Taking Chicago's name

We're taking Chicago's name from them! Little Rock/North Little Rock is now the windy city.

The river was so wild you couldn't which way out was flowing sometimes. There were white caps this afternoon. Crazy stuff!

OK, here we go... got up and hit the road at 7 on Saturday. It was cold but not too bad. Made a couple of loops and then tried to hit the Carti ride but they had already left. I rode to Scott and back. Just as I was getting back into NLR the A group from that ride appeared behind me. Nice to hang with JBar for a moment. There are always super nice folks doing their training rides.

After we go back to the parking lot I slipped in to talk to Dave over at River Trail Bike Rentals. We used to work together years and years ago. Great guy and really funny. Nothing's changed. That was my first break (about 10am). Stayed just a few minutes then rolled out again. Mike Spain, another guy I used to work with at a different company years and years ago rode along with me a tad. He had been in the Carti ride.

Made another loop and stopped by my office and mixed some Hammer HEED. Great stuff!! I had FRS on the bike but like Heed a lot better. Just stayed long enough to mix and go. Gee seems like the wind is picking up a little. Oh well...

Did another loop and yes, the wind is picking up and it's not funny at all. I have hours still left to crank out. Coach Cooper has me down for 12 hours of riding today and 6 tomorrow and this wind is gonna make me crazy.

At 2 I finally stopped and open the back hatch and sat there eating a cinnamon bagel. JohnEEE came by on his way to his van. "Donut?" I just laughed and said, no worse, sugary cinnamon bagel. He was shaking his head at the wind too. It was really picking up.

Another lap. This is getting completely insane but I have to keep going.

I run into Charlie Hight by the BDB. Super guy and great supporter. He'll do anything for anyone, almost. We part ways and I decide to stay on the NLR side and go up and down.
I hang it up at 5. Should have gone to 7 as planned but with that wind it was killing me. I got over a century of riding. 127 miles to be exact.

Sunday -- Today. Got out of class and it was raining. Oh no! But by the time church was over it was sunny and it had that great water steaming off the street smell. Terri and Em and I headed over to Jason's Deli and I had a turkey wrap. Good stuff.

On the bike a little after 1 and let me tell you. The wind yesterday was kid's play compared to this afternoon. I kept waiting for the wicked witch of the west to go floating by on her bicycle. I watched a 55 gallon barrel full of trash blow over and then the wind rolled it fast. All the trash was coming out and blowing down the road. Saw one of those stretch canvas type billboard blow off. I cranked it out. Going from the arena to the BDB was some of the hardest riding I have done. Serious, the gust were so hard that I looked down once to see 4mph. Even the cities strong riders were fighting it. I really felt bad for folks like families who started at the BDB and was pushed along having a grand time only to have to fight their way back. I saw a LOT of people simply pushing their bikes. The last time back to the arena was tailwind. The other times I played it safe and rode easy back because I knew I would need the energy to fight my way back up the trail. But like I said... the last time I wanted to play... hard. I was riding easy on the trail since there were families around. Some cat came smoking by and I mean s.m.o.k.i.n.g!! I wanted to chase but nah, not on the trail. We got to the police clubhouse where it becomes road again and safe to cut loose and I gunned it (finally). I see the guy up ahead and I want this so bad. Call it what you want but I was feeling all golden rule here... you know... others had done unto me so now I must treat them the same way. I know, but it's something like that. Here we go... closer, closer... he is really moving... closer (ya hear the Jaws theme song don't you?!) Closer and over taken!! Then I start thinking ,"Ok hot shot Geo, what cha gonna do about it now? He's going to come get you for that!" It was like I was someone else and had super powers. I never dropped below 30 (yes, 30mph) until I past the crack house. I shut it down just past the crack house and had to brake it hard when I dropped back onto the regular trail part. I was laughing so hard! Monster tail wind ... I love you! Oh that was so much fun! I wished I could ride smoking crazy like that more often.

I called it a day with 40 miles. Sad but with 20-30 mph wind it was like climbing a mountain into the head wind. In fact I was telling Terri that if I figured this right then I was in the head wind about 20 miles which is twice as long as Mt Gaynor in NW Arkansas. I think it's the longest climb to do and it's about 9 miles. It was my first day of the loop the state bike tour I did back in 2005. It was NOT as hard as the ride today.

All in all I didn't get the total hours of training in but with the wind I feel safe to say that the level of training hit what would have been the hours without wind. I am happy with it. We'll see what Coach Cooper has to say. Probably something like, "Man, we ride in this kind of wind in Boulder all the time."

I'm sort of tired and my legs know they've worked the past couple of days. 167 total miles training in days. I really wanted more miles and more hours but like I said, I'm happy.

We have a crazy cold front coming through and even possible freeze tomorrow night. If it's really cold and really windy, which they say it's going to be, then I'll take the day off the bike tomorrow.

Don't forget to make a donation to the ride if you get a chance:
www.archildrens.org/GearsforEarsDonation

Life is good!

Thank you Robin and Wyndham Riverfront!

Robin and the fine folks over at Wyndham Riverfront have come through for us! They have provided a room stocked full for the riders who need to take a break. It's right on the river trail. I am happy as a loon about this!!

Go over there at eat or even grab a room ad stay there for the night during a ball game or concert!

