April fool's weekend

I just returned from my first business trip, and subsequently, my first trip to Texas. We flew into George Bush Int'l Airport (fuck off) in Houston and drove up to Texas A&M in College Station. In the 2 hour drive I came to one conclusion: I never want to live anywhere that flat and spread out. The Rope Technology Workshop (see www.gore.com/omnibend to see why I was at such a conference) was really boring. This uber-nerd from www.makerope.com had this 2 hour presentation on rope technology from 1880 - 1920. The only good thing to come of that was the instantaneous laughter that exploded from my team when the elevator doors closed on our way out. Needless to say, it's good to be home.

Friday night I went out with some people to Trolley Square and had an average time. I got pretty drunk. I'm starting to get bored with the drinking scene in Wilmington - mostly because I miss drinking with the people who taught me how to have fun while drinking.

The highlight so far this weekend was my 46 mile ride out to Oxford PA from Newark with Doug and Mike. We had a vicious headwind from the West on the way out, and I felt like pulling as much as possible. We met this old dude named Scott along the way, and he joined us. He was a complete badass for the following reasons:

• He never left his big ring, in 25 mph headwind mind you. The guy was a diesel truck that a hand grenade wouldn't have displaced.
• He's been racing since 1964, he used to race with Andy Hampsten.
• He has a sweet bike and rides without a helmet.
• He's quit "good jobs before because they didn't allow him to ride when he wanted to ride."

Anyway he gave me hope for my future in ditching the corporate world. Then we had a tailwind coming east on 273, cranking along at 30 mph. We lifted the average speed of the ride from 16 to 17.7! Tomorrow I'm riding in south NJ, 60 miles at a relaxed pace with Tom, Doug, and Mike at the least. Oh, I also earned the nickname "snap crackle and pop" for my obnoxious gum snapping habit.