The Fish was Huge!!!!

I have a a really good week of riding. In fact, I feel better then I ever have before. I did San Felipe 2x this week. My times were 18:20 and 18:32. For those historians, you know those times killed my previous bests. I rode naked with no weight on me. Just one small water bottle, mouth open, standing and mashing pedals for 18 min. I passed some guys and they were like...WTF. I was on fire at the top. I rode some more after that. On the way down I practiced my turns and lines. I now do flat sprints to the stop light and keep a 27mph avg. It is a really god work out.
Today i rode with Scotty. He has gotten much stronger. It was "hecka" windy today. It blew against us for 18 miles out. Once we turned around, we were moving. I don't know how fast we were going since my Garmin was out of battery. I felt really good and I decided to through in Metcalf hill on the return. Yes, the hill that caused me to turn around the last time I attempted it. You might say that I was that hill's B____. Not today, I wanted to ride it since my next century has this hill at mile 58. It is even more nasty then Sierra Road but shorter. I wish I had the GPS going so I could see the ride. It's like when you catch the fish that got away...who do you tell. It's like when you get some digits from that model "Anne" that you met at the club...only to lose the number. You dunk for the first time and when you look around, nobody was watching. High score on "Pitfall" gets erased due to some dust in the cartridge. A shooting star..."did you see that one?"..."Where?" You get the picture. I owned it today. The only guy on the hill. Wind in the face, switchback city, heart was jumping out of my chest...and finally made it to the top. I think by the time I was at the top I was at around 44 miles. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Just a very inspiring ride today. I came back down San Felipe and kept it at 25 mph with the wind at my back.
I took a power nap later and then we went up to concord to meet LL and her friend. All is good.
Word to my hommies in the streets....

Slovang 2007

This year kicked off in Solvang,CA. We signed up for the 25th Anniversary ride. Chris and I are starting early this year so we can hit some goals. Big Poppa Beecher and Momma were already down there living up the life. We left Friday afternoon after they arrived to let the kids be kids with our kids.
It only took about 3 and 1/2 hours to get down there. It was a really pretty ride. I thought of taking K back down to Pismo Beach (where Bugs Bunny skats) after we drove through the town. Solvang was also very nice. We saw all the places that were on the Movie "Sideways". Downtown is a little German town. Our pad could not be in a beter place. IT was only one block from the start. We hung out with Wally and team that night and got our gear ready for the next day.
The Ride:\

It was cooooolld as we started in the morning. So we put on the layers. Wally loaned me his leg warmers since I was going to try and go without. I was glad he did that. The first 20 miles was just rolling hills. By then, the sun had come out and you could see all the vinyards and mountains. We stripped down our layers and kept rollin. The next 20 miles the wind was fierce. It picked me up a few times and blew me across the road. At mile 40 we said good-bye until the end of the day to Wally and we were on a nice paceline for another 30 miles. After one turn, the wind was at our backs....and AHHHHh we were movin. The hills came up and my Sierra Rd training kicked in. I felt really good. The ony thing that was hurting was my neck. The ride was very forgiving as you climbed up a big daddy hill only to be granted a 5 mile drop on the other side. All in all, we finished the ride in about 6+ hours. Big poppy came in about 1 hour after we arrived. It was a really great ride. Thanks to the Beechers for getting a place and sharing the experience.

Now for the next ride. The weather here is calling my name and the bike does not like to be in the garage.

Ready or Not

Well,

I took my last ride today before the big one next week. It was almost 4 hours of hills. Close to 4000 ft of climbing in 60 miles. I was dead afterwards...but now I am feeling much better. The temps were very nice today and it was a perfect day for a ride. I even mixed in some interval training as well which is not really the norm. It will be good to get back on the road next week with Beecher and even the King of Beechers. I just hope I can have enough in the tank at mile 80 when it looks like we are going to hit a monster hill. I took the bike in this week to fix and adjust. I guess I had tweaked my handle bars pretty good. I thought the Hoods were bent down but it turns out it was my bar. All fixed and ready to go now. Just needs to be cleaned up some and get some "Purple Heat" on the chain.

Just a short one for now. I might go longer tomorrow as I would like to give my take on Lost, Amazing Race and American Idol. These and the Office...and oh ya Grey's are the only shows I DVR. (Grey's is really for K...but I think I am hooked) Did I just come out of the closet??

JD

Down Hill Danger

It has been a great week of riding. I had off Monday and Wed of this week. Both of those days I was in them thar hills up yonder. I have found a strength in climbing and a weakness in going down hill.

Monday I rode the Uvas loop. It was a good ride for 50+ miles and the wind was kickin my butt on the way back....of course the way out was very nice. It was like I had Beecher on my front wheel....when he realy was'nt....where were you on the way back. I just put my head down and cranked. I barely made it up Silver creek hill at the end. I pulled into the driveway and K was waiting for me to go to the store...Yikes...maybe I was out too long...but the trooper made no mention. Very Nice..>!

