I really should be packing!

Happy Birthday Lil Sista Barbie!!!

It's the night before the Joe Martin races in Fayetteville and I should be packing. After a crazy day at the office and some software not working I was bushed by the time I got home. I had a project for the VP that had to be done today for the printer and I thought it was never going to get finished. But it did.

I missed my group ride tonight but had dinner with the family and that was fun. Tyler was here and we messed around a little after dinner.

Well, I really do have to go pack! Oh by the way, I get to see Melissa pregnant with her twins tomorrow!

I plan to take a lot of photos so keep watching!

Got a little stormy!

Last night storms came through and I didn't realize it was that bad until driving to work. I got up at 6 and had just come into the kitchen and the garage light came on then went off. Then it did it again. I had not turned on the kitchen lights and knew the dogs were in the garagr since it was raining. What on earth were those dogs doing out there I wondered! Then I realized the stove clock was off. The electricity had just gone off. Terri said it came back on about 7:30. Once again, we were lucky.

As I drove down the road there were a couple of trees down and no lights anywhere except across the valley I could see street lights. JFK was all backed up and the brave NLR police were in the middle of the intersection directing traffic. Lightening was still going across the sky. There were also a couple of stalled cars in the road.

As of 11:43 this morning, it's still going on and my building has very limited power.

On a different subject, last nights ride was 34 miles of speed! I looked down and we were moving along at 24mph. I'm not sure we ever got under 18 last night. Myself and a few others stopped at the stop lights along the way and broke off from the group. They didn't run the lights but we just got caught as it changed to red. On the way back Keith, Chris, JBar sort of stuck together and made it back. Keith, if you're reading this, thanks for the long pull!

Triple Bypass

Just a cool photo I acidentally took.

The ABC Bike Club ride that we merged with. I was getting ready to take a photo and I heard folks talking behind me and felt bad that I wasn't watching. Sorry guys!

Chris Shaw and Mark Rogers talk about Chris' trip to Tour de Georgia

Will, a very strong rider.

The Fast Girls and Slow Guys club discussing the game plan for the day.

We all met over under the I-430 bridge. Actually just passed it. 1pm came and everyone was ready to roll out. The weather was hot and humid as the sun broke through the clouds and cool when the clouds would roll by can cover up the sun.

Our pace was good and steady and at first I thought we were going to be in an all out leg burning session but things calmed down as folks began to warm up. Most of the time we were in the 19-21 mph range and the paceline was set up nice.

We crossed over the bridge and I was behind one of the new guys and he rode with a removable cast on his arm. He went over the bridge with one hand in order to keep the shock of the bumps from bothering him. He's an excellent rider without the cast and a pretty amazing rider even with the cast! Stayed with the group the whole time.

As we got over the bridge we had to slow several times for familes along the trail but the speed picked back up as we got out on the road. We were moving along at about 18 or so and I thought it was a good time to grab my camera and get some action shots but the ABC ride had caught us and merged. I didn't realize someone was drafting me. Felt bad not watching and listening for them.

We turned and headed up Ft Roots and I felt good climbing. Still had a couple more gears to go at the top and had kept my speed around 10mph up the hill. Everyone made it to the top and we stopped for a second to gab about who rode what ride yesterday. Weather threw a monkey wrench into the day yesterday

Next was a nice pace out and around Burn's Park and on the road by the tennis courts we cranked it up! Rawked through there and as I looked down I saw the number 32. Paceline moving at 32 mph!! WoHooo! We got over to Cook's Landing and regrouped and started back to the Little Rock side. Robb's chain decided to play boa constrictor and wrap up and squeeze. He had to remove the back wheel to get it back on thread. Bummer!

As we got to the end of the road by the dam Chris Irons pointed to Overlook. I got excited! We were going to climb all three hills!! I'm not the best climber but I enjoy it. My goal again was to make the climbs without using the granny gears and I did it! Overlook is a beast but it's not really because of the length and the grade but because the road is slanted to the side and for some reason that messes with me. We got to the top and regrouped. Everyone did great! As we were about to head down there were other cyclist training on the hill. My bud, Charlie Haight was one of those. He's a lot of fun to ride with.

Next hill which is not much further is River Mountain Road. Again, up we went. I felt good going up although I was slow. Mark passed me on the way up and I studied his cadance and tried to find a gear that would put me in the same time as him but I was at my low gear on the mid ring so it wasn't going to happen. Mark is my mentor as far as riding. I try and copy him as often as possible. He and Chris Shaw are both very strong riders and worth trying to copy. I kid with Chris about whenever he rocks his neck back and forth that is a sign that he is about to attack. HA! We all made it to the top with no problem and headed back down to the cars.

So we did it! The local version of the Triple Bypass. Good weather and good friends. It was a dandy way to spend the afternoon!

Early Sunday morning

Up early and taking an easy glide into the morning. It's one of those cloudy Sunday mornings where you don't feel like moving much.

After church I'm planning to meet friends and ride what we call our local "Triple Bypass". We'll ride the club ride starting over in Little Rock on the river and ride along the river and over the bridge to North Little Rock then up Ft Roots then on out to Cook's Landing, regroup, then head back to the LR side and finish with 2 other nice climbs (Overlook Drive and River Mountain Road). Yes, I'll take my camera and get some photos.

There will be another ride about 6:30 this afternoon...maybe. It's Senior night at church so most will be there for the dinner afterwards. So come to think of it, there might not be a ride. Not sure if I would go if I do Triple Bypass.

I watched Seabiscuit last night. I didn't read the book and missed it on the big screen and wished I hadn't. Great movie!

I'm really starting to get excited about next weekend! Joe Martin Stage Races in Fayetteville! I will volunteer again this year and Vince gave me a NICE responsibility. I get to work with the pro's mechanics as their assistant. I've been getting more and more into the mechanics of cycling after getting to be support during the Carve camp back in the spring. So getting to work with pro mechanics is going to be a great learning experience. I love being a part of the races and as much as I'd like to race, I'm not up to their caliber so support is the next best thing. You are right there in the middle of it all. I'll be up close with the likes of HealthNet, Toyota-United, Kodak S-N, Tulsa Wheelmen, Tyson, Carve and many more. One thing that's really nice about bike racing events is that you can generally walk up and have a photo op or just shake hands and tell 'em good luck. There are the Lance Armstrong's you can't get within miles of but even those are far and few in between. The sponsors want their guys out there being in photos displaying their branding names. More on this later.

Now with even more photos!!

Photo's from today's ride to Wye Mountian.

Top left: I actually have a photo on my old blog for the first annual Flood Gate Fish Fry. Notice "Anual"? Last year's sign said by "invatation" only. Maybe someday I'll go to this party since I misspell as many words as they do! HA!

Top center: I rode passed this sign and it was one of those moments where you think, "Did I just read that right?" I even saw the jackass and he saw me. He was grazing and looked up, sighed and thought, "Another cyclist, big whoop! Not worth attacking!" Then went back to chewing on the grass.

Bottom photo: It's a cow gate but I guess the cows kept going through until the owner put these giant worms on gate.

As you see I got a new digital camera from Tyler, my son, for my birthday and was really excitied! I had been wanting one of my own that I could slip in my jersey pocket to take photos of rides. I used it today on a ride for the first time and forgot how much I enjoyed the "touring" style of rides rather than the fast and furious.

The photo I really wanted was the chickens on the tampoline! Serious! There was a trailer and a trampoline out in the yard and the chickens were all just sitting on it watching the bikes ride by. When I came back by I was solo and there were little boys playing in the yard and the chickens were still there but didn't feel right taking the photo then.

I rode from the bottom of Pinnacle Mountain over Wye Mountain. The Carve elite team was out training and blew by me but not without giving me the be howdy. I rode on to Hwy 10 then it began to rain on top of the mountain and I knew I could get back faster if I backtracked so I did. I rode in the rain for about 5-10 minutes then just a sprinkle here and there. I never dropped to my low gears climbing the mountain which was my goal for the day.

Taking my time and enjoying the surroundings is what make the ride a true adventure!

Happy Birthday Emmy!

