The Stable.

It's really filling out.

New Bike Day: T1

I took delivery of my first Trek yesterday.

I was walking out and Robert, another

designer stopped me as I walked by with

my Raleigh and asked me "When are you

going to start riding a Trek?" to which

I responded with how I ordered my T1

two weeks ago and had not heard about

it being delivered yet. He said it had

probably been delivered a few days ago

and they probably just didn't know who

I was yet because I was so new. Sure enough

right on top of a pile of bike boxes was a

60cm T1 with my name on it. We absconded

with it into a nearby shop and assembled

the bike, fitted it to my body and snugged

everything up. I got so excited I chose to

ride that home instead of the Raleigh.

Man, is the T1 fast. I suppose I am not

helping the Raleigh out by outfitting it

with boat anchors for wheels. The gear

ratio is a little short, nothing a new cog

would not fix, but aside from that, it is

an awesome addition to my collection.

Steal is Real but Aluminum and Carbon

are stupid light.

And on top of this, the Red Wings won.

This Guy.

The gentleman gazed into his antiquated technology with

a whimsical daze. He would pause periodically to orient

himself in the present.

Drifting momentarily to his Wall Street days when he was

filled with hubris to be seen with such a device.

Before he gave up and moved to the Midwest.

Lao Laan-Xang.

Really awesome Laotian food.

I recommend the Squash Tofu Curry.

Shanghai Forever.

BBC had one of these Shanghai Forever

bikes that was about as ubiquitous as

people and dirty air out in Shanghai. The

guy would not fully commit to a story

about how this came into his possession,

but he did attempt to sell it to me for

$400.

The rod brakes made it tempting, but I

told him if he ever came across a China

Post bike with full racks and panniers,

he would have a buyer.

Blast from the past.

Budget Bicycle Center

Went down to BBC to check out their selection and get on

some old bikes.

This place is up there on the "most zen filled garages on

earth" list.

Grocery Shopping.

I think it's cute that they have a Moleskine

holder in the carts.

How did they know I write down my list

in my Helvetica Moleskine?

Stella: Road Warrior.

Took Stella out to MKE for the IDSA conference. As expected,

she was nothing short of exceptional on our day trip to the

big city.

Nav got me right to where I was going.

We cruised with an 09 Gallardo Superleggera for about 30

miles on I94 as I talked to Mickey about the new things

going on in her life.

Salsa Roja Tortada.

So, I caught a healthy dose of tBell advertising while watching

game 2 on Friday. This new product is apparently is supposed

to be "Taco Bell's answer to the Sandwich", which I had always

thought was the Burrito.

Turns out, its just a squared crunch wrap without the crunch

part.

B-

Side Story:

When I arrived, the Manager of the Taco Bell was outside having

his smoke break and he hollered at me as I was exiting my car,

"So you drove your STI all the way from Michigan to MY Taco

Bell", I laughed and then we talked for a good ten minutes about

Sun Prairie. His name was Ryan also. Then as I sat eating, a cute

girl pulled up in the drive through line and we smiled at each other

because we were both wearing wayfarers. As said cute girl pulled

ahead in her Saleen Edition SVT Focus, I noticed she too had plates

from Michigan! (The one with the sunset over the Mackinac Bridge).

As I sat thinking how weird it was to have so many weird Michigan

references in one Taco Bell sitting in Sun Prairie, Wisco I turned

to see a lady walking in with a vastly oversized Red Wings sweater.

At this point, I realized the Red Wings game was starting in 20

minute.

I quickly gathered my things and silently walked out the door and

tried to make sense of what just happened.

To Recap:

Guy notices I am from Michigan, named RYAN.

Cute Girl in Focus from Michigan, my Sunglasses.

Old lady with 5 kids, Reminds me the hockey game I want to watch

is steadfastly approaching.

Taco Bell food, sub par but too cheap to ignore.

Like an episode of the Twilight Zone.

Harley-Davidson Museum.

The IDSA Midwest Conference ended their Saturday

festivities at the Harley Davidson Museum in MKE.

The place was really interesting architecturally and

overly expensive when it came to anything else. They

had a Harley on what was essentially a very beefy

version of my bike trainer so that I could ride it and

get all of the sensations of riding with none of the risks

of me eating it or stealing the bike.

Also, as an aside. When I went to design school, in my

class of nearly 100 students, there were 3 girls. At the

Midwest IDSA conference the ratio had to be 3:1 in

favor of girls.

When did that happen?

People in Brooklyn.

They are thinking of me on their Staycations.

Do the Write Thing.

I ordered this t-shirt about 2 days ago

from an old CCS classmate.

It's completely rad and it lets me rep

Detroit hard while i'm out here deep

in the heart of Wisco.

Mail Time: Part Four.

Wootie comes through and sends me a funny card. This

time she was clear not to include "oh, the places you'll

go" because last time she did that I ended up in China

for 6 months.

Thanks a lot, Wootie! It definitely made the new cork

board. Also, make sure to keep a lookout for a return

letter in the near future.

New Helmet!

I rode in to work today and a few of my co-workers drove

by me on the way in and noticed I was not wearing a helmet

(sorry, mom). Anyways, the Helmet team sits next to me,

so after giving me crap for not wearing a helmet, they

found a left over Large helmet and lent it to me to keep

me alive and protect their investment.

