Naughty List

Today was the perfect day to get out on the bike and just enjoy the ride.  With just a couple of days left before Christmas I spent the majority of my ride taking in the decorations.  I was flying high with the spirit of Christmas.  Somewhere about 35 miles or so into the ride I came up behind another rider.  We were heading the same way so now I company for the next 10 miles or so.

People ask me all the time about run ins with cars but I cannot honestly remember the last time I was honked or yelled at.  Today that changed.  We stopped for a red light and once the light changed and we started back up, we were passed by two cars with no problem.  The driver of the third car came by with the horn blowing and window down.  He let up on the horn to yell to us "Get off the ******* road!"  I usually just let stuff like this go without response but I replied "Merry Christmas!"  He then gave me the early present of the finger.  I know one guy who's stocking is going to be full of coal.

Island therapy

This past week was supposed to be a relaxing getaway full of sun, sand and saddle time.  I keep telling myself, two out of three isn't bad.  Looking back to recent history, I cannot remember the last time I had been so relaxed.  Not a worry in the world once I stop worrying about my level of fitness and health.

The first day down here, I did some running on the beach.  This wasn't your typical "let's go for a run" type of run.  You all know I wouldn't say or do such a thing. Instead, it was just a few short pain free minutes (maybe 20) of throwing the frisbee with Todd.  The following morning was a different story.  My right hip flexor started to yell obscenities with my every attempt to move it.  I tried to reason with it, explaining this was a family beach and those kind of words would not be tolerated. I even tried smacking it around a bit.  That didn't work either.

With this slated to be a heavy mileage week in preparation of the upcoming ADK 540, I got on my bike and headed out for the better part of the morning.  I wish I could report the ride was a success but it was anything but.  I quickly became frustrated as I attempted to break the world record of completing the most missed turns in the first half of a ride.  At the same time, the hip pain had now stretched all the way down the outside of my leg.

At one point it was bad enough to bring me 79.9% of the way to mentally breaking.  Instead of crawling into a ditch to cry, I turned the wheel towards home and bagged the rest of the ride.  The ride ended up, being less than 5 miles shorter in that direction.  The original route would have been more scenic but without the mental fortitude it certainly wouldn't have been more enjoyable.

Fast forward through two days of extreme hip therapy consisting of hours upon hours of sitting on the beach perfecting all my amazing tan lines. What most people try to avoid, I usually excel.  My crisp, sharp lines of differing color on my skin would make any cyclist proud.

Yesterday, I awoke and my hip had stopped yelling at me so I decided to take a few laps around the island.  The plan was to ride for as long as I could go without feeling any pain in my hip.  That lasted close to 4 miles.  Frustrated, I finished up 2 laps of the island which are similar to extended loops of Westcreek but without any sort of change in elevation just flat, mind numbing miles.  And yes, I do realize Westcreek doesn't have any real elevation change but it does require me to use the rear shifter twice every 6 miles.  So I went back to the self-prescribed beach therapy.

Like my new do?

It looks as if I will be giving it one more crack this morning when the other 8 members of the house take to the road for a few laps of back and forth action.  If only the superpowers of the flat, straight roads could be used for good (hip numbing) instead of evil (mind numbing) my world would be perfect.

Getting Hitched

Last week while Jenn was out of town, I had ordered a hitch to be mounted on the back of the Highlander. It arrived but was too heavy and awkward for my little man arms to lift, hold and bolt into place all by my lonesome it had to wait.  Yesterday, the weather was extremely nice for a Saturday afternoon in August and it was decided today was the day to get hitched once again.

Now the reason I decided to have one delivered to the house and not "professionally" installed by a local dealer was the labor rates.  More than one company quoted me ~$150 to have it installed.  I stopped calling after that and watched a Youtube video.  How hard could it, I just watched it on youtube.  

The instructions provided with the hitch stated a professional install would take approximately 20 minutes while a novice install would take 40 minutes. After crawling up and under the rear of the car to make sure I knew which were the appropriate holes to be filling with my bolts, I decided 20 minutes was certainly achievable.  I laid out the toolbox to find I had misplaced one of my ratchets.  Of course it was the one I needed to install this hitch in 20 minutes or less.

A quick run to the local Home Depot store was now necessary.  I entered the store with a very short list of needs and a long list of "needs."  Some of you may call those "needs" "wants" and I could get go on to explain to you the differences between "needs" and "wants" but its a losing battle.  You just wouldn't understand if you don't already get it.  Somehow, I left the store with only those needs and nothing from the "needs" list.  This was a first for me.  One that must mark a new level of maturity or just an extreme amount of focus on the task at hand; install in less than 20 minutes.

