Yep, it's snowing...

Snow started about an hour north of here about midafternoon and caused chaos. Sent some folks fleeding toward home when the first flurry started in Little Rock. It didn't really start here until right about 6:30 or so. The ground is sort of white but the roads are clear. I moved our car up the hill in front of Ron and Cheryl's house. It's a "winter weather" tradition.

I spent lunch on the spin bike and felt strong today.

Icon for today

Here's the stinking icon for this afternoon, tonight AND tomorrow.

Just a good week

Just a good week so far! I crank it out in spin class today and even felt the love enough to stay after class and tighen the resistance up really tight and envision Valley View climbs. That hill comes to me in my dreams. I will continue working that hill over and over and over.

Sorry, was day dreaming... spin class was sold out today and then several turned away. It was a great thing to see so many wanting to spin. I hope the crazy continues. Melissa is an awesome instructor and we have a deal that once I start sweating I take my hearing aid off so I don't sweat fry another one and she gives hand signals. Works out great and besides the music is so loud I can still hear the bass beat without the aid.

Winter mix is in the forcast for tomorrow night but should be gone by Friday! Nice weekend ahead. Cold but nice.

My bud Vince sent me an email and said he was riding across the state in less than 20 hours as a celebration and an awareness ride for diabetes. He has the disease but let me tell you, it doesn't slow him down. Feb 10th, I'm going to ride a little of the route in central Ark with Vince. Go Vince Go! Allez!!!!!

Geo out...
Fade to black...

Fr-Fr-Fr-Freezing cold

Sunday:
Got up, went to church, rushed home so I could eat a small bite then spend the afternoon on the bike getting my required hours in. Flipped on the Weather Channel to be sure all was clear this time (Thanks for the plan JBar... check weather then dress...who woulda thought?). Temp was 33 with 22 degree wind chill and 18 mph wind gust. Hmmmm. Common sense says stay in but when you spent the day before wishing you were on the bike, common sense goes out the door.

I got out to Burn's Park and John pulled in just a few moments later. Both of us had the same reaction... BRRR! I rode to the bridge and no bikes around. There was a group heading out on a 51 mile ride and I was hoping to at least see them.

Head on out to Maumelle to ride something a little different. The problem with riding in the cold temps and having to wear a real winter cap is that it's so thick that everytime I turn my head my hearing aid would shut off. Total silence. I messed with this a couple of times and was getting really ticked. Maumelle Blvd is not the place for a quite ride. As I'm fixing it yet again, the group coming flying by. Looks like about 8 to 10 of them. Said howdy as they went by and then got some crazed novel idea of jumping behind them and going. Looking down to see 24mph into the wind. I stay for a few minutes and hearing aid shuts off again. I'm on the back of this train with cars flying up behind us before switching lanes. I pull out into the neighborhood and circle back to the river.

I had a great ride all afternoon and got some hills in including a couple of repeats of Ft Roots and even a couple of Valley View, a short but steep hill.

All in all it was a great day to be out on the bike!


Geo out...
Fade to black...

Will Saturday EVER have Plan "A" work?

Ok, I knew they said rain so I got up early (6am). Looked out on the deck, it's dry! Yesss! I eat, shower, head back in the kitchen for cup 'o Joe #2. Hmmm wonder what the air fels like. Open the back door and step out on the deck. WHAAAA????? I feel the sprinkles. Flip on Weather Channel to see the pink (ice/rain) band coming across central Ark. Ice? It's 40 degrees! Heavy sigh... another Saturday of Plan "B".

Plan "B"
Call airport ask for the jet to be ready in a few. Text message a few cycling friends I figured would be up and acting all depressed and tell them to meet me at Central Flying Service and we're heading down to south FL for an afternoon of riding in the 75 degree, sunny weather. A dinner of seafood while watching the sun sink in the sea... you know the picture.

11:oo am -- great flight from Arkansas. Weather here is AWESOME! Matthew came with us this time and is all mad 'cause we didn't have time to go to Hooters. I suspect he'll take out his anger by pushing us to average 30mph. No big deal really, we can hang with him on that.


ahhh yes... in a perfect life! HA!

Geo out...

fade to black.....

01.26.07

Beautiful day with blue skies! I need to be out on the bike really bad. The workweek is winding down and everyone is leaving or thinking about it.

