Finished bike shop, almost finished cross bike

Today I put the finishing touches on the bike shop; went to Menards and got some shop rags and some heavy duty Lava soap. :) Looks pretty good, I like how it is setup. The XO-1 is all ready to go for tomorrow's race in Milwaukee. Still haven't put the blk/wht hbar tape on it, but that can wait. The weather tomorrow looks to be pretty nice with highs in the 60s, so it should be a good day for racing.

I found out this week that I will have to miss the State Cross champs here in SP because I am going to Washington DC for work the week of Nov 13-20. We have a 4-store dealer there with some huge database problems, so we have to go and try to figure it out for them. I won't be back until later on Sun afternoon, so I will have to miss the race. That sucks, would have been a good time (especially since it is right here in town), but seeing the software work in a real store environment will be good experience for me. At least I will be able to figure out the cross class I should be racing in tomorrow so that I can race the full cross season next year.

Here are some pics of the completed bike shop and a couple of the XO-1 (one with the pimpy gold wheels and one with the cross wheels).

A few day's worth...

The last few days have been pretty busy. Picked Heather up on Sat night in Madison. She had fun visiting her parents and new little nephew. On Sun we essentially finished my basement bike shop. Looks pretty nice, put the pegboard up and got an area rug for it. I will post a pic of that soon for you all to envy.

On Tues Heather had an interview at UW for a primate caretaker. She thought it went well, now she is just waiting to hear back for the 2nd part of the interview. I left work early that day to go to the DMV and get my license, title, and plates. Fun times were had with all the crazies that were there.

Heather came to Trek today to eat lunch with me and to get a tour of the plant. I'm not much of a tour guide, but Heather thought it was fun nonetheless. She got to touch some of Lance's bikes, and she smelled his seat. She said it smelled like broiled onions. I also was manning the phone lines for the first time when I got back from lunch. Went pretty well, wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be. So that's good to have that out of the way.

This weekend Heather and I are going to Milwaukee for a day of cyclocross fun. Went for a ride around town tonight, checked out the park/speedway where the state champs will be held. It's all barb-wire fenced up, so pre-riding it appears to be out of the question. My X0-1 is all ready to go, still have to put the blk/wht hbar tape on it, but that can wait. I will post some pics of that soon as well.

Vontoux is suffering from some sort of ear infection. Heather is treating it well, using her vast knowledge of the canine ear. And Birdie is still being stupid, clucking up a storm. She will die very soon if she keeps it up.

A Day in the Life

Phew, I'm tired today. Got home a little late last night, went to downtown Madison to watch a coworkers' band play. It was a good time, but I was definitely tired this morning. And I am feeling it now.

On the plus side I got my first paycheck today, got my title for my new Subie (finally), and got all my benefit info in the mail. Exciting times.

There are two cross races coming up in Milwaukee, I think I am going to do at least one to prepare for the State Champs here in SP and to figure out which category I should be racing in. I've almost got my basement all cleaned out in preparation for my bike shop. It will be quite nice, I'm excited for that.

Tomorrow I pick up Heather from the bus station. It will be good to see her, she's been gone all week at her parents house.

Here's some pics. One of my groovy new auto and another of a naked Birdie.

Strikes and Gutters

Today at work I answered my first tech phone call. Kind of nervous being that I don't know the software too well yet, but I had a co-worker walk me through it. It will get easier with time.

I also checked into an adult hockey league here in Sun Prairie. I found one, runs until the end of April (!!), and is with intermediate level players, but it cost $300 freakin dollars. So that put an end to that. I just better hope now that they have decent pick-up games at the outdoor rinks here.

I was going to ride to work today being that it was supposed to be in the 70s, but it ended up being only in the 50s (mid-30s when I left for work). So that didn't happen.

First post

Vontoux and Heather say hello to everyone. :)