Back On/In the Saddle
By the end of our trip, I’m sure we smelled like fish that’s been in your refrigerator a little too long – to my parents anyway. We had a great time, but I would bet that they all took a nap, went out for a steak, and enjoyed the day after we left.
Lyza is a high energy kid, and we went from 9am - 10pm each day at full throttle. Amusement park rides, water park slides, baseball games, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf, kayaking, boat time, alpine slide rides. When I dropped Lyza off at her Mom’s last Wednesday night after the trip home I even paused for a second before I got in my car and just thought about it all……a solo vacation with my daughter – and how special that time was. The time with my parents was fantastic. I wished D could have been there though, and I know she won’t miss the fun next summer.
Did I ride? No. Did I run? No – f*ck no I don’t even run at home unless it’s to catch an escaped dog. I did nothing more than play – Frisbee, swimming…that was about the extent of it. When I left had every intention of not losing the fitness I had built through the first 5 months of the year, but I had an overwhelming feeling to just shut it all down and hit my own personal reset button.
I’m paying for it today, but not as badly as I thought. D re-introduced me to Flagstaff on Saturday with a 50 mile road ride. Yesterday, I took my Rig out for an hour and a half MTB ride and after a massage/stretch last night I feel pretty good. I had so much f*cking fun on both rides – and I am ready to bust ass in July to get ready for the events that come later this summer. The mountain bike ride in particular was borderline existential or whatever the hell that means. My legs were just OK, and I could feel the elevation a bit having been at 700 feet for 2 weeks, but carving the downhill turns and the burn of the climbs felt fabu..
The Scalpel sold and shipped today and so I’m down to one mountain bike and a roadie. I got me some o’ dem new carbon Ritchey parts coming for it soon – you know – to go with the new wheelset that should be done in a couple of weeks. Summer feels great, and I can’t wait to get out of work already. Yeah – I’ve been back all of 4 hours and I’m throwing down a 15 minute blog entry. Hey, priorities ya know?!
Monday
Sunday
Wednesday
When I tell people I’m heading back to Minnesota for vacation they invariably say something like “WTF?”, or just a simple “Family trip?”. Then the bug jokes follow with snarky remarks like “Bring your Deet”, and “Isn’t the state bird a mosquito?”.
We go back because we get to connect with family, there’s a ton of fun stuff to do that you can’t do in AZ, and it is a cheap trip. So we fly out Friday, sans D who is in school until June 25th. I’ll miss her hanging out with us. I’ve scoped out everything from Minnesota Twins tickets – cheap seats – for $1.50, a day visit to Valleyfair and their waterpark, renting a mountain bike and competing at the Thursday Night @ Buck Hill races, and of course hanging out on the lake in the day and watching old movies at night with few cans of Old Style. I don’t care if it’s rain or shine, we’ll have a good time.
I spent yesterday balls to the wall at work from 6:30am on solving staffing and Wi-Fi issues and I think we have a good handle on both. Then, I treated myself to a 3 hour self-inflicted hammer fest on the singlespeed. I rolled into the garage on about 10psi in the rear tire and an out of true rear wheel again, with no water/food for the last 5 miles. That was OK though – it was almost all downhill the last 5. I stumbled over to the grocery store after a 1 minute shower and bought two frozen burritos, two cartons of soy milk and bananas. Dinner was two burritos, a huge fruit protein shake, which was washed down by a can of Tecate – or two. I fell asleep slumped over in our office chair surfing CNN headlines.
So, it’s time for the trip home. I’ll do just enough riding an old family Cross Bike on the rails-to-trails to stay sharp, spend LOTS of time on the lake, fishing, and just hanging out with the family. When I get back it’ll be busy at work, and I’ll have a month to really turn the screws on my fitness for some mid-summer races. I’m lookin’ forward to the break and coming home to the start of the Flagstaff monsoon season.
We go back because we get to connect with family, there’s a ton of fun stuff to do that you can’t do in AZ, and it is a cheap trip. So we fly out Friday, sans D who is in school until June 25th. I’ll miss her hanging out with us. I’ve scoped out everything from Minnesota Twins tickets – cheap seats – for $1.50, a day visit to Valleyfair and their waterpark, renting a mountain bike and competing at the Thursday Night @ Buck Hill races, and of course hanging out on the lake in the day and watching old movies at night with few cans of Old Style. I don’t care if it’s rain or shine, we’ll have a good time.
