and the later...

Like I was saying.... (this is a continuation from when I started this morning)

... so the Wizard was drafting me. Last time I was lucky enough to have that happen I was in good riding form (yep, last year). We climbed the little hill and slowed to a (gasp) social (sucking air) speed of 21. We talked about how there were so many people out, the weather and what we would ride over the winter. He did turn by the skatepark and I turned to climb Ft Roots. Saw a couple of folks doing repeats.

I have been fighting the down hill syndrome since my Branson trip and have been reading stuff here and there about controlling your down hill rides. Of the articles I've read, I think the best advice came from one of my own guys. JBar was telling another club member about how to position yourself and I burned that into my internal CD player. I sat back and let her rip. It was GREAT! I flew down Ft Roots once again. I wasn't nervous anymore. Note to JBar: Thanks man!

It was just a good ride!

Ok, so it's Monday night now and I'm sitting here nursing a full blown ear ache! I forgot to take the vent plug out of my ear mold on the hearing aid that allows the heat to escape and it's prime environment for an ear infection. About noon today I noticed that things sounded like a barrel so I gabbed some yogut and took the aid off and read blogs for lunch. Sure enough when I put it back it it felt like putting a nail in my ear. I let the pain die down and didn't touch it for the rest of the day. Couldn't take calls either because when I put the phone up to my ear it was like a brain freeze but in my ear. Luckly I have these outragously expensive ear drops that clear it up over night. Yep, I'm an ear infection medicine snob! Ha!

By the way, guess where Em is tonight? The Journey/Def Lepard concert. I got a couple of tickets for her a few weeks ago. Sort of hoping she'd ask me but who am I to think my teenage daughter would ask me to a rock concert. I've already seen them when they were a real band. HA! I just wanted to hear a live version of "City on the Bay".

Later!

Weekend warp up

Sorry, I was having too much fun to stop and write over the weekend. I got chores down and was able to get out and ride midmorning on Saturday. It was really nice out by then. Not to hot and not to cold. I spent the afternoon cleaning out the garage and putting stuff up in the attic. The plan was to get up there and move stuff around and actually move Christmas stuff to the front so I could get it down easy on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. We don't do anything with it really until the Friday but it's fun to get it all down.

There was a thing called the Mud Run Ssaturday that a lot of folks went to and it sounded like it was a lot of fun! Congrats to you finishers.

Sunday, I went to church, over to Applebees to eat. Hey, you've got to try that new menu! I have some signature dish that one of the chefs that Terri likes to watch on the Food Channel. Tyler somebody has taken over the menu at Applebees and I had herb chicken but it had a salad on top of it. It was one of the best meals I've eaten out in a long time. I ate it ALL.

Afterwards, Terri and I went to our offices just for a moment. I had to email a project out and couldn't get it to go from the house and Terri had some stuff she needed to take back to her office storage. We were finished in about 30 minutes and on our way back home.

When we got home I made sure Terri didn't need the car and drove down to the river and spent the afternon riding. I checked email a moment ago and read where one of our riders said it was THE day to ride. I couldn't have agreed more! The afternoon temps were great, the sun was shining, and the leaves are starting to burst into their fall show colors. I rode up River Mtn Road and lookedn down into a raven and spotted a group of hickory trees that looked like they were on fire. The color was bright yellow and breath taking. Or maybe it was the ride up the mountain that was breath taking!

I spent the whole afternoon riding without one stop. I rode what we call the Triple Bypass which is 3 nice sized hills. The one that gets me the most is Overlook but even yesterday I was really enjoying my ride up. I felt better on my bike yesterday then I have in a long time. I keep trying to figure out what it was that made me feel so alive out there. The weather? The lose of a little weight? The pasta the night before? The lunch I enjoyed so much? The tunes playing? If I could bottle that formula up it would be magic. Speaking of magic, as I rode up River Mt which was the last of my three climbs I had Grand Funk Railroad's "Closer to Home" playing just as I started the climb. The tune went in perfect timing with the climb. As I got 2/3's of the way up he sun was hitting the road and trees at the top while I was riding in the shadow. It was really pretty and the part I liked the best was in the song there are some sound effects of water splashing gentally then the rythum picks up. Maybe you had to be there, but it was cool.

I got to ride a while and chat with one of my favorite riders in town. The Wizard! This gy has a ZZ Top beard, hair tied back, all mostly gray. He has an older bike that is spotless, high top sneakers (PF Flyers!) and a kit (clothes) that are an insane clown. If you first saw him, you'd probably move away but he is eally one of the nicest folks out on the trail. Waves or says hello to just about everyone. Rides lightening fast. We rode for a while together then he dropped off ?!? The Wizard dropped off? So I looked over my shoulder several times and nothing in sight. I felt bad for a moment and considered turning around to see if he had a flat or something. Over the long wooden bridge I go and looked over my shoulder and he was drafting me.