Thursday 04 02 09

Took a couple of days off the bike to rest the poor climbing legs. No now don't start in on me until you hear the rest of it. I will be on the bike for 12 hours this Saturday. Yes, 7am to 7pm will be training riding. I will have to tell myself over and over not to try and ride fast but ride long.

Here's the plan for the next weeks:
Saturday - 4-4-09 -
Ride at river where the 24 hour rid will actually take place from 7a to 7p. Will ride with Carti ride at 9a for some company but must ride slow. Should see my first century (100 miler) of the year.

Sunday - 4-5-09 -
Church then the afternoon will be on the bike. Should have 18 hours combined riding by Sunday afternoon.

Monday 4-6-09 -
After work recovery easy ride for an hour or two.

Tuesday 4-7-09
After work ride. Meet up with Fast Girls Slow Guys club. We'll see how the legs are doing.

Wednesday 4-8-09
Off the bike

Thursday 4-9-09
After work easy ride due to long ride coming up.

Friday 4-10-09
Night ride. This is going to see what it will be like to be exhausted and ride at night. Pray I don't hit deer or skunks!

Saturday 4-11-09
Recover from wild night before.

Sunday - church and ride
Monday - after work ride
Tuesday - Club ride
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Club ride
Friday - chill out
Saturday 4-18-09 --- Up to Jonesboro for the Race for the Cure bike ride. 50 miler tapper ride.

Sunday - church and ride (MICHEAL W SMITH AND STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN CONCERT!)
Monday - after work ride
Tuesday - Club ride
Wednesday - off
Thursday - Club ride (In Studio visit at POINT 94.1 FM at 8am central -- listen online!)
Friday - chill out
Saturday - 4-25-09 -- Cheer on the folks riding the Tour de Cure. Just ride a while for fun. Then tell the river goodbye for a few days.

Monday - Wednesday -- just basic getting ready stuff.

Thursday -- APRIL 30th -- 9am --- start riding and having fun with friends.
6pm - be at Murray Park for the Hands and Voices picnic.
Make it through the night with Moondawg, Chris and Robb. Can't think of a better group to hang with all night. Going to be a trip! These guys crack me up!

Watch a beautiful sunrise I hope!

May 1st, 9am --- roll in and celebrate another success for kids with hearing problems!

So there you have it! You want to donate now don't you? Well here is the web address. It's all tax deductible and it ALL goes to the kids... all of it!

www.archildrens.org/GearsforEarsDonation

Tell all your friends! Push for a big number this year! Help me get there!

Life is good!!

Monday 03 30 09

Out riding around 5:40 until a little about 7:30. Good riding. Did some hill work. Legs feeling strong!

Newest sponsor coming in! Wyndham Riverfront Hotel. They will be providing a room and showers for the riders who need to take a break. Thank you Robin and Wyndham Hotels!

This is getting really exciting now! A huge batch of letters will be dropping in the next few days.

Thanks everyone!

Life is soooo good!

Sorry!

Sorry folks! Didn't do well at all on the blog this week huh? I'll do much better this week even if they are short.

I went to church today then headed to the house while Terri went over to Memphis to pick up Em at the airport. Air tickets are soooo much cheaper out of Memphis than Little Rock!

I went out and rod a tempo ride this afternoon but had to be back at church for a video run during the evening service. I bust ed out the door and came home, changed clothes and hit it again on the bike. This time it was 2 blocks away on Oakridge hill. It's a great hill for repeats. That last repeat about blew me.... but it was the only way to get home. So up the hill I went. I even had a couple of neighbors cheer me on! What a little love can do! HA!

I got a buzz haircut Friday evening and I forgot how good that double sided tape sticks the cochlear implant to my head. I'm going to look like I have mange (sp?) from pulling what little hair I have left out.

It's coming down to the wire. One month from Wednesday will be the 24 hour ride. Am I ready? Almost. The funnies thing is that I'm worried that no one will really want to ride with me because I have to keep it slow to last 24 hours. But as hard as the ride itself? I'm more relaxed going into this ride than any ride I've done. I have a good feeling and something about it being local just makes it icing on the cake.

This Saturday is make it -- break it Saturday. Pray for good weather. I will be on the bike from sun up to sun down in training. 12 hours. I then have to turn around Sunday and get more hours in. The goal is set at 18 hours on the bike in 2 days. I'm really cool with it. As long as everything on the homefront it good then I'm at ease and can ride all day.

Life is good!

Now that was a fun weekend!

Woke up Saturday to cloudy skies. I'm supposed to ride! Flipped on the weather to see rain heading this way but they are saying it's not making it to the ground. So where's it making it too? I went ahead and got ready and just as I start to go what happens? Yep, you guessed it, it starts to rain. It was just light but enough to get everything wet. I'm bummed then I look out of the front door and it's light that way. Yes! I go ahead and drive to the ride instead of riding to the ride just in case. No one wants to ride home in the rain.

Got to the rid and no rain! It was the Carti training ride. Always a fun group. I went with the B Group this time after the 16-18 mph crowd went nuts last time. The whole ride seems to have busted apart so I rode with different folks.

Got lucky and the Trek demo truck was at Burn's Park so I stopped to say howdy to the guys. Richard who owns Arkansas Cycle and Fitness was there and the guys talked me into riding a very nice Trek road bike (Madone (sp?)). Oh wow! That was a nice bike. New shifting set up!

