When in Laveen.....

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there.... I don't know how we do it.....but we do. Even a Happy Fathers day to Ricky Bobby.....Shake and Bake. Friday night, I treated myself to Performance Bike shop to pick up on some much needed supplies. I took Briggs and Reagan as they needed some "Dad" time...or at least mom needed some "Mom" time. I picked up some tubes..(having all kinds of flats this summer), a light set....(way too hot to ride during the day...going to try my luck on some night riding), some Hammer Gels....(its Hammer Time), some Lube....(White Lightning sounded really fast.....and that is what they called me in High School) a new Bib....(Needed something that was going to keep all my bits and pieces in place as well as protect my arse for STP), new gloves....(my old ones were...well...old).
So, since I had not been putting all the miles needed to train, I made Saturday an epic Century ride. I was to leave the house by 5am....but actually did not get out until around 6am due to a late night....ah-la...Euro 2008 cup. My Goal was to ride from my house to South Mountain and back. A total of about 98 miles. I made it to the base of South Mountain in no time. I had a slight tail wind and there was little traffic.... I decided to also add some miles by climbing all the way to the top....I thought "When in Rome"....or rather...."When in Laveen,AZ". South Mountain is about a 5 mile climb and is no Col de Hamilton...but in the middle of a century....it can be a deal breaker. I actually made it too the top and felt good. I did run dry on all my fluid but knew I had 6-7 free miles heading back down to the valley. I re-filled at Circle K, which is a local stop for many riders. Little did they know I had 50 on my Garmin already and was looking at another 50. I headed back the same way...opting not to take the shorter route and avoid the lights. It was a bit windy but not too bad...just started to get really HOT. I had enough fluids but my body started to cramp-up. I could not tell if it was the heat or just me. A couple of times I had to jump off the road and run behind the bushes.....all False Alarms. I was at about mile 85 when I took the phone out of my bag and looked at it. Do I call...or do I gut out the last 15 miles? I kept riding for a few more and every time I drank a tiny bit of water..it felt like somebody was playing jump rope w/ my intestines. So I called at mile 88....K came out and picked me up. Good thing she did. The minute I got in the door......it was airbrush time on the pot. Sorry to sound so gross...but it was the Philippino kind where you are sweating....shaking....and holding on..... Kristin had it the night before and I knew this was a bug we had had in the house. Thankfully I was able to get in all the miles I had.
After all that, we had a Fathers Day party with Kristin's family here at the house. It was BYOM..(meat) and we swam and B-B-Q. I have been doing some swimming lately after my rides. The pool is really nice right now..(I hired a new pool guy...I give up!!) and swimming really helps stretch me out after a ride.

Well that is about all that is happening. I have a few more weeks before the big day. We are still debating on Flying or Driving...$$$ both ways....Where are those DING fares>>>??

What the Hail!!!

What a change!! We were at the doctors and got in the car....I watched this storm roll in and the temp went from 80 to 49 in about 10 min and w got dumped on. The next few days we warped back into San Antonio as we got dumped on here in "Sunny" AZ. It really made us miss the buckets of rain that used to come down as we sat on the back porch in SA. The temp is beginning to come up again....but it has been VERY nice.





So here is the little one. Will Rudi Dunford. He is another "mini-me"....or Mini-Briggs. He and Mom are doing great. Eat-sleeps and poops.... Again....mini-me. I have been playing MR. Mom all week. It has been fun hanging more with the kids and trying to get some time with Will on my chest...my fav.

I have only been able to get in the miles this weekend. The weather has been nice but wet. The other day I sat in my truck w/ the bike in the back watching the rain dump down and lighting all around. It would have been easy for me to call it a "good atempt" but I jumped out....and hit the road. I figured if it did not hail and I could dodge the bolts I would be good. I am glad I got out....always nice to jump into the car after a good 50, wet to the bone and sweating underneath. I got out Saturday as well....but for whatever reason...my legs felt like crud...so I kept it under 30 miles. Today was much better after a day of rest and I put in a flat 50..... Not the miles I need to logging...but enough to ensure a balanced Mr. Mom attack.

Now comes the balance act of Rides, Mr. mom and back to work...