Once back at home with all the appropriate tools in hand, Jenn was summoned to come out to help and the timer was started.  From there, the job went by in a flash.  We crawled under the car, lifted it into place, started the bolts in the holes and tightened those bad boys down.  12 minutes and we were done. 

  

We didn't even have to use a 2x4 like the "professional" in the youtube video.  Jenn's joking reply was that we obviously did something wrong if we didn't have to use one.  With the utmost confidence in my ability to do simple tasks, I offered to go out and hit the hitch with a 2x4 if it would make her feel better.  Having seen my mad pinata striking skills and not wanting her vehicle dented, Jenn asked that I not swing a 2x4 in the vicinity of the hitch or car.  I can't say that I blame her.

New SRAM drivetrain or lunch?

Shifty bits it is

Now its time to figure out what's for lunch

Ramping it up

With the ADK 540 quickly approaching, almost one month away, the miles and saddle time are really starting to add up.  Well they should be increasing if I were following anything that may resemble the slightest bit of a training plan.  But I'm not and neither are the miles.

With Jenn in Washington (the state not the district) until Tuesday with her mom, I have been on pup sitting duty.  Wednesday Sage, Petra and I were joined by our good friend Dusty aka Doodle aka Dustball aka ... I'll just stop there.  Just like all of our beloved pets he has a million nicknames and answers to only one of them.

Dusty and Raven staring at each other through the gate

Dusty has been having some issues with the strength in his hips and cannot walk up stairs very well.  This didn't bode well with me because I have been having some issues with the strength in my back.  I woke up Thursday morning with a very tight lower back from trying to pick up Dusty's massive 100+ pound Husky self and carrying him down the stairs so he could relieve himself in the lawn and not on the carpet.  Knowing my back would not hold up to 5 more days of that, I built a ramp leading off the front porch.

Yep, its our old front door.  Works like a charm

Thursday afternoon, I got in a short ride across town.  I had to ride over and provide a lift to the airport.  My lower back had tightened up to the point where everything in the back of my legs were also quite tight which is why I decided to not take a ride yesterday.  At this point in the game it's also probably best that I rest any injuries so they do not become long drawn out nagging ones.  They say with age comes wisdom, could this be the start of it?

Like a leaf in the wind

Two weeks ago, Jenn and I ordered a new bike TT bike for her.  It arrived last week which meant she would most likely be spending a lot of time on "him".  Yep you guessed it, it's a boy.  Nope, I'm not jealous.

If you remember, 23 months ago (you can tell there is a baby in the house because all ages are communicated in months) I drove off after a ride leaving my front wheel in the parking lot.  Despite my attempts of having an Amber alert dispatched, it was never seen again.  The arrival of Jenn's new bike (name still TBD) meant there would be a set of matching wheels going unused inside the house.  I decided to switch them over to Le Antique for a ride or two.

The first ride on them was pretty rough.  Wind blowing me all over the place had me feeling like a new rider all over again.  I was a bit impatient when I mounted them up and didn't switch the cassettes over from my wheels to the new ones which lead to some chain skippage not only at the misopportune times but all the time.  Her used cassette didn't mate well with my worn chain.  Sad really but that's the reality sometimes.  Once home, I made the ole switch-a-roo and prepared for a ride the next day.

I now have three or four decent rides on them and I have to say, the new gear has me excited to not only get on the bike but once I am on it, the ride hasn't been long enough.  I just don't want to stop riding.  Like a leaf in the wind, I just want to cruise thru the air.

My Wish

As you all know, Jenn and I have been working alongside with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for the past couple of years.  Over that time, we have both gotten to know many fortunate people who have benefited from the research and treatment opportunities provided to cancer patients and their families by the LLS.  With all things in life, with the good comes the bad.  Thankfully, today I have no bad news. 

I recently watched a series on ESPN called My Wish.  They featured a story of a young man named Brendan who just like all of us had a sports hero growing up.  That is one of the two things he and I have in common.  The second is how we both pretended to be Landon Donovan while playing soccer in the backyard.

After watching the video, please help Jenn and I in our quest to help find the cure for Leukemia.  We are hoping to raise another $1300 by Sept 11th. You can help save another young boys dream by clicking this link and following it to the "Donate Now" button on the right. 

Three Thousand

The number 3000 has always had a significant meaning in sports, particularly cycling and baseball.  About 2 weeks ago, Derek Jeter reached the very select and illustrious 3000 hit club.  Not as amazing of a feat, I just noticed about the same time as he reached that milestone, I crossed over the 3000 mile mark for this year.  I found this to be pretty exciting because I haven't been chasing the long rides or miles which means only one thing, I have been riding my bike and riding it often.  In case you missed Jeter's hit here is the highlight video.  Sorry for not having video coverage of me crossing over the 3000 mile mark where ever it was on the road.  Maybe next year I will hire a film crew to follow me around, but probably not.