My little girl turned 16 and of course did it in drama style! HA! She went to take her drivers test (the driving part) and passed with no problems but then found out she had to have to permit for 6 months before she could exchange it for a solo drivers license. She was heartbroken but lived. It's just a couple more months. She will be driving well by the time school starts back for the fall and she won't be nervous.

We had several of her friends over to hang out and have cake. Most are athletic and passed on the cake but took all the bottled water. We could all learn from kids... right?!

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

He's blogging again!

I know, I know... I actually sat down to blog and the goofy thing kept asking me for my password over and over and then told me it was wrong. I finally gave up. So, that said, here's a weeks worth of blogging from my noggin'.

We saw Delirium at Alltel last Thursday night. Very cool show! I hope it comes back again some time!

Melissa, my niece is having twins and everyone is so happy for them. I sent here a list of hot names used by young parents these days. They got to see the 2 little heart beats and everyone cried.

Terri and Emily are in Memphis shopping today. Emily is on spring break.

Terri's parents were here from Navarre, FL and the pollen has kicked in up here and sent them straight back home with runny noses. I'm sure we'll get a letter saying something to the effect of, "We don't have that stuff down here."

Tyler is working at Journey's (out selling everyone) and at Jones Productions doing his video magic. He seems happy to be back in Arkansas and not living in downtown among the high rise buildings. The warmer weather seems to be a plus for him too.

I lucked out and was the 10,000th person to visit my nephew Jim's blog. That was cool since I don't luck into stuff like that very often at all. He said he was sending me a prize and I told him I just couldn't wear on of those "I Bleed Orange" t-shirts.

I have decided not to ride the two week bike trip around the state like I did last year. It’s just not a good time to be able to put that much work into it. I think I'll do something again but not 2 weeks worth. I do plan to ride a lot of the charity event rides as well as rides with friends.

Last week I went out to Two Rivers Park in Little Rock to ride Wye Mtn. As the guys were getting their bikes ready they ALL had areo bars on. This is a bad sign! They all ride for Carve and are all about 10 years younger and much leaner. So we take off and I told them not to wait if I get dropped. I did good until about half way up the mountain and zoom there they come and go! I saw them a couple more times but in the end the drooped me like a rock when we reached Hwy 10. It was ok because I slowed down and started enjoying the ride for me rather than competitive riding. I saw a couple of wild turkey's crossing Hwy 10. I saw a flock of geese coming in for the evening at Lake Maumelle. That sort of scenes is what makes a ride for me.

Oh yeah, and we got another puppy. Actually, Sean, Emily's boyfriend got a puppy but he lives at our house. I said, well, what if y'all break up will you have joint custody and each gets the pup every other weekend? Ok, here's the kicker... Max is a 12 week old Chow/Rotweiler (sp?) mix. He eats more than Saydee and is a brick of muscle. I've spoken with several that have Rotti's as they are called and all have said, it depends on how you raise them and train them. Max will be our outside dog. I just hope he stays as loveable as he is now. Yes, Saydee is very protective of him. I thought it was jealous but she treats him like it's her baby. Fun to watch them play. Sean has to buy Max's food and upkeep and knows that if he (Max) eats the house then Sean has to pay for it.

Next week I will be riding the Tour de Hills in Harrison with several friends. 62 miles of hills then a drive home! I'll spend the night up there on Friday night but I'm thinking I'll drive home on Saturday after the event. Probably will stop and eat a dozen times on the way home! HA!

Well, my favorite part of the weekend is coming up! The start of the weekend... Friday at 5pm!!!

Y'all have a fun weekend!

Delirium made me crazy!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day (And happy birthday Jim)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day (And happy birthday Jim)

Traditional Irish Blessing and Toast
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the rain fall softly on your fields
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of his hand

It's my nephew Jim's birthday and it's really easy to remember it since it's on this day. I can still remember the day he was born. I was in the 6th grade and it was cold and rainy. Our school had grown so the sixth grade classes were in portable buildings. My little sister Barbie came and knocked on the classroom door and told me while class was going on. I remember yelling, "It's a boy!". The only other little person I had that made me an uncle was Shannon, so a boy was a big deal. Oh by the way, Jim is the family member that broke all the rules and moved to Texas. Well I should take that back, Jason, the nephew that came a few months after Jim, moved there first.

In case you are wondering I ended up with Shannon, Jason, Jim, Melissa, Brit, Linsey, Matt and then a whole nother herd of them that got in as families changed (divorce/marriage).

Tyler has been busy with Jones Productions and he has already worked on Backyard Burger and Lee's Chicken animations for their TV spots. I got to see the Backyard burger animation and it was really cool looking! Way to go kiddo!

I drove in record time to the hospital even though I didn't leave until 7:28. The school's are out and it's just a nice day and the Hogs are in Dallas in the tournie so no one went to work. I even got a prime parking spot that is never open! Luck 'o the Irish ya say?!

I'm planning to bust out by 4 and take a ride. With 3 days of rain heading this way, I better ride while I can. I can only hope the luck 'o the Irish smiles on me again today and gives me a ride like yesterday! It was just o'dandy!

Babies, tornados, and good days

Nice title huh? Here's the scoop ...

There were tornados in Arkansas up where Melissa, my neice, lives. They just found out they are having a baby (possible MULTI) and I just had my best riding day of the year today.

First, Congrats to Ryan and Melissa! Yes the family is jinxing you with 2 little mini-ryans It's the least we can jinx you with! Serious, everyone is excited. I've prayed that God will instill a hate for the color burnt orange and cow with horns. They are instruments of evil!

Second, Melissa said they have hail in their freezer the size of baseballs. They thought it was going to bust out their windows. The tornado that hit was only about 4 miles from their house.

Third, today was one of those days that the after work training ride was just dandy. I started off and the wind was right in my face along with bugs and flying sand. I left my sunglasses on the back of the car last Sunday when I finished riding and the flew off on the interstate says the car that pulled up beside me. Awww crap! Now I remember why I buy cheap safety sunglasses from Home Depot. They honestly look like a lot of the ones I've seen in the cycling catalogs. Anyway, I rode for a bit then climbed Ft Roots 2 times and back out by the river and fought the wind thinking how fun it was going to be riding back when the wind is at my back. I decided to ride out by the soccer fields and around Burns Park. There is a hill that I enjoy training on and today I attacked the thing. I didn't drop the gears as I have other times this winter. I rode by several baseball and softball games as well as golf and tennis. Everyone was out enjoying the warm (72 degree) afternoon. So I rode on out to the landing and noticed that the sun was going down behind the mountain so I knew I'd best start heading back. Man oh man was that fun! I had the wind pushing me along and I look down to see myself flying along at a whooping 26 mph and enjoying it. I was in the groove! Some days are just meant to be outside!

An 80 mph tailwind... now that's wicked!

Nah, I didn't really get out and ride as the storm was approching but when I heard that the north county got winds gusting around 80 mph I thought how wicked that would have been to go out and just jump out in it and not even pedal. Of course there would be a curve and the wind would send me straight out into some cow pasture and endo into the cow poop. By the way, the storm came through about 10:30 and I was downstairs conducting interviews and had left my office window cracked open (I love the fresh air!). When the storm hit it sent papers a flying and one of my coworkers had to come in and shut the window. When I got back up here I noticed a few drops of water here and there. Something tells me if Chris wouldn't have shut the window then my office would have been soaking wet.

I didn't ride yesterday due to playing Mr. Mom while Terri was out of town. Emily, Sean, and myself decided we had to have Olive Garden. We always slip out and go eat places when Terri leaves town. Yep, we are perfectly able to cook but why?

I've seen several of my friends that ran the Littel Rock Marathon last Sunday and all are doing well and most have gotten out to run light recovery runs.

Well the storm and it's 80 mph tailwinds have left town and the sky is returning to it's beautiful shade of "after the cold front" blue. Now it's looking like a good day to count down the minutes til after work riding time!

Counting down the minutes

You have have an event that you just want to count down the minutes? My "event" is not big by any means but it's something that I look forward to. I'm talking about my after work bike ride. Some days you just look forward to getting out there and feeling the fresh air rushing by. There are several trees and flowers already blooming and the smell of spring is really refreshing.