So I rode back towards the car and there was a peace rally going on. Well you know me, gotta stop and check it out. The rain was just starting but not bad. Listened to a couple quick speeches and then a musician got up and I bid farewell to Mike who i had been riding with and the rain came down! I got to the car and yep, it was great timing.

Today was church, then a cook out for a homeless shelter then 3 hours of riding. Fun stuff! Seriously nice ride.

Ok, the IPhone! I love it! i haven't even gone to the app store yet and I'm just amazed what this phone does. I can hear fine with the CI but I can plug it in direct to the hearing aid and whoa! Super crisp and clear.

Life is good!

IPhone ... IRide ... IHear

Yes, I broke down and bought an IPhone tonight! Oh this is deadly! I've only had it a few hours and I'm afraid if you took it away I would fall on the floor, curl into the fetal position and sweat and shake! 15,000 applications to add on!

Plugged the bad boy straight into my hearing aid. As crisp and clear as the IPod music.

I'm in love!

I know I said I was moving everything to the other blog but nah...

Crazy Train

Training is going well! Out there every day now.

Finished up Sunday afternoon with a great ride!

Monday afternoon I cranked it out with an old pal. Both of us had batteries go out on our computers so we had no idea how fast (or slow) we were going but the legs were tired by the end of the ride so we had to be doing something.

Tuesday afternoon I barreled out of the office and headed down to the sub (as in submarine) and hit the trail. Met up with all my pals at Cook’s Landing for the 6pm Fast Girls Slow Guys ride. I was a complete blast! I missed riding with them. I had sort of lost my legs for awhile for their speed. Still lost the A Group when we hit the open road. They are about 20 years younger than me and skinny as a rail. It is a beautiful thing to watch about 20-30 bike rolling out for a fun ride.

I spotted a group of guys coming over a hill and they were smoking fast. No kidding! FAST! I asked one of the guys in our group who that was and it’s a local racing club called Nitro. I think it’s the Competitive Cyclist club. This is one of those “Ride with the big dogs or sit on the porch”. Loved watching them ride.

Plotting out which way the loop will be for the Gears 4 Ears (G4E) ride Both directions have it’s pros and cons.

I’ll be on KKPT Point 94.1 at 8am on Thursday April 23rd. That’s a week before the ride! Their morning show is a riot! Can’t wait!

The registration forms will be on the ACH (www.archildrens.org) very soon. This is the first time I’ve ever had a registration form for a ride that I coordinated so making sure everything is correct.

Here are some more details of what’s going on with the ride:

There will be a phone number posted in several places that you can call/text on the day of the ride to find out where on the trail we are so you can jump in. We will be at the Murray Park Pavilion 1 & 2 around 6pm for 15-30 minutes. There is a great picnic and maybe a band playing that is part of the ride. Yes, you can come down and eat and/or ride.

Remember you can ride as much or as little as you want. You do not have to ride 24 hours.

To donate visit: www.archildrens.org/GearsforEarsDonation

Hey friends and family... I need to ask a favor. I'm going to be blogging on the Gears 4 Ears blog from here until after the ride. So go to this address...

www.gears4ears.wordpress.com

There are about to be a lot of updates plus you can subscribe to it and when I update it will send an email to you.

Saturday stuff

Rode a little this morning then over to Little Rockers Marathon... yes, dressed as a rabbit. While waiting to the start a guy who is the head of another race in town called the Dino Dash asked me if I would help them and ride in front as the rabbit. What do you think I said? "Sure, whatever you need!" Crazy stuff.

So the gates open and off go the kids. I look back and there is a girl right on my tail. I speed up and I look back again... there is a girl, the same one, right on my tail. We are going 13mph! She slowly falls back and a young man is now the front. We never drop below 10mph. He never turns that "runners red face" and he never seemed to be winded. At the home stretch I sped up and went through the line so it would just be him coming through the finish! He desired the big win!

Well lunch is settled... think I'll ride out to the country for the afternoon.

Pulling ya boots back on!

What a week! The weather went from beautiful to sour and then stayed that way all week. We should all come back to life after this afternoons cold rain. They say it's over then. Good thin too because there will be 8,000 runners here in town for this weekends Little Rock Marathon plus all the folks on the sides cheering them on and all the volunteers.

Shout out to by pals and pal-ettes who are running and reading this. Rock the Marathon!

Shout out to CI pal way up north -- Sam -- Rock your run this weekend man!!!

I got to met with a family about getting a CI. Super nice folks. The son who is getting the CI asked good questions. Jordan said it seems to calm folks down when they see someone who actually has one on and goes about their daily lives with it.

By the way, THANK YOU ADVANCED BIONICS!!!!!! They became the newest sponsor of the Gears 4 Ears ride. When they called my office I was giddy. Yes, one of those, the door is closed so it's OK to dance around because no one can see you!

The plan for the weekend is to dress up like the rabbit and led the Little Rockers Marathon on my bike. Yes, I really do this. 1,500 screaming kids running their last mile for the 26.2 miles. They work on this at school and in their clubs then come out to the Marathon course and run/walk the very last mile and get huge medals like the real marathoners. The hospital is a major sponsor and the course goes right in front of the hospital.

After that fun I'll take off the rabbit suit and ride my training for Saturday. The Sunday will be church then out to ride all afternoon. I have to make up some time and miles that's for sure! Sunny and 62 for Sunday then next week is back to clear and upper 60's and mid 70's.

So there you have it...

Life is good ... because it's Friday!