I thought I would never say this...."Go Lakers"

Highs and Lows

I guess since the last time I posted...I have experienced some highs and lows. An obvious low was the Suns laying down during the playoffs. What a Buzz-kill. Not sure what next year will bring. The west seems to get better and better. It will be fun to watch. I am now watching the Hornet/Spurs series. Chis Paul seems light years ahead of Steve Nash. He totally controls the game and makes the Spurs look like they don't belong. It hurts even more to know the Suns lost to these guys.

The baptism w/ Reagan went great. She is a special girl and I love her. She always gives the biggest hugs and cares about everybody. Thanks to the Beecher boyz for lending the Beecher girlz for the weekend as well....they really helped out. Even made it possible for me to sneak out and get in a couple of rides.

Riding has been steady. I love watching Cycling Sundays. Gets me pumped for the week. I have been getting out at least 3x a week and putting in close to 100 miles. Still need to up the mileage according to the charts if I want to be ready for STP. I feel stronger each time I ride. It is getting really hot right now. I have never seen AZ so windy before. Maybe its because I ride now and the wind is always noticed. I went for a ride today during lunch. It was my new 22 mile loop. The last few weeks, the wind is in my face all the way out...but once I make the turns I am movin. Today...it was nutz. I was coming down hunt highway and I looked out into no-mans land and saw the largest dust devil.."tornado" I have ever seen. Looked just like one of those "Storm Chasers" scenes. The thing was moving and on my tail. Cars were honking at me cause they were trying to get out of the way. I felt the wind begin to go calm...then it whipped up al around me...I actually jumped out of my seat and smashed the pedals. It looked like I was past it but then it turned right for me. I got off the main road and a cop was heading the opposite direction...he looked at me...then the blob behind me...and just shook his head. I call it my sprinting power that out ran that thing...step aside Chippolini....JD hogg can sprint. I know....it sounds like the "big fish" story that nobody saw me catch.....but this was category 5 of dust devils. It was black.

Anyway......just waiting for this baby to come....will keep you posted.....

Heartbreak Hotel

On the road: Last week I was able to get in 3 days of riding. My first 100+ week. Beecher has put in 7 or 8 of them. I got my work cut out still if I want to hang for 200. I got out today for another 25 and it felt nice. Saturday, I found a new route that was behind my house in the flat lands. I found a nice road hwy 87 with a "kinda" bike lane that took me to Coolidge. It was not that bad except for the wind. Also, they had 'Country thunder' in the area so there was a ton of traffic. I got in about 55 miles. Not too bad.

The real reason I am bloggin today is to dump my frustration out after game one. It was really a great game....but to lose the way they did......MAMA SITA. I was in agony...totally depressed that night as we went to the D-Backs game....which they won....take that all you Padre Fans. I knew their total domination of the game could not last... Typical Suns fashion. Coach Mike D'Antoni can't seem to put a team away. Great regular season coach. It's play-offs baby. Coach Pop or even Sloan would go Ape-Poop if their team allowed for this. So many chances....too many to name.......Dingo dung. I still have faith. Suns actually played well for most of the game. This series will go 6 games. Suns will prevail. If they don't...I am taking my son out to the court and teaching him how to fall down when somebody sneezes on you. Might be the only way to win championships by the time he gets to that age. The least it will get you is a 6th man of the year award :) It's too bad. I can see why people don't like soccer at times....all the acting. Now it is beginning to spill onto the B-Ball court. Darn you Vladi Divac for introducing the flop. Now even Kurt "Denzel" Thomas is doing it. (Notice he never did it last year while he was w/ the Suns). OK....no more bashing the Spurs. I tried to like them for all the years that we lived there...but the crying after each "no-call" and the flops convinced me otherwise. I will be at my sons Baseball game tommrw night......My hope is to get back in the car and hear Al McCoy say..."Suns tied up the series and they are coming back to Phx". We will see.......

Anyway...more to come....

On the road again...kinda

Well,

I thought I would let all know that I am officially back on the road. I have put in three weeks of consistent rides so I feel like I am on the right track....and can say I honestly "ride".