This past week was full of work, stress and riding.  It was nice that the stress only came from work and not from any particular ride or lack thereof.  In the end, I finished the week with a couple more than 250 miles.  It has been awhile since I got over 200 and today my legs are feeling it.

On Saturday, I started the morning off with a 4am wake up call.  After a quick breakfast and shower, I jumped on the bike and heading over to Westcreek to meet Jenn and other Team in Training members for the Silent Mile proceedings.

After the Silent Mile, a few of us headed out to Goochland and parts of Hanover for a nice leisurely ride.  Once back to the cars in Westcreek, I grabbed a handful of donuts which were left over from the Silent Mile breakfast, filled up my bottles and headed for home.  For the second ride in a row (Friday's ride through P-town) my feet felt like they were broken.  The pain made it quite undesirable to put any sort of pressure onto the pedals.  With the feet feeling the opposite from great, I just cruised home.  All in all, it was a great day in the saddle which leaves me full of confidence as to where my fitness levels are for the ADK540. 

Ignite it like the 4th of July

Last week, I tweaked something in my lower back which had me laid up for 4 days.  I am up around again which is a relief to me and everyone around me.  Sunday was Jenn's birthday and to celebrate it, we got a couple of our closest friends together to have dinner on the lake before watching the fireworks. 

 Just like with everything else fun, Mother Nature had to have her opinion heard and tried to scare us off the dock by passing a couple of thunderstorms over the lake just missing the restaurant.  We must have upset her by not heeding her warning by remaining out on the dock.  She soon sent a nasty storm across which sent us all scrambling for cover.

A short 2 hours later, the storm had passed and the DJ was pumping the jams once again.  If only the back was feeling better I would have thrown my "So You Think You Can Dance" audition routine out there for all to see.  Maybe next year.  Shortly after the sun was set it was time for the fireworks to begin.  The evening couldn't have possibly had anymore fun packed into it.  Here is a bit from the finale.

Tell him what you want

Last week after another discussion with a friend who just switched over to a compact crank I started to think once again.  The ADK is coming up in a couple of months and I may need all of the help I can get while up there.  The race will have ~31,000 feet of climbing if/when I make it to the finish.  On the way home, I stopped by my parents house to pick up a 50 tooth chainring I had purchased a few years back and never installed.  It just sat there new and unused.

I got the new smaller ring mounted up and decided to take it for a spin.  I could feel a difference almost immediately but I didn't know if it was a good difference or not.  With the smaller ring, I will have to increase my cadence in order to achieve the same speeds which my hips have not liked in the past.

Fast forward to that evening when I got a laugh while reading the local mountain bike forum.  There was a guy who announced he was looking to purchase a used bike.  Another user offered up one that was one size smaller than what the original poster was looking for and was denied due to it not being big enough.  Possibly offended by the denial he replied, "My wife has always told me that one inch does not make a difference."

The following day, I took Le Antique out for another ride when that comment came back into mind.  Now I understand his wife was just trying to protect his ego but I can tell you that anything that is round and an inch bigger will always generate a more pleasurable experience.  Case in point the smaller ring.  After a week of riding around on the smaller ring, I am beginning to lean more and more towards the fact that the smaller experience isn't all that others have made it out to be.  I'll give it a couple more days to see if I can get used to it but more than likely I will be going back to the larger ring.  Why?  Because bigger is better...

Friday was a day I had been awaiting for the last couple of weeks.  A few friends had invited me to tag along with them on a loop around Lake Chesdin on a couple of occasions but I had prior engagements (Sounds important doesn't it?) which kept me from taking part.  A couple weeks back, I had mapped out the ride with hopes of riding it but again, life got in the way and I hadn't ridden it.



They had always boasted about the low amount of traffic and beautiful scenery. They also warned me that I would need to carry enough food and fluid to get me about 50 miles because once you were down there, there was nothing.  Nothing was right and I was OK with it.  I was enjoying what seemed like a 100 mile stretch of wooded road sides when out of the blue the woods stopped and goats appeared.  The goats must have been just as surprised to see me as I was them because they all just picked their heads up and stared at me.

They lost interest in me before I did them because by the time I got the bike stopped to take a photo, all but one of them had put their heads back down to continue their afternoon meal.  As I was digging the phone out of the pocket I heard grunting, snorting, hoof stomping followed by more grunting, snorting and hoof stomping.  Fearing I was about to get charged I snapped the picture and started on my way again.