More later!

How the trip back to the 70's and 80's ends...

Last night after I blogged I returned to the 70's era and ended up on the RUSHwebsite. You remember them don't you? Tom Sawyer, 2112, Lakeside Park (This is starting to sound like an oldies infommercial). Hang with me another minute and you'll like this.

The drummer for RUSH is Neal Peart. I remember he had more drums on stage than any band and he didn't need gimmicks, he was that good. So there is a link to his website. I go there. There and then I see a link to "Books". Hummmm, wonder what the drummer reads? To my surprise, it's not what the drummer reads, it's what the drummer writes! He writes about a trip he made across Africa *** ON HIS BICYCLE!!! So here's the link and when the page opens look at the top and find the icon for "Books". You can hear him read an exerpt from the books and they are long exerpts, so enjoy. www.neilpeart.net

Note to some of you: Yes, Rush used a wicked looking symbol as their logo but I enjoyed them and never found "witches" in the tunes. A lot of fantasy sort of stuff.

Rain rain go away...

The rain started and is like some engergized bunny, going and going and going. I wish I could push it over to the west coast and put out that fire. I've about gone into shock not being on my bike since ...uh when was that? I've done good by going to gym and working the core training program. Today I wanted to push it a bit so I added reps here and there and once I got finished the spin class was about to kick in so I ran upstairs and hopped on a bike right next to the girl that has the office next to me (Evie) and it was funny because when I walked in and asked Melissa, the instructor, if I could join the group for the seesion, Evie looked up and said, "Oh heck no! I'm not having a bike crazy next to me!" The session was good and intense and my tshirt was a sweat rag by the end. This was my first spin session with Melissa as trainer. She's great! After my shower I put my hearing aid back on and nothing. Oh crud don't tell me I have "sweat fried" another hearing aid. But lucky the thing came back on a few minutes later. I grabbed a yogurt from Java City and got back to work.

I went into throw back tonight. It was funny because I was going to load in some Sheryl Crow tunes and then next thing I know I stuck in the 80's. I've listened to A Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran (Still not impressed), The Cure, Roxette. There were a couple other tunes and bands but I couldn't remember who it was so I'll wake up at 2am and probably hum myself back to sleep with the missing tune. Then I went back to high school... oh yeah! I lived the 70's show! Yep, I knew exactly what Eric and Hot Donna were talking about. HA! I tuned in for a little Grand Funk Railroad (Yes, I wondered what Connie was doing! HA!). I forgot long the real version of Peter Frampton's tune "Do you feel" was. That was a whole album side wasn't it? I threw in some Yes and Kiss and topped it off with Blue Oyster Cult. Cities on Flame was one of my favorite high school tunes. It was one of those songs on the album... ok ok ok... the 8-track that for some reason just clicked. You know I sort of miss those high school days.

Well, I guess I written my book for tonight. Maybe tomorrow we'll see some sunshine!

32?

Take a guess... 32 what? I wish I was 32! But that's not it. I packed up the rest of my summer stuff and counted 32 t-shirts. Let me rephrase that. 32 BIKE t-shirts. For some reason when I got my summer stuff out I kept all the old bike tshirtss our as well. It was sort of fun putting them all up bcause it was a trip down memory lane. Bike to work days, Hotter than Hell, Ride for the Roses, A Ride for a Better life, Joe Martin Stage races, Big Dam Bridge, Tour de Rock, Tour de Hills, Go Phoyd!, Specialized, Team ACH, and a pile more. A couple of them were so worn out I could barely tell what they were. Terri had suggested before about taking them and having one of those "event t-shirt" quilts made.

I made it to the gym today and even kept my eating in check. When I got home I stayed busy until now.

I need to start staying up later for the rest of the week because when the clock falls back I get all messed up! I'll wake up at 4:30 ready to go. It seems every year on the first non-daylight savings time morning I wake way to early then I want to fall asleep at 8 o'clock. Spring is no problem at all but fall time change is the pits. I used to get really depressed when the time
changed because I knew that all the after work fun would be coming to an end. This year it seemed to come to an end early. There will be plenty of lunch rides and weekend rides and even rides on the dreaded trainer.

