Would this be the last day of summer.. . again?

Just a cool shot of the bridge I park under

Dbar? Maybe? I think that's her. She flew by too fast.

The curvy road that's so fun to ride

Now would this be the last day of summer... again? We've had the most awesome weather for a week now! The next few days we'll see rain coming in then the temps will go back to regular Arkie weather. 50's and 30's. Check out the bank time and temp at my starting point... 71 degrees!

Since the weather was so nice the afternoon riding was a game called "dodge the runners and other bikes". Yes, it was that busy, especially the bike bridge.

I got down to the river after church and lunch at Dixie Cafe (hey, just a salad!) and even wiped out the MP3 player and loaded in almost all new tunes. Still had a few favorites but added a bunch that I had no idea who or what kind of music. I loaded off some of Emmy's list. Good stuff! I rode a bit then climbed Ft Roots. I was really feeling stronger today then I'd felt in a month or so. Stayed in the big ring (yes, little gear of the big ring but still). I looped through then started heading down and such as the sun would rise, the fast girls slow guys group was heading up. I said howdy to many on the way down. Man, I wanted to turn around and ride but I had several things I wanted to do during this ride and I'd just see them for a few moments before I'd have to drop off. I wanted to do some hill work, which I did. I read the clubs website where they did some monster climbs today. They were all looking VERY strong as I spotted them several times throughout the afternoon.

Last week when Mark M. and I were riding I spotted a sign that I told myself I was going to get a photo of it. I thought this was a hoot! $5.00 per car but hey, if you can sqeeze 15 or more in, they have to charge you 10 bucks! Ya know those big ole SUV's can hold a lot of kiddos these days... I guess!

Anyway, I seemed to be riding almost the same route as the club but I was a tad bit head. Not faster, just ahead. I circled Burn's Park then came back around again to stop for some photos of the cover bridge and a shot of the curving road. One of the things I was hoping to do is get on the other side of the covered bridge and shoot as much as I could when they came by. They would be going through it but right past the entrance. If I was on the other side I could shoot through it and it would have the Tour de France sort of look to it. I waited a few minutes but no bikes. And as it always happens, just as I got back out on the road, here they all came. It would have been such a great shoot because it was a big peleton riding. I stopped on the side of the road and snapped a few. They are so-so shots but I posted anyway. I knew after they past they would be heading to the big hills and I'd not see them for awhile.

I headed on over the big bridge to the LR side and climbed River Mtn but I forgot to take photos. As I was heading back down I spotted on of the mountain goats (Patrick) climbing. I yelled at him that he was looking strong today and he was. Then I saw one of the best sights of all today! We have a new junior rider and her name's Lauren and she was learning the climb. It's a tough climb for a new rider but she was already half way up when I saw her. Her mom was climbing with her. I've never met Lauren but I realized who she was when saw Mom Jenny with her so I called out that she was doing awesome! I suspect there will be stories as spring comes around with her smoking the climbs.

Afterwards, I climbed Overlook for my 3rd climb of the day. The route is actually what we called Triple Bypass. The route the club was on was the Ironman or some variation of it. On the way back down I pulled over and snapped some shots from half way. You know the shots of the bridge and you can see those million dollars houses up on the ridge? Well, I was up on that ridge shooting off of it. By the way, I saw some very fine autos coming and going up there. Most waved even!

So it's really be the perfect weekend. Lots of family time. Oh yeah, Terri's folks arrived from FL late this afternoon so we had a packed house until just minutes ago. It will be packed several times this week.

Take care!

The BEST Christmas gift!

4 generations of family girls. Sherry, Melissa, Elliot, Mom

Daddy Ryan with Keaton

Barbie with Elliot


Mommy Melissa with Keaton

Mom and Dad

Saturday was just a good day! Woke up and hit Starbucks then got busy with stuff around the house. Knock out chores and then got a good long ride in. Got home, cleaned up and in the car heading to a family gathering. I was about to get to see my new great neice and nephew for the first time and see Ryan and Melissa for the first time in a long time. I was excited! My mom and sis have the same birthday so that was as good excuse as any to get together. Awww, these little tykes are cute! Keaton had on one of those one piece baby things and it said, "Am I really related to all these people?" It probably should have said, "Dad, you're joking right? Not them!" HA! We all ate and had a good time. I kept my food in check big time and no desert. I confess I did eat a couple of tamales when I got home but it was because I was really hungry.

Alright, I know you are wondering about the best Christmas gift. While we were at my sisters house Sherry and Barbie had ended up on the front porch swing. The evening temps were just right for front porch family talking that only the south can provide. I walked outside telling someone who was leaving good night and ended up out on the front porch to. Minutes later it was just Sherry, Barbie and myself. We talked about family and laughed and a family secret was told to me. Oh yes, it was a biggie!! REAL biggie but but unless you're family, it wouldn't be a be deal. Sort of like a family secrect receipe... it'll stay in the family. They were telling me other stuff that I didn't know. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard. A little bit later, Cat (another sis) was out there with us and we were only missing one sister, who wasn't able to come down due to other committments. For the first time in I can't tell you, I was alone with just my sisters and it was priceless. I mean truely priceless. We talked about family, the future, the past. Who's where and what are they doing. With the warm evening temps and my family surrounding me, I was happier than I had been in a long time. It was just one of those live in the moment sort of deals and . . . it was the best Christmas gift of all. Love you sistas!

Stop making excuses

Stop making excuses. That's my motto of the day. I had my gym clothes and my lunch pale of things I could eat today. Drinking my water... then there are several, "Hey Geo, I brought cake." "Hey Geo, a vendor just sent candy...it's good!" Next thing I know, I'm having just a couple of things. Then it's about 10:30 and I get an email wanting to go to lunch later. I should say no but I've not been out to lunch with my bud's in a couple of weeks. I toss it to the wind and we end up at Sonic. We go just to see the Running Man. It's a guy that runs fast with a tray of orders. It's awesome to watch. I order my usual Sonic fare of corn dog, tots and small coke. I eat the corn dog, the tots become a guilt item. I'm finding myself throwing them in the bag. I can't eat fried stuff anymore. It just doesn't taste that good.

