Nachos, *****'s, and dogs

There was more to the WRE story yesterday.  Most of it was about food, not bikes.  By the time we sat down at the Las Salsas, it was after 7:00PM.  That meant I had gone twelve and a half hours on a bowl of cereal and four gels.  I was a bit hungry.

Once the nachos showed up, the end of the table I was sitting at no longer had conversations.  When the nachos ran out, I went and filled the dean dip bowl with pico de gallo... multiple times, doing pico shooters between nacho baskets.  More nachos, more pico, more nachos, bathroom break, and on my return, a spicy green chicken burrito.

I was worried that a $8.99 burrito would not be very big.  It was very, very big.  Not quite as silly as Ben's veggie burrito which was roughly the size of a piece of firewood, but more than I bargained for, and parting a sea of wet beans and dry rice. It wasn't easy, but I made sure those chickens didn't die for nothing.

All the burrito.

Last week, I posted something about the 650b(owel) movement in "the industry."  I ended up making someone angry.

"What burns me is the " marketing ploy" accusation made by people who have never ridden a 650b. I get defensive when the tweener is dissed as not being a viable wheel choice
Tell that to Nino Schurter.

To the ****** who wrote this article:

Bad Idea Racing: Virality and 650b(s)

Go ride a 650b trail or AM bike in appropriate terrain, and get back to us."

As the ***** who wrote the "article," this entertained me at great length.  I have not been a very active member on MTBR in recent years.  Not everyone remembers that I am the "teamdicky-Category Winner."

 

The "Rep Power" thing is a semi-recent addition on MTBR.  It's just one of the things that has me lurking much more than contributing in the recent past.   Many of the other people that used to add their two cents on a frequent basis are instead investing it in their IRA's or spending it on NOS 8 speed cassettes on eBay.  I'm not sure if it's the "Rep Power" issue or the fact that MTBR has really gone to shit.

Let me explain how one attains rep power.

Original poster puts up a picture of a red bike and says "Look at my bike!!".

Someone replies "I love red bikes!!"

Original poster gives the red bike lover a "rep point" for his comment.

Someone else replies "I don't like red bikes so much."

Original poster gives that guy a "negative rep point."

In theory, a high "Rep Power" adds more legitimacy to your comment, while negative reps reduce your credibility.  When they first started this, it took me awhile to even notice the green squares that appeared under my profile.  A few months later, I finally looked into what it was all about.

For fuck's sake.

So I spend less time on MTBR now.  Not so much because of the "Rep" thing, but more so because most topics have been discussed a million times before ad nauseam.  I will still post on occasion if I feel I have some unique perspective or see someone genuinely seeking information that I have gleaned from past personal experience.  The sense of community that might have been on MTBR has surely been watered down with the existence of facebook, blogs, twitter and whatever other virtual arenas for public discourse that currently exist.

For those that were concerned, here's the quick dog update:

Maggie (permanent dog): The one who seemed all stroky two weeks ago.  She's much better now.  It was vestibular disease.  She walks a little goofy, and her head has a permanent tilt.  She looks like she's curious all the time.

Buster the Suicidal Foster: His owner returned from her deployment in Pakistan and picked him up yesterday.  If he had been wearing pants, he woulda shit them when he saw her.

Chloe (permanent dog): The Shelty with chicken feet remains the same, still chicken footed.

Shiloh AKA Chubby Buddy (hospice foster):  The fat, elderly, four toothed beagle is still going strong.  He had a few "I'm fat and stiff and I can't get up" moments a few weeks ago, but he is back to snorting and humping as usual.

Teeth numbers one and two can be seen in photo.

Tomorrow, I'm going back to four blog posts a week (trying to anyways).  For those of you that have trouble counting, that means I am taking this Friday off.  My apologies.

Highlighter Prince, play us off.

Erotic City, something now.