mike’s girlfriend lisa is a chemist that designs epoxies for carbon fiber products, and knowing of my infatuation with the composite material, had a technician make me and taka carbon fiber bookmarks! my reading has never been more fast or furious.

taka decided that she wants to ride the rosarito event in 2 weeks, so we went down to performance bike to buy her some cycling shorts and a jersey. well like all trips to the bike shop, we ended up spending more than we planned. she bought shorts, a jersey, a camel back a more comfy saddle, a bike lock, and i finally broke down and bought the usps edition giro atmos helmet (the same one lance wore when he rode for team usps). it also comes with this awesome hard shell carrying case and portions of the shell are real carbon fiber… my favorite composite material.

i also finally bought the performance membership that they always offer, it gives you 10% back on all purchases, but the membership costs $25. since we spent over $300, that means that the membership payed for itself, plus some, and i’m sure i’ll spend at least that much at the bike shop in the next year.

on friday, taka and i met up with our disneyland pass-holder buddies for some evening disneyland action. unfortunately, taka got sick, so after only 1 ride we had to bounce. now that the weather is getting warmer though, and there’s less block-out days, i’m sure we’ll be hitting up the park more often.

i spent almost all of saturday working in the garage on the integra and the boat.

the integra is now completely rice-free. i rewired the turn signals so they don’t flash at seizure speed, i replaced the clear corners with the stock reflectors, swapped the phallic e-brake with the factory one, and mounted tires on matching wheels. (me and my neighbor actually mounted the tires by hand… those huge hydraulic machines at the tire shops make it look too easy.)

i installed two more pole holders in the bow of the boat to match the ones we had previously installed in the gunwales. they’re all almost completely flush so it’s an undercover fishing boat now. it’s insane how much stainless steel hardware costs though… it was like $2 for a bolt/nut/washer. i also polished out a few rust stains, and waxed portions of it. next saturday, i’m going to install an amp that i pulled out of the integra since it’s hard to hear anything over the engine when it’s wide open. anyway, we should be ready for some good fishing next sunday.

saturday night me, ben and taka had dinner at lonestar and saw ‘music and lyrics’. it was a late showing, i had a lot to drink at dinner, and i was just exhausted from spending the entire day in the garage so i was dosing. ironically taka was bright-eyed and bushytailed through the entire thing and loved it, so it must have been a good movie, or maybe her comprehension is just getting better, or likely both.

on sunday me, costin and al did a 25 mile bike ride from my place to hb and back. al kept us honest with his sprints and it was a really strong ride. i rode better than i thought i would, but not as fast as al… and this is how it starts. after a lunch with the guys, taka and i did some shopping then hit the gym. i’ve found a new favorite power ab workout: standing cable crunch. i used to do kneeling cable crunches, but i could never get any leverage at the higher weights. the standing cable crunch (you need to have a back support, and keep your lowerback/upper ass against it) lets me focus all the power on the abs, and none on balancing. this morning my lower abs feel like shit, but the good kind.

sunday night, me and taka had a nice fancy dinner with mike and lisa at cafe piccolo in long beach. again by this point of the day i was pretty exhausted, and the 2 bottles of wine didn’t help that, but the convo was great and lisa’s a sweetheart, so it was a good time… and get this, she has a phd in chemistry and works for a company designing epoxies for what? … carbon fiber! my favorite composite material.