While we are eating J-Catch asked me if I saw Biggest Loser last night. I had. He was laughing and said he watched it too while he was eating a pizza. He ate a whole pizza. Then he laughed and said "Then I ate 4 bowls of soup." I'm blown away. Dude, that's a massive amount of food. He is active and has a full gym in his home but man, that's still a lot of food! HA!

I asked Terri on the drive home this afternoon if she'd not buy any junk food stuff from the store this weekend. I know it's the holidays but I just can't trust myself with certain foods right now. Chips... I can eat my weight in chips. Chocolate... hey, I'll fight you for the stuff. I actually told her truthfully, "I can't be at home by myself and not eat." She laughed until she realized I was serious. I have no idea where this comes from but if I'm at home alone I can find some reason to stroll by the kitchen then some reason to open the fridge. Next thing I know, I've had a couple of cookies, some chocolate milk, some chips, maybe a small bit of leftovers, a couple more chips, a juice glass of Dr. Pepper. It's insane. I don't have this problem in the summer because I'm outside playing.

I have to lose this 14 more pounds by Jan 29th.... let me stop making excuses and stop whinning and get busy..... Geo logging of and working out!!

Those hills

Well we got home and I changed and was out the door on the bike. Made sure the rear blinky was flashing and the headlight was working. Got water and all systems go. Did a quick warm up around the block a couple of times and then into the valley I go. I tried a cople of different routes and then settled into a 6 block loop that sort of looks like the letter "P". Up a long hill and the road loops around to come back midway to the hill I just climbed and there is a steep climb before I get back to the mid point otherwise it's straight up the hill then straight down. I like the up the hill, 'round the bend, up another hill then down to the bottom start point and repeat.

As expected with the warm temps folks were cooking out. Oh man, that was tough! Here I am doing these repeats and I kept passing a house with something very good cooking. I was worn out by the 6th repeat. It was a good feeling to know I where I was physically with training this early in the game.

The date Jan 29, 2007 is fast approaching. That's the real kick off date for the training to start for the River 2 River ride in May. It will be a 16 week training program. I will have a couple of those "ride off to another city" sort of Saturday training rides. So far I've been building on the base miles and core strength training.

I found some new tunes to train to. Ya ever heard of Wolfmother? They have that guitar rock sound. Joker and the Thief is a good tune that will get you moving in your workouts. To me the harder the rock the better I train. Yep, I know some of you are laughing but it's a throw back to my concert days. Maybe mid life crisis... who knows and who cares... it makes me train harder.

Speaking of trainin harder, I have found that I train harder when I train solo. I don't know why that is. I love riding with my buds but sometimes it doesn't happen for me. I find myself trying to ride more like someone else rather than concentrating on my riding and my training. This is not wording the right way but you know what I'm talking about.

Hey by the way, keep the climbers on Mt Hood in your prayers. One is from here and hes is a very good climber from what I've heard and there's a huge storm heading to the mount. Doesn't look good.

Thanks for reading!

Just like McDonalds... I'm loving it!

Just like McDonalds... I'm lovin' it!

It's sunny and 68 degrees in Little Rock this afternoon! YES!!!

Take a look at this forecast for Little Rock! Whoo Hoo!!!

Tonight: Patchy fog after 4am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 41. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Wednesday: Patchy fog before 9am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph. Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 10 mph. Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. Southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph. Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47. South southwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67. South wind around 10 mph. Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 52. South wind around 10 mph.

Sunday: Partly cloudy, with a high near 68.

**Note to Ironman Wes: Hey man, I'm sending this weather over to Georgia in case you are in the running mood! HA!

Hoping to get out of the office in a moment and get a ride in around the neighborhood for some hill work. Our neighborhood is lit up pretty well and I've trained on the bike at night before so it's no big deal.

Sunday

Yale with the big smile. Remember him from other photos. This guy is a great inspriation to me with my struggle to lose weight. He needs some new jerseys 'cause all of his are sort of saggy.

The State Capitol and Arkansas Children's Hospital from across the river.

The churning water coming through the dam as I was riding over. Notice the seagulls looking for bits of shad and other fish.


Just looking toward Little Rock from the bridge

Looking toward the north at I-430 and Pinnacle Mtn.

Just some cool angle

Jess in the Toyota-United (my favorite team!), Shaw dawg in the black, Rebcecca (mountain climbing do-do head! HA!), Jerry in the Dassult Jet jersey.

David W. He is who I want to be! Super long distance cyclist. Notice the black marks all over the road? That's how fast the Fast Girls take off.

It's just 2 weeks til Christmas eve. Hard to believe.

We went to early service and it's fun to be out by 10! Terri made breakfast pizza for brunch and I was out riding by abut noon. Had the tunes plugged in and enjoying the ride. Plan was to ride along the north side and warm up and head over the bridge to the real club start point. I got over there just as Jenn was giving annoucements. It's really a nice feeling, sort of like the characters on Cheers, when you ride up and everyone knows your name. And you know everyone's name as well. You just know you are among friends. We ride a long and I see a couple of folks jump on their pedals and others sort of follow as the line takes shape. I sat in the back just happy as a loon to be out enjoying the day and the sunshine.