I spent yesterday balls to the wall at work from 6:30am on solving staffing and Wi-Fi issues and I think we have a good handle on both. Then, I treated myself to a 3 hour self-inflicted hammer fest on the singlespeed. I rolled into the garage on about 10psi in the rear tire and an out of true rear wheel again, with no water/food for the last 5 miles. That was OK though – it was almost all downhill the last 5. I stumbled over to the grocery store after a 1 minute shower and bought two frozen burritos, two cartons of soy milk and bananas. Dinner was two burritos, a huge fruit protein shake, which was washed down by a can of Tecate – or two. I fell asleep slumped over in our office chair surfing CNN headlines.
So, it’s time for the trip home. I’ll do just enough riding an old family Cross Bike on the rails-to-trails to stay sharp, spend LOTS of time on the lake, fishing, and just hanging out with the family. When I get back it’ll be busy at work, and I’ll have a month to really turn the screws on my fitness for some mid-summer races. I’m lookin’ forward to the break and coming home to the start of the Flagstaff monsoon season.
Tuesday
Road racing is an entirely different animal than mountain biking. For fu*k’s sake (my favorite British expression – so much more animated than “lovely”, “brilliant” or “cheers”) it’s about power to weight ratio (ultra lightweight bikes and skinny/strong bodies), matching kits/clothing, there’s a ton of rules about etiquette and safety riding in a group, and road riders love stats….time/distance/average speeds/cadence/wattage, along with the various heart rate monitor readouts that tell you if you’re in your “zone” or not. Road riding is also all about efficiency. Efficiency in your pedal stroke and shifting can make those riders who don’t ‘get it’ look like idiots – especially once you hit the 50 mile mark
Most of the fast ‘roadies’ I know are incredibly detailed; in their preparation, the way they ride, and how they recover and train again the next day. This is hard for me to understand because at heart I’m a hammerhead mountain biker that appreciates no gears, difficult trails that do not foster efficiency, and no end of ride stats other than a subjective analysis of how I feel physically and mentally. In short, I despise details and that translates to my broad-scope preparation and training for any effort.
Every now and then I see the light, and focus on the details even though it hurts my frontal lobe to do so. Yesterday I rode with D out to our local hill climb. I rested the day before and D treated me to some trigger point therapy for my tight muscles which felt great. I woke up ready to give it all I had – mentally I was set. A smaller than usual breakfast was the choice in anticipation of riding with digested food before a hard effort – what a concept! I warmed up at a reasonable pace, hydrated before and during, and while on the climb I shifted properly, kept a consistent high cadence on the steeps, stood and hammered on the false flats, and came across the line for a personal best time that would put me near the back of the local race scene peloton if we raced up as a group. Who cares – it’s the best I have ever done. I’d give you the stats, but I forgot the details about how to save them in my cyclo computer and erased them. Guess I'll have to do it again, a bit faster this time? For f*ck's sake, that means I'll have to prepare.....
Most of the fast ‘roadies’ I know are incredibly detailed; in their preparation, the way they ride, and how they recover and train again the next day. This is hard for me to understand because at heart I’m a hammerhead mountain biker that appreciates no gears, difficult trails that do not foster efficiency, and no end of ride stats other than a subjective analysis of how I feel physically and mentally. In short, I despise details and that translates to my broad-scope preparation and training for any effort.
Every now and then I see the light, and focus on the details even though it hurts my frontal lobe to do so. Yesterday I rode with D out to our local hill climb. I rested the day before and D treated me to some trigger point therapy for my tight muscles which felt great. I woke up ready to give it all I had – mentally I was set. A smaller than usual breakfast was the choice in anticipation of riding with digested food before a hard effort – what a concept! I warmed up at a reasonable pace, hydrated before and during, and while on the climb I shifted properly, kept a consistent high cadence on the steeps, stood and hammered on the false flats, and came across the line for a personal best time that would put me near the back of the local race scene peloton if we raced up as a group. Who cares – it’s the best I have ever done. I’d give you the stats, but I forgot the details about how to save them in my cyclo computer and erased them. Guess I'll have to do it again, a bit faster this time? For f*ck's sake, that means I'll have to prepare.....
