Cyclenut

The last two weeks....

2012-01-22T11:50:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in the last post, Colorado weather is schizophrenic. Last weekend we had 60* weather and Schnauzer insisted we ride and show off his new "Beast" a giant diesel F350. He suggested 3 Sisters in Evergreen, and since I'd never been and he was going to drive, it was an easy "sure". We met up near his place, and continued on to the village of Evergreen, CO. Passing through downtown Evergreen it felt like a Norman Rockwell winter scene, or the cover of an L.L.Bean catalog. Frozen lake, kids ice skating, people ice fishing, dogs frolicking in the snow. Awesome little town! We got to 3 Sisters and Schnauzer let me in on his secret weapon... evidently, over the holidays he got bored and purchased a Pugsley (see honey, it's not just me others suffer from the same bike lust affliction). Needless to say, we had a blast on 3 Sisters, we only got 8-10 miles in total, but it took us all day due to the snow drifts and hike a bike sections. If you haven't tried out a Pugsley, put it in your list it's as much fun as I can remember on a bike... did I mention we were riding in snow drifts while wearing short sleeved shirts an enduring 60* temps? Crazy.

So Yesterday, not to be outdone, Schnauzers once again put together a great ride. This time we would travel south to the once bustling city of Pueblo. While temps in the Golden area were hovering ~ 38*, Pueblo would see a high of the mid 60's. The trail system was a mix of west Texas and open prairie. This time around we had Tim and his very capable girlfriend along for the ride. Tim has been in Colorado for a few weeks more than I, and is originally from the east coast also (VT). His girlfriend is originally from NY, Schnauzers is also from NY/NJ and I was born in the NY area and lived on the east coast a good portion of my life, so we were a group with very similar tastes. Tim is a wild man and has not yet learned fear. His girlfriend while a little more reserved on the tech stuff, did not give up and smoked us in the wide open sections (she is a former roadie after all). The trails were fantastic and the weather unbelievable. Pueblo is very arid and warm, the perfect get away for mountain bikers in CO while the good stuff is covered in snow. We only rode 10-15 miles, but they were super technical. We finished off the day in style with "Sloppers" from Grays Coors Tavern. Evidently these guys won on Food Wars Battle of the Slopper in 2010... I'm glad I got to taste it, and after a hard day of riding it did hit the spot, but I don't think it will ever be a part of my regular diet.

Oh, and sorry for no pixels, I've evidently misplaced or lost my camera and I'm sick of my mobile providers stupid billing system, so I'm going old school with no fancy cell phone pix. Going to try to track down my camera, it's been lost since my last trip to TX.

Colorado weather = koo koo

2012-01-11T18:37:00.000-06:00

at 4 am there was no snow, by 5:30 the streets were covered. After a day in the cube farm, it was 20* colder than the morning commute but the snow was mostly gone....

Protected bike lanes work

2011-12-11T15:18:00.000-06:00

Kinzie Street: Chicago's First Protected Bike lane from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

I stole this from Seattle Bike Blog Nice work Chi town... now if only you could fix your broken "pizza" and lessen your brutal winters ;^)

What do you do on a snowy Saturday....

2011-12-04T09:23:00.000-06:00

....with no rides on the agenda? Install fenders on the commuter bike of course.

Some "minor" modifications were needed as these fenders, while listed a disc brake compatible, should really read (Disc Brake Compatible if you have a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and several years of mock up and design under your belt... a full on manufacturing facility is highly recommended too).

As you can see in picture #1, the support struts required a good amount of massaging to get to work with the disc brake caliper. I suppose I could do what everyone told me was "easiest", and add a ton of spacers, but frankly I don't care for the look of that. Just looks wrong. While I won't call my ~~butchery~~...er..."modification" elegant, it gets the job done. These fenders are also not out of the box compatible with suspension corrected forks as you can see in the last picture. I had to improvise a new bracket which would have meant using a dremel tool to remove the old bracket, and fabricating a new bracket. My dremel is in TX, and I don't have any errant bracketry up here in CO... not to mention a bench vise to simplify the modification process. Instead I used an old Mavic hub adjusting tool I had laying around in the bottom of the tool box, cut off the wrench end, and hand bored two mounting holes to extend the existing brackets reach.

Overall I think they turned out pretty well. I'm not super happy with the gap on the rear fender, I'll have to ponder a fix on that. Considering the lack of a proper or even half ass shop, they will do. The ultimate test will be Monday morning to see if they keep the slush and road grime off my bum.

And time passes

2011-12-03T11:35:00.001-06:00

Wow, have I really not blogged since Sept? It's been a busy few months. New place to live, new job, new friends, new rides. I should be documenting more of this here, but alas my lazy bone has gotten the better of me. That and the ease of the evil facebook have limited the time I take out to reflect and journal about my adventure.

So, since moving to Colorado, I've become a full time bike commuter again... wish I could say I'm car free, but I'm not that brave... yet. My commute is, as always, the best part of my day. I start the morning and have accomplished a goal, no matter what else happens during the day, no one can take that away from me. Then, on the way home I can purge the stress built up during the work day, by enjoying the ride home. It's the perfect pressure relief valve for my mind. The added benefit of course is that I'm burning calories and not contributing to co2 emissions.

I've also been inspired to try to take better care of myself, it's amazing how just a nudge of fitness will make you think more about the choices you make, or perhaps it's just the natural balance our mind and bodies crave. I've been eating a more plant based diet, and have tried to eliminate all animal based foods from my diet. It's not the easiest thing, nor am I some hard core vegan, but it makes sense that more natural, green foods are what our systems are designed for. I've read bits and pieces, and seen loads of documentaries. Most are pretty far out there, but the one that sealed the deal for me was "Forks over Knives". I'm not suggesting that everyone needs to go radical I've found that especially with families this is recipe for disaster, but if you just eliminate some animal based foods and slowly introduce a plant based diet over time, you will yield much better results. I say if you're a meat & potatoes kind of family, try going meatless one day a week. It's really not that hard, and it's a far better gift than anything money can buy.

Now the not such good stuff. I miss my family desperately. Fortunately we live in a high tech world, and I can video chat, text, FB and all other sorts of ways to communicate and stay in touch. This is a great relief, and makes being alone much easier, but I miss being with my little girl, hugging her, putting her to bed. This is a really tough time to be away as I feel I have limited "good years" left with her before she becomes more and more independent and wants less and less to do with me. Honestly, I feel selfish and trapped. I made this situation hoping things would fall into place, but my 20 something nomadic abilities have been thwarted by the responsibilities of family life and a shitty real estate market. But the decisions have been made, commitments need to be fulfilled, and with luck the experience will only serve to make our family unit stronger... only time will tell.

I think that's it for now. I have a bunch of pix to post up, will try to upload them from the phone & camera to picassa so I can link them here. Hope you all are doing well and enjoying this wonderful winter.

FB

Catching up....

2011-09-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

.... so I've been in Denver for two weeks now. I still don't have internet access and the new job has been trying to melt my mind with a metric sh!t ton of new systems, cisco certification (11 hours to go), juniper self study, and PM self study for certification.... mix all that up with trying to learn new people, departments, responsibilities and I've been in the weeds... this will be the case until mid October, so not much update wise, but I'm sitting in the airport with free wifi (sucky 512k... seriously?) time to kill... thank you TSA! So here's the update... I'm loving Denver so far. Not so much that I love the city or anything... frankly it's nothing earth shattering, but the front range is awesome. I've been to Golden & Boulder, and while Boulder had the cool factor, Golden may just be the new place for us. It's like Boulder w/out the college and not nearly as expensive... did I mention they have a killer bike shop? Now I have to have one of these...

Made it!

2011-09-10T18:27:00.001-05:00

Well, it took me 2 days... 971 miles. I used to be able to make this length of a journey by myself in one shot, but my body and mind won't allow it anymore. Leaving proved to be much more difficult than I imagined, I'm going to miss my girls terribly over the next 10-12 months. Panic stricken, I thought about turning around at Palo Duro Canyon SP and heading home like a failed run away kid that only gets to the end of the block before he realizes he's made a critical error in judgement. The thought plagued me right up to the point of taking possession of the apartment. The damage has been done, old job is not an option (couldn't stand that place)it's time to take my medicine. Typing this now, I miss my girls, this was not expected as K and I are very solid, we can weather any storm, but my precious little E... brutal. I don't know how people cope with divorce or loss. I've gotten soft in my old age I suppose, maybe I've learned to care and think of more than myself through the experience of being a parent? Looking forward to my first visit home.

Day 2 here has proved to be much better, went for an easy spin just to get out of the house. Rode the Cherry Creek trail around Cherry Creek State Park (lake)... got about 1/2 way though before I got a flat... looks like tubeless will be a requirement here too. The Rockies are beautiful, but I'm having a tough time enjoying them without the rest of my team :(

T minus 24 hours....

2011-09-07T07:51:00.000-05:00

.... no time left to eff around. Tomorrow morning I'm off for 16+ hours of windshield time. I have most of my clothing sorted, and boxed save for a couple of suits and some random bits. I have to put together a quick kitchen supply, and finish up with the bike/camp stuff. Then this evening I have to load everything up and get a good nights sleep. When the girls depart for school, I'll head on out. I'm still on the fence as to where to stop. If I were Chuck Norris tough, I'd solider on and drive until I got to Denver, but I'm no Chuck.... I'm thinking I'll look for a place to camp overnight in southern Colorado. Need to check the forecast and make sure it will be doable then commit to it. I still have so much to do, why do I always wait until the 11th hour to do stuff... So this may be the last post for a while. I still have to get settled in and I'm sure it will take a week or so before I'm acclimated, but I'll post up as soon as I'm all set and have some pix to post up.

Wish me luck....

The fix....

2011-09-06T08:43:00.000-05:00

... so despite my awesome offer to sell or trade my Osprey Raptor 14, no takers. Funny how this was the best pack in the universe according to all the arm chair experts, yet when there was a deal to be had no one stepped up. I ended up emailing Wingnut to let them know how much I love their stuff and to also let them know that I had committed the ultimate sin and purchased a pack other than theirs. Scott wrote back and let me know that being a holy man, he'd forgive my sins, but I must atone for them (see the linkage in there Scotty boy?...eh?eh?). I'm a humble guilt ridden Catholic/Jew, what can I say. So while I wait for some super top secret stuff to come to fruition, I had to get my ride on. The thought of having to ride with the back breaker (aka Osprey Raptor) made me almost not want to ride.. now that's some f'ed up sh!t there kids. So I asked the wife once again if she'd mind helping me out with the pack repair. This went as expected (she's really pissed that I'm going to Colorado) so I was phuked.

What happens when you take this...

and this...

and sew your harness system back together?

No, it's not pretty, but it is super functional and yes that's 20# test (fishing line for the lay person). Strong as all get out, water proof and won't break like the cheap cloth thread the wife used on fix #1.

Since I was getting in touch with my inner crafter (I'm about as crafty as a turnip) I decided to add a couple of additional mod's to the pack. The excess strap-age has always bothered me flopping around. I've done the zip tie thing but always have to cut them when the seasons change and my clothing gets more/less bulky. I've also done the rubber band thing, but they never last more than a couple of weeks. I found some rubber strips and sewed them into a loop to hold the excess strap material. I can now ride without the long tails flapping about, and when the layers build up and I need to lengthen the harness I simply let in/out the straps and adjust the "strap on keeper" **kinda catchy huh?**.

My next modification or "Mod" as the MYOG crowd likes to call it, is to add a hanging handle to the pack. IMO this was one of the reasons my harness system could have failed. Unnecessary weight on the harness due to storage while hanging. With no handle or hanger all the weight of 100 oz of water plus all the stuff I carry is put on the harness system. I stole this idea from most back packing stuff. And while I doubt it would ever make it to a production model, I don't mind adding it to my old wing nut as I plan on getting a new one very soon.

1" wide nylon webbing (can be had at most climbing stores or camping stores) plus 700# para-cord (also can be found in most camping or surplus stores)

Stitch the para-cord at both ends to keep it from moving (could also use hot glue or crafting glue or so the wife tells me after the fact) then sew a "baseball stitch" I'm not kidding, there are hundreds of different stitch types try a youtube search for stitching or sewing... who knew. I chose the baseball stitch because it's easy and reasonably strong. The end result.