A rider comes toward us and a few minutes later I see the rider trying to catch up but he never did. We also passed several others. As we got to the Broadway bridge it was a huge good looking group riding over. I stayed in the back since the was a girl on the back and I hate leaving a girl sitting on the back when cars are coming. We all got over the bridge fine and as we are riding along I notice my crew is getting further and further ahead?! Then I realize that the 4 people I'm riding behind aren't us! Oh man, I'm going to have to sprint to catch the tail end of "us". I had turned off the tunes so I was going to need a little musical mind alteration so Ted Nugent's "Fred Bear" is the song of choice. Drink a little water and turn it on. As I turn on to Ft Roots drive I look up and can see the lead pack way way up here. Crud, this will look so bad. I climb hard anyway. 10mph and steady. Come Ted, sing to me man! I spot Jenn up ahead riding and removing her windbreaker like a pro. I finally get caught up to her which was no easy task by any means. We ride on up together.

When we got to Burns Park it ended up being David, Jenn, Rebecca and myself in a little posse, oh I'm sorry groupo. As we started up our next hill I was talking out loud to Santa. I was telling him that a new bike would help me keep up with the pack better. The I started talking about a certain girl in front of me on the hill, of course, no names BUT... anyway I told Santa that she had been really bad this year. Then started laughing and said, I was serious because she just got married not that long ago and newlywed are as bad as it gets! We were all laughing but then it got way way better! As we dropped down the hill Jenn gets up beside Rebecca before she knows she's there and acts like she was going to shove her right off the road. I got so tickled I kept laughing and laughing. Oh man, I love this group. Always a good time! Always!

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. The club is now climbing a couple of new hills and they are what separates the men and the boys. I was a boy this week and returned to the car. Hey, don't roll youreyes... I was a manly man last week and rode all the way up and didn't get off, thank you very much! HA! Doc Mark rode back with me as well since he had to go back to south Ark where his medical practice is.

We bid each other farewell at the soccer fields and he headed back over the the LR side while I rode back to the sub. As I was riding I began to feel really strange. Suddenly I had no energy (bonk!) so I just took my time and even dropped down to ride along the river behind the skate park. Sort of sad but it's rare that road bikes drop down there. It's mostly slower riders. I stopped and shot a frame of the hospital across the river. As I rode folks were passing me right and left. Strange feeling! I did do something I haven't done in a while and that was drink a Red Bull before the ride. I knew I needed something today but really thought it was make me ride top notch. Maybe it did the opposite.

When I got home I noticed my clothes really stunk! I mean really bad! Red Bull sweat? Who knows?!

Oh well... I still enjoyed being out and playing!

It took 2 times...

Plan: Wake up, shower, out the door for early Christmas shopping before crowds. Mental note, JC Penny is having another weekened door buster sale. HA! Every weekend is the biggest sale of the year, they say! I think it's a hoot!

Stop #1: WalMart Supercenter to pick up gifts for family my office is sponsoring. Got what was on the list for me to get. Mission accomplished. Noticed lots of folks talking on cell phones... at 7 in the morning? Wonder how many folks were woke up by family members calling to see if Uncle John would like the blue or the black whatever? HA!

Stop#2: The mall... I don't like the mall anymore. I'm a caveman style shopper. I go, sight the goods, bag it and drag it home. Penny's is having the sale no doubt. HA! Now this is funny! Here I am walking through the only 2 stores in the whole mall open. Penny and Sears. The only people in the stores are middle aged guys. I laugh to myself. Are we that bad? None of us have bags.

Stop #3: Starbucks --- ok this stop was worth it! I feel my blood starting to move again.

Back at the house I walk in and no happy dog to greet me?! Wha?! Sadie??? The bathroom door is closed and Em is showering. Thank goodness, I was worried! I talk Em int going back out with me to really shop. I wait an hour for her to get ready. Teen girls... gotta love 'em. We head back to the mall and knock out the whole list! Em knows what everyone wants so it's a simple mission.

We hit all the stores and back home in about and hour and a half. Maybe closer to 2 hours.

Plan #2: Put up the Christmas village before I get grounded! Done!

Plan #3: Clean up leaves... again. Mostly done.

It's been a nice Saturday. Tomorrow we go to a friends house for a Christmas party. The food is all Itilian and homemade! We are making stuff I can't even pronounce.

What a beaut!

WOW! That's about all I know what to say! WOW! This is our bike bridge with Christmas lights on. Thanks to John and Diane for providing the photos. Can't wait to see it in real life! WOW!

Office drama at it's very finest!

What I'm about to write is pure 100% truth and funny as it gets.

At the hospital we have a fitness challenge and there are about a dozen teams. We have funny names and it's all in good fun. There are several people that wanted to be on my team again this year so I sent out a list of possible team names. A certain area of my department didn't like the names and sent me their own. Well during that time everyone else was voting for the names and it was a big vote for one certain name. It's funny and catchy. So it was a done deal and I sent out the email annoucing the team name. Soon afterwards I get several emails condeming me to the gates of hell for using that name. The trouble makers hated that name. I responded to their email asking them to lighten up a bit and it was for fun and that if it was that big of a deal there are other teams. Silence. Then late this afternoon I get an email from the head wasp telling me to remove all their names from the team that they are going to be on someone elses team! Whoo Woo! Trouble maker and company gone! Now my team is an awesome group of friends that enjoy working hard and laughing a lot! Ya wanna know what the team name is now don't you? It's BODY BY CAKE. A knock off of the infommerical Body by Jake. We'll have a wacky logo and goofy t-shirts. Can't wait.

Ok, on to nicer subjects. I sweated like a pig in July in the gym today. Oh yes, a much nicer subject! HA! I did my core training then upstairs to spin a little. Then the noon spin class came in and they invited me to stay and spin a hard 30 minutes. Ok, I had just finished my real workout plus a moderate spin for 15 minutes. Now I'm supposed to hammer it for 30 with a class. OK! This would be fun! I thought I was going to pass out before we finished. It was a very fast paced sprint spin class today.

This afternoon was the hospital wide Christmas party. At 2pm it looked like a tsumani (sp?) was happening. There were tons of folks walking to the Children's Hall building down the road. It's the hospital event center. I was on the phone talking to a guy that works on the other side of the hospital and I was laughing while talking due to all the people. Anytime you say we're giving away something, they all go nuts!