Shortly down the road I found myself on the south side of the lake where there was supposed to be a general store.  The store was there structurally but it has been quite a few years since it was operational.  With the temperatures starting to heat up, I decided to start rationing my fluids because I couldn't remember how far along the next store was according to the map.  I came across a small marina which had a very small country store attached to it where I could fill up my bottles a few miles down the road.

The nice old lady who was working the store asked me "You trying to kill yourself out there in the heat today, aren't you?" I replied with "Believe it or not it isn't that bad on the bike."  Because I had started when the temps were a bit lower and was out there while it heated up I hadn't really noticed how hot it was actually getting.  A few more miles down the road my wrist found out just how hot the road temps were becoming.

The forest shaded roads were now behind me and the sun was full force.  I was really starting to sweat a bunch and my wrist was starting to feel like something was irritating it.  A quick look down and I noticed my RoadID (everyone should ride/run with one) was burning my wrist.  The way my hands were resting on the hoods had the clamp pointing straight into the sun.  A quick unclip of the clamp so the band would rest on my glove and feeling eased a bit except when the sweat would roll over it.

I was really happy to have have gotten out there to do the route.  I really enjoyed it and will be looking to head that way once again in the very near future.  Now I know where the stores are which will help my nutrition planning.  With ADK just a few months away, I need some longer efforts to not complete shock my system when I ask it go 2 days without sleep.

With less than one day before the RAAM solo's officially start their trek across the country, I have spent the last couple of evenings before falling asleep reading up on this year's starters.  With the largest solo field to date, this year's rendition is sure to be a good one.  Now you can spend a minute and a half filling yourself with excitement that will last you for days.

This week looks to be a nice one for me. Cooler temps, a regular work schedule and a strong motivation to be out on the bike should help this week prove to be a fun one.  If all things go to plan I am going to hit some never before ridden by me roads in Southern Chesterfield on Friday.  I drew up the cue sheet a few weeks back but never got around to venturing out.  This week it WILL happen, I think...

All Natural

Since returning from Asheville on Monday, this week has been relatively routine.  With TNT training over with for the summer, I am now searching for ways to get in my miles during the week when I would have normally been getting them in with the Team.

Being able to commute home has been a real blessing.  Once I leave the store, I am left with the decision of which route I want to take.  Ultimately there are an endless amounts of ways I could head but I usually stick to one of the main three.  The shortest is 21 miles and the longer of the three is 31 miles.  The route chosen for the day is usually determined by my energy levels and the amount of time I have before I need/want to be home.

Yesterday my legs were feeling quite OK when I left the shop.  The temps were already screaming into the triple digits but I wasn't concerned as I had packed an extra bottle for the trip home.  I decided I was going to take the longer route home and head up the Old Gun climb.  That was until, I started to hear a hissing sound coming from underneath me.

I found a low hanging tree to pull over next to which would provide a few minutes of shade and also a low hanging branch to make into a roadside workstand. A couple minutes in the shade to cool off with the sweat pouring down my face and I was back on the road kinda.  For whatever reason, I didn't have a full CO2 cartridge with me and the one I had only filled the tire up to a little more than halfway so I had to ride very gingerly in hopes of obtaining another flat.  And if I did get another I would at least be closer to whom ever I called to come get me.

A Green Workstand

By closer, I mean on the same side of the river because once I crossed the bridge I had the brilliant idea to climb Old Gun anyway.  My thinking was, if I am going to have to wait for someone to come get me, it would be nice to do it in the shade not the wide open where all I would be doing was baking my potatoes.  The climb went as to be expected and I pointed the bike for home.  A few cuts through neighborhoods I don't normally take got me home in a slightly shorter amount of time and all was well except now I had to correctly fix my tire and start chugging recovery drinks.  More commuting on tap as the ADK 540 is now just 2.5 months away.  Just gotta keep em spinnin!

Trip down to Asheville

 "Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack" Jenn and I went to a Flying Squirrels game on Friday night.  A ballgame isn't a ballgame without Cracker Jack.

 Which one is more awesome?  No 1 or No 2? If we base our decision on the level of vulgar lyrics, No 2 wins hands down.  Excuse me a minute while I update a couple Ipod playlists.

 With Jenn driving, I took a nap before eating my chicken nuggets.  Once I woke up I put them into the Highlander's built in microwave.

Finally made it down to Asheville.  This is the view from our hotel room.

 

Friday = 1 more day

So today is Friday.  Seems the week has disappeared without really knowing it was here.  The holiday followed by a couple of days off from work made it go by quickly.  This is a good thing because tomorrow Jenn and I are leaving town after a short stint at work to join the rest of the TnT crew in Asheville.