Here’s the plans for the weekend…
Friday:
Stop by bike shop and drop off jerseys.
On The Border for dinner in a bit and more home stuff shopping with Terri.

Saturday:
Starbucks! (Rolling Stones “Start me up” playing in the background!)
Morning ride due to the 60% chance of rain they are saying we’ll get between 10am and 3pm. I need to push about 3-4 hours in the saddle.
Work in the attic and finishing the flooring project then the usual Saturday chore list.
Dinner at parents house in Benton

Sunday:
Church
Eat
Ride
Eat at Kyle and Judy’s
Chill
Sleep

Back on track

Today has been a great day! I got rough sketches for the new jersey and they are awesome, awesome, and more awesome! Serious. I'll release the drawing soon. Sorry. My VP even thought it was great.

I got to get out right at sunset and ride tonight. I headed over to the sports complex to ride laps. I enjoy it over there because it's a huge parking lot that's lit up and empty. I rode for an hour and had an average speed of 16.3. I was happy. The start of the ride was cold. When I got out of the car it wasn't bad but once I started the wind in my face was chilly. Of course after a few laps, I was warm.

There are some woods on one side of the parking lot and baseball fields on the other. While I was riding tonight I noticed some movement at the other end of the lot and a guy stepped out of the woods and was walking. Not a big deal really since several folks seem to like that lot to walk on but coming out of the woods?! He stopped where the sidewalk comes to the parking lot and drops and does push ups. After I fly by he gets up and walks more. Just gave me the spooks. He disappeared over the hill and I didn't see him anymore. Just hit me as a little unsual.

I got excited a few minutes ago because I took the trash to the curb. You know what that means! The weekend is closer! HA!

Geo out...

At the end of the day

At the end of the day

(Photo by Kelley Cooper -- Arkansas Children's Hospital)

It's the end of the day yet I sit and wonder about it all. I train. I think about trianing. I read about training. When I'm down I read what the guys training for Ironman are going through. Some have been injured and some are just getting back on the wagon after a recoup through the holidays. Everyone seems to be after the same thing. A strive to be better. Although I'm not trying by any means to be Ironman, their thinking is on the money. An injury or set back can flip the world.

Today it seemed as if my world were slowly flipping and pardon the expression but it sucked! I got the call from the doc and the surgery date is April 12th. I would need to be in intense training mode the month of April for the River 2 River ride set for May 24th. After I hung up I leaned back in my chair and ran my hands through my hair giving it the just woke up look. Then I stood to look out the office window and collect my thoughts. Man, my ride is disappearing before my very eyes. I have folks already to jump on this thing in all sorts of ways. There is a killer jersey (with no date on it thank goodness!) in the works. There are a couple of outside interest seeking the ride out. There are a couple of major companies ready to buy in as well as furnish some amazing technology. I'm so disappointed and bummed.

Ok, whining over. Sorry but I had to write it and get it out of my system. So what are we gonna do about it? Reschedule! The ride WILL take place just a little later. I've thought about this over and over today. I'm off the bike for 1 week. Ok, big deal, just act like it's a recovery week. In fact, make it a recovery week after April 12th. I'll go out and literally beat the snot out of myself the weekend before the surgery. I know March 31st is a century (100 mile) ride called Tour de Cure here in Little Rock so I'll get that done! Then I'll have another weekend after that so I'll get a ton more riding in. That will be April 7 & 8. Easter is on the 8th so it will be a sunset ride. Surgery on Thursday April 12th. I'm thinking out loud here... because after surgery it will be 2 weeks of total silence. I guess I could call this "Silence of the Limbs" HA!

What's going on on Thurday, June 28th? It starts the 4th of July weekend which is that following Wednesday. There enough time in there that the crazys should have to go to work on that Friday so I'm thinking if anyone is going to take off extra fdays or the 4th they'll do it that week rather than my ride week. Terri has a summer convention at the Holiday Inn in Ft Smith the week before so she might not be to thrilled to go back again so soon. July 7th we are heading for the beach. Y'all see where this is going??? I'm feeling MUCH better already!

Kids, I think I'm gonna go for it! Stay tuned for more!