Friday
My sorry ass gimped home last night after a long day at the office, and specifically getting my ass kicked by a failed Wi-Fi system that we invested in four years ago. I thought we had more time to address upgraded technology, but……so I have a resort full of guests who are as addicted to their internet access as trailer park residents in St. Clair Shores Michigan are addicted to 40oz bottles of Olde English, filterless Marlboro’s and wife beater T-shirts. The crazy thing is that my crack addict guests aren’t jonesing for www.cnn.com, or www.velonews.com, or www.huffingtonpost.com, nope, they need to log on to their Facebook and Myspace pages. Wow. Maybe I need to get one of those pages so I know what the f*ck I’m missing.
Got home, stretched my kit on, bundled up a bit for the wind, and hit the ground with legs that felt like kiln dried Douglas Fir. Doug Fir ain’t that tough and neither was I. The warm-up out to Snowbowl Road was less than memorable, with a stupid-strong headwind and drivers that probably never learned to ride a bike as they were less than tolerant of me taking my 1.2 feet of room on the right side of the road. One close call had me breathing pretty hard considering I was pushing all of an 11mph pace into the wind. Enough – I turned onto Snowbowl Road and began the 10K climb with no traffic. I missed the group hill climb start by 35 minutes, so I had no chance of catching anyone on the way up…..wait, what’s that.
It was two riders spinning what appeared to be a cadence of maybe 30 – standing, swaying, and really struggling up the mountain. I used them as motivation and spun by as smooth as I could with a quick “nice evening isn’t it?” - laden with every intention of demoralizing them. I’m an A-hole, I know. Let me just say when you’re suffering, it gives one great pleasure to transfer some of that energy on others to lighten your load. The descent was even better, carving the turns and hitting nearly 50mph on one straightaway.
Well it came back to me in spades, that goddamn Karmic whore that she is. D and I going through future plans last night tasted like a sh*tburger supreme and I’m still eating them today. Lemme just say that I believe that life is so f*cking precious that you better not be wasting time waiting for things. So, live it up, go full throttle this weekend and let’s share stories on Monday about how tired we are from the weekend.
Got home, stretched my kit on, bundled up a bit for the wind, and hit the ground with legs that felt like kiln dried Douglas Fir. Doug Fir ain’t that tough and neither was I. The warm-up out to Snowbowl Road was less than memorable, with a stupid-strong headwind and drivers that probably never learned to ride a bike as they were less than tolerant of me taking my 1.2 feet of room on the right side of the road. One close call had me breathing pretty hard considering I was pushing all of an 11mph pace into the wind. Enough – I turned onto Snowbowl Road and began the 10K climb with no traffic. I missed the group hill climb start by 35 minutes, so I had no chance of catching anyone on the way up…..wait, what’s that.
It was two riders spinning what appeared to be a cadence of maybe 30 – standing, swaying, and really struggling up the mountain. I used them as motivation and spun by as smooth as I could with a quick “nice evening isn’t it?” - laden with every intention of demoralizing them. I’m an A-hole, I know. Let me just say when you’re suffering, it gives one great pleasure to transfer some of that energy on others to lighten your load. The descent was even better, carving the turns and hitting nearly 50mph on one straightaway.
Well it came back to me in spades, that goddamn Karmic whore that she is. D and I going through future plans last night tasted like a sh*tburger supreme and I’m still eating them today. Lemme just say that I believe that life is so f*cking precious that you better not be wasting time waiting for things. So, live it up, go full throttle this weekend and let’s share stories on Monday about how tired we are from the weekend.
Thursday
Even though I am a card carrying Lefty, you gotta love this from our friends in Ireland (contributed by Sheck):
The Irish are such clear thinkers:
"We, in Ireland , can't figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election in the United States . On one side, you have a witch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, running against a lawyer who is married to a witch who is a lawyer. On the other side, you have a war hero married to a good looking rich woman who owns a beer distributorship. What are you lads thinking over there?"
I pulled my full suspension bike off of E-Bay this morning. Seems I have a friend who can't make it to the Leadville 100, and he asked if I'd pretend to be him at registration and ride it......he's covering the $120 race entry fee. Uhhhh yeah, I can do that. August 9th - here I come!
The Irish are such clear thinkers:
"We, in Ireland , can't figure out why you are even bothering to hold an election in the United States . On one side, you have a witch who is a lawyer, married to a lawyer, running against a lawyer who is married to a witch who is a lawyer. On the other side, you have a war hero married to a good looking rich woman who owns a beer distributorship. What are you lads thinking over there?"