It's funny since I'm sitting here at my desk finishing my lunch and thinking, "Ok Geo, put your head into it and blast through the afternoon wiothout looking up and 5 0'clock will be here before you know it." I'm sure there are things you do the same with. My coworkers and I were talking about funny stuff like this a few weeks ago and it was a diffcult week and I told them that I loved Wednesday mornings because I got to take the trash to the curb. Yep, the lounge got pretty quite after that weird remark. Then I explained to them that on Wednesday mornings when I take the trash down to the curb that means the week is half over and the weekend is getting closer. I'll tell you this, Friday afternoon at 5 o'clock is by far my favorite part of the weekend! Friday at 5 means you have the whole weekend ahead. It's the time when you want to run to your car throwing papers in the air and lauging!

Hey, my neice Shannon did great at the LR Marathon! I got to see her at 2 different places and she was going strong! I saw several other friends and coworkers in the pack as well. I went down to the 20 mile mark and some of these folks were looking pretty rough. I couldn't get half that far even if they told me my hair was on fire. Marathon runners are a very cool breed. Guess what country the winner was from....yep, Kenya! 2 hours, 18 minutes to run 26 miles.

With the weather turning to our favor and the sun being out longer I've gotten in some good after work rides in.

There is a big meeting tonight at the city hall where Alltel Corporate is wanting to open the bike lane to car traffic. This is going to get ugly. There has been way too much money put into the bike/ped path system to open it up to cars. The new bridge will be completed in Oct and if they open the road the bridge will be a bust.

SEC, riding and dough-dough eggs

Another beautiful day and I rode a quick 18 miles out and back on the north side. There was a thunderstorm orth of the city so there weren't very many riders out. Mark was going to work on "cruise intervals". I had said something about not being much of a conversationist the other night and he said I had the pace up high enough that he couldn't hardly talk due to labored breathing anyway. Sure buddy, whatever you say. He said the drills tonight would be painful. Hope he worked hard. He said the drills are from a book called the Cycist Training Book. Said it was awesome. I plan to look for it this weekend.

The women's SEC tournament is in town and I park close to the arena where they are playing. Tonight was a TN game and there were folks in orange everywhere! They love their Vols don't they!

Sean and Emily made dough dough eggs (chocolate no-bake cookies). My nephew Jason called them that when he was little so my whole family adopted the name.

I'm ready for the weekend!

It's 3-1 finally!

I always get excited when we finally get to 3-1! That's March 1st. I noticed it this morning when I woke at a few minutes after 6 and it was daylight. I noticed last night when me and the guys were riding that I didn't turn my bike light on until almost 6:30. Take that and add some excellent weather we are having right now (Sunny and 75 degrees) and today should be the first day of spring! Honestly, outside my office there is a row of Bradford Pear trees and they have exploded into white flowers today. I also noticed when I took the trash to the curb this morning that the ants are waking up and letting me know it with there little ant hills down by the street.

Training for the summer ride is going better too. We have a mountian climbing ride this Saturday afternoon. It's going to be tough cookie but I'll be with friends that enjoy the ride as much as keeping the speed up. We are supposed to do Wye Mountain 3 sides. One of the clubs I ride with (the same as Saturday's ride) will be riding what's called Tour de Hills in Harrison on April 8th. I've heard it was 62 miles (a metric entury) of nothing but hills.

The Little Rock Marathon is this weekend and my niece Shannon is running as well as a bunch of friends. I plan to ride my bike down to different spots in the course and hoot and hollar. At one I have to lead the Little Rockers (ages 7-12) for the last mile on my bike. Yep, there are some kids in that age group that can run an under 6 minute mile.

Did you know your tire is missing?

Has it really been almost a week since my last post? Gee, I thought I was better than that! I would have swore that I was sitting at the desk at home pecking out a blog last week.

Well, it's been a good almost week. The sleet, snow and ice have moved on and this week the weather just improves to a nice 77 degrees by Wednesday. There's a 30% chance of rain by the weekend and I hope not because of the LR Marathon on Sunday morning. I plan to be down there cheering on the bud's of mine that run. Hope it's cool in the morning for them.

Carve training camp was this past weekend. I missed Friday due to working. Missed Saturday due to going to Benton and not getting back in time (but it was worth it! Dad and I had a great time!). Sunday I was in the support car and Shelby was my partner in crime. He's a good guy. My plan was to drive awhile then take my bike off the rack and ride the rest but there were a couple of guys from California with Velo News (bike racing publication) that were riding and I gave up my tube, then my tire, and my gloves. So I didn't get to ride after all. Sort of bummed a little but I keep telling myself it was for a good cause. My new tire and tube at the bike store today at lunch was 45 bucks. Here's some pics from camp... http://clients.aristotle.net/artdept/client/chainwheel/carve/galleries/camp%2Dday3/

I did get out and ride Saturday afternoon for a bit and it felt good. I'm really needing to get with the training plan now. Not later... now! Feb was such a crappy month for training and I heard the weather guy say it has been raining or snowing 8 out of the past 9 weekends.

Toyota-United! Now I'm really excited!

Amgen Tour of California: Juan Jose Haedo sprints to a first place finish in stage one. And what team does he ride for? Toyota-United baby!!!

I saw a few minutes of it yesterday but would not read any bike boards until I saw the tape of the highlights I recorded at 1am last night. A couple of riders had a breakway early in the race and stayed out there for a long time. This was what was going to be a sprinters race and man was it. Bob Roll reported that they were riding at 30mph and that was a ways out. Then as they got closer the teams set up their riders and closer , closer, closer and it cuts loose! Sprint-oh-mania! Then out of the blue comes a smoking Haedo! No need for gasoline on the road, the man's already on fire! I was sitting in the floor of the guest room watching this unfold and when it was over I realized I had pitched the crap out of my leg! It was so great! For them to come out blazing as they have just makes me more excited about the Joe Martin Stage races in Fayetteville in May because these guys will be there and I'll get to see them live. Of course my team Carve will be there as well. Gord Fraser is looking pretty good for Healthnet and I spotted Brice Jones in the peleton. Just a great day of racing and a tape I'm sure I'll watch a few times!

I went to spin class at lunch and there were only 3 of us there besides the instructor. I like the classes better when it's sold out. At least we got new music. I did good on my eating until Terri called and said she was picking up take out on the way home and Captains D's was on the way. Why oh why do I do this? Push like a crazy fool in a lunch spin class, drink water during the day and then blow the whole thing by eating the junk? Ok, I admit, I loved almost every bite. Like a drunk that knows he's not supposed to drink and loves it while he's doing it and hates it and feels guilty afterwards. I've got to do better and the bad part is that Terri leaves for MO on business for the rest of the week and when that happens, Emily and I always eat out. I'll just have to eat out healthy. I guess I need to call my bud Gary and confess. Of course he's dropped about 20 lbs and ready for the Little Rock Marathon. But we have been strictly honest with each other on our training so it helps that I have to tell him.

One of my "E-coaches" sent me a note the other day that I liked. He told me that we were going to set my goals higher than others and train hard to reach them but remember the minute I reach them the bar is going to be raised higher. Other than Gary, I've never had someone who believed in me that much to push me that hard than "E". When I keep that in my mind, I do push harder such as in spin class I tell myself over and over than I have to keep my cadance up higher than the instructor. I also saw an advertisement for a sports drink from the winner of Kona Ironman that said, "Compassion. It's when those that were with you are now behind you." It's not a snob thing, it's just a statement to do your best and be competitive. I don't ever forget those who brought me to this dance! Mike, Kyle, Doug and Rick. The church guys.

All systems go...

I started my "true" training today. Probably the worse day in the world to start but a start nonetheless. I used my lunch time for core training and it was tough. Today was the arms and abs day and I was shaking by the time I got back to the locker room. I didn't start until 2 and had only eaten breakfast around 6 this morning so I'm the blame for that dumb mistake. Tomorrow is legs day which is usually an easier day for me.