Free.

Bike.

Stuff.

Weekend Acquisition.

This weekend I went to Target and bought

a cork board and dry erase board for my

kitchen. I find that I need visual reminders

to do things sometimes and I figured these

would help. I realize they are kind of blank

as of right now, but I assure you, they will

be put to use.

I would also like to thank the McCullough-

Johnson family for their Target Gift certificate

that made this all possible!

Perks.

So, at Trek, I basically inherited all of Chris Jivoin's stuff.

He was a designer at Trek who moved to Boston for a girl

and is dearly missed by everyone. I am using his desk and

most of his miscellaneous things like lockers and filing

cabinets he used during his tenure in the Studio.

I was cleaning out his locker/cabinet thing in the studio

and amongst all the prototype aero bars and one-off SLA

forks, there was this black carbon mountain bike frame.

It has a sticker on the head-tube that is shaped like the

Pabst Blue Ribbon logo but is completely blank and has

no other discernible markings on it. I showed it to everyone

and the unanimous response was "Welcome to Trek, that's

yours now". I guess it was an early carbon mock-up frame

for a design that never made it to market? It does not have

any of Trek's serial numbers on it.

Anyway, I just thought I would let everyone know that my

job renders me free carbon fiber things and that makes it

better than your job.

Mail Time: Part Three.

Mail is really starting to flow in! This time CK sent me an

envelope with the letter on the inside of the envelope itself.

I was really sad on the trip from my mailbox to my room

because it felt like an empty letter. Imagine my surprise

when I found out that this letter was worth three (3!) photos

in my blog.

Keep up the good work guys!

Omelette.

This morning, I had no idea how to make an omelette.

This evening, I am well versed.

Shanghai Crushin' Birthday Part Deux

So, my 23rd birthday is coming up and incase you

were hunting for last minute gift ideas, I decided I

would help you out a little by providing you some

items for consideration.

1.Perrin Catted Downpipe for 2008+ STI's

2.iPad

3.Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

4.Canon EF-S 18-135mm

5.Bride Gias in Blue w/ Gradation

Be certain to coordinate as to not double up

on gift giving.

Cooking with Chef Ryan.

Today, I cooked myself an irresponsibly large sandwich.

It was a grilled chicken (teriyaki) with sautéed onions,

red/yellow/green bell peppers and pepper jack cheese

on a roll.

It fell apart right away, but that just meant I got to have

a grilled veggie side salad with my sandwich.

I am starting to get the hang of this stuff.

New Haircut.

Went to "Cost Cutters" which I initially thought was an

H&R Block type place because we don't have those in MI.

Asked the nice lady make it so my hair does not stick out

of my cycling cap so much.

Consensus: I like it. On the ride home I felt 20lbs lighter,

my sprints were more fluid and my shadow did not look

stupid with hair sticking out everywhere. I even passed a

car or two in the 15 mph section of town. Functionally,

it is far ahead of what I woke up with. Aesthetically, it

looks like most every other haircut I have gotten in the

past 2 years.

Plus, Form follows function.

Market Street Diner and Bakery.

It's like Red Knapps.

But way cooler.

And in Wisconsin.

Parts.

Went for an exploratory bike ride around my new place

to see what I could see and perhaps find myself a haircut.

One thing I noticed while crushin' is that there are a lot of

obscure nice cars out here. There was a beautiful BelAir that

I was not able to photograph as well as an elusive Mercedes

Grosser 600 that I have seen 3 time but never am I able to

capture a photo of it.

I was, however, ready for this Ford Fairlane stopping to

refuel and the Satellite parts car, getting dragged to a

garage to be built into a boulevard cruiser.

I guess it's not all bikes out here, which is a good thing.

The Local.

My photo got put in the Local NYTime blog again.

http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/get-out-outdoor-flea-resumes/

Check it out.

Opening Day.

Time to dust off the Wockenfuss jersey.

Go get 'em, Tigers.

Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

After Lunch, the team visited MMoCA.

The collection was small, but the building

architecture was refreshing and they

had a few Barcelona Chairs upstairs in

the lounge.

We talked shop and introduced me to

come Trek happenings that I should

be aware of.

Man this place is cool.

Saigon Noodle.

The pavement team spent the second half of the day out

in Madison for team building exercises. It was more of

a "Hey team, meet Ryan" type deal. It did net me some

free Vietnamese food and I got to formally meet Vi who

has been traveling for business my entire time. Chicken,

Shrimp and Vegetables.

Vi takes pictures of her food as well.

I'm getting in and fitting in.

Mail Time: Part Deux.

My one and only sister, Cate, sent me some mail that arrived

today. It was great to get my first hand written letter.

I want to assure Cate that I am running a tight, clean ship

over here and respecting women is priority one.

Come visit.

Turkey Eggs and Cheese.

I made myself dinner today! I was feeling nostalgic for

my favorite Bodega "Yafa", so I paid homage to my boys

from Clinton Hill by replicating what they had perfected.

I substituted American Cheese for Pepper Jack, Turkey

for Pepper Smoked Turkey and added Cholula.

I feel as though they would be proud of me.

Making do all the way out here in the Midwest.