I pulled my full suspension bike off of E-Bay this morning. Seems I have a friend who can't make it to the Leadville 100, and he asked if I'd pretend to be him at registration and ride it......he's covering the $120 race entry fee. Uhhhh yeah, I can do that. August 9th - here I come!
Tuesday
Monday
A buddy of mine that lives down the street, in the Hospital Hill Ghetto across from Inappropriate Dave (so named because not only is he obscenely vulgar, but he also paints visual pictures of anything remotely disgusting/vile/cynical/ and is sure to offend and even pull the race card as often as I get a face card on my 12-16 hands at a blackjack table with a 6-deck shoe), and Sir Klausington (an ex bike shop owner who is so severely insecure that whenever you’ve done it, he’s done it faster, and if you can fix it, he can fix it better) has a huge opportunity. Said buddy Ellsie, who has been mentioned auspiciously and inauspiciously here – and who is always pining for photo credits and corrections to his posted running/hiking/biking times – has been invited by his employer to run in the 6-day Trans Rockies Challenge. Let’s just say invited means “sponsored” - fully. Yeah baby……Picture six consecutive days of running 20 miles, with an average daily climb of 4,000 feet+. I’d call him a stud but he’d never let me live it down. Thankfully he rides a mountain bike as fast as his 7 year old son, and a road bike like his 5 year old daughter.
So, my little 2.75 hour Sunday morning ride began at 5:30am with temps in the low 40’s. I froze my ass off until I got about 20 minutes in – thankfully you can warm up fast as it’s all uphill for up to 2.5 hours and 3,650 feet of climbing if you want that kind of pain. I chose to climb for about 30 minutes and then headed across the peaks to Snowbowl Road via up and down singletrack and saw nothing more than a small pack of elk and some goofy short-short trail runners (who by the way are horriffic dressers - what is it about trail runners?- with the exception of my wife who was dressed to the 9's in her full coolmax Nike outfit on Sunday), and just an exquisite sunrise that was lighting the trail for me as I headed west. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what Ellsie the Running Man will be tackling in August. However, my little 2.75 hour ride was muy fantastico. I dunno how many miles because I don’t ride with a computer on my MTB – but I can tell you that I arrived home flat-out hammered and content to do whatever the rest of the day tossed my way. What it tossed was about 1,000 f*cking dishes as we seemed to just cook/eat/cleanup all day. It was insane, and by the end of the day I paid myself back with 7/8 of a pint of ice cream in a bowl watching 27 Dresses – a chick flick that actually had some very redeeming qualities for the first hour…..and then like every other movie….it digressed into Hollywood schmutz. D and I about puked at the predictable end.
Anyway – the rest of the weekend was about organizing the garage, playing with kids, a little time at the pool both days, and some good eats. In 2 weeks we’ll be in Minnesota/Canada for 10 days of fishing…..and hanging out on the water drinkin’ Molson’s. No DUI’s on Rainy Lake, in fact they kinda look at you funny if you DON’T have a cooler of Molson’s.
So, my little 2.75 hour Sunday morning ride began at 5:30am with temps in the low 40’s. I froze my ass off until I got about 20 minutes in – thankfully you can warm up fast as it’s all uphill for up to 2.5 hours and 3,650 feet of climbing if you want that kind of pain. I chose to climb for about 30 minutes and then headed across the peaks to Snowbowl Road via up and down singletrack and saw nothing more than a small pack of elk and some goofy short-short trail runners (who by the way are horriffic dressers - what is it about trail runners?- with the exception of my wife who was dressed to the 9's in her full coolmax Nike outfit on Sunday), and just an exquisite sunrise that was lighting the trail for me as I headed west. It was a drop in the bucket compared to what Ellsie the Running Man will be tackling in August. However, my little 2.75 hour ride was muy fantastico. I dunno how many miles because I don’t ride with a computer on my MTB – but I can tell you that I arrived home flat-out hammered and content to do whatever the rest of the day tossed my way. What it tossed was about 1,000 f*cking dishes as we seemed to just cook/eat/cleanup all day. It was insane, and by the end of the day I paid myself back with 7/8 of a pint of ice cream in a bowl watching 27 Dresses – a chick flick that actually had some very redeeming qualities for the first hour…..and then like every other movie….it digressed into Hollywood schmutz. D and I about puked at the predictable end.