Tuesday was back to work just to get ready for a day off on Wed. It was a long day since I had Monday and Wed off for the week. Work-work-work..it's all the same....I did not have time to hit the spin class that night.

Wed was the day of the Tour De California. I went first to the DMV that day to take my medicine. I knew there would be a fine if I was honest on the registration for California. i knew I should have changed over my stuff once I got to Cali...but I told myself I could just play dumb and say I just arrived. Well, the moment came for me to play that song....and I could not do it...something said just take it like a man and pay your dues. It was a big daddy fine too....I debate now on K's car as to what to do.... I can't be half honest I guess right...eith you are all in....or not... It sucks....Well....back to the bike....
I left for Sierra road and I knew just the spot to park by steed and watch the race. Seems 300 others knew the exact same spot. I did however find a nice bush to hide under for the hour we waited for them to arrive....It was freezin after riding all the way up the mountain then standing around in the wind. That bush was my friend :) Lucky El Guapo did not trim those hedges. It was a joy to see these guys come by. It was right at the time Levi was taking the lead on the hill. I saw myself on TV later that night. I looked like a total Poser. I had my cell phone trying to film the thing. After they all came by I jumped on my bike to try and catch them coming back around the loop into down-town. Here is where I found out how bad I am going down hill. The hill is a crazy going down and I was out of control. People were walking and riding back down and I had to slam on my brakes. I think I am too tall on the bike or my brakes are not good....I just feel like I am going to fly off the road at times.... Anyway, I did make it down the hill and was able to catch Levi and Jens going at it. A memorable day.

Thurs and Friday.....same ol stuff. No spin class on Thursday since Briggs had a WOlf meeting.

Saturday I decided to take some more hills to try and work on my fear of bombing down a hill. I choose to go down Metcalf hill which is steep one. I did ok...still i would rather be climbing. sounds crazy. Again the wind was really crazy....but this time it was on my side on the way back. I only did about 30 miles on Sat since we had a Birthday Party of my Boss. He turned 40 and we went out to a winery and ate some good grub and played in a Bocce Ball tourney. It was all indoors and really cool. The kids had a blast although the Dunfords got eliminated in the first round. Boooo Briggs thought he was robbed..Reagan was amazing...and Eryn just wanted to drink her "cote".

Sunday - just hangin out watching the Oscars and eating some Gulach that seems bottomless.

2 weeks untill Solvang....I hope I am ready.....

"Ich bin ein Berliner"

It's good to be back. After a long 10 days in Europe...it feels good to be back in my own bed. Don't get me wrong, I love Europe, but there is nothing like being back in your relm. Just thought I would give a re-cap of my trip to all my readers.

I left on a Saturday and headed to England. It's a non-stop from San Fran. The nice thing about travel with the company is that your travel in business class. British Air has the best Business class in the Bid-ness. I took upper deck and just kicked it. I watched the Movie "The Prestige" which was not bad. I also watched "A good day" which was ok. We arrived in England and I forced myself to stay up. So I took a walk along the Thames river and people watched. I enjoy just sitting and watching. The weather was actually really nice. That night we ate some grub...(which is not good at all anywhere in England). The next day we did all our presentations to the England folks and flew to Manchester to visit some of our agencies. We ended up in Preston England where I was bumped up to the President Suite and it was a treat.
The next day was pretty cold. We hit two more of our agencies and flew out of Manchester back to my motherland Germany. We landed in Berlin and hit Kurfasterdamn Strasse, found a nice place to eat, and had a big fat schitzel. Ahhhh...the real food. The next day we did our thing and it was a LONG day. We took a train from Berlin to Hamburg that night and got in really late. Now it begins to snow during the next few days as we wrap up all the other agencies tours. I choose to stay a few days later to hang out with my family in Ashcaffenburg. I took the train down and I finished the book "Fishers of Men" Vol 1. It was pretty good.
It was really nice to hang with Oma, Marina and Bernie. We ate at the Schlappe Seller which was VERY good grub and one of Tom's favorite..I can see why. We then went to the REAL to shop for some things to take back. I bought a ton which caused me to borrow a suitcase to take back.
Final day it rained and it was really nice to just hang and read and talked with family. I talked to Oma about my options to move to AZ or Salt Lake. I told her my concerns with both. One concern I have is that sometimes it can be a challenge to live too close to family for us. She says..."Yes, we loves our family......but not TOO much". It was classic. I will need to choose soon. Perhaps after we come back from our SKI trip we will know.
On the plane back I watched Employee of the month, Babel and Flags of our Fathers. All were not that great. Babel was horrible. I was hoping Flags would be better....but it seemed all over the place.
Now I am back to my family, bike, LOST, bed, juice and nice weather. Bikey weather.