The extra long "tabs" will be sewn to the cargo area of the pack. The para-cord acts as the handle (I've seen this done with just the fold over technique, but feel the para-cord adds to the strength and comfort). With the extra long tabs I'll have more surface area to sew to the pack. On the inside of the pack I plan on using tent repair patches (mainly because they're a peel & stick and are water proof) to add to the strength of the handle and to ensure I don't rip the pack with the heavy load. If you're a crafter and know of a stronger/better material speak up before the wife gives me the lesson on how to use the sewing machine. I plan to create a rectangle stitch with a double row of stitching top and bottom with an X stitch in the middle. I've seen this used in a lot of climbing harnesses and heavy duty back packs. If you have any experience in this area please feel free to add your comments or email me. I don't know that I'll get this done right away, but it's in the planning stages now so speak up.

Argh!!!!.... or more back problems....

2011-08-29T11:45:00.000-05:00

... so as my avid readers and fans all know, I recently had an issue with my stellar Wingnut Gear Hyper 3.0. The harness tore away from the main body due to my lackluster riding skills. The spousal unit was good enough to repair the harness (after making me repair/replace her AC compressor on her Jeep). Well, repaired it is no more. On last Wed's R&I ride, I was on the Mariachi and going through some rough when the harness gave up again. I cut my ride short and decided to keep the cooler & beers company until the rest of the crew finished their ride.

The next day I headed into San Antonio for a farewell lunch my former co-workers put together for me. Post lunch, I headed down to Good Sports to check out the latest offering in hydro packs from Osprey. Lots of folks on www.bikepacking.net swear by these things, and at least three of the SA crew are sporting them and claim to never want to go back to another style of hydro pack. So what the hay, I'll dive into the shallow end. A dry run @ the store seemed pretty good, and I do have to admit that this is a very well thought out pack. Pockets where you need them, compression straps a-plenty. I was sold.

So funday Sunday rolls around and I'm off to Flat Rock Ranch for possibly the last time. A bunch of the Mojo's came to bid me farewell. The ride started great, but by the middle of the first climb things began to take a horrible turn for the worse. My back started to twinge, by the time we finished chasing down Dennis & Jimmy my back was toast! I was able to limp through the rest of the lower loop, but my back was finished.

So what? So when you find something good, and that works for you, don't deviate from the plan... which is now making me wonder if I've made a horrible decision career wise and wonder of the Colorado move is just a huge mistake?

I'm feeling the pain (in my back, still) and crunch time is upon me. Still don't have a rental lined up, and no one seems to want to point me in the right direction as far as housing is concerned. I think I'm going to throw caution to the wind and choose a place close to work (less than 15 miles) so I can commute to the office and won't have to spend quite so much time staring at brake lights.

So if any of my faithful readers out there have a nice studio or 1 BR for rent in the DTC or Littleton area's speak up yo! Gotta keep the budget modest so 1k or less per month please.

For sale or trade for Hyper 3.0 & cash

Raptor 14 $80 (no bladder included... eww why would you want my germs?)

Trade for:

Hyper 3.0 & some cashish!

The calm before the storm....

2011-08-22T10:04:00.000-05:00

... so the 429 has been side lined due to my neglectful cut and bleeding job over a year ago! Sure, I could just swap out some BB7's, but that takes work and effort, and besides the El Mariachi is supposed to be there when things go wrong with the 429... I ramble about this to say I haven't ridden since Wed. night's R&I where I noticed the neglect in the form of a fading rear brake lever, turns out I goofed on the re-assembly of the master cylinder and warped the diaphragm which was made more evident with the heat we've been experiencing here in Tejas. So looks like I'll be on the Mariachi on Wed... take it easy on me fellas. The one on your left is the one that's sh!t the bed...

Productivity moves on slowly. It dawned on me the other day that the Garage was a project I never got off the ground while the girls were away this summer. I need to tackle that before I head north and need to sort out what's trash versus what's a keeper... should be lots of stuff for the for sale bin here soon. Also on the "to do" list is to kill the weeds sprouting in the patio and apply new sand to the joints. While I'm away, will hire the guy that mows the neighbor's lawn to keep K from having to deal with that. She's a brave one, staying behind, but is trying to shuttle the dogs to Colorado with me to "ease" her burden... uh, yeah... me and two 85 # boxers in a 650 sq ft efficiency.... not sure how that eases my burden, but we'll manage.

C O L O R A D O !

2011-08-18T00:35:00.000-05:00

It's official, I will be starting the new gig next month... don't feel bad for me, someone has to do it, and I'll step up and take one for the team. Shorts & Flip Flops tomorrow... think they'll mind?

Loads going on... not many pixels

2011-08-17T05:58:00.000-05:00

Been super busy as of late, no time to stop and snap pixels. Since the wife and kiddo got back from their extended stay @ the "rents", I've not had a single Wed. R&I ride... as an "older gentleman" schedules and routine are required, and missing more than 6 rides is throwing my riding mojo out the window. That along with stress @ work and I've gained a few #'s.... I can now see how a shot off the radar and pushed maximum capacity. I realize it's a struggle to balance life when you have a busy job, young kids, wife, dogs, bills... but without health none of the other things in life can be managed. For me getting out and riding is a critical component to my mental and physical well being. That said, tonight is the first Wed. R&I I'll have been on since June!

Oh, I also have some potentially exciting news, but you'll have to wait until I update next for all 3 of you that still read blogs ;)

Ouch... that's gonna leave a mark

2011-07-27T06:36:00.001-05:00

So while out riding Madrone on a tight section of gnar, I got too close to a tree towards the apex of a rocky turn and was literally swept off of the saddle. Evidently I caught a poorly groomed tree branch with my hydration pack (Wingnut Hyper 3.0). The Madrone trail demands respect. It's not nearly as difficult as City Park, but it's not the kind of place you can go and just space out... I wasn't giving enough respect. The end result, I ripped the main part of my harness system away from the body of the Wingnut (amazingly strong actually considering that it held my 178#'s @ 7-8 mph before giving up).

Hard to make it out in the pic, but the harness system pulled away from the body of the pack.

Close up detail of the tear.

We have out of town guests visiting our home beginning tonight, so looks like I'll miss yet another Wed. Night ride with the troops... at this rate it'll be fall before I get a mid week night ride in (I missed the last 3-4 since the wife was out of town leaving me with 3 dogs to tend to @ home). They were originally supposed to stay until Saturday which meant that outside of yard work, I was free to engage in an all day outing, but alas they are now staying @ the Fat Bob Hotel until Monday... maybe I'll sneak out anyway

Austin riding....

2011-07-11T22:48:00.000-05:00

been riding up in Austin a lot lately.... Austin feels like home, I'd like to spend more time in Austin.

Dump Truck

The Crew

Getting a little too wild!

mojofest '11

2011-06-12T22:49:00.000-05:00

Small group, but packs a big punch

New signs... cool

BCGB Ride...

2011-06-02T06:29:00.000-05:00

... The Sunday before Memorial day I had the morning off. So rather than sit around and wait for a list of possible things the wife wanted me to do, I split while I could. Ended up north in Austin got a nice ride in on the Barton Creek Green Belt. I must say, I do love Austin's trails.

My little Honda Fit is a perfect hauler!

with room to spare!

Stay tuned for pix of our trip to the Frio!

Last day of school....

2011-05-27T21:42:00.000-05:00

.... and my little girl is now officially a 1st grader! Wow how time flies. Glad to see kids are taking advantage of the bike rack @ school and are riding their bikes to school! If K gets the transfer to E's school, they can ride their bikes to school! What a great way to start and end your day... together... on a bike!

This weekend we're heading to the Frio to do a little camping, and a lot of rope swing adventures! Let's see if the old man can handle the high swing this year!

Government Canyon

2011-05-15T12:59:00.000-05:00

Went out for a little ride on Government Canyon, when I called the ranger station to verify that the trails were open, they said yes, but that the front country was going to be a little wet, so we skipped the warm up on the front country and rode from parking area "C" to the main loop @ Joe Johnson, then hung a right to Recharge and began the climb up Far Reaches. I hadn't been out there since before the Terlingua trip, there were only three of us, Jeff29, BernieMac, and me... It was a nice casual pace with rest stops to let everyone catch their breath. I felt super strong and cleaned all of Far Reaches save for one bad line that left me high centered on a ledge. By the end we got in 13 or so miles. It was a great day to be on the trail with temps in the mid 70's and a slight breeze.

Jeff29r

BernieMac working his way up to the top

The view from the top of Far Reaches

The Mach 429

Need to get more long rides in. The Wednesday R&I is fun, but isn't doing what I need it to for me fitness wise. Looking to work in a Friday after work ride @ Government Canyon & Flat Rock Ranch.

2 Mile Challenge

2011-05-14T07:14:00.000-05:00

This is cool, and what a great cause!

Don't be a Jerk!

2011-05-11T08:25:00.002-05:00

The first part of the video reminded me of Kent "the Mountain Turtle" Peterson... not because he's a jerk, but rather because of the bike. Looks very similar to Kent's little red Dahon. Why is Kent always right about stuff? May have to look into picking up one or two of these as "fun" bikes for the family.

Not my post, but worth re-posting here.

2011-04-29T10:31:00.004-05:00

Feel free to post this on your youtube, FB, Tweet, or anywhere you want to post it. A fabulous little video that I stole from good ole Kent Peterson's blog. I want to be just like Kent when I grow young!

Cascade Bicycle Club - Vision 2011 from Punch Drunk on Vimeo.

Tinkering in the garage....

2011-04-26T21:47:00.002-05:00

So tonight K was playing with a new lens for her DSLR which meant that she and E were going to be busy until bed time. This was perfect news for me since my new SKF bearings arrived via USPS on Monday. I was able to press in all 8 bearings, my DW Link is now "smoove" and better than new. Since my hands were already dirty, I figured what the heck and re-built the Mach 429. This forced me to also re-assemble the El Mariachi to a rigid fork configuration, which made me take it for a test spin. I had been noticing that my pedals were making a lot of noise, and chalked it up to shot bearings in my pedals or bent axles... nothing new for me with old atac's, but when I spun back into the garage I noticed the the drive side of my BB was dangerously close to falling the phock out! Jeez, what a dunce. Removed and inspected, re-greased and re-installed. The El Mariachi is back in service as is the Mach 429. All in all a solid 3 hours playing in the garage... it's good for boys to tinker in the garage from time to time... now it's time for a cold shiner and some idiot box time until I fall asleep.

Madrone Trail Fire

2011-04-23T13:42:00.005-05:00

Went to the Madrone trail yesterday to get a little ride on. I contemplated trying to ride my bike from the house up river road and hitting the trail for an all day outing, but ended up being lazy and driving. I also went back and forth trying to decide on hydro pack or just 24oz. bottle... ended up going with the bottle since I drove and figured it would be plenty.... little did I know that after a very short 1 mile a hiker would ask me for help with a wild fire. The fire started small, but quickly got out of hand with high gusting wind and very dry conditions. I spent roughly an hour on the phone with 911 while stomping the fire by foot and with green juniper branches. Eventually we got the 80 yard by 20 yard fire under control, nothing for the fire department to do but douse the area with water and cultivate the earth to eliminate the possibility of re-kindling an ember... I was exhausted and have a whole new appreciation for what fire fighters go through!

OP R&I on Mach 429

2011-03-24T07:29:00.000-05:00

Another Wednesday night R&I.... Saw Sandy from Mojo, who I haven't seen or ridden with in at least two years... maybe 3. It was great to see her again, and I'm glad she's taking time out to get on her bike and ride. I could sense her frustration, as things that wouldn't have been a challenge for her in the past made her second guess her skill set, but by the end of the ride she was feeling more comfortable again. We also got to see Will last night, amazing that the guy was up and about and probably 50% on his right side. He's got a long road ahead of him. I didn't list the details of his "incident" as the location was a black ops situation, I've not spoken much of it, but on Saturday last week we had to call in EMS and a helicopter to air lift him off the side of a trail due to a nasty crash which caused his C2 & C3 to compress. He was air lifted to the hospital and had surgery that evening. The scar from his incision is tiny, and they went in from the front which I though was unusual. Needless to say it was great to see him on his feet and out of the hospital so quickly, we of course had to give him a hard time in typical mojo fashion and ask him if the hospital staff removed the Frankenstein bolts from his neck. I think being around the fire and watching his chums drink beer post ride was the best medicine he had all week. Heal quickly, Will.

The ride tracks

OP R&I on Mach 429 by fatbob29r at Garmin Connect - Details

Wed Night @ OP

2011-03-18T07:56:00.001-05:00

Untitled by fatbob29r at Garmin Connect - Details

Finally remembered to bring the GPS with me on the OP ride. Of course, had a double mechanical. First my chain kep dropping, N-Gear had gotten loose and my chain kept dropping to the inside. After fixing that, found that my rear hub was super loose, so decided to call it quits. Lost about 10 miles due to mechanicals, worst Wed. ride for me yet.

