RIDE A BIKE, ITS FUNNER!

feeling better now.

2008-08-20T10:03:00.002-05:00

well I start my new job on monday and that has me in a pretty good frame of mind I must say, I am really looking forward to it. For the past year I was unhappy at work, the depth of which is pointless to explore any further, and that is the end of that, we will speak of it no more. On to new challenges. I was reading Dougs Blog and said Funner and I thought to myself how much I love the word Funner. it is part of my personal bike slogan painted on the wall inside my head, RIDE A BIKE,ITS FUNNER!
have a great day.

swobo vs. chrome or chrome vs. swobo...

2008-07-14T16:19:00.005-05:00

I do not really know because I do not know who goes first the champ or challenger. Oh well whatever...this is really a comparison of chrome lightweight shins and Swobo Roscoe Knickers. I will disclaim here that I am very fond of them both, and certainly satisfied with my purchases. That said they are quite different.

First, the Swobo: These come in precise sizes, they have a very nice detail in that there is a panel for comfort in the crotch of these pants instead of a seam. They are of a very nice quality textile.

Second, the chrome: These come in a range sizing, small, med, and large. They have a seam and then have a soft overlay panel inside the crotch to protect you from the discomfort of the seam. This panel is not overly bulky but is noticeable. They are also made of a quality textile.

points of detail to compare: The textiles, both knickers are made of a stretch type textile, the swobo is perhaps barely more heavy and therefore just mildly warmer when wearing, heat is a really big deal for me but this mildly heavier fabric is not intolerable to me at all. The swobo being mildly heavier also holds its shape a bit more, though this could be contributed to the sizing conventions as well. Sizing, range vs. precise sizing. Because I have to calculate a broad range of sizing due to health issues, I went with the med chromes. They are a little big, but not terrible, but the 32 swobos in the precise sizing is very accurate for me, for the chromes I probably could have gone with a small, but I am happy with my med, and would likely order med again. As for riding bikes, the seam in the chromes was noticeable but not something one could not negotiate. The legs on the swobo is a bit tighter tailoring than the chromes, and I did find the chrome to occasionally catch upon my water bottle cage, however once I realized it and knew what it was it did not overly trouble me. Another thing that I like very well about them both, they both have a lower rise than say, swobo J-mak which happily I got to try on at MWC, and did not prefer them at all. Anyway these two have a low rise, but still come up far enough in the back to keep you from flashing a plumber posture on your bike. I find them both to provide a very comfortable fit and a very comfortable ride. I recommend either to you, and I am sure I will add additional Chromes in future. I also have a pair of swobo bruno knickers and those too are a really nice pair of bike knickers, similar in cut to the roscoes but made of wool, though they really keep you warm, so they are put away for now.

so did I ever tell the story about the video I am in with Lance Armstrong?

2008-07-08T13:41:00.002-05:00

I do not think I have but now I am, and here it is
I am really kind of proud to be in this video, because even though I have never even met the other people in the video in my teeny tiny little black heart I feel like I know them all.

awareness test...

2008-04-03T21:53:00.000-05:00

so I did mention this before...

2008-03-06T11:29:00.003-06:00

but over the winter I got a new group on my road bike, but I think I never mentioned how totally great it is. before my cranks were too short, of course I did not realize that, because I had never had that problem before. I am not the tallest thing, technically whats known as average height, NOT SHORT!, anyway, I do have a long inseam. anyway I have been trying to figure out what was wrong with my saddle position on this bike for a really long time, turns out nothing, it was all crank length, so now, my saddle and handlebars are right where they need to be and now so is my foot. Works very well. with the new handlebars it is almost an new bike.

a couple of bugs in my head...

2008-02-18T10:06:00.003-06:00

Paris-Brest-Paris in 2011,
and the Arrowhead 135, probably in 2011 as well. Though maybe sooner on the arrowhead, I am not fixed on a date for that one yet. Still figuring it out. One thing I am doing right now is participating in a drug study for FDA approval for the drug for my HAE, I think for the arrowhead, it will need to be approved. So I can carry it with me for after the race. So that effects when I will do it, as does needing to be strong enough to one do it, and to qualify, I will need to cover 300 miles on the road in 24 hours. I think I can do it fine. Just not sure when. I am thinking some great training rides can come from nebraska brevet. I am thinking of writing to the arrowhead guys and asking if a 600km might sub as a qualifier. we will see.

long time no post...

2008-02-18T09:42:00.004-06:00

Mavis Washington Blazek 2/14/1992 - 12/28/2008 Thank you Mavis.

I know, I suck as a blogger. I was going through a really negative bad patch. Work was really bringing me down, my health was really bringing me down, and I lost my best friend. To those of you who sent condolence cards they were deeply appreciated.

As for work there is nothing to say, plus if I went off on the whole story someone from there might see it, and I would not want that, it is a situation that will continue to work itself out. It did actually knock me off my commute, and as for that I am working on being strong enough to take that up again full force, because I realize I hate not commuting. That brings me to my health, though I have always had the blood disease I suffer from with no treatment previously because I was only properly diagnosed last May, Hereditary AngioEdema, no you cannot catch it. Treatment has introduced an whole new learning curve. Normally I embrace a learning curve this one has been odd to say the least but finally I feel like I am getting hold of it.

As for my girl Mavis. If you never met her I am sorry for you. She was the best dog ever, she died December 28th. I miss her still every time I come into the house, but she was really suffering at the end so I try to not have selfish wishing I still had her.

I am also really sorry I did not go and say bye to CVO, I was not feeling like leaving the house then, but I read your blog every day, and envy you your great adventure, I miss ya dude, even though I hardly ever laid an eye on you anyway, I like knowing that any second I could run into you out on your bike, and when I give it some thought, that is still true.

So that is that. my list of sad excuses, I am done with them now. Back to my bikes, Back to my own bike adventures, I have a couple in mind and they are going to take some serious effort on my part. I do better with a nice clear goal, and though I am still working it out in my head, I feel better already.

let it snow...let it snow...let it snow

2007-12-06T12:11:00.001-06:00

We should have pugsley racing. it would be fun. We could do it in my neighborhood because there is a kick ass hill, that would thrash the racing component to bits. Now the eternal question of should I change my pedals, or leave on the clipless, hard snow bike questions. WOO HOO!

three things I learned today...

2007-11-21T14:59:00.000-06:00

I am a lush, which I think is still in the lady like terms, almost made it to drunkard though. Grigor Rasputin and Thomas Becket both died on my birthday along with so many mathmaticians it was creepy from a math thing. and my dead body is worth $5140 dollars if sold to science. nice.

how did I forget to mention this...

2007-11-06T08:45:00.000-06:00

I am getting a new group on my road bike, as soon as the new handlebars arrive I will be all set. Frankly Celeste looks a little odd on the bike stand with no handlebars. Very exciting to think about. My road bike all tweaked out. woo hoo!

a happy thought for a monday...

2007-11-05T09:26:00.000-06:00

beer may be better for you after exercise than water. of course if your reading this blog you knew it already!

anybody want a desk?

2007-11-04T13:11:00.000-06:00

I have one I am trying to get rid of, and it is nice. Just does not fit our need any longer. Here is a picture, I have more if you really interested or you can come see it, you have to pick it up if you want it.
Price is 75$

also while I am thinking...

2007-10-31T06:39:00.000-05:00

I am trying to figure out a good time to go ride the Katy trail from sedalia mo. to st. louis mo., a distance of 229 miles. When I get to St. Louis I pay 22 dollars and take a 3hour train ride back to my car. Just wondering if anyone I know is interested in joining in on an adventure of this nature. If you do not know anything about the Katy trail, go here. This is not a for sure thing, just trying to determine if it is going to be possible still this fall and to find out if anyone else would like to know if I figure it out. Okey dokey that is all.

I never thought of it like this...