Anyway – the rest of the weekend was about organizing the garage, playing with kids, a little time at the pool both days, and some good eats. In 2 weeks we’ll be in Minnesota/Canada for 10 days of fishing…..and hanging out on the water drinkin’ Molson’s. No DUI’s on Rainy Lake, in fact they kinda look at you funny if you DON’T have a cooler of Molson’s.
Friday
The Man let me out of work yesterday..... late – but there was enough time to squeeze in a short road ride. It was enough time and effort to clear my cabeza and then go enjoy a cheap Thai meal with D downtown.
So my first week of official carpooling has been a success. We reduced our weekly mileage by 120 miles, which translates to roughly 4.5 gallons of gas. That’s $18.54 in gas savings + the reduced carbon emission. It doesn’t seem like a lot but I guess I’ll keep doing it as often as possible.
I’m a selfish prick. I can’t believe how inconvenienced I felt on a couple of the mornings thinking “what if I want to leave early or later – what if my schedule changes?” Well the only way my schedule would really change is if somebody called me about going on a bike ride that started at 4:30pm. I’d want to be there. Who knows, I’ll probably get used to this sooner than later.
No racing for me this weekend, as there aren’t any going on. Good luck to Josh and Steve at 9-Mile forest in Wausau WI. That is by far one of my favorite Midwest racetracks to play on.
So my first week of official carpooling has been a success. We reduced our weekly mileage by 120 miles, which translates to roughly 4.5 gallons of gas. That’s $18.54 in gas savings + the reduced carbon emission. It doesn’t seem like a lot but I guess I’ll keep doing it as often as possible.
I’m a selfish prick. I can’t believe how inconvenienced I felt on a couple of the mornings thinking “what if I want to leave early or later – what if my schedule changes?” Well the only way my schedule would really change is if somebody called me about going on a bike ride that started at 4:30pm. I’d want to be there. Who knows, I’ll probably get used to this sooner than later.
No racing for me this weekend, as there aren’t any going on. Good luck to Josh and Steve at 9-Mile forest in Wausau WI. That is by far one of my favorite Midwest racetracks to play on.
Wednesday
Colonics are a popular cleansing mechanism in Sedona. There are mobile colonic trucks that just roll around town like port-a-john pumpers and come right to your door - do their thing - and roll on to the next house. Having not had a 5/8" tube (help me with another word for inserted as I need to get past the visual) _________ up my a**, and having no plans for it, I prefer to be cleansed on the trails.
The post work hookup this afternoon with speedy GP failed to launch - GP had a blown out sidewall and didn't want to deal with Stans'ing it up at 5pm. I managed to get in 2.5 hours of a religious-like singletrack awakening and rolled into the driveway as the sun hit the horizon. I get asked occasionally 'why only one gear?'. My usual answer is "I've seen Jesse LaLonde race and there is no disadvantage to pushing one big-ass gear - if you can do it" Since that answer means exactly sh*t to 99% of people I know, lemme' tell ya in language that my rich and famous friends can digest. All 2 of them.
You have 120K to spend on a car, and you are looking at a Porsche and a 'Vette. With the Porsche you get status, luxury, and performance. With the 'Vette you get performance, and 50K in change to go spend on something else. Both cars get you to California in under 5 hours if you don't get caught. Liberal freaks, left-wing terroristas and Eco-warrior concerns aside from this ridiculous quandry, which one you gonna hypothetically buy?
I guess I'm saying I'm opting to rock the singlespeed with a new Mavic 29'er rim/Chris King hub wheelset, and buy some new patio furniture with the change.
The post work hookup this afternoon with speedy GP failed to launch - GP had a blown out sidewall and didn't want to deal with Stans'ing it up at 5pm. I managed to get in 2.5 hours of a religious-like singletrack awakening and rolled into the driveway as the sun hit the horizon. I get asked occasionally 'why only one gear?'. My usual answer is "I've seen Jesse LaLonde race and there is no disadvantage to pushing one big-ass gear - if you can do it" Since that answer means exactly sh*t to 99% of people I know, lemme' tell ya in language that my rich and famous friends can digest. All 2 of them.