After a short 7 months of training event weekend is here.  The Team has worked hard riding in the extreme cold and now the heat to prepare for what for many of them is going to be their first century.  I couldn't be more excited to have been able to help them along their way.  The smiles on the faces of those who are riding now what they once walked up in heap of frustration are priceless.  It won't take much convincing of me to realize they are ready.  The work has been done, now it's time to have some fun!

Part of that fun is packing.  OK there is nothing fun about packing.  Especially when you have to break it down into a couple of nights/days.  Do I need this?  Should I take that?  At some point this evening the phrase "Hey Hun, Have you seen the ____? No? Where the F is it?!" will surely be uttered.  Tonight is probably the worst part of the trip for me.  Packing will always put me into the Can we leave already?, mood.

So today, I have one more ride home from work before I spend some time wrenching on the bikes before I start packing everything up.  The morning will bring one last ride into work before Jenn arrives to start the journey.

What happens when you assume

Yesterday started out like many others wake up, pack the car, go to work and ride with the TnT crew.  Before I packed the car I took a few minutes to place the borrowed saddle onto Le Antique so I could try to get a feel for it before I went out on a longer ride later this week.

The ride started with a short cruise over to Westcreek where I arrived a few minutes early and got in a couple more miles while waiting for the remaining members of the crew to arrive.  Once we got started, I dropped back to chit chat with another team member and before we knew it had lost contact with the main group.

This is where my assumption got me into trouble.  Well not really trouble but it did make work a bit harder than I thought I was going to.  The last couple of weeks we had been going left onto Millers and then heading over to Shallow Well before returning back to WC.  I hung a left and gave it a bit more energy in hopes of catching back up shortly.  They couldn't be that far ahead, I thought to myself.

Once I arrived at the corner of Millers and Shallow Well, I began to believe that they had not come this way tonight.  I kept pushing on in hopes that my second assumption of the evening was wrong.  It would turn out not to be wrong.  I was chasing ghosts all night, always thinking I would see them "right around this bend".

That didn't happen either.  I arrived back to the lot a few moments ahead of the them.  Turns out they decided to take two shorter laps instead of one of the longer loops.   My assumption rating was 50% for the evening and it only cost me a few extra farmland miles.  One day my mother's advice about assuming things might just set in, maybe.

Forced time off = ouch

Mid-way through last week, I knew there was not going to be much opportunity for me to get any decent riding time in due to work and the other projects I had started around the house.  I didn't want these projects to continue on for long so I put a lot of my free time into it when I wasn't at work or sleeping.  In trying to keep my sanity, I told myself it was a "forced recovery week."

On Saturday afternoon when I jumped on the bike to make my way my thoughts of "forced recovery week" changed.  They are a bad idea if you wish to keep any sort of consistent fitness.  It had now been 7 days without my arse being in the saddle and my legs were letting me know about it quickly.  Needless to say, the ride in wasn't that enjoyable.  Correction, it was nice to be on the bike but it hurt a bit more than I would have liked.  Saturday evening, I ended up making the ride home mostly with Zeb of the Hug and Tug Crew.  He set a pace I didn't want to really keep but did so just to save a bit of face.

Sunday morning, I woke up a few minutes early so I could help Jenn get ready for her triathlon.  Having to be at work shortly after should would finish I packed my gear up along with hers so I would just ride over from the race and then ride home.  Jenn did a amazing job finishing 6th of 26 while setting a PR for the course.  She was/is extremely happy with her progress.  Now if her hip would stop bothering her like mine was (Is hip flexor discomfort contagious?) she would be even happier.

On the ride home from the shop Ried, Twig and I were all heading the same way so we all left together.  Twig and I were a bit tired still and made the comment that we weren't trying to push it.  Once that was out of our mouths Ried jumped off the front to up the pace.  Again not wanting my ego to take a hit, I put my head down to close the gap and pull him back. 

Once alongside of Ried, I made the comment "Nice jump but how about we not do that again?"  Seconds later, Twig was off the front.  Not again!  Once again I put my head down to pull us all back together which took a bit more of an effort because of our delayed response.  Once we were all back together it was time for Ried to head one direction and Twig and the opposite.  Twig was gracious enough to let me try a saddle he isn't using so after a quick stop by the Square Brick Building on the Right I was back on the road heading for home solo.  Thank goodness, I could finally shut it down and just spin it home.

I don't think I will be taking that much time off the bike in a straight setting anymore.  At least not until September and the ADK is in the past.  This week sees a rest day today, then back at it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday then possibly Saturday and Sunday.  6 days in a row really?  Taking bets as to if it actually happens or not.