Last week I rode the Tour De Phx. It is a 75 mile course that winds in my old stomping grounds as well as close to where I work. So I was very familiar w/ the area. I met Dan, who once rode this course as a cat1-2 pro (when it was 100 miles he finished under 4:30) a few years back and he was pumped to be riding it again. All in, there were about 1000 riders. I knew the first 20-30 miles would be fast. We took off, and the next thing I knew, Dan dropped me in the first 2 miles. We were avg. about 26 mph for the first 20 miles. It was flat and intense. I was just gripping and holding on. I later discovered the disadvantage I had riding in a race like this using a compact crank. I felt like I needed 2-3 more bigger gears. I was spinning in my biggest gear pretty fast. I also discovered something a week later, riding in my biggest gear caused my chain to become stiff and there was no oil on these cogs. Enough excuses..? Did I mention I had a wooden leg?? Anyway, after about mile 25...we hit Shea blvd which is right by my work and I hit a wall. Yep...that freakin wall...at only mile 25??? I think going so fast hanging w/ a group that I really should not have been with...burnt me out. I know I had another 50 to go....so I regrouped w/ a slower paceline going up Shea hill. I actually did well going up hill and dropped the group I was in and caught up with the lady...I know...wheel sucking on a girl...but she was a beast there are no laws when the wind is in your face. (I actually did get out in front of her and let her hang on to the top)...but she did a ton of work. The next 20 or so miles were really uneventful. It was the last 10 that takes you up Ursury Hill. I thought I did ok here as well. We joined up with the 26 mile racers here so it was a big group of us movin up the hill. Down hill after that and into the finish line. My goal was to finish under 4 hours...where I actually came in +9 min of that. I will take that I guess considered my wooden leg and all. My neck of course acted up again and I need to see if the LBS can do anything about how I sit on the bike before the STP. All in I was ok with the ride. I will ride it again next year and have a goal to finish under 3:30.

I got out on a few lunch rides and also yesterday...where I tweaking w/my bike some and discovered my chain issues. Once I cleaned them and oiled them up...I felt really strong. Not sure if it was the chain, me or the cleaning acting like a placebo...but I felt really good on my 35 miler yesterday. I fear I need to put in more miles on Saturdays if I want to hang w/ the "Beast" Beecher come this summer. My goal is to ride at least three times a week from here on out. I will keep readers updated. Also, for those of you who don't know, I am signed up for the STP (Seattle to Portland) ride in the summer. 200 miles in one day. Freakin nutz I know....but that is my only goal this year. I will also ride the Tour de tucson at the end of the year to close it out...goal is to beat last years time by 45 min. (this means fewer stops and of course faster pace)

Well...that is about it. I look forward to watching Western Conf play-offs in the next week and the Sun is beginning to wram up the pool....perhaps some swimming to strengthen up my core.

Check-In

Just thought I would check in --

A new year and I have only been on my bike for 2-3 days. Not good at all. I have been sick for about 20 of the 23 days of the year. I never get sick. And now, I carry the "curse". I think some of it has to do with not riding....you don't ride...you get sick is my new rule of thumb. So once I kick this...I am back on the saddle.

I will be doing some travel to the motherland shortly which will also give the itch again....also it will add a few "Schnitzel" pounds on me as well.

Work has been really busy getting stuff set up for the new year. I think we have a pretty good plan. Meg Whitman announced her retirement today which should make things interesting this year. I think net/net it was a good move. Can't worry why the Chicken crossed the road.

We had a fun weekend of skiing. I guess I can call that a workout. It is amazing what muscles you use while you are on the slopes. Briggs went with me and we had a good Father/Son day. He struggled some at first but picked it up and we had a good day.....just a few too many folks on the hills.

We stayed the long weekend w/ the Brittons which was nice. They are our neighbors and have 5 girls. We played Schoutz and Farkle and the kids played in the snow all day. Eryn was sick....but she still had fun. She said..."Dad...I miss my toys at home...right?"...I said "yep"....then she asked...."do you miss your Black Refrigerator"? Not really sure what that means....perhaps this is my new "Golden Calf"...another reason I need to get back on the bike.

Anyway....hope you are all having a good year. I will update after my travel.

Happy Holidays from the Hogg

It has been too long once again. I thought I would at least drop a line. I am eating well right now for the holidays as a bear does before the long winter. Only I have hopes that this Bear gets out of the cave during the winter. Winter should not be that bad here....however..the other day I went for a bike ride where it was about 45 outside. The kind of cold where you get in the shower and your gums are still frozen.

Anyway, I hope everybody enjoys their holiday season with family and friends as will I. talk to you all next year....

