Starbucks in the Mist

I woke this morning at 6, showered and was in my car heading to Starbucks by 6:30. The rain stopped and the sun was shining. Beautiful morning. Yes, I did think about riding but the roads are still wet. As I was on my way to Starbucks it kept looking as if it was getting really cloudy again. It was a fog bank coming over the hill. I actually parked and went in for my order since there was only one other person there. When I came out the fog was just down the road and by the time I started my car it was like a cloud landed on the place. I could see the fog rolling by. I kept waiting for whatever monster Scooby Doo was going to be chasing to be in it. I drove in and out of the fog several times on my way back to the house.

Got home, read the paper and the latte has officially kicked in! Oh by the way, I let the dogs out into the backyard so they could do their business and the first thing they did was find the low spot in the yard and splash in! Again and again... sooooo guess who will be staying out all day! I mean they are nasty mud puppys! If it wasn't a church morning I'd wash 'em and keep 'em in til the ground dries a little more.

Not sure how much rain we got but the flooding made the Weather Channel top story and I know that a car dealership was under water at the tune of a million dollars.

Several of us are riding this afternoon so it will be interesting to see how high the river is and how much wash out is in the middle of the bike roads. The plan today is to ride the 34 miles of the river roads and then climb 3 different hills. We call it the Triple Bypass ride. The crew I'll be riding with is a lot of fun so I'm looking forward to it. I thought about going to ride the "since you didn't ride in the rain" Tour de Toad today but just not in the mood to drive to Conway mainly because gas is so high I'm really trying to cut back. Yes, I am considering biking to work now that it's warm but I've got to have the car for a couple of things this week.

Well, got to go get really for church. I'll log in tonight and update about where and how I rode this afternoon.

Photos from the Tour de Hills in Harrison

Since Max chewed up the power chord to my laptop I've gotten behind on posting photos too.

Here's some photos from a recent ride in Harrison, AR. Enjoy!

Saturday morning blues

I woke this morning and stumbled into the shower around 6:15. I walk into the den and look out the window at a DRY deck!! WHA?! It was supposed to be raining and I've now over slept and I need to be at the caravan start point at 7 and I didn't eat dinner last night for a bike ride today and I haven't eaten breakfast or gotten my gear together or put my bike in the car or anything. Oh man!!! I'm completely bummed out!

So I flipped on the TV to see the weather and sure enough the rain is here but not in Sherwood yet. There is a yellow blob where the ride is supposed to start so my fingers are crossed that it's postponed until tomorrow at 1:30. It's now 8:15 and there it's rained a couple of times here already and the wind is gusting around 20 mph. Not a perfect day to ride. I checked the website for The Ride (bike shop) and it's posted that the event is still on. I suspect the crew is out on the course debating it. It was supposed to start at 8.

I had to let Saydee and Max in just as the rain started and they stink! Out to play in he garage for you!

No it ain't!

Ok, I was wrong. Toad Suck Daze is next weekend and boy am I glad because we have 100% chance of rain tomorrow. But the Toad Suck bike ride is tomorrow. Erik says the ride will go on unless it's really bad and then it will be rescheduled for Sunday at 1:30. I'm hoping for the Sunday at 1:30 version!

Can you believe it's a Friday night and I'm blogging. Oh man, I've got to get a life! I got home and Terri and Emmy had gone to see the high school Sr prom presenting. I cleaned the house and knocked out my chores so I wouldn't have to do them tomorrow. Now if it's raining all day then I'll go nuts because I've already done them.

Terri was coming home from a business trip to MO last night and a truck threw a rock and bashed the windshield of the Explorer. And of course Emmy is supposed to go take her drivers test next week. Terri is getting the side mirror fixed that she broke when she hit the garage door last summer while I was out on my bike tour. It'll cost $140.

Toad Suck Daze is this weekend!

Toad Suck Daze http://www.toadsuck.org/index.asp is this weekend! Yes, it's really the name of one of the best Arkansas festives around! The legend has that the sailors would get off the bardges and drink at I local tavern to the point that they would swell up like toads! Everything at the festive is frogs! This year marks their 25th year! Congrats Conway!

That have a ride called the Tour de Toad and a lot of folks from the Little Rock area are heading up to ride.

I'm heading to Conway tomorrow morning to a great bike shop called The Ride and get my bike fitted. Something has changed and I am having some pain behind my left knee about about 30 miles. I've had the bike and this set up for 2 years but I'm thinking maybe the seat has moved back a tad. Anyway, Erik is going to put me on the trainer and get my set up corrected. Then I'll be able to ride this weekend with the big Toads!

Big rain came through early this morning and caused all sorts of traffic jams. As I look out my window it appears to be turning blue skies! Means I can ride tonight with the group. Sad thing is that the gas prices have split the group. Several live on the Little Rock side of the river and they are going to ride over there and some, like myself, live on the north side so we'll continue our rides. Last week there was a wreck and many were in traffic a while and it just made them realize they are driving quite a bit rather than getting to ride. It will look like the movie Braveheart if we are going over the Broadway bridge to LR and they are coming over to NLR.