Tomorrow is Friday and I'm going in for a couple of hours then heading down to Benton to hang out with Dad. I'm looking forward to it. When it's just me and him I usually learn something about the family that I didn't know.

Take care....

Midweek and Biggest Loser

The week has gone by fast so far. Tomorrow I have a meeting from 9 to 10:30 then lunch then a hospital wide Christmas party 2 to 4. Not much work! Sort of has the same feeling as when I was in grade schol and we had an upcoming field trip!

Today was actually a spooky day for me. Terri called and said Em was in the nurses office and had been shocked. Said it wasn't bad but nurse suggested an assessment. No clinics could see her due to all the real sickness going around. After Terri called be for the fourth time I said just bring her on up here to the ER in a crabby sort of way. When I got to the ER they had already taken Em back. They never do that. She was actually in Trauma #2 room. I felt my stomach tighen up big time. I thought to myself, did I really not taken this serious and it's bad? As I walked into the room there were a couple of docs and a nurse already working on her. She was smiling so I felt a huge sense of relief. We went through the quetions drill and they ordered labs and EKG. All came back good. Only follow up was an appointment with our burn doc. Don't panic. She does not have a burn but her arm, especially her hand, is really sore. Tonight she's taking it easyon the sofa watching her favorite gross out show, Criminal Minds.

Right now I'm glued to Biggest Loser. That show is awesome. It just went to a commercial and Erik was up for the weigh in. It shows the looks on the others faces. This is going to be a big weight drop! I'm always inspired by these individuals. There's this one guy on there named Jaron and he's from Arkansas. I think he has lost 97 lbs. Just awesome! I think it comes down to one of those vote off deals and the finanle is next week live. I remember last season when they did the final show and the players where completely different people. Ok commercial is over and Erik lost another 12 lbs for a total of 124 lbs!!! Jaron got voted off but was a great sport about it. They show the contestants saying good by to their trainers. They then show the players returning home after being at the ranch for 3 months. It brings tears to your eyes. Great television! Next week will be even better!

As for my own training. I'd say so so this week. There have been times when I wanted and did eat more then I should have. My coach, Mark, has spoken to some folks and it's suggested I get down to my idea weight soon. I started at 180 and have dropped 6. I need 14 more off and keep it off. Sort of sounds like Jan 29th is the d-day. Hard core training begins. Or at least hard core then I have been. I'm still happy with the www.myfooddairy.com site. I'm in a holiday challenge with other guys from all over the country and the teams are Alpha and Bravo. I'm on Bravo. Lots of encouraging going on. It's a good place to be.

Take care!

Ya gotta stop eating too much and going to bed early!

Just a family photo I forgot Shalyn took last week. By the way, Tyler is a LOT taller than that! He's a lot taller than me.

I woke this morning at 4:25 and managed to go back to sleep until 5:08. I was wide awake. man, I hate doing that. No reason for me to wake that early. No real stressors. So I got up and stumbled through the darkness to get my book and glasses and headed to the den. The moon was so big and so bright that it looked like daytime. I admit I really love the pre-dawn time of the morning. It's so peaceful. There are a couple of neighbors that are also early risers because I can see their lights from the den but this morning even they stayed in their nice warm beds. I seemed that it took forever for the sun to wake p as well. We are getting to the shortest day of the year in about 18 days then the days start getting longe again by 1 minute. Seems silly but the short days make me completly nuts!

Work was fine today. Nothing big. At lunch I ran out to the bike shop to take a jersey that belongs on one of our club members and walked out with a new pair of bike shoes! We had struck a deal that I'd take merchandise rather than money for their store jersey. So I got some new shoes.

Now I know I will kick everyone's tail with these lightweight beauties on!

I came home and had a light dinner but Em's boss was in the gourmet fudge making mood so I had to have some fudge. UGH! Why do I do this to myself? So I got back there in the office and did a workout program. Weights and the big red balance ball. It was a nice workout and I could feel the burn. Everytime I felt it I tried to assoicate some of the crap I've eaten. Even with me having my moments of food weakness I've still managed to ahve lost 6 lbs since the Wedensday before Thanksgiving. Tomorrow will be a lunch time workout in the fitness center and Wednesday will be a spin class at lunch. I have to remember to drink more water too. that always seems to help.

weekend wrap up

It was a fun weekend. I got all the lights up outside, got a ride in, etc etc.

Friday night Terri and I went to Shorty Smalls for our Friday night date. It was good. Nice bowl of hot spicy cheese dip that was almost as good as my sister Sherry makes. no one touches her cheese dip. Yes it's a long family recipe and no I won't post it on here. Actually, I don't even know what she does to it. Probably dumps left over expresso grounds in it. A really funny thing happened at Shorty's. I ordered a beer with my dinner. I don't drink very much at all but for some reason it just seemed to go. Well I got carded!! I kid you not! Terri was laughing and I sort of gave the girl that "puppy doesn't understand" look. Am I hearing you right? Mister winked around the eyes, salt and paper hair guy is getting carded??? Tell me that girl didn't want a big tip?!

The other thing that happened that was funny was that Terri has a aunt that is well, different. She's also the aunt that was a subsitute teacher one day and acted a fool in front of Emily. Anyway we were sitting there and we heard all this hooting and yelling from the wait staff about someone having a 50th anniversary and it was them. We sort of keep our head down and sine they were in another room in the place we were safe. We laughed like two little kids.

Saturday I put up the Christmas lights and I had a couple of strands that needed a few light replace. No big deal. Rewind... oh yes it was a big deal! I needed to replace lights in 3 different strands. Guess what, they were 3 different light sizes. The little plug in parts were different on ALL three. I was having a real Chevy Chase Chrstmas Vacation moment out in my front yard. i finally got it all done just in time to go to the Christmas parade.