2007-10-31T06:31:00.000-05:00

go here and put your address in and get a look at the two mile circle you live in, I was more than a little amazed to reflect on my life in this fashion, I pretty much only leave the circle to goto work, and to eat at the Oven, but eating at the Oven is not very far outside the circle. This just made me feel really dependent on my car for a distance that is just not very impressive. I am going to work on how I do things based on my circle. I will let you know how it goes. Of course Butch has already reflected on this concept, but everyone else, reflect...

something new...

2007-09-19T16:52:00.001-05:00

checkout the podcaster on the bottom of the right nav for the Two Johns cycling podcast.

2007-08-26T19:43:00.000-05:00

it is dark and there are monsters everywhere, that is the inside of my head with the really small doses of bike I have been getting, however I rode 68 miles this saturday and now I feel a little better, but the week is just getting started again.

"you are my density...er...destiny"

2007-08-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

yes it is my destiny to never eat HFCS knowingly again, I say knowingly because it is FREAKING EVERYWHERE!!! But thanks to Doug, thanks Doug, I now know that if I also shop gluten free, even better, because that is somehow added in the process. in fact go here to read Dougs comment about how his father helped engineer the creation of HFCS, and then never let his children consume it, yes that speaks to me frankly.

But the most amazing thing is now the density of my fat, yes you knew I was going somewhere with that didn't you? So it has occured to me based on Cornbreads comments that maybe men do not have these issues and by issues of course I mean cellulite, which is a terrible thing no matter how much there is, even a small amount is way too much, so to see it go away after a week of being off the poison, well it makes me think of those creams they sell to get rid of it, and I wonder if any of those creams have anything in them to counter act the effects of the crack(a.k.a. HFCS) I am just glad to see it go.

back on the bike very soon, the hip is almost well now. Wonder if I cracked it or stress fractured it? Oh well it is mending now, that is all I care about. Wonder if it is going to rain on friday, might be a good night to hit the one eyed dog for a blt and beer. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no HFCS in beer thank god, I will just skip the bread.

in case your starting to worry I think I am almost adjusted now to HFCS in everything, I was just so stunned, an pissed off. I think this may actually be the end of this rant.

oh yea and if you see Syd...

2007-08-02T08:49:00.001-05:00

say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!

"Out, damned spot! out, I say!"

2007-07-31T11:38:00.001-05:00

HEY DID YOU KNOW that high fructose corn syrup is in everything!!!

it is in damn low call low sugar YOPLAIT YOGURT!!! with the effing bestlife seal of approval from Oprah! not that that is a real seal or anything. But they duped them as well. effing yoplait bastards.

DAMMIT!!! those yoplait bastards, but what I am really upset about is it is in my tomato soup! My Campbells Tomato soup, My soup is good food soup!!! DAMMIT!!!

Well it will not be in the future because even though most of the time I am too lazy to make it I make great tomato bisque that IS NOT LACED WITH POISON!!!

well it is poison to me anyway. So I am really trying to stay away from pop, even diet, because that has been linked to some stuff that I am seriously working to avoid, diabetes and heart disease, and no more yoplait, and no more tomato soup, and reading labels for ingredients now to avoid the HFC. Matt told me it was in everything and I thought I am pretty careful. those sneaky effers at yoplait!
So it has been a couple of days since I cut those two things out and because I kind of really keep up with my weight mostly for the HAE which can move my weight really fast and sometimes is the first sign of an attack, I have lost two pounds.

HFC begone from my sight (and diet) you sicken me(really).

a new plan....

2007-07-31T11:00:00.000-05:00

so at my first AA( assholes allthetime ) meeting the counselor was able to help me come up with a new plan based on his query of why should people just except jerks being jerks, why not have some good old honest confrontation and just call'em out for being jerks, how had I crossed the line? Well of course I crossed the line with totally not caring if I broke something, though the way my hips feel this week i would be bumming hard if I had broke one. So we were able to formulate a plan where next time I will just yell at the top my lungs at such an ass. Of course that may be pretty soft, sometimes I am pretty close to drawing my last breath on a bike.

some accounting...and my confession...

2007-07-30T09:00:00.000-05:00

first I owe a beer for last monday when I needed to bring the home computer in to work so it could undergo some major repair. Computer virus' suck!

and now my confession...
I am now injured and have been since thursday last week, when I launched myself from my bike on my wednesday commute home. I was able to get up and finish it on wednesday, but thursday was bad and so was friday, and today was too. So hopefully I am going to go home this evening and ride some to work out any remaining issues and get back to the commute tomorrow.

As part of my penance here is the confession part.
So Wednesday on the commute home, right after I came out of the viduct by the zoo, this guy zipped past with no call and no bell, that really started it because that really pisses me off. This guy was not really moving that fast though, and I caught up to him at the light on south street. He had been stopped by the traffic had his foot flat on the ground and chin on his chest deeply listening to the IPOD, yes that whole iPOD too loud thing upsets me too, but to each his own, I am just illustrating that he was not paying attention. So he is stopped but I am rolling and I am not going to need to stop. He jumps right in front of me, on my line even. This is the point where riding angry started in high doses, but it only lasted for a sec. going through the slow down S on the south side of the street, I cut it too sharp, and my front wheel left the trail, but I popped it with my arms right back up on it, just in time to look up for the rest of the correction I was going to have to make and see the pole, there was no to miss it, so I leaned and only grazed, and smacked right down on the grass there. My move was over, and that guy just kept on rolling, I think he did not hear me hit the pole, he knew I was coming, I saw him looking back at me, he knew he had pissed me off. the lovely man behind me stopped and waited till I was sure I had not broken my hip or my pelvis, dang, plus I am pretty sure in the projectile moment, that my bike seat got me in the back too.

So some of you know I suffer from HAE, it is a blood disorder of missing certain blood components, it is a little like being a hemophiliac only it is about the plasma part of the blood instead of the red or white blood cell part. The swelling was really spectacular until I got to Omaha on Thursday for a treatment.

So there is my confession, I will be going to the AA(Assholes ALLthetime) meetings more regularly, And in case you missed it I got exactly what I deserved and even though I told you that guy made me mad it was not his fault at all, I let him get to me, and I paid for it, If Corey says it includes beer so be it, he is the game master, but I am sort of hoping the injury rule will apply here. Plus I still owe for monday computer transport. Ok thats all.

Xia Xia's...

2007-06-29T09:43:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Friday, June 29, 2007, 5:45 – 6:15, commuter challenge beer pay-off for driving one day last week. Sorry for the small window but then I have too take off to hit the Margarita ride to Eagle.

TDN...post one...

2007-06-26T06:11:00.000-05:00

Lived to tell the tale again, though on thursday when there were just not too many stops I ended up sagging in. TeamFire were fun to have along, and Emory came out and rode in on Sunday, it was his longest ride to date at 62 miles. I rode home from wilbur grabbed the car to pick up the travel gear. the real end was in syracuse. Indoor camping was merciless in its heat most nights, and the showers were the coldest I have ever taken except in brownsville. But I still liked it. I like going out like that on my bike. More later.

280...

2007-06-15T14:14:00.000-05:00

that is a pretty big number for me here at the end of week three. And I LIKE IT! I have more bike miles but I do not count them into my commute numbers. But seriously we have to figure this whole drinking beer as a group thing because we are all turning out to be such awesome commuters that we never seem to get to the drink beer part. I was going to go for buying a round, but snob and cornbread are on the road and the rest of you guys probably will not see this, next week I will be doing the Tour De Nebraska, if you have never done that before let me just say, there is beer, and it is awesome, you just spin on your bike for miles and miles and then you get there and there are all these coolers full of refreshments, it is awesome. Oh well if you see this and you want to stop for a beer let me know we could still figure this out.

what a beautiful day...