I've been reading blogs written by tri-athelets and several getting ready fr the FL Ironman on November 9th. I would love to go to Panama City to watch this. These guys have really been an inspriation to me. You know those days when you don't want to go to the gym or ride your bike. Thanks Blake, TriBommer, Allez, Kin, Lance Notstrong, Iron Gamit, Running rabbit, Wes, and all the other bloggers that kept me going (and laughing)! TriBoomer, all the best in FL man... this is your time!!

Jacket required.

A clear very cool day here in central Arkansas. We went to a farm yesterday afternoon for the teen Roast and Ride and man was it cold. Then the sun went down and it was too cold. I had taken tons of layers and kept going to the car to add another layer. Some of those kids showed up in a hoody and I guess a t-shirt under it. I noticed several freezing their tails off by the time it was over. I had several extra coats in the car to hand out. Of course most teens would rather die than wear a “daddy” coat.

I had a nice surprise this morning! When I put my belt on I got to go to the next hole down! I must have been border lining that hole because there’s no way after 2 weeks I would have lost that much. I hope I’m wrong but it was just the boost I needed.

I didn’t get to ride Sunday and I’ve only heard a ride report from one person but sounds like yesterday was a brutal windy ride. Cool and windy.

Saturday I did get out and rode for the morning. I rode over to the BDB and over. My niece Shannon was helping with the Raid the Rock adventure race. She was helping teams go over the bridge and repel down where they had to get back on their bikes and pedal over the bridge and off through the course on the other side. I had not heard that Raid the Rock was even going on this year so it surprised me when she told me to be at the bridge around 9 that morning and I’d enjoy what I would see. It’s a fun race to watch but the course is secret until the Friday night before so most of the public doesn’t know where to go watch at.

I rode up to the top of River Mtn Road and ran into Diane up there. I was out of breath because I was trying to ride up in the big ring (yes, little gear but big ring). She said John, her husband, was with the group that rode Wye Myn and Thronburg. After talking a bit we headed down the River Mtn Road and I told her I’d be behind since I hate going down hills now. Every since the hill in Branson I’ve been gun shy dropping down the hills. I really thought it was a done deal that day?

As I was riding back over the bridge there were folks everywhere. The bridge is great but I have to tell myself, it’s not a “bike” bridge. It’s for walkers, dogs, families and anyone else who wants to enjoy some time out. I had to call out several times and as I started down the ramp a family was walking up and I ended up behind one as well. I looked over my should to see a bike coming and held my hand down and out to let the rider behind me know I was slowing to let the families by. The rider didn’t slow but went through. So much for hand signals! Geesh! Sad thing was I knew the rider. One of the walkers was none to happy about being buzzed. And then again, neither was I.

One a funny note, there is a sign for dog owners on each side of the bridge that has a little dog squatting and little do-do balls coming out of it’s rear with a big red circle and slash through it. There are also plastic tear off bags underneath the sign. Yep, those puppy owners have to pick it up. I’ll take a photo of the sign and post it soon.

I saw another funny sign this weekend and it’s for a business that sales beauty products and wireless products. The sign reads, “Wireless Beauty Products”. Let your imagination run free! HA!

Lunch is over, back to work…

The twins arrived!

Well the family doesn't have to wait anymore. My niece had her twins this morning. All are healthy. I keep hearing lots of black hair. For some reason my family all go nuts when it's announced that a new baby in the family has black hair. Welcome to the world Keaton and Elliott!

It was sort of surprising that I hadn't blogged since Monday. It got warm this week, in fact it was 87 yesterday but guess what, it rained today and the temperature bottomed out. It was 49 today when we rode home.

It's been a good week. Bus as all get out but good. I've been not eating after 6 in the evening and that has been tough at times. I had to go over to Radio Shack to get some batteries for the house alarm system and I could smell the McDonalds close by. Oh that french fry smell. I told Terri when I got home that I was glad I didn't have any money on me because that smell was so tempting. Like a bottle of Jack Daniels to an addict. Then I had to go back out and Terri held a dollar out and told me that it was for french fries. Bad joke dear... real bad joke. I lived through it and didn't fall off the wagon and pull in to Mickey D's.

I made it it to the gym like a good kid and it's getting a little better. I remember the shaking from the first day and I didn't shake too bad today and I could actually get off the floor pad like a normal person rather than rolling over and having to pull myself up. I'm hoping tomorrow to get in a lunch ride. A nice very cool lunch ride.

The weekend looks to be fun. We have to help the teens on a church Roast and Ride on Sunday afternoon/night. These are usually a lot of fun. They take place at a farm up near Searcy.

Saturday morning will be a ride before the crew wakes up.