Terri and I went down to her office and got us a spot and fixed our chairs and got settled in. The parade was good and the weather was perfect for the parade. Freezing cold! Hey, it's a Christmas parade. It's supposed to be cold. Several of the club rode with BACA. They looked great with their Christmas garb on.

After the parade we had about 30 minutes before the fireworks at the state capitol so we ducked into Terri's building and had hot chocolate. I felt like a VIP.

Sunday found us at church that morning for one of the saddest services I've been to. One of the guys that had been with the church for years and years passed away after a long fight with cancer. I don't think I saw a single lady that didn't have a tissue in hand. Many of the guys did as well. Then came the event that pushed everyone over the edge. An annoucement. Last week one of the coaches at CAC was DX'd with cancer. This is a young, what seemed to be healthy man. Saturday he had a massive stroke only one week after Dx'd. As the services were coming to a close one of the men got up and let everyone know that Andrew Brady (Coach Brady) was brain dead and they unhooked the machines. He soon passed. Most of the kids at our church go to CAC. Very sad for all of them.

I had a quick lunch and headed out on my bike. Met up with John and Diane and we then rode to meet the group. We all came together on top of Ft Roots then rode more. We climbed a coupe of new hills and one was a killer. I think I heard someone say 24% grade. Whoa baby! This was the first ride I've seen people get off their bikes and walk up the hill. Yes, it was that steep. Short but steep. I actually managed to stay on my bike and pedal to the top. We actually were on the other side of Ft Roots so we went back down the normal side.

I spotted Tyler at the skate park. Then I saw Shalyn and Zero (my grandson dog). With my helmet and sunglasses on, he wasn't too sure about who I was. But once he did I got the lick to the face.

Sort of wanted the snowstorm

Oh we are going to have a bad storm. Oh it will be 37 by the time we go home today. Oh it... Nah, it was in the 50's right up til time to go home. It's cold now but not that dancing after you walked through a spider web cold.

Terri did make it up to Mt Magazine for her board meeting with no problems at all. I'm bummed that I didn't get to go up there to train but couldn't do it with wet roads. She called a bit ago and said it snowed for about an hour up there.

Since I had a car and no schedule I worked out at the fitness center after work. Knocked out my core training then did the 30 minute sprint program on the spin bike. It was strange working out after work. I know everyone that does at lunch but I didn't know any of these people tonight.

Big news! I dropped 4 lbs over the Thanksgiving holiday! That just tickled me Fast Girl pink!

Tomorrows Friday! Yipeeee! Hey, there's rumor of a new local Sunday afternoon ride that seems to have the club hopped up. In one word... he-yells...big he-yells! I take the cam Sunday and gets some shots. Stay tuned!

Oh man... run for the bread and milk! Storms a comin'

IN THE CENTRAL THIRD OF THE STATE...GENERALLY ALONG AND WEST OFTHE INTERSTATE 30 CORRIDOR...PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO TRANSITIONTO A MIX OF RAIN AND SLEET DURING THE EVENING HOURS...CHANGING TOALL SNOW AROUND OR AFTER MIDNIGHT.

This has probably just set off a mad fight at the food store. Hey at least the film at 6 will be good tv! HA!

It's gonna change, and we're gonna whine!

It' gonna change and we're gonna whine! The weather that is. After an awesome spring like Thanksgiving the forcast calls for winter to arrive this week with highs in the low 40's and low's in the 20. Bummer. I was getting used to this! We've had the windows cracked letting in a little fresh air each day.

I got to ride a lot on Saturday and got a couple hours in this afternoon. I wore just shorts and a jersey. Isn't global warming a wonderful thing sometimes? The BDB was only packed at the top and it was real packed because a barge was about to comethrough the lock and dam. Sort of the same draw as kids and bulldozers.

I pushed real this afternoon. Real hard. I needed to sweat and I needed sore muscles at the end. I needed to burn those chocolate no-bake cookies my daughter made and I have been sneaking every now and then. I love those cookies and I was telling myself they are good for me because they have peanut butter and oatmeal which I need for riding engery. The choclate was just an added bonus. Anway, I think this could have been one of my fastest rides of he year. Of course poking through the crowd on the bridge slowed me down going over but coming back to the north side I hammered it up the ramp. I had tunes blasting (Fred Bear by Ted Nugent) so I was moving. I took it easy at the top due to the barge still coming through then there was a wide open spot so I opened it up. I came off the ramp at 25 mph and a few moments later I saw 30. Of course that didn't last but seconds! HA! I don't know, I just hit my groove today and it was feelin' alright!

I also hit a good gear combination today while working on Ft Roots climbs. I'm not sure why but it just clicked and I was climbing comfortably at 10mph. Then some dip stick stole my thinder by passing me like I was sitting still. I jumped to the attack but couldn't catch the guy. No idea who he was but he was really a mountain goat!

Some of my buds went to train on Mt Nebo today. Or as it's know to some "Mt. Knee-blow". Sounds like a great ride with homemade pizza at the end.

I am supposed to go to Mt Magazine on Thursday for Terri's board meeting and I was going to train on the mountain but with the temps being low 40's here, something tells me to highest point in the state will be too cold! I might be staying home and working on the kitchen.

Hope you all have had a great Thanksgiving!

Twas the day after Thanksgiving...

Twas the day after Thanksgiving and all through the town, the hogs got their tail kicked and all was with frown.
Yeah yeah yeah.... I was glad I was at home with other things to do. I watched here and there but had a list too long to stop and enjoy TV for the 2nd time today. I got hooked on a movie this morning. I kept telling myself to get up and get busy or go ride but I did neither. But I did get plenty of exercise today though. It's annual bring all the Chritmas stuff down from the attic day. Man, this stuff grows every year. I hit my head 2x on the beams in the attic and said words my mm would have grounded me for. It also seemed that everything was dusty. I coughed until I could taste that coppery blood taste. I also got several walls painted today so it's been a good house day.