01.21.07

Finally the rain stopped during the night and that gave it enough time to dry the roads pretty well. I got out and rode 42 miles this afternoon and averaged 15.3. I climbed some hills and the roads were damp in places so I wasn't taking any chances coming down.

I spotted the Fast Girls Slow Guys out for their afternoon of hammering. Racing season is just around the corner and they will be one of the strongest clubs around. I can't wait to see them cut it loose this spring.

Just as I was leaving Brandon pulled up and was about to get a few miles in. Was good to see him.

The LR Marathon runners were all out in force doing their long runs today. There is a visually impaired runner that runs with a guide. It is the most awesome and inspriational thing to watch. This afternoon I came up behind them and recongized the bright orange vest. I slowed and watched. That is complete faith in someone to be able to run blind. They were moving at a good runners pace too. I really hope he is going to run the marathon in March.

Ok, got some news. I'm going to have some outpatient surgery on my hearing aid ear in a couple of weeks. No big deal, takes doc about an hour. I have some rare deal where my ear canal is trying to grow closed. Weird huh? He is just going to go in and cut the tissue out then put in a skin graft. Said no bike for a week. I can live with that but then no hearing aid for at least 2 weeks. I can't live with that! I will be in total silence for at least 2 weeks. My boss said I can work from home if I want too but I'll probably go to the office once doc releases me to. Hoping for a Wed or Thurs surgery then I can be back on Monday. My team is good to me so they'll take the calls and I'll do everything by email which is almost what I do now anyway. The good part is that once I put my hearing aid back in everything will be booming loud after no sound.

Another milk and bread scare?!

Ok, so this is the icon for the weekend for us. Well ain't that just dandy?! I think we saw the sun for a few moments yesterday and maybe well see it again before the weekend. As long as it's not wet out then I'll go get my miles in. Coach has me down for 3 hours this weekend. I'll be a bit crisp and fresh outside but I can handle that. Everything they predict this sort of weather everyone goes and gets milk and bread like we'll be shut in for a week.

I'm eating lunch in the office and blogging because today is a busy day otherwise. Still working on cutting back on certain foods. Those girls that I live with have a thing about sugar. No not kissing sugar but cookie sugar. I know I know... just don't eat it. Well, that's easier said than done. I keep looking at those brownies or cookies telling them that I'm bigger, badder and better than them. They just look up with their little chocolate chip eyes and draw me in.

I didn't realize that daylight savings started it's new schedule this year! Yep, March 11th rather than April 1st. Certainly will help me with my afterwork riding schedule! I love daylight savings!

Well back to work... Geo out...

But I was riding...

Just keep reading and you'll understand why this photo of Wye Mountian is here. By the way, it's just a few more weeks and the mountain will look like this once again!

I know I said I would write some more but I was riding on the new rig!

There are 8 programs and 16 settings. I rode the 20 minute program which is one of the first listed. It is flat then an incline. On the screen it looks big but not really. I kept getting the "down" arrow telling me to slow down! Oh my gosh! I love this bike! No one ever tells me to slow down! I never did slow down.

I finished that 20 minute program and was feeling like I was just warming up so I clicked through a few other programs and found a 30 minute course that kicks in on a climb real quick and the climb is real. For those in the central Ark area... it was Wye Mountain real. Yeah baby, I was having to stand and push hard to get that pedal to go around. Shirt was soaked and Sadie was giving me that dog is smarter than owner look while laying on the floor watching me. I didn't think the last 8 minutes of the course would ever run out and the thing was telling me to keep the target speed at 10mph?!!! Man, Patrick can't even ride up Wye at 10 mph and that guy is a nuts-o on the bike. So who is Reebok telling me to climb at 10? I kept getting the up arrow now and I finally told myself, "Ok Geo, take it to the top and if you pass out trying at least you are at home and it would only be about 30 minutes before wife came to the back and found your dead body in the floor (one foot still strapped to the bike of course!)". So I pushed and pushed and pushed and made it. Ok it was a private "Rocky" moment... it's sort of like that dance like nobody's watching moment. A few gulps of water and some stretching then I walked through the house. Terri was in the den and just looked at me like "boy, oh no you don't!" Like I was going to drip on the kitchen floor or something. Ok funny story time: When I was on the climb and stood up I didn't realize that the ceiling fan would cut my head off. Y'all know the rest of the story.... HA!!!