Oh hey, they announced that there will be another US Pro race. Now we have the Tour of Missouri set for Sept 07. I'll be there! They are already saying 16 Pro teams. So now we have 3 pro bike races. More to come! Check it out... http://www.tourofmissouri.com/

Later Y'all

Monday, rain and work

Well it was just a Monday. A rainy Monday. You know how those make you act. It really wasn't a bad day.

I hope where ever you are you can get the Alltel tv spots. There's a new one and the 4 other cell phone cmpanies try and bribe the Alltel guy. These spots and billbards around here have been pretty funny. At least Alltel has a sense of humor. Cingular is a screwball company. Messed up billing, on hold for ever, can't pay a bill in a store (every now and then?!). Never the same kid working in the store. Nah, I don't have Cingular but Terri and Em are doomed with them. I have a company Alltel. Anyway, the Alltel billboards are a hoot. Looks like they've been vandalized.

I got an email from my bud PJ about the cross the state in a day ride next May. PJ was the guy that did it. Awesome rider! He sent me an email that Erik from The Ride had sent him about the route, food, drinks, etc. I saw in the email something about PJ loosing 32 lbs. Whoa! I think he has pretty much kept it off too. Maybe I need to drop a lot more than 18. I know it will be hard and a challenge but I think it will make me a better person. I'll have to be a lot more disciplined in my eating habits. I mean really, I'm going to have to beg Terri to throw everything I enjoy eating out the door. Ok, a lot of it. If any of you guys have any real secrets to this weight lose puzzle, send them to me or put in the comment box at the bottom of this blog.

I rode yesterday and really enjoyed it. It was a solo training ride and not long. I found that I could start at the Sub (yep as in the submarine!) and ride to the big bridge and over then loop under and ride on out to I-430. All on the bike path. I like the new bike bridge but man, folks have no clue as to how to get out of the way. Yes, it's for everone but really come on, there were a herd of folks taking up the whole width of the bridge several deep. There were bikes behind them trying to get through and they weren't moving and myself with several rider behind me were coming down the long ramp and they just continued looley gaging along and one guy looked right at me as I was coming down and calling out coming through. He just laughed until I got almost right on him then he jumped out of the way. Ok, before you throw me to the dogs for being one of those arrogent cyclist, I was going 5 mph. 5!!! I just keep telling myself as winter sets in and the cold winds come they will stay at home. I know, I'll shut up now!

I made it over to the fitness center today and endured the pain. It was funny becasue I didn't realize today was a Traditions (orientation) day and they always bring all the new employees over to the fitness center, sit them on the bleachers for their "here's our new employees" photo that will show on the company email tomorrow morning. I had just finished as they walked past. They were one side of the glass and I was on the other. As I walked to the locker room Del, who is the hospital chaplin had them all sitting and I walked behind them and she said something about "riding around the state" and suddenly all these people were clapping. I was in another zone until I heard that then to look up and see all these people looking at me. I just sort of grinned (as in embarassed) and kept walking. Well, at least the new guysknow that we do extreme stunts for the kids.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow. My training calls for a lunch time ride and I just loaded a new playlist to listen to. I had listened to the other playlist several times too many.

Well Geo out for now...

It's all changed up... almost

5:09 and it's winding down! Change day is almost down and we're still married! HA! Furniture all cleaned and moved around into it's winter spots. Summer stuff up and fall all came down. We had to scratch our heads and wonder if we really stored some of this stuff for a year. Funny modern art piece was made over the summer! There were several candles that accidentially got packed and melted together. It was one of those things you pull out of a box and look at it then tilt your head like a puppy and stare in wonderment! HA! Sort of had that look of one of those prized kindergarten art projects you get for a special holiday. Emily was off helping her boyfriends aunt move into her new house. Tyler came over and brought my "grandpuppy" with him. Zero is so funny! We sent him home dirty and tired thanks to Sadie! Funny too because Sadie has crashed in the floor and so asleep that I walked and stepped over her and she didn't move.

Oh and guess what we found today stashed away in the back of a closet... My Sony Studio headphones!!! I love these things because the sound is awesome! I really thought the kids had taken them somewhere. Dad's think that way when we lose stuff... right guys? We learned this from Dr. Cliff Huxeble (sp?) back in the 80's. If not from him, then it was from the great Toolman Taylor! I really miss the good shows like that. I like CSI but I would really like a good dose of the "old days".

Last night Terri and I went out for dinner and decided to the new Montana Steak House that just opened. Nothing special at all. The waitress was great but the rest of "dining experience" was blah.

Afterwards we went over to Lowe's to look at tile for the kitchen. For those you who pray, please put me and my tiling project on your list. HA! I asked Terri if she was really sure she could handle a torn up kitchen for a few days? Ok, a few months! HA! It's going to be pretty after it's all done. We picked up a few other things then headed across the street to WalMart. I want the profits from just one WalMart store for one day. Man, it' always busy!