Once during the day the wind was blowing and it looked like a leaf storm. Of course Terri had just cleared off our deck. Sort of reminds me of when I clean the yard. It always seems a wind wind will come and blow them across the yard again.

Oh well, tomorrow is just Saturday so I'll go get a good ride in. Hey, it's going to be sunny and 70 ...again. Not exactly puts you in the mood for Christmas stuff but if it were me, it might be sunny and 70 everyday.

Thanksgiving 2006

A shot of our beautiful cool, crisp Thankgiving morning. This is on the river front and yes, it really is a submarine.

A beautiful fall morning to enjoy! I woke early, had a little breakfast and out the door for my ride by 8. The temp was posted as 44 but a few minutes later the temp flashing at the bank downby the river was already 50. Up 6 degrees in 30 minutes. Uh-oh, if this continues, I'll be over heated soon. I made the ride with no problems and was really surprsied how many folks were out biking, running and walking this morning. The funny part was that on my way back in I saw several neighbors pulling out the boxes of Christmas lights.

I looked back at my ride journal from last year and in Dec I only rode 99 miles and only rides. I had a bad cold and couldn't remember it until Terri reminded me of how sick I was at the Trans-Sin concert last year. Oh yeah, I DO remember that. Another interesting journal entry was that my comment on 11/25/05 says "This is the first really cool day of riding." I didn't remember it being that warm all last fall.

OK, enough bike stuff. Thanksgiving... what are you thankful for? As I get older I seem to be more thankful for the more simple things.

Like this, for example, I'm thankful on Saturday nights when I go to bed and we've washed the sheets and they smell like Downy.

I'm thankful when I walk out of m front door and look across the valley.

I'm thankful I can turn on the water and get a glass full.

I'm thankful for the colorful fall leaves we've had.

I'm thankful my neighbors down the bought the property next door to us.

I'm thankful all the babies popping out all over my family are all healthy.

I'm thankful my kids aren't the ones popping out the babies! HA!

I'm thankful my kids and wife are healthy.

I'm thankful that I only have to drive 30 minutes to get "home" and that all my sisters and parents will all be there.

I'm thankful for my extended family. You know the one's in the hot pink jerseys!

I'm just plain ole thankful today!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

WooHoo -- 4 day weekend!

3 day work week done and complete even with it's reports and drama. I had 3 calls today and 2 of them were non-work.

I had 2 Fast Girl Slow Guys memebers come by my office. Jenn S with an awesome awesome idea for my River 2 River ride in May. When she told me, I thought to myself, this is going to be great! I'll let you in on it later. This afternoon Yale came by and even brought me a Starbucks Frap! Gawd, I love that guy! HA! He was cutting up with our receptionist Karen when I walked in.

By 3 I was stir crazy and luckly Terri called and we hit the road home. Lots of traffic for that time of the day. Bumper to bumper creeping traffic! I was given a hall pass to go ride my bike but this traffic was cutting into my time.

I finally got out there about 4:15 or so and as I was suiting up I spotted JBar and Jo go by. I finally caught up with them at the BDB but only because they stopped. We chatted a moment then JBar headed back down the north side and Jo and I went over the bridge. We rode a little over there and on the way back I could see a car coming from behind but it never seemed to go around then I noticed a bike. Cool, it's was Paul C. I hadn't gotten to talk to him in a while. He actually took a call on his cell while riding with no hands. I think that might be my new years resoultion... get Paul to teach my to ride like that.

Both Jo and Paul talked about not getting to ride much these days. Seems like when the time changed it sort of blew big hawker on everyone's riding. We all hit it, slipped on it and laid our bikes down. They had both parked on the LR side and I came back over the BDB and rode on the "warm" side. Man, when the sun goes behind that hill on the LR side it's just plain cold! When I got back to NLR the sun had kept the pavement of the path warm so it was a lot nicer. I rode down to Alltel Arena and back to Burns where my car was. I had to use my light on the north side and I knew I would come upon a deer or skunk but saw neither. When I stopped at the car it seemed like 7 but it was ONLY 5:58. I hate the short daylight of winter. Serious!

The weather in the upcoming weekend is "10". Cool mornings and warm afternoons 67/69/69 and sunny! Sounds like lots of different rides will be going on and I hope to get on a couple. I plan to get up in he morning and ride down to the river and back. Nothing major but some good base miles.

Weight: 180
Miles: 22.4
Temp: 55
Wind: What wind? Even the river looked like glass.
Beautiful sunset

Happy birthday Terri!!!

11/21 is Terri's birthday! Happy happy birthday... I love you!

When Monday is Wednesday

Don't you love it when you go to work and Monday and it's already Wednesday?! Nothing better than a 3 day work week. The act is I've very glad it's a short week because I've had a huge report due for int eh morning and have spent way more time than probably needed but I wanted to be sure I covered every angle. We'll know in the morning.

So on to funner things! I spent all of yesterday afternoon on the bike! 3 hours of non-stop riding. Ok, I did stop at the top of River Mtn but it was for less than 30 seconds because my vest zipper was stuck. I climbed the triple bypass, rode the park a 2 times, up and down the north side 2 times, around the soccer fields 2 times. The whole weekend riding was just plain good.

After logging in my ride and my food I got happy faces and then said I could eat 3K calories and still hold present weight. Well boy howdy!

Today I've eaten and not exercised. Bummer...

Thanksgiving idea... HA!

This is just to funny not to post! Came from a friends email...

NEW TURKEY RECIPE

You should try this!

Sure to bring smiles from your guests!

Here is a new way to prepare your Thanksgiving.

1. Cut out aluminum foil in desired shapes.

2. Arrange the turkey in the roasting pan, position the foil carefully. (see attached)

3. Roast according to your own recipe and serve.

4. Watch your guests' faces...

Super Saturday!

The golf driving range along North Hills Blvd. Still flooded after the midweek rains.

Look real close at the water and what do you see???

