So the DPM was fast approaching. Sponsors pulled out and new ones came it in. It all came together. On a cold crisp morning we laid out the longest course ever. The sun contiued to burn off the fog and the arrived warm and clear. Not like the snow of the first DPM.
Masters  men, Open women and juniors were the first to go. Drumroll took the holeshot. Uncharacteristally I slipped a pedal and was about 6th. I took the lead in the mower section. Hit themearly I thought. I had a decent gap coming out of that section. Through the spral I could open it up. Then in the horse pewer sections they'd come back. I knew the "Train of talent" would come. But for three laps I could get a gap. Maybe today was my day. Then the elastic broke. Glenn brought me back. As we entered the final section. I herad someone yell to AJ attack him now. He and Greg had a tenuous lead.  But then I see AJ running. He'd dropped his chain!. Drumrool takes number three. Good for him , a gangster on the top spot.
Then came the first Kross realy. Random pics of teams. I got Dave Y. Everyone thought it was rigged. Dave killed it on lap one. I drank the beer and was off on lap two. Then I was stopped by raucous fans. The gap was shrinking Ruth cut the course aass they let the air out of my tire.I cut back in front and almosted crashed but took the sprint. Not a good a idea to stall someone on a mission. But Iheld my spirit and had fun.

Dolled out all the prizes. Made some money for Kim. Ate some killer chili,drank some Ommes and Kross was over.

Over? I'd just shown some form. Well nest year I'll be in the 55+. The return of the KING.

Now the bigger news is we got country mouse's MOm to come to NYC. Talk about following the script.
It was great to see Mom. The crew went to dinner together. MOm got to meet people she'd only heard about.

Then it was off to the city. We walked to all the stores, saw the Christmas decorations, shopped, saw the sites. Hit the Blind Tiger. Too noisy for Mom. Showed her Stonewall. Headed up to the Dive Bar. Fun place. Mom was a cougar talking to the 32 year New Zealanders. Wore her out. Poor Mom. Sick the next day. Then it  wa my turn. Ah the hustle and bustle.
Bill and Jant came into visit us. We saw the movie Precious. A good flick. But, I live with the WT everyday. Blacks have no collar on poverty or bad families. Then we went to the Amsterdam Ale House. Good times. Onward to the next Dive Bar. We ened up hitting all three.
Mom even spent a few days in Bingo! Now there's a feat. She had so much fun. We all did.  Jaunty Mouse gave her the tour.

Now I've ordered my dream bike. A titanium Kross frame from Pride cycles. Full custom. Can't wait. Buying up bits on Ebay and around to deck it out. No real high end. Just solid parts.
Enjoy life. Love the one you're with. OGQ

Been awhile. I guess country mouse has been busy.

Did the Red Kross at Broome Tioga. All week it threatened rain.
In my head I knew rain would be a factor there. Dry it would have been superfast. Then the skies opened friday, all day it poured.
Inside I smiled. I think I'm a good "mudder" I fitted up the mud tires.
Saturday I awoke to even more rain. I thought this could be my day.
Mud and cold. True Kross weather. I grinned. The VI-BEE was packed  to go. All pre race rituals followed. Rolled over to the new sounds of Cross Canadian Ragweed, or the New CCR as they're being called. Pitted, bid my greetings. Memebers of the tribe said "You got your wish". Kitted up and possible soon to be Gangster and tariner to the stars and  I headed out. What a mess. But lines formed. Lines changed. The rains came. We did two laps and went back and washed the bikes. I cahnged into a dry kit. We watched part of the 3/4 race. Josh and other memebers of the dirty little club were on the course. Josh was killing it. A win is coming for  him.

Time for the masters 35+. A sort of call up gets us ready. I knew today a holeshot would be critical. Like days of old here. I wanted that holeshot. If I could do it on the MC, I could do it on the bike.
We're off I'm slapping that shifeter like it's a fanner 50 from my youth. Round the first turn and keep it pinned but below redline.
I nailed it. The announcer can't pronunce my name. Now it was damage control. Try to stay with the train as it rolls past. First Dave Y come s up. Then AJ and Drumroll. I try to hang as long as I can. Then "blueman" shows up. I can hear the announcer slaughtering other names. I'm having a ball. In my head my best race of the year. I hang on for 6th. The Ithaca Mafia never got in the mix. It felt good to keep them and Brian at bay.
The worst part was all the clean up hours of cleaning from 45 minutes of racing.
Some notes: I had to cancel the Greene race. Now way could I pull that off. But we'll be back.
Have been thinking of twists for the DPM. Little unexpected perks for the Krossers. Maybe go deep in prizes. I'll keep my secrets to myself. As the Hell's Angels like to say "Three can keep a secret if two are dead."
This weekend we have a practice race. Pat and Marsha have donated there property for us to play one. It will be fun.

Our local oractices have ended. Either trainer hell or near dark rides for me now. I did hill repeats tonight. The legs thanked me for that.

Enjoy life, drink good beer. Love the one your with.

