Two Wheel Tango

Here are some pics of David Grant and I in front of Two Wheel Tango bike shop in Ann Arbor this past weekend (sporting our Bike and Build t-shirts). It was a fun day as we had just attended David's graduation ceremony from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). We also met a rider from Bike and Build's Providence to Seattle 2006 ride (small world), who works at the bike shop.

Thanks Alla, Darin and Gabrielle

Thanks to Alla, Darin and Gabrielle (but not scratchy and annabelle) for their generous donation and offer to let me stay at their place for the week that I am still in Columbus without a place to stay. I believe the converstation went like this:

Alla: Where are you staying that last week?

Scott: Not sure. I figure I'll worry about it next week.

Alla: Let me see if Darin minds if you stay here.

Scott: I appreciate it. I am hoping not to inconvenience you. Maybe I should just plan on going out to the bar every night and just finding someone to go home with each night.

More family you can count on

I would like to thank my mom and brother for coming down to Columbus to help me move all of my stuff to storage (well, most of it. The rest is still waiting to be packed and moved before the end of the month). They drove down with my truck and trailer from Michigan, moved everything and then drove back up late at night the same day. I think Brian had a little too much fun driving the truck, as he drove over the curb and lawn to turn around. I am sure my neighbors didn't mind. We did get a little wet as mother nature was not fully cooperating, but it did stop raining once we were done move everything. I will be preparing for the trip, spending the next week and a half sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag.

Here is a picture of my truck, sporting the fashionable yet functional shelving unit that Brian and I constructed to haul flowers for landscaping. Its building skills like this that I hope to utilize on the trip.

Family you can count on

Saturday night we attended the 1st night's sedar at my cousin Susan's house, which was fun family bonding time. I even was able to get my younger cousin Josh (age 4) a little riled up. Since his twin sister Hannah is not very physical, it is up to the Shapiro Bros. to toughen him up. Don't worry Randi, we won't leave any permanent injuries.

It was Saturday night where I was able to once again experience the generosity of my family. I would like to thank Susan for dinner and her donation, Elissa for giving me a 2nd check (after the post office returned half of her initial check after it was torn in 2 in the mail sorting machine), and Robert and Linda, who insisted that I stop by their house after dinner to ensure that I got the donation. Its times like this that you are able to see the generosity in others and who you can truely depend on.

Thank you Keyana

A big thank you to Keyana Milton for her generous donation. I had the pleasure of helping out Keyana with her landscaping and also offering her some suggestions (because I don't always keep my opinions to myself). Perhaps most impressive was while I was working, Keyana got the urge to landscape as well and started weeding (To Keyana's mother: It's true. I witnessed it with my own eyes and she made sure to get the roots). Now the challenge to Keyana is to keep it up all summer. I'll stop in after the trip and I hope to not see any weeds.

Riding to work on my bicycle...

So today the weather in Columbus was amazing and it only made sense to ride to work instead of drive. I thru in a change of clothes in my back-pack, and since my white back-pack would not be highly visible to drivers, I put a bright yellow reflective vest over top (safety first). The 12 mile ride was not bad at all and I made the trip in about 45 minutes. As Paul would tell me later - I was wondering who the hell would be going to LimitedBrands on a bike - It was me! I did get some looks walking into the building with my spandex bike shorts and bike. Oh well, some people just don't know fashion (even if I do work for a fashion company). I think I am going to swing by the bike store and get some non-spandex bike shorts. I didn't feel like riding back home after work, but I had no other option to get home and I was not going to spend the night. After 2 minutes on the bike my energy came back and the ride was a breeze. I think I should do it more often.

26 miles with Van Shuff and crew

Today as I exited work, getting ready to head to spinning class, Van Shuff yelled out to me that he and some buddies were going riding today and that I should join them. It was a tough decision - riding outdoors with the awesome weather or spinning at the gym with the awesome sights. In the end, it made sense to get some time on the bike out on the road. We finished with Red Bank, which is a fairly good climb. Last year, I did this climb on my 2nd group ride and barely made it to the top. Today was much easier and I even passed a couple of riders. Of course the hill still pales in comparison to what we will be seeing in North Carolina and Colorado. Thinking of even riding my bike in to work tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll bring extra deodorant.

Here is a link to a website that summarizes our ride (Not sure how we ended with a net 60 ft elevation decrease as we started and finished at the same location):

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/5417454#

Here is a funny cartoon that I think you'll enjoy, and is hopefully not me on this trip: I plan on using a gallon of sun screen. Even if I return as pale as when I start, it beats being as red as a lobster.