Busted

Plan was to ride with the gang after work but as I got to my car I was opening the door and two cars skidded on the other side of the fence and I jumped and pulled the door at the same time not looking and I popped myself right in the face and busted my nose. Stupid thing would not stop bleeding...and bleeding and bleeding... Looked in the mirror and it looked like I had been between the cars with my head. I never have bloody noses but I'm not usually a dork to do this either.

I'll have to get out and ride tomorrow after... today it was 76 and tomorrow it will be about 4 after work. Oh joy! Got to do it though... it's on the plan.

Life is good... even as a dork!

Rest day

Just a rest day. Be back out there on it tomorrow. First group ride for after work at 6.

I guess it blew off...

I know I wrote post yesterday about the wind. It's out there flying around the matrix somewhere ... or I just got careless and hit delete or something, who knows. I think it was the trauma of the wind. You think I'm joking huh? It was that 20-30 mph stuff. Hey, at least it was warm.

Aww right, so I headed out to ride at 6:45 and thought it was really nice until I started riding. Ok, it was a bit chilly but what a beautiful morning! I circled back real quick and added a wind vest and leg warmers (why do I always think of Flashdance movie when I say that? HA!). Much better! So I head out and loop the north side once. Spotted Marrianne running... looking like a pro! We yelled howdy's to each other. I rode on out to Alltel Arena where the first Carti Tour De Rock training ride was going to be held. Whoa! Lots of folks and I mean a lot! Awesome! Meant up with a pal I used to work with back in my graphics days. I was great to ride with Mike. Also met up with a friend of mine from church, David, was in the crowd. I didn't even know he rode!

Todd split everyone up into the A group and the B group. Oh yeah, Mike and I had to think we could hang with the big boys and took off with the A's. It really was not supposed to be that fast but hey... A means A. The ride out was great and I was in the mix but then we got over to the North Park industrial area and turned on a drive that was straight into the wind and the group blew apart! I don't mean like 2 groups. I mean like 10 groups of 2 and 3 riders. It was brutal. The B group seemed to have done the same thing from what I hear.

Now my plan was that I was going to be on the bike ALL day just riding for long periods of time, not speed. Well dork here blew a wad of energy on that A group and suffered for the next 2 hours. I finally ended with 4 hours. Lesson learned.

Today I got Terri off to catch her plane. Everyone was a zombie at the airport at 6:30 this morning. Terri and I hardly said 5 words to each other on the ride over. Just too tired and the daylight savings moving the clock forward and hour ... well today was the wrong day to get up that early but hey, it's daylight until almost 8pm now!

Went to church then Em and I were trying to figure out what to eat. Taco Bell or as I lovingly call it Taco Hell. I know, I should not eat that while training but I did and have lived to tell about it.

On the bike for almost 4 hours today and it was a great ride. Yes, strong wind but it was going straight with the river route so 7 miles was into the wind then 7 miles back was tailwind that pushed you along! It was screaming fast going with the tailwind today. I would have gone screaming fast the whole way back but with the weather as warm as it was, there were massive amounts of folks out enjoying it.

Oh, here are some answers to questions from the comments of the last post...
CI..very little wind noise. Serious! The hearing aid roars and I use it for my IPod side. The CI is great for riding just be sure to get some double sided tape and put a little piece on the processor and battery area then a small piece on the magnet.

Helmet and CI: Yes, when you put the helmet on it usually bumps the mag a little and might disconnect but just stick your finger up under your helmet and nudge it back and usually it stays in place for hours.

Sweat and CI: I use what is called a Dry & Store. When I get finished riding I always take the hearing aid (HA) and CI off. Sweat evaporates some while I ride but when I stop it's a rainy season. I just lay them on the console and drive home (if I drove to the ride) in silence. When I get home I put them in the Dry & Store while I shower and get cleaned up. It cost about a hundred dollars but extends the life of your equipment by leaps and bounds. No they're not a sponsor but I wish they were.

So all in all I was on the bike 5.5 hours Friday, 4 on Saturday and 4 today. Not bad! Would have been a lot more without the blasting wind but, it was great training.

Well, that's it for me tonight!

Life is good ... Life was blowing in the wind..

Friends go riding

What can I say? It was a perfect day to be off! I stopped by and had a donuts with my pal Kevin at the radio station. That was part of the deal in order to get him to help me with the church media system. Trust me, I rode it off! The system installed a lot easier than I expected. One small glitch but no one will know it Sunday.

Finished up and stopped at the house for a light lunch and checked email to be sure Chris was going to be able to ride. Yep, we're on! I meet up with the boy (see photo below) and he then tells me David, Jo and Marianne are coming along.

First thought was a happy one! I couldn't wait to see them. Been too long and I've never gotten to actually met Marianne but I read her blog and her name is always used in nice ways so I knew she had to be as nice in person as she was cyber. (HA) Sure enough, as friendly and down to earth as it gets.

Jo (Tri-momma)

David and Marianne praying for non-sharp straws.
It was a funny story about their tri-bike straws.

Dwonn, the master himself

Dwonn and myself.

So we head out down the river trail toward downtown. Plan was that I was going to ride all afternoon until the sunset (I did) but we would keep it slow. I was thinking to myself, Ok, I am riding with an all Ironman crowd. Slow to them is what??? 25mph? We really did keep it around 15mph. Thanks guys, I really appreciate that!

I got to ask a lot of questions and they were a huge help. Today my confidence went through the roof for the ride! It was because I rode with friends!