Comfort food was the order of the weekend.

The gangsters descended in Brewery Ommegang and followed the NYCross rules. We staked and taped.
We thought we made the course longer. All had input. It seemed fun. Then came the lap times 5:20. What?

Didn't matter there were no field sprints. It thinned out in all fields. So maybe the KIng is partially back. It didn't happen here. Dave F and I tangled bars at the start. So the holeshot wasn't mine. But I felt good and moved up. Way up from that start. I felt like me for the first time this year. I had fun too.
 Then I worked the beer tent and the beer hand ups. Maybe this is where the King is back. Or a new King?
We poured beers to racers and spectators alike. I even made fifty eight bucks in tips! I'm using it for Dave's race.

Anthony and crew from NYC made it up for the race. Shared a Brooklyn Black Ops with me. Very nice.
His krew had a ball. Thanks for coming.
Also the krew from Bicycling mag made it up. There's a write up there by the fit chick. Check it out at their site.
This weekend the Swandrome returned. Long laps tough power sections. My legs were feeling good. I took the holeshot,all were content. I didn't bump the rev limiter. Then Aj and I started rubbing shoulders. Soon the Ithaca Kross Mafia train came. I can't respond to those attacks. I've been working on it. Seems like I have just one speed. Tapped. I was able to work some good lines and  make time I thought. But in the end 5th. My best finish of the year. Glenn had food and beverage for all. We didn't spend a dime for the day. Had fun too.  Legs were in knots after the race. Did a single speed ride today to clear them out. Still pretty sore will have to work on that seat height issue. Waiting for my Fangos. Glenn is tempting me with a new road bike. Man what prices he has. One person from our "dirty little club" bought a new Kross bike and another is loooking. Welcome to the darkside.

The miss and out in Kross practice has been a big hit. A roadie came with one of my old bikes and proceeded to demolish our barriers and cause the first crash of the season. This lead to my saying you're not part of our "dirty little club." This has now grown into "We need shirts!"  Maybe "Would you like to join our dirty little club? Or "You're not oart of our Dirty Little Club." We'll see some prototypes are being formed.
Now for my races I have to check the one venue seems as construction has thrown a wrench into the works. I'm sure the course wizards will work it out. I'd hate to have top cancel it.
Syracuse is tis weekend. I'll try for the double. It's always worked before. Let's think positive.
As Glenn said in response to my email thanking him for having the Swandrome. "Life is full."
It sure is Glenn, It sure is.

Enjoy life. OGQ

So I find myself at a new point in Kross. I started doing the "program" in August. I haven't raced much at all this year. So body fights these efforts. The races I have done. I know exactly how to race. Burn the matches when needed. My recovery is great. But I did OK.

So I find myself at the Kirkland race and decide to do the "double" usually this happens at Syracuse then I get my fitness boost and come out swinging. I'm thinking maybe I need this now. Well the best laid plans of mice and Krossers........ Race one went Ok. I got a good start but had no power in the tough sections. The Tufos were working and I'd pass people back in the grassy parts. Finished about were I expected. Grabbed a gel and some water and lined up with the 3/4's, just for training a back of the pack start and stayed there and just flat out suffered.

I dug deep and finished. I wasn't last. But the hecklers had a field day with me. It wiped me out for three days. I was sore all over. WUSS.

Next up was the Moustache 100. That should have been right up my alley. But with City Mouse coming to visit,I'd be gone the whole day. So I shifted gears and we did Buckhill. Jeremy did a great job. Only one race this weekend. A handful of Gangsters in attendance. "Delicious" Jeff Walker is killing it. We used to have some great battles when we first met. He's upped the game this year and rode the pine. Great to see him flying. His other half the ever energetic Katina is on the same ship.

Any Kross race demands a good start to keep the wolves at bay. Goal one was be in the top three for this. I got the hole shot and this allowed me to ride my own race till we hit the pavement. About half way up Dave Faso launched a brutal attack. I stayed within myself. Now the players started coming, Jeff, Ad, Glenn and Ernie. I hung around the top five and was redlining it everywhere. The "Skinny Family" was yelling encouragement as was City Mouse, Katina and the Jeff's parents. The Maxxis Larsens were a crap shoot as it got wetter the front became worse. Slip slide oops almost crash. Not my style. My run ups were good and strong. Ninth. It will come.

City mouse had to get to NYC so we bolted early and hit the Mythaca Apple Fest and had lunch at the Ale House. Good beers and food. Some snooty college kids burned our waitress for the check. They obviously were not poor. Losers. Our waitress was really a fun person, she got stuck paying for them beers and all.

It's the Ommegang weekend. I did the double there last year and beer hand ups. I'm thinking YES, for the double. It will be a NY Cross Race this year so we'll see what that brings for us.

Friday found us trying the new Dim Sum place after driving by it and almost hitting Thai Thai. It will remain a secret spot. Great food and very in expensive. We had a one year old Weyerbacher Pumpkin Ale. MMMM and a Souther Tier PumpKing ale. This was like liquid carrot cake. Then the white wines flowed followed by a Malbec. A trip to the Ale House netted a couple fall Ipa's.