2007-06-13T09:16:00.000-05:00

for a bike ride, still a beer comsumer over here. If we keep on like this we will have to change the whole beer thing to rotating through to celebrate what great commuters we are all turning out to be.

monday week 3...

2007-06-11T21:20:00.000-05:00

And I could not really be happier about deciding to commute this summer, and that is with two rides in the rain, one a real downpour, one just a sprinkle, and two days with crazy wind gusts. I have not taken the same route every time. I have had some interesting adventures outside of the rolling metal cage, and I like it. There are a lot of people on bikes, my route passes many of them, some are not nearly so happy as I to be riding a bike, I feel bad for them. And some are out there now, because gas is just so expensive, and they have looks on their faces like they think they will be found out as pretenders, but there is no pretend to it, I always like to give them a nod, they are always sort of looking for it, and they seem glad when they get it. People are funny like that. I have also learned a lot about just riding my own path. That has been an important one to figure out too, but even when I ride alone, and conditions take a turn I always here the voices of friends in my head telling I can do it, and I can...

holy smokes...

2007-06-07T06:03:00.000-05:00

that was a lot of wind. I MEAN A LOT OF WIND. Oh well I was on my bike no beers from me. Were you on your bike, did you use a freebie, of course yesterday was a big day in kidville, so your lucky if you had you little ones which required your attention. mine are big and did not, and I am still saving my freebies. so to the meat of it, does anyone owe me a beer this week? Just asking. I know there is a lot of week left, just checking in.

that was my biggest week in a while...

2007-06-03T10:17:00.000-05:00

After my ride on Saturday to Cortland, I am right at 135 for the week. That is pretty good for me, I have been slacking, but again I am back on the wagon, today is a rest day, the only bike thing I have planned is cleaning up Dewey(thecommuter) from the rain riding last week. I had only ridden in light rain before that was new and fun. 10 miles is not so much when there is a nice shower on either side of it. I know I am lucky we have showers at work.

Ilikethisnewmap!!!

2007-05-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

this one just click on it to see whats coming our way. looks like only a small cell of really bad the rest should be all good. be safe out there 11.

thanks MG...

2007-05-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

for buying the first round, as the self confessed weakest link, I just did not want that to be me, it was the only little victory I was looking for, so I owe you one. :D

ran into Mg at the wrench while there for a quick gear adjustment. Thinking about some further commuter modification that I will have to talk over with the guys. Small wheel change maybe. And then saw Cornbread on the rock island. I was just so happy I recognized him. In case you ever thought I was being stuck up and ignoring you, while that is not completely outside the realm of reason, it is way more likely I just do not realize I know you. I sort of need people to be where I expect them to be to recognize them, it is odd, but then when I recognize them and they are not where I expected them to be, ok I know bike trail is a stretch on that one, I am just always so pleased with my recognition abilities even though really I do not have any of those.

day two...

2007-05-30T09:12:00.000-05:00

of the summer commuter challenge and yes I am still having fun, I do not owe anyone any beer. And I am already learning not to kill myself going home in the evening, take your time, have a nice ride, you can hurry in the morning if want or have too, no need to race toward the barn.

This morning I stopped at the the cup (there should be an accent on the second the) and had a delicious overly icing'd cinimuffin, yummy. I am getting used to this riding to work stuff fast.

the bike is moving on...

2007-05-17T21:06:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Syd my old bike is going to move on to where it will get some love. Gravy thanks for being interested.

free to good home...

2007-05-12T09:02:00.000-05:00

bike needs new home.

19 inch nishiki 15 speed touring bike cantalever brakes, down tube shifters, excellent condition free to good home.

the show was great...

2007-05-06T09:36:00.000-05:00

and that is really all I can say, I just love David Lindley too much to give a good review. And I loath those gushy everything was great reviews, those are not really reviews. But I will tell you about one great moment when he was starting a new song on a freaking beautiful Wisenborn, he carts around two and really makes them sing, sounds like there are three on the stage at one time. Anyway he broke a string mid intro, hissed out,"sonofabitch" and never missed a beat. What kind of brain is that, that can completely adjust and entire song in a split second for a now missing string, I will tell you what kind, a brilliant one.

Sorry to have missed thursday Syd, work has been late these days, maybe this week though, I am hopeful. Going to breakfast with some marathon running friends and then heading to work for what could be the rest of sunday, hopefully that will put a dent in it. Got the Kona Dew loaded with fenders, it is going to be the commuter, and talked to Nate about a handlebar change. I did the fenders, not sure if I can handle the bars. I will think about it, maybe just let them take care of it. Though I do like tinkering around with it myself.

wow it has been a really long time since I put a new post up...

2007-05-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

so I will start off slow... david lindley is at the zoo tonight 6-9. That is where I will be.

Cabin Fever Killer rocked... where were you???

2007-02-24T20:54:00.000-06:00

I was there. I had so much fun, and that was even being last. Last if fine when you are having the best time on a bike. Thank goodness for the break in the rain for most of it, and thanks Greg and Bryan for the beers, beers and bikes, and fun galore. It is not often you get to use the word galore, but it is correct here. And I am worn out, I have not been riding very much and as much as I love to ride the pugsley, it is a little heavier than I am used to. It is also more fun than I am used to. It was just great to ride around and see everyone today, the guys in all the shops seemed to be in great moods so apparently we did not bug them too much. We are lucky here in lincoln as much as we discuss cars vs. bikes, we are lucky, I am glad every time I ride my bike that every time the enabling spouse(buys my bikes for me, tells me to go buy more) and I have started to move to Omaha we have skipped it, we like omaha, lots a great stuff there, but nothing like here when it comes to bikes.
Oh and a special thanks to Jill in Alaska for the inspiration to go out and ride today. She has some great write up stuff on her blog "Up in Alaska" about the Sustina 100 she did last weekend. Lots of people have been really kicking major Ass in some really serious rides, Doug and Dave in Arrowhead 135 Jill in Sustina 100. I love to read their blogs, I find them all very inspiring.

Wine tonight at Krem La Bistro...

2007-01-31T06:28:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the late notice, however here are the details. Tonight at Krem La Bistro, in the Creamery building in the Haymarket, upstairs, is a wine tasting dinner. Cost is 50 per person plus tax. Time 6:30. Probably should call ahead - 435-4422.

It is a 5 Course Menu --
1...Potato, Kale and Pancetta Galette served with 2004 Domaine De La Cadette - Vezelay
2...Beef Consume served with 2003 Charles Jouget "Cuvee Terroir" - Chinon
3...Goat Cheese and Vegetable Tourine served with 2005 Ginglinger Pinot Gris - Alsace
4...Lamb Chops Ala Perigourdine served with 2004 Domaine du Gros Nore - Bandol
5...Green Apple Creme Brulee served with Yalumba Antique Tawny Port.

They certainly had me at Yalumba Antique Tawny Port.

baby steps...

2007-01-28T15:57:00.000-06:00

Well it is a is an absolutely frigid 24 degrees that feels like 13, and even chillier upon the Pugsley. I know all that nice weather I could have been riding and I pick now to take off on a bike. Well that is just how it is sometimes. It was just a quick ride through the neighbor hood, thanks to platform pedals no uniform change required, throw on the winter coat with some good gloves and off you go. It is nice to just be able to run out and jump on a bike and take a quick spin. I love that bike, it is entirely too much fun.

Pro night at the Highgear in Omaha...

2007-01-27T11:22:00.000-06:00

What an absolutely fun way to spend a friday evening, going up to the HighGear store when they are hosting an event and have tons of factory reps in the store. They also had a small presentation on their Supporting a Community in Motion initiative, which Emory was very interested in. They sort of had some limited stuff on road things right now, though there schedule is still developing and some more stuff may come up in that area, they were still seeking leadership volunteers, and Emory was very enthusiastic about my taking up that role, to serve his purpose of more road things in their initiative. We will have to see how their schedule looks in a bit. I won a new bike pump, it was so exciting, I was picked randomly from the crowd by Jay, I think it was because I was wearing a hoodie covered in monkeys, but that is just theory. I am going to keep that pump in my office. oddly more than once I have completed my commute and parked my bike only to find that by the time it is time to go home, I have a flat. There are tons of burrs and glass on the superior bike trail especially in the warm months. I was actully just tooling along on superior bike trail one day when some jackass in a car threw a glass juice bottle right in front of me, I say jackass I mean dirty bastard. I was able to miss most of it, but I had not been riding very long and it was a big surprise.