After Jo dropped to go get her daughters at school, David soon dropped to head home and Chris, Marianne and I headed over the BDB and rode the Little Rock side a while.

Chris rode from home so when we got back to BDB he was heading home. There are several good climbs he has to make to get to his house. Marianne and I rode back to Cooks Landing where her car was. I got to ask a few more questions then farewell.

I rode by to my car and dropped off the camera and hooked the Ipod for company to carry me the rest of the afternoon. North side a couple times then back over to the LR side the the north side a couple more times. The trail was packed from about 3:30 to 5:30 then everyone disappeared. I watched the sun going down behind the hills and called it a day with 5.5 hours under my belt.

It was a great ride. Just a couple of little things I need to make some adjustments here and there. My right wrist began to be a pest toward the end. I'm sort of wondering if it was from holding the handle bar too tight due to the wind? The other small issue was my right bad toe was being a pest. Neither issue were painful but just pesty stuff that takes some of your fun away. The toe I think was a toenail that just needed a little trim. We'll see tomorrow.

All in all it was just a great spring day!

Life is good.... when you have great riding friends!

My weekend has started!

I took tomorrow off just to do one errand then ride... all afternoon! It was 77 degrees this afternoon and funny watching folks leaving the hospital for the day... they were all smiling!

Here's the plans for the weekend:
Tomorrow start riding about 1pm ad ride until it's really dark and maybe even keep riding with lights. The temps will be just a few degrees off what they should be for the 24 hour ride.

Saturday: up and out the door to ride. Plan to jump on the Carti training ride at 9 just for some group therapy then keep riding the rest of the day until sunset. Should be close to 8-10 hours.
This will be excellent checkup to see how I will feel.

The next big checkup will be the all night ride in the next few weeks.

I'm excited abut how everything is coming together!

**Note to Wes... send me an email with how you are listed on Facebook to cobbgeo@gmail.com.

Awesome afternoon!

I ran out of the office like Fred Flintstone singing Yabba-dabba-do! I was that excited to get out and go ride and really happy that I passed on yesterday for today as far as riding goes. I was able to ride in tights and just one base layer under the jersey! Sure sign of spring right there!

A coworker wrote on her Facebook that she has a bad run and ate way too many bugs! Ahhh yes, the bug eating days have returned to central Arkansas! HA! After I eat a few myself then it's only a matter of time before a bee pops me. Usually the upper leg and once was very dangerously close to a real danger zone! HA!

I'm taking Friday off just to ride so good distance riding. Not sure where I'll ride to yet but it will be some good miles.

Life is good... and bugs are yummy!

Catching up

Last post was Friday so...
Saturday I was in a leadership conference and it started raining, then it quit. Then it starting snowing. Yes, serious.
Sunday was church then Texas Roadhouse with the family. We eat out every Sunday for lunch. Then it was the bike for the afternoon a.f.t.e.r I finished my chores. Headed down to the river and jeepers creepers!!! It was windy. There were a couple of times the side wind gave me a jolt and one hill, I kid you not, I had to pedal to go down because it was straight into the wind. The 7 miles heading north was straight on wind coming down the river. It was like climbing the whole time. Great training .
Tonight was watching TV on the trainer.
Tomorrow after work is hill repeats.

I put the Gears 4 Ears event out on the Facebook and got a lot of hits already plus a TON of emails asking me about it.

Saw the printed sample of the jersey and it's off the hook! Very cool looking!

Life is good!

Weekends should be Wednesdays!

Weekends should be on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday for the past several weeks has been beautiful and then the temp drops for the weekend. It was so nasty on Sunday afternoon I slept. A nap! I hated naps as a kid and there is no such thing as a power nap in my book. If I nap I am groggy for the rest of the afternoon. Some folks can nap but not this kid.

Anyway, the weather for tomorrow is cruddy at best. Cloudy, maybe some cold rain and basic (blowing raspberry). I have a leadership conference for half of the day then should be on the bike the other. I really have no choice but to be on the bike outdoors or in. The 24 hour ride is 2 months from Sunday. I have some build up to do and some weight to drop. 12 lbs to be exact. Emmy's friend is on a diet that is reverse! Must eat at least 4500 cals a day! He's a Hog football player. I'd say more Girl Scout cookies please.

The new website for the ride hits the matrix on Monday. I'm excited! It's actually just a part of the Children Hospital site but still.

No line on the Horizon comes out next week. New U2 baby! Can't wait.

No much else going on... listening to the rain...

Beautiful night ride!

Hit the river trail right after work and did meet up with the gang for some hill repeats. It was great seeing them and trying to hang with the crazies!

I had forgotten how beautiful it was climbing Ft Roots at night and seeing all the lights of NLR and LR. We really do have a beautiful city!

Life is good...

Hard training... hard ride

Saturday was a crazy hard/fun ride but Sunday... jelly beans kids! Jelly is exactly what was. I rode out to the farmlands and was having a great tailwind ride and I knew it was going to be tough coming back it but then that's what training is about. Pushing the limits on yourself. Well there I was whistling some theme song from Lion King or something... hey, it was Oscar day... gotta be in tune with the events. Anyway, whistling Lion King and counting all the dead raccoons and possums on the side of the road. The hyenas would have loved it. I'm having ADD tonight huh... anyway... I was riding out further and further then remembered I am supposed to have dinner with friends that evening. Oh crud! This is bad!

