng instead of Gatorade.
The true highlight of the evening was showing up at the PADA's club house, which is reminiscent of an old Fraternity house which has seen a tad bit of partying through many generations. The place is tucked in to Fairmont park and after every set of Ultimate Friz games, they all head back there and totally rock out. It was such a blast as eveyrone is uber chill and everyone shares their grub, girlfriends and their cooler fare (just joking about the girlfriends!!!). So chill that once again I totally hooked up a South Philly dude and his girl with a ride back to their place as the night wound down. They were going to ride the 8 miles back while totally ripped up at 10 pm. Crazy, especially since the dude's brakes didn't work.

Also this weekend, I finally saw the movie "Boiler Room" it was dope, watched it on mi padre's new flat screen and surround sound set up. Now I gotta watch the old classic "WallStreet" with Michael Douglass and Charlie Sheen.

The Jason Gundel-Wilmington Crit is coming up in 2 weeks, will be great to cheer on my DE peeps again. I totally miss being smacked around on the Tour de Chester, pain never felt so good.

Totally love the Fatmarc (fatmarc.blogspot.com) pics from SSWC (Single Speed World Championships) this weekend. I wish I was only that cool. I don't have a cool hairy chest like Forrest. I don't have a cool biker tan like Adam Craig, I don't have cool chops like T.Brown, I don't have cool coconut breast covers, heck I don't even have a full fleshtone jumpsuit.

Oh snap, I do have a cool door though...

Thursday, August 18, 2005

back on the scene, crispy and clean...

Yey, the heat is gone, but the Philly hoochie mama's aren't! Give it up to those fine hoochie mama's. Oh yeah! If only I was 15 again!....though that sure doesn't stop all those South Philly dudes who are probably older then me....

Tonight after my weirdly rain shortened ride (it rained on one side of the city, but not a drop on the other) I was stretching on my living room floor and as usual I got to hear the newest hip-hop sounds free of charge and with a lot more bass than I could ever afford. You can't beat that!!! Who needs MTV, BET or Power 99, when you have all the home boys, driving some hot, rimmed out ride with the mad bass? The record companies get lawyer mad at certain peeps at downloading, when they should be cracking down on the homies drive'n in South Philly letting everyone hear the newest sounds for free....because shouldn't I be paying for the privilage at hearing the newest dope rhymes?

Anyway, good news on the Cross (dressing) front. Starting Wednesday Sept. 7 at 6pm and continuing every Wednesday after that, there will be a Cross clinic at Belmont Plateau. Good men Kelly Cline and Mikkel Yozzel will be kicking knowledge on all things Cross, also Saturday mornings at 9am will be another clinic...though for the (Dressing) part, you will have to hit somewhere around Walnut St. later in the evening on Saturdays.

It was another fine time with the peeps in Delaware this Saturday. Nothing beats 80's night at Kates on Saturdays, especially before the teenie boppers from UD roll into town. Some hotties shak'n it 4 sho' this past weekend, though what was up with those 2 blond chics who were taller than me? Yeh babe, your tall and that's hot, but don't wear heels to rival Shaq height, ok?
Again, as I write this, AfterhoursDJs.org is laying down amazing stuff. Makes me just want to just quit my job and make music!
Anyways, as usual it was another phenomenal time with the Schraminator and all the friends in DE. (dude, who's was Blevin's hot friend?)
Can't wait to have everyone up in this fine City.

A word of Caution to all my fellow 2 wheelers out there. Sarah Scott, a fine lady (and new teammate)whom I've only ridden with a few times before her wreck 3 weeks ago needs support. go to www.Sarah-Scott.com to see what you can do. She and one of my college buddy's , Ross Dillon, (www.rossdillon.com) are personal reminders to me at how the love of 2 wheels can turn tragic. Please everyone, always where a helmet, thank god both of them did!

Keep the rubber down!

Go Levi!!!http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/8714.0.html

oh yeah, and to the bum who almost hit me on my bike yesterday, sorry to tell you to Phuk yourself and make those hand signals.
It must be hard being drunk and not having anything to do other than to ride through red lights hoping you get hit..just don't hit other cyclists ok dude?!?!?