I did the Sierra Rd King of the Mountain today with Scotty. We actually did not pay for it, we just joined the masses. It was a great ride. I can't wait to be up there on Wed when the Pro's come to town. I felt really good and at the top I crossed the finish line with the lead group....(I had a 10 min head start on the pelaton) It was great to try and keep up with these guys. It really put things into perspective on how strong they are....and weak I am. We rode down the back and headed back home. I felt really good and the weather was so nice, I stopped at home, filled up my bottles and went out for an additional 20. It was nice. My legs are killing right now but I need to get ready for Solvang or I am dead. I plan to ride on Monday and then watch the Tour de C on Wed.

Well...I need to do my taxes....hopefully we get a nice return so I can spend it....

Young and the Restless

I just thought it was a better title the "days of our lives"!!!

I just thought I would give an upate to what is happening out here. I am back into full swing at work. 2007 is pretty much planned out and it seems we have lost one of our players. My buddy from work as choosen to work for the "Dark-Side" and is moving his family to AZ. He will be greatly missed. We had a mean daily pool game going in in our break room. He beat me 4 games to 2 in our final champion round. It was great working with him. His wife was close to K as well and they hung out alot. I guess it is good they are moving to AZ so we can visit...plus it is a small world in collections. Other then that, work is great. I will be going to Europe in 2 weeks to make the rounds. Then once I get back.....it's back on the bike for some intense training. Speaking of Bikes::::

I have been out every Saturday...I even went out on Monday MLK day. That was where I took on Sierra Road. (There is an article in Bike magazine that talks about America's 100 best climbs.....Mt Hamilton and Sierra road represented for Cali and they are both right down the road from the house. Back to the ride...this was a monster hill.. By far the most difficult of all my rides. You are flat all the way to the base of the hill, you make a right turn and....WHAMMY. It's like a wall. I felt like turning back and trying it another day, but all I could think about was this old guy on the top of Mt Hamilton he told me he used to ride Sierra Rd. in his youth and it puts Hamilton to shame. I thought I had to at least try. I was standing on my pedals by 1/4 of a mile into it. My heart was pounding at 186 bpm and I was moving along at about 5 mph. I finally found a good pace and made it about half way from what it looked like and pulled over. There was no turning back now. Once the heart rate dropped some I was back on. It was crazy trying to clip in where I stopped since the grade was 13%. I kept diggin. Now the two lane road turned into one lane type you see on the top of Alp'de whatever in France. It is not a very long hill compared to others I have been on...only about 5K. I was inspired by all the signs on the pavement where there had been other races in the past. The challenge is that there are no flats or 3-4% grades where you can recover some. I finally made it to the top and decided to go up and over the back side. Looking at the mountains around me I was at the highest spot and I knew it would be all downhill back to the valley. In total it was about a 35 mile loop from my house... I will do it again on 2/17 when they do a "mock" tour de California ride before the real riders come in on 2/21. I will be on the hill both of those days.

I went riding yesterday and I was in a funk. I could not get going. I don't know if it was the wind or this new bib I was wearing. I hated it. I bought a size too small and it cut off all my circulation in all the wrong places. I made my planned 55 miler into a 35 mile loop since I was not feeling well. These guys came by and asked if I wanted to ride with them at about mile 25. I said sure. I knew on any given Sunday I could hang with them...but not today, every downstroke with my right leg felt like my "bizznets" were going to explode. The toasted me....they even waited for me since we were all going back to the same place. Talk about frustrating. I did find an weird riding position (standing up) where I was not in too much pain so I thought I would be able to catch up to them in the hills.....not happening. I rumbled-bumbled and stumbled my way back to the house. I felt like a used rent-a-car. So if anybody is looking for a new biking bib...I will be selling one on eBay for a great price. I hope that was the reason to my pain.

K and I found a new spin class we are going to try out Tuesday night and that will be the test to make sure all my bits and pieces are still functioning.

Well...that's all I got for now. I am working from home tomorrow so it will be nice to kinda sleep in and work in my PJ's.

There and Back again...by Bilbo Baggins

Well, Just thought I would give a re-cap on my trip back home. It seems like a blur so I wil try and make it as clear as I can.

12/25
We had Christmas here at home in San Jose and that was nice. We had thought about spending it with the Beechers but it would have been too much to lug all our stuff down there. So the plan was to just surprise the kids and tell them that we were going on the day of. So...we save the announcement for the grand finale and the kids were like.."awww we want to play with our stuff"..then once they thought about playing with their stuff and the Beechers together....it was not hard to get them in the car. We took 2 cars down to the Beechers since K was going to stay with Christine for a few days on the return trip. We made good time and it was a long day. We hung w/ Chris and Christine that night and watched the kids challenge each-other in a "friendly" game of Scene-it. It was good to hang with Chris and I wish it could have been longer since they are heading up north to Portland for a job transfer. But I guess we will hang come Biking season.