You have 120K to spend on a car, and you are looking at a Porsche and a 'Vette. With the Porsche you get status, luxury, and performance. With the 'Vette you get performance, and 50K in change to go spend on something else. Both cars get you to California in under 5 hours if you don't get caught. Liberal freaks, left-wing terroristas and Eco-warrior concerns aside from this ridiculous quandry, which one you gonna hypothetically buy?
I guess I'm saying I'm opting to rock the singlespeed with a new Mavic 29'er rim/Chris King hub wheelset, and buy some new patio furniture with the change.
Tuesday
Damn.
$4.12 per gallon on the way home tonight. I carpooled with a coworker and we're carpooling tomorrow too. It's not going to drop back down again. As it probably should be. I'm now hiring hourly staff that are making around $9/hour and they are negotiating a fuel allowance at .505 cents per mile. I don't blame them - and I'll pay it - I need good people.
At our Cafe today I overheard some f*ckface say "I hope McCain gets elected so we can open up drilling in Alaska, and we can become reliant on our own oil". Like I said, this guy was a f*ckface. He's probably the same dipsh*t who thinks that because his Chevy says "Flexfuel" on the back of it he's doing us all a favor by having a vehicle capable of burning ethanol.
Ethanol, don't even get me started.
I raced on Saturday. I raced my teammate around an 18 mile singletrack maze and held him off for about a 15 second victory after around 2 hours.....no, it wasn't an official race with podium girls and prize money. It was just one of those 'looks' we gave each other and it was on. I raced myself on Monday, and pushed myself into a wall doing it. An hour and 40 minutes of self-inflicted pain that had me laid out on the floor at home with an empty mug of Espresso and crumbs leftover from six Newman Oreos, nearly asleep. I don't even remember eating dinner. Jesus, if I just had this kind of career motivation I'd be living some big existence somewhere with a drop top Benz, a really small barky dog, and three extra Sonicare Toothbrushes just because I can.
A big MTB effort tomorrow after work coming up with GP - a race I would always lose if we gave each other that 'look'. F*cking 27 year olds.....Ahh whatever, I'm faster now than when I was 27 it's just that I don't have GP's talent so I just have to eat that Jagged Little Pill, isn't that ironic - dontcha' think.
$4.12 per gallon on the way home tonight. I carpooled with a coworker and we're carpooling tomorrow too. It's not going to drop back down again. As it probably should be. I'm now hiring hourly staff that are making around $9/hour and they are negotiating a fuel allowance at .505 cents per mile. I don't blame them - and I'll pay it - I need good people.
At our Cafe today I overheard some f*ckface say "I hope McCain gets elected so we can open up drilling in Alaska, and we can become reliant on our own oil". Like I said, this guy was a f*ckface. He's probably the same dipsh*t who thinks that because his Chevy says "Flexfuel" on the back of it he's doing us all a favor by having a vehicle capable of burning ethanol.
Ethanol, don't even get me started.
I raced on Saturday. I raced my teammate around an 18 mile singletrack maze and held him off for about a 15 second victory after around 2 hours.....no, it wasn't an official race with podium girls and prize money. It was just one of those 'looks' we gave each other and it was on. I raced myself on Monday, and pushed myself into a wall doing it. An hour and 40 minutes of self-inflicted pain that had me laid out on the floor at home with an empty mug of Espresso and crumbs leftover from six Newman Oreos, nearly asleep. I don't even remember eating dinner. Jesus, if I just had this kind of career motivation I'd be living some big existence somewhere with a drop top Benz, a really small barky dog, and three extra Sonicare Toothbrushes just because I can.
A big MTB effort tomorrow after work coming up with GP - a race I would always lose if we gave each other that 'look'. F*cking 27 year olds.....Ahh whatever, I'm faster now than when I was 27 it's just that I don't have GP's talent so I just have to eat that Jagged Little Pill, isn't that ironic - dontcha' think.
Thursday
So after a rock-em, sock-em winter/spring riding season I am left with the following riding options this weekend:
1-Klein Q-Pro Carbon Team road bike
The Scalpel needs a new set of tires as there is a 1/4” x 1/4” hole in the rear one (new Schwalbe’s on the way – thank you Mr. Bartoszuk), and the Rig suddenly acquired a nearly taco-ed front wheel. Thanks to disc brakes, I was able to ride it home sans any significant brake rubbing. I planted that front hoop in a few washed out ditches yesterday, but I couldn’t tell you where it took the big hit. Maybe that means I’ll have to “invest" in a new wheelset. American Classic - Industry 9? Yummy.