Madrone on the 1x9 El Mariachi XX Reba

2011-03-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

Second loop @ Madrone, this time I got a flat.

Untitled by fatbob29r at Garmin Connect - Details

Untitled by fatbob29r at Garmin Connect - Details

2011-03-06T13:30:00.000-06:00

Untitled by fatbob29r at Garmin Connect - Details

A nice casual loop @ Madrone. Trying out the Garmin again. This was a baseline ride to see how I do not pushing hard, but rather a constant pace. This loop was on my El Mariachi 1x9 with 100mm fork up front. Next ride will be on the 429 to see if I'm any faster or slower on the dual suspension. I felt way faster on the last Wed. night ride, but it's possible it was in my head.... of course I forgot the GPS on Wed.

Lajitas Loop 2 & 3

2011-02-27T15:47:00.001-06:00

Lajitas Loop 2 & 3

Chihuahuan Desert

2011-02-27T14:49:00.002-06:00

I arrived early @ Dennis' place Wednesday morning. It was cool and raining, I was glad to have arrived early to beat the traffic on the west side of town (if you can call this traffic compared to DC or the ATL). We were all loaded up and on the road by 09:00 which is pretty darn early for this group. We took the scenic route south via Hwy 90 going through Del Rio and other assorted towns along the border. A total of four of us in Dennis's Tundra, and two in Mike's Outback... we were ready for 5 days in the desert!

Upon arrival, everyone jockeyed for position and various places to "crash" in the little slice of heaven know as the Study Bute Resort (aka the sh!thole)... nothing in the desert is cheap... except the camping. I fully expected to camp and brought all my gear, I simply set up on the front porch and avoided the smells and sounds that accompany 7 grown men in a two bedroom cottage. I think I was the smartest one of all in this respect.

Our first ride started off with good intentions, only we discovered that one of the bolts on my upper rocker had gone missing.... this was the first in a series of reality checks the desert brought to our attention. You can never have too many parts, water, or a range of clothes. We searched in vein for a replacement bolt, but alas could not source one. Luckily for me, Will our go to McGyver was able to find a bolt under the hood of the tundra that was the right length and TPI, so I was saved! We only wasted about 1.5 hours on this mishap, again not too bad for this crew. Off we went. We were not much further than a mile before Mike began lagging behind. We decided as a group to split off @ about mile 5 of the ride and let the 3 in the back do their own thing, we continued on to the Contrabando Trail.... Will, Mike C, Marty and myself were all going a good pace, did the entire Dome Trail, and by the time we got to the Cinnabar mine decided it was a good time to apply more sun screen... Oh, yeah, did I mention it was 97*? The week prior it was a daytime high of 19*. After applying copious amounts of sun screen for fear of catching on fire, I was reminded again of how unforgiving the desert can be... I over heated with clogged pores and began to suffer the effects of early heat stroke... goose pimples, and dizziness! Oh joy, and not getting out other than riding in the mid day sun and heat. My riding partners were very graceful, helped get my core temp down by soaking me and making me drink more and more, and finally we exited the trail in one piece. I was really feeling like the drag of the trip until I found out several people had to be evacuated via ATV over jeep trail due to heat stroke/exhaustion.

The rest of the weekend was spent riding on the Lajitas tail system, covering every portion of trail, and having a blast. I'll have to do a full write up soon, but was really just in need of posting up the best of the worst, and of course some pictures... Pictures of the place, even by a pro photographer do the place no justice. The place is massive and overwhelmingly beautiful. I highly suggest checking the place out for yourself. Late fall through late winter would probably be the only times of year I would want to be in the desert, but I imagine it's breath taking year round... if you love heat, this is the place for you.

Day 5 P90X

2011-02-08T10:47:00.003-06:00

As usual, I haven't been keeping up the blog, what's new right?

Friday 2/4 we had a "snow day" here in TX... this is funny because it was maybe 1/8" of snow and was gone by 10:00, but never the less the state is not equipped to handle such massive amounts of snow, so the entire city shut down. This gave us a fun, unexpected "family day". Of course, this also meant a lot of indoor time after the snow melted, so K asked about the P90x video's I had gotten about 6 months ago. I loaded up her database, ran through the schedule, and she decided to "bring it" right there and then. I've been wanting to get in shape, so I decided to join her. Working out together made the time pass more quickly, and E found the entire thing hilarious. She couldn't stop laughing at her mom and dad dancing around doing some sort of strange mating ritualistic dance. The next day we were bot sore, but in a good way, finding muscles that have been lying dormant for years. It's good to have a work out partner, even if we aren't working out at the same time, being on the same schedule/program will help us to motivate each other. Now we just need to stick with it for the full 3 months and hopefully end a lot of bad habits.

So today is Day 5. Yesterday was "Yoga", so I figured what the heck, I can do it before bed... let me tell you something here guys, if you haven't done yoga before, don't dismiss it so quickly. It was freaking hard! By far the hardest thing I've done in some time. It's difficult to believe how much flexibility I've lost over the last two decades, even so, I never had this kind of ability. I can only hope that as the weeks and months go by I'll be able to do more.... I have to say, I really like yoga, from the breathing to the stretching to the stabilizing muscle use... you can't cheat in yoga!

Today is legs, back and abs!

41 times around the sun...

2010-12-18T07:23:00.006-06:00

... and to celebrate I took and old friend

To this place....

With a stop here

To think about how lucky I am to have the life I have.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been in the dumps lately, but it's amazing how a simple ride in the "woods" on a simple machine can change your entire perspective on things. Indeed I am a very lucky man.

After my pause to reflect, it was back to the trail, and finally time to pack it up. Amazing that I can cram so much stuff into such a small vehicle!

Today, I'm off to tackle a rocky place with lots of climbing and great vistas with friends.

Too much time....

2010-12-05T19:47:00.002-06:00

... spent looking through a windshield, not enough time looking beyond the front tire of my bike. I rode the Madrone on Saturday due to time constraints and family schedules, all my chums hit the BCGB for 20 + miles, I did two laps and got ~ 17 miles, but I only had a 15 minute drive home... would have been an hour had I gone to Austin, but the Taco Deli would have made the drive worth while. Days are getting shorter and cooler, nights have a bit of a bite... I'm acclimating to Texas weather... after 5 years! Night riding schedule is all over the map, but Wednesdays are the favorite thus far. Michael has elected to ride with me off road and get his MTB on after close to a year off the dirt. He has the mashing ability that comes with being a runner or roadie, but fears the rocks and tech which makes us a good match. We could both stand to lose 30#'s, so bring it Michael, I'm going to get my sh!t in shape because I'm sick of being fat, and out of shape, the gauntlet has been thrown my friend!

The wife and I both have the bug. Been checking out statistics on Spokane, on paper it meets and or exceeds our wants and needs. A trip there this spring or summer is a must. So far the responses I've gotten from various boards have been positive, but walking downtown and going to the local lakes will tell the truth. I knew the minute we drove through Atlanta that I hated the place, should have elected a western state back then. Texas has been ok, but not the final stop for us. It's been good to us and we'll walk away having learned a lot about what we do and don't want and what is important to us moving forward. The next stop will be a long term situation. I'd like for E to be able to finish HS the next place we land so it has to be the right amount of compromise to realistic living formula. Of course with 76 lakes like the one shown above, how bad could it be? Stay tuned!

It's been slow...

2010-11-23T09:02:00.004-06:00

.... as far as riding and adventures go. There was a cool article in Dirt Rag one or two issues back about how you have to "grow up" and be responsible @ some point in your life (really? Bummer!!!). It was pretty spot on, and so I'm taking the advice of the author and am going to be doing a lot more riding, but at a time that will not negatively impact my family or work obligations... yes, we're talking night riding! I've been night riding since the mid 90's. My first light was a mini mag light forced into one of the vent holes of my helmet (brilliant I know, nothing like an aluminum pipe inches from my skull while I ride in the dark and wait for an endo). I soon moved on to a night rider that required 4 D-cell batteries (I spent about $500 on batteries before I clued in and bought rechargeable). The light output was awesome and gave me a solid hour of ride time. I then graduated to my first NiCad Night Rider. I bought it used from one of the guys at the shop, this was so much better than my other light and came with a helmet mount and had a high and low mode... I believe it still only gave me about an hour of ride time, but between the two lights I could do some serious riding! By the early 2000's my rechargeable D cell had bitten the dust, and I only had the NiCad and a new cheap, but bright 12w Marwi light. The Marwi gave me 1.5 hours of solid ride time, and I still have that set up handing around in the parts bin. When I finally stepped up a few years ago, I went full bore and bought an HID Nightrider, this thing is silly bright compared to my 10w and 12w halogens, it also doesn't burn as hot (those halogens would burn the snot out of your fingers if you weren't thinking about what you were doing and touched the lens) and has a 3 hour run time, but this brought up a dilemma.... how do I justify spending another couple of hundred $ on another bike light "when you have a perfectly good light" in the bike barn? Welcome to global trading and cheap Chinese crap. I picked up what has to be the brightest least expensive light ever! I have no clue what the company name is, they sell to just about anyone. The biggest US distributor is GEOMAN Gear the light itself is called Magic Shine, and the sucker burns 900 Lumens (whatever a Lumen is) of LED goodness for a solid 3 hours. Couple that with my HID Nightrider and it's like riding during the day!

So, with days getting shorter and night lasting longer, I'm now on a solid diet of night rides! To begin, I'm doing 2 nights a week with plenty of others. The idea is that when I ride with others I tend to push myself a little harder. When I solo, I tend to stop and smell the flowers. I need to push myself... winter is upon S. Texas and my Eastern European genetics tell me to eat lots of carbs and sleep as much as I can.... perhaps I'm part bear and beginning to hibernate (this could also explain the mystery hair sprouting from my back... I'm like freaking teen wolf!).

Nothing great pixel wise, I really need to charge up the battery on the little camera and start taking it with me on the night rides. The only ride picture I have as of late is from an urban ride with fellow ex-pat Michael... his keen eyes spotted this little guy on our ride Saturday.

HEAT!

2010-10-27T16:40:00.002-05:00

No, not the '90's Bobby De Niro heist flick (I should be so lucky).... on my way to a client meeting, I saw the temp on one of those bank deals (my crappy little wind up car does not tell me such things... I miss my A6) and it read 92*... it's the last week of October! I should be breaking out the wool and finding my winter stuff! This heat is making me nuts! That is all.....

down & out

2010-10-17T09:15:00.004-05:00

... tried to sleep in my hammock the other night since the weather was so nice for sleeping outside. I got maybe 2-3 hours of sleep before I had to go inside. There's just something not right to me about sleeping in a hammock, just freaks me out. So yesterday I snuck out for a quick ride around Madrone and my lower back was king of bugging me. I haven't had back pain in a while, really since switching over to the wingnut hydro pack. By the end of the ride my back was a wreck, I could barely lift the bike onto the roof (so I didn't, ended up stuffing it into my Fit). By the time I got home for the Daisy/Brownie/Girl Scouts fair, I could barely walk... well, really it's the sitting and standing change the makes me want to cry. Looks like I may be off the bike for a while (K's dream come true). I think I need to work on the core, do some stretching & yoga, and time to ditch the idea that I'm every going to be able to use a hammock to camp.... threw the hammock on the marketplace and am now researching solo tents and bivvy's. I think a good bivy will be a good start.

This was from last weekend. It was ~2,000 feet to this vista, not bad for flat old Tex-Ass. Notice the two Pivot's? It's not an optical illusion, both ends of the spectrum there. The red 429 is an XL next to my S raw 429... eyeballed wheelbase difference is 8-10"... makes me wonder how the poor guy is able to take any switchbacks or make any steep climbs

shake down ride....

2010-09-06T10:14:00.002-05:00

.... @ Salado! yes, I know I'm breaking from tradition, but it was the closest group ride I could find. The new Pivot Mach 429 did great. Far exceeds expectations. Since I've been on a hard tail for the last 10 years, a dual suspension bike has to be really efficient to get me excited. The 429 does not disappoint! Plenty of squish when and where you need it (in the rough stuff and on big hits). Stiff and efficient when I want it (climbing and seated pedaling). We didn't get too many miles in, and the pace was nice and social so I had plenty of time to bounce around and make adjustments as necessary. I'll have to dial in the air pressure on both the shock and fork, I think I have too much air pressure in the rear shock, and the rebound is super fast... this would be great, but the front end was a little low and slow, so I felt like I was too far forward all the time. I was able to increase air pressure up front which leveled things out a bit. Other than that the bike did great, didn't complain at any of my bad line choices, except for the 44t front chain ring that didn't like being smashed on a rock ledge. One negative so far is the BB seems super low on this bike. I've had more pedal strikes in one ride than in months of riding the HT Salsa EM. May have been pilot error, but me thinks some shorter cranks are in my future.