Saturday night the mice went to see Groovin' to 60's at EPAC. It was a fun show.

So love the one your with. Drink good beer, eat good food and ride your bike.

Most of all come see a Kross Race near you. Heckle, see the suffering. Enjoy. OGQ

Three not quite blind Mice loaded into the Vi-bee and made the drive to Pixburg. It rained most of the way, making for "a dark and stormy drive". But we made it. City mouse had some really nice shrimp chowder waiting for us along with some breads and cheeses. Trans mouse of course had brought wine that needed tasting.

Saturday Country mouse made omelets and we were off to The Big Pour at Construction Junction for the brew fest. It was to be a zero waste event,that was cool. The event opened smoothly and you were in the organic area first beers and food. So a little snack and a organic Pale ale to start. I'd mapped out the beers I wanted to try. TRASH (Three Rivers Alliance of serious home brewers) Had great white beers. My favorites of the day were from Voodoo Brewery. Their Majic Whit and Grand Met were great. Jaunty Mouse found a Hail Mary that was tasty. The Sharp Edge made incredible waffles. Point Bruge had great frites. You could even have Indian and Ethiopian food here. Mad mex had some tasty wings and ribs. A super good time.

Then we went back to City mouses' for a pool party and more food and drink. I knocked out some quesidillas for appetizers. He'd made a chicken salad prior, then WE did the prosciutto wrapped basil stuffed shrimp on the grill. Rocky did not make an appearance. Everyone was pretty well "n the edge" at dinner time. We tried to watch a movie after. But only Jaunty mouse could keep his eyes open.

Sunday we had a Denver Strata. This is becoming a breakfast favorite. Then is was back on the road. No tickets. Priceless.

Now Kross starts this weekend. Thoughts of the double roll through my head. The workouts have been good. A double usually gives me a fitness boost. It will be my first race on the new carbon rig. Rolled a tubbie today. Mounted up a new one then the valve wouldn't seal. Hope I can run the Tufos tomorrow. Raise a pint, toast your friends. Be good. OGQ

Last weekend was my birthday. So since I've turned 45 I've beaten the family curse. of expiring with a heart attack. Though I occasionally seem to throw myself to the ground or have some other malady to remind me of my mortality. I just keep on truckin'.
So country mouse really wanted to ride the big Zook to Pixburg. The rear tire looked like it had just enough meat on it for the job. Wrong. I get there and the wear bars are all showing through.
Now lots of people would run it even longer. I had a "half a tire" at home I thought I'd put on when I got back. Wrong again. So a trip to various shops and Cycle sport had one on sale and a 20% discount. Back we went got it mounted up and return home. I start to mount the rear wheel lift the rear caliper and noticed the piston has moved inboard. Great. I hadn't touched the brake lever. Push it back in, which would usually solve the problem. Wrong again. Now the lever bottomed out like it had a huge air bubble. So a quick check of the master cylinder shows it's down a little on fluid through the sight window. True to an engineers heart you can't access it easily. Half the bike has to come apart. A trip to the hardware and auto supple nets the parts to bleed the brakes. Hmmm, one tiny air bubble. Still bottoms out when pushed back,but pumps up right. A call top Pops nets other solutions. Follow through with these and I'm back to square one. So I call the local shop and they say they'll take a peek at it. Zip down and the sign in for service. The wrench comes out and we pop it up on the center stand. I show him what I think is happening. He checks things and says " These brakes are right on". HUH? Sweet. Thanks, Gattos Cycles. So that drama is over.
City mouse made my birthday special with a nice dinner out at the Red Room. Oddly we both thought the potato gratin was the best. Three kinds of potatoes saved thin and baked with Parmesan. Yummy. We capped off the night at the 6 and Save with the "Ten Patrons".
We'd been there earlier in the week and Sean a Sam Adams rep had brought in a Koozie with a handle for a pint glass. Everyone thought it was a good idea. BUT, The new African American bartender thought it was the "Gayest thing he'd ever seen" and kept going on how gay and queer it was. Well that raised the hackles. He had his sun glasses on top of his head. So I said " Hey all the gays wear their sunglasses like that inside". What? Yea it's true. He took them right off and asked where should I put them. I said "Where ever you want". I had a suggestion. HA!
Did sneak in a ride among the rain storms and city mouse and I rode the butler trail.
We also went to see Inglorious Bastards. OK a bot slow but fun. The Hurt Locker was on the schedule but we got behind. We'll get to it.
As usual we cooked up a storm and enjoyed some new beers.
Thanks City Mouse for a fun Bday trip. My new sqaure plates will compliment the new kitchen.
Thank whoever your higher power is for what you have. Tell your friends how great they are.
Ride your bike,drink good beer and eat good food.
Oh and LGV watch out for raccoons.
OGQ

It's been awhile. I'm sure if you read these you say "It sure is" or have given up.