But more about Pro night. Emory also got to meet some other kids. Specifically he got to meet Aaron Poole, Aaron is an expert junior rider who will be training in Belgium. there was a raffle to raise money, which was a ton of fun, and raised almost 600 dollars for him. What a lovely young man he was Emory brought him over and introduced him, just a very nice young man, and very appreciative of the HighGear and community support. Keep your eyes open for that young mans name in the big races to come, he really has a great future ahead of him. And he really got Emory excited about the coming year on his bike. Which in turn gets me excited about the coming year also.

Also got to see some beautiful bikes, Trek, serrotta, lemonds. That is one of the great things about bikes, they are beautiful. Inspired of course to replace a horses but if you look at the space bike thing over at FFL, well those would be fun, but it is absolutely not beautiful, and they are as wide as a car so you better be able to go as fast as a car, because you think they treat you like you are in their way now, wait till someone does battle with a car on one of those things. Though it would be fun if you could just race them in the desert or something. Or maybe they would make a better stationary bike, anything to make those more interesting.

Anyway I am rambling, did I mention I won a new pump, WOO HOO!!!

time to get back on the wagon...

2007-01-23T18:52:00.000-06:00

for a while I was not even aware that I had fallen off. I was doing so well, I was riding my bike all the time. I was even shaming people way more into riding into riding their bikes more. I did some nice big rides, really covered some distance that I am proud of, and then there I was lying in the dirt, and it was apparently time to spend some time in the dirt. Not to bore you with the details, but I am not as young as I used to be, and I am in those happy golden "I have a few health issues" years. Well this fall they really got a good hold onto me, I had some trouble shaking it, but I sort of feel back to normal now, so to speak, don't waste your comments on the use of the word normal here, I am aware that it is always a stretch. Did not feel like riding a bike, did not feel like running or swimming, did not feel like writing on a blog. So it has been a while. But that is all in the past now, back to being in the moment. I am in a little competition to lose 25lbs by august 1. So that has my attention. I have a new bike, the pugsley, and that has my attention too. It is riding bikes differently from what I know already and I like it, it is all about having fun on a bike, so are my other bikes, though I have been known to put forth quite a bit of effort on my other bikes, trying to keep up with skip and Corey riding home from work, trying to keep up with skip riding home from work in 25-35 mile an hour gusts, trying to keep up with skip and Jk riding home from work, trying to keep up Denise everwhere we go, trying to keep up with Emory when he gets a bug up his but to take off as fast as he can, he is fast but I always catch him because he burns out quick, of course he will likely fix that this year. I am going to fix some things this year too, on my other bikes. But pugs is not like that. Pugs is more fun than that. there may be a time when I try to keep up with the pugsley but I cannot see that point from where I am right now. Anyway that is all for now, pugsley ride update very soon, I also have to ride a 3mile time trial for my little competition, more later.

Zoo Bar Wine tasting sunday...

2007-01-19T09:36:00.000-06:00

3-5, usually around 15 per person, food and wine. Always fun. Hope to see some of you there.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

2006-12-31T12:36:00.000-06:00

Are you the craziest person on your street, I am, and I love it. I have a lot to learn about riding in the snow, when it is coming down really hard like it is today it is hard to keep your head up, I will have to figure out eyewear so I can just keep pedaling, also it is all so fresh I was intimidated a little about going very far away, but I had the layers just right. Not cold a bit.

Yeah baby yeah!!!

2006-12-31T11:27:00.000-06:00

Thanks honey, your the best.
Let the adventures begin.

Goodnight Mr. President...

2006-12-30T20:24:00.000-06:00

So today was Gerald R. Fords funeral, you likely missed it. I watched most of it. That is weird,maybe, I watched Ronald Reagans too. I think of myself as a witness to history, and I like to think I always have been. I like to think that is the way my Dad made me.
My Dad was in broadcasting, and he was the best, he could have made it in the big time, what a voice, but he did not want to leave his hometown, when it got to the point where his career was going to take him from his hometown he quit that job and started his own radio stations.
But mostly I wanted to tell you about how cool it was to watch the news with him, I am an avid news watcher, I watch way more than I need to because I like to get it from different angles, I read news too, again way more than I need to. I remember Watergate, I remember the 38th president, that he was not elected and people thought we should have an election, and I recall the Mayaguez, I remember him falling and bumping. I remember he seemed decent even through the T.V. which of course G.W. just is greasy and smarmy in comparison. I remember asking my dad what the heck he was thinking when he pardoned Richard Nixon, didn't he like being president, didn't he want to keep his job, and my dad who as a news man could be really critical of people who make the news saying,"he knows what he is doing, and he is still doing it, because we just cannot go on like this, there is just nothing left for it", I thought he meant the cost of continuing to try to bring Nixon down even further where he was already, maybe he meant that the country needed to move on. Anyway, it seems sweet now that he did it and knew what it meant to him and he did it anyway. I think I will keep a kind thought today for him.

a lump of coal...

2006-12-24T10:34:00.000-06:00

Several people who have previously professed to being a fan of mine, have said that I am going to get coal for Christmas, FINE! just make it a good piece.

<<< like this one.

I am orginally from WV. they have lots of coal there, and they do fun stuff with it. I tried to find a teddy bear which is what I recall from being a kid and living there, but all I could find that I thought was cool was this elephant.

most days I am a card carrying heathen...

2006-12-19T17:56:00.000-06:00

but sometimes not so much, you can get me stirred me up. this guy did, and when I say this guy, I mean the pastor they quote in that article.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Pray for peace people and the guys who fight for it. Please remember millions of muslims do NOT participate in jihad. Thats all I have to say about that.

tag your it...

2006-12-13T15:12:00.000-06:00

ok so apparently I have been "tagged" person to blame can be found here So the rules of the game were to list six things that most people do not know. This list is epic with me, but I tried to play nice and here is what I came up with:

1.best vacation -- the October 1997 storm we had a great time.

2.I was in boston on 9/11 and there was obviously no real report of what it was like there on any of the news channels. Marshall Law is really scary.

3.the person I consider to be my best friend in lincoln probably does not know it, and do not ask if it is you, it is not.

4.And not to rip off CVO but I beleive in aliens and ghosts too,
aliens, the universe is too big to think we are alone,
ghosts, the spirit of a human is jsut too sophisticated and complicated an entity to think it is bound to the earth by flesh, that is just too primitive of a thought. I think some people hear from them, but they are not on tv, they probably prefer to keep what they hear to themselves.

5.I can be beyond fastidious about things, but I will eat hot dogs from a street vendor cart, there is just something about them, they are very tasty, that is not to say that I will not still descriminate, I will, the actual person serving the hot dogs can put me off of the idea, but if they are clean and tidy, I will have one. And I will not tell you the rest of the list about the things that I am fastidious about, I am not going to tell you.

6.I have a cousin that went to trial with jimmy hoffa.

who to call out, JK, Lt, emory, adrian, byekin, and KimC...tag your it.

the Jamaica trail is so great...

2006-11-29T12:45:00.000-06:00

Yep I did get out, thanks for asking Kim. Made me think to comment on it. What a great morning Friday was. I felt like I could have gone really far, just not too fast. Fast was not much in me, but considering how much I have not been riding lately it was still great. I am really happy to have a nice trail on the south side now, the Jamaica, which is much like the mopak, it is nice to have two favorites. I hope they are planning on continuing south with it. If I had had heavier tires I would have blazed my own trail. Got home in time to get ready to go to the game, and though it seemed like they were not really playing to win in the beginning they pulled it out. I am very fond of trick plays, they are fun.

the cure is at hand...

