Power to the party

So tonight is our annual Holiday Party, usually a Christmas party but with all the travel it turned into a New Years party.  Either way usually a fun time and hoping for no broken bones this year.  If you are reading this and did not get an invite, sorry, I do not do Facebook and handle no invitations.  If you think you should of gotten an invite, you are probably right and are still invited!

Either way each year we have a good friend who is a DJ so he comes in and sets up lights and plugs into my home system.  Now my home system is not the run of the mill.  For those into AV, I have a set of Bowers and Wilkins 804s, an HTM 2 center, and 2 ASW750 subs.  My problem was I have the seakers but was limited in the amp area so each year we did something to it.  The first two years we actually smoked a couple channels on it then last year we kept kicking it out.  So here is the before, or acutally in the middle of running some new speaker wire;

So what is leaving is the 9 year old Denon processor and the Rotel Amp.  I also ran new Analysis Plus speaker wire and ended up bi amping the left and right speakers.  So here is the almost finished product:

Ended up with a good upgrade.  The processor is an Anthem AvM50v and the 2 amps are the Anthem Statement A2 and A5.  Here is my speaker set up:

So now with all the upgrades done we are ready to rock out till both the ball drops and the partiers! Hapy New Year! 

Come on feel the noise...

It is time for an upgrade to the amplifier situation at my house!  More to come, but it is good.  No kicking the amp out at this years party! 

Filth-a-delphia

Just got back from Philly yesterday and Michelle and I are super sick!  Guess that is what happens when you cram so many people into one space!  I think my best experience of the trip was when this New Yorker was explaining how special Central Park was due to the size of the park being in the middle of a huge city. I looked at him and told him we do it better in Wisco, we left the state a park and scattered small towns throughout it. 

Follow the herd

Well we made it out to New Jersey!  Yup New Jersey!  Not sure I would head out for a ride around here.  Michelle is wishing that she could go for a ride cause she got her Xmas present early.  Mark and I spent the day building it.  Here we are in the process:

A little disappointed in ourselves though, no beer consumption during the entire process! At least Michelle can feel good about riding it the first time cause it is put together right!  Here is the final build:

Amazing the weights you can hit right out of the box, this is even with the Quarq Power Meter. 

Lets just say she was a bit excited about it when I gave it to her! 

Other than bike building we have been running around with the masses!  Yesterday we took a limo into New York City and did some shopping.  It was really funny cause when the pedestrian lights changed just masses of people moved, you had no choice but to follow the herd!  We did hit Central Park, not sure how they were Ice Skating, it was 50 degrees out. 

We did the lazy path through and took a carriage ride:

We also visited a nice candy store.  I would of loved to eat my way out of there, but they told me there was not enough time:(  bummer!  While there we found something that made us think of R Krayer! 

We also found his childhood haircut.  He wishes that he could still grow it like this, but all of his hair has slid off the top of the head. 

While in New York, you have to go out for a corned beef sandwich form Carnegie Deli. 

After that, I am pretty sure that I will not need to eat till Xmas dinner! 

Next stop please!

So I know I keep promising pics, but for some reason I seem to be all over the place.  Yesterday I didn't even turn my computer on and luckily with my phone I am still able to keep the ball rolling in all the things I dabble in.  Yesterdays excitement was also turned up with a trip to the ER for Michelle.  She is OK but has five stitches in her right hand now.  it was a bit scary though cause it cut pretty deep and sent her into shock and she passed out for a bit.  We made it all better by taking a trip to Red Eye last night to numb the pain with beer!  Yum. 

On the bike side of things, still no new bikes. We do still have a couple team bikes left so if you are looking let me know.  We have and Era, an Epic 26er, and an Epic 29er.  I have started back into the swing of things.  Nothing really structured, just getting acquainted with the bike is what Bossman calls it.  Luckily for us here in Wisco there is no snow and the temps have been good.

The morning Nemesis Gabe has also been taking shots at us.  I think Monday we did about a million squats!  The other issue is he learned that I HATE doing jump squats with the med ball and makes sure they are incorporated into every workout!! 

Next up for us is a trip to New Jersey.  I have been working on my dialect so that I can fit in.  Every other word out there starts with "F" and they cannot even say water right!  After a few days there I should be able to make the Jersey Shore transformation!  Not Sweet! 