Turn around and into the wind we go. Head down only looking up every now and then to be sure I was not about to run over anything and check for cracks and pot holes. Ipod was cranking. I was cranking. Dawg, I was c-r-a-n-k-i-n-g.... and still going slower than I needed.

I finally rolled into riverfront and was happy with the push to get back in. Then the legs said, no more. Wha?!! Come on guys, just got to get me a few more miles to the dog park and we'll be done. Nope, not gonna! Awwright, so I get over myself, swallow my pride and stop a moment. Sipping the FRS and watching a few folks roll by. After about maybe 5 minutes I push on but it really felt like I was holding on the the brake the rest of the way in.

Note to Lollipop rider friends... hey y'all remember the end of that first ride when we all had religious experiences and cussed in the same breath. Well, and all the promises we made? I was in that state of mind!

I rolled up to the car and wasn't sure if the mind would really tell the feet to unclip and if the feet were really going to do it. The mind was also trying to tell the hands to apply the brakes before I crashed into the Exploder. I made it to a stop and even unclipped without falling over but my arms were numb!

I just busted out laughing... alone, in a parking lot, in a public park... tell me that isn't a scary thing!

Pushing myself to limits is a good thing. I've set some goals... well actually Brad set my goals. He called me a psycho and I must live up to the name and make him proud.

This morning I woke and was not sore like I expected. I was a happy camper.

Got an email from a bud for for a weight challenge. March 1 to May 1. Oh yeah, I'm so in this game! I weigh in right after riding for 24 hours. I may just be skin and bones by then. We all ante upped a hundred bucks. I goaled for a 12 pound drop. That will put me back at 168 where I need to be for the summer.

A cyclist here in Little Rock was killed around lunch today. Down a hill, across an intersection and into traffic... no helmet. I feel sorry for everyone involved and their families. Heartbreaking.

Tomorrow is an after work ride. Friends are doing the hill repeats and I may secretly show up and try a few myself. They will smoke my tuna on the hills but then I'm not racing them, just working out at my pace... you know, two miles per hour.... whistling Lion King! HA!

Life is good... Happy Fat Tuesday tomorrow!

Hard training, fun ride

I woke this morning and it didn't look so bad. They were saying nasty day with cool temps and rain. My first thought was hey let's go ride from the house to England and back. First, let's flip on the tube and be sure. Nahhh, man! The rain is just a few miles from the house it looks like. Sure enough, it was a steady rain within the hour. Weather Channel saying looks of sunshine after it passes. Guess I'll just wait it out.

Finally about 1:30 the inside of the house seemed to light up! Sunshine! I walked out on the front porch and it actually felt warmer than I expected. Oh, I'm getting giddy! Ride from the house? Nah, played it safe and went down to the river. I had put on a new saddle and wanted to test it a little before really riding. It was fine!

I rode the river and backside climb at Burn's. Spotted JohnE out for a spin. Since the saddle seems to be good to go I headed out to the farmlands. I had a nice tailwind going out that rocked my socks off!

Finally turned around and started heading back and yep, that fine tailwind was (__insert ugly word here __) head wind. Ugh! But it was actually a good thing because it made me ride into it. Only one way back to the car... into the wind. Of course the IPod was cranking and I had a new playlist that was perfect for the ride.

As I came back through the river front park there were several photographers out shooting portraits and the sunset. I had to slow down and enjoy it myself a few seconds. It was too pretty to pass up! Ya gotta enjoy life's simple things... even when training.

Got back to the car and the sun had gone behind the hill and it got cold fast! I stopped and stretched, loaded up and started the car to get some heat. It was 6:20 and I could still see around! SPRING IS HERE!!!!!! Yaaba Daaba Doooo! This boy will be riding a lot after work now!

Well, I'll be out there again tomorrow... smiling so big I'll get the first bugs of spring suck in my teeth!

Life is good... tailwind or headwind!

A haunting voice

It's like a haunting voice.... "IIIIII aaaaaammmmmm yyyooouur trainer! Come park yooooouuuurrrr fat butt on me and ride.....oooooohhhhhh.

I'm watching a lot of tv these days and riding on the trainer.

Training is training!

Life is good!

Are we all doing this?

I'm coming back to the living, like everyone else it seems. Serious now! I got caught up at the office and spent the last hour looking at blogs that aren't blocked. Oh the people I love to follow. You know what most are doing? The same stinkin' thing I am... bummed out and sitting around feeling sorry for themselves.

I did that this week and really now that I think about it, it was the wrong thing to do.

Friend Mandy said she was all for "timed pity parties" but once they are over, it's over and time to get back to work.

Tomorrow morning will find me on the bike. Sorry cowboy, but you ain't driving to the river to ride. You will be riding your bike to where you want to go. Your legs will be wanting you to cut corners but it 's not happening. Hills, wind, an occasional tornado. Doesn't matter, you will be riding.

I know I know, tomorrow is Valentines Day and I've already made the reservations for Vermillion Water Grill and I hope I can pronounce whatever it is I'll be ordering. One of the kind folks I recruit for at the hospital, it's her husband who is the owner and chef! I didn't even play the I know someone card when I made the reservations. What was really classy was I got a call from the place today and the gentleman on the other end of the line just called to confirm the reservation and told me they were looking forward to serving us tomorrow evening. That is class! Real class!

