Grace Cathedral

I pass Grace Cathedral either on bike or foot all the time. Finally snapped a quick photo while the bells ring 8PM.

More Thanksgiving Weekend Pictures

A number of pictures from the weekend: Acro-Yoga, Hiking & the Dogs:

Gina Flying on Brian's one leg

Me flying with Brian

Laura Flying upside-down on Brian, Sequoia and Ziggy

Me and Ziggy

Ziggy, Parker & Gina

Ziggy, Parker, Gina & Me

Ziggy "Go ahead, see if you can get this bone"

Parker

Parker & Ziggy

Christmas & Palm Trees

Along with probably high 50's right now. Loving that!

Rattlesnake Ridge

Quick post...two low quality pics taken with my phone...more pictures to come, once developed/downloaded:

View of the ridge from the bottom.

Gina, Dean, Ziggy & Parker at the top.

Holla!

#End


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Empty SFO

I got to the airport early because of all the holiday hype. Checked my bag and through security in 20 mins max. It's a bit spooky how empty it is here.


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From an old episode of "The Office"

www.creedthoughts.gov.www\creedthoughts

May 17, 06:20 PM

Creed Thoughts

Hey-o, everyone out there in SyberWorld. It’s old Creed Bratton coming at your again, here from my perch as a Quality Assurance Manager at Dunder Mifflin paper. Just a few observations on the world around me.

What do you guys think is the best kind of car? To me, you can’t beat motorcycles. They’re small, and dangerous.

I got into a car accident yesterday and I just took off. It didn’t look too bad. The guy was making a big deal out of it, but come on – dogs don’t live forever.

Sometimes when I’m sick, or feeling blue, I drink vinegar. I like all kinds: balsamic, vodka, orange juice, leaves.

Working in an office is fine, but I’d rather be a millionaire. [Elaborate on this. It’s interesting. Maybe Trademark it, too.]

Today in my office where I work as Director of Quality Assurance, we went to the beach for some reason that was never adequately explained. When we were there, our manager told us to eat hot coals. I thought that was a little bit untoward so I ate a fish. Then a woman I have literally never seen before in my entire life started talking very loudly about something involving Halpert. She was agitated, I’d say. From what I could guess, she was definitely on drugs of some kind, perhaps cocaine, or maybe ‘drines. Also, she is a knock-out. She reminds me of a young Daphne Du Maurier. Also, I stupidly ate the fishbones. I told myself “never again” after the last time, but then you turn around, and bam, they’re in my mouth. I also ate 55 hot dogs in 15 minutes, which is a world record.

Everybody remembers: “April showers bring May flowers.” But no one remembers how the rest of that goes. Which I find so frustrating.

Prediction: the Orioles will win the World Series over the Pirates in seven games.

Prediction: the space program will be renamed the Outer Space Program by 2060.

Prediction: someday we will be able to travel faster than sound. We will “break the sound barrier.”

Prediction: [note – need more predictions.]

Reminder: Michael’s safe combo: 26-32-20.

Long "Easy" Ride and Daft Punk

A few of us from our team got out for a great ride today...5.5 hours in the East Bay. The route was mainly flat with a couple small/medium climbs tossed in. The weather was great...warmed up about mid-way (or maybe it was just warm because of the climbs?). Sunny and in the mid 60's. A nice nap followed when I got home.

That's all for today, but I'm going to leave you with these three amazing videos...

Props to those who starred in them and also to The Laughing Squid for bringing them to my attention - Thanks:

Bummer

I walked up to the small corner market to grab a couple quick things...

Wanted:
- Soy Milk
- Eggs
- Something for dinner
- Beer

They were out of soy milk, so I grabbed regular milk, which is fine. Picked up a can of Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner.


The missing Stella is next to me now.
Eggs are in the bowl because 2 didn't make the walk home.
I think the can of soup is still on the counter at the market :-(

I guess it's an almond butter & jelly sandwich with a Stella for dinner tonight.

Bright side...my hair looks good now that I finally got it cut.

Bike Stuff:
- My team's sponsorships are all falling into place...announcements to come soon. It's going to be pretty sweet!
- Cool article on the Slipstream-Chipotle Team and their big time stance against doping:
Disgraced Rider and New U.S. Team Take the Lead Against Doping

70 and Sunny

Can't wait for tonight's night ride!