Yep, at 100 yards out there were geese hanging out. There was actually a guy hitting balls out there and the birds just sat there guarding their turf. The golfer heard me laughing and just gave a big shoulder shrug. Hey want can you do?

Small craft boats are generally not this close to to the dam but this morning I actually saw four fishing really close. Notice how the water is churning.


From one of the overlook areas on the BDB.


Looking over at my side of the river.

The view from the shelter area on the northside.

Color didn't come out too good on this photo but the hills are still really pretty with their million dollar homes starting to be visible again.

What a morning! I woke feeling go and ready to ride. I was really planning to get down to the river by 8 and ride the Carve ride out to the farmlands but I saw the morning news/weather and forgot about Holiday House going on at Alltel Arena. No parking at the river today was my thought. So I suited up and got to wear my new bike shoe covers for the first time. Oh man, awesome! Made a big difference. Robb told me when I bought them last week that they will make me look like I have on fireman's boots but they are warm and he was right on both counts.

I started from the house and buzzed down North Hills Blvd and was really feeling great! Even the big hill before McCain Blvd (the street the malls are on) was fine. I climbed in the big ring, yes, the lowest of the big ring but still. More cars than usual for 8 on Saturday morning. They must be going to one of those door buster sales they show on TV. HA! I hate to go to the malls.

I got down by the river and sure enough all the crazy ladies in their Tahoes and vans were beginning the showdown for the parking spots. I wondered if they were using this event as parking training for the real big event next Friday? You know the day after Thanksgiving parking choas! Anyway, I made it through and there was actually parking available down at the river front.

Heading down the river trail and the runners were out this morning. Probably feeling the same couped up feeling that I was having not being able to get out and play due to the rain. It was great to be out in the cool crisp fall air enjoying the sunshine in my face! Made it down to the big bridge, over and on out to I-430 parking area and made my way back.

Ok, funny story about the ladies and their parking... There is an area right in front of Alltel that is not really I parking area but I guess they opened it for vendors to unload and no security was watching. It's not a drive through! It's a dead end with no way to turn around. Ok, so there are all the ladies following each other into that driveway thinking they are about to get the prime parking spot (and for free). Have you ever seen Animal House where they led the band into the alley? Maybe it was Farris Bueller, I can't remember but it was blind leads the blind. They lead the band into an alley that's dead end and they all just run int each other. That's what I watched happen. They didn't all run into each other but they all got grid locked in. It was a hoot! I laughed and laughed as I rode by THEN.... Darwin award goes to this fine female citizen... a lady in a new Suburban is locked into the middle of this group and decides she will back up. This is happening right in front of me! The SUV has a trailer hitch and it's a new SUV, very nice looking! She starts going backwards and there is a van right behind her and cars behind it. The trailer hitch hits the van and lodges into the plastic. Looks like those dogs that get stuck. I laughed and the lady in the van is really upset and the lady in the SUV is acting like it's the van ladies fault. You know what I did? Rode right on down the road! Then I laughed and laughed and laughed!

It was nice to get back to the house because I have a list of chores 5 miles long. Once I get up, I can't sit back down for a long time.

By the way, Terri join My Food Diary dot com too. It's been really nice to have a partner to watch the diet and encourage each other. We both blew it last night. I really really blew it. We had seen a new Itlian food place in Jacksonville as we were driving to the teen hayride a few weeks ago and said we'd come back sometime and wat there. It's call Roma's and it's the bomb! We had a nice starter that was different olives, basil and other vegs. I could have made that a meal. It was awesome. Then the entre as gril chicken, eggplant and pasta. I new I would burn off the pasta on my ride this morning so I didn't worry much. I ate about half and I don't think Terri even ate half of hers. It was some grilled chicken, mushrooms and white sauce. But then there is one thing Itilian that I just don't pass up and that's Tiramisu! I do anything for that stuff and it was the real homemade version! I thought I dead and went to heaven. Then I logged it in later. Someone kick my tail please!!!! No kick really really hard! It was a whopping 1400 calories! It sent my food dairy off the scale.

Ok, time to head outsoors and get those leaves up before the neighborhood committe comes to call. HA!

Have a great weekend!

Weight: 180

Bike ride: 120 minutes

Cal burn: 2410

Temp 40

Wind: light

Cloudless sky

It's Friday!

Days like this make me excited! It's almot the weekend, then a s-h-o-r-t work week then a l-o-n-g weekend then for me it will be another short week and long weekend. Terri has a board meeting at the lodge on top of Mt Magazine the week after Thanksgiving so I'll go up on Thursday and return on Friday. Yes, bike buds, you guessed it, I'll ride up Magazine. Terri is going to drop me off somewhere before the mountain and I'll ride up. She'll be in meetings all afternon so maybe if the weather is nice I'll ride down and up again. We'll see.

http://www.mountainstateparks.com/magazine/

Midweek part 2

I went to my nutrition class and of course as these things go, I was the only male. We had the usual talk about portion size, blah blah blah. But she (Andrea Goodwin) did say some stuff that I wasn't thinking about. We have a cafe here at the hospital but for some strange reason I don't think of it as eating out. She was talking about how she drove through Mickey D's and got breakfast the oteher morning and was talking about that it cost her 5 bucks and tons of cals. She then told us to think of a few places we liked to eat out at and if you eat out (especially fast food) and add up the number of times you went and the cost. She was trying to get us to see that eating fast food is not only bad but robs your budget as well. Suggest was to only eat out 3x a week. Bring your food to work and only eat what you brought. Lots of talk about the holidays. She asked me what my wealness was and I said chocolate. She then asked how I planned my eating so I could eat chocolate. I told her I didn't and the class laughed. I don't plan to eat chocolate. If it's presented to me, I'll eat it. now, i have to watch that.