Pic's to come once the complete build is done. Right now I'm running donor parts from the El Mariachi!

Waaay behind....

2010-08-27T18:20:00.003-05:00

.... it's not just you, my adoring public. I'm very far behind in work, school, and socially. I'm weeks off of my exercise regiment.... such is the life of me.

Ok, bringing you all up to speed.

2 weeks ago we were supposed to camp @ Garner State Park to spend a long weekend playing in the Frio River.... the daytime temps were predicted to be 101 with 108 heat index... hmmm, let's think here. A prissy wife who doesn't like to camp, add a 5 year old who's as pale as an Irish cave dweller, with a dash of my significant others friend & kids (who I'm not a big fan of), mix them all in a tent and what do you have??... A recipe for disaster. We cut out the camping portion and just made an all day event of the Frio.

E had a blast as usual, she had two friends with her, a large floating inflatable platform, and not nearly enough sun screen. We always knew she was a bit of a thrill seeker, and this trip really brought it home in a big way. Our little Evel Kenivel was jumping off of rock faces that were at least 6', and swinging on a rope swing that was at peak 10 feet high! Not only that be she insisted on doing the rope swing over and over again.... can't wait until I get her on the trail on a mini mountain bike!

It was another great trip to the Frio. This is our favorite place to visit so far. For my next trip I want to rent a Sprinter to take out to the Mas-O-Menos race in Terlingua in February. The girls can explore during the day if I end up racing, then we can spend a few days in Big Bend hiking, river rafting, maybe even a little family mounting biking (I can dream, can't I?).

More to come, I promise.....

.... camping re-cap

2010-08-06T10:03:00.002-05:00

I was wrong in my previous post. We didn't go to Enchanted Rock, we went to Perdenales Falls (not really much of a "waterfall" compared to Great Falls or Niagra, but good for TX). It was hot... very hot. The tent was fairly easy to set up as I knew well enough to do a dry run @ home, however I neglected to put the rain fly on at home... I mean, how hard could it be?.... Evidently harder than I thought. Next time will make more sense, but the heat & bugs made for a very frustrating set up.

After setting up the campsite, the "Unit" headed down to the river for a little cooling off session. The walk down to the river was pure torture. K was acting like her Aunt Flow was visiting... she gets rather grumpy when overheated. Once we got to the water though, her temperment settled down and we all enjoyed a nice swim in the river. As a matter of fact, it was next to impossible to keep E out of the river once we were in. She's like a fish that one! It was pure bliss, and everything I had hoped for. We stayed in the river for a good couple of hours (2-3) and decided to go for a quick hike on an overgrown trail. The trail led us to an estuary that fed the river from a spring no doubt, as the temperature was a good 15* cooler than the main river. We splashed and played in that for a while and helped E look for animal tracks near the waters edge. Then the hike back to the camp. Once @ camp we all kind of settled in. I started the fire (tried my magnesium fire starter but failed) and K found some sticks to use as Hot Dog/Marshmellow skewers. We cowed down... I swear hot dogs have never tasted so good... well, Turkey dogs, but you get the idea. The one thing I neglected to bring was a cup. K was smart and kept her cup from Sonic, but I tossed my before we left, so I had to drink straight from the water container, and I drank a lot... Ummmm dehydration! As nightfall was upon us the girls crawled into the tent hand went to sleep. I stayed up for a while and watched the glowing embers in the fire pit, then climbed into my hammock for a little relaxing. I finally turned in ~ 11:00 only to be awakened by our college aged neighbors who decided to roll into their campsite late, and began drink, talking loudly, and playing music! It was still hot, K was annoyed, E tossed and turned all night, and I slept like a baby... typical for us. At first light we all had a family breakfast and K and I looked at eachother and said "let's go for a bike ride". We brought both bikes and E's tag-a-long.. spun for a loop of the park, then headed back to camp and broke down our site. It was getting hot, and I was glad to be getting out of there sooner rather than later. E was bummed because she wanted to spend the day in the river, but K was exhausted and I was dehydrated... perfect time to head home!

Next up is a trip to the Frio River and Concan. This would be an awesome trip, but K invited one of her friends who I loath... I'll bring my bike and go for a loooong ride while they hen around.

Getting away from it all.....

2010-07-24T07:22:00.002-05:00

For the first time in over two years, we are one family unit! Wife took the weekend off, I bought a ridiculously huge family tent, and we're off to Enchanted Rock for a little "Grizwald" camping adventure. Initially the only available site(s) were of the primitive variety, which would have meant hauling a five year old, and enough gear for a less than rugged wife, and suburban family of three.... not so much. K finally got wise and checked the "car camping" and sure enough some spots have freed up. Nice... nothing like roughing it 8' away from the vehicle. It'll make set up and break down a breeze. Looking forward to some family time as a family for a change. Wish us luck!.....

Out with the old, in with the new.....

2010-05-23T10:11:00.002-05:00

.... well it took a ton of nudging, but K finally won. I sold my beloved A6 Avant. Yes, it had problems (3 transmissions in 3 years @ 10k each), it had been hit twice, and the paint and interior had seen better days, but I loved driving that car. Alas, the extended warranty was over in about 400 miles and a major service was due, so out with the old.... in with the new.... Welcome 2010 Honda Fit Sport. No frills, no leather, no sun roof, no gps, no home link, not even an auto trans... but it's new, and it was cheap, and it gets 30 something miles per gallon, so I suppose it's wrong to complain. It's a tiny little car, but has loads of room inside.... I have to admit I'm a little nervous driving the thing in the land of F450's. It simply doesn't have the confidence that the Audi had. The pay back will be in not having to use premium fuel, and I won't have to shell out 1k every time the dealer looks at the thing. So welcome little Fit, you have some big shoes to fill.

Clever.....

2010-05-03T03:21:00.003-05:00

.... not so much.

So I was going to take a photo of my empty Jamba Juice cup and have now words.... I believe the art would speak to those interested.... you know who you are. But, alas, FAIL... drank the stupid thing and tossed the cup. I just keep getting more and more lame.

On an interesting note, found my 4th grade teacher on FB and friended her (is that creepie?). Mrs. O, thank you for your eternal patience, I'm a better person for having you as a teacher. I promise today, as I did when I was a child, I'll keep my journal up to date ;^)

No time....

2010-04-10T14:59:00.002-05:00

.... new job started. A week in Houston (yuck) for training. Got a home early last Friday, K & E were busy doing whatever they do on girls nights, so I broke out and got my ride on. A rather quick lap around the Madrone trail, felt good after looking at IH10 for 3 hours. Tuesday I brought the bike to work and joined the regulars for the Tuesday night ride. There were two groups, I went with the slow group. Doug led the ride and we didn't hit the same single track twice. Doug's a great ride leader, very patient. The group was slow, even by my standards, but it was nice to see some folks I haven't in a while. Nices social pace follow up by burgers and brauts.... I didn't have any as the diet is in full force. I'm almost too embarrassed to admit that I'm happy to be where I am, but I suppose you have to hit bottom before you're ready for recovery. My all time high was measured by my Dr. @ 201. I'm down to 186 by simply reducing my calories and taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Trying to get some cycling in at least a couple of times a week, and will top it all off with an intensive 90 day detox program!

Tuesday Nighter & Madrone

2010-03-27T10:23:00.002-05:00

One of the local mojo's called a Tuesday night ride @ Mac. This is going to be an on going Tuesday night ride, and the weather on Tuesday night was absolutely perfect. Mac is a relatively flat trail, strewn with rocks and roots, but mostly flowing buff single track. Not much climbing in the park, the few climbs are fun and will make you grunt if you're not in good shape (I'm in the worst physical shape of my life). I'm excited about this being a "regular" Tuesday night ride, as I haven't been terribly social over the last 19 months (how long I've been jobless)and this ride is the perfect opportunity to reconnect with some folks I haven't seen or ridden with in quite some time. The other bonus is that my new office is about 5 minutes away so I can bring the bike and gear to the office and get out there early for a little warm up. So back to our Tuesday ride... I was the first to show up, and as I pulled in to the over crowded parking lot, I was excited to find an empty spot. I started to pull into the space but had to stop short as the vehicle to my left had it's passenger front door open into the empty space. I rolled down my window after waiting for a few moments and politely requested that the driver might want to close the door. I was greeted by a 300+/- # "Native" woman who was all of 4'09" and quite the looker. After arguing with me about her "rights" the fatty finally closed her door and I parked. This was the highlight of the night, regrettably. I had a huge slice of humble pie on the trail, and realized that while I've maintained most of my technical skills, my fitness is that of a 98 year old. I have no idea what the mileage was for the night, and frankly I don't care. I was just stoked to be out and riding. Sadly no pictures were taken on the Tuesday nighter.

Friday was Kathy's last day off of work (she took a week off work to recover from her surgery). The plan was that we were going to have a "family" day, see a movie, and then go over to a friends house for dinner and games. The family movie turned into a movie with E and her friends and Kathy and her friend. I don't care for her friend, so I made the executive decision to go for a ride. I won't be able to ride at all next week as I'll be in Houston for work, but will resume the following week with the above Tuesday nighter. I managed to get a full lap in @ Madrone with a little playing around on a blowdown tree.

Before:

After:

The up and over still needs a little work, trees down here aren't as big around and therefore make build up on either side necessary.

Oh, and one last week before the "Fat Family Challenge" begins!

Madrone Ride

2010-03-20T11:10:00.006-05:00

Ugh, yet again I've fallen off of the blogging hot streak. Nothing at all in the month of February, and only this lousy post so far...

Dr. tells my I'm fat, nothing new there, but I've gotta drop some serious #'s (like 40 of them). Genetic defects spotted also, more important than ever to get back into shape and not become a statistic... hell, I beat the big "C", dropping a few dozen lbs should be a cake walk.

I'll be doing a lot more of the below, plus an exercise program... don't laugh, K and I bought P90x to kick start a more healthy lifestyle....

Another treadmill day....

2010-01-19T20:52:00.003-06:00

... rain and family in town kept me from riding on Friday, the weekend was shot with more family obligations and kid duty, Monday was wasted again with out of town family and a kid out of school. So today, it was back to the treadmill... didn't have as good of a pace as I would have liked and was back to a 10 min/mile pace... oh well, will improve it next time.

In other news, the A6 had to go in for service today, the wife is really on my arse to get rid of it, can't say I blame her, but man I sure do love driving that car. Looks like it will mini-van time soon... ugh, might as well take what's left of my manhood. I'd almost rather ride my bike places than drive that thing, but the price is right $0.00 and worth ever penny of that.

Did I mention that I'm driving a loaner '10 A4 Avant? So nice!

The dreaded treadmill.....

2010-01-14T08:13:00.002-06:00

... nothing exciting to report today. Yesterday was a misty, wet, PNW sort of day which ultimately meant no riding for me. Ended up on the Fat Bob '10 weight loss program on the treadmill... just over 2 miles but time improved significantly over last time with 9:03/mile. With more rain in the forecast it doesn't look good for a ride until at least the weekend. More treadmill on Friday and I'll have to increase the mileage while trying to find a good pace.

Gift of a day

2010-01-13T04:19:00.005-06:00

If only we had more of them. Living in central TX has its ups and downs... for me, mostly downs (too damn hot). Of course, being the middle of winter and having a day with predicted temps in the low 70's can be a nice break. While I enjoyed my frosty cold ride the other day, it is nice to have the contrast of sunny and warm just a few days later.

As part of my Fat Bob challenge '10, I was scheduled to run on Monday and so I did. 2 miles on the treadmill with an average of 10:45/mile... pretty pathetic (I was almost 3:00/mile faster just 3-4 years ago). Treadmills are the ultimate hell, thank God for Steve Jobs and his nifty little listening gadgets, if it weren't for my ipod there's no way I could do the treadmill.

So Monday is done, and I find myself with an open Tuesday morning. The weather guessers were calling for a nice day, and they didn't disappoint. 49* when I dropped E off @ school, got home surfed a little, emptied my SD card onto a hard drive, loaded up bike and gear and headed off to the Madrone. As I pulled into the parking lot temps were in the mid 50's, looked through the gear bag and realized I didn't have a short sleeve or sleeveless jersey.... except for the Swobo. Wool didn't let me down, kept me comfortable the whole ride albeit a little warm.