JD

Off the Road...and Back on??

So it has been many moons since the chief has placed smoke signal on blog. Time to smoke peace-pipe and review my history:

I was riding and running all over the place getting ready for the Fountain Mountain. Do you remeber that movie "Running Brave" with Robbie Benson....I loved that movie....I just don't like to run as much as I used to. I went on a few epic bike rides and I felt I was ready to ride it like I stole it. The swim would be scary and I thought I could survive the run.....

A few days before the event, I developed some massive chest pains and found out that I needed my gal-bladder removed. Now, one would think this was a ploy to get out of my race...not so. Beecher knows....maybe even Trickle....although this might be something Trickle would craft up before a race with the boys. Anyway, I had my operation and I live to tell the story. I am thankful for all the support from K and the kids....my elders Q who came over that night and gave me a blessing, the Beechers for their Prayers and thoughts of me not on the road.....Deena and Paul for everything.....mostly the Chicken noodle soup. Also my work, they were very supportive and I did not worry one bit.

Of-course I bought a non-refundable Disney Vacation package and you try and tell a 3 year old that we are not going to the Happiest place on earth. So I sucked it up and just went along for the ride. The kids had a great time as you can read on K's blog...I dare not give any details as she covered it very nicely. We had a great time and now we just need a vacation from our vacation.

I plan to get on the bike this weekend to spin the pedals and see how it feels. I have the tour de Tucson in November to get ready for. It is a 109 miler around the city. I hear it is a really nice ride.....Just need Beecher to sit behind on this one...

The weather has been really nice as of late and I can't wait to get back on the road. If I don't, I will get chewed up and spit out by the peleton.

Anyway....I just thought it has been way too long for me to post. I hope as I get the rides going...so will the posts...

JD's other Names

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: Toby Tundra

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: Banana-Strawberry Chocolate-Chip

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: J-Dun

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: Green-Bear

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: Phillip Temple

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: DunJe

7. SUPERHERO NAME: The Blue Milk

8. NASCAR NAME: Rudy Blaine

9. STRIPPER NAME: Boss Snickers

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: Blaine Cathrine

11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: Meyers Milan

12. SPY NAME: Spring Daisy

13. CARTOON NAME: Banana Shorty

14. HIPPY NAME: Waffle Pine

15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: The Biking Rain Tour

No Pics - Red Mountain

I think my Blog is kinda lame because I never have time to find pictures...or even take them... Oh well...the pleasure will be just to see my words and not my grill...not sure which is worse.....

I finally made brother take a day off and go for a longer ride with me. We did a double loop of Red mountain. It was his first real attempt on hills and some sketchy downhills. We also rode w/ DR who met us at 6am for the 2.5 hour tour. The first loop had my brother learning how to "find a gear" and not try to keep jumping out of the saddle to play catch-up. He made it up the hill and it was a really nice view looking over the valley. We kept a nice pace on the second loop and saw three huge Buck's run across the road no more the 10 yards in front of us. Kinda cool...well back to the "Bucks" on the Bike. The last hill I felt really good and figured it would not be bad if I left the group and waited up top. I can't wait for the weather to get cooler in the morning because I was bakin at the end of the ride.

My plan is to start to get out and run some as I am in training for a TRI in October. I have not ran in 10 years. I used t run 10K's almost every weekend as a kid. I am not a kid anymore....The TRI will be a 1 mile swim, 45 mile bike and 10K run. I think I can hit te swim and bike...the Run.......

I will keep you all posted on how that goes......

On the Road again

I post as much as I ride....So what does that say..? I have not been on my steed as much....and I wnt for a real nice ride yesterday. It has been too long. The legs for some reason feel really good. It felt like I was coming off a rest day on the TDF and I was ready to hammer. I went w/ a buddy of mine Dan R. Beecher and I rode with him a few months ago around fountain hills.
We started out flat to ride to the only hills in town....I miss the hills. As we started our 3 mile climb, I felt the legs kick in and had a really good spin. We both were movin and caught the local club about 1/2 way up. Two guys broke from the club and sat on my wheel the remaining 1.5 miles to the top. It was nice to set the pace on the hills. These guy most likely would have blown me away on the flats....but they decided to ride the hills today...and their can only be one king of the hill. The good thing about AZ is that it gives me some "heat" and flat riding. All in we did about 48 miles. All I have been able to ride as of late has been Saturday mornings. It is still hiizzot and hard to get out after work. Living in AZ however will give me the chance to ride year round. All the century rides and races are during the winter months. It also gets all the drunk boaters off the roads so i can ride around the lakes and hit the canyon lake hills....I still plan on doing a TRI in October. I need to get out running. We have been doind tons of swimming in the pool. My brother starts fire academy training in a few weeks so he will have his Saturdays free for us to do some longer rides. He needs the "look", needs to feel the pain train.....that is what