1 hour 30 minutes

 Raw vegetables for a salsa and some potatoes ready for heat

 

Gotta have greens with every meal

 Pork stuffed with pepper jack

 Dueling dragons

 Vegetables with a little smokey flavor added

 Golden brown

 Time for a short rest

Final plating before devouring

 

Direction of focus

So the last week has been a bit of a let down in terms of saddle time.  The usual culprits are to blame work, weather and lack of motivation.  Their isn't much I can do about the work and weather but the motivation, I could probably do something about that.  It isn't the fact that I don't have any motivation, it's just I have been focusing all my attention onto work and a couple of projects I/we have started around the house.  Both of which I am terribly excited about.  Neither of which I am going to reveal any details of just yet.

I did pry myself away from said projects and out of the house long enough on Saturday morning for an easy 30ish through Ashland with the TNT crew.  They were slated to ride 75 but with Mother Nature threatening us with hail producing thunderstorms all day we thought it best to get in a quick ride before things got sporty.  As it turned out Mother Nature ended up holding her cards close to her chest and not revealing her hand until late in the afternoon.  No worries as the ride was a good one and I know of at least one other rider who had a great ride despite their being a whispering gnat in her ear all day.

Depending on how quickly the house projects get finished up, I may have a post about a decent ride or two later this week.  Until then, here are some pics from Saturday...

 Delivery thanks to Powerbar

 Orange Turtle which we helped cross the road

 

Field of purple flowers in the mist

Sometimes in life throws us a twist, something we didn't expect to see how we will react.  To see what we will do in the face of adversity no matter how great or small.  This past week has been a rough one for me which thankfully, I do not have many of.  Yesterday, I was in need of a little mental getaway so after work I did the two things I thoroughly enjoy no matter what the conditions are; ride my bike and cooking over an open flame.

After leaving the store, I packed my bag and headed out.  I thought about extending the ride but then an overwhelming desire to just sit down for a few minutes came over me.  At that point I decided to just head towards home and see if my feelings changed along the way.  They didn't.  A short hour later, I was home and playing with the pups.

This photo is actually from Tuesday nights ride.  In trying to take a photo of the horses, I got one of the moon.

 

The last couple of days, I have been addicted to Mexican styled food.  It seems if I eat it one day, I want to eat it for the next 13 days.  For the record I get that way with a fresh pan of lasagna too.  After a quick run to the store, I had everything I was going to need to whip up something new to us on the grill.

 First we started with a couple of breasts rubbed with a chipotle seasoning

 The chicken was then joined with pepperjack cheese, onions, green peppers between two tortillas

After just a couple of minutes on the grill it was finally plated up next to a big helping of Mexican rice

Spoiled Feet

Over the years, I have spoiled a lot of things in my life.  It is often times hard to say no to people.  The hardest in particular order; friends, family, dogs and my wife.  When I was first getting into the endurance side of cycling, a good friend of mine told me that the contact points on the bike are the most important when trying to stay comfortable.  For that reason I have spoiled my feet, without allowing them spoil rotten (that would , by putting them into some of the most comfortable and flashy shoes on the market.  Here's a quick introduction of the current plus a brand new one.

 The Golden Twinkies

Named for their color and desire to be worn while riding the Blingle-Speed

 The Ruby Red Slippers

Named because they take me the furthest for home and like Dorothy, I often times forget how far away I actually am and wish it were as easy as clicking my heels together.

Newest Addition and Yet to be Named

I purchased these because for sometime now the Ruby Red Slippers have been starting to show their age.  They are the same model as the Ruby Red Slippers which is nice because I know my feet will be comfortable in them.  One big difference in the two however is the replaceable heel pad on the new model.  This is important because the worn down heel pad is what is killing the soles of the Ruby Red Slippers.

I was able to test them out for the first on the couch and then on the road this weekend.  For their first ride, I put them through 117 miles of the flattest terrain I could ever imagine.  I was excited that they fit the same as my Slippers.  After about 80ish miles I could start to feel just how stiff the soles were on the balls of my feet.  This is to be expected and doesn't cause me any concern I will just have to get myself a new set of insoles for them as the stock ones are quite thin, good for ventilation but bad for support.  As the miles continue to add up a name for them will surely come, now to get more miles in.

Predicting the Future

Often times, people who claim to be able to predict the future get labeled as a kook of some sort.  Although some may disagree, I will go out on a limb and say I am not a kook, most of the time.  However, I will be making the prediction that this post will be the second most "searched" post of this blog.  Thanks to all the pervs in the world, the post I wrote about breaking the tip off my saddle  is the most popular.  Those same pervs will surely make come across the following photo of me breaking the tip off of something else while searching for who knows what.

Another broken Tip

Another week has come and gone. I had high hopes of some good mileage for the week but they didn't always happen thanks to Motha Nature's bad attitude where she threw a couple days worth of hail spitting, tornado producing thunderstorms at us. Luckily it meant I was missing out on a couple days of commuting and not one of the longer rides reserved for my days off.