When I woke this morning I thought I'd get a ride in then I told myself to stick around and get started moving things I could that wouldn't make noise so Terri and Em could sleep. Then I said, nah, go ride. This went back and forth for a while. I didn't ride. I saw Paul B at Wal Mart last night and he said a few guys were going to ride at 10 so I kept thinking I'd get down there and ride. Instead I started my work. Ok, I'll go ride after I get finished. No can do. Oh well, I'll ride tomorrow afternoon.

I saw pasta shells and guess what's in the sink thawing out? Real crab stuffing from P'cola! Oh yes!! I'll loose those 18 lbs later...

Speaking of food, get this, one of the guys I ride with, actually one of my heros, is married to a ... are you ready... a trainer, who is ALSO a massage therapist, who is ALSO a Pastry Chef. That ain't right is it?! Oh and there's even more... She is one of our fast girls! I didn't know she did all this until this week. Chris and Rebecca I. is who I'm talking about. If I didn't have kids, I would adopt them. You know those folks that you are "put your feet on the coffee table" comfortable around. They are that to me.

Oh and how about the Hogs baby!!! It will be fever pitched next week for the Ole Miss game. (Note to nephew Jim in CA... why not writing about our beloved Hogs now that they are smokin"? Note to my neice in Rogers (his sister) who I know is laughing after reading that! HA!)

It's "change it all around" weekend

It's about to be the weekend and I figured I better blog now because Terri and I made the do list on the way into the office this morning and it's a big 'un! This is the weekend when we change everything around. We clean this and that and move furniture into the winter position. Then I have to go up in the attic and bring all the fall stuff down and take all the summer stuff up. The nice thing about tomorrow is this is the first time in a long time that no one has to get up to be at an event! I suspect I'll get up and go ride my 30 miles or slow and be home before Terri and Em even wake up.

A couple of you folks have asked what drills my trainer has me doing until Thanksgiving so here you go:
Chest Press
Lat Pull Down
Rev Butterfly
Leg ExtLeg Curl (Yes, this IS a pain in the butt drill!)
Bicep Curl
Triceps Pushdown
Back Ext
Reverse kickbacks on Swiss BallKick backs on bench
Crunch on Swiss Ball. Hold the Med Ball up and touch trainer hands. Don't bend arms.
Twist at 45 degree with SwissS
cissors
There is also one (sorry gym gurus, I don't know the name of it yet) but you lean over this bar and you do sit ups but it looks like you are going to hit your head on the floor. 45 degree. You feel it in your lower back.

Anyway, the lunch workout was fun. Well, I say that now but after the last drill. The Scissors, I rolled over to get up and my arms were on strike! Ha! I remember this feeling when I first started this the last time. Before long it doesn't bother me. I well say, I don't hurt anything like I did on assessment day.

I have to admit, I enjoyed my gym time today.

One of our Fast Girls Slow Guys is moving away. He's one of my favorites and I'll miss him. His one of the good guys and always pushes me to do better. At least he's moving someplace cool... Atlanta. Yep, he'll be there for Tour of Georgia next spring. Road trip! HA!

Beautiful weekend ahead. 70% chance of rain on Monday predicted.

Y'all go have a great weekend!

The first "cold" ride

Since the lunch ride was a bust I took the bike home and got in almost an hour before dinner. It was dark and dreary but I wanted to get out. I knew if I stayed in I would sit and watch the news. I'm trying hard to not park it when I get home. Stay moving. It was funny how long it took for suit up for a cool weather ride. I pulled out my riding jacket and zipped off the sleeves. this is a serious wind halting jacket and arms on and zipped up is some serious warmth. I didn't need that much. I ended up with a long sleeve under armour t-shirt with a short sleeve jersey over that and the vest. I had long tights on but just wore regular riding gloves instead of the full fingered ones. I've got to get some shoe covers because the toes were cold. I was wondering to myself if I just had the "oh boy it's finally cold" syndrome or was it really. As I rode through a neighborhood several miles from home I kept thinking I was smelling wood burning and sure enough I spotted smoke coming from a chimney. Then another and another. I had a good ride and got in 15.7 miles and averaged 16.3 which I didn't think was too bad considering the hills. There were several times there would be a car behind me and it would prompt me to move it a little faster. One of the funniest was the car at the red light to cross 107. I came up behind it and I guess they were frightened or just typical motorist mind of "don't let guy on the bicycle pass us". They kept moving up and moving up until they were out in the lane of oncoming traffic. Light changes and zoom zoom. Sort of reminds me of the crazies on the I-630 loop at rush hour home. The ride was really nice. Folks waving from their driveways as they arrived home from a day at the office. People getting their mail, herding their kids in for dinner. The sound of their laughter. A few leaves blow across the road here and there. A dog barking in the distance. Life here is just good.