Fast forward to dinner plans, Kathy had "Alice Springs Chicken" on the family menu for tonight.... while this meal doesn't exactly lend itself to healthy living, it sure does taste good. I prepare our meal, and E, my sous chef helps with the sauce... I know I'm a gushing dad, but every stage with her just keeps getting better. Anywho, I also picked up one of the wifey's favorite libations (Kahlua & cream). So while the little chef and I slave away in the kitchen, the wife can relax and play on the Internet and just have some "chill" time. After dinner, we rush outside to enjoy what's left of our glorious day and start a fire to roast Marshmallows. Perfect ending to a most excellent day.

Oh... did I mention why I'm up @ 3:15? Well, seems that while the wife was obsessed with some GD stupid kids song she had heard earlier in the day and was surfing for a sample of it, she turned the speakers on the computer upstairs to max... flash to 3:00 am when I have said computer to run a full system scan and reboot, and voila you get a nice Microsoft wake up call.... DEEEM DUUUM DUUUM DUUUM.....Grrrr. Wednesday isn't starting off quite as well as Tuesday did ;^)

Day 8 of '10.... 3rd ride

2010-01-08T13:56:00.008-06:00

... cold morning, the dash doesn't take windchill into account... felt more like 17* Ground was frozen solid, ice on the streets, feels like winter. Tomorrow's forecast low of 15* which we don't get often here in central TX.
Yeah, I know I'm getting soft. Not only fat, but soft. My feet froze, didn't have proper footwear, will wear wool socks next go around. Good shot of my nickname. So far two rides on the EM, and I must say it's a great bike. I see the beginning of many great adventures together.

As my parting shot yesterday, you may remember this picture.

So what's the big deal you ask? Well, there's something missing from this picture... this:

I've ranted about trail sanitation in the past, especially @ this trail... please if you ride out here, don't take it upon yourself to make things easier for the rest
of us.... some of us enjoy the challenge. Instead, please call the Corps of Engineers and ask how you can volunteer for trail work.... we're going to need it this spring for sure.

In other trail news... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

As far as I know hunting & guns are illegal on Corps land, with the exception of the special needs kids hunt.

"SALSA"....

2010-01-07T09:18:00.005-06:00

... for you Erin

No, it's not that kind of "Salsa", although it's just as spicy and hot....

So it came via Brown Santa on Tuesday evening, I immediately went about modifying some of the stock parts. Ditched the 9spd drive train (although I will keep the rear wheel with cassette and my XO bits for geared rides). Ditched the FSA cranks for my Race Face, Added my King SS wheelset, ditched the stock grips for Ouri's, ditched the stock brake levers for Ultimate's, ditched the stem and post for my Thomson's, and finally added my WTB Silverado saddle.

I was concerned about my shake down ride on Wed @ the Madrone trail. It was cold and misty, much like I imagine the PNW in the winter (Bliss!) the moisture and rocks could spell disaster on a steel painted bike.... oh well, throw caution to the wind and ride! The bike did great, was very lively and felt a ton better than the high dollar Ti Lynskey it replaced... I am a steel guy. There were a few times where I could have easily lost it due to piolt error, but the stiff King wheels, and responsive EM made up for my lackluster skills. I can't wait to try out different configurations on this bike. I have an On-One carbon fork for "race" day rides, a RS Reba for when I go up to Austin, a set of woodchipper bars for Thursday night social rides and gears for when I lose my mind.

I also need to post a review on my x-mas present to myself... a Swobo SS wool jersey, but that's another post

A parting shot

Happy 2010

2010-01-02T11:27:00.002-06:00

So the last 6 months or so have been very lacking in the riding department. I need to change this.... and yes, I say this ever year, but as my odometer rolled over 40 I need to pay more attention to my physical condition. Rather than wait for the new year, I started a little early. On Wednesday I did a 2 mile run (on the treadmill), then yesterday Friday I did 9ish mile off road ride (our annual Madrone New Years ride). I'm going to take the weekend off to rest (legs are killing me) and will start up again Monday. The plan is to try to get out as much as possible, and if I can't get out, I'll hit the treadmill, or spin bike... oh yeah, forgot to mention the local "Y" was selling off their fleet of spin bikes for $50 each, couldn't pass up that deal... $1k spin bike for $50... yes please.

In bike news, in order to motivate myself a little more, I decided to unload the Ti Lynskey that I didn't care for all that much and pick up a steel bike. I found a great deal on a complete Salsa El Mariachi @ Universal Cycles, and had enough from the sale of the Pro29 to pick up a complete Mariachi, a set of Woodchipper bars, Bar end shifters, and Cane Creek linear pull road levers... now I have a bike I can run geared or SS, with a suspension fork or rigid, as a monster cross, or mountain bike. I'm also planning on trying to get out at least once every other month for a little bikepacking. I'm currently on the hunt for a down bag (my 10+year old synthetic still works but is way too bulky), and hammock. I'm not worried about a stove or other gear at the moment (ok, maybe a couple of compression bags) as these will be quick out and back trips locally to get the feel for bikepacking to see if I like it.

Sorry, no New Years ride pix, I was having a tough enough time keeping up with the pack as I was fixed and rigid... not to mention fat and out of shape.

Rain...

2009-09-15T10:03:00.002-05:00

We finally got some rain! I've never been so excited to see the wet stuff falling from the sky. We all went outside and did a little dance. E actually put on her fancy boots and ran around nude... yep these will be the photo's we bring out in those dark teen years to knock her down a peg or two.

The rain barrel filled up quickly and began overflowing. The temperature fell. It was a beautiful thing. We had several days of rain that followed, and I was glad for it. The little riding I get to do has been on very dry dusty trails, the rain will bed things down nicely. All of this time in the sun really has made us appreciate seasons and weather so much more. It's not that we don't appreciate nice sunny warm or hot days, just that variety is the spice of life, and it's been too long that we haven't had any variety. Thank you rain gods!

English Composition, Anatomy, Physiology, and Chemistry...

2009-08-30T18:53:00.002-05:00

.... so I've been stupid busy over the last week and a half or so. Started classes full time, no time to read other blogs let alone post to my own lame blog. For those that are following along:

English Composition. Can I take a moment to rant? This class exists solely to justify to those that wasted their time in this major, why English Composition is important. I've held some mid level positions in some very large corporations, and I can tell you that nothing I ever put my hands on adhered to the MLA standards. Also, has anyone noticed that the fields that once were so prominent and probably used this garbage regularly are going away? It's called evolution folks, colloquial language is the majority, MLA is a minority and shrinking ever day.

On a positive note, I love Chemistry so far, and although there is a ton to absorb, Anatomy and Physiology are excellent as well.

On the bike front, the most riding I've gotten in since school started is pulling Ella in the trailer to the pool. I'm going to have to take advantage of my small window on Tuesdays to ride off road. I'm also thinking I need to utilize some night rides around town.... sigh, such is the life of a broke, student.

Busy week....

2009-08-14T20:54:00.002-05:00

So this week was Kathy's birthday. Her folks came to town from MS on Sunday, which means I spent last Sat & Sun cleaning and getting ready for them. I don't know why we go to such lengths to clean and de-clutter, when her folks arrive the house gets trashed in 0.0005 seconds. Keeping up appearances I suppose.

Monday was K's official B-day. I got her two dozen roses, and some aqua globes... yep those cheap ass infomercial things... that's what she wanted. Instead of running around and trying to make her happy all day, she & her mom went to San Antonio to do some sushi for lunch and did a little shopping. That opened up the afternoon for me to ride, and I wasn't about to let an opportunity like that slip away. I had a nice quick lap around the lake... life was good. When I returned, we all got cleaned up and headed back to San Antonio to some seafood place for dinner, thank you father-in-law for picking up the tab!

Tuesday was meet the teacher @ E's school. Her PK4 teacher is really nice, and I think E will really thrive in a scholastic environment... I swear I don't think she's my child!

On Wednesday I had an in person interview for a job that would have been perfect. Sadly I was cold, and haven't really had work on the brain, and have had too much Noggin on the brain, so I failed horribly. I suppose this is just further reinforcement that I need to just get my damn RN and be done with corporate America.

Thursday we loaded up the van and headed to Concan, TX to the Frio river. Kathy had seen an ad in some magazine that showcased this park on the Frio, and it looked wonderful. It was a hellishly long drive, and I honestly don't know if I could tolerate driving that horrible van full time... but I digress. After over 2 hours in the car the river was quite a relief. The water was a little low, but this was a good thing as Ella thinks she's an Olympic swimmer and can't stay out of the water. We had a great time and played and swam in the river for a little over three hours. Then another 2+ hours in the van home, only to shower, change and go back to E's school for a Parents orientation class... that's an hour of my life I won't get back.

Friday morning Kathy had to go back to work, and her parents headed home. My plan was to have a nice quiet day @ home, but a friend we made recently wanted to go to playnastics, so we met them there, then went looking for a new car seat for our friends new foster child, then headed to Chick-fil-a so E and 'bella could play. Got home checked email and got the reject letter from the gig on Wednesday... I knew it didn't go well.

Pretty good week with the family, gotta get focused and get this RN program done so I don't have to deal with lame interviews for job's I'm over qualified for.

Hitting Madrone early with Michael, camera phone pix until I pick up the Audi this weekend.

yeah, yeah keep yer pants on!

2009-08-11T23:42:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I'm lame and haven't kept up lately. Not much really to report. Wife is working way too much, I'm going cray @ home with the rug rat, virtual school is much more challenging that I originally thought, can't wait for actual Nursing classes (still have a full semester before I can start).

I haven't been on the bike nearly enough, and I really can't take it much longer. On the weekends when K works late, I can't even sneak out for an early ride because if E wakes up early and K has to watch her, I'm a jerk. I try to go later in the day, but I'm a jerk for not spending time, so no matter how you slice it... I'm a jerk for wanting to ride. Thing is, riding makes me much more mellow, and a better person to be around. It is a healthy thing to do and it could be worse. I could be one of those NFL network guys that stays glued to the TV Saturday-Monday night. I could have a bunch of rowdy drinking buddies over to "watch the game". Or I could be like a lot of my friends who have a "fantasy league"... Then there are the friends I have that do this, and gamble... the way I see it, I'm much easier to deal with.... no?

Have the in-laws in town until Thurs, and am driving mom's "shag'n wagon"... I left my little point-n-shoot in the Audi, so no pix (well maybe camera phone) until next week.

Inflatable Wonerland...

2009-07-21T10:18:00.002-05:00

Got a call the other day from our neighbors, they were going to take their son to the Inflatable Wonerland, and wanted us to join them. We did, and boy did E have a blast. She had been to the pool earlier that day, so this was a full on Funday!

Irresponsible parenting....

2009-07-11T12:04:00.002-05:00

... so I'm not the best parent. I never claimed to be. I do the best I can with what I have and try to be as good an example as possible. Today, I felt like the best parent in the world. Took E to the pool in the morning, and we were about to wrap it up (after 11 the sun/heat become too much)when a mom, granny and their 3 kids come in. I waited around for a few minutes to see if there would be any chemistry between E and their little girl, who looked younger.... none. The mom, seemed pretty scatter brained, granny didn't have a clue.... typical Texans, nice as can be but not much going on between the ears. So, mom let's the middle boy hit the pool with his floatie ring thing... he's 2ish years old.... typical boy, just wants to be there yesterday. So, he hops on his floatie, but it's an around the waist style, and he's mounted it like a chair.... begins to float away. Granny is too busy looking off into space, while mom is dealing with the youngest..... ~1 year, when it happens... Jr flips forward launching the floatie and leaving him face down in the water... I look over and granny is oblivious and mom has her hands full, but not a word is said, I'm in the water, shirt, flip flops, glasses, hat. get Jr up and out, give him a couple of back pats until he cries, and walk him out to mom.... again, not a word. I'm kinda freaking out a bit inside because if I hadn't jumped it could have gone really bad... I look over @ E and thank the stars above that I'm not that clueless... at least not all of the time ;^)

Redneck Riviera

2009-06-28T17:55:00.003-05:00

... so over the holidays I gave my friend Erin a hard time about erecting a trampoline in her back yard. While I think they're fun, they're an eye sore for the lucky neighbors all around.

Well, not to be outdone, I present to you.... "the Redneck Riviera".

What's that? Why don't we just go to the neighborhood pool? Well, you see it's been in the low 100's all week, average temp 103*.... and the "hood" pool doesn't have any shade.

Top that you little Mormon hottie!

Life is good friends

Yeah, that's right....

2009-06-13T17:39:00.002-05:00

Tri-geeks.....