But the mice have been busy. We made it to Belgium Comes to Cooperstown. A fun brewfest. But way too expensive in the end. Plus I had to reign myself in the as I was going race at Highland Forest aka The Quagmire. Panhandle played the brewfest and there was some good food.

Next on the beerfests are The Ithaca Brewfest and then The Big Pour.

We also celebrated Jaunty mouses' successful cancer treatment. How you ask? Why with more food and drink at Moxie.

So it was the return to Highland forest. Pops always said " If you'd move up I'd be on the podium". So I did. Back to the Expert ranks. It poured at the start. So lap one was follow the rain rut. The brakes started to go. Lap Two was peanut butter. No truly no brakes. Lap Three a comedy of errors as I Flintstoned it around the course or looked for things to bounce off the change direction. No crashes. At the end nothing in the tank. Thus the "Hollow Empty Eyes".The "Ommegangsters" slayed it that day. Jeff W became "Delicious" and Katina became Mrs Delicious. Pretty funny story. As usual Jeff's parents were there cheering us all on.

Dougs Fish Fry was a winner on the way home.

The kitchen project continues. DNA really helped with the floor. We three banged it out in six hours. The crazy thing is my legs are killing me. Worse than any race I've ever done. I guess it was all the up and down. Muscles that don't get used.The "Flair" is up for sale. How retro. But no ones biting. Where's the hipsters into this?

We did try to get cook. But we hit every diner for breakfast. Busted out Jaunty mouse grill for a fine meal.

WE took the Strom down to Wellsboro to check on City Mouses possible new digs. Got to hangout with Tom and Mary. See the new scooter. Took a ride and saw the Grand Canyon of Pa.

City Mouse got a little squirmy towards the end of his 270 miles. A gel pad??? Nice work LGV

Kross is kreeping up and that means race promotion duties too. Plus the weekly practices.

The new rig is ready to roll.

Also more pics at the other site I'll try to maintain.

http://harderthanblogging.shutterfly.com/

Get out and ride. Drink good beer,love the one your with. OGQ

Here's what it looked like. Juat a little rust and duct tape and spray foam. The "black hole" is magnetic after the gas door rusted off. Whatever it took.

After 14 years the Jetta City in no longer in my possession. Was it right to get rid of it? I still wonder. It had grown to be part of me. Something you could joke about. The mechanic I had loved the car. Many looked at it and wondered how it stayed together. It did. It never let me down,German engineering. I donated it to the Salvation Army. Some queried "They took it?".
Yes they did. Some even offered to buy it. They will also take none running vehicles. So here's it's final pics. Good bye little car,it was a great run. Lets hope your replacement lasts as long,if not longer.

So in the wayback machine we go. Katina has been asking for more and so has Carl in Florida.

You're probably going to read about bikes,food and beer with travel sprinkled in.

So lets start with Memorial day weekend. Jaunty mouse and Country Mouse pointed the lesbian truck west to Pixburg. The Tom Tom was screaming turn left all the time as it wanted us on route 80 not 17. Click end of that till we stopped for dinner. Then memory took over. Technology is something when it works. We rolled into City mouses' house right on time. A Witte was poured and some appetizers eaten as the IPA's made their way put.

Saturday we opened the pool. Took a run into Pix and saw some sights. Dropped off a ton of bke parts at Freeride Pittsburgh. It's a cool place where people can learn bike repair assemble their own bike and keep it. Get them on the street and not be reliant on a car. Then we hit Bannicks bike shop. First you had to find it. No wayback machine needed here. It was a time warp of odd and everything bike related. Very cool. We hit the upper hillside for aview of the city. The Sharp Edge called our name and Belgian beers and exotic meat burgers passed our lips. A stop at the 6 and Save aka the VFW was in order. I think I'm one beer away from my free t-shirt and discount. Drink up men.

Sunday found me back on the bike and in search of new routes. Thanks to the bartender at the Dew Drop in I was on a pretty good loop. You don't have to look far for hills in this area. En route home I saw a group of twenty or so 250F dirt bikes heading into the weeds. I stopped a couple and asked about the trails. They said they were all over. The rest of the day I could hear the Brrrap Brrrrap and new they weren't far away. Have to get the Hooligan out here again and ride these trails.

City mouse planned a pool party and new friends were invited. Laughs were had as we set City mouse up with the Z3. It's a known fact that the Miata is a "little gay car" but was the Z3. We believed so. City Mouse roared in denial. Then he offered to show Mike the car. We told Mike to say "Oh, Look at the little gay car". Well it was too funny to hear "It is not" come out of the garage. Maybe we should have a poll?

Monday was more sightseeing starting with breakfast at DeLucas. Man vs Food has eaten here and after having the seafood omelet I can see why. We hit Smokin Joes sixty beers on tap. Great place better than Fatheads. Dinner was at Majorrca. I had wild boar, Vince had oso bucco, Bob had a salmon dish. All were excellent. Our appetizer was stuffed calamari. There's a keeper.