Afterwork I came home and hung out with Emily and her boyfriend Sean. Nothing like a dad around to pester them. Emily even made dinner. I had to pass in order to ride on the trainer first which was probably just fine with them since they got to cut up in the kitchen while I spun. The nice part about the spin was that I had recorded the first day of the Tour of Cailfornia. Man what a bunch of big names are there. Yesterday was a time trail that was only 1.9 miles but it was up one of the famous "hills" of San Fransico. I think it was Telegraph Hill but don't quote me on that. Levi with his Specialized bike won! I mention the brand Specialized because that's the same brand is mine! Zoom zoom!

Speaking of the Tour of CA, this afternoon I had gotten my work done to the point of having a couple of priddly things left to do so I Googled San Fransico television stations. Lo and behold, one of them was running t race LIVE ad free! I sat there at my desk for a few minutes and watched the race. Couldn't believe it because no one had said anything about it on the bike boards. It will highligt on ESPN2 tonight at midnight so I'll have something to watch tomorrow. It's a very exciting stage today and there are attacks right and left!!

Tomorrow I might go in early and do my core training then spin class at lunch and be done for the day. It's a good thought that I hope I still have at 5:30 tomorrow morning. HA!

The Olympics have been fun to watch and my favorite, the freestyle skiing is on now.

Later!

Is this what cabin fever feels like?

Like I said yesterday day, icey weekend number 2. I came home from the office Friday and haven't been anywhere since. Not that we couldn't get out but I really didn't need anything and Terri and Emily wouldn't stay home ALL day no matter how bad the weather or how sick they might be. Terri's brother Ronnie went to FL for the week and left Terri in charge of his dogs. He doesn't excatly live in our neighborhood and she goes over there 2x a day. He said just to leave them in the house... all week. Thank goodness she's going over there. Yesterday one went out in the his backyard and wouldn't come in no matter what so she had to leave it out there. I think he needs to put them in a kennel when traveling. Oh well, enough soapboxing...

I got a lot done around the house since it was icey and sooo cold outside. But since I didn't get to ride I'm going to go watch another race from last year while I spin on my trainer. At least tomorrow will be 38 and the thaw will be on! It's also President's Day holiday for some folks so at least the raods will be light traffic.

The first stage of the first Tour of California happened today. ESPN2 will run it at midnight central time. VCR is ready! At least I can watch that will I spin tomorrow. I get a stage per night so I'll have a whole tape!

Sleet and snow! Weekend number 2

We had sleet and snow last weekend and this weekend it has made a pest of itself! It started sleeting last night after midnight and has sleeted off and on all day. Sometimes hard. Roads are still in really good shape for this weather but tonight when the sun goes down it's going to change unless we have wind to dry the roads. It's funny watching the television because it's a continuous ticker line of closings and the churches started closing first thing this morning.

Carve camp was this weekend but has been cancelled until next weekend. Sort of depresses the weekend. Hunter put a note on the message board that he as going to ride his mountain bike on the city streets starting at 1:30 this afternoon. It was an invitation to join him. Crazy man, he is! But then, he is the best on the team. Go figure.

I did get out in the garage and got it really cleaned up. Just backed the car out and got to work. Still want to get some cabinets to go out there and really tidy it up.

I watched Lords of War this afternoon on DVD. Slow movie with alot of language.

I guess I'll get on the trainer and spend for a while this evening since I ate a Wendy's Chicken sandwich with cheese and fries and coke. Fat boy here needs to get rid of that!

Champs for Children

On of my favorite radio stations is camped out in our lobby doing the Champions for Children radiothon. B98.5 did this last year for us and it was talked about all year. They really go all out and they have parents and kids on there telling their stories. Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you cry ... and sometimes both. Thanks B98.5! We love you too!

Ok, I got out and rode after work yesterday and got in 15 miles. I planned to ride at lunch today but the wind is whipping and I was afraid that I would get over by I-430 and then coming back would be headwind and it would s-l-o-w me down. So I went to Burger King and got a kids meal. Hey, I'm cutting back remember? I really wanted a BK Big Fish biggest size combo meal!

Another note, today it's a windy 64 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be about 74 and windy then it's going to bottom out for the weekend. 3 days of freezing rain is forcasted. Oh man! We have Carve bike camp coming up for the weekend. I just hope it's not a bust.

Valentines Day

Yep, it's Valentines Day and yep I already have the gift and card. The card was bought weeks ago because I waited til the night before one year and had to basically have a ballroom brawl with another guy that had waited too long too. Ok... maybe not but it would have made a good story. Emily woke up to a HUGE stuffed dog that looks like Sadie (by the way, where is Sadie?! I know, that ain't right! HA!) and a heart shaped box of chocolate, which I will get my hands on and a card.

I got to get out an ride after work yesterday! The sun is finally out long enough now to get a ride in. I rode down and out for 15 miles and then met up with Jim Britt and we rode with lights on the river for another 20 miles so I had 35 miles in by 7:30 last night. Been awhile since I've pulled that off after work! When I started it was 52 degrees. 2 hours later it was 42 and a cold 42. On my first down and back the deer where beginning to move around and when Jim and I rode back out the field had a dozen or so out under the full moon. Deer in the field at night are one of my favorites sights to see as long as the deer stay still. When they spook and start running, it's bad news.

I got an email for a guy up in WI asking me about rides around the Mt Home area. Come to find out they are racers and are opting to use Arkansas as training base this year rather than AZ. He said AZ has just gotten to crowded with traffic. What an honor to have someone from out of state ask me something like that. I put a lot of time into the email and gave him several resource links as well.

By the way, my ride last night rolled me over into the 600 mile mark for the year. Actually 611. There are several AR guys that log their miles where I do that have over 1K already.

Y'all have a happy Valentines Day!

Brrrrrrr!

Yes, it is raining, sleeting and changing to all snow "after 2pm"

Ok, we've had this great warm winter that I'm not complaining about but when we get the white stuff and cold temps it just makes it hurt that much more. Yep, we're cold weather whimps and darn proud of it!

Since I had to go home and play Mr. Mom after work yesterday, I set up the trainer in the guest room and plugged in a race from last year and spun for an hour. It felt really good. I bought my clothes and plan to spin this afternoon over in the fitness center before heading home.

Valentines day is coming up next week and I already know what I'm getting for Terri and I got the card weeks ago. I told her that I wanted black socks. She laughed and looked at me funny. But I was serious. I have all these "singles" in my sock drawer. I told her I need a pack of black gold toe so if one of them runs off to wherever socks AWOL to then I would have others that matched. Black socks for Valentines day....HA!

Toyota-United Cycling Team

I'm excited! I usually don't get this way with new cycling teams but this group is solid! Toyota-United http://www.toyota-united.com/ has me ready for the races in north Ark in May. These guys are making there race debut next weekend at the Tour of California against some heavy hitters such as Healthnet, and Discovery just to name a few. When you look at there team roster, it's great! They also have a foundation that helps homeless families and kids. That's something I don't see every day.

I've been off the bike for a couple of days. We had a cold snap and all my buds that have gotten out are sick with colds. I really wanted to get out and ride the Monday "Nite Lite" ride but stayed in by the fireplace. I know, it was a whimpy thing to do. If I don't ride after work today then it's time to plug in last year's races on the tube and spin on the trainer.

Oh, a friend of mine, Shannon Boshears, has the title track song for a new movie coming out called "Come Early Morning." It's getting big press from the Sundance film. Here's the website, which is cool! Shannon's name and the name of the song is up in the top right corner. Be sure to turn your speakers on because it's playing in the background of the website too! Way to go friend! I'm mighty proud of ya chick! http://www.comeearlymorningthefilm.com/

Staright into the wind

Yesterday Bill Stewart and I left from Sherwood at 8 a.m. and rode right down JFK with not problem. It was early enough that most folks were still at home. We got from Taco Bell in Sherwood to Mr. Mason's BBQ in about 20 minutes. Not bad at all! Bill was riding his "fixie" which is bascially an indoor racing bike. He had one gear. It was something to see this guy ride like he does with just one gear. Yep, he couldn't change to a granny gear if the hill got steep and he has to keep pedaling on the down hills.