juggling act

This is becoming a juggling act already. This training for another ride. I went for the fitness assessment and didn’t get to go back to train yesterday. I told myself it was ok because I had the assessment on a non-gym day. So today I was supposed to ride a lunch day. Just about the time I’m getting ready to head over to the gym to change to bike gear I look out the window and notice folks carrying umbrellas or walking really fast. About that time the rain drops begin to hit the window. They are not like the summer rain drops that hit and roll on down. No these are like those January rain drops that hit the window and slowing streak an inch or two leaving a trail like a slug. So, no bike ride at lunch today and I didn’t bring gym clothes and tennis shoes so no fitness center either. Phone rings, it’s Jason inviting me to go grab some lunch. I tell him no, I brought my lunch and I was supposed to go ride. I’m sort of bummed and he starts talking Sonic. I start thinking corn dog, tots and a coke. I have the little angel Geo on one shoulder and the little devil Geo on the other. Geo, don’t go eat that stuff.
Think of the 18 lbs you’ve got to drop. I thump the little angel Geo off my shoulder and head out to Sonic. Yes, it was worth every bit and I wanted to reorder. I can tell this dieting part of my life is going to be hard. I love chocolate and it’s hard to go without it. Ok, truth told, I don’t go without it. I love chips especially Doritos or any chips for a Mexican place. I really love the espresso brownies from our Java City that’s in the hospital lobby. Yes, the dieting is going to be my “lifestyle change” as pro dieters call it.

O MY!! Another baby!

My life just changes daily.... another baby... whoa no stop! No you goober, not Terri and I!!! Doc changed my plumbing years and years ago! HA! My neice Lindsey is expecting! Her and Joe will be great parents and Opie will be a great "big brother dog".

So we have Brit and Ben have Landon (7 weeks old)
Melissa and Ryan are due twins (Keaton and Elliot) in a couple of weeks
Matt and Vittoria are due Christmas
and now Lindsey and Joe!

The funny thing is that Brit, Matt and Lindsey are all my little sister Barbie's kids.

Congrats to everyone!!! I can't wait to be a grandparent...ok yes, I can! HA!

Alright alright alright... I'll tell ya

Alright, alright, alright… I’ll tell ya!

It’s leaking out faster than mixing beer and ice cream!
I’m going to do another ride!
Here’s the lowdown:
Thursday, May 24th, 2007
I’m going to ride across the state of Arkansas in one day.
Yes, it’s a fund raiser for the hospital
Yes, it’s a lot of miles. 311 miles in one day.
Start at the Arkansas River in Fort Smith, Arkansas (Actually, I’ll go over the river to Oklahoma and ride across)
I plan to ride through Little Rock around 3:30 for PR stuff then leave for the farmlands on the way to Memphis by 4:30.
Yes, I will have a support car this time.
Yes, others have already started talking about riding with me.
Yes, I just started training for it and my trainer did a fitness assessment and I hurt from head to toe. Serious.
No, I’m not getting a new bike for it. I know my bike is going to be 3 years old and it’s a 58 and I really need a 56 but I’m used to it. I can’t just toss aside my 3 year love affair! HA!
Yes, I hope to design a new jersey for the event.
Yes, I’ve got to drop some weight. About 18 lbs but trainer said that will happen with no problem.

So what’s the plan? Well, like I said, I had my fitness assessment today and even though I rode my bike all summer there a muscles that you just don’t have to use. I guess maybe I should say, you don’t think you use. Trainer woke them up today. I’ll list the drills/reps as he gets it all lined out.

I’ll spend the winter in the fitness center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I’ll ride lunch rides. On the weekends I’ll be riding Saturday mornings. More than likely going back out on the Carve farmland rides. We usually started by 7 and finished by 10. Sunday’s will find me doing some sort of ride. Unless it’s raining or below freezing then I’ll be out there. I have to be if I plan to pull this off.

I actually did part of this ride last Oct with John, Paul, Robb, Mike as part of a fundraiser for John’s church. I rode from Ft Smith to NLR but also took a short break in there. Now if I do this ride, I can’t take a SAG break. I have to be the one that stays on the bike no matter what. I remember last year so well. Man, we got up and looked out the window to see the plants rocked back and forth like they were in a hurricane. It was cold and spitting rain. I was dreading it. But we got over the river and circled up and had a prayer and then it was just like when I started the around the state ride, the butterflies flew away once I started pedaling. I suspect I will be hiding in the lobby restroom of the Hampton Inn in Fort Smith again next May as I’m about to start yet another journey to raise funds and awareness for the hospital and it’s patients.

