Christmas interval inspiration

My wonderful, beautiful, most understanding wife and my little peanut, Penelope.

There is no question who's daughter she is.

Top step

It was her first time on the top step and she already knows to hold the hands up.

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal

She can really get that chair bouncing.

She bonked from too many stories

My tiniest fan

Hello world!

Penelope Lou Rients 9-7-11

Canada Eh?

My posts seem to get longer in between after my trip to France last fall.  The mtb season has been going well and cross is coming up soon.

I am in Buffalo, NY with Annie for work this week and plan on crossing the border tomorrow to ride in Canada and maybe get some free health care.  I figure I could get some sort of check up while I am there.

Thanks to Maury and the local Trek rep. Matt Koss, I was able to get set up with a Madone for the week.  It happens to be a friend of Matt's.  Matt even dropped the bike off at my hotel and is picking it up when I am done with it.  Wow, that is full service.  I hooked up with Rob from Handlebar bikes yesterday for some routes and we rode together today. We also cruised past a couple Frank Lloyd Wright homes on the way back through town.

The Elmwood neighborhood of Buffalo is a cool place to hang out.  I had coffee and a bagel at Cafe Aroma before the ride today and stopped at the Co-Op for a fresh peach and apple on the way home.

Well, its rare, but a Rients is having a girl!

Killed it,

The keg at the Colavito's that is.  Well, actually we put the rest of Melanie's Bitter in growlers and had the last 2 beers out of the bottom.  It did get the keg out of the fridge though.  Kyle and Mel grilled up some great pizza last night and we stayed in and had beers and played games.  I had bought a Stone Brewery Smoke Porter and we shared it.  Ugh, maybe paired with something it might have been ok but as Mel said, it tastes like someone ashed in my beer.  It was really smokey.  We all had headaches afterward.
The weather has been sunny and in the mid 80's so my tan lines are coming along nicely.  I started reading "The Fountainhead" and I cannot put it down.  I will have to get it from the library when I get back because it is long and I am just reading Melanie's copy.  I found out why one of the coffee shops is called Coffee X-change, I really wanted to exchange the coffee they served me.  I had a double espresso that they served in a small beer mug and the shot was pulled sooo long that you could almost see through it. 

The sun 1 Jesse 0

I think I may have OD'd on the vitamin D today.  After a delicious breakfast of oats and a cappuccino, prepared by my newlywed housemates, who are always finishing each others sentences and giving eskimo kisses, it really is quite sickening, we headed to the market to pick up food supplies for the week.  Kyle and I headed out with 2 of his friends for a ride.  They split off and I continued on down Old Spanish Trail to Pistol Hill, I felt like I was in an old western movie only I was on a carbon fiber Moo-done wearing stretchy pants instead of on a horse, wearing chaps.  The road quality out there is a lot like the wagon trails that I imagine the horses rode down.  I made it home streaked with salt and hungry.  After lunch I sat around in a daze until I finally gave in to a nap.  The sun had kicked my butt.   Time to start drinking Four Loco and get my glow sticks ready for the rave tonight.

Vitamin D,

Tucson and Mt. Lemmon, how I have missed you.  It is my spring break and my lovely, wonderful wife suggested I take a break from fanning her with palm fronds and feeding her grapes to head south for some bike practice.  She said I was looking a little thick and said I would embarrass her if I showed up at Buck in a skinsuit looking like that.  I reluctantly spent $10 and 50,000 miles and got myself a ticket on a flying germ tube to the southern half of Amurica.  I did, however, get to spend an extra 10 hours in Denver since they overbooked my flight and being the bike hobo I am, I was first in line to give up my seat for a $400 voucher, meal ticket and a night in the most comfortable hotel beds there are, in the Marriott.  They knock me out every time.  I was in Tucson and on my bike by noon, probably about the same time had I not given up my seat. 
I took a van shuttle from the airport and the driver happened to be enjoying the Prairie Home Companion.  He said it was the only station that did not play all that crappy screaming music.  I arrived at my friend's, Kyle and Melanie's house, who I have lived with in past winters down here.  I was greeted by none other than, George Washington Hayduke, the beloved dog that hates me and ate my Ipod 3 years ago.  I built my bike, which arrived by Fedex on Wednesday and was immediately drawn to Mt. Lemmon like a magnet to a crushed car.  It sucks me in every time.  I rode up to marker 16 and decided I better save a bit for the rest of the week. 

That is all.  I guess I better head to the clubs and drink some vodka-red bulls since it is spring break.  woot woot.