Clubber Lane's prediction is to the fight..."Pain". (I just watched Rocky III yesterday).
Work is going good from home. I do miss the office life at times but will soon get that back as we begin to staff up in Scottsdale. I will be doing a Europe tour at the end of the month....and then Asia in Oct-Nov. Both places are known for biking so maybe I can get on some dudes wheel in Shang-hi or Bangkok and give him the look as I blast him out of the water. That would be funny... Ask him..."you ready to bleed", and see his strang look while I jump out of my saddle. Sure he has 50 pounds of rice on his back and one gear.....but he also has home court advantage.

The kidz are great. Eryn still says "right dad?" after every statement. Sometimes I am not sure what I am agreeing to. I need to always be paying attention or she might think that Monsters live under her bed. The older ones are now taking piano. they both seem to like....except for the practice thing.

This weekend they held the HHH. I kind of missed it and I feel like I need to get back to it next year. So Trickle and Beecher...."it's on like donkey kong". Or maybe it's the Ragbri..???

out

AZ dayz

I thought I would do a brain dump of events that have happened before they begin to pile up with vacation coming this week.

We are finally here is AZ. A bit of a homecoming for us as we have been in San Antonio for 5 years and Cali for a little over a year. We love our new home. It took two truckloads and trips to get our stuff here. That is right, two 14-hour radio only, driving in the right lane, 118-degree heat trips. It was SOO nice to finally have all our things again under one roof. It is also nice to not be renting anymore. I will see how much deposit we get back as our landlords gave the house a true white glove inspection. You can’t believe the things they were saying needs cleaned or fixed. More to come on this one.

Work from home is going well. I completed one full week so far. I wake up, shower, put on some shorts, shut the office door and work it. I do miss the social aspect of things at times and it does require a new level of discipline that I have not experienced since being on my mission. I will be traveling some in the near future…but for the most part, I will be flipping switches here at the casa.

I have been able to get out riding 2x now. I rode once on the 4th of July. It was hot even getting out at 6am. I was just riding, looking for routes and getting the lay of the land….when POP…. My rear tire blew. I changed it but made a total bonehead rookie move and did not check to see if anything was sticking in my tire. I just threw in a new tube and off I went. 2 miles later I thought about this missing step and looked down….sure enough, the back tire was getting flatter with each stroke. No tubes, no air, and I was done. I called K and she came and picked me up. Not a good day. 20 miles in total.

Yesterday however was a great day. I hooked by brother up with my old Trek and we went to the bike store Friday night to get him all the gear. That night we “pimped” his new ride and he was ready. The next morning I headed out at 4:50am. Jason’s place is about 12 miles from our house and we needed to ride early since he was working. We went for a 20-mile loop. His first ride and I think he had a good time. I even turned it up a few notches at the end to get the heart rate up some, as this was his first experience we kept it light. He is already in very good shape as a firefighter he runs, lifts and swims so I think it was my heart rate that was taking the beating. All total was close to 50 miles for me. No flats but all flats. I miss the hills!!! This week we are gong on Vacation to San Diego. I have mapped out several rides and I plan on logging a ton of miles both in San Diego and back here when we get home.

Just a couple of other notes. Briggs and I saw Transformers….not too bad. We both really liked it. Tour De France started this week….it must be biking season!! This is also the week I was going to ride STP w/ Beecher. Sorry it did not work out. I will be there in spirit when you begin to start seeing things at mile 180. GOOD LUCK!.

More to come after this week’s vacation….I will be horizontal as well.