Go Karting

Tonight we raced and we raced hard.

Active Athlete is having our national sales meeting this week and we've been holding some amazing meetings all week...tonight, we got out and played. We went Go Karting. Now, I've been on GoKarts many times before (actually had one growing up), but these karts can reach speeds up to 40mph!!

Notice in the picture below that we are wearing race suits...what you don't see, is that we had full face helmets, neck-braces and 4-point safety belts. I definitely tested out the safety features when meeting a pole head on at full speed...Todd and I were side by side drifting down a fast left curve (me on the outside) and neither of us wanted to back down. After about 20 feet of me hitting the safety wall (that really just moved over for me) I went nose first into one of the building's structural columns. This knocked me from 3rd to last as the officials tracked down my helmet's visor, which went sailing upon impact and then straightened my kart out.

Also, the whole team came to the conclusion that I successfully rear-ended, t-boned and/or spun out every single other driver on the course. But hey, rubbin's racin', right...I am a crit racer and love sprint finishes. My aggressive style landed me 1st and 5th in the two races...I owe 5th to the pole.

Me, Dennis and Gerry (I beat them)

The Kart

More pictures to follow.

I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

More

Huge!


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Icer Air

Another shot.  This one with half pipe.


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Esurance Icer Air

Big air snow ramp in AT&T Park!


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Active Athlete Media Sponsors Squadra Ovest Cycling Team for 2008

I mentioned this in an earlier post...here's the official release:

Active Athlete Media, an online media company that connects advertisers with consumers engaged in lifestyle sports, announced today an agreement to sponsor the Squadra Ovest Cycling Team, an elite group of Northern California racers dedicated to the sport and community. As title sponsor for the 2008 season, Active Athlete will provide financial support while enhancing the positive momentum and reputation Squadra Ovest has built through the years. The team will be named Active Athlete Squadra Ovest.

“We are extremely excited about the sponsorship and upcoming cycling season,” said Robert Tas, CEO of Active Athlete Media. “As a company focused on lifestyle sports, it makes perfect sense to engage in a partnership that promotes the sport of cycling and gives back to the community. We are very proud to be associated with such a dedicated group of individuals that share our passion and values.”

The sponsorship is a great opportunity for Active Athlete to connect with a highly targeted audience, including advertisers, publishers and the cyclists themselves. In addition to brand promotion on Squadra Ovest’s jerseys, bicycles and racing tent, the sponsorship will provide Active Athlete with valuable online (e.g. website) and offline marketing activities. Active Athlete clients also will have the opportunity to participate in Squadra Ovest’s kick-off event, training camp, team parties and even a team ride.

The purpose of Squadra Ovest, founded in 2003, is to drive the growth of cycling as a sport and provide opportunities for developing riders to achieve their goals—all while raising money for American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA), a non-profit organization that exists to eliminate brain tumors through research and to meet the needs of brain tumor patients and their families.

Squadra Ovest has accumulated more than 75 podium appearances across Northern California’s highly popular and competitive cycling scene since its inception in 2007. The team has posted strong results in major competitions such as the Merco Credit Classic, San Dimas Stage Race, Tri-Flow Menlo Park GP, Cat’s Hill Classic, Mount Hamilton Classic and Carrera de San Rafael. In every race, Squadra Ovest competes in the Best All-Around Team (BAT) classification.

“We are thrilled to have Active Athlete’s support as we approach the 2008 season,” said Dan Tedford, president of Squadra Ovest. “Our riders work extremely hard to succeed both on and off the bike. With Active Athlete, we have a partner dedicated to making it a fun, successful year on the Northern California cycling circuit.”

For more information visit www.activeathlete.com and www.squadraovest.com.

About Active Athlete

Active Athlete’s focus is active consumers who participate in sports, and the advertisers desiring to reach this demographic. Active Athlete’s growing audience can be attributed to the intersection of three large and growing markets: the growth of sports marketing online, the growth of fitness and recreational sports, and the boom of online advertising. Active Athlete’s 170+ sites consist of some of the Web’s most relevant lifestyle sports destinations – from endurance to action sports to country club and outdoor. The company provides an opportunity for brands and advertisers to reach active people at their passion point online.