So, Memorial Day Weekend….traditionally 75 degrees, sunny, and statistically the driest part of the year for Flagstaff. Not this weekend. Starting on Friday we’re expecting 2 days of rain and snow, and 12-18 inches of snow at the ski resort. Are you freakin’ kidding me?! High of 38 on Friday, and maybe 44 on Saturday. I couldn’t be happier about the fact that I chose not to vacation in Colorado this weekend as it won’t be much warmer there.
On another note, I met with my financial advisor yesterday. That’s absolutely tongue in cheek because I always find it comical when people say “Call my lawyer”, or “I’ll check with my accountant”. There’s this strange sense of ownership that some individuals enjoy proclaiming about their professional relationships. Anyway, back to “my financial advisor”. He’s a great guy who has helped me at least create some semblance of a retirement since my work offers exactly SQUAT. Bottom line here is that I’m on track with regards to saving for Lyza’s college, and I’m behind on my own retirement. I asked him if I only live to 70, will I be good. He says – well sure, but what if you live until you’re 105?
So with that being said, I’m shooting for a balls to the wall life experience where I use up my body and kick the bucket doing something I love before 70. If not, that college money I’m saving for Lyza better help her get really smart as she’ll need money to support me living in her guest room driving her to drink until I’m 105. When playing SORRY last night, I asked Lyza which one she’d prefer and she’s totally cool with me living with her until I’m 105. Being wise beyond her years, I know that’ll change, but too bad. We shook on it, so I slept well last night knowing that I have a solid retirement plan in place now.
1-Klein Q-Pro Carbon Team road bike
The Scalpel needs a new set of tires as there is a 1/4” x 1/4” hole in the rear one (new Schwalbe’s on the way – thank you Mr. Bartoszuk), and the Rig suddenly acquired a nearly taco-ed front wheel. Thanks to disc brakes, I was able to ride it home sans any significant brake rubbing. I planted that front hoop in a few washed out ditches yesterday, but I couldn’t tell you where it took the big hit. Maybe that means I’ll have to “invest" in a new wheelset. American Classic - Industry 9? Yummy.
So, Memorial Day Weekend….traditionally 75 degrees, sunny, and statistically the driest part of the year for Flagstaff. Not this weekend. Starting on Friday we’re expecting 2 days of rain and snow, and 12-18 inches of snow at the ski resort. Are you freakin’ kidding me?! High of 38 on Friday, and maybe 44 on Saturday. I couldn’t be happier about the fact that I chose not to vacation in Colorado this weekend as it won’t be much warmer there.
On another note, I met with my financial advisor yesterday. That’s absolutely tongue in cheek because I always find it comical when people say “Call my lawyer”, or “I’ll check with my accountant”. There’s this strange sense of ownership that some individuals enjoy proclaiming about their professional relationships. Anyway, back to “my financial advisor”. He’s a great guy who has helped me at least create some semblance of a retirement since my work offers exactly SQUAT. Bottom line here is that I’m on track with regards to saving for Lyza’s college, and I’m behind on my own retirement. I asked him if I only live to 70, will I be good. He says – well sure, but what if you live until you’re 105?
So with that being said, I’m shooting for a balls to the wall life experience where I use up my body and kick the bucket doing something I love before 70. If not, that college money I’m saving for Lyza better help her get really smart as she’ll need money to support me living in her guest room driving her to drink until I’m 105. When playing SORRY last night, I asked Lyza which one she’d prefer and she’s totally cool with me living with her until I’m 105. Being wise beyond her years, I know that’ll change, but too bad. We shook on it, so I slept well last night knowing that I have a solid retirement plan in place now.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Tonight is the first time I have noticed the crickets. It's been a while. It was a long winter, and this spring has been nothing short of ridiculously windy, and colder than usual. I've got a new mountain bike and my wife's last e-mail on my mind. There are quiet, but indicative noises coming from Lyza's room - she's drawing because she can't fall asleep. There was another Amy Winehouse song on the radio this afternoon, one that has stuck in my head - "Valerie". I shouldn't have posted that pic of her because it reminds me of being 15 when I couldn't look two directions and not see Billy Ocean at least once. William Ocean - the satin suit Caribbean King.