Welcome to the ride!

A whole new day... a whole new journey

Yep, there is something brewing but I still can't tell you yet. That's crud huh?! Let's just call it a brand new day and a brand new journey about to take shape and I can't wait. Yep, I'm giddy about it.

I didn't even look to see when I last blogged but Saturday was fun. I rode from the house to US Bank in NLR and cheered on the ladies doing Race for the Cure. Then I rode back home and worked around the yard the rest of the day. I was really nice to be out there getting it whipped back into shape. The lawn service came today to treat it for winter. Now I just need to go hit the garden center for flats of pansies. Today during lunch on the HR lounge Andree' was talking about getting her pansies last weekend from WalMart and said they were some of the best looking she had seen. Guess I'll try there first. By the way, my boss Eric is in CO for a few more days and I just saw the opening for Monday night footbll and they're in Denver and it looks cold. Eric hates cold. The funny thing is most of his past vacations have been to cold places.

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. Oh joy! Hey, at least I get one of those new toothbrushes, a pack of the latest hi-tech floss and a sample size tube of the new brightening,whitening,kill off the bad breath sort of toothpaste. Then I'll get a little reminder card for me to come back in six months. I'll go home and flip the calendar for 6 months from now. Oh hold it, the 06 calendar doesn't go that far in advance. I'll write it somewhere. Then it'll be one more thing in the back of my mind.

Oh funny story. I was talking to my neice yesterday out at the 4H center and was asking her why all the giant spiders appear in Oct. We always have the monsterous hairy kitten eating spiders show up on our front porch and they make huge webs (yep, saves us a bungle on Halloween decorations from Wally World!) and the reason is becasue there are less insects now and they are on the move. She said, that's why you see a lot of transulas (sp?) because the males are looking for love. Seems they go for a walk and find their little hairy women hiding in borrows so they come to call. I asked Shannon if the guys stayed with them all winter and she just laughed. The answer is no in case you are wondering. She said they have their own place. Thought you all would enjoy that nature lesson! HA!

Well, that's it for now...

Race for the Cure weekend

I'm not sure how many women will be running and walking in this years Race for the Cure in the morning (http://www.becauseicare.org/) but I would put money that it'll be way over the 30,000 mark. The weather today and for tomorrows race is perfect! Cool temps and a sunny sky. A runners delight no doubt. The week starts with a few RFTC events and ends up in a full blown "shut the downtown down" frenzy! Everyone gets involved and it's fun. It starts in downtown Little Rock, over the bridge to NLR then back over another bridge to LR again.


The guys show their support by being a part of "Three Miles of Men". It's 3 miles of screaming, sort of rabid acting crazies that go nuts when the women run by. There are signs and wild customs. Loud music. It's really like a tailgate party honoring those ladies.

This year the Fast Girls Slow Guys bike club will be wearing our hot pink and blue jersey and we'll be on the NLR side just before they go back over the bridge into Little Rock. The temp at starting is to be 48 degrees. So that means if I ride down from the house it will be sort of chilly. I guess I might ought to run my leg warmers and arm warmers through the washer after work. They've been laid up in the top of the closet since a I guess about April. Once the sun rises the temps will warm up to a nice 78 by days end. One of my pals once had a big cup of capped Starbucks in one of his bottle holders on his bike and with it being cool in the morning, I might just do the same! HA!

The event really is great and it's so awesome to see the "pink ladies" run and walk by. I think one of the rules is you can only wear a pink shirt if you're a breast cancer survivor. I'm not positive but I think there are no company t-shirts that are pink. That really makes it better for the sidelines because the cheering goes on for a couple of hours but man when a pink shirt comes through the crowd just explodes! There are other runners that are pushing wheel chairs with a lady fighting cancer that was well enough to be out there and let me tell you that's when the crowd goes into this rabid fever pitched frenzy cheering. There have been a couple of years when I would cheer on a runner/walker in pink and you could see tears in their eyes. Yes ma'am we are all cheering you on!

Changing the subject a little, I stumbled upon a great blog. ( http://triboomer.blogspot.com/ ) This guy is an Ironman. Yes, one of those Ironman. I'm always blown away reading their stories of endurance. This Ironman is on a mission. His wife passed of cancer not long ago and he is honoring her through his racing. The note he writes after she passed will bring tears to your eyes. It did mine.