We met up with the others and took off and a route I never thought of riding but it was really nice. There was a bike shop out in East End called the Outskirts. It's a great little shop with a friendly owner. Most where mountian bikes which I would expect out there. Lots of off road stuff. I hope he does well.

After a couple of stops here and there be started our trip back toward Little Rock. And I remember seeing on the weather before I left that it was going to get "breezy" during the afternoon. Well, it got a little breezy before afternoon. We turned right into it and fought it all the way back. When we finally got back to Mr. Mason's Bill and I were supposed to ride back to Sherwood. We were too tired. I would have done it and so would have Bill if the wind wouldn't have killed us. Doug lives a block from Bill and they both live about a mile or so from me so Doug packed us in his van and saved us. Doug is one of my favorite riders around. Very strong rider that doesn't know a stranger and has a great sense of humor.

I finished painting the guest room when I got home but had to keep drinking Dr. Pepper and Frap's to keep me moving. I knew I would crash if I stopped.

Terri made brisquet for everyone for dinner so once againthis week we had a family dinner at the table with both kids and their dates. It's been a fun week!

The afternoon is supposed to be cool and calm so I'll head out for an hour or two and get my riding in. Come home and watch the Superbowl for a bit. Not a big fan of either team. Still wished the Denver Bronocs were in the bowl.

Wash out

I should be getting dressed for a lunch time ride but it's a wash out. The weather guys didn't call for rain. Maybe it will be done by 4 and we'll have a little wind to dry the roads off.

I'm hoping to ride tomorrow. Carve is heading back to the mountian for training and I'll just stay over here on this side of the river. I've heard that once they go back to the mountian that it's hard for most riders to keep the pace with the elite team. Jim has a ride starting from a great bar-b-que (Mr. Mason's) spot downtown so I might go ride with those guys.

Goals for the weekend:
1) Eat light and cut the fried stuff.
2) Get in at least 50 miles but try for 75 and up.

By the way, Emily passed her driving test... everyone stay off the streets! HA!

Maybe it's time to fasten my seatbelt

No, I didn't have a wreck but instead sat in a PR meeting this afternoon that was the starting point for the state bicycle tour. There were some great ideas coming out and I walked out more excited than ever about this year's ride! There are some tricks up the sleeve!

I'm trying to cut back on my eating and drop some pounds last month before my serious training really kicks in. I secretly slated Feb 1st as "kick it in" day. It's fitness center and serious cycling start up time. I went the lunch spin class and Rance and I seemed to be in a little friendly competition. Both had a good sweat going on. Rumor has it that his classes are harder when I'm there. If that's true, cool beans!

I'm taking my bike to work tomorrow and riding during lunch. I think that will be fun and a chance of pace!

Tyler's back!

A beautiful day in Little Rock!

We got a call last night from Tyler and he was in KS. We thought he was staying there for the night but he drove through and stopped about 4am at some truck stop for breakfast and about 6:30 he was coming down our street. It's good to have him back. He'll be job searching and apartment searching. A college graduate! Still great! I'm going to put him to work producing a really knock out promo for my summer tour. Hay, that's what he majored in so it's the least he can do for his dad! HA!

I was supposed to be at Gator's by 6 last night for a night light ride down by the river but I got there about 10 after and I could see the group leaving the parking lot. Try as I may to get my gear on and pedal like a madman to catch them, just didn't happen plus they took a turn so I missed them all together. I rode 15 miles in the dark, well with my headlights on. I saw deer, armadillo and a raccoon couple. At one time there was a loud crashing in the brush just beside me. Someone said this morning it was Bigfoot heading back to the mothership! As loud as it was, I almost believe it.

Today is beautiful outside as I finish my Backyard Burger chicken sandwich for lunch. Days like this make it hard to stay insdie and work but I got to pay some bills and support my daughter's mall habit! HA!

So many people

Got up and went to church. Sean met us there and then came home with us for lunch. He and Emily are completely nuts over each other. He's a good guy and we enjoy having him around.
We had a good time at lunch because Terri made his favorites and I blamed him for not getting fried okra, he laughed an said but you're getting upgraded mashed potatoes.

I went out to ride some distance since it rained yesterday and I didn't get to go out. I rode with the club and then rode quite a while afterwards solo. I kept the speed up around 18 and that was witht ehsouth wind blowing. With the club we keep it in the 18-20 mph zone but you get to tuck in behind friends which makes it a lot easier. I also did some hill work in preparation for the ride I'm leading in a few weeks called the Triple Bypass. Not the big one by the same name in Colorado. I would love to go out there and ride it one day. I ended up riding with a fellow Carve rider and talking about the upcoming camp. He said that he can train all year just to try and ride Donnie or Hunters wheel. Those guys are superhuman on their bikes. There were so many folks on the bike paths today that at times you couldn't get any speed. Still a good day that ended with 52 miles under my belt.

One of the riders in the club is one of my Tuesday/Thursday bunch "Fast Girls and Slow Guys" club. Jenn is married to Chris and they both are great folks. Anyway Jenn works just about a block or two away from my office so we are going to ride a few days a week at lunch.. There are others around that ride lunch as well and I'm hoping to get some ACH folks to ride. It would be get to have a lunch crowd.

Tyler is leaving denver behind tomorrow around noon. I wonder how he really feels about that? I hope he has a good safe trip back.

From 1 to 3

Emily and Her friend Melissa in Denver for Ty's graduation.






Terri wanted me to paint Em old bedroom since she moved into Ty's old bedroom. Her room was some shade of Disney screaming rah-rah blue that young teens would have. Now her new bedroom is a relaxing color with a few AR Razorback stuff here and there. She says she's going to UA Fayetteville so she's getting a head start I guess. Anyway, Terri and I discussed the color for the new "guest/office/study/junk/spinning" room. She wanted it a shade darker than the rest of the house so her and Emily ran down to National Homecenter (Sean works there) and got paint. 3 cans of paint! I was to paint the guest room, plus the kitchen about the chair rail the same color as the rest of the house and below the chair rail is going to be maroon or as it says on the can "Berry Cobbler". Yep, the Cobb's paint their rooms cobbler!

I left the office early because I had not gotten a chance to ride this week and they were saying 80% chance of rain on Saturday so I got home and out the door. I rode every street in about a 5 neighborhood area and got in 17 miles of hills. That's all we have in this part of central Arkansas. Well, it's makes for a good cyclist.

I got up this morning fully expecting it to be raining and it wasn't! I could go ride but when I stood out on the deck while Sadie did her business i could feel the mist. No thanks on the ride. I would rather ride in the rain than the mist because it's like black ice. You don't know you are about to hit the wet spot until it's too late. Bust your tail!

We got some photos back from Denver so I'll post them. There are some good ones from Ty's graduation and one of me at Invesco Field (Go Broncs!)

Just another Monday

Just a basic day of sorting through electronic applications. I did manage to get over to the fitness center at lunch and work on the core stuff. I'm keeping the same program as I used last year before my state loop ride. I was 5 days of fitness center at lunch and riding afterwards but I talked to one of the trainers today and we discussed for now try fitness center 3 days a week and ride as often as possible.

Just got a call from Terri and Tyler has officially pulled out from Denver and is on his way to Arkansas. Will stop in Salina, KS for the night and drive on in tomorrow. Wonder how he feels leaving Denver? I'm thinking sad to leave but happy to be coming back?

Cloudy afternoon on top of the hospital...


I went to spin class a couple of days ago and when Rance said tighten the tension I really put the screws to it and the class did a lot of climbing. My legs are toast! I didn't go to the fitness center today but will head out for a recovery ride here shortly. Got to get those legs back in shape.

The weekend is threatening a wash out. Last Sunday it rained all day so not riding. My miles are starting to suffer for a year that started out so good. Sort of whinning today huh?

Today was Chris Taylor's last day as the manager of the Fitness Center. He is headed to bentonville to work for Shelter insurance. He's a good guy.

I'm going to lead a ride in a couple of weeks that will go over 3 mountains! Stay tuned.

Rainy Sunday workouts and Denver

Woke to lightening and thunder about 5:30 this morning and rolled back over. I have to admit, the rain is nice. Been raining steady all day. We went to church and another guy, Greg Clark from Tulsa, OK was speaking as a try-out for our new pastor position. I really liked this guy.