12/26
It was a mistake to think we could just wake up and drive to AZ in 5 hours on the day after Christmas. It seemed everybody else has the same idea and we were all on the road at the sametime. It took us a little over 3 hours to get from Simi V to Palm Springs. Bumper to bumper all the way. It was crazy. The kids were crazy...and fast food was getting old. We finally rolled in around 8pm that night after more traffic when we got stuck behind an accident in PHX> It was nice to see mom and baby Heidi and Missy. Mom had some warm gulosh waiting for us and we chowed down. I think this leg of the trip was where my head cold compounded into head explosion. I wanted to ride the next day so I told myself I was fine....but I was dead.

12/27
I was called myself....or somebody called Kirk and I GOL's. (Gentlemen of Leisure). This was a true day of GOL. I did nothin but hang-out and sleep trying to kick my head cold. K took the kids to see their cousins and I just chilled all day. Watched some football, read some mags and slept some more. It was actually kinda nice. That night we had the annual white elophant exchange party over and grandmas house. We came away with nothin really. I tried to pawn off the "foam-o-nator" I had won to Ethan but somehow it ended up back at my Mom's house a few days later. (I told Kristin to leave it...but she thinks it will be fun in the summer???) Anyway, it was good to see all the cousins and I still can never tell Mathew and Michael apart.

12/28
I can't recall what we did this day. Ohh..We met up with the Beechers at Mattas. I was still getting over my sickness so it did not taste the same and I could not hold it down. The kids were running around the the garden room and we were asked by some snowbirds to keep them in check. I thought Christine was going to check them up against the boards if there had been some around. We met them later that night at the reception of Heather Brady. We also saw the Richardson's as well. Chris and I just hung in the corner watching to see if the Suns were going to beat the Mavricks...which they did not. Later that night we tried to think of something to do....but nothing really panned out.

12/29
Finally got back on my bike and I met up with Redivo and Chris. It was a great ride we took up the Bush and around fountain hills and back. We were movin on the way back. It took me 20 miles to get my head cleared out and I was good to go after that, I went to the Suns game later that night with my Brother. It was good to hang with him as we talked about everything. We caught two Suns shirts as they shot them out of the cannon's....I wonder what the odds were of that happening. It was a blow-out by the Suns but we had a great time...thanks J for hanging with me.

12/30
I went on another ride. This was a bit shorter...around 38 miles. I headed up Ursery pass and around the Salt River and back up Power road. It was a really nice loop. I felt pretty good on the ride. Later that day I had some Pete's Fish-n-chips. That never gets old.

12/31
We went to Church with my Mom. The kids thought it was cool that they did not go to sunday school or primary. I thought it was cool just hangin with Missy and Mom. Later that day we went to Mel's to hang with Tom and the family. They have a really nice place and it made me want to movie to AZ for a second. We celebrated New Years Eve at my Mom's place. K went to bed early and I stayed up with the boys. We went outside and threw some sparklers and made some noise. I have no doubt we woke up some of the folks in the 55+ community my mom lives in.

1/1
I rode the annual tortilla Flat ride with the AZ biking club. What a great ride. I was thinking I would be hitting some heavy hills however I found they were just anthills compared to what I ride out here. I did hit over 2000 ft of climbing but it was pretty spread out. The scenery was NICE.... Sunrise off the Superstition Mountains is one of a kind. I just hung with the main pack on the way there. On the way back I was off on my own for the first few miles when three dudes came by me thinking they were just passing another noob. Not this guy. I stood up and caught them and the caught my breath. There is alot more uphill on the way back and I felt a bit like Lance does in TDF when the mountain stages approach. I hung on the back of the last guy for about a mile when the two guys in front tried to increase the pace and shake me. One guy even stood up in an all out sprint...I let him go cause I knew he was going to crack...sure enough I see him 50 yards ahead flaming out. I kept a really nice spinners pace (thanks to YMCA) and soon I was the dictator. One guy dropped and just two were now on my wheel and I was setting the pace. I took it up to 175 beats a minute and just spun to see if they could hang. Another guy dropped about 1/4 of the mile to the summit and the last guy hung with me. At the top he said..."Nice pull"...and I could see the pain train I delt him. I too was in pain....but I felt great. They of-course killed me on the down-hill as I am still getting used to the new ride...but....did I mention I felt great. Anyway, I loved the ride. By far one of my top five. I will put it on motion based and download it for all to see....

1/2
The return was non-eventful. No traffic...No barkin from the dogs....and Momma cooked a breakfast with no hogg. I got back to San Jose that night and have been working since. No bike time yet....although I took it into the shop to get a tune-up and it is ready to go.....

That should get things caught up. I should get back out on the road next Saturday and hit the spin classes this week....

What's goin on in the Kitchen?