Saturday, August 13, 2005

another hot morning in the city

I hate that hot humid, nasty smell outside. I just walked out and it reminds me of H-town (houston tx) and all the oppressive days I had practicing football in 90+ degrees and % humidity.
This isn't exactly working the way I had planned. Moving to Philly was supposed to help the cycling abilitiy, not hurt it. How do all those cat 2's and 3's stay fit in this town when the weather is so uninspiring? Is it some secret ad campaign by the city? Do they have all these racers wearing local team outfits who actually live miles away from the city? Or maybe I just haven't lived here long enough and drank long and deep from the waters of the Schuykill to gain some super power from all that good pollution? Or maybe I haven't breathed deep enough to take in the Sunoco 94 octane brewing out from miles of a grotesque jungle of spewing pipes and release valves.

Oh get this, while walking home from the subway yesterday, I passed an empty lot located on an adjacent street from my street. The spot was owned by a guy who lives on my street and he uses it to park his car. I've been digging the lot the past few weeks as it's turned into a jungle of weeds, which to South Philly is like our little Amazon Jungle. There's not much green down here, other than the paint on cars, and the Newport cig boxes in the street. So twice a day when I pass this lot, it gives me a smile as it shows the perseverence of Nature at trying to green the hardest of spaces. It was to my sadness last evening when I passed this lot and saw all the green browning from what looks like Death by Weedkiller. Sure it's been hot enough to cook eggs on my tar roof, but still, these weeds didn't just go from nice jungle to wilted plant mass in just 24hrs b/c of the heat. I guess the dude thought there was a little too much green was going on and thought it looked out of place...and while I'm on a Nature kick...this week had some big highlights! I saw my first web-making spider and my first bumble bee. Both gave me a HUGE smile, that's weird I know, but you have to know a few things....Spiders can't really take air pollution, (hence all the flies in the city) and 2, where'd the freaking bee come from? Think how far that bee must have come for it to fly into my little back patio..at least it didn't leave without some good chow-down as my basil is flowering like crazy and it was probably a good feast for the big, little yellow guy.

Hey, has anyone seen the price of the Lightweight wheels on Competitive cyclist? WhoTF can buy those? Even if you have EP, the price would still work out to be 2 pairs of Mavic Carbones at retail...seriously! I got a really bad wheel fettish, but even if I did have the dough, I'd rather have a balzy wheel like the "Carbone", than a wheel called a "Lightweight".

Friday, August 12, 2005

Dude, it's hot!

It's ph'ing hot out there today. Even hotter in that pristine Philly subway. I can't wait for winter time as I know those subways will still be at least 80 degrees.
No ride now since Wednesday and hence I'm getting a little stir crazy and had to have another Margarita to cool down...again, not the best training for any racing...At least I have FruityLoops(.com to download it free) to pass the time and think about one day actually dj'ing and hopefully riding the bike tomorrow morning.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

1 margarita too much

Still working on this blog stuff. It's pretty easy to get started, but seems a little hard to get it perfect, hopefully el' maestro's Vettori (fatmarc.com) and (thereal)Joey Thompson (silent J, aka "H" for all your German fans out there) can kick a little knowledge to this young jedi.

The first Margarita was dynamite, but it seems the second has made it a little rough for this light weight.

Did anyone ride their bike in Philly today?

I wonder what Ryan Baby's listening to right now...we need to get PVD back to Philly

on the mic @ Granogue X 2004 Posted by Picasa

riding bike in Williamsport, PA Dan the Man pimp'n ol FSVS colors behind. Posted by Picasa

2 hot 2 ride

South Philly is hot this evening, might as well be back in H'town...too hot to ride, though just right for a Margarita on the rocks. Not exactly training for the TDF, the PWC or the Tuesday Night World Championships, but good training to hang with the DE crew this weekend when we head to Kate's.
AfterhoursDJs.org rocks! Gotta get iTunes if you haven't yet, the radio feature rocks and iTunes is free.