We're in the 3rd quarter of the Broncos vs Steelers and I'm hoping for a Bronco miracle here! I'm not much of a football crazy like so many of my buds but Denver I really like. Maybe because I've actually been to the stadium last month.

Speaking of Denver, Tyler let us know yesterday that he is returning home! It's one of those happy/sad sort of deals. He loves Denver but I think there is a little girl living in North Little Rock that he loves too. He'll be moving back in a couple of weeks. He has been looking at different video jobs around and has some good leads already. I'm not too worried about him finding something. One of the nice things about him moving back is that Terri will stop worrying all the time. She'll take care of him no doubt! HA! Mom's do that. Mine still does. HA!

I went to the hospital fitness center this afternoon and was surprised to see a crowd. I pulled out the fitness schedule Rance had me on last spring and loaded it into a Excel spreadsheet so I could add several extra columns to track weight and diet. I'm going back to my 5 days a week in the center as core strengthening and as the days began to get longer I'll either ride my bike 9.7 miles to work or ride after work. Since my bike tour is a month earlier this year, I've got to get on the stick. I really need to be out there riding 6 days a week like I was to get some of the extra weight off. By the way, I woke up some lazy muscles that had been in hibernation. I could feel the love!

It was fun the other day when I plotted the route for the summer tour. I remembered certain places and can't wait to return! I'm really hoping I can get a Hampton Inn sponsorship for the 5 nights I'm in towns with Hampton's. I've just not had a bad experience with them whether it's business or pleasure.

I did get a good ride in yesterday. Started midafternoon and rode til sundown for 42 miles. About 5:30 I was towards the end of the ride when I rounded the corner and noticed a lot of cars coming through the gate by the river. Most were trucks. Then it dawned on me, George Strait was playing Alltel Arena to a sold out crowd. Guess it was tailgate party time. I made it to the turn around and then got to buzz back to the car with tailwind! That's the best way to end a ride.... zoom zoom!

Coming back around to what's important

It's been an interesting day for me. It started with a change in what I eat for breakfast. This morning it was granola, a banana and a small glass of chocolate milk. I felt better this morning than I have in weeks and I really didn't sleep that well (woke about 3 times during the night). But something just felt different.

Work was sort of crazy with quoting salaries and some system problem uncovered. A little stress there.

There was a lunch for all the employees that are part of the Travel to Wellness fitness program. The food was great and catered from Capers. Then we had a speaker for UAMS Center on Aging. Dr David as he is known. It's funny because a lot of people try and not say his last name which is Lipschit (sp?). He was one of the best speakers and he was funny and very real. He made us to glad to be alive and gave you hope for turning old. He told us that weight is not the most important thing but being happy and loving. I think that sort of stopped everyone in their tracks. He was telling us different things about being old and that if a person is overweight a little or chunky but they have a wonderful life of happiness and love then they are far better than the ones that are on every diet and trying to look Hollywood ruining realtionships, etc. I walked out feeling great!

Then I get home and hug my wife and daughter. We have dinner and they go to run an errand and Em asked me if I had ever heard of Lynard Skynard. I just laughed. Kids! Anyway she had downloaded Simple Man and loves that song. She asked if I liked any other of his songs. Again, I laughed and told her that "he" was a "group". They left and I was alone to list to some of the songs she had downloaded. She had a great collection of all sorts of songs. Then I saw a few I dared myself to listen to. Butterfly Kisses, Beautiful, I don't want to miss a thing, Here to worship. I listened to Beautiful first and got teary eyed. It's the song my neice Linsey walked down the isle to marry Joe. And she was Beautiful. Emily was in that wedding as one of the maids and she was beautiful as well. During the song it dawned on me that someday she would be walking down that isle. Someday a long way off but someday. I picture my beautiful daughter walking with me holding her arm, dressed in white carrying flowers is just overwhelming. The next song was Butterfly Kisses. That one is special too because of the words and every dad is lying if he says he can keep I dry eye and think of his daughter(s) during that song. It's too powerful. It was also a song played just a year ago this week at my friend Geoff Hartmann's celebration of life (funeral). He left a wife and 2 daughters. I'm certain that he is waiting for them on a cloud somewhere with butterfly kisses. One of the other songs "Here to worship" by Sonic Flood just took me to my knees. I realized that things have gotten sort of off balance lately. I've slipped in places and haven't been the dad/husband/leader I should be.

Isn't it strange that all these piece came together today? Is it wonderful how God works?
Today was just Beautiful...............

You're gonna do what again?

I had a meeting with our Foundation department the other day and Fred, the VP, and I had a discussion about the money raised. I said, really, ten thousand dollars is not a lot in the grand scheme of things. But Fred disagreed and said, "George do you realize you saved a life by doing your ride last summer?" The money I raised paid for the helicopter to go get a child. When he said that everything stopped for a moment. I knew right then that I would be riding again this summer.

The first plan was to ride from Canada to the hospital but things just weren't looking good for that. I read a couple of journals and saw the problems folks had along the way. I looked at maps and there were places that bikes couldn't go. So I'll do a repeat of last year. I had fun and I won't have the nervousness I had last year because I've done the route. I'll go a little slower this time and take more photos. I'm also going to ride from Saturday, June 3rd to Friday, June 16th.
I meet with the marketing team on Feb 2nd. Then I'll start parting everything together. Honestly, I can't wait!!!

Windy...

It was a windy and cool afternoon of riding with the Arkansas Bicycle Club. I rode with Will and Chris part of the way back and I told Will it's always a good day if I can keep up with him. He laughed. Good guy, fast rider. Got 36.7 mles in today with an average of 17.34 mph. Not to shabby with a wind blowing.

Terri is much better today. Her eye is looking good. She stayed in from church services today and when em and I got home she had started lunch. I ate baked pork chops and she made a new dish the Paula Dern (?) made on TV yesterday that I thought looked good. Terri has her cook book and made the dish. It was great! I ate more of it when I came in from riding.

Tomorrow is the MLK holiday for many. We don't get this holiday at the hospital but a lot of folks take a long lunch break and go down the block to where the parade comes through and celebrate. MLK seemed like a good man and I wish he was still around.

Weekends are for ridin'

I got up late (7am). Well that's late for me. Made breakfast and coffee and sat on the sofa and just started the day off slow. It was cold outside and I didn't do my best last week with the club ride and I was thinking to myself. Why not wait and ride in the afternoon warmth? So I did. I got a great 52.7 miler down this afternoon and could ahve kept going but the sun went down behind the hill and boy did it get col fast! It was 70 at the beginning of my ride and 48 about 2 and half hours later. I saw Lee and Connie out riding their sweet Cannondales and they were coming as I was going so I did what any competitive cyclist would do. I went on up to the rest stop but just slowed and rode in a couple of parking lot circles whle drinking sweet tea out of one of my water bottles then off I go. I really didn't think I would catch them but about 3.5 miles down the rode I did and rode with them back to their car. I was nice. The plan tomorrow is to go to church and hear to guy that's trying out for the preaching spot and then be under the 430 bridge at 1 to ride with the club. Rance said he might come out and ride with us. I really need him to be out there so I can smoke his can! HA!

Terri had the old in her eye return with vengance! It's nasty. All oooozzzy. I had to beg her to slow down a bit and rest so the eye will heal. The pain was so bad that we had to call the doctors exchange but they couldn't really do anything else unless she went to the ER.

She was feeling a little better to we went over to Kroger and did the grocery shopping.

Now Sean, Emily's boyfriend has a headache. Emily had it earlier theis week and I had to pick her up from school and she eve stayed home he next day. Hope he didn't get that.

I did finally get he rest of the Christmas stuff put back up in the attic this morning and all arranged. It felt good to see the garage clean again.

Terri talked to Tyler and he is working at Boston Market but not at 42 Productions. So it has bummed him out somewhat. He is looking at jobs closer to home now.

The rain came!