Just a quick hit

Just a real quick it this morning. I worked ALL weekend on reports so when I got finished I didn't even want to look at the computer.

Here's the weather update for you readers outside the central Arkansas area. Yes, it is STILL raining! Last I heard it was something like 5 and a half inches had fallen. Streets are flooded here and there. The river is way up but still within in banks. The Saline River in Benton where my parents live is a different story but they are in no danger at all. High upon a hill and a mile away from the river. If they ever are in danger from the river, the Ark would be looking pretty good!

We did get our new "house" bike. It's really nice! I laughed and laughed when I saw one of the features! It has controls on top of the handlebars and the display becomes games! Yes, you can play video games and spin at the same time. Emmy boyfriend loves that feature. I spun and watched Terminal (Tom Hanks) Saturday night. I think I'm really going to like this!

Back to work... I'll write more tonight.

Weather... what weather?

Wow! I flipped on the tube this morning to see Fresno at 21 degrees? Oh no! I flip over to the Weather Channel and they are all over this wicked weather weekend. Denver, oh those poor guys. What is this something like their 4th or 5th weekend for winter storms? Just glad Tyler has graduated and moved back to Ark. I think he misses the snow though.

Terri and I went to Cracker Barrel to have dinner tonight. I felt like an old folk but Terri had the stomach bug and wanted something a little easier. I had breakfast and coffee. We then went over to Office Depot and looked at router stuff so we could figure out how to make our laptop wireless in the house. The set up looks simple. AT&T has called us half a dozen times offering deals if we'll drop Comcast Cable for our internet and use them. We were wondering if the same set up basically goes for DSL as it does for cable on wireless set up. I didn't want to buy the cable set up if we are thinking of changing if they weren't compatable.

After that Terri said we should go over to look at upright stationary bikes! Yea-izzzz!!!! The darling wants to start riding again! We checked out a few and will probably go back tomorrow to get on. The Reebok RT 300 is looking good. It has the features for training indoors and get this, has a quirky little game feature so you can play video games on the screen. The graphics looks like 1980 Space invader graphics. We laughed. There are 16 different programmed levels. This is sort of like Chrsitmas Eve! We both like to look and on "big" purchases (purchases over 100 bucks) we look then leave. That way, tomorrow if we are still feeling strong about it then we'll go buy it. I put a note out on my club email that I was selling my Cycle-Ops Mag trainer. I like it but just never used it that much since I could ride outside or ride in the fitness center.

Terri just ran over to the store to get groceries before the big rain comes. It had rained before she left. Guess what, it's starting to rain now. I hope it's not raining much when she comes out of the store.

Looking forward to the weekend... aren't you!

Oh gee....

Of gee, let me see.... A snapshot of the last 24 hours...
Something happened to the dryer and rolled the smoke and now it smells like a burnt out house.
Terri has some stomach bug.
I didn't go to the gym or ride today.
I ate fried foods.
My VP wants a report reformatted... ugh, it's actually about 50 reports.
It's about to rain heavy for the net 2 possible 3 days.

Ok, enough whinning. Now the good stuff...
I read where several girls in our club are getting serious about a race in March.
Tomorrow is Friday.
I fixed the dryer.
I have a trainer for my bike so I can ride this weekend in the house. I know, I'm not a bike trainer fan.
I filled 4 positions today which makes for an easier Friday.

Little milestones

There are little milestones that happen to everyone through out there day/week/ year/life and as comical as this sounds, every Tuesday night is a small milestone. It's trash night. I know, that's goofy but when I take the trash to the curb on Tuesday night that means that the week is half over almost. Actually is just a way to make it seem like the weekend will be here faster.

