Italy What Happened?
When you think of things from Italy what do you picture? I think of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Ducati, Aprilia,Versace, and more.
Then you have Fiat!
What the HELL is this? It isn’t beautiful. It isn’t fast! What is it? Was this designed by some art failure that couldn’t let go? I am so confused. I think the Italian government should pay Fiat to move their company to Poland or something.
Tom’s Thumb Ride.
2 days ago I went to try to conquer Tom’s Thumb trail again. I was not actually feeling amazing but I wanted to finally climb that mountain. Things were going well and then only about 30 minutes in, my brand new SRAM X9 derailleur came off. I couldn’t believe it the bolt was still screwed on, the derailleur just separated from the casing that the bolt goes into. I was so pissed! first I called my brother to vent and he assured me that SRAM was a good company and would replace it. I was just worried that I would have to carry the bike back to the car. I couldn’t figure out how it went on because now it was all bent up and didn’t fit on correctly. finally I got it on but it obviously wasn’t tight because i just slipped it on over the casing that it separated from. I was able to ride down cautiously. I went to Swiss American Bike shop where they helped me out and said they have never seen this problem before. I really love this shop. They are straight forward with you and honest. They called SRAM and got the part under warranty. What a day and I forgot to take pictures because I was mad. Got to work on this if I am going to be a good blogger.
My Tank is Dying.
I have been treating my tank because I have a Blue Hippo Tank that had cloudy eye. I was using Melafix (tea tree oil) to treat because it is the only reef safe medication. Today is day 5 and I was thinking that the tang “T-shirt” would probably not make it. To my surprise not only the tang died but the yellow wrasse “Chiquita” and my flame angel “Flame” as well. I tested all of the water and all water parameters were good. I just called my local fish store Aquatouch and they said it was either due to low O2 or an aggressive bacteria. Probably need to change the UV bulb. Still the other fish were 100% last night. Also the copepods that live in the gravel were all dead as well and he said that the bacteria generally doesn’t bother crustaceans. So who knows. I is not a good morning.
I hope everything else pulls threw. I don’t hear my pistol shrimp clicking so thats not good.
Mountain Bike Ride and Making Mormon Tea
For my birthday first Erin took me out to an awesome breakfast at The Good Egg. Then Drew, Danny, and I went for a nice bike ride at Pima and Dynamite. The trail is basically up and down with no significant climbs. However it is sandy and that always adds some challenges. A great ride it was. We also pick some Mormon tea and chewed on it.
Now we are going to brew up some Mormon Tea
After the Ride we ended the night with a great pizza from Rare Earth pizza and wine bar.
Happy Birthday to Me
Today is my 30th birthday. Getting up there. LOL. Well I had an awesome party night that first started at Buca Di Beppo in Old Town Scottsdale. The food as normal was awesome. Oh and the tiramisu holly crap! Amazing
Great to see so many of my friends. Then we moved on to Shotgun Betty’s where the bar tenders also pole dance. this is nice but I will say some take this very seriously and some are barely swaying to the music.
Finally it was time to ride the mechanical bull and we did that at Saddle Ranch.
Thank you to all my friends that came out to celebrate.
Niner Rip 9 Review and Drew’s first Phoenix Ride
This bike is amazing. This is a true MAN bike. You can do everything. It climbs and descends. With some full suspension bikes you pay big dividends in climbing but not with the Niner. Niner only makes 29er bike so they have the geometry dialed in. No it’s not carbon but it won’t crack like carbon either. I am so happy I didn’t get the Specialized Stumpjumper. Don’t get me wrong that was a good bike but this is amazing.
It was awesome getting to ride again with my bro. Who would have known he would turn into a great technical rider. Can’t wait to take him to S. mountain. That should be a great welcome to phoenix MF. Actually he will probably be able to teach me a thing or two there.
Ouch
Our Super Bowl party was a successes. I was a bad blogger and forgot to take pictures. We had great food including: Lasagna, sushi, Enchiladas, and dips galore. Did I also mention great beer and other drinks. BTW I really like the new New Belgium beer DIG. It is like an amber and IPA mix.Very Good! I didn’t even get to see most of the second half. Can’t imagine why!
Ouch. My man Dan fell victim to National at South Mountain. We were so close to the end and his front tire lost air and then this. I swore he was going to have broken bones but I guess he has been drinking his milk! I am very excited my new bike is scheduled to be here on Thursday. I hope I don;t have to work on friday. My bro will be here too so we will defiantly be taking it out for a spin.
Today I was a good house husband. I reorganized the laundry closet and mounted the ironing board in there. Now we won’t have to go into my brothers new room to iron.
I even vacuumed the carpets and clean the fish tank and turtle tank.
San Louis Obispo
What an amazing day. First it started with breakfast overlooking the beach.
Then I was off to the beach and I got to see plenty of marine life without even getting wet.
There were surfers too
Then I went on a nice 5 mile run
Now I have to take a show and go to work.
Been a While
Sorry it’s been long since my last post. I have been enjoying the Phoenix winter. I tested out the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR 29er.
Although I did like the bike and also test rode the Epic which I wasn’t that impressed with I went with a Niner. All of the reviews on the Niner were great. Also although the Stumpjumper was cheaper after upgrades they would have been pretty close ing price. I ordered a new Niner RIP 9 mountain bike.
Thank you Erin for the best birthday and Valentines day present ever. My wife is really the best.
I have been riding about 3 times a week and lifting about 3-4 times and I am feeling so amazing. I have lost about 8 lbs and feeling so strong. Can’t wait for my bro to get out to Phoenix so we can start riding together. I just found a new really nice trail 3 miles from my house called Sonoran and Dixie Mountain loop in North Phoenix. It is not technical but there is a fair amount of climbing and descending. The trail is in very good condition and there is not very much traffic. It is a nice change from T-100.
Last weekend was our friend Brittany’s 30th birthday. She got a party bus and what a blast!
Here I am controlling the lighting for the bus. My best friend Dan brought some Red Stag which is the worst crap I have ever tasted and it cause all of us to see him dancing in his underwear. Brittany was shaking her thang so hard the bus broke down 1 mile from her house. It was classic. Lucky for me I was slightly under the weather so I drank a little less and felt great the next morning due to a 3am stop at Armando’s a 24 hour mexican paradise.
The Man Pub 