2006-11-21T13:10:00.000-06:00

so great weather and four days off of work, that just might get me on my bike...it could happen.

running silent cliff notes....

2006-11-07T14:11:00.000-06:00

because Jk bitched that that post was too long...Brain dammage is a serious and frightening thing...Wear your effing helmet, please!

what do you think...

2006-11-07T12:46:00.000-06:00

do you think someone gave him some blue paint for free, or do you think he was deliberately have a blue period, I think he got blue paint for free.
Angel Fernández de Soto, 1903
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
$40,000,000-60,000,000
http://christies.com/home_page/object_week/picasso_6292006.asp

Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
November 8, 2006

all night walgreens...

2006-11-06T19:12:00.000-06:00

So when you fall off of your bike, drugs can help. Of course we were released from theER at 5 after 6pm on sunday, so our local CVS had quit dispensing by that time. I know from experience that the 70th and pioneers Walgreens is not an all night prescription service, so I dropped the invalid at home, and headed out to 70th and "O". I had been there before on a Sunday evening, so I knew what I was getting into. And the wait was going to be 35 minutes. For some that may seem like a lot, but after the slow motion of ER observation of a head injury it seemed like lightening to me. Nothing a bag of Habanero Doritos and a Diet Dr. Pepper were not going to be able to get me through. So I settled in for some great people watching.
Lady on a cell phone...
I cannot believe how some people are on a cell phone. I did not know this person, I did not introduce myself, I know her pretty well now, and I am sort of hoping we do not meet further down the road. The thought of a subsequent meeting where there might be a formal introduction sort of makes me feel all nervous inside. I must have been sending out this nervous vibe because she cut the second call off, somehow between the first call and the second call she had become completely aware that she was in public, "I will have to call you back I am at the pharmacy"
The sickly looking little boy standing in the cart...
This always gets me revved to my max, I have caught other kids nose diving out of carts before, so I like to brace myself to be quick. His mom looked sickly too, and all of his teeth were capped a sign that he was very ill at birth and for a time afterward too. He was very cute. His mother had a very fragile posture, made me wonder what the whole story was. It was not really that late on a sunday, but it just seemed like they both should have been somewhere calm and cozy on a sunday night. Somehow soup seemed in order. He did not nose dive out of the cart by the way. I was really glad about that. Somehow when you save a kid from that, parents will look at you like it was your fault. Yes they had their backs turned and you stopped a potentially bad thing from happening, but because you alert to their error in judgement somehow you are the bad one. I love that. It makes all the nice run right out of me like water.
The young woman who just looked like she was in pain...
Posture is an interesting thing. The way people will hold themselves when they hurt. The way they walk and fold their arms over themselves as if that will give some extra comfort against the pain. She had a really nice young man along with her, and even in the pain they looked like they had just come from somewhere important. She had on very high heels, even though she was in pain, and he had on a tie. He carried around a shiatsu massager and a heating pad, and a bag of ziploc baggies which she was really mean to him when he asked if she wanted paper or plastic. Plastic of course, ziplocs, growl. He slunked away and came back with them. It seemed like it sucked to be him.
The people working behind the counter...
I think the hardest thing on the planet is deciding how many people you need to work when. It seems like there is just no way to make a solid calculation. Sometimes you will have people standing around making money for nothing and sometimes you will be swamped no matter how well you tried to plan ahead. I love my neighborhood pharmacy, long ago they were open on a sunday night too, but that has been gone for a while now. At work they are always trying to get my meds on the 3mth at a time mail order way. But what would happen to the guys at the neighborhood pharm then. I know them, they know me, I never need my med numbers. I like that I know them, it makes me trust them when they tell me about stuff interacting and how some of my meds I should take in the morning and some at night. I always miss them tons when I have to go to the all night Walgreens...

running silent...

2006-11-05T20:31:00.000-06:00

Not really running deep though, just playing it quiet like, just really had nothing to add the conversation. Felt like spending some time just being quiet. Have not really been riding, or running, or doing anything much other than really working hard. Funny how sometimes at work it is nice and steady and then there is a lot to be done. I like being the one that gets to do it, so that is good. But it keeps me busy and it makes me tired, so I just felt like laying low. Slowly though I have been getting back out into the world though. I have done a couple of early season wine wife stuff, a couple of tastings. I like that. It is like playing grownup for the evening. And I have even taken a couple of bike rides. I have slowly been working on getting my husband interested in biking. I would really like it if he would, then we could take vacations with our bikes. I really like the sound of doing that, but I really need for him to get interested in doing that too. Things were going really pretty well, he has taken a spinning class and he has been shopping for a new more comfortable bike than the one he has, a scandia with campy components. We are going to hang it in the family room as art, though it is going to need some work. It is a beautiful bike, but it like my husband took quite a beating today. We were on our way down to the mill to buy some coffee, and first he fell over like we all have just because he could not clip out. That fall was actually sort of amusing, we all know the big details because everyone with clips has taken that fall. But the part where he was stuck on his back and could not clip out till I grabbed his bike and sort of held it firm till he could clip out, that was pretty amusing. If we had turned around then we would have been fine. But we pressed on. After all we are talking coffee for the espresso machine, it is important. we had not even gone another quarter of a mile then the second fall happened. The second was the big one. The one with all the blood, and confusion and chaos. A car which parked right in front of us, was getting ready to open the door right into us, so Emory moved away, and his back tire struck his dads front. I still say from where I saw it the woman had slung open the car door, but Emory does not recall it that way. Frankly it was sort of traumatic to everyone. All the blood, it makes your heart race. And Steve was being sort of goofy, and hard to handle. That should have been my queue. But I missed it, so as soon as everything seemed calm again we got on our bikes and went home, we were still only about 8 minutes from home, but in 20/20 hindsight it was the wrong thing to do. Even though the doctor at the ER said he would have probably done the same thing. By the time we got back to the house, the confusion was solidly upon Steve, he kept asking "So what happened", Emory or I would tell him, a few seconds would go by and he would ask it again. He did not ask it too many times, I can tell you that. I missed the first queue of him being a goof on the scene, I was not going to miss the second, I got really insistent really fast and he was in the car and on the way to ER. All you really need to say at the ER, and of course you need to mean it, Is Head Injury with memory loss and confusion, you can say chest pain but you better mean that one too. That he had no short term memory really got them going pretty quickly in that slow motion watching you sort of way that happens in the ER. He has a pretty good concusion. He is going to be really sore the next few days. But he is going to be ok. Emory and I both had our helmets on. Steve did not, he has been shopping for one, but he hates wearing my old one, and just decided not to today. I feel really fortunate to tell you he is fine tonight. But in those minutes when he could not remember why we were on our bikes, or why we were over in that neighborhood, or the name of his elementary school which we had just passed when this all happened, I could imagine it all disappearing and doing it with a speed that takes your breath away. We were relieved to get to the hospital and to be close to intervention if it came to that. And we were even able to joke with the staff after the short term memory thing started to fade. I think he still does not really recall the events, but at least now when I tell him what happened he can repeat it pretty well back to me. If he had had his helmet on things could have still gone badly, but, there is also a good chance that things would not have gone as badly as they did. I have done it too, I am from a time when there were not even helmets in competition, and I love to ride my bike without my helmet, I tell myself it feels great to ride a bike like I did when I was kid. I do not think you will see me riding my bike without my helmet again. If you see Emory riding without his, please tell me, I know you will not see Steve riding without his. I took some pictures and I will post them when I figure out how to get them out of his phone. It was a big day, we are all tired, soon I will write about waiting for drugs at the 24 hr Walgreens and how really interesting it was, but for now, please, if you are reading this blog, your probably a friend, even if I only know you through the blogs, please wear your helmet, pretty please.

that new bike smell...its just so sweet.