In the meantime, more pics:

Cadiz, Spain:

Cruising the Atlantic:

Michelle on the switchbacks, Gran Canaria:

Valencia, Spain

Some pics from the cruise, here is the concert hall in Valencia:

The Valencia Science Museum

 A couple pics of us coming into port in Valencia.

Our accomodations for the two weeks on board:

I will post more in the next few days.  Now that I am back and starting to get back on the right time zone!  Overall the trip was a lot of fun and the highlite has to be the time in the Canary Islands.  I will post some pics of that in the next couple days.  In the meantime though the plans have been made for the year and the race schedule is almost set.  The WORS cup moving is the only thing throwing a hitch in the schedule.  I was going to go out east to the New Hampshire 100 that weekend, but hard to make that decision with a USProXCT in our backyard.  I also feel like I should support Don at this race for everything he does to bring great racing to Wisco.  

We are also working hard to finish up our bike orders.  Lots of help from some great sponsors this year with Specialized, SRAM, Truvativ, Avid, Hidden Bay, and every rider on the team doing their own part to make us the best in the Midwest!  It is going to be a great year for the Adventure 212/Specialized Team!     

In the press

Our own Mike P showing off his pain face in XXC mag:

Pastries!

Mmmmm! All I have to say is Phillips and I would never get out of Lisbon! There is a pastry shop on every corner and they are all amazing! We have now made three trips to the Pasties de Belum and have found a chocolate pastry that, sorry bossman, beats the Nutella filled doughnut in Larskspur! So as you can see eating continues to be the trend! One more day in Lisbon then on our way home. I still have a bunch of pics and will try to get them on my computer and uploaded as time allows. Please tell me I am not coming home to snow!

Poor Connection

Our internet is not that good, left the Canary Islands after a good ride and now headed to Lisbon! 

Lost at sea......

It has been almost 24hrs since I have seen land.  My lungs are now clear of the Moroccan smog and my mind erased of the harassments we received from every passing street vendor.  Today there is nothing, nothing but the great blue ocean rocking this giant vessel from side to side.  The rocking becomes very noticeable as I get up from my slumber and proceed down the stairs to get my 2^nd latte of the day!  Yes 2^nd latte!  Something has to get me awake again after the evening of 2 bottles of wine and the numerous drinks near the pool.  I must be awake before the noon hour Mediterranean spread near the upper deck pool!  I must make it to my 3^rd feeding of the day!  Just in case pirates take the ship by siege and deny me of my dinner! Don’t worry though, if I do miss one of these feedings, I will survive on the padding I have developed around my rib cage.  That padding that I am building up before our New Years Eve party to protect from a repeat of last year!  This same padding should keep me warm if I make it back to Wisco to start riding my bike again!  Oh how I miss riding my bike!  So much that my main goal of the day is to find bikes in Las Palmas.  I am hoping that the Specialized gods are looking down upon me and there is a nice Tarmac awaiting!  Please do not disappoint!  Speaking of disappoint, if anyone is wondering, no one from our group has made it over board yet.  We are only half way in though, 8 more days to go. 

I wonder if the cat is alive? 

Africa

Well I can now say I have been to Africa.  We are in Casablanca, Morocco today.   Did not get the most warm fuzzy feeling so did not make it long.  Ended up turning it into a pool day on the boat and just relaxed.  The drinks here go down way to easy though and it is 3 in the afternoon and I am already thinking I have a hangover!  Oops!

So tomorrow is a sea day as we make our way to the Canary Islands.  First stop is Las Palmas, or something like that??  Michelle and I are working on renting bikes and want to cruise the island.  It is not turning out to be that easy though.  Hopefully something works out?  If you know of anyone there who has a couple bikes let me know!  I have to do something before I need to buy another suit before the last formal night! 

Where in da world?

Not sure, but the wine is good, the beer is better, and the food rocks!  Gonna need the entire base period to get rid of my insulation this year!

For now we have camped out for the day in Cadiz, Spain.  I have some pics, but not even going to attempt that since I am using the satellite on the boat and it really sucks! 

Tonight we take off for Casablanca where Michelle is going to try and teach me to cook again.  We will be doing a local market trip where we have to get the ingredients for our dinner then come back and cook with the chefs!  Should be fun! 

In the mean time though we are doing a taste of Cadiz tour.  Walking around town sampling local food and cerveza!  MMMmmmmm!  Oh yeah, in the 70 degree heat.  Which feels like 80 with the intense sun this far south!  Hope everyone is good back home!