One other thing... they have finalized the Arky 100 ride for this fall. October 1st they will have the official grand opening of the bike bridge. This will be a big event!

Easter Sunday

It's early Easter Sunday and terri and Emmy are still asleep. I was hoping for a sunny Sunday morning but we got the clouds this morning but at least no rain and no cold temps. Seems the past couple of Easter have been cold and rainy. I flipped on the tv to see the weather and the sunrise Easter service was being shown live down at the riverfront. It's packed! I remember how sad it was last year with the cold and rain. Seems like just a few were there and this year it's over flowing.

I rode yesterday from Brent's house out in west LR at The Ranch. There were a good group of us and we headed out. We set up well in a paceline right off the bat and rode out to a place I knew a lot of cyclist go but I've never been there. Hwy 9 and then Hwy 10. Brent broke a spoke which sidelined him and he had to get a shuttle back in. 2 others returned with him. The wind was either straight at us or pushing to the side. When I got home I saw on the Weather Channel that it was 16 with 25mph gust. I was glad I didn't have that in my mind the whole ride. The ride ended with 4 of us completing. Rob, Christopher, Rebecca and myself.

I began to hurt when I had about 75% of the ride completed. It was behind my left knee. Not a real hurt but a pesty one. I pushed it out of my mind and rode on. It wasn't until I got in the car that it really started to make a scene but again I pushed it back and drove on home. I got to the house and opened the car door and stepped out and thought I wa going to do a face plant on the driveway. It was weird like my leg wasn't even there. I steadied myself and hobbled in. I did my best not to make it look like it hurt and boy did it ever. What's with this? Anyway, I didn't get to finish the chores I was planning to knock out.

We had a family dinner last night and I don't really know what it is about having us all (kids and dates) at the table in a casual dinner but it just always brings me a very good sense of happiness. Terri made grilled steak kabobs and chicken, rolls, homecut fries and warm brownies for dessert. We laughed and had a great time. We had Tyler eat on the "red plate" since he got a job he loves.

Later this morning we will all sit together in church and then go to the park to meet the rest of my family for a picnic lunch. I'm looking forward to it.

By the way, the leg feels fine this morning!

Countdown to the weekend!

A very quite day in the office and I'm finishing up lunch. My department had a Lunch and Learn session yesterday and there were some salads left over. I'm not sure what the official name was but these things are out of this world! Different greens with pecans, bacon bits, grilled chicken, Raspberry dressing and more. Tummy was really happy!

Now let me tell you about yesterday's lunch. Oh man, it was wrong! A coworker (Jason) and I went to Harvest Foods of all places. He told me it was good and it was. We got tons of food for 5 bucks. The bad part was that mine was a plate of fried foods. Catfish, Potato wedges, fried okra and hush puppies. As we were eating I told Jason I would pay for eating this. He laughed and said, "Man, even your bread is fried."

I met the Fast Girls and Slow Guys bike group that I ride with doing the summer evenings and the group continues to grow and changes the dynamics of the rides. Last summer when I started riding there was Yale, Wayne, Christina, Mark, Chris and his wife Jenn, and Keith. Keith had invited me and it was just the group I was hoping to find. The ride last night had about 15 or so folks. The start was a social pace and then kicked up a little later. I was in the middle and couldn't seem to get with the flow and my computer battery had gone out so I wasn't sure what the pace speed was. Take that and add the casual riders that were out there but not part of our group and the walkers, the speed was fast/slow back and forth.

We then hit Ft Roots drive something kicked in for me (maybe that fried food is good for something afterall!). I climbed easier and faster than I ever had. It was weird. I wasn't blown by the time I hit the top. Sure there were still the rockets that flew past me but I felt really good on the climb. I'm getting more comfortable going down faster and faster as well.

The upcoming weekend looks to be a fun one. It's Easter weekend. I have a list of things to get done around the house which I'll start this afternoon if Terri and I aren't going out to eat. There are several rides and I'm hoping to get in on one heading out from Brent's house around 11 tomorrow. I think it's about a 40 miler but there will be wind. We'll go to church Sunday morning and then meet the rest of the family at Maumelle Park for a picnic. Then I'll get a quick ride in if I have all my chores done.

Blogging again... he thinks

Oh man, I've not blogged all month? Sorry readers!

Let's see... Yep, I've been riding and even Terri has gotten back on the bike to ride along the river. It was fun to ride along side of her.

Tyler is working for Jones Productions and I saw his first tv spot last night. Sounds like Fox 16 might be wanting him to come edit news for the weekends so he'll be working the 7 days a week gig for a while. there are dollar signs in his eyes.

Em is about to be 16 in a couple of weeks and has already tried to take over the Honda. Even put some tooty-fruity air freshener in it that was so strong I felt quizzy.

The dogs: They are growing and Max ate most of the bushes in the backyard. I give up. Saydee is out of her routine now so I've got to give her more attention.

The parents are doing well and I'll see them Sunday (Easter).


Lots of rides coming up. More later