2006-10-08T17:59:00.000-05:00

Well, if you were looking for me and Emory on our bikes on saturday, we were busy. We went to Omaha to pick ups his new ride. 2007 Trek 1600. The first one they have sold. I think he is a happy boy for now. It was a beautiful day and it was a good day to ride a bike home, no he did not ride from Omaha, he rode from the Oven, because Steve had to drop off a case of wine and the little fella could not stand it anymore. So we got it out of the car and off he went. With tons of speed. But we did beat him home and I did grab the camera to catch him rolling up.

don't be a meyerson...

2006-10-07T16:22:00.000-05:00

well that was a fun time, thanks for coming over to the house everybody. Ate a little pizza, drank a little beer, watched a pretty good xcross movie. We will have to find another movie we all want to watch. Oh yes and I asked Emory who he danced with at homecoming and he said everybody. That a boy.

I love my bike... I love my car...

2006-10-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

I am a vehicle person.

woo...wooo. woooo...

2006-10-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

it is fun to make siren sounds.

what a freaking boring blog...

2006-10-03T18:26:00.000-05:00

whos in charge here, I demand to know, oh... wait a minute.
Ok this is totally not a me thing to say, but I have been really busy. That is not normally my gig. I think I like it better than not being busy, but geesh. As they say in the movies, "work work work". Then there was the trip to Chicago to see the King Tut exhibition at the Field museum which was so awesome. Took both the kids, and that was really interesting for the oldest one. He moved out of the house in June, so we sort of just let him go, he spent a ton of time with us, but he has friends there, and so he took off to meet up with them. It was a real learning experience for him. He got lost on his way back to the hotel and he confessed it gave him great anxiety to be lost in Chicago at 2am. They grow up fast and slow at the same time. Emory just stuck with us mostly. Met some friends up there from Nashville, and it was great seeing them too. They knew all the great places to hit for food and drink. But life has definitely been interfering with bike riding and that is a sad thing for me, that and the fact that it should be nice an cool and today it was warm, I prefer the cool. Ok that is enough of that. Got to try to squeeze in a short bike ride or I am going to go nuts... well, more so.

the end... such a sweet thing...

2006-09-19T19:14:00.000-05:00

what a great day, one of the biggest days ever. Family stuff excluded. Maybe the biggest day ever. They are thinking of not having the Asheville ride anymore, turnout was kind of low, I hope they think that through for a while. I would like to do that ride again, I would maybe like it a little better a little later in the year, but I like to ride in cool temps. I hope maybe some of you guys will think of doing one of these rides, I know you would enjoy it. Most of the riders from Lincoln did the ride in Montanna, I missed that one, because registration was closed by the time I decided to ride. I hope you will check it out, right now it is still all about the 2006 rides, because people can continue to contribute until the end of the year, so they leave the site alone until then. But you can find out about JDRF and the rides, and I do suggest making an earlier decision than I did, though I had a grand time and would do it again in a heart beat. I like to climb because I like to fly, and I willing to pay for it, I do not have to be fast, just willing. I actually have some more pictures on can you believe it, film! I will get those transferred to digital really soon.

good people...

2006-09-19T19:00:00.000-05:00

I met a lot great folks, Barry and Michelle who rode along with me. And I got to wear my cool new monkey girl cape.

my room-mate Sue, who was too much fun. Sue took a turn wearing the cape.

and so did Maggie.

I love to ride bikes... and I love to stop...

2006-09-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

wow sometimes even when you had a pretty good time, the best part is stopping. I had never finished a ride before where people cheered for me, and some people had bells, though every time you rode into a checkpoint people cheered and rang little blue JDRF cow bells, it was awesome, I felt ten feet tall.

the road to glory...

2006-09-19T18:45:00.000-05:00

me on the way to glory, check point two, that is Maggie from the local chapter, she went out there to do adminstrative stuff, and it was great to have her along.

and this is check point two on the way back, I think this picture really reflects that I am an optimistic person.

I like oreos, I am pretty sure they have electrolytes in them, at least that is what I choose to believe.

there is a monkey on my bike, ok maybe there are two...

2006-09-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

someone put a monkey on my bike!
His little banner says go regina go!
He has velcro stuck to his butt.

wonder which -itis I have...

2006-09-19T09:09:00.000-05:00

I am sure I caught this from Adrian, I just feel bonked out. My bike got home on friday and the lovely spouse put it together for me while I was volunteering at swanson on saturday and It is still on the bike stand. Just no energy to get her down and work out the kinks. Trying to snap out of it, I will get some pics from Asheville up this evening, I was going to last night, but whatever-itis and sinus headache kept me on the couch. So ends the confession(whine), so begins the penitence.(wine, should fix it;))

oh my...

2006-09-12T11:10:00.000-05:00

I am still really worn out. But... I cannot go against the public outcry for more information, I must tell it. Asheville will go down as one of my all time Wylie Coyote off the cliff moments, but when the dust cleared at the bottom there were all these really great people, and I was so glad to be there. There are tons of stories to tell, but I know what you want to hear about, the hills, so here is the first story of Asheville, the course, out and back style.

I have not really been able to determine exactly how far I went, the sign up info said the course was 105, but then when we got there, you had to ride 2 miles past the last check point and ride to where the road ends and touch gravel to have 100 miles, plus Barry who rode most of the second half of the course with me, had over 100, but on the steep inclines he would weave to cut into the incline, I did not do that.

I know I went at least 100, because I hope you know I was there to ride to glory, and that meant touching gravel, and darn right I did. Still gathering the photo evidence I will get that posted. I think I should mention here that they have an entirely different set of definitions when it comes to hills out there, the stuff they called rolling, still felt like plain ole hills to me, nothing rolling about them. And we have nothing that even faintly resembles hills in Nebraska based on their scale. The hills in Asheville just go on forever, you climb for miles and miles. Riding out had 22.53 miles of climb with elevation of 5625.2 ft. and riding back had 21.65 miles of climb with elevation of 5415.7 ft. So the total elevation of the ride because elevation is cumulative, even though that seems odd is 11040.9 ft. Hey did I mention I was from the land of big and flat. Happily never went backwards. Never even thought of bailing out, even at the metric century turn around where tons of folks I had been riding with turned back. I figured just keep going till you can't and see what happens. I will say it was a ride that did not see very much of the big ring, even when you were pointing down hill and you needed to keep peddling to keep you heart rate up, it was just too difficult to push the big ring very much, I had to keep it kind of spinny, and that worked out fine. Out of checkpoint two was one of the most challenging points in the course, it was up up up for about 8 miles. The coaches on the course said that was as bad as it would get, and that was true, though the road to glory(past checkpoint 4 to the gravel) was up too and at that point you were really ready for a little break, I went past the checkpoint and stopped on the way back, I know myself well enough to do it that way. I will say a huge thanks to my darling husband who back in June sort of pushed me into the road bike I have now, I could not have done it without Celeste, she may not be the fastest climber with me, but she climbs just the same with a never give up never surrender spirit. And on an 8 mile downhill she flies on wings unseen. It was dreamy boys and girls just dreamy, all the way down I thought to myself how the heck did I get up this hill? But I knew she is a great bike, high stepping and full of flight. And Celeste can take a turn so solid and full of grace it gives you courage to go at amazing speeds. No computer for Celeste, no actual time averages, or exact distance, that is just not her game, she works when it is time and goes fast when she can. Man I love that bike.