Ok, so the Big Dam Bridge is open and boy has it been crowded! I rode with an engineering firm the other day during lunch and was really surprised to see so many folks out there at lunchtime. there has been a funny and not so funny thing happening on the bridge. It's a non-auto bridge so nothing but walkers, runners and bikes. Well, folks are walking their dogs and seems the pups need to go to the restroom and it's catching folks off guard. Yep, doggie piles on the bridge. Even the sportswriter had an opinion on the front page of Sports a couple days ago. I keep telling myself, like anything new, you have to give it a little time for folks to get the hang of it.

Well, I've eaten my lunch (Hey Emmy, Sonic!! HA!) so it's time to get back to work.

Go have yourself a fantasic weekend!

The BDB is open! Y'all come on over and enjoy!

I know, I know… no blogging lately. I just sort of ran into a dry spell. We all have ‘em sometimes. It was the end of “true” bike season, I was having problems trying to be a dad with a dog problem (ha!), I had a garage that had stuff piled everywhere, blah blah blah…

So here’s everything I’ve done since the last blog…

Max (the daughter’s boyfriend’s dog) has a new home on the lake in Heber Springs. If I would have know he was getting to move up then I would have gone and he could have stayed! A home on the lake… nice! It was hard on everyone to let him go. I think it was hard on Sean most of all but we just couldn’t keep him. Now I have to say things are a lot quieter and Sadie has figured out she can eat without worry. Max was sort of Mr. Alpha Male and guarded the food even if it was in two places. She is still hiding things in funny places. Zero, Tyler’s dog came over to play Saturday and this dog is about 4 lbs but really a funny little dog.

We opened the Big dam Bridge over the weekend. Yep, that’s really what it’s called. It’s built over the dam so … a lot of folks call it “BDB” so they don’t have to say the “d” word. The newscasters have had fun with it. Thursday night was the 75 dollar a person sunset reception. I volunteered at the shuttle lot. There were a lot of very nice cars. Lots of money folks. All I had to do was welcome the guest as they pulled into the parking lot and let them know where the shuttle buses were then I could go over myself. A friend came back from the party to the shuttle lot and said it was nice but sort of a shallow party. I went on home. Besides, it was cold!

Friday, took the day off. My uncle passed in Alabama some my mom and couple of sisters went over and I stayed with Dad for part of the day on Friday. Brit and Landon came over for the afternoon sitting. Landon is 7 weeks old and a cute little man! Matt and Victoria are due around Christmas and Ryan and Melissa’s twins are due a tad before Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to have a grandchild but not anytime soon!!

Saturday, out at the celebration by 7:30 for the opening of the bridge. Had to go to the same shuttle lot and catch the thing to Cook’s Landing. People everywhere! I ran into Shannon, my niece, who was going to run the 5K over the bridge. My volunteer job today was to stand in the path and keep folks off as the riders come over the bridge for the opening. Several quick speeches and 3 prayers are said. Then the lock and dam horn blasted and here they came. It was a “lump in your throat” moment. The sounds system suddenly starts cranking out U2’s “Streets have no name”. It was awesome. I saw so many friends coming over the bridge!

After I finished I looked for Shannon again but no luck. There were hundreds and hundreds of runners everywhere. So I caught the shuttle back to the car and I couldn’t believe how many folks were still coming in for the run. It looked like the LR Marathon morning. It was so great to see all the excitement. When we pulled into the shuttle lot the line to shuttle to the race was all the way down the drive. I mean like 100 yards of folks. They still had an hour before the race.

I drove over to Burn’s Park and changed into riding clothes and took off. The Boy Scouts were having a jamboree so there were hundreds of boys on bikes so I had to ride very cautiously. The bike path belongs to everyone so I can’t get upset but several times I had to call out sort of stern to get them to move or I’d hit head on. I don’t know if I got over 15 mph the whole time.

I finally hit the open road and rode over the Broadway bridge to circle around to ride from LR to NLR on the BDB. Got there to fast so I had to wait for them to reopen after the race. I jumped on with a couple of Carve riders and it was great since the lead was calling out and we were able to get over fairly quick.

The rest of the day was spent getting things ready for our Redneck Oasis rest stop. I borrowed all sorts of stuff from all sorts of folks. Our rest stop was going to be the best.

Sunday morning… laying in bed awake at 5… oh just get up! I rechecked everything again and again. Terri and I head out and when we get there all that’s there is a ice machine… in the field. We go ahead and get things started setting up and the rest of the stuff arrives except the porta potty. Ok, I’m thinking to myself, this could be bad. The guys can take care of themselves but girls well that’s a different story.
More later….