After that I was signed up for the Single Speed Palooza. Other gangsters signed up were Drumroll and the infamous fast couple Jeff and Katina. This would be Katinas first ride on SS, borrowed one at that. Jeff was up with the big dogs, Drumroll and I in the "north" and Katina with the big kitties. I knew getting to the single track in the front would be imperative with over 200 riders going to be on the course traffic problems could occur. I entered it first. Drumroll close behind. We had a good gap as riders clogged up on the hill behind us. Away we went. Stewart is a great place to ride. I left it all on the course for 14th Greg snagged a 4th. Jeff had a good run with the pros. Some mutant crushed it in 1:25 flat. Freak. Katina took second in the Expert Women. Killer. Overall the Gangsters got a lot of "airtime" from the promoter. Gregg donated some 750's for primes. In the trivia I scored a pair of Specialized sunglasses. Overall a great event. It sort of spiraled out of control for them. Thanks to the Watershed for hosting us and as always serving great food.

Fast forward to last weekend. City Mouse returned to Bingo. Friday night I made Pad Thai. Ther has to be a zillion recipes for this. It was good. Peasant food can be some of the best. Saturday night we used our gift certificate for Moxie, now we went to the other end of the spectrum. Vince had divers scallops I had grilled veggies with tuna. Excellent as always. Probably the best place in the area. We watched a documentary about abuse by priests. Interesting.

Sunday found me road racing in Whiskey point taking a wrath for not doing the 50 miler. Vince had to be in NYC so we had made plans to see Panhandle at the Black Bear Winery. The race we like always sit in till Marathon. Make the cut, be there at the finish. It worked. AJ made the cut and a few other TVC'ers. There was some horsepower here with Peter Ozlins and Ernie Bayles.

The group worked pretty well and it came down to a sprint up the hill. There's that word SPRINT, I don't have one so Iwas 4th in the age group. I was happy I made the cut. Jaunty had brought the little gay car over and City Mouse had found his way back from the birthplace of Nelson Rockefeller to be there at the finish. Lunch at Aiello's, a celebratory beer and we were on our way to see Panhandle. We tasted some wine. YUCK way to sweet for me. Enjoyed the tunes. Bobber and DNA met us there. Got Vince on the road on time and another work week ensued.

Done with kids for another year. Not a bad year.

Enjoy life, ride your bike, drink good beer, tell your friends you value them. OGQ

Friday Country Mouse and Jaunty Mouse headed to the Big Apple to see City Mouse and Trans Mouse. The drive went well a bit of rain. We were there and a bottle of Witte was opened. We headed up to 111 th and hit a brewpub for a light,well not so light dinner and a couple beers. Young ,loud and crowded. This could be the theme for the weekend. We also went to the historical site of that first Big Ol Mo' uprising. The Stonewall,had a Bluemoon then off to the Blind Tiger for a night cap.

Saturday found us heading to French Roast for breakfast. Let the Journey begin. Eggs Benedict for me. Very nice ,Good coffee flowed and of we went. Jaunty mouse wanted to see the Brooklyn Bridge. So we went and walked across it. Always a sight to see even in the rain. Coffee was "working" and the mice needed shelter. Ahhh, comfort food was found and we headed back to Broadway to see Hair. Gaggles of B.O.B's filled the theater. People of all ages were there. We were in the third row. Let the show begin. I'd seen it in the park in the summer and was curious to see it on stage. The music was great. The message still applies and the energy was high. Just like the 60's. At the end City mouse and Country mouse got up on stage and danced with each other. That was fun. The stage flooded with people and all were having a great time. Megan did a great job. The Buddhist part cracked me up.

Trans Mouse wanted to to go Williamsburg to see the regentrification (or maybe just look at young hipsters.) He'd picked out a few bars for us. Starting will the Alligator lounge. Pretty cool place. You get a personal pan size wood fired pizza with each drink. Good tap selection. I went for a Widmers hefeweizen. We were in the "Land of Pixie Fixies and PBR's ". But you wouldn't know it. Not a PBR in sight. The beer maven was a Betty Page girl. Which I find very cool. He was friendly and pointed us to TM's next bar the http://www.spuytenduyvilnyc.com/ the Spuyten Duyvil. This place was easy to miss. Then inside it was like they'd bought a pawn shop and added taps. Another Belgian hefe graced our lips and CM got a pickle plate. No recession in Billyburg here. Eight bucks for carefully weighed out pickles. Again not a PBR in sight. I have some Pyrex I could sell them too. The bartender here was jerk. No tip for you. After reading that this was rated the number one beer bar. I didn't agree. Sure they had a zillion expensive bottles but who really drops 9-75 dollars for a bottle of beer. I didn't agree with their reviews at all. So we moved on to Barcade(http://www.barcadebrooklyn.com/) another recommendo from the Alligator girl. Down a dark alley we strode. City Mouse was a bit worried about this leg. But a block later there it was. They had lots of "old school" video games. A superb line of taps and friendly bartender. Country Mouse and City Mouse had a casked Hop Wallow by Victory. JM had a red ale. He then told us if you're drinking beer you have to go to

