Old Friends

I went down to the Manhattan Beach Pier today to see the new group leave. 

Tracy looks fine and I think she as recovered from her operation as she almost crushed me when she hugged me at the pier.

I saw Rick again this year. This is his 15th year doing this and he told me that as long as he can ride a bike he is going to do this every year. 

Tom D and his wife Robyn will provide support.  As in 2009,  Denver played the Lakers in the basketball playoffs and lost (Sorry Tom). However, I do not think the Lakers will win the championship this year as they did in 2009.

I also spoke to Carol (Hank's better half). I told her she should ride a few days so she could see if she could bike across the country next year.

Randy from XC08 comes every year and it was good to see him. Scott from XC08 was also there.

It is a strange feeling, but anyone who has done the trip seems like and old friend even if you did not actually bike with them. 

As for me, while it was good to see everyone I hope to one day make another long distance bike trip. 

Some pictures, courtesy of Jim.

End of an Era

I was commuting to work and I felt that my suspension was a little off.  Upon further inspection you will see why this has happenned.

I guess this is the end of an era.  We had good times together. We were the object of much ridicule, but you and I still made the trek cross country.  I will never forget the memories we shared together.  Farewell, my trusted friend.

Night 2

I was not planning on going to night 2, but thanks to a special friend I was able to go. I appreciate the thought and I will not forget your friendship.

\

Set List

1. No Surrender
2. We Take Care Of Our Own
3. Wrecking Ball
4. Badlands
5. Death to My Hometown
   (With Tom Morello)
6. My City of Ruins
7. Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?
8. Jack of All Trades
   (With Tom Morello)
9. Youngstown
10. Prove It All Night
11. Darkness on the Edge of Town
12. Easy Money
13. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
14. Apollo Medley
15. Racing in the Street
16. The Rising
17. Lonesome Day
18. We Are Alive
19. The Ghost of Tom Joad
    (With Tom Morello)
20. Land of Hope and Dreams
    (With Tom Morello)
21. Encore:
22. Rocky Ground
    (with Michelle Moore)
23. Bobby Jean
24. Born to Run
25. Dancing in the Dark
26. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
    (With Tom Morello)

A video from tonight's show

Bruce

As anyone who knows me I am a big fan (as in fanatic) of Bruce Springsteen.  I went to see him yesterday in concert and all I can say is "wow".  It was a fantastic concert. One of the best of his shows that I have attended.  3 hours of not worrying about anything, just listenting to the music, singing along (badly) and dancing (even worse). 

Setlist

1. Badlands
2. We Take Care Of Our Own
3. Wrecking Ball
4. The Ties That Bind
5. Death to My Hometown
6. My City of Ruins
7. The E Street Shuffle
8. Jack of All Trades
9. Something in the Night
10. Candy's Room
11. She's the One
12. Easy Money
13. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
14. The Promised Land
15. Apollo Medley
16. The Ghost of Tom Joad
17. The Rising
18. Lonesome Day
19. We Are Alive
20. Land of Hope and Dreams

Encore:

21. Rocky Ground
22. California Sun
23. Born to Run
24. Dancing in the Dark
25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Some pictures of the concert.  Apparently I was too close on some of these photos and they are blurry, but hopefully you can see Bruce.

Cologne

I have not been biking as much as last year. Part of the reason is that on a few of weekends it has rained and that is when I usually do the majority of my miles.  Still, I am up to 1,500 miles for the first 3 months of the year which still puts me on a pace to bike around 6,000 for the year.

Last weekend I went on a business trip to Cologne, Germany.  The business part of it is 2 days and the travel portion s 2 days.  Surprisingly, not much jet lag as it was such a short trip my body never adjusted to the time difference.  Oh, and a lot of coffee drinking does not hurt.

A view of the Cathedral from the front and the back. 

In crossing the bridge from one side of Cologne to the other side,  you notice that people who get married affix these locks to the fence (below the picture of the train) with their names. As you can see this stretches the full length of the bridge.

The Rhine is a river that flows from Grisons in the eastern Swiss Alps to the North Sea coast in the NetherlandsAn overview of the Rhine River



Rhine River, Cologne another view

Rhine River, Cologne



Factoids

As I usually do not drive to work, but bike I do not really pay much attention to my car odometer.  However, below is either an interesting or crazy statistic:

Odometer reading on my 11 year old car   40,900
Last 3 years biked:                                      32,678

During 2011, I was able to ride 11,743 miles which was only 451 miles less than my personnel best in 2009. 

I think I need a little more balance in my life as I believe I rode past Jim on the beach bike path two Thursday ago.  It looked like Jim and I yelled "Jim" and he did respond,  but did not stop, but that could have been too much time on the bike.

I hope that everyone had a Happy New Year.

Please be safe, happy and healthy.

Hell on Wheels

This is not me riding my bike around town.  It is the name of a new show produced by my company that will premiere in AMC tomorrow night.