Thought I would just provide an update on the latest happenings of the hogg. I just finished reading Beecher's blog and I am pumped for next year. The goals are as follows:

* 8 century rides...(both organized and non)
* 3500 total miles for the year
* At least 1 Cat 5 race
* HHH sub 5 hours (finish with Cole and Beecher all together)
* Col de Hamilton - Less then 1:50


I think these are all real. I even might bake in a triathalon. We will see how the summer is going. That is one thing about Cali is that there are so many things to do.
This week I hit Spin class both Tuesday and Thurs. I felt pretty good on for both, K joined me as well and she is starting to find her second wind. On Friday, I took the day off so we could do some shopping. We went early in the morning to do Body Pump and that class kicked my butt. I am very sore all over. It was a great class however and really builds your core. My focus during the winter will be to build up my "Planet Core" (star wars 1). I feel that was a huge weakness for me this year and I need to get stronger there. So that means a ton of actvities I hate such as sit-ups and crap. I have been eating pretty good as of late so I can stay lean....although the holiday season does not help the cause. I went for a 40 miler yesterday. I cut it short because it got dark and I was underdressed. I spent the evening tinkering with my seat still to find the best fit. I will take it in for a tune up shortly at the LBS. Ohhh during my ride I was the victim of my first drive my punch. Some punk kids pulled up next to me in their car and this guy leaned out the window and took a swing at me as they passed me. He hit me square in the ass. It did not hurt at all..(since it is rock hard) and they thought it was pretty funny. Cowards!! They will get there reward someday.

Last night K and I went to go see the new Bond movie. Very good if you like Bond. I thought the new guy who plays Bond did nice job. I would recommend this. I give it 3 out of 4 Hammer Gels. K and I did feel bad that we did not get back home until 1 am. It is a long movie...

Work is going good. I have all the countries coming in this week for a leadership focus. I plan on taking some of them to a warriors or sharks game.

They announced the Tour De California 2nd stage and it goes along the route I took when I rode in Napa Valley. Pretty cool. Th third stage will find them in San Jose...just not sure where yet.

I plan on hitting that one as well. Maybe ride to where they will roll by to see if I can sneak in some camera time.

Breaking her in

I took the new ride up the Col' de Hamilton. I felt really good and I did it in under 2 hrs. That is a little above 10 mph. Not too bad for me. I talked to this guy on top and he gave me some ideas on some other rides that are similar. I felt really good all the way to the top. It was really cold but so clear I could see all the way to San Fran. There was a stretch there where I just looked around and thought.."Wow, this is a nice ride". I found out I can go faster down-hill with the new ride. The carbon frame really takes in all the pounding that I normally would feel with my old bike. I love my bike. The seat still gave me some issues but I finally I found a good way to place my booty.
We had a pretty good thanksgiving. K put her foot down so I stayed home that morning and did not ride. We went to Dan/s home and it was really nice. They had a Madden tourney set up and Mark and Chris would be proud of me as I went undefeated. Sure some of my opponents were only 8 years old and I figured out they only ran 2 plays...but I still killed them. I finished their dads off as well with my Peyton to Harrison combo.
Today after the ride we saw the Mvie Happy Feet. It was OK. I would wait for blockbuster. I am going to play some hoop in the morning with some guys in the ward. It has been maybe 2 yrs since I have drove the lane and rocked the craddle backboard shaking, game delaying, dogs crying, cats crying, babies crying...if you ain't movin you best get movin. I hope I still got it...not sure if I ever had it. My conditioning should be fine...but hoops work different muscles. We all saw what happened to Lance in the NY marathon.

Ride it like you stole it!!

I am not sure what just happened but I think I rode 60 miles and I don't even remember it. I went out today on my new ride and I felt like I was one with the bike. It was very nice. A huge difference form the Trek. I did not hook up my CAT so I could not tell how fast I was going...but if it was hooked up, the display would say.."Movin". I rode the Uvas route today and it was a very nice day for a ride. I had to make one seat adjustment about half-way out since I felt it was not a good fit. The only thing wrong was my seat itself. It just does not feel right. I will give it a few more rides before I think to dump it.
I liked the compact and I just need to get used to the new gears. I had no problem moving up the hills around the house. I also had no choice to go higher so that helps. Now I need to clean out the garage some to make a better stable for my Arabians.
I look forward to many more miles and days on my ride. I am not sure what to name her yet...that will come soon enough...

What did I do?