Keep Jason K in your prayers. He is going home from the hospital and will wait until next week to have another procedure. It will be next Friday ... his birthday. If you are reading this, hang in there bubba!

Keep Greg in your prayers. He is actually going to preach Sunday night! He will know more in a couple of weeks.

And my Dad... well, he's just an old guy and needs a little motivation. He says he wants to walk again but will have to eat different and exercise to get there.

So there you have it.

Love is in the air! Happy Valentines y'all!

Life is good... once again!

Still here

Sorry friends, just too much going on in life these days.

First my pal (and our preacher) got really sick and is still really sick. Cysts on liver. Plan of care is still in the works.

Last night m best pal from the hospital was admitted and they found bad stuff.

I lost it last night....

I have another blog that I seem to update more these days...
www.gears4ears.wordpress.com

Life is good...some days...

New Media system arrived!

Oh yeah... Change is coming! The new media system for church has arrived! I'm giddy!

I shot over 400 photos today during the MLK Parade. It passes 1/2 block from my office. It was a great way to spend lunch! Lots of really nice folks.

Ok, yes, I was the token cracker in the crowd but it was seriously fun. Lots of laughing.

I'm charging the batteries to the camera full charge and using a blank card so I can document the day. I plan to start shooting as soon as I get up. Don't worry... it will be a shot of the TV with the time and just a screen shot. I do have a plan for what the "moment" photo is going to be if she will let me take it. "She" doesn't like her photo taken but she has such as passion about what will take place tomorrow. "She" has the office next to me and yes she is black. I have my fingers crossed for tears...

I'm taking a day off from training.

Life is good... when you are excited about what tomorrow may bring.

Sunday 01 18 09

Been a good week of training. Got some core in a few days and got to spend the afternoons both Sat and today riding.
Knocked down 52 miles on Saturday. That wind! What do we do? Geesh Louise!
I spotted Chris Ironman yesterday out for a 14 mile run. Man, this guy is looking strong! We stopped for a few and got caught up and could have yakked for a while but we both had business to tend to and neither wanted to start back up if we stood around very long. I spotted a couple of other groups out but they were always going the opposite way than I was. I would have jumped on the train. I did see Doug Pope leading one so I knew that was a fast and furious little group. After all the side roads along the river and Burns Park I could find I was aching for some real open road so I headed out to Scott (farmland). Cross wind on the way out turning to headwind on the way back in. I just put my head down and cranked it out. Just get it done. Got back as the sun was setting and it was good to because the temps were falling from the 56 degrees it had been.

Headed out to climb stuff this afternoon and playing on Batesville Pike. It's just out the backdoor from the house. Lots of good climbing back there. On the way down the hill there was some really crappy road so I braked it most of the reminder down. The climbing was fun! I normally try to just look at the road just ahead rather than up the hill. My mind seems to control my legs (I know, that was a goofy thing to say... of course they control them) but what I mean is that if I don't really sense that I'm climbing (visually) then I can climb fairly well and not tire out but if I look up and the what I climbing then for some dumb reason I start getting tired. If your mind and heart is into it then your body is going to follow.

Saw a friends Twit a little while ago stating she just did a run and was at her hotel with the door open. She's in AZ. I could handle riding in AZ right now! HA!

Another is heading down to Austin to train with a pro team for a few days. You dawg! Can't wait to hear the stories of that adventure!

Got to see U2 perform at the Washington celebration. Now I have "In the name of love" stuck in my head. Not a bad tune to be stuck with.

Tomorrow is MLK day and I'm working. The parade comes a block from the hospital so we'll walk down there around lunch time and wave. I'm thinking tomorrow's parade will be high energy with Tuesday being Obama's swearing in.

Life is good!

Rotten to the core

Different set of core after work today. Felt like my gut was being ripped out by Predator. It certainly woke up some muscles that have been stationary way too long.

Tomorrow is a trainer day. I never thought I would look at a trainer day like a recovery day.

Tyler came over for dinner and now my tummy hurts more from laughing so much. He always cracks me up!

Life is good... when the Predator rips your guts out and throw them up in a tree. Ewww!

Time management

Time.... oh the thing that gets away from me all the time.

I'm going to have to schedule my whole day and put it on a clip board and attach it to me short collar. So kiddos... these blogs may become more like Facebook or Twitter messages.

Actually I'm just waiting for food to settle before core workout. At least I can have something like biggest loser on while I do them. Some will have to be in the gym but others I can do here.

Oh, here you go... my coach... Brad Cooper... will be playing in Ironman KY on the way on Kona. The company: http://www.uscorporatewellness.com/
When you get to the site, click on Personal Wellness Coaches, then you will see down at the bottom a icon for video. Click it and give it a few moments and after the intro the Brad is the guy talking. He is in Boulder, CO and his wife has family here. I met him when he or someone posted a note that he was going to be in town and looking to ride. We didn't get to ride but we did get to hang out a little while together and it was a great vibe.

I have been so fortunate to have some awesome kick butt coaches of the past few years. Rance Bryant, Mark Rogers and now Brad. But more importantly I've been extremely blessed to have a massive amount of good folks who believe in me and my psycho rides. Man, I love you guys! Ok, let's all hold hands and sing Kom-by-ya!

Hey, by the way, I saw a sort of sneak preview of the jersey design... oh yeah! Very cool! It's a different look that what I normally have but trust me, it rocks like no other! Grunge/rockstar ... no it doesn't have the Rock and Republic skull on it. You know I'm a Team OUCH fan now anyway! Matt has ready made this design come to life! You're gonna love it!