Wicked time in Boston

Too many days have passed since my last post. Let me re-cap what has happened since my last post. Bob Barker said good-bye, My brother got accepted to Gilbert Fire academy, my sister to Nursing school, Dirty Spurs swept the Cavs, Steve Kerr is now GM of Suns, my house is full of boxes, Briggs and Reagan passed off all 13 articles of faith, Eryn is still asking questions, Briggs became an actor, all the good TV shows have ended, I went on some EPIC rides along the coast…(going to really miss all these rides)…Thanks Scotty for the tours, Briggs tossed an egg off a building and it did not break due to our contraption we built, K learned how to make some sweet Mango shakes…thank Toby, I taught K how to make Spetzula today….except hers included glass ☺, I went to Boston…..had a GREAT time at eBay live, met Suzie Orman, attended the first ever game between the Giants and Sox…Fenway park was almost a spiritual experience:





Anyway, did I mention we are moving this week? It will be crazy!! Thursday we load up and Friday we move out. So until I get things set up out there, I will be away from the blogging. I know…I know….you all will miss my posts, but I guess it is like a season finale for me as well. Adventures will continue from our old stomping grounds AZ. This is ending almost as bad as the Soprano’s finale. I better bail before I start talking about life in general…..

Lost-Suns-Bike rides-Family

So much has happened since my last post. I was brewing with confidence before my last post that the Suns were going to TCB. But the MVP Robert Horry took out two players and the series was over. So hard to look to next year. But at least I will be in town to catch some more games. I try to pull for the Spurs now....but i just can't. The damage has been done... It hurts to say let's see what happens next season...I guess I have already said it...so it did not hurt that bad. I will predict the Suns will make a trade that will involve Boris Diaw.

Lost was great. The "beard-man" make-up artist who had the hottest job in town a few seasons back was called back in action. Who knows what will happen next season. I am a bit sad they are going to bring back Walt and Michael back. I can stand those characters....If I hear Michael say "WALT" and see those huge chiclets in his mouth one more time....I am going to the island myself and go Mr.Eko on him. That is who they need to bring back....freakin Mr. Eko and his stick to throw-down. I would like to hear Bill Walton make the call..." Mr. Eko throws it doooowwnn. Look at the way he moves with that club....Amazzzzing" I do like that fact that Sawyer actually pulled the trigger. He has killed two guys off in the last two episodes. I thought it ended great...opened up a new box and Kate was a bit too dolled up. Can't wait till October...

Bikes have been good to me lately. I have been riding a ton with Scotty who has put together somre really nice rides. He has a book of the best rides in Nor Cal and we hit em. From Half-moon bay to PCH1 to Palo Alto to Foothills to woodside and La Honda. I am trying to get all the rides in I can before we head out. I have about one more weekend then I am booked.

Family is doing great. Briggs has a talent of singing that he is beginning to discover. Reagan is going to an artist of some sort and Eryn will be the jack of al trades. She knows more about Pokemon and Polly Pockets then any kid in town. She is a sponge. She is still in question mode. What do worms eat? What do bee's eat? Are there bee's in my room? There are no bee's in my room right dad?....say "right" dad!!!

Right!

Weekend Update

Not much happened this week between me and my bike. I just did a spin class on Tuesday and that was it. It is bike to work this week so I will mount my steed for a few trips into work. A total of 30+ miles roud trip...I just hope those drivers out there can see the "German Blur" go by them. Perhaps I can put n 150 this week?? Health wise I feel really good. I got my test results from my doc and all systems are go.
We are still planning our move for June. It will come quick. K and I are going to Boston for a week in June. That will be great. We are going for the eBay live concert and plan on catching a game at fenway when they play the Giants. Should be wicked awesome.
My boy Richardson is out on AI. Blake is still alive but he is hanging on by a very thin piece of floss. Jordan will win the contest for sure as she has improved each week. I think this was a master plan by her as she strategically showed her cards one at a time. What a master plan!!
I can't talk about the Suns right now. Not now. Wait until Monday night...then the words will flow!! Amare...stay stong and keep it dirty dawg, Nash...do what you do, Bell..ring it, Barbosa....beep-beep, Marion...take it to the hole, THomas...spot up, Diantoni.....I need a few more f-bombs ans we can win this thing. One more thing we need....is more cow bell!!!