I bought a new Lady. Sure I was inspired by my boy Beecher and his new wheels. I am so pumped. I pick it up Friday I hope. That means a nice ride on Saturday if all goes to plan. I think I will also take an extra day off during Thanksgiving week to get on the road some more. I can't wait. My Trek has done me just right and I will keep it for a rainy day or when I feel like I have neglected her long enough. So, my new ride is a 2006 Giant TCR1 Comp. The new 07's came out so I got a sweet deal from the LBS and they are shipping it up here from San Diego...(That place is like Bike Heaven...they are all born from San Diego). Anyway, I am dropping some Shimano RC 700 compact cranks on the ride as well to make sure I can handle Col' de Hamilton on any given Sunday....I mean Saturday. I will have pics shortly. It comes with all the upgrades. If anybody knows me, they know I debated for days on if I should or not. I finally had a good chat with K and she was all for it...(maybe so she would not feel guilty for hitting the outlet malls) but nontheless...I bought it. 2007 looks like it will be a great year for riding. It sounds like Beecher has all the routes lined up. We just need our long lost Cole Trickle to Trickle his way back to the fold. The way he rode in the HHH this year....he does not need a bike upgrade.
Anyway, now you all know what I got for Christmas. If you had a new bike for Jens on your list this year, you can cross that off and think of something else to get me.

The Look

Today I rode the Col de Hamilton. A buddy in my ward is a mountain/road biker and we went for a spin. We were going to go mountain biking but it was like 100 bones to rent a bike...no thanks..I will stick to free bikes and free roads. I felt great in the ride today. He was having a bad day and I could tell by his breathing after the first hill...the quarterback was toast. I felt very good. In fact, I was movin all over the place, I felt strong standing - sitting - resting. I was giving every soul "the look" when I caught them. I felt so good....I kept it out of the Granny the whole ride. I was lovin it. One of my best rides. I waited up top and can only imagine Beecher doing the same only a few months back. On the way down I realized it was time for a new ride. My bike just does not roll like others do and my wheels are messed up. It's about that time. I will have a new ride come 2007.
Anyway, we will be heading to the Beechers next week and then a trip to Legoland. It will be nice to get away from work for a few days. I am takng my bike with me to ride with Beecher on Saturday. That will be nice and Kristin is going to stay with her sisters for a weekend in San Diego....
Anyway, I am tired and am going to go get horizontal in a minute. \

Hangin up the cleats

Well not for good....just for this year. I will not do anymore professional rides this year as it is time to give my legs and my competition a bit of a rest. I feel like I finished the year pretty strong. In fact I did San Felipe yesterday to see where I am at and I finished with ym best time ever....19:41. I went all out and I passed two strong riders up the hill. I actually feel stronger then I have ever been...while not doing as much training as I hav in the past. I have been doing spin classes almost without fail 2x a week and then a long ride on Saturdays. Next Saturday I am going on a Mountain bike trail all day with this guy from my ward. That should be interesting. I have been doing some more "core" work which I think has helped me. I just feel stronger. I plan on keeping this up over the winter to be ready to hit the road again w/ Chris and team next year. It looks like there is a ride in March that will be the first of many. I can't wait to hit the road again with those guys!! It would be nice to be on some new wheels next year as well....we will see how my bonus goes....Speaking of Bonus, it looks like I hit for the 3rd quarter and it came just in time. Our computer crashed the other night and it has forced us into getting a new one. I had the old one backed up and then Dell did a memory dump and cleaned off the hard-drive. The kids now have that computer and Kristin and I have a new MacBook. Pretty sweet little laptop with all the bells and whistles.
In a few weeks we are lookin

RIDES

Here is a link to a number of Cali rides. It has the Coyote ride.

http://www.cibike.org/page7.html

8 point Buck

I have been in Salt Lake all week. It was a last minute trip to visit our site there and meet some of the teams that support us. It was ice cold and snowing. Very strange for this time of the year. The only thing I like about travel is that you eat good. I was impressed by all the selections Utah had. They have built so much since the last time I was out there. I tried to visit some old mission buddies but I could not find the house. It was a half-hearted effort I will admit. I was tired and it was late when I went for a drive that night. I would not mind living in Utah. You can get some good house for your money. I'm not sure if I could hang with the material side of the city. I still get the vibe of "keeping up with the Jones" when I am out there.

Work is going good. It is the end of the quarter and this month has been crazy. K and I had our Birthdays a few weeks ago. We went to PF chang's and walked around a bit. It was nice to get away and talk.

I have the itch to get a ski boat right now. This itch comes and goes. I know for sure one day I will have one...but for now, I need to keep it real. My "real" itch is to buy a house or some land. For me, that will happen in the next year.

I have been on the bike 3x a week still. Not too bad for me. Today I rode up to the dirt-bike park. On the way there I came across a Buck with a huge rack. It was no more then 10 feet from me. I was a little scared I have to admit. It took one step towards me and then froze. I played it as calm as I could but inside I was twisted up in the game. I rode by it and looked back at it just standing in the road. I thought to take a picture of it, but I took my old cell phone with me that did not have a camara on it. I will keep that picture in my mind at least.

Anyway, I think I am going to go watch some Football. K is out at the womens confrence with Dena and I am here with the kidz. Peace out...and stay classy San Diego.