Radegast Hall Beer Garden, http://www.radegasthall.com/index.php. Well we wended our way to and fro and couldn't find it. Ask the hipsters I did. Hmmm. no luck. Ask the next group. Bingo. This place was like going back in time on the one side. I almost expected knights in armor to be sitting at the tables or at least Viking. We found three feet of seats and slid in. Chatted up the kids and ordered beers. City and Trans went off in search of brats. This was the best beer of the night in my opinion(even after the five others) Blanche de Bruxelles Witbie. They served them in liter or half liter. The brats came back and one looked like a "burnt penis",this is and old joke from the MX days. A friends mom always cooked, rather charred everything and put it in a cooler for us to eat. "Burnt Penis" was a regular on her menu. I'd ordered a couple pretzels too. Turns out two of the guys played in a band called.

http://www.myspace.com/meshachjackson Meshach Jackson

One was a lawyer, T mouse was enamored and the female was a photographer. As always we had fun chatting with those around us. Time for the creepy old guys to head home. This moniker came from a XM radio. A comedy bit about old guys at concerts. Since we were in Hipster Central. We used the ruse we were looking for our kids. Not really. The title comes from a sign in front of restaurant. The pic of Karl eats Dick was in the mens room at the last place we were. But no one has proof.

Enjoy life. Ride your bike, respect your friends. Love someone OGQ

So Country mouse aka Ronnie broke out the lesbian truck( that was half of beers for Vince) and headed west. While City mouse was picking Tranny Mouse up at the airport for a rendezvous in Pixburg. Let the drinking commence.

It had been a bad week at work with the crazies getting crazier and more politics then the Obama staff could handle. I needed out and got it.

My arrival was greeted with an Ommegang Witte. Nice start.

We went to Isabelles for a six course meal with great wine pairings by Trans mouse. The restaurant hung on a hillside with great view of the city. Food was ok, some better than others. We all had a course we liked best. Then a bit of site seeing at night.

The next day the mice made a nice breakfast and headed to Pix for some more site seeing. We toured all the neighborhoods and stopped at one of the Universities to see a church modeled after a chapel in France. Wish I could have taken pictures inside. Onwards to the Church Brew Works. The food is better than the beer. They had a decent lager made with quinoa.

Toured around some more and headed for the "VFW." This is becoming a haunt for us. Great beer store called the 6&Save with bar in the back serving Belgian beers. If you drink 16 you get a shirt that gives you a dollar off. City mouse made this goal this week. More on that later.

Always interesting people in there. We're now on a first name basis with a few.

We all pitched in and made dinner. Herb rubbed pork loin. Curried quinoa salad and a Thai broccoli salad. Better then our six course meal.

Sunday was Easter. So more food. Cliff and I explored a bit while Vince was at Church. I snuck a ride in on the route we found. Hills of course. Then we headed to Pix for some lunch. Nothing was really open. So we ended up at Images. They could smoke here and a couple queens were drunk and arguing with each other. LOUDLY. The beer menu wasn't bad. We didn't stay long. Enough of that,there's more fun people at the VFW.

Movie review. We watched Bottle Shock at mix of Little Miss Sunshine and Sideways. Not bad but quite predictable. Beers were poured.

Monday found us up at the crack of dawn to get Tranny Mouse back to the Big Apple. Then we went to Deluca's for breakfast. What a menu. It was tough to decide what to have. I went with the breakfast chorizo burrito. Vince had the veggie burrito. Yummy. The first pirates game was today and the fans were rolling in. Already well oiled at 8:30 in the morning. Lots of black and gold. The evening found us cooking in and then hitting the VFW. You'll see a trend here.

Tuesday is a blur. Wednesday we headed out to North Park. Vince road around the lake and I hit the MTB trails. Not bad after I found them off the cart paths. More exploring needed there.

Thursday Vince wanted to try the Velodrome at the city park. It's a half mile paved with a slight rise in it. I was doing an interval workout while V circulated. Then a Tri guy showed up and we rode a bit of tempo. The a big strong kid showed up an a Trek TT rig, fully kitted and was getting down to business. I tucked in behind he was lapping the 25-27mph range. I took a couple pulls and offered to help. He declined and was on a mission. I sat behind him for 40 minutes. Swoosh,lap after lap. Thanks kid. Today found us at the OTB bar in the south side. Now OTB is Over the bars. It's owned by a mountain biker and had a bike theme interior. Pretty cool. Good beers on tap. Most patrons were messengers drinking PBR talls. Food was great all bike named. The Penn Brewery Hefe was best. I'm leaning to session beers. Thursday we also went to see Beer wars. It was satellite feed of the movie. More like an event documentary style. Pretty cool. Then a live Q&A session after. Made us thisrty.Another round at the VFW,working on that shirt. Vince scored his tonight.

