Aloha

Aloha from Kauai, Hawaii. We have been here for a few days now and it started with a moderate level of ridiculousness. Tony and Jaela picked us up at the airport just in time for lunch and we headed straight for Duke's. Tasty. Then we were off to Costco for supplies for four for the week. Naturally, about half of the $440 shopping spree was spent on booze. Part of the alcohol purchase was specifically for WSATU celebrations. If you are not familiar with WSATU, you need so spend some time over at AHTBM and read up on this fun-filled day. I will only be posting one photo from the event, in which only my friend, Tony, and I participated while our wives ignored us as best they could. I ended up besting Tony by one beer, with a final score of 11 to 10.

In bike related activities, the Poipu area is not for cycling. Well, at least not road cycling. I know nothing of mountain biking in the area. We headed over to the other side of the island and it is Obviously much better for cycling, but still not great. We happened to pass by Kauai Cycle and I was able to convince Tony to flip the car around in traffic so I could check out the shop. It is a pretty small shop, but the guys were nice and they looked pretty busy wrenching on bikes. They did have some really nice Specialized bikes and a slick Cervelo P3. I bought myself a nifty new water bottle, but couldn't find a shirt in my size.

As for Kauai in general, it is beautiful. We have visited several out of the way beaches and sights and will be doing a hike or two later in the week. Madison was freaked out by the sand and water combo at first, but has grown to like it since we keep forcing it upon her. Let's face it, she really doesn't have much of a choice.

Mahalo for stopping by.

Back in the Saddle

It seems as if I have forgotten about this blog. My last post was nearly two years ago. It's amazing how much has happened since then. I got married in August of 2010, got a job with the DLI (yes, again) in August of 2011, and had a baby girl, Madison, in October of 2011. Yes, I named my daughter after the velodrome race because of my love of riding in ovals.

I have also acquired and rid myself of several bikes and frames. Just last week I sold my Colnago CLX frameset to a friend and GTR teammate. He's as giddy as a schoolgirl researching and buying parts for it. When he has everything I will be building it with him to teach him how everything works. He is a good rider and has a killer S-Works Tarmac, but has never built a bike from the ground up. I'm pretty sure he doesn't do any work on his own bikes based on the state of gnarlyness of his CX bike that I recently tuned up. I am now riding a Chinese open mold frame from Flyxii and am really enjoying it. It is simple with clean lines and looks great.

However, Bike Hugger recently posted about the return of the GT Edge Ti road bike and I'm smitten. It takes me back to the days when I started riding (holy crap, that was twenty years ago), often out of Cycle Masters in Turlock with guys on the steel Edge frames. I don't think I will be able to resist the temptation of that frame. We shall see. I have been riding more recently now that I'm getting the hang of having a mini-me in the house (which is awesome). Maybe I can justify the mythical beauty that is titanium with some more saddle time.

Image from Bike Hugger