Life after Death

Well,

Now that the HHH is over, what do I do next?? Last year I went into hibernation and hung up the cleats. It was hard for me to get back out on the bike so I vowed not to let that happen again. SO lately I have been riding 3x a week...if that. I have gone out at least every Saturday for a 40+ and the week days have been filled with some spinning and what not. I kinda like keeping the legs fresh and I have committed to the C Creek Challenge in October. It is only a 62 miler and it is on my turf....so it should not be too bad. The Weather here is really nice. Last Saturday I went out in full leg gear. I don't mind the cold after a few miles under my belt.

I will continue to give updates on my biking adventures...but it will not be the same when I can't talk smack with my boys. So I think I will switch gears a bit and talk about life, Work and family......in no particular order.

Today was chill. We just sort-of hung out. It was Stake confrence and we both looked at each other and knew it would be a challenge to take the kids and sit in the back. So we opted out. Not the right thing to do...I know... I played Reagan and Briggs in "Harry Potter Uno". It was their first time and Reagan kicked our Butts. Briggs said he wanted to join Reagan's team later tonight as they Challenge Mom and I so he cna help Reagan beat us. Mom reminded Briggs that he just got beat 3x in a row by Reagan and it did not look like she needed the help.

Football season has started. It was good to see some games this weekend. ASU is 2-0 and they are in the top 25. I think if they beat Cal, they can move up some more. This big one will be USC. I also watched some Cardinals today against my old team...49ers. I was pretty impressed with the Cardnials. Neither team had a defense at all. Briggs starts flag football in a few weeks. We went to the park the other day. He is pretty fast...he just does not have alot in his tank. He needs to get out some more if he wants to hang for more then a quarter.

Anyway, work is work and I am trying to like it?? Actually it is going good and I will be taking on a couple of HUGE projects in the next few months. More to come on that. I don't see much travel coming up since we are conscious of our budget. Fine with me.

That's all I got in my head right now....late

66... a Highway speaks

What a weekend. It all started at Beecher’s Pad where we embarked on our 18 hour trek to trek. Highway 40 was our route of choice. It runs along to O.G. highway 66. Bono paid homage to this road in the song “heartland”. It was only fitting that we used it. The drive was full of anticipation…which made it much longer. But we pressed on. I even got pulled over and placed in the cop car close to Amarillo,TX. I decided to turn on my San Antonio charm mingled with some talk about how the cop’s wife can use eBay better…..and I got off with a warning.
The next day we finished the final leg to meet up with Mark Bennett…AKA..Yoda....(needs no explanation)….and new AKA…Cole Trickle…(needs some explanation). I enjoyed spending the day with them as we checked in, ate some grub, checked out all the new bikes and expensive things you could add to your bike. We all bought a jersey and agreed to wear the team colors. We also agreed to make new team jerseys for next year. Just need to think of a team name and design. That night we played some madden. I allowed Beecher the pleasure of beating me. We finally got to bed after fighting with the AC. The repair man came by to fix it and Beecher was the only one who understood him. Of-course the AC did not work as it should have and we went to bed sweating and woke up shivering.
The day of the ride was intense. My heart rate was pumping already. I just wanted to get going. 11,900 riders had the same feeling as well. We stood right by the howitzer as it shot off….and we were off. The first few miles were typical 24 mph movin…until the event happened. Just as Cole Trickle decided to go through the smoke, Mark decided to bunny-hop a group of riders that had crashed in front of him. Amazingly, he was fine and we can all laugh about it now. He kept moving. I felt like a million bucks for the first 65 miles. I felt like I could take on anybody and kept a good pace. Even at mile 75 I was a little spent, but I still felt I had some juice in the legs. I took off from the rest stop feeling pretty good. I saw Cole T come in for a pit stop which was a good sign since he could have given up miles ago. As I turned that infamous corner for the remaining 20 miles it hit me, the wall, the bonk, the wind and the stomach. I was in bad shape. I thought I could just hang behind some guys and draft in….nothing doing. I finally made it to the Hot dog stop and but some food in the belly. I could not hold anything down. I could not even drink any water. Really weird. My mind was playing games with me. “Just quit, the other guys on the side of the road are…You need to survive, this is insane just jump on the sag…don’t be a whimp…be a man…is that a rest stop over the hill there?” Yes and it saved me. Mile 90 was where I gathered myself for a good 30 min. I laid on the cot stripped down and just chilled. I was determined I was going all the way. I was about to head out when I saw Cole T. Like a 7th grader in the corner of the gym at the dance. I walked over and asked him to dance. It was nice to see him there and we decided to finish this thing together. We paced ourselves the last few miles and crossed together. What a feeling. I don’t even know my ride time. I just know it was not better then last year. The win in all this was that I finished…and I finished with a great group of guys. We all went to eat that night and I was toast. I could not function until later that night.
The next day we kissed and said goodbye. 19 hours back to the valley. It was good hanging with Beecher on the ride and glad he came along….His kids made a sign for us that said Welcome back. It was also nice to see my kids as well. A special thanks to all the wives…Sam-Christine and Kristin. Thanks for the support. It create a great memory for your husbands……having said all that…here are my lessons learned:
· Drink more water
· It’s not about the bike….I would have finished in the same time with a 5000$ bike then I did with my “lady”
· Pickles really do taste good at mile 90 (if you know me…I hate pickles)
· San Felipe was 80 miles shorter then the HHH
· I have good friends
· There is a Dairy Queen in every small town
· You really can Bunny-hop a road bike
· Heat does crazy Shiz
· Oranges don’t really work for me

