Kathryn wanted to go and see what all of the hubub was about at the Phoenix Libraries’ Book Sale. Naturally they cannot do said booksale at their convienently located downtown location. No no no this needs to be done at their warehouse which is naturally not in so convienient, nor exactly pleasant, a location near 29th Ave and McDowell. So the adventure started pretty much right away as I have never actually biked anywhere west of 7th Ave.

So we started off down the canal to 12th St cause there is a nice bike lane on 12th that takes us to Maryland, which also has a nice bike lane:

The booksale was interesting but neither of us bought anything. Eager to get back on the road we headed down McDowell and up to Oak to make our way to the Papagos. We got a nice ride over the 51 on the very inviting 51 overpass:

The fun didnt stop there and at 27th St there was a dead body getting pulled from the bushes. Kathryn asked how I knew it was a dead body and I pointed out that the truck being used to drive off with the body was not an ambulance. No hurry to get him or her anywhere. Crazy stuff but we rolled on unscathed.

We got through some pretty dramatic road construction before climbing by the Papagos on our way to the Desert Botanical Gardens:

Had lunch at the Botanical Garden and hung out with some butterflys then made our way home:

Gmaps says it was 38 miles but I clocked 41. Here is the route we took.

This was my first ride with ABC and I wasn’t terribly impressed with their ability to ride in formation or at a consistent pace. Still it was a gorgeous morning and I still had fun. We made our way through Dreamy Draw Park and over to Mummy mountain for a nice climb:

Then we headed out to Scottsdale and FLW Blvd for some breakfast which was very delicious. At that point we decided to leave the group and make our way to Old Town Scottsdale:

We spent a little too long there and let the heat of the day catch us by surprise. Luckily we are top trained athletes and were able to make it back:

48 miles total, here is the route map.

Unfortunately my first experience has left an impression that is less than stellar. My girlfriend and I had been wanting to try it out a few times. We got a booth by the fireplace and settled in for a nice meal.

The specials are written up in chalk on the wall as you walk in which is a great method for displaying specials. We are both vegetarians that will eat fish and were excited by the plethora of fish dish choices on the specials board. This tends to say that a place can do fish.

Our server was nice enough but when we asked for some recommendations he stared at us blankly and grabbed the menu like he hadnt eaten there in a while. This is a huge pet peeve for me. If a place is gonna charge $20 or more for an entree the staff better be trained on the dishes and be ready to give some recommendations. Show some passion and knowledge and sell me the good stuff.

We ordered the White Bean Bruschetta to start. It was edible but lacking in flavor, maybe some salt wouldnt have hurt, but something more than just beans and toast please.

Next was the soup of the day which had a lot of smoke flavor going on, not impressed.

Finally we went with the sesame crusted fish with a melon salsa. This dish started off a disaster and just got worse. First of all the server brings it over holding it with a towel. As We shift plates around to make room he starts yelping a bit in pain. Not a great sign. Once he gets it set down we move to dig in but my lovely date brushes her arm on the plate and comes away with a pretty solid burn.

This is just plain stupid. There is no need for a plate to be 200 degrees. Cook the food and then bring it out. Dont cook it at my table on the plate!

Unfortunately the fish was not edible, at all. The melon salsa was horrid. We sent it back and still got charged.

Rokerij I want to love you. There are a lot of folks on Yelp that love you but I have to say that for food you have not impressed me.

Thats cool.

Seriously though the first one was a blast as you can watch here. Even if you are a chicken and dont want to submit that it okay (we know who you are). You should still come on down since its free and after we are gonna go have beers at Half Moon Sports Grill or maybe Two Hippies Taco Shack.

Its here on Gangplank Podcasts.

Hells yeah! Hollywood here I come! YEEEEHAW!

Best Practices links:
BoingBoing
Marc Cuban
Bob Parsons
Scobleizer
Calacanis
Guy Kawasaki
Dan Rayburn

Finally took some time this evening to get some writing and organizing done and been jammin to a mix from a few weeks back mixed by Modeselektor outta Berlin. The mix is definitely eclectic and jumps all over the place while maintaining a technoish feel. If anything it will break up the monotony and perhaps you will become a total convert like myself. While I prefer DnB or DubStep this handles quite well and may get some replays

techno podcast music electro

The Luminaries are fun but there are just too many people being jerks. Seriously folks try to act civil and let people by when they say excuse me, oh and no shoving. You will be back in your BMW, where jerk status is encouraged and accepted, soon enough.

However I am now in love status again as Chihuly will be installing his famous glass works starting Nov 22, 2008 through May 31, 2009. If you don’t know who Chihuly is please have a look around. There was a special on PBS last year where he was hanging chandeliers over the canals in Venice and it was amazing.

[Caption]

As a member you get in Free and I plan on going as many times as possible. Entry is going to be broken up into three times through the day so that it doesn’t get too crowded. I plan on making the morning and evening sessions a few times to get some optimal photos taken.