We finally got some rain and everyone is happy! It's early in the morning and Sadie is acting like a wild animal! Oh man, she's crazy. I tried to get her to go out but she wouldn't because she has only seen rain 1 time I think so she finally goes out and it's like someone pouring Red Bull in her. She keeps running to the door so I keep letting her out and she goes out and runs around and runs back in (I leave the door cracked so she can get back in). Then I have to wipe up the paw prints.

I went out and rode the Monday Night Light ride along the river. It's a lot of fun because all the animals come out. You just have to watch for them because sometimes they lay down on the bike path or poop on it. Both are bad! We saw a few deer. We went up Ft Roots drive to the top which I hadn't done at night before. I felt really good climbing the hill for the first time in a while. As we climbed I noticed the lights of the city. Wow what a view! I hought the daytime view was great, you should see it at night! We all made it back safe and promised to be back out there next Monday. Sure beats a spin class!

Linsey sent out ther "How many people are going to the family Florida vacation?" email yesterday. I'm excited!

Weekend!

Thought you'd get a kick out of this! Yes, it's a squirrel that got run over by a bike. I don't know who the lucky rider was but the photo was posted on the bike journal were I log my miles. Yes, the little rodent broke the folk of the bike. Wonder if insurance pays for something like that?

Oh well, been a nice day. Met the guys of Carve at 8:30 for a 42 mile ride in the country. I have to remember to take more gel packets and use them. Gel packs are food in gel form. Most are like a spon full of cake icing. Good stuff. Today was the first "real" ride I've had since early December and boy did I pay for it. It was 36 when we started and once we got away from the city there was nothing to block the wind and it was windy. When i finally got to the front of the group to pull it was straight on headwind and tough. After I did my pull then I was going to drop to the back of the line and blow my nose but when I slowed down I didn't have the strength to get back with the group. There were some behind me and some in front so I fought the wind solo for a few miles until we turned and got the the stop/break point. That was nice because I was able to have a gel and water and it made me feel 100% better. Then as we were heading back I got cramps off and on in BOTH legs. I'd never had that better. I was tough!

I have my meeting with Foundation on Wednesday so we'll have some yes or no touring news when I blog Wednesday afternoon or night. Stay tuned!

We've had a couple of families that left Sylvan Hills church for other places. I suspect there will be more before they hire a peacher. We are trying to hang in there until the dust settles but with this Sunday being the "Budget Sunday" I think several families will be visiting other places. We might, not sure though. Sad to see this happening to a wonderful family but growth is hard and you have to go where you feel you are needed and fed.

Have a great weekend and watch for squirrels!

Almost Friday!

Even though it has been a short week, I'm still glad tomorrow is Friday! I don't have a heavy afternon schedule so it should be nice. Maybe I can sneak out early for a ride. I've been in the email loop with several gys I normally ride with and sounds like the Saturday morning ride is on. It's gonna be a chilly one but this group is a lot of fun so cold want damped the spirits.

Tyler seems to have settled back into Denver life quickly. We just had a call from Shalyn and she's going to stop by with a gift. I don't know what the gift is or what's it's for but she's a sweetheart for doing that.

Sean and Emily are out running around as teenagers do.

Terri is getting better but still is fighting the leftovers of the cold we've both had. I'm still coughing and fighting sinus and this is going on week 3. UGH!

So Texas beat USC last night in the Rose Bowl. That was an upset. USC beat Ark with one of the worse defeats in hog history. I'm not a Texas fan at all but was still glad they beat USC.

I have my Foundation meeting next week to discuss whether I'll ride this sumer as a fundraiser or not. I'm asking them to do the soliciting this year since that's what they do. I think if they will back me then I'll ride, if not then I'll do something else. I'm still going to Destin in July, that's 146 days away!

Back to the routine of life...

We seem to look forward to the holidays so much but somewhere during it all we begin to long for the routine we had before the holidays. Today it seems most folks got back to the routine. Sure, it's a short week but traffic was back to full force. The couple of times I was in our lobby it seemed quite which surprised me. Something tells me in a few days it will pick up.

Tyler returned to Denver yesterday but not witout a few tears from everyone. Hard to believe that he has graduated from college and is now starting his professional life. He'll do good out there.

I requested to come in a coupld of hours early on Tuesday and Thursday so I could have more daylight time to train on my bike. The off season has really taken it toll. I did ride yesterday and felt good even with the wind blasting me in the face. But the ride back was so fun because it was effortless with tailwind! I remember last winter that I would start at Alltel Arena and ride north into the wind as the first 7.5 miles then I got to turn around and had wind pushing e all the way back to the car for the return. I saw a few folks yesterday that were new riders and had made the mistake of riding with the wind only to turn around and realize they then had to ride against the wind to get back to their cars. I remember as a newbie rider how I did that a few times and it's so hard to ride back. You are completly drained when you finish.

I had lunch with my marathon running bud, Gary, and he had run this morning sarting at 5:30. Said he never saw daylight and he ran for an hour. It will soon be getting daylight longer little by little.

It's 2006!

We ate out last night at Krazy Hibachi over in Lakewod Village. It was fun and good. The kids went to their different parties and Terri and I made a quick stop to Books a Million then home. Still fighting colds. We managed to stay up til midnight then I went to bed. Emily came home soon after I went to bed.

I went to work at the fitness center which was a waste of time because no one came to work out. A few employees came by to pick up their employee Christmas gifts but other than that, I walked around, cleaned, stocked, read and watched TV. Boring!

Tyler heads back to Dener tomorrow afternoon and I'll get a ride in sometime tomorrow.

Everything goes back to routine on Tuesday the 3rd. School starts back, etc.

I'm still working on my 106 things to do in 2006. I'll post them later.

Happy New Year!

As the sun sets on 2005

The sun is slowly going down and the shadows are getting longer. How do you say goodby to a good year? I guess by saying hello to a better one!

Here's a recap of 2005:
Tyler graduated.
We got a puppy.
I rode around the state of Arkansas on a bicycle.
I rode over 5,300 miles this year.
I lost weight (but gained some back when daylight savings time changed)
I rode in Austin, Tx with Lance Armstrong (well, he was there.)
I moved into a new office.
We got a new fence for the backyard.
We went to Denver.
Terri lost weight.
The Bears won the 5a State championship in Baseball.
I quit me second job on the weekends last April. I miss the money.
Terri and I celebrated our 24th anniversary.
Barbrie and Tim moved in with Mom and Dad to take care of them.
Britney is going to have a baby.
Lindsey and Joe got married.
Jim moved to Austin, Texas (Marbel Falls)
Melissa raised more money than anyone else for the hospital during my bike ride.


I'm sure there are a million other things I can't think of off the top of my head.
Some things I'd like to do in 2006:
I used to make a list of 100-and-whatever the year was list of things to do. Some very simple and some required courage or whatever. I think I'd like to do a list for '06. There will be 106 things on the list. Man, where do I start? Oh, it will probably start with "Brush your teeth." I'm a list maker anyway and one thing I know for sure is that if you have a couple of simple things on your list at least you can mark them off quick and feel you accomplished something.

If you are reading this, I wish you and your friends and family a banner new year.
Love, laugh and live!

Now this is a winter!

I think we have hit warm weather records for the past couple of days. It's been really nice outside. Yesterday it was 78 in south Ark! I was really hoping to get a night ride in tonight but opted to take a nother couple days to be sure this cold is gone. Still fighting the sinus part of it. There are so many folks I know that are sick with colds right now. Terri doesn't seem to have it as bad but I can tell it's worn her out from working with it today.

Tyler worked on his demo DVD today and got a little skateboarding in. He was doing a double kick flip or something like that and broke the tail off the board.

Emmy and Sean are out running around.

Not really much going on today. Just your basic Wednesday.

Carve!

I think everyone is still on vacation this week. I've only had a few calls and have pretty much gotten caught up with my work. I'm hoping that the rest of the week will be like this and I can get a lot of stuff done that I've put off.

We are having a very warm day. I would love to be outside riding but the cold is still messing with me a little. Terri seems to be getting it. I hope not! Several folks have told me about weither themselves or someone in their family that has a cold and all use the term 2-3 weeks. I've been off my bike since Mid-December. I can't stay off much longer.