Ok...to the floor for the core....

Life is good... SOOOO GOOOOD!!!

Note from the coach

Got an email from the coach today. Holy smokes life as I know it is about to change! It started today. 3 hours of riding... no excuses except for rain then I would have had to park it on the trainer. Called me a psycho athlete. Also said he only trains those and executives. Oh and the ride... BRR! 10 degree temp drop while riding (47 to 37F). Wind was 25 mph gusty. A couple of the side gusts just about took me down ... but it was a really good ride once I got about 10 miles into it and warmed up.

Get this... one of my training sessions for the 24 hours Gears For Ears ride starts at 10 and ends at 6. Kiddos...that's 10pm to 6am.! It will be done around the neighborhood and then on the trainer to for really late night early morning stuff.

Rides are at 3 hours now about will increase all the way to 10 hours. Told me I could start at 4am and be done mostly by noon. By weekday rides are now 2-3 hours. Yes, as in eat dinner on the trainer. That's supposed to help your tummy get used to meals and rising.

He wants me to be as tired as I can be by the time I do core workouts after work. It made a lot of sense to me because it puts me in the mental frame of mind that I will be in my hardest times on the ride. He asked if I could work standing up. All my phone calls I do standing and pacing... and looking out the window. HA!

As I get closer to the event I can only eat on the training rides what I will eat on the event ride.

I've been nervous about having someone so elite as a coach but he is awesome. Very motivating. Thanks Brad! I'll make you proud.

Life is good... when you a honored enough to be called a psycho athlete.

Real quick like

Been a few days I know.
Life does that.
Communicate in short simple sentences.
It's all textings fault.
You know?
Heard the OMG news?
Floyd Landis and Pat McCarty will be racing for OUCH.
They will be at Joe Martin Stage Race in May!
I will see Floyd race.
My simple sentence life is so happy.

Life is good...simple but good!

Morning shoot

Still foggy in Sherwood so drove down the road to the park and played with the camera. Enjoy.

Been so long since this poor road has seen bikes that moss is growing.

I have been wanting to shoot dew drops and now I can. Certainly not the best shot but it a start.

I kept waiting for those evil dead looking warrior guys from
Lord of the Rings to come around the bend.

Spooky outside

I'm still test driving the Nikon. I'm loving it. I haven't had a digital camera that lets you be the driver. Normally my play camera would have flashed and I would not have gotten the effect I wanted. The cool looking different street lights (yes there is a green one and an amber one) and the fog just made it spooky looking out tonight.

I also took a bizillion shots of our front porch light in all sorts of stops and combination just so I could learn the different looks I can get.

Terri and I ran over to Wal-Mart tonight. Yes the one in my hood. The shelves are bare except for plastic boxes. Rows and rows of plastic boxes that are all the same. Guess they had to fill the shelves with something. Terri and I started laughing. The first row was right across from the pet food and i told her it looked like a whole row of plastic pet coffins. She busted out laughing. She thinks I'm a juvenile delinquent. Oh well...

70% chance of rain tomorrow... maybe I get a ride in. I know the streets will be wet in the morning from all the heavy fog.

Life is good... onward through the fog!

Happy New Year!

Darkened field lights at the Sherwood sports complex. They almost look like little space ships that dropped ropes for little alien SWAT men. HA!

Seriously it was one of the first shots I made this evening as the sun set on the first day of the new year. I stopped by Mark's late this afternoon and picked up the Nikon D70s to test drive this weekend. More buttons than Nasa's Discovery! As I was driving back to the house the sunset was really nice so I drove up the hill that overlooks the baseball fields. It was strangely quite.

So today was the first day of diet-o-rama for America? How did you do or are you waiting until tomorrow or maybe even Sunday or Monday... or maybe sometime in June? I did OK today but that's all....just ok.

I got up about 7 after going to bed at almost 1:30am. Got all ready to go to Two Rivers park over in Little Rock to meet friends and ride. Just as I was about to load up I flipped on the TV to check weather. I almost wished I hadn't. It was 31F with a wind chill of 25F. BRRR! I decided not to go. Bummed to say the least but I knew I would be riding today but only after it warmed a tad. Well I did ride! 47 miles! The afternoon was awesome and there were a lot of folks out biking and running. My numbers were good until I got to Ft Roots at the end of the ride. I got a little put out with myself for taking my time on the first half of the climb and turned it into "push energy". After the last switchback I stood and cranked it out. It was a good feeling. On the way down I spotted Diane B and a few others. One of my goals for this year is to ride with that bunch again.

While I'm thinking about it here are some of my goals for Oh-Nine...
Go to BACA and Arkansas Bike Club meetings again. I enjoy going to those and they are always fun. I just got out of the habit.
Bike to work and home more this year.
Log my numbers on www.bkejournal.com
Ride the Tour de Rock this June.
Ride the 24 Hours on the river (Gears for Ears) on April 30/May 1st.
Volunteer again for the Carve Crit Series in June/July
Go to Joe Martin Stage races in May
Hit the beach in Destin on May 23rd!

More personal goals are to be a better friend. I have some awesome friends and I just can't seem to get with it to hang with them like I want to. Not getting over to the ride this morning is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

Be more positive. Some things and some people you just can't change so smile and enjoy the differences and live on!

Laugh more and laugh hard!