Friday was a little R& and having lunch with the friend of a friend from here. We went to another part of the city( drawing a blank,but it had to do with a war,so sweet cobbled climbs there.) and ate at The North Shore Legend. We were greeted by the "Food Artist" aka a chef. Very pleasant. Great food. JR was fun to meet.

Sushi was calling for dinner and City Mouse knew a place in a strip mall. It was superb and cheap.

Twenty bucks a head for each and it's BYOB. Ommegang was sacrificed. The off to the VFW.

The beers went down easy and cheap. With Vince's discount shirt. I'm halfway there. We met a husband and wife chef team and talked food. Talked with the locals that we'd made friends with.

A fun night. A great week I was recharged for sure.

Saturday was a nice weather day and hated to waste it with driving home.

Oh the Buffett reference. With XM radio we had Margaritaville on all the time in hopes of hearing Fins. After 97 hours of Jimmy we did. HA!. We did hear some new songs and covers by him I didn't know he did. We were "Buffeted" to say the least.

Spiced it up with the new Neil Young. You get a dvd of Neil doing some of the new stuff and great cover at a show. Neil, Rocks.

Enjoy life. OGQ

It seems like a month passes before I post here. It's that time of year. You get busy,the blog takes a back seat.

So this post is "I drink coffee just to hear my own heartbeat". That's a line from a local bands song. Check them out http://www.panhandle.com/ great live shows. Good people.

Now about the pure sex. I'm sure that would have raised some eyebrows. But really it's about a new pair of cycling shoes scored on Ebay. I really think the white road shoe pro look is really cool. White MTB shoes for Kross would be totally Euro along with the white kit. I now in my possession are a pair of Specialized road pro shoes. They'te white fit like a glove and are super light. Very nice.

More sex in the beer I had tonight. I hit the beer store today. 217 bucks later I walked out with ten Ommegan Biere de Mars and ten Brooklyn number 2. Needless to say this turned heads of the 15 bucks for a thirty pack lager drinkers in line. Me I had 60 buck six packs. Granted I was buying for three people. So tonight I enjoyed the fine taste of a Brooklyn 1 and 2.

Last Sunday the mice and Mills went to a beer dinner. The first one in the area. Quite tasty.

The meatloaf with habernero sauce was the best paired with Flower Power pale ale. MMM.

Now I hope Carl in Florida reads this. Beer and food.

Racing started. I was a but worried I was behind the curve. But the legs were good and I had a good night. Did one attack.,covered breaks and chased down a final attack and countered only to get swallowed up with 200 to go. But that's cool.

I now have the killer team for the 12 hr race. Some other "Gangsters" and Katina,she rocks. We will kick ass there.

A visit to my favorite store "Sallys" rewarded me with a tshirt. Belgium is cool. I'm cool. Nuff said. Thanks for reading.

Eat well, drink good beer, ride your bike and treat your partner well.

Enjoy life, OGQ

The Gravity of Reason.

After a day and night with the grand kids. The Traveling Mice awoke early and crept out of the house under cover of darkness and headed for their maiden voyage on the Freedom of the Seas.

With a an air of trepidation the Mice headed to Miami. Where everybody has a cousin.

After the usual airline delays. Our plane landed on time. I'm beginning to think they build in the delay. Then make it up to make you feel better about their service. We deplaned and got our bags to find a friendly rep from the Royal Caribbean team. They got us and our luggage right on the bus. A short bus ride with a very funny driver. Who gave us the nickel tour of Miami. Both the "highs" and the "lows". We did see some local color. Boarding and customs was a snap. Mom take note and do online registration. We were on board and headed for our first buffet in fifteen minutes. But first we checked out or room in steerage. Nice and pleasant. With a good size window. Back to the buffet. Quite the variety. We chowed down and headed for a tour of the ship. That's our window on the world for the next week.At 4:15 we had our evacuation drill. All ran smoothly and back to our exploration. In the immortal words of Mrs Page. HUGE. But all very nice. The ship is only three years old so it wasn't showing any wear.. Each night they fold your towels into some sort of animal. Clever. Fun.

We went to dinner,casual tonight. Where we met our dining companions. They were from Quebec. Denise,Lucy, Diane and Gosylyn. Fun people. Lucy became our translator. The food was very good. Our waitstaff was from Bali and were excellent. After dinner more touring of the ship and a drink on the promenade for what would turn out to be our favorite activity,people watching. Off to bed. Day one was travel at sea. Our first port of call will be Haiti.

We awoke to our new port. Off to the dining room for breakfast. Part of the fun was meeting new people. We departed and went to the "compound". This was a manufactured village,that was supposed to represent Haitian life. Yikes, you quickly tired of them hassling you to buy something. The weather was just a bit off for the reptile to get in water. Back on the boat and it was formal dinner night. The mice dressed appropriately. Then what was to become a nightly thing we hit the promenade. Each night had a theme. This really being the welcome night. Now another thing we began to notice was the outfits some females wore. I was thinking most would never wear those at home. But hard to tell. Lots of stilettos. The classic was the "hooker mom and daughter" combo. Lots of T&A. It was a pervs paradise if you like young flesh. The other end was the Dad and Grandpas decked out in Billabong or American Eagle. I'm sure they never thought they'd be wearing that. City Mouse found a community bulletin board. Lo and behold "The Friends of Dorothy" were having a meeting at four. Hmmm? Put that on the itinerary for tomorrow. Back in our berth. We found an elephant on our bed. No seasickness or detection of the ship rocking. We went to see the stars.

