SS World's '07 & basically nothing about us.

Those of you bike fanatics out there... check it out... info. is FINALLY beginning to flow regarding SS World's in Scotland for '07.


SS World's '07 info.

Don't know if any of you have checked out my new pics... but I added a pic of a potential tat idea that I've been attempting to talk to the tat dude about for days. Fri. he wasn't in. He was supposed to be in on Sat. but wasn't after all. Today is Sunday and almost no one works here on Sunday. Tomorrow I'm going to try again. Here it is...


Oh... got the word that my bike is done at Black Sheep. Unfortunately, my check that was sent 2 weeks ago out of South Dakota has either failed to show up in Colorado or it got tossed as Junk Mail. In any case, at the very best, we'll pass in mid-air as it's flying here to meet me and we're heading to the States for the visit. It'll make the 10 days in over there feel really long as I really, really want to put this bike together and ride.

Check out this guy and Friend him if you're a MySpace'er. He's pissed and he seems to have a right to be... Fighting Corruption or at his other site Stolen Underground

I'm sure that there's more, but I can't remember it at my age. Maybe I need a drink. Oh... here you go... two new bike companies. Sweet stuff on both of 'em.

Exhibit's A & B) Mary - somehow affiliated with Siren Bikes

Then, check out...Siren Bicycles

Exhibit C)
Singular Bicycles
Those that attended or paid close attention to SS World's '06 pics, might recognize this beauty..

It's coming up quickly

This morning! Fun, fun, fun!

Last night (not my image)

I suppose, I could be talking about the snow, but, I'm not. Our visit to the States is the primary topic. We've been living in Germany for about 1.5 years now. This will be our first return visit in that time. The culture shock alone ought to be enough to wear us out, let alone all the family & friend visits on top of the 'jet-lag'.

A couple of important things...

We'll be having some sort of a get-together in Seattle & in K.C. so we can see as many people as possible at one time.

In Seattle; the plan hasn't formally gelled, but I think that I'd plan on Sat. night Feb. 3rd; somewhere in the city.

In Kansas City; Since we had to make a decision on nights to do our Chelly's/75th Street evening, I've decided to do it Friday night Feb. 9th. I figure we'll hit Chelly's 6-ish and then progress to 75th Street Brewery from there.

So, Girls & Boys... schedule those baby-sitters and we'll see you one place or the other. Right?

Now... quick new update.

For those that hadn't seen the previous update of last week; I have a new job. I'm an English teacher! Isn't that a terrifying thought? I'm working for a relatively new Language school here in town called ModoLingo

As you can see... it's snowing. It's been doing so for a couple of days straight now. Kera's not happy about it.... I'm thrilled. Of course, I love snow & cold weather (yes, I'm a bit of a nut). That's most of the reason that you love me... Right?

I've taught my first class and might be substituting tonight as well. I'm waiting on the call to say yes/no.





Kera's been sewing her little fingers off lately. Check out the above pics.

We also just took possession of a new toy; the new iPod Shuffle.... Thanks sis!



It ought to be great for those long hours in the saddle. In fact, used it while doing an hour on the rollers this morning. Helped a lot in making the time go by. The sound on this little guy is amazing. The battery lasts about 12 hours and it holds up to something like 250 songs. Wow! Isn't technology fantastic?

Well, I'm off to go sign up for another Deutsche class and play in the snow on the bike. Woohoo!

News and stuff

Bike III, originally uploaded by [skelly].

First... I've been given the pleasure of being featured on two different sites recently. Very strange. Here they are.Bikeliker & Gwadzilla Blog, I was up on Jan. 12 '07. To the Americans, it'll look like Dec. 12.

Let's see, where are we? A couple of weeks till we visit the States. This Sunday Kera has a meeting at a ski resort outside of Innsbruck (not sure what they'll do given the near total lack of snow this winter). Um, got a new job! Also, my new Black Sheep bike ought to be heading this way soon. Phew!

So, to elaborate on a couple of things. The new job... I'm an English teacher. I'll be working freelance, teaching Business English and General English for a relatively new Language school here in München. Good luck reading the site, but here it is... Modolingo. I'd been trying to get a job at one of the multitude of schools here in town but hadn't heard a thing from any of them.

I found the ad on an Ex-Pat forum and with Kera's goading, I carried my happy ass down to the school to drop off the cover letter & resume. As I walked in the door, there were two ladies talking and I presented my resume & told them why I was there. One of the ladies told me to sit down and that she'd be right with me (oh, didn't expect that). Anyway, she interviewed me and told me to get my work permits in order and I'd have a job.

Tomorrow, I start training and on Monday, I start teaching a class, mid-day, twice a week. From what my new boss told me, I'll quite likely be quite busy before too long. She has idea of various other classes that I could do (i.e. English language mountain bike classes, wine tastings & other things). I'll take it day by day and see what happens.


Should look a lot like this one above...

Like I said, the new Black Sheep bike should be on the way soon. I can hardly wait! Hard to believe that I've been without my own mountain bike since October. That's the longest time I've been without at least one mountain bike in the stable in 15 or so years that I've been mountain biking.

Last week Kera and I were on the way to a party with our spin class colleagues when I took a tumble on my city bike fixie. Normally, I wear shoes for my clipless pedals every time that I get on my bike. Instead, I'd just found an old pair of Converse high tops in a box. I had those on and when I caught the ende of the bike lane, my bike slid down the edge and down I went.

As I lay there I did a quick mental/physical examination and could tell that my knee and lower leg hurt quite a bit. In fact, my knee felt like I'd hit the 'funny bone'. Kind of dead, but mobile. I wasn't bleeding anywhere so off we went to the party. The next morning I awoke to no swelling but a fair amount of pain from bruising and almost a week later, it's waning, but still a constant reminder of what concrete and bike crashes can do.

Lastly, Kera's been sewing a lot more. Now, it's small purse/messenger bag things. Quite cool and quite useful. The toughest part is finding outdoor fabrics in Europe. Very strange since Gore-Tex is from here, there multiple Cordura plants here, etc. However, finding the stuff online, especially in Germany, is nearly impossible. I'll post pics as things develop.

So... for now, Ciao!

It's winter... kinda

HAPPY NEW YEAR girls & boys!! We spent Christmas doing fondue with our friends Sara & Christian and then New Years with our other friends Susanna & Matthias. Above are a few pics of the crazy midnight fireworks!!

What that generally means for us is that we go to spin class, ride the trainer or rollers & Kera gets in "PROJECT" mode. Thus, in the past few weeks, er, months, she's finished a couple of quilts, tote-bags, grocery bags & more.

So, here's the evidence.










I couldn't even begin to explain to you how labor intensive the autumn colored quilt is. If you've never seen her other quilts, this at least give you an idea of the depth that she'll go to. She says that the "foldy" thing is out of her system now though.

In a few weeks, we're off to the States for our first return visit since coming moving here in Oct. of 2005. We're both getting excited to see lots of family & friends that we've, obviously, not seen much of in awhile. We're (maybe I should say Kera) is planning out our time as much as possible. She's much better at it than I. In any case, we're off to Seattle first and then Kansas City (girls first).

What else? Um, I was supposed to go do a bike race today, but with my 'rain phobia' I decided that it was not to be. Instead, we headed to our regular Saturday morning spin class and then we've been home cleaning house and relaxing since. Oh, it's a holiday here so EVERYTHING is closed. Even most restaurants & coffee shops.

So.... we'll see some of you guys pretty soon!