Left my sunglasses in Jenn's car.  Had to kick it old school for the day.

Horse Country

This sign means only one thing, Fun Riding Ahead!

Remind anyone else of the Tree of Life at Disney?

Proper recovery is key.  Fresh fruit, frozen fruit, 3 scoops of Powerbar recovery, 2 scoops of ice cream and a splash of milk

And for dessert, Grilled Bananas with ice cream

Lost and Found

Like many of you I often miss place items I "need". It is usually when timing couldn't be any worse, as I am rushing out the door. My keys used to be hard to keep track of but I found a real convenient place to keep them, the front doorknob. Jenn doesn't like it but it certainly speeds up my ability to locate them as it is the first place I look. The second place is where they are supposed to be on the key rack before I start tearing the house apart. A few weeks ago I lost my favorite pocket knife. Last week I lost my Ipod. I found it. Then I lost it again.

3 years ago Jenn lost something most of you (not us because I embraced losing mine many years ago) dread losing, her mind. It has been a long hard road of searching everywhere for it but it is still gone. I can tell she misses it sometimes. I try not to let her know but I have caught her just staring at me a few times recently. At first, I would try to figure out "What I did not do?" as it is usually what I don't do that gets me into more trouble than what I actually did. Then I remembered a special anniversary coming up. That's right 3 years to the day she was blinded by both my bald head and the bling and said "yes". I would appreciate if you see her mind just laying around somewhere you leave it there and don't tell her where it is. I have kinda gotten used to her being around all the time.

With the birthday celebrations in the past I was hoping to be able to settle in this week and get some riding done before I started traveling for the week.  That didn't happen except for on Tuesday where I was able to get in a quick 40 after work along side the TnT crew.  I had the time and the weather to do it on Wednesday once I got back into town but my lower back has been plaguing me for about a week now so the ride didn't happen. 

Thursday brought a day trip to beach where I was reminded that like NOVA drivers, the peeps at the beach should also all have their licenses revoked as they cannot get through a single rush hour period without hitting someone else.  It took me more than 54 minutes to go 4/10 of a mile and then wa-la I was cruising the highway at faster than posted speed limits.  Not to the other drivers, the speed limit was raised on 64 to 70mph quite sometime ago, its OK to go faster than 60. 

The time in the car brought on more back inflammation which meant Thursday night and all day Friday was spent going in and out of consciousness while trying to keep my back as still as possible.  Thanks to the world of the Interwebs, yesterday wasn't a total failure however.  I was able to conjure enough strength to place an order for another RAAM documentary called, You Need No Victory, To Be A Winner. 



I had seen the preview a few months back but unfortunately, there wasn't an American coded DVD available and my PS3 won't play the EU coded bike pron.  Last week, I read a review of the movie over on UltraRaceNews. It is now being sold by a brand spanking new company who no customer reviews over on Amazon.  I took the chance and ordered one yesterday, who knows maybe they will throw in a special something something for being their first customer...

What I do know is I am not making my dream of racing RAAM any easier.  Later this year, I still have to get my qualification while playing in the Adirondacks and then the true test of endurance begins, convincing Jenn that the race is a good idea.  Her reply when I told her I ordered the film, "You don't really want to do RAAM do you?"  Hmphh...Good thing I don't always listen to the words that come out of her mouth...

Only as old...

The ole adage says "You are as old as you feel."  This past Saturday, I turned another full year older which officially makes me 3_ but I feel like I am 87.   Each and every morning I wake my body reminds me I am not getting any younger.  Aches here, pains there.  A very small part of me wishes I hadn't and didn't continue to abuse my body as hard as I do.  But that is just who I am.  I enjoy pushing myself to what I perceive is my limit which I will only ever fully achieve once in this lifetime because once I reach it the proverbial rubber band will snap.  It will then be up to friends, family and doctors to put me back together again.

Lucky for me, I have the best set of friends and family anyone could ever ask for.  Those that were in town were able to gather for a small celebration Saturday evening.  One person who was not invited but somehow found out about the party via a highly complicated and elaborate email hacking ring was Mother Fphin Nature.  She was not happy to have been off of the guest list.  She sent a string of thunderstorms full of rain, hail and tornado like winds.  She must have forgotten that I too am slightly computer savvy and was able to see all of her attacks coming well before they got here.

I channeled my Native American ancestors (I'm sure I have at a least one right?) who told me that if I lit a fire at night the thunderstorms would stay away or maybe we had gotten to the point in the story of how to keep coyotes away.  Not being able to remember, I filled 2 chimneys up with charcoal and set them ablaze.  After seeing the way the heavy storms veered away I am certain that not only are coyotes afraid of fire but so are thunderstorms.