Other than that...well the coaches kept it moving and were a really great group of guys, when Tim told me I would not fail in my quest to complete the event, I for some odd reason just believed him. The sag was all volunteer and was superior. They even had a Dr. roaming the course, of course there were diabetic riders too, and everyone kept their eyes out for any trouble they may have been having. Also Maggie P. from the local chapter, was at the second checkpoint, and it was great to see her on both the way out and the way home, she really made me feel better both times, thx Maggie. So that is all there is about the course.

mission accomplished...105

2006-09-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

I will write a full detail tomorrow, tonight so tired, so sore, dang we live in the flat trust me, we have nothing that even faintly resembles a hill. Just an fyi.

departure is imminent...

2006-09-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

leaving the house at 4am tomorrow to fly out of omaha at 6:03am for my JDRF ride in Ashville. I am really excited. I was kind of ill earlier in the week so I was really scared that my head would explode on the plane, a very monty python black knight kind of moment. My dr. assures me that is not really very likely. I have decided to trust him. I feel better now though, plus it is a risk I have to take. Too late to bail out. Full speed ahead, well controlled metered speed so I do not exhaust myself too early, and at least average 11 mph, which is the speed you have to average to complete the course in the allotted time. But thanks to heatstroke ride I am ready. See everyone next week, I hope a bunch of people head to murdock this saturday to watch the race. My boy Emory is riding there in his first race and I will be thinking of him while I am on my ride.

jdrf video

2006-09-01T06:44:00.000-05:00

Hello, if you are stopping by because you recieved a letter from about a jdrf video to watch on this blog, it is still here. Just select from the previous post JDRF fundraising video, or just click here

my motto for Ashville...

2006-08-31T09:20:00.000-05:00

Je crois pouvoir comme ça... je peux

synaptic function stabilized...

2006-08-27T15:08:00.000-05:00

I no longer need my fingers to count. So even though I was doing pretty good yesterday after 103, I am totally bouncing back today which is great news as I mentally prepare for my JDRF Ashville ride. Yesterdays ride is the point though, it was a really nice ride, they changed it from last years course, and it was very scenic and I really enjoyed it, if you have not ridden a GPBC event you are really missing a good thing. Most of the riders that run the show in the club are very experienced riders, therefore they offer a great setup for sag and support. I always really enjoy their events and I have learned if I just sort of listen to them and never skip a sag things go better. there were three individual loops, they let the riders take them in any order, so you could pick your distance or do them all in whatever order you wanted. I took them in order, thinking I was going to like the second loop the least, it turned out to be the a great loop, though it was the longest, at 42 miles it was nice, with some inital climb to get you rewarmed, they had a sag at the start of all the loops, which evolved through the day to eventually include hot dogs and sausage with burgers, i did skip that going instead for a personal favorite, watermellon it was perfect. I started with friends on the first two loops but rode the last loop kind of alone, there were these guys from lincoln that I would catch, then they would speed away, then I would catch them, then they would speed away, it was fun. I hope they made it home, one guy got to the point that he felt like he could not stop, so I caught up to his friends at the last sag stop, he should have stopped there it was a good place for a final rest, with chips and salsa along with other assorted goodies and regular chairs to have a good rest in. That sag stop got me through it, normally I would not have stay so long in a sag stop, but I just sort of hung there and rested for maybe even 15 minutes. I felt completely ready to finish when I got back on my bike. I think that is one of the hardest things to learn about riding a distance, is when to listen to what your body is telling you, when you are just being a big baby, and when your body is just in need of a little more than a 4 minute sag stop, I listened at the right time and it turned out great. Plus as always, the great plains gang is a great group of people really worth knowing, there are always some at every ride I have ever been on, I am going to have to get a jersey I think, it is great to be a card carrying member and get discounts but it is a great group, I think I need to fly their colors once in a while too.
Celeste is off to Ashville dropped her off at Blues today, they were nice enough to let me keep her for yesterday, and now it is just me and Dewey, we will have a blast for the next two weeks. Think I will try to commute as often as possible this week and not back off till next week. Feeling ready for it now.

heatstroke 100...

2006-08-26T19:06:00.000-05:00

actually it was 103, shaved and hours of my previous personal best for 70 and did the entire distance in 8:45, sorry jk and denise I said 9:45 but when I actually used my fingers to count it out I realized my error. woo hoo, that is way better than I expected. on to Ashville.

good people everywhere...on bikes...

2006-08-24T21:16:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about why I ride a bike. Because one of the blogs I read asked that question. Plus I have been trying to ride a lot lately, so I have had some time to think about it. And that would certainly be one of the reasons, time alone with the voices in my head. Fitness is a given, no reason to beat a dead horse. Because a good many people can't and I like to be in the group of people who can. Also I have this whole idea of getting where I want to be of my own volition. Self reliance, no motor or batteries needed. I came batteries included and I like to keep them charged. And those are all very satisfying reasons to ride a bike. And all of them contribute. But even more it is the people I have met who ride bikes, and work on bikes, who travel by bike, who commute by bike, who bike with their own list of reasons of doing it. There are some good people on bikes in this town. They give blood, they help crazy people out of the middle of the street when people in cars fear to step into the open and do the same. They give a homeless guy water, before he turns to dust and then is not problem anyone has to think about anymore. They ride bikes for their Daughters and for their sense of hope. They watch out for the new on a bike, they watch out for the old on a bike. They bitch each other out for being stupid, for stuff like not wearing your helmet when you know you should, and they just quietly keep the bitching rolling until you figure it out, more just to let you know they care that your brain does not get scrambled. They schlep you to the ER when you bust yourself all up. They see the world because the world it right in front of them, and that is a great thing, and then because they can, because they are close enough they participate in it all, they abandon the the capsule. They take a leap of faith. These are people I enjoy knowing. I like it when they say hi or nod because they have no wind for saying hi. I like that a bike can bridge the gap between parent and child, just go ride a bike with your kid and watch the gap close right up, even if you practically kill yourself keeping up with that kid, no worries they will always wait for you and your money at the quicky mart. And even though I am slow going up the hills, I love roaring down the other side.

grand theft self esteem...

2006-08-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

actually this is the corporate challenge report. Nice ride, too many people, did not kick my butt this year, Ya! now I never have to do it again. Which is a real happy because 2500 people is about 2300 more than I prefer. I did actually see my friend david but he was on his way back to his car to grab a helmet for a guy he knew that did not bring one.

Now to the grand theft self esteem...actually I have never been so excited to totally lose my self esteem. First of all, I was flying the new monkey wrench jersey, and on a side note if you did not know it, Nate is a super star, so many people gave me a shout for my shirt, it was great. I am so proud of him. Because when people do shout out, you can tell they feel proud to know about Nate, "Monkeywrench , yeah! Nate" or "Monkeywrench , yeah! Nate rocks" it is awesome. So this cat flying Scheels colors comes roaring past and gives one of the afore mentioned shouts while still behind me, and then says how you doing, and I am fine, so I turn to smile at the wrench shout, and say alls good. Shock begins here, as my brain realizes the roar is from super fattys rolling on the PUGSLEY he is riding! He was moving that machine like I cannot even imagine. I mean I was sort of in what could have been considered the first passing lane, and I was moving pretty good with some nice fresh legs. I actually for one second thought it was Nate. But no way in Scheels head to toe. I did not even know Pugsley could move like that. So he is gone by the time the shock has set in, and I move up to pass someone else, and as I go by I say, did you see that guy just steel my self esteem, and he just busts out laughing with a no kidding. I personally never saw this guy again. My son saw him at the very end, Emory was sitting in the grass at the end, and the end is this riverfront part, that is v-shaped, it just has these really steep grassy hill walls to it, and he said while he was sitting there, this guy rolled his finish and went straight up the side, I mean you can hardly stand or walk up these hills and rolled the Pugsley up it. Amazing.

the return...

2006-08-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

Of what appears to be the big lesson of my life. Everything I "hate, have contempt for, etc", I appear destined to become. You know maybe you felt that way sometimes about your parents, then you became a parent, then you became a parent who is just like the one you had for the most part.