My college roommate T-Bone is getting married this weekend. I can't be there. I'm feelin' bad about that, but, something had to give. F*ck. I'll regret not being there.
What's my motivation this week? I'm not so sure right now.
My college roommate T-Bone is getting married this weekend. I can't be there. I'm feelin' bad about that, but, something had to give. F*ck. I'll regret not being there.
What's my motivation this week? I'm not so sure right now.
Monday
Friday
Thursday
The State MTB Finals are in two days. Two weeks ago, I was feeling strong and ready to rip. Since then? A fantastic, no-regrets hike that has me still – 5 days later - walking down stairs like a duck. I’ve consumed more beers than miles ridden in the last 5 days due to a quick trip to Sin City. Finally, the only course worth riding is the Singlespeed/Expert 24 mile loop with a ton o’ technical stuff and lots o’ climbing. What I’m saying is my race will be a “day of” decision. If I can get these knots out of my calves then I’d have a fighting chance of finishing mid-pack in the Singlespeed division. Is that worth $50 when I can ride these trails for free any day of the week? I dunno. Maybe I’m more worried about humiliation from teammates and locals, which is stupid because everyone is supportive and we all have off days. The thing is, I have to ride my SS, as my geared bike needs new tires and I don’t have another $50 to blow on tires right now. The excuses are piling up aren’t they? I just want this bike racing to be fun, and it’s not feeling fun right now.
My Uncle just unceremoniously quit his job after 20+ years of service with the Fed Reserve Bank of Dallas. He’s going to live with us for 3 months and see if Flagstaff is for him. That takes some balls to make a life changing decision like that. Maybe I should grow a pair and race this weekend.
My Uncle just unceremoniously quit his job after 20+ years of service with the Fed Reserve Bank of Dallas. He’s going to live with us for 3 months and see if Flagstaff is for him. That takes some balls to make a life changing decision like that. Maybe I should grow a pair and race this weekend.
Wednesday
I’m Leaving Las Vegas……actually, I think I just left for the last time. I’ve had some great times, some good times, and never a bad time there. Over the course of what, probably 15 trips? – I’ve probably lost about as much as I have won playing $5 blackjack. The consummate ‘broke even’ Vegas consumer. The one that the Convention Visitor’s Bureau likes because ultimately I end up paying for room/meals/transportation in spite of breaking even on the tables and sports book. Nothin’ against Vegas, I think it’s just not that alluring blonde babe that it once was back when I was 21.
We had an epic hike in the Grand Canyon last Saturday. 8 hours, 6,000 feet of climbing and 6,000 feet of descending over 17 miles. The Colorado river is astounding, and I can understand why people become river runners and stay in that profession for many years. It was 65 degrees on the South Rim when we started, 95 degrees at the bottom, and 55 when we got back to the rim at 6pm. I was cooked, my calves still hurt and I walk stairs like a gimp. My buddy Ellsie did 42 miles over 17 hours – quite a feat even though his goal was 12 hours. We never hooked up because his group was late getting back to a checkpoint, 3 hours late. We passed one lady on our way down – she was heading up with a party of about 6. She had wrecked her knee to the point where she could hardly walk and she was a good 1.5 miles from the next safe zone. Then one dude was on the side of the trail with an IV under a portable sunshade with a Park Ranger monitoring his blood pressure. There’s signs everywhere saying “don’t go down and up in one day”. Uh huh.
Pics to follow tonight….
We had an epic hike in the Grand Canyon last Saturday. 8 hours, 6,000 feet of climbing and 6,000 feet of descending over 17 miles. The Colorado river is astounding, and I can understand why people become river runners and stay in that profession for many years. It was 65 degrees on the South Rim when we started, 95 degrees at the bottom, and 55 when we got back to the rim at 6pm. I was cooked, my calves still hurt and I walk stairs like a gimp. My buddy Ellsie did 42 miles over 17 hours – quite a feat even though his goal was 12 hours. We never hooked up because his group was late getting back to a checkpoint, 3 hours late. We passed one lady on our way down – she was heading up with a party of about 6. She had wrecked her knee to the point where she could hardly walk and she was a good 1.5 miles from the next safe zone. Then one dude was on the side of the trail with an IV under a portable sunshade with a Park Ranger monitoring his blood pressure. There’s signs everywhere saying “don’t go down and up in one day”. Uh huh.
Pics to follow tonight….
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