With the weather behind us, we could now get down to the business of grilling and acting a fool.  I did the grilling and everyone else took on the task of acting a fool.  The night consisted of human beat boxing, dance offs, synchronized swimming, thoughts of rowing the canoe down the river (ahem, creek) and a few rounds of flip cup racing.

Thank you to everyone who came out and a special thank you to my best friend and wife, Jenn!  At least for one night I felt 30 something again and not 87.  Now where is that Advil bottle?!

Ride your bike

"If we all road a bike, we would all look better in lycra."

Do you remember...

Do you remember as a kid spending so much time over your friends house that it seemed as if it were yours?  Having a second mother after you were accepted into their family as one of their own?  Maybe now as we all get a little bit older your house is becoming that house for your children's friends. Growing up, Ashley's house was that house for my wife Jenn.

For as long as they can remember, Ashley and Jenn have been best friends.  Growing up they were inseparable, spending days and nights over each others homes.  When you spend so much time with someone you cannot help but become just as close with their family.  Toni (Jenn's mom) and Debbie (Ashley's mom) accepted and treated each others daughter as if they were their own.  As Jenn said, "Her family was my family and my family was hers." 

By now you are asking yourself why am I being told this?  What road are we about to go down?  Sadly, back in 2005 Debbie was diagnosed with cancer of the colon and has been battling everyday since.  Always the fighter, Debbie has undergone several different treatments over the past few years in hopes of ridding her body of the unrelenting cancer.  Many of these treatments like chemotherapy where developed by the doctors who were funded by the donations raised by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Last year Debbie passed the 5 year mark since she had been diagnosed which only about half colon cancer patients get to experience.

Jenn and I would like to ask you to join us in the battle.  This summer Jenn will be attempting to complete her longest triathlon to date.  The Nation's Tri is held each year in our Nation's capitol, Washington D.C.  and is an olympic length distance.  She will be doing 1.5k swim, 40k bike and finishing with a 10k run all in dedication and honor for second mother, Debbie.

How can you help?  I'm glad you asked!  With just a couple of mouse clicks you can make a big difference.  Start by clicking here http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/nattri11/jcwelch From there you can read Jenn's page and make a 100% tax-deductible donation to the LLS.  We have set a goal of raising a minimum of $2450 before Jenn takes the starting line.  If you prefer, send a check made out to LLS to:

7512 Brightridge Rd, Chesterfield, VA 23832

Every dollar DOES make a difference…. And no donation is too small.

If your company has matching gifts, please take advantage of this to make your donation go further! Just let me know so I can send you the necessary forms.

Thank you,  Now Click, Read, Donate!

Wanna go that way

With things still a bit crazy at the shop, I had to go into work for a few hours mid-afternoon.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to try out a new route to work.  The last couple of times I have had to cross the Huguenot bridge has left me cursing everything about it.  Since they announced that a new bridge was going to be built the current one has seen very little maintenance.  It's full of big potholes and their idea of fixing them is overfilling them so now it has huge mounds.  It just isn't much fun to ride during high traffic times which is when one would normally commute.

Looking at the map I found a way to get over to the Nickel Bridge.  Not being too familiar with that area and only having negative memories of a couple sections of that route from when I was younger, I felt it would be a good thing to roll through in the middle of the day when not too much was going down.  I was quite excited to find out there really weren't any bad sections.  Hell the sections I thought might be a bit rough ended up having nice newly paved roads with shoulders.

Once on the bridge, I stopped for a quick photo of the river from a different perspective.   You can see the Huguenot Bridge off in the background.  You can also see the tower at the carillon which was were I wanted to go .  A quick jaunt down Grove and I was 3/4 of the way to work.  The rest was the same it always is.

 

Hug-a-nut bridge upriver

 

 Heading in that general direction

The ride home was a bit more work.  The wind had started to pick up out of the South and I hadn't eaten too much.  I was planning on grabbing lunch before I left but when it came time, I just jumped on the bike and headed back home.  By the time I had to make the climbs back through the Boulders and up Newby's Bridge my legs weren't having it anymore.  I knew what the problem was but since I was so close to home, I didn't bother eating anything more on the bike. 

I paid for that decision the rest of the evening as the sluggishness of malnutrition and dehydration set in.  After recording my daily eats and workouts into Training Peaks it would come to light I wasn't anywhere close to eating properly which I didn't really need too much help figuring out.  My caloric intake was a negative 4646.  Sounds high but when I only took on 300 calories for breakfast, no lunch and then a small dinner it isn't that far off.  It's no wonder I am so hungry today.  Time for lunch!