I had another milestone tonight. I got home, suited up and drove right down the road to the Kevin McReynolds Sports Complex and rode laps around the parking lot. I kept thinking I would do this so I wouldn't have to sit on the trainer. It was awesome! There were a few folks finishing up there walking when I got there and I could watch several sports going on. I could see the Sylvan Hills Bear soccer team practicing, as well as Bear baseball (guys) was wrapping up. The nice part was that the kids all had their cars still on the school lot so there were no cars coming or going! I rode the lot a few laps to warm up and look for broken glass and lucky there was only one place and it wasn't in my way. My own private training course. I got it going on and look down to see and nice 20 mph (Geo's thought, "Go on big boy, you're going to suck air in just a moment!"). Around a couple of laps and feeling really good. There is a little incline so it gave me a chance to climb, sort of. After several more laps I took it all the way up to big ring and big gear. Going down the incline was super fast, banking the curve was a "woowoo" moment then up on the pedals and sprinted to the end, bank and do it again. Where was this coming from? Lap after lap. Everytime I rode under a certain light I would look to check my speed. Never under 17!!! I can taste that coppery taste that happens when you are working out hard in the cold air. A sip of water settles that and Rainforest (techno mix) by Moby comes on. Oh man, that's a tune to crunch it to. I push as hard as I can up the incline. I want to sit before I get to the top but tell myself that I'd only be cheating myself. I was true to myself and kept it going.
A couple more laps slowing down to cool down. I stop at the car and see my breath in the cool night air. I see the stars and a jet cruising through the heavens. I lean up against the car and sigh thinking to myself, "Yep Geo, now you're training!"

Train time: 56 minutes
Average speed: 16.7

Be right back...

I know, I know.... I haven't posted anything in a couple of days. Been busy. I'll post after my ride tonight...

This is gonna be some trippin'

Well, Coach sent me my River 2 River training schedule today. Oh ho ho!!!

I looked at first week (this week), piece of cake baby... 3 hours in the saddle.

Feb has a couple of Saturdays with 6 hours in the saddle.... yeah, that's doable.

March has an 8, 9 and 10-er. Yes, those are riding HOURS.

April, I'm outta breath just looking at it.
4/16 -- 10 hour ride
4/23 -- 11 hour ride
4/30 -- 12 hour ride

Oh and did I mention there are some weekday rides too? There are. So I guess I might ought to download those songs that would take up a whole album side... what do you mean, what's an album? Oh go ask your grandparents kid!

Here's the deal, and I'm not making it up, I'm looking forward to it. I need to keep the pace at 15 mph for hours and hours on end. I can do that. The hard part is not to let myself jump in with the big dawgs and try and ride fast and tire out. There are some days I'll get to go out and hammer (Well, hammer as much as I can! HA!) and there are some days I get to go out and climb.

Big news, I got to go down a belt notch today! I'm not sure how but I did. I sort of ate a some snack foods but not my fall 2006 amounts after we got in last night.

I worked on my donation letter that I'll be sending out and sent a draft over to the girl in Foundation who handles my ride and to the girl in PR who handles getting the stories out to news folks. Both sent a email reply back and both said they cried. YES! If I pull on heartstrings and I pulled hard this time then I hope I'll get more donations. My goal is $10,000 for the hospital.

I was a rainy then very foggy day here so I got my rear over to the fitness center and did a 30 minute solo spin (easy) then a real spin with the 12:30 lunch spin crowd. Buckets of sweat! Oh, that reminds me, those nasty clothes are still in the bag... guess I better run!

Take care and thanks for reading!

2007 -- day 2

Back to work it was today and it was still for the most part quite. Had a person that I recruited that called early this morning before anyone got to their offices and left a message with her new boss that "something came up" and she wouldn't be in. She was due to start this morning. It chaps my hide when applicants do that. Oh well, we'll have someone in place over in that clinic in a couple of weeks and this person will probably be even better!

I worked out at home tonight for about an hour. It felt good. I used the weights and the tension bands. I really like those because you can lay in the floor watching tv and work out. Sad huh? Well, I was really working out to the point of shaking like a leaf.

The real plan was to take the bike down the street to a huge parking lot and ride laps but when I got home I started looking for the reflective riding vest I wore when I would commute by bike to the office. I have one of those big clear plastic buckets out in the garage that I keep touring bike stuff in. Nope, not in there. So there is another big bucket with other bike stuff in it so I start going through it. Hummm, memory lane here we come! I found numbers from all my event rides, goodie bags that I'd just thrown in there, a great first aid packet I had put together, and ah ha... the vest! "Honey, dinners ready." Thought to myself, "Ok, eat and get out there and ride." I go back to the bedroom after eating and lo and behold look at the pile of stuff I've got all over the bedroom. Ok, so I'll be stuck home tonight cleaning the mess up.