Today I was the sweep vehicle. I am not so fond of the sweep when it is behind me, so I tried to keep that in mind and not make people feel like I was waiting for them or rushing them. Byekin and I volunteered at the Callahan 5K this morning. It was very fun. Lots of people in running shoes, and man could they make them work. My running shoes in comparison appear to be broken, I am sure it is an equipment problem. The guy that won the 5k won it in just over 16 minutes. He was moving. It was a ton of fun. Lesson learned again.

A continuing process of change from one state or condition to another or from one form to another...

2006-08-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

evolution. It has been an interesting year. Working with new people and old people alike. Working with people who ride bikes, and who ride bikes differently. I work with one guy and he told me he never rides his bike for fun. Though that seems like an oxy moron to me, ok. I work with another fellow, and he rides his bike big, he is all about endurance. He is all about the mental component. I can respect that. Then there are commuters and the commuters that are happy go lucky, and just love getting on their bikes and going riding, ride your bike alone, or with a friend, either one works. I am the last group, I am happy go lucky, and I love riding my bike, I will ride alone, or with people, I will ride to get somewhere or to anywhere. I will go great distance or just a short little jaunt. I like to climb because of the challenge, I like to go fast because of the danger. I love the park but am still scared of the big dips. I am evolving. Will I race, probably. Will I endure, definitely. Cornbread asked me the first time I ever met him if I had ever thought about racing, and Skip and I both just bust out laughing because just that day, I had been pondering the evolution of me as a cyclist. How Amazed I was at how quickly I was becoming a cyclist. How I was already not content to be a single dimmension of some kind of rider. And how it was so not like me to just let the bikes take me where I am going. I am a little analytical for that, so I have had to work on just getting there, sort of surrendering, and surrender is definitely not the norm for me. But that is what evolution is all about.

Well it has been a big year. I started on a very nice hybrid, and now I have that nice hybrid and also a nice road bike. I have mostly gone far this year. But so far never more than 75 miles. I have gotten stronger and faster. I will think of speed, but not yet, for now just need to stay on my bike and finish. My time for 70 miles has dropped significantly from 6:45 to anywhere from 5:30 to 6:00. And that just happened, never even thought about it other than wishing that darn sweep car would back up just a little, cuz he can get as close as he wants I am not getting off of my bike. yes its been a very good year. Happy birthday Dewey.

monday night ride...

2006-08-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am happy to say I have several excuses for not being the strongest rider on the monday night ride. (Yes I am having a low self esteem moment and my blog seemed like a good place to indulge it.) Ok, here we go. First of all, I did not really have much lunch today, I did try to make up for it, but I apparently failed. Because when my second excuse collided with my first excuse, I bonked. errrrr. The second excuse is as follows, right as we were taking off, someone got a flat, I was sort of middle to the back of the pack, and I was waiting to make sure flat tire had everything he needed as were most of us. Well my boy Emory(age 15) was up at the front of the pack with some guys, and they took off, since I did not immediately see this, I was playing catch up from the very start. And I chased them hard. I mean talk about your breakaway group. oooooweee. I did finally catch them. It was that all powerful mommy thing, you know, Emory does not have a ton of experience with hwy 77 and the guys he was with were new to him, so they would not have known his experience level. I think I chased them 2.5 or 3 miles before I caught them, of course it felt like 10. Oh yes, and just for fun lets give a third excuse, I am old, I forget it, but I am. Ok, I feel better now.
The monday night ride as always was a blast. Met new people, saw people I knew. Ended up working on trying to go fast (during that whole chase Emory thing). I would rather have warmed up in a more controlled way then ridden on with Syd and that group, but I was done, there would be no pace increase for me from there. Would have liked to have had a better chance to visit with Syd and Jana. I want to be like them when I grow up. The way Syd tells it makes competing sound so fun. Plus Emory wants to compete, and there is just no reason not to compete if I have to take him to races, it sure beats sitting around waiting for him. That was the worst part of when he was on the swim team, I swim a lot better than some of those kids. hmmmm, triathalon.... nevermind. Ran into Adrian and someone whose name I did not catch, so the group was large tonight and when we broke seems like it was sort of like dropping a box of bb's, we scattered in all directions. Still did not really meet Sci~fi, wanted to because I find we often comment on the same blogs. Oh well next time. I love the monday night ride.

JDRF fundraising video

2006-08-10T09:39:00.000-05:00

I am going to ride 105 miles through Ashville Nc
and the surrounding smoky mountains.  The ride is
in September and should be a great time.  The cliff
notes to the letter that goes with this video is that
diabetes is a terrible disease, it kills people in
this country every day.  The cure is close, please
help if you can by selecting the JDRF link on the
right side of this page, it will take you directly to
my donation page.

Thanks for your support. Especially to Byekin you
really got me motivated to get this pulled together
and on the blog and in the mail.  I owe you one, and
I mean that in a good way.  Thanksagain.

My tale of woe (not really)...

2006-08-08T09:24:00.000-05:00

so friday I go out to my car here at work, to run and grab some lunch and... nothing. Dead battery, call Baron in KC, cuz thats the best place in the world to buy a mini cooper, because if you are nice they are nice, l like them loads. Ask them if I should try to jump start it, turns out not so much for minis, to much creativity in there, just call road side service. They came and got it, they fixed it and it was back to me last night. For some this would have included great inconvenience and heart ache, and I admit I did see about the rental car, they were going to pay, why not? and I decided it was more trouble than it was worth. I knew I would be fine, I always have Dewey(my Kona hybrid) and Celeste(my Bianchi Giro) at my back. No reason to get all flustered. I did miss my Georgette(my Mini Cooper) but just because I love her. She is the picture of patience, friendship and service, as time and time again I go through the garage with a bike and leave her behind, she never complains. But I will say yesterday was the first time Dewey had worked in a while, other than transport to the ice cream shops, and he just flew, he had his wings on yesterday. I got totally jazzed for commuting with Dewey again. I did bale out on the rain today, but tomorrow is another day.
oh yes the tale of woe part.
Brace yourself.
I had to bale out of the monday night ride early, and that was really sad for me, because I had commuted, my legs were all warmed up, my lungs were working great because of the commute I had completely worked through any of the rough spots. But, Georgette goes to KC for service, and I had to get home to be there when she was delivered back to me. It was great to see everyone, and meet new people.
Recently I realized I had really been surrendering my motivation to ride, riding some but no where near enough, now with my 15 yr old son riding, and hooking up with some fun relatively regular rides, I am getting it back. Even got to ride home part of the way with Skip. I like to ride my bike to work, it is far(for a commute I think 10.5) and fun, and did I mention that Dewey had wings.

count down to the next big thing...

2006-08-01T12:53:00.000-05:00

So today is August 1, I have just a little over a month until the next ride that I really care about though I will be doing at least two before then, the corporate challenge and the heatstroke 100. Ok given that I will rest before I ride, I am probably hovering at right around 35 days left for training. The important ride though is a JDRF ride in Ashville, NC. Lots of hills, 105 miles, I will set a goal of how long it will take me after I do the other two rides. I am trying to keep my riding numbers up, but they are falling thanks to the heat, probably try to ride a lot the next three days, rain or shine since it will be cooler. Try to be better about hitting the Monday night ride out of Blues, I whimped it last night. Plus probably try to work on legs with some intervals with Syd. I am still evolving, riding just at a year now, up to two bikes already. Kona hybrid, and Bianchi Giro, they are both great. I am thinking of putting some heavier tires on the Kona, Eric at the Wrench said he thought I could go up to a 40 with the wheels I currently have, that sounds like fun to me. I will put up my JDRF slide show this evening hopefully, still working on it. It reflects why I am riding. Plus it has some good music in it. I am just getting into this blog thing, so more later.

So this is a blog

2006-07-31T15:40:00.000-05:00

so this is a blog, very interesting.