Speaking of bike. I got my Carve membership and uniform today at lunch! I'm excited! I was asked if I was going to race. I laid low and said no just so I can work behind the scenes getting ready. I am going to try to raod race this season. No crits! Just not ready for those!

Well, back to work

Back on!

YES!!! We are back on line! I'll be updating regularly again thanks to the new HP Pavilion we got for Christmas! Actually I bought the family a Christmas gift because none of us could live without a home computer much longer.

Well here's what has happened since Denver... Tyler did graduate and he and Shalyn rode back to Arkansas with us. We dropped the girls off at the airport and then picked Tyler and Shalyn up and headed towards home. The snow was very light but as the sun went down and I couldn't see out across the plains I had no idea what was out there. At one point just before we got to Limon, CO an area with strong wind we crossed. It wasn't snowing but it was heavy blowing snow. I was worried but lucky for us it didn't last long. The rest of the trip to Salina, KS was boring. So boring that I caught myself trying to fall asleep. I finally pulled off and traded with Terri and she drove the last 50 miles to Salina.

The next morning we get going and the strangest thing happened. I was feeling fine then I had to cough. When I did, it felt as though I was trying to cough with barbed wire in my throat. It hurt like a big dog. Sad to say, it was down hill from there. We arrived back in Sherwood at about 4pm on Monday and I felt bad. Went on to work and it just kept getting worse. Terri and I met Gary and Lisa at Trans Sirberian concert and it took everything for me to make it through. It was a great show but I felt like crap!

Finally, Thursday afternoon came and it was time to go home for the long weekend. I felt like I could barely crawl to the car. I figured if I went home and got some rest then Friday morning I could run out and so my Chirstmas shopping. That didn't happen. Finally on Saturday morning I got out and knocked it out as fast as I could and then we had Chistmas Eve brunch at Gene and Betty's and I was feeling rough by then. I kept thinking, how am I going to be come dinner time when all of Terri's family is at our house? I slept all afternoon and into the evening. It hurt really bad just to try and talk so I sat there and smiled. Probably looked pretty funny.

Christmas morning was rough and I didn't even go to my family's Christmas. I slept most of the day. I've never missed a Christmas! And man, I hope I don't ever miss another!

I woke this morning feeling better and as the day wore on I began to realize it might be over. There were dizzy spells at times but those had gone away now.

Being sick sort of blew the whole holiday but there will be others. When I was feeling bad and was home alone it did give me a lot of time to think. I have decided not to pursue the fundraiser ride for the hospital this summer. I thought long and hard and it took so much time and personal money to train and then complete the ride. This summer my family is going to Destin for a week around the 4th of July and I'd like to got do that since I missed so much family functions of the past year. This is not to say that I won't be riding my bike. Trust me, as the holiday's conclude next week, it will be time to get serious again.

One of the things I did for Christmas was ask that any gifts be giftcards from Chainwheel bike shop. I can cash them in for my Carve membership. I have wanted to be a part of their club for sometime now and have been invitied to do so but there is still a membership fee. I'm hoping to go over there tomorrow and get the paperwork completed.

This blog is sort of "me" tonight and I'll write better tomorrow as in not so much about me. Sort comes off looking selfish!

Still snowing in Denver

Copied from News9 Denver website:

DENVER - It will be a weekend filled with frigid temperatures and snowy weather for much of Colorado.
9News Meteorologist Marty Coniglio says a surge of cold air has moved into Colorado from the north, and with it comes some snow.
Highs along the Front Range will barely reach 20 degrees Saturday, and lows will be in the single digits. About an inch of snow will accumulate during the day, with an additional inch or two falling overnight.
The northern mountains are likely to get anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of fine powder. The snow will accumulate over a 24-hour period, so no Winter Weather Advisories are expected.
Sunday will see much of the same weather, with more light snow and continued bitter cold.
Temperatures finally move above freezing Monday, and even warmer weather moves in by midweek.
*************************************************************************************


It's still snowing in Denver but this town doesn't slow down! We went out to a huge mall (Colorado Mills) and there is every store you can think of in there. And if it's not in the mall it's in on of the stores surrounding it. It was crowded but we lucked out and got a spot close to the door within minutes of pulling in the parking lot. Now that was luck! Tyler and I broke off from the girls and wet to a place called Julllians which is a game and food hangout. It's like Morgan's in the Destin Mall.

Terri and I spent the morning in Barnes and Noble next door reading and flipping through magazines. I forget how much I enjoy going to bookstores.

We got off to a late start since the girls and Tyler had not had much sleep due to test and stuff. We let them all sleep in. After we shopped we all went to Tyler's and made chili and hung out. Tyler has always had trouble with mice since he lives over the top of a garage and lo and behold one decided to run across the floor and over Melissa's (Emily's friend) foot! It was funny. I met Tyler's friend Jay who lives in the 3rd floor of the main house and talked to Tristian for a little bit out in the driveway. They seem to be good guys.

We got back to the hotel about 7 and it seemed like it was a lot later. Tyler and the girls went down the road to Target and I walked across the street to a sports store that just happened to close at 7?! So there was a Wild Oats right next to it and I walked through there looking at all the organic foods. Those places are always so neat to go in but so pricey. The squash looked out of this world at 2.29 a pound. I would pay that for some of Terri's great fried squash.

I woke up at 4:30 and with the snow on the ground it looked as if it were morning so I got up. I stroked out when I realized I was up that early so I went back to bed and woke up again a little after six. Went ahead and got up since I knew I could go downstairs and eat breakfast and let the others sleep.

OK, I just went to News9 website and what do we have out here as a story? "Little Rock man steals flowers from gravesites" For crying out loud?!

We've changed our plans a little and will leave Denver after we drop the girls off at the airport about4. We plan to drive until about 11 or so and stay at Hampton Inn in Salina and then just have a 8 hour drive home tomorrow. We should be home by the time Emmy gets out of school. I just checked the road conditions for Kansas and it looks ok for driving. Will be slower than the 80 miles per hour we drove out here in, that's for sure!

Denver

I looked and hadn't realized that I've not made a single entry into the blog in 15 days! I've been that busy at work and without a computer at home I just don't have the time to write. I'm sitting here in the Hampton Inn in Denver the day after Tyler's graduation. HE MADE IT!!! I'm really proud of him and his senior exhibit was great and shows a lot of creativity.

Terri and I drove for 14 straight hours with very little stopping to get from our house to Tyler's. We had good weather for driving, a bit windy, but pretty. At one time I was going down the interstate and the cars in our little herd kept getting faster and faster until I looked down and we were traveling at 90 mph! I pulled out and said so long. It was crazy.

One of the coolest things (cool because it was short and sweet) was as we were driving into Salina there was a cloud and it was a version of a mini downpour but it was snow. For about 2 minutes it was snowing and you could see it going across the field. I've heard the freak snowstorms come out of no where and leave folks stranded all the time. I just hope that doesn't happen on the way home.

We ate at Hard Rock cafe yesterday between the senior show and graduation. It was a neat place. Over priced but fun to see. A glass of coke got knocked over on the table then at dinner the waitress at Chili's broke a glass sending my drink all over my lap. 2 meals, 2 drinks, 2 spills.

Not sure of the plans for today but I hope it's something fun. We talked about going to the mountains but it's snowing pretty good right now. They are saying 1-2 inches so not sure if we are going up there or not.

Sean is staying at our house with Sadie. Sounds like she is doing fine. She grew legs and it's funny to remember what she looked like as a 6 week old pup verses a 12 week old pup. We are having a new fence put in so she can go out and play without one of us standing out there worried that she'll run around to the front. She's already ran away from Terri and out to the street. We just have to stay between her and the front yard.

I've been torn between riding a big tour again this summer or going to Destin with my side of the family. I really like the idea of another tour and if I do then it's 200 miles more than last year and will start at the Canadian border and end in Little Rock. I can stay on Highway 71 all the way to Fort Smith! One road almost the whole way? But then I'm beginning to have second thoughts. I really missed a lot last year training day in and day out for the ride. I've not spent much time with my side of the family in a while and that might be something I need to do. Am I trying to talk myself out of the tour? Maybe.....