Port of call. Jamaica. A quick boat ride over to shore and we guided through the fence and razor wire for a little shopping. Even in the "tourist" zone we had far too many pan handlers. A short walk had us in "Straw City" maybe not the best place to be. While City Mouse was using the internet Country Mouse checked out a few shops. Had a sample of Jamaican Blue Note coffee where upon the shop owner offered me "something better". It's cool, it's Jamaica Mon" he said.

Ahh, no thanks. Chuckle. We wended our way through some fun shops and I picked up some bracelets with our names on them. Local trade. Then we decided to be real tourists and hit Margaritaville. We had,what else? A mango margarita. To the tune of 34 dollars for two. Collectors glass included so minus fifteen for the glasses. But they knew how to work the crowd here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. We made our way back to the ship for lunch. Buffet number two. We saw it today. The feeding frenzy. There were fins to the left and fins to the right. Big eaters all here. Then I signed up for the rock climbing. Nice wall made it all the way up.That would be a return trip. Off to the deck for some sun. Now this is what we came for. Sun, heat,clear blue sky. A quick shower and we went in search of the Friends of Dorothy. Odd they were disguised as physicians. No shows even though we saw other members on board. Out to the sunshine for a drink before dinner. Tonight we caught a show after dinner. A tribute to Broadway. Not bad. The promenade awaited for "Dancing to the 80's". City Mouse would cringe whenever the cruise director came on. This was billed as three thousand people dancing in the streets. More like three with 2993 watching. Then all hell broke loose. The shrill noise of a psycho teenager flipping out on her parents. City mouse was quite taken by this display of outrage by the young lady. Me I see it often at work. One man walked by and told her "she needed to take her meds." That was funny. She was too busy yelling to hear him. But the crowd was fun. Just like college we began to name people by their traits. Tonight out towels became bats.

Port of call Cayman Islands. Today we booked a trip to swim with the stingrays. This would turn out to be the highlight of the trip. The guys running the tour were fun and really friendly. The sky clear blue as was the water. About a 45 minute ride out to the sandbar. Now as the guides described the rays were like puppies that had been fed,but still wild. In the water went the patrons. Sure enough the rays glided right up looking for food. Bumping and nudging you. Big and small ones. When you got to hold them. They had these big yellow lizard like eyes. They felt like a wet portobello mushroom. Very fun. Snorkeling around and seeing them slip under you. Touch them as they went by.After about an hour it was back to town. Another Maragaritaville beckoned. Where we had a Cheeseburger in Paradise. Not bad,not the best burger I've ever had. A different crowd here. But they were doing free shots of tequila. Our them right down your throat type of thing. Odd here they didn't play and Buffet. back to the boat for a little more sun and a beer. Tonight I broke down and had a martini before the show. Gin has not passed my lips in seven years after the near death experience. A vodka and Poma martini made it into the line up as did an appletini. I'll stick to beer. Good beer. But gin will always be it for martinis for me.

We hit the comedy show. They had some uncalled for anti gay humor that pretty much ruined that for us. More people watching awaited.

Port of call Cozumel. Now I've always wanted to see Mayan ruins and today would be the day.

The flyer said a short boat ride and a short bus ride. We boarded a catamaran and headed to land. OOOH, I hit the point of maybe throwing up would be better. But made it through and landed Ok. Well the short trips took two and a half hours. Then a speedy look through the ruins.

They were very cool. Back on the bus for another ride to our lunch at the beach. Country Mouse made it in the water. Mother Ocean was doing her job cleaning out my sinuses. Then it was rush rush rush to get back. This was the kind of off boat excursion you hear about. Tonight we did a late seating for dinner. We met a guy who worked for the cruise line. He and his Cuban girlfriend were funny. Tonight we would also met the ex pro basketball player Stu Shine. Like Shoe shine his wife said. Funny.great guy. Our towels became a cobra today.

Overall if you have any doubts about a cruise. Don't hesitate. Do it. We had a great week on our floating city. If you can't find something to do or don't have a good time it's your fault. The food was very good. Service was generally excellent. You'll garner all kinds of tips from people who have cruised before. Our only glitch was at departure and part of that was our fault. But it all worked out.

At the Miami airport Country Mouse recognized Mario Batali and we had our picture taken with him. Foodies at heart we are.

I like mine with lettuce and tomato,Heinz 57 and french fried potatoes. Big Kosher pickle and a cold draft beer. Good God almighty which way do I steer for my...............................

Enjoy life. We sure do. OGQ