The Bonk

When you have'nt been on the bike during the week, one assumes a day in the hills will make it up. Last Saturday I hit Skyline hwy 9 up to Saratoga. It is one of the most popular rides in the bay area and Scotty told me we had to do it before I moved back to AZ. So after coordinating a "hairy" elders Q move (5 dogs-5 cats-30 years of stuff needing to be moved into a garage) we hit the hill. It was a classic 8 mile unforgiving climb. We did a few more miles on the top and then coasted down. It was a very nice 30 mile ride.
Last Saturday I hit the monster Col de' Hamilton. I felt like I was on drugs for the first two hills. I was eating up riders and I even think I gave a couple of them the look as they tried to drop me. I had a couple a guys that I knew were strong so I kept them in my sights up the final 7 mile climb of 4000ft. I was completely confident that I would hang on these guys wheels and I knew exactly where I was going to jump out of the saddle and hammer. About a mile before my kick, I ate my final power bar, drank some water and my body just shut down. It was weird. I almost pulled over cause I got the chills and felt like I was going to puke. I of-course got dropped and just spun up the hill. I actually finished the ride 4 minutes faster then I ever had before 1:49. I took my free miles back with me to the house. A total of 60 miles. Not a century like my boy up north, but it did the job for the weekend.

We put an offer on a house and they are happy with it...SO it looks like things are moving forward...more to come on this one...We close on Jun 20th....

Pics

Warren, "Garbo" Mitchell, Big Daddy, Dayanan, Santos and Farlie



The Warriors have come out to play.....Bring it!!



'The Last Star-Fighter" Briggs..........W/ Ski Bunny Mom in the background



Before




After!!! Snap-Crackle-Pop went my neck....





"What's goin on in the Kitchen....but I danno whats cookin" --Coolio

American Idol

Before I talk about my life, I wanted to make a few comment about AI. I picked two guys to win it all. Chris Slye and Chris Richardson. Curly fro Chris is gone. But my JT wanna bee is still around. I can't stand "Big eyez" but I don't mind "Legs". As my boy Scott said about Doolittle, "I am tired of her Ms. innocent routine..."Who me, I am a good singer? What...I can't beleive it". The act is over. Queen Laquifa is great singer but will never be the next idol. Sparks is the dark horse.. Blake will make the final three...but we will fade. Although his career will be bigger then the winner...unless it is Richardson. And Sanjaya, poor kid, he is like the kid who was not invited to the party, but has no problem drinkin from the keg.

***A note to my kids who will one day read this, "This cannot be used against me in any way for gain"

Back to my life. SO much has happened since the last time I posted. I did catch that fish "Metcalf Hill" 2x over this last week. It is such a challenge and it really gives me a workout I can feel...Anyway...

Salt Lake was cool. A special shout-out to Amy and Joe for taking care of us. Joe is the man of Ogden. He knows all and all know him. I will give him a new name..."Mr. Mayor". Also some props to Sally on the corner with her Roller Skates Saturday night. Light it up!! Amy was great watching the kids for us while we hit the slopes. I am sure K will post all the pictures if I can't find em. Briggs and Kristin wanted to ski and not snow-board. The first hill they both were crying and Briggs had his ski's off walking down the Hill. It was a nightmare. But they both stuck it out and by the end of the day, they had it down. You could not ask for a better day. I took a few rides to the top of the mountain and just cruised. The next day we took all the kids back to the resort for some sledidng action. It was fun. Eryn ate the snow all day and thought Santa was going to come. Briggs and Reagan hiked up the hill and litterally dropped in the huge hill. So Dad had to try it too. I flipped over backwards and heard my neck snap. Like Zoolander could not turn left...I could not look left. The next day we went out with the "Mayor" to look at houses. We found some really nice ones but at the end of the trip, had a feeling that AZ was still the place we needed to be. Thanks "Mayor" again for the tour. We went to see "Blades of Glory". It had some funny parts.

Back in SJ, work is crazy. Kristin drove back to AZ with her mom to begin the search for a new Casa. I am going to fly down there Friday night to drive back with her. It was difficult to sell my ticket to ride this weekend, but I need to go down to AZ. It was very easy to sell the ticket on Craigslist. They only allow so many riders and demand is greater the supply.

We had a good Easter. Eryn downed her basket of goods and I made the meanest Spetzela and Goulach ever. All homemade noodles I learned the last time I was out in Germany. In the words of Bill "Teeth" Walton, I "threw it down".

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.