2009-06-12T16:01:00.003-05:00

.... you can always tell when the tri-geeks have one of their "muddy buddy" races or "off-road triathlons" by the number of drink bottles strewn about, that and all of the reflectors in the technical sections of the trail. I try to clean up as best I can... hate to have the trail I love closed due to some race promoter not doing a thorough job cleaning up after the race. The worst part is that the participants don't realize that the promoters poach the trail (can't have a pay to race event on the Corps land, so they start just outside and then utilize Corps land) and no one has the budget for clean up or trail maintenance. It's up to the local groups Camino Real, or individuals.

some of what was left behind by the tri-geeks on their last event

**** Note to self, bring a couple of trash bags next time so you can clean up more trash.

2nd ride this week

2009-06-12T08:32:00.003-05:00

Not sure how or why, but I was granted another free day... who am I to question such things. I was thinking about trying to hook up with the Thursday night swill ride, but the cross bike isn't ready for prime time, so opted to brave the 99* temps and hit madrone again. Again, a nice ride with no time constraints or agenda other than to recharge my mind and soul. I couldn't find the small point & shoot, so all I have are the cell phone pix. Better than not.

Tougher than it looks, the line is right up the tree

Getting tight, watch out for ticks

Fixed Inbred

Inspired by Clair aka Scorpionwoman

Ride

2009-06-08T17:12:00.005-05:00

Wow, finally a bike related post. So, I've been in a funk. I haven't been riding much lately, and the rides I've been on, have been lousy. I'm usually rushed, thinking about getting home to take care of E, or clean, mow the lawn, etc. I've let the rut get deep. Today K gave me the best gift I've had in a while.... time, time to myself. Time to ride, to clear the cob webs, to take as long as I wanted. Initially I wasn't going to go, K woke me up early because she thought she heard E fooling around (6:45), but E was sound asleep in her room. I'm also super light sensitive, so once the daylight hit my eyes I was up. Then the dogs wanted breakfast, so my day began. E woke up @ 8:00, K was up half an hour later, and wanted to work out on the elliptical. Needless to say it was ~ 10:00 before I was gathering my things to head out to Madrone, I knew it would be hot, but I didn't care. I just have to get it out of my head and deal with it. Until we move to another part of the country this is my fate.

To give you some sense of scale, the rocks in the middle are not normally visible. The banks on either side are also usually about 2/3 covered in wet stuff.

The lake @ Madrone is lower than I've ever seen it. The trail was in great shape, I only wish I were. I'm back to riding fixed and some fairly simple stuff rocked me, but I didn't give up, even sessioned a few things until I owned them. I don't know what time I got out there, it didn't matter. I took my sweet time, as I didn't have to be anywhere. It was wonderful for my mind, body, and soul. I really must take the time to make time for myself and express that I need this time weekly. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a free day to do as I pleased. I also came to the conclusion that I've been letting negativity toxify me. At first it's little stupid things that annoy me, then bigger things (like having an offer letter and finding out the offer is being withdrawn), and then it becomes all consuming. I need to just let go of these things before they poison me any further. Need to keep focus, and work on the things in my life I can make better. So, note to self, let it go man. Let it all go and you'll be a better person for it. Being on the bike is not my addiction or drug, it is my detox, it is exactly what the Dr. ordered.

Peace...

What to do on a 158* day?

2009-05-30T16:53:00.001-05:00

?.... why go to the jump castle place of course!

Can't wait until summer!

Road ride?!?!?!?

2009-05-26T09:12:00.003-05:00

This is what I'm reduced to. Michael was good enough to join me on a mission to mission ride in da hood of South San Antonio last night. I have no idea what the mileage was, but we were on skinny tires (me on the old Panasonic, M on his X-check)he was running gears (sorta) while I was sporting 42x16 on some tiny 700x23's... I really need to get some 28 or 30's on there to make the ride more fun.... that or get an x-check of my own.

While not exactly an exciting ride, we did spy loads of "natives" enjoying the filthy waters edge of the San Antonio river, also at least 3-4 packs of ferrel dogs running wild in the streets. Next time I'll bring the camera!

I'm a sad excuse....

2009-05-20T22:38:00.003-05:00

... lately it seems most of the blogs or bloggies I follow have been ignoring their blogs and have been concentrating more heavily on FB or Twitter. Can't blame anyone there really, I got hooked on FB for a while, but find that I enjoy reading blogs much more. So, as of late I've been following Kent Peterson's blog. If you're into cycling, Kent is the real deal. Once you get into his style, his writing really gets to you, at least it has for me. While I've been following his blog for about a year now, it's not until today that I read his epic journey from Canada to Mexico on a single speed. I'm amazed by the guy, and wish I could just absorb some of his knowledge and wisdom. Kent is what I wish I were more like in my life. Although he is a brilliant guy who was a software engineer for many years, he's chosen to give up on the BS and do what he enjoys. Really what more is there to life? He seems to be very content with his arrangement and has made it work out. Kent, if you ever get to reading this, I wish I had some of what you've got. I wish I could give up the life of "want" and just be happy with the simple things. I know deep down inside I don't need all of this, and I only need to take small steps to eventually get to where I need to be. Thank you Kent for your words and inspiration.

Awesomeness....

2009-04-29T16:02:00.004-05:00

.... Is having a daughter that loves to ride.Today was a great day to cruise the neighborhood, overcast, loads of cloud cover and a nice breeze. She's awesome on the thing, can't wait to get her out on the trails!

Wish I were as styling as this

Another fine day of Irish weather....

2009-04-17T12:29:00.008-05:00

If you're one of the two people who follow this thing, you know that we live on the border of Hell & Hotter than Hell. Most of the time I can't stand getting outside during normal daylight hours as the sun just about melts me. Whenever we have the possibility of rain or an overcast day, I jump for joy. Yesterday was one of those spectacular days, overcast all morning with some drizzle in the afternoon. Needless to say, I had to take advantage of the fine weather and the fact that I did not have daddy duty. Off I went to the Madrone trail. Wow, it's dry out there. It's been a harsh winter with very little rain. The lake is as low as I've ever seen it, as you can see by the abandoned truck dumped in the lake.... wonder if the driver got out... didn't feel like checking... this time.

In other news, I've decided to take a break from perpetual motion.... yep, no longer scorching the inbred.

Initial thoughts were... well strange. There were a couple of times on the slight techy downs that I tried to apply a little back pressure on the cranks only to have them spin backwards... amazing how your brain holds on to past information. After the front section of the trail, I did pick up a load of speed, by the time I hit flying cactus I was zipping around like I'd never scorched on that bike before. In the end, coasting is fun, but I do love to ride a fixie off road. I think I'll keep it spinny for a while. When the new project gets off the ground I'll go back to scorching with it.

Okie dokie, that's it for a while. Have a safe and happy weekend all.

Gone.... (or a silly long run on sentence)

2009-04-17T12:10:00.003-05:00

buh-bye....

... so in these tough economic times one does what one has to do. The Vassago pretty much sat in the garage 98% of the time, instead I tend to ride my cheap-o on-one inbred franken fixie... don't know why exactly it's like driving a civic with a fart-can exhaust when you have a proper race car in the garage... maybe that was part of it. The Vassago, while very capable off road, was more of a garage/trailer queen. I liked the look of it, it would last forever, but I didn't enjoy riding it. The crappy inbred always won out... so I did what any guy who hasn't worked 8 months would do... I sold it. The other thing I found, is that as much as I wanted to love my 29er experience I just didn't. While I think it's a spectacular platform for tall, fit folks, us short, fat, out of shape folks just need a little more room for the boy(s) and need a rear wheel that will get up to speed faster. Hence the beauty of the 69er or 96er. All the benefits of a big wheel up front & all the benefits of a smaller lighter wheel out back. The funds of the chi-chi Ti race bike will go to good use as we're having a patio put in the back yard. The builder gave us a little 10x12 covered porch which is nice until you get furniture and a grill out there, throw in a plant or twelve and there's no room. The new patio will be 27x12 with a 2' bump out on the existing 10' section of the original porch. The old porch will then be enclosed with screening. We'll finish off the patio with a shade sail to give us a break from the brutal Texas sun (our house is oriented with the back facing south... sun all afternoon). I need to find an ROI model for a pavestone patio to see if we'll see any $ back when we go to sell.

Wow been a while

2009-04-12T08:30:00.003-05:00

So yep, I've been slackin'. I haven't been on technology for a while, I think I got Facebooked out... it became clear one night when Kathy came home from work and asked where Ella was.... I just pointed out back.... Poor thing was in the back yard naked playing in the sand box. I suppose that would have been the breaking point. So after being threatened with divorce and getting it together I decided to take a break for a while. I'm not sure if I'll ever FB again to be honest, it just sucks you in and you can't let go. Blogging is a bit less addictive, and still allows me to keep in touch with friends. So that's what I'm up to.

The weight loss thing is rocky. I began eating well, and running in the mornings, but that only lasted a short while and I'm back to it. It's tough to break old habits, especially as I creep closer and closer to the big four-oh! I can do it, I just have to set it up and stick to it. The first 30 days will be the toughest, after that I'm sure I'll be loving it.

And in other news... after nearly 20 years out of school, I'm apparently not nearly as dumb as I thought. I was able to utilize transcripts from my times in school before and able to put them to good use! No math needed other than what I already have for my degree!!! So all that was left was to take an English placement test... out of a possible 100 I scored a 94... not too bad considering the last English course I took was a high school level course in 1988!!! Holy sh!t am I really doing this? I can knock out my first class in 20 days in a program called "Maymester" where you go to class 5 days a week 4 hours a day for 20 days. Now that's my kind of school.... it was as I was getting ready to sign up that my phone rings. Fate is a biotch.... Verizon wants me to come be part of the team. So now the dilemma... do I blow them off or go ahead and interview.... 3 interviews later and it's looking like I may be back in the working world. If this is the case, I'm still going to knock out my pre-recs at night and Kathy will enter the "bridge" program. It's only a year, then I can leave the workforce and go back to school full time. Two short years later and I'll be an RN... and with any luck I'll be able to convince Kathy that VA is the place to be.

Madrone trail ride

2009-02-21T10:40:00.005-06:00

rode the madrone trail on Thursday as Kathy had the day off and wanted to spend some girl time with Ella. I had a good ride, but as mentioned in my previous post, I'm feeling really out of shape and fat. Rather than feel sorry for myself for getting to such a point in my life, I've decided to make a change. The trail is really the one to thank. As I rode along I found numerous bits of trash from people being lazy and not caring about this wonderful resource, which made me reflect on how people can be so self involved, lazy, etc...

HELLO FAT A$$, the trash that makes me sick out on the trail is no different than what I'm doing to my body! I ignore it, treat it like crap, fill it full of trash, and then wonder how I got here. Well, no more! If I can clean up the trail, I can clean myself up. It's time to awaken from the slumber I've been in. Time to open my eyes and realize that I've only got this one body and this one life to live. If I sit back and ignore it, it will pass me by sooner than I want it to, and I won't have enjoyed the ride. 2009 is my year for change. Thank you Madrone trail, you're wisdom is greatly appreciated.

from the boat ramp, my favorite place to stop and "think"... nice views too

I'm fat.....

2009-02-21T10:06:00.002-06:00

... yes, this is nothing new, but I'm finally feeling fat. I've reached a point where I either need to accept the fact that I'm going to be fat forever or I need to really step it up and stop the current lifestyle. When we lived in Atlanta (Roswell actually) I got on a running kick and did really well. Lost ~ 20lbs, but more importantly lost 3" around the middle and was gaining muscle mass again. I need to get back to that place. I stayed pretty well on course even after the move, but once we moved to the second temporary house, and my work schedule kicked in, I lost all interest in working out, and my attitude went downhill with my fitness.

The challenge I face: a picky eating 3 year old. Like most kids these days, she's hooked on pop-tarts and the like. This is a serious challenge in that when she eats, I eat and I've ballooned to maximum capacity since being the stay at home dad. The upshot here is that I've never known a kid who likes fruit as much as she does, so maybe I can coax her into a better nutritional regimen via fruit, and slowly introduce more veggies. I also feel it's important to influence her life with healthy eating and exercises as we only have a few good years left before the outside influences take over.

The plan.

Slowly introduce a healthier diet. I'm going to start off by trying to change breakfast from pre-packaged refined foods to whole foods. Once this is in place for a few weeks, we'll incorporate lunch, a few weeks later dinner. Loads of research to do on this still as I have no clue what a growing girl really needs.

Exercise... this one is easy. The one thing I have going for me is my 3 y.o. would rather be outside doing anything, she's an outdoor nut. The plan here will be daily walking with the dogs, weekly hikes (2 places close by that are perfect & fun), bike rides... new walking bike should help here, and as fast as she's going I can probably ride the wife's cruiser next to her. Solo runs... ugh, this is the part I love/hate. Once out there and doing it, I love running (well, jogging really but that's as much as you get from me) the part I'm not going to love is the 5am wake up to achieve this goal. I know I'll get used to it, but it will be a challenge given my current physical condition and lack of motivation.