But the real reason for writing this blog is to tell you about a website I found. I'm going to be watching my calories. Ok, I'm going to "track" my calories and so I Googled "Calorie Counter" and came across this website called My Food Diary dot com ( www.myfooddiary.com ). I've looked at several weight loss web sites but I really like this one! I cost 9 bucks a month but I can graph, set goals for all sorts of areas, shows my excerises. Just a cool deal. I checked the forums since I'm a forum snob and found a thread called "Girls have Cooties". I laughed and clicked on it and found it really was a thread of guys, mostly 30-50 professionals, discussing their goals and such. One of the guys is a programmer and set up their own website for challeneges. It was nice. New challenege starts soon so I thought I may jump on.

Midweek

The storms seem to keeping coming through this morning. When I went to bed last night it was storming, and I woke up a coupke of times due to lightening flashes. I flipped on the tube to see video of cars in the water. We got some rain last night! They just listed about a dozen streets that are temp closed or have "flooding concerns".

Anyway, I'm glad it's Wednesday and already loooking forward to the weekend ahead. This orning I'm seeing a nutritionist. Sounds big but it's really just a part of the holiday weight challange through the fitness center at the hospital. I have no idea what it will entail. But as I promised I would be open about this so at the end of each blog I'll list my weight and training stuff. I've read some other blogs with folks training or working on a weight loss plan an it's inspirational to see the numbers.

Yesterday I did fair on my eating. Lite breakfast and yogurt/fruit/granola for lunch, one Hersey kiss (coffee flavored!). Dinner was grilled chicken quesadia's (sp?) and then we watched Cars and Sean was here and asked if we wanted ice cream. I wanted to say no but when I heared the work "Half Baked" I was done in! So I had some. But I have to admit, and this is no patting on the back, but at least I didn't do what I did Monday night! I'll just say I was a bottomless pit. Sometimes it seems that I do good all day but after I eat dinner I don't seem full and I junk food it. It was so bad Monday night that Em just shoke her head at me. Now that's sad! The next thing I know when I eat like that is that I have wasted an evening where I could be doing something useful.

Jen stopped by my office to drop a check yesterday and was asking about my training and the River 2 River ride. She has it all planned out and I hope I can talk her into being a big part of this! Her excitment is contagious. She was telling me how the pro races do it with the folks they come ahead of the race and get the crowd all excited. Cool idea! It would be neat to have someone ahead of the ride to get folks to be out there to hoot and hollar as we ride through.

Well, time to wake the girls and get this day going.

Weight: 180.1
Breakfast: Instant breakfast and Nature Valley grandola bar, glass of water.

Ya gotta love Sundays!

Little Rock skyline from Ft Roots drive

Don't know who it is but thought it would make a cool photo.

The gates of Ft Roots drive

My shadow yelled "On your left" and then tried to pass me!

This is some smoke stack along the way. I always try to figure out what it is.

Ya gotta love Sundays! I wake up and it's daylight actually! I normally wake about 5:30 to 6 no matter what day it is. But it gives me time to plan out the day ahead and enjoy the quite of the early morning. Flipped through the paper then had to wake the girl up. Uh oh, Emmy's sick with a nasty sore throat.

After church we got home to find Em in the same place we left her. She must be sick! We all had soup from he crock pot and then Terri had to go to a business deal until about 10 tonight. Emily was feeling a tad better.

I put the bike in the car and heading down to the river. I rode solo at first and climbed Ft Roots and as I was going down I saw someone climbing up. I didn't realize it for a moment but it was Matthew! Yep, fully recovered and eating the hill like it was flat with tail wind. A few feet behind him was another guy. OK this guy has on a bright orange helmet and those are limited around here. The guy is little, I say howdy as I'm heading downa dn they're heading up. Hold on! That little guy was Yale! Holy smoke! 2nd man up the climb and climbing fast. Then I saw the rest of the group. It was the ABC club ride. I got down to the last switch back and then climbed Ft Roots again. I met up with them at the top of the hill. It was reallt good to see everyone again. And yes, Yale is really skinny! What an inspiration! He has always been a good climber but man, you take some pounds off and he is giving the mountain goats a run for their money!

I rode with the group to Burns Park and we make a loop. We climbed by the golf course then turned and everyone had a little spunk going on. As we get close to the BMX track there is a shift and Yale jumps to the front then I open it up and go only to be shamed by the mountian goats who really put me in my place. I knew that hillwas around the curve but I thought if I could ge up there then I could have a head start. Yea, right! Ha! We circle around and over the interstate and back by the tennis courts. I'm hanging with Chris Shaw and Ian. I'm "allowed" to sta with them until we ride back to Cook's. I've mentioned my secret goal, you know, to keep up with Shaw Dawg. He and Ian were in winter mode because it was 18-20 mph most of the time.

We regrouped with folks at Cooks and then I rode over the big bridge with Chris, Jen, and Ian. Then of course we needed to climb River Mtn. Just as we were about to start the climb, Jen says, "Well, it's time to get dropped." We watch Chris and Ian eating up the hill. I look down and see myself going 6mph. I'm happy. Just get to the top. I will say this, there is a BIG difference riding with music vs. not. I ride much better up that hill with tunes blaring.

After we dropped back down we said our good bys. Ian heading home to eat peanut butter and jely and Chris and Jen were talking cheese dip. Both sounded good! I still had some more miles to put in so I head back over the bridge and ride in the sun on the north side. The LR side is under a hill and it's COLD over there! Getting over the bridge was little riding my bike through that famous dog show. I've never seen that many dogs on the bridge! The leaves are at their peak and I wanted to shoot some photos so I head back up Ft Roots.

Once again, a great afternoon to ride! It was great to see everyone again!

Tomorrow is the weigh in for the fitness center's Holiday Weight Challenage. I'm using this as the re-start of my weight drop. We had a choice when we sign up to maintane your weight or another box with the words LOSE. I marked lose. Lose weight over the holidays. Am I nuts? HA! I'll go public with the weight and even post if I'm losing or gaining.