Until next year….this chapter has closed. I have another ride in Oct. that I will prepare for…just won’t be the same….

TO ALL the LADIES in the HOUSE!!!!

It's about that time, I will consider this my last post until after the ride. I leave Wed eve, pick-up Beecher then hit the road. I can't wait. My mind has been on it all day. One spin class tomorrow to keep the legs loose. Even considering a Firday afternoon ride to get out of travel mode depending on what time we arrive. Maybe Friday morning where ever we are. I just want to ride. It is like Christmas, this only comes once a year. And this is the grand-daddy of em all. Tonight I clean the bike, just like washing down your race horse before the derby. He knows something is about to happen. The oats I feed him are extra crunchy. Rubbin down those rims will feel very nice to him...or is it a her? And then a touch of the Magic "purple lightning chain lube" tradition from last year. No need this time of taking my bike to some dude who gives me dirty looks because of the way I treated her in the past. I understand now, how I used her and did not take care of her. (He still was a pompus jerk who forgot about the fact he was cleaning bikes for charity). I should have been better to her, but I been this year. I gave her a new chain..(last year I carried a chain in my back pocket because the "jerk" again said it was going to snap any minute....btw...I put on another 700 miles after that race with no issues). I gave her some new handle-bar juice, I gave her some new tires...GP's 4000, and finally I gave her the TLC she deserves.....Sure I have looked for others to replace her...she does'nt need to know that, that's between me and this blog, it ain't cheating, someone once said..."If you look once..your a man...if you look twice.....your still a man. So now I will go clean her up for the big parade, her signal will not be the sounding of a bell but that of two jets and a mini howitzer. To all the other 15,000 riders out there with their "trophy wives", take a good look at my lady as we roll on by....and ask your own lady..."Why can't you be more like her"? And all she will be thinking is......why can't you be more like him!!

10 days

San felipe split...20::26.... That is as good as I get for now. I was flying up the hill...for my standards. Kristin is back and it is nice to have her and the kids here. It is not good for man to be alone. I will be working from home tommorrow so that will be nice to hang with the kids some more....
I have two spin classes left, one 50 miler on Saturday and I should be ready. I bought a new from tire to match the back so no more party in the front....it's all BIZNEZZ. Anyway, things are going good at home and work....peace out

The Ride vs. the Rider

What a day, I kind of discounted the title of my last blog by calling it "Nappy". So I apollocreedigize. It was an epic ride. You can follow along with a Map if you would like. I arrived in Younville around 8am. It was kinda cold and misty. I parked at the Veterans home and saw a bunch of guys in eletric wheelcahirs with American Flags on the back. Kinda got my juices going. Yountville is a really nice town. Tons of shops and roadies on their bikes sippin their Java. I headed out to the Silverado trail which is the main-strip of wine tasting and bike tours. I turned left and headed towards Sage Canyon road. Enough of the flat stuff....head to the hills I say. The sun came out just as I hit the lake. I made a left turn on Chiles Pope Valley road. This was another canyon that puts the "Scenic Loop" in San Antonio to shame. It was sweet....and 15 miles of riding along a river grapes. I thought, not too many hills...this is nice. I finally got to Pope Vally and made a left on Howard hill road..(I think that is what it is called). I hit a wall. They call it "ink Grade". 3rd toughest climb in all the valley and it smacked me in the face. I said bring it....It now made sense all the days on San Felipe....I have prepared for this moment. After about an hour and close to 3000 ft of climbing...I made it to the top. Up and over into a Seventh-day adventist College town that looked over the valley and you could even see the Golden Gate bridge in the distance. The descent was crazy...but it felt good to get in some "free" miles. I came back to the floor and hit the Silverado trail. I headed back to the truck to re-charge and fill up the fluids. THen back on the trail to Napa city. All in all, 67 miles. Not too bad. I feel I might have gone longer....but that hill toasted my legs. Next week it's Hamilton...and I will be ready. I am debating on doing a long flat ride to stay on the bike some more because my back was not feeling too good after today. That seems to be my Kryptonite. A little late now to have discovered it....but every Superman has one. I would have enjoyed it more with Beecher or even Salty on my wheel....maybe someday....They will be on my wheel soon enough.....