My dream is to get down to 140-5 lbs. My goal is a more realistic 155-158 lbs. The time frame for all of this? Well, back in the day I could drop 20 lbs no problem in 2-4 weeks, now pushing 40, the weight doesn't like to come off as easily and I know a crash diet won't do me any good. So, from what I've read, a healthy weight loss plan is 1-2 lbs per week. My current weight of 191 lbs with a goal of 155 lbs means that if I go it slow, as is recommended, and I lose 1 lb a week, I should be to my goal in 36 weeks or 9 months (like giving birth in reverse... interesting). If I start off 3/09 I should be to my goal by 12/09 or for my 40th birthday. Now, should I achieve my goal, I will have to reward myself with some sort of gift (and since I'm not much of a gold chain/corvette kind of guy) I'm thinking a killer mountain bike (think the wife will go for it?)

Anyway, wish me luck and follow along is you're that bored. Hell, if LFOAB can do what he's done I can achieve this goal.

Walmart*

2009-02-06T08:29:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was at Wal-Mart buying a large bag of Iams Dog Food
for my loyal pet, Remy, the Wonder Dog and was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.

What did she think I had, a fuckin' goat? I told her no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the "Iams Diet" again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because
I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I
awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my
orifices and IVs in both arms.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it
works is to load your pants pockets with Iams nuggets and simply eat one
or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete so
it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here
that practically everyone in line was now listening to my story.)

Shocked, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food
poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish
Setter's ass and a car hit us both.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was
laughing so hard i expected him to pee his pants. Long story short, Wal-Mart won't let me shop there anymore.

* Originally a version of this story appeared on CL, but I thought it was funny enough to re-post to my blog

67*'s and foggy

2009-01-26T17:07:00.005-06:00

And Kathy has Ella, this could only mean one thing. I was going to get my fat arse out and ride... wow, have I lost a ton of fitness in the last month and a half. Gotta get back on some sort of program, even if that means early AM runs on the treadmill.

Went to the Madrone trail, weather was down right brilliant, 67 degrees, no sun, loads of fog. Visibility as I pulled up to the lake was maybe 100 yards. The fog, while great at keeping the sun off my poor skin, didn't do me any favors on the rocky terrain of the Madrone trail. The rocks were super slippery and I felt like I was back east... it was wonderful. Of course, my chums back east are out riding in 20 degree weather, so I am spoiled... for now. No great action shots as it was too wet to take chances with the new camera.

A few parking lot shots to show off the Texas equivalent of mud.

Which reminds me, I need to see if Ricky has any more of those 1 beer stickers or the artwork so I can have some printed up

To Protect & Serve....

2009-01-25T10:17:00.002-06:00

.... so a blog that I follow recently had a post about being attacked by some junkies while riding his bike. He was lucky in that the would be assailants had to scale a fence before reaching him. The first junky slipped and fell on his head, the second attacker got up to him and tried to strong arm him, but got knocked down due to the momentum of the 24 mph bike. I responded to his post by saying that I was glad he was not injured, and that I didn't see violence as his style, but should he choose to defend himself moving forward I thought a particular fire arm would be a good choice.

Responding back a bit later, a poster gafalled at the notion of protecting ones self and said the poster should have called the police. This made me think for a moment, what would I do? As a younger and single male, I would have given these two a shake down. As a husband and father, would I take a chance like that and go Mano y Mano? Not likely. If I had a weapon would I take their lives?

My argument for yes... In a large City/Urban environment the police are overwhelmed with violent crime, and an attempted "mugging" would be put very low on the priority list. This is why drug attics take advantage of such situations. Also, since the would be robbers failed on this attempt, what if anything did they learn? Certainly not to get off of drugs and to lead worth while lives as productive members of society... more than likely they learned that trying to scale a fence prior to an attack is a bad idea, they also probably learned a little bit about physics. So the next time they decide to attack an unsuspecting bike commuter, they'll hide in the shadows, and will utilize a blunt object as a means to dismount their victim.

My argument against... I'm a father and husband, do I really want to tangle with two dumb ass druggies? Would I be justified had I used a weapon against two men who meant to do me bodily harm and take my property, or would I spend a decade or greater away from my family in jail? Could they take the weapon away from me in a struggle and make my wife a widow and leave my daughter with out a father?

What would you do?

Gone, but not forgotten...

2009-01-15T20:40:00.005-06:00

... I write this with a heavy heart for I have suffered a loss tonight. A good friend, who never asked anything of me other than time and care but gave back more than I can describe in words is gone, but not forgotten. I will miss you old friend, you deserve more than I could provide.

A bit of my cycling soul has been sold, but the new owner looks like a good lot. Take good care of him Jonathan, and if you decide it's not working out, don't hesitate to let me know.

Possible solution to my job situation....

2009-01-13T10:49:00.000-06:00

...Australia offers 'best job in world' on paradise island
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Digg Facebook Newsvine del.icio.us Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati Yahoo! Bookmarks Print Mon Jan 12, 10:16 pm ET AFP/File – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world" -- … SYDNEY (AFP) – An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of "a few minor tasks" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

"They'll also have to talk to media from time to time about what they're doing so they can't be too shy and they'll have to love the sea, the sun, the outdoors," said acting state Premier Paul Lucas.

"The fact that they will be paid to explore the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, swim, snorkel and generally live the Queensland lifestyle makes this undoubtedly the best job in the world."

Lucas said the campaign was part of a drive to protect the state's 18 billion Australian dollar a year tourism industry during the tough economic climate caused by the global financial meltdown.

"Traditional tourism advertising just doesn't cut it sometimes and we are thinking outside the box by launching this campaign."

Queensland Tourism Minister Desley Boyle said some people might question whether it was risky to let an unknown person become an unofficial tourism spokesperson for the state.

"I think the biggest risk will be that the successful candidate won't want to go home at the end of the six months," she said.

"This is a legitimate job which is open to anyone and everyone."

Applications are open until February 22. Eleven shortlisted candidates will be flown to Hamilton Island in early May for the final selection process and the six month contract will commence on July 1

This place is a zoo....

2009-01-13T09:42:00.003-06:00

... since I'm the official stay at home dad, the riding has been significantly reduced and more family friendly activities have ensued. On Sunday our friend Simona and her son Noah asked Ella and I if we'd like to go to the zoo with them. Ella's been sick, but she forgot all about that when we got to the zoo. While the San Antonio Zoo is nice, it has nothing on the National Zoo in DC.

Ella & Noah feed the sheep

NYD ride....

2009-01-01T21:57:00.003-06:00

Today was the annual NYD ride @ Madrone. I brought my friend Alan H. who is quite fit, but could use a little more work on the MTB skill department. This was the perfect opportunity for him to work on his skills as it's a very social ride. 1/2 way through I got a pinch flat and didn't have a proper tube.... long walk back to the car. I did catch some (sh!tty) video of Alan S. cleaning the boat ramp via cell phone camcorder... gotta remember my snazzy little digi cam next time as it's got a better resolution... I think?

Sick....

2008-12-30T13:25:00.003-06:00

.... been too sick to ride, need to get out there. Weather dropped down into the 30's and is now hanging in the mid sixties... the sun is also less intense and I'm jones'n to either ride or run. Soon enough. For now, just been doing the Mr. Mom thing.

And the cold returns...

2008-12-22T09:26:00.002-06:00

.... back down to the mid twenties overnight, high today in the mid thirties. It will be 81 by Friday. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times. If it's going to be cold, it might as well snow! Freaking Tex-tard weather. Only one thing left to do....

Fra-gee-lay....

2008-12-20T08:50:00.004-06:00

....That must be Italian

* Photo stolen from here

New Camera...

2008-12-19T14:51:00.005-06:00

...finally! So for my birthday Kathy bought me a new Camera. If you've been following along you know I lost my old one @ the Madrone Trail. Initially she bought me a really nice Canon. It was super fancy, 12 Megapixles, not an SLR, as I'm no where near good enough for that, but rather an Elph of some sort. There was the problem... it was too nice for what I was going to use it for. Really the majority of its use is going to be for bike trips, there's no point in owning a nice point & shoot, especially if you knew how lousy my bike skilz are. So we decided to return it and get a lesser camera. Well, as luck would have it, we were at Target (Tar-Jay as we and about a billion other people say ) and saw a Nikon S202 for $97! Wowzers, I realize it's no Canon, and doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but that makes it perfect for a non camera nerd like me. I just want small and easy to use... Check & Check

Thin eh?

Picture quality is a little fuzzy, but then again my subject matter wasn't exactly being all that patient. I'll have to get used to the shutter speed, but for under $100 what do you want?

Dear Santa...

2008-12-17T17:27:00.002-06:00

... below is the list Ella wrote Santa today (I may have helped a little, can you tell?)... it's off to the post office to express it to the north pole, hope he gets it in time!

Dear Santa,

My name is Ella ________ , and I have been a very naughty girl this year.

Please, please, please bring me

Ten (10) Dalmatian puppies (with spots please)

One (1) Kitchen

One (1) pony by the name of "Sally"

One (1) Kitten by the name of "Iga"

One (1) DVD of "The Grinch who stole Christmas)

One (1) Garmin Edge 705 GPS

One (1) Pair of Swobo "Fenster" Knickers size large... I'll grow into them

One (1) Pair of Swobo "Minkman Combo" in black, size large... see above

One (1) Jeff Jones 3D Spaceframe with an ETT of 23" and a matching Truss Fat Front Fork

with a Black Anodized Paul 135MM Disc Hub laced to a Speedway rim (and a matching Paul

Hub laced to a DT Swiss XR470 rim) your modified XTR Cranks with Chris King Bottom

Bracket, Boone Ti Chain Ring (32t), Chris King Rear ISO Disc Hub in SS with your

modified XT Cassette, and an assortment of Boone Ti Cogs 18-21, Ericson Ti Stem and Seat

post, Brooks "Swift" saddle in Honey

Finally, One (1) Moots Gristle (3" travel) in 16.5 or One (1) Moots Cinco with an XTR

Build Kit... your choice, I'm not picky.

Thank you Santa, please accept these cookies and this glass of milk as payment in full

for above said items.

It's beginning to feel a lot like....

2008-12-15T15:25:00.003-06:00

... winter! Yippie, we finally got a break from the blistering sun. Most would say that today is a gloomy day... not me. After too many months of scorching sun we finally got a break from the heat and sun. Lovely gray clouds, cold air freshly blown in from Canada... temps to make me want to go play. I ended up sneaking out while Kathy & Ella were out doing their thing. Got a single loop in. The temp thingie in the Audi said 36* but with the wind blowing off of the lake it felt a lot colder. If there were any moisture in the air we might even see some white stuff falling from the heavens... one can dream.

The new cell phone has a built in (crappy) digi cam so I'll be taking a lot more pix now, it can even take short video, however I have to figure out how to x-fer the video from the strange .3g2 format to a more standard .mpg or the like (anyone have any suggestions, besides google?)... research for later I suppose.

Fixing Government Canyon...

2008-11-24T15:50:00.002-06:00

... John a.k.a Austin Bike called a hooky day ride today in San Antonio, at Government Canyon. Small group, with a new to SS rider joining in. What a perfect opportunity to try to ride Government Cheese fixed (That and the rear wheel on the Vassago needs to be trued and the front hub adjusting). The flats & climbs were fine, no issues there. I hung more towards the back and passed when I was able or the trail allowed. The running and exercise are beginning to pay dividends as I had more strength and a stronger core.... until I got to the downhill sections. GC is pretty rocky, and not being able to just coast and let gravity do its thing really show the weak area of scorching (at least for my skill level). I meant to take some pixs with the new camera phone, but there is no direct way to upload from the phone to my PC, I have to text or email the pix and I'm too cheap for a data package... oh well maybe santa will bring me a camera.

Cheers,

GPS/HRM....?....

2008-11-19T13:45:00.002-06:00

... so I've been doing a lot of running and getting out more. The guy who's been helping me get in shape suggested I get a HRM. I used to have an old Polar, but it's gone missing or is somewhere that I can't remember at the moment. In any case I started looking and thinking about electronic toys. I'm already way behind the curve and need a new digi cam, but maybe Santa will bring that if I'm good. So now the HRM comes up. I can get a cheap one from a mega-mart type place cheap, but I've also been thinking about a GPS type unit since I'd like to start exploring more of Austin's off road and don't want to constantly rely on others... so what I'd like is a GPS with up loadable maps and a HRM. The Garmin Edge 705 looks like it would fit the bill, but is quite pricey and bulky for off the bike jaunts. The Garmin Forerunner 305 will give me the HRM and down loadable GPS, and will work if I'm lost to get me back to the beginning, but lacks the ability to upload maps. So then I start thinking maybe a GPS and an inexpensive HRM. I like the DeLorme PN-20 (free maps) and since a new model is scheduled to launch any second they can be had used for under $150...