On the bright side of it, it did give me a chance sort of scope out what goods I had and what I needed to get all geared up for the coming year. I found a sheet of reflective stickers that were the same color as my helmet so I cut them in strips and put them all over it for early morning and night riding. It was funny because I wanted to see if it reflected all sides and I was standing in the bathroom with a flash light moving it around to see how much reflect I would see. Sadie (our dog) just sort of stood there looking like, "Dad, why are you playing with a flash light in the bathroom?"

Take care y'all!

A new year out on the farmland!

Happy New Year everyone!! I've got a feeling 2007 is going to be an awesome year! I know a lot of guys who are training for huge events and it's cool to watch them as they train and get to Ironman status. I know Comm is back in full swing Ironman training for the AZ Ironman in March (I think). My riding bud, Chris Ironman (no, that's not his real last name but it's really close!) is doing the 1/2 Ironman in Aug as well as my partner in crime for the River 2 River endurane ride in May. Wes is linked up to all sorts of satellites over in GA push towards the ING Ironman series.

As for myself, yes, I'm in training for the big River 2 River ride. I'm excited as in giddy right now. I thought about this ride a lot. I have spent a lot of time plotting and planning. I have a PR department that is behind me. The Foundaton Dept is on board. I have 2 great trainers. I have close friends that are close enough to push me to do better and raise an eyebrow when I don't. I have great riders all around me that inspire me in every aspect of riding.

I just came in from my first real training ride for the event. I ventured out to the farmlands for the first time since before the Hotter 'n Hell training ride. Since it is farmland and you never know if the roads are going to be good or bad I rode on out to England to check the roads. No fresh gravel on any but there were a couple of places where the road had been flooded and one section was still flooded in one lane. Nothing worse than getting way into a training ride to find a bad road! The plan was to take a lot of photos too.

I suited up for cold and wind and headed out. The road was smooth and the wind was light. I was feeling good. It stayed that way for about... uh... 2 miles then the swamplands that were breaking the wind ended and it was nothin' but field and then the smooth road changed to that rough chip and seal country road stuff. But I had a goal and I was going to meet that goal head on. And head on it was. 20 miles of headwind. I knew it was there and I knew I could beat it. There were times I was looking at 14mph into the wind but that was ok. The goal was to average 15 for the ride. That is what the endurance ride will be ... an average of 15mph. More on that another time. I wanted to stop for photos but told myself to do the whole ride and pick out the places I wanted photos of and shoot them on the way back home from the car. The ride was for training... remember?!

I really was enjoying the ride. It was so quite out there and it was pretty much just me and the farmers. I love the farmlands and the people who work it. I remember when I rode around the state there were lonely days out on the farmlands and it was the farmers that seemed to make things ok. What did they do? Well, nothing much but give a little wave. That's what they were doing today. Each would give a little wave. Remember when people used to do that? Give a little wave to each other?

I made it to Scott and as strange as it sounds, it felt good to have my old friend Mr. Shoulder Tension back with me. I know that I have been riding a good distance or riding hard when I have shoulder tension. I sat on the steps of the Agri Museum and chomped a clif bar. It was so good! Then it was time to head back. All the way to Scott I thought about how much fun it will be when I ride back because it will be nothing but tailwind. Guess what? The wind shifted! I still had a lot of awesome tailwind but towards the end I got a couple of evil blast of crosswinds. You know those kind that make you ride slanted? HA!

I finished up the ride and felt great. I was a little winded but felt on top of the world! I punched the computer for my numbers and yes!!! 46.3 miles and my average was 15.4. Now I was happy as a loon!

I walked into the house to the aroma of New Year's cooking! I got cleaned up and then dug in! Terri tried some new stuff from her Paula Dean cook book. That is one of Terri favorite cooks on the Food Network. I admit she is funny with her Savanah drawl. The meal was perfect and kept it pretty much in check. I could have eaten everything!

The rest of the afternoon was spent putting up the rest of the Christmas stuff. Sort of looks naked around the house now.

Tommorrow is back to work and for Em and all the others it's back to school. I like short weeks!! I'm already looking at Saturday's 60 degree and sunny forecast and thinking, "Where do I ride this weekend?" I'm thinking another farm ride like maybe England and to the east or maybe Maumelle to Conway. I don't know, I'll just let the adventure unfold!

2007 ... here we come!