So to those who are GPS/HRM gadget geeks speak up.

The DeLorme PN-20 I'm thinking about

Case of the "Mondays"...

2008-11-17T09:35:00.002-06:00

... 6:30 up and out the door. One of my neighbors has taken me under his fitness wing and has me working out 5-6 days a week. Nothing fancy, no expensive equipment, no gyms or computerized this or that. Just old fashioned sit ups, push ups, jumping rope, and dumb bells (the iron/metal kind not just me). We've been at it for a couple of weeks, and it's horrible. My fat lazy body hates getting out of bed early, my lethargic lifestyle groans with each push up and sit up. The neighbor is good spirited and tells me pain is weakness leaving the body... of course he's an ex-Marine, now Army guy so fitness for him is a way of life. This morning was cold for TX 45ish degrees. I was in shorts & a long sleeve with a wool hat... still overheated on our 4.25 mile run. Our time is what most who run would call leisurely 4.25 miles in 40 minutes is not going to win any records, but it's amazing how much better we are now than 3 weeks ago. Tomorrow is a bike day, so it should be a nice recovery. Wednesday has us doing intervals with full on sprints then a slow jog for 1/4 mile then strait to push ups, sit ups, pull ups and so on each 1/4 mile for 2 miles. It's a lot harder than it sounds, but with any consistency will have me in better shape for the spring. This is normally the time of year when I hibernate, eat way too much, drink too much and hate myself in the spring.

In other news, I was in touch with a former colleague who knows of a position back up in the Mid Atlantic. With any luck it will be the right mix of $ and location, and will be a good fit for me to get Kathy over the hump and agree to move. Down shot is that the position is going to be open in a few weeks which may kill the deal as selling our house here is going to be a challenge, and trying to sell it in the dead of winter is going to mean either a loss or letting the girls stay here while I play couch commando over at my sisters. We'll see....

Take that!

2008-11-09T15:48:00.003-06:00

.... rode out at Madrone today, got to the first little lip umph after the quick switch back and just couldn't stand looking at the void any longer. I dismounted and got to work. I moved back three very large boulders and filled in between with lots of small rock and dirt. It looks almost like it did, might be a touch harder in honesty then the original, but it will wear in (provided non of the ass clowns dumb it back down). Got to the boat ramp section and to my delight my previous de-sanitizing had not been messed with. This put a smile on my face and I enjoyed the rest of my ride knowing that the challenging lines are surviving. I'll try to get out again during the week to see if I can snap some pix.

In other news, I tanked the interview with the GIS company and got the "Sorry you're a loser" email, frankly I expected it and only wish I had been funny since I knew the ship was sinking. I had an open house on Saturday with an interview in which I feel I would be a great fit, but there was a ton of competition so I won't even classify that one as a hopeful. I think in the short term Kathy may have to take on a job and I'll stay home with Ella until we can figure out the next step. My thought is that we clean up our house and get it on the market in the Jan/Feb time frame. If it sells quickly we can always move into my mom's house, and should I get a J.O.B back east as I'd like, I can crash at my sisters place until the house here sells and we can find a place back east. Plus it's probably not a good idea to try to move east in the winter, it will be too much of a shock to the system and I'm sure Kathy would freak out. On the upshot, since joining the social networking scene Kathy seems much more agreeable to being back there. Linking up with former friends and classmates is fun in the virtual world, and hopefully sustainable in the real world. Me? I'm just ready to be back home, to get in better shape (I've lost all technical and aerobic skill since moving), to experience culture, to have a big city close by, and to have real trees again. After being away for 5+ years I will never take for granted large trees, rainy days, cool weather. Atlanta was a lame city, but the cycling was good and felt like I was still home. Texas has the advantage of warm days during the winter, but it's brutally hot the rest of the year and lacks culture other than Tex/Mex. It's a nice place to visit, and I'll have fond memories, but once we get back, I'll never live here again.

That's about all the rambling I have in me.

A Letter to the Madrone Sanitizer....

2008-11-02T15:27:00.002-06:00

... why? Why do you insist on dumbing down the trail to your pathetic level? Why not just stick to the road bike? If you don't challenge yourself, how do you expect to ever get better? The trail is so short in distance, the obstacles are needed, yet you insist on turning a challenging trail into crap. What's next? You should move to Houston, I have a feeling you'd fit right in. Oh, by the way...... if I catch you f#%&ing with the trail, be prepared for a beat down. I've had it with your lame ass cheater lines, removing rock and creating trail damage is my limit. I originally thought you were one of the tri geeks who invades the trail for your off road tri's, but it's happening too often now. I'll be watching....

I try to keep the politics out of my blog but....

2008-10-24T08:37:00.002-05:00

... this was too funny! I'm hooked on Facebook lately.

Up @ 3 am, Insomnia....

2008-10-18T05:24:00.003-05:00

.... is a strange thing. I didn't know it was something that one could/would aquire, but I have. Dr. gave me a sleep aid, I hate them, they make me feel as though I'm watching life through an automobile windshield. Tough part is I'm a monster after a few days w/out sleep and it takes a toll on Kathy. Too late to try to go back to sleep, I have a ride @ 7:00... thank goodness for the interwebs... now if only there were some folks on facebook to talk to. *Note to self, make friends in the UK so you can chat at all hours of the morning

RIP Don Sleeper

2008-10-06T16:19:00.004-05:00

A great spirit lost his battle with cancer today. Don Sleeper was a friend to me in a time when I knew none, he built wonderfully wicked trail for all to enjoy and asked nothing in return. He was a gentle soul and I a better person for knowing him. In lieu of trying to come up with something poetic to say, I thought of a poem I once heard by Rupert Brooke. Rest in peace my friend, you are in a better place.

---------------------------------------------------

The Hill
by Rupert Brooke (1887-1915)
Breathless, we flung us on the windy hill,
Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass.
You said, "Through glory and ecstasy we pass;
Wind, sun, and earth remain, the birds sing still,
When we are old, are old. . . ." "And when we die
All's over that is ours; and life burns on
Through other lovers, other lips," said I,
---"Heart of my heart, our heaven is now, is won!"

"We are Earth's best, that learnt her lesson here.
Life is our cry. We have kept the faith!" we said;
"We shall go down with unreluctant tread
Rose-crowned into the darkness!" . . . Proud we were,
And laughed, that had such brave true things to say.
---And then you suddenly cried, and turned away.

Lost pix of west Texas

2008-09-26T15:54:00.005-05:00

... since I'm no longer using deathstar communications for my mobile, thought I'd wipe my PDA's before selling them. Found a bunch of pix that I don't think I uploaded anywhere. This was the 2008 Mas-o-meno's race.

Social Networking....

2008-09-24T14:27:00.003-05:00

... who knew that it could be so much fun? Since I have time on my hands lately, and my bud Kev has been riding me lately to do the facebook thing, I decided to take on Facebook as well as Linked In. Apparently I already had an account on Linked in... wow didn't even remember doing that. Updated it, and loaded some contacts, who knows might find that lead for a job back east via the web. Facebook is proving to be much more fun, I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon enough, but for now, as Gary says, it's like interactive email. The added bonus is that I've seen names and faces that I haven't seen or hear of in years, some close to a decade or two.... man, when did I get old all of the sudden?

In other news, I'm thinking it's time to replace my old digi cam. My sister recently got a Panasonic Lumix 8.1, it's small enought for biking trips, has a good display, and is cheap @ $159.99. The biggest issue I have purchasing it is that last week the big box retailer selling it was offering a 1GB SD card free with purchase, this week it's a lame little tri-pod. I know, I know splitting hairs. Who knows maybe the little tripod thin will come in handy on some solo rides.

3 days 3 rides

2008-09-22T10:01:00.003-05:00

... Friday hooked up with another VA expat (Halfinch to you MORE types) and rode out at Flat Rock Ranch we got a bit of a late start (my fault) but had a good ride and got out of there before it got dark. The different part for me was that it was the first time I've been on a non-fixed bike in several months. Coasting is fun!

Saturday, I rode with Shawn at my local stomp'n grounds it was a less than stellar ride, I was back on the fixie and just couldn't get in the groove. I had a flat, shortly there after Shawn flatted, so we decided to call it a day and cut out after about 1/2 of the ride.

Sunday... my bum was sore, my hands bruised, but that wasn't going to stop me from getting a ride in. This time Government Canyon. I always forget what a fun place this is, nice and rocky, good climbing, nice vista's... this place has it all, well everything but water. I felt pretty good most of the ride, wasn't pushing myself (didn't have coffee always bad) and then we hit the climb @ wild cat. I felt strong and ended up finishing the climb strong. The downhill out was brutal, and something in my handlebar set up was really taking a toll on my hands... numb and sore, I'm thinking the ESI's aren't quite broken in, might have to switch over to OURI's.

Monday... reality check. I really need to do something about the job scenario. I really had it in my heart that I was going to take advantage of this time to get a job back east, and while I still would love this, the logistics are almost impossible. I have a house to sell here, a wife, daughter, and two dogs to get back there, not to mention all the junk.

Home, no thanks to Ike...

2008-09-12T06:58:00.002-05:00

... got home yesterday after 11.5 hours in the car, the trip should take ~ 8.5 hours. Remind me to tell you later how much I hate Houston.

Had a good visit with the in-laws. Kathy's brother is doing well, and his wife is busy as always. It was weird being back down there, and I realized that I hadn't been to MS since just after Katrina on our way to TX to live. While Kathy's folks have done a really nice job not only with their house but with the grounds, the area is still very much devastated from Katrina and subsequent storms. Lots of boats still ship wrecked in yards, in homes, on docks, in the road... sad. New Orleans is still a mess as well. The French Quarter was spared during Katrina, but the lower ninth ward was devastated, the scenes while driving around were much like the aftermath of Katrina, homes still boarded up with FEMA X's on them, holes still in roof tops from panic stricken residents creating impromptu escape hatches. The trip made me realize just how much I have to be grateful for.

Damn you Gustov!

2008-09-03T13:13:00.002-05:00

So this weekend is a big ride at Government Canyon there's a big group heading down from Austin & the San Antonio Mojo's will be there too. Regrettably we'll be heading to the Gulf Coast to visit with the in-laws. I suppose it's not so bad, after all we will get to see Kathy's brother & sister-in-law who we haven't seen since we lived in Atlanta. Grrr I really wanted to ride there fixed, but I suppose such a venue is no time to experiment.

Went for a quick ride this morning to my fav. local trail had my tomi cog come loose. Second time in a couple of weeks. I think I need to loc-tite the threads. I also got one pinch flat. Good ride, and last one for a week at least as we'll be out of town. I also have three wheels to lace, it was originally two, but I let a guy try out my franken fixie on last weeks swill ride and he bent my rim jumping a curb... so much so that it broke the seam and I just don't trust it for the terrain around here.

The wife and kiddo will be gone for another few weeks when I get back from the in-laws... thinking it might be road trip time... where to go?

That's it, just wanted to get the random stuff out of my head. Also still looking for any leads back in the DC area job wise.

Cheers,

Idiot!

2008-08-25T11:35:00.002-05:00

So you'll notice that this blog does not contain any pictures of my ride this weekend. Why? Because after taking the time to stop, take some so-so pictures, and even do some trail repair (some lazy fuggers have been cutting cheater lines) yours truly left his camera behind. Argh! Yes it was an old lack luster camera. Yes new ones are better, but the old one worked fine for my camera skills, and it was long paid for. Funny, fxwhl found a camera, and I lost one. The cycling karma does not go without notice. Perhaps I need to ride fixed more?

Cheers,

More Fixie....

2008-08-18T09:14:00.005-05:00

... Thank you Tomi!

Sorry about the picture quality. I'm working on my skills. Any pointers Gary?

I'd like to get to the point where my random point & shoot comes out as well as fxdwhl or Joel's I'm amazed at their over the shoulder shots... maybe I need longer arms?

Camera found....

2008-08-18T09:07:00.003-05:00

.... great thing about 3 year olds, they like to put things in random places. The camera was found in the center console of Kathy's Jeep... it would have been a long time before it was found, but Ella decided her breakfast should go in there, and viola out comes the camera. Interesting thing too, there were about 20 pix saved to the camera rather than the SD card, some 4 years old! Wow, funny.

Here is the after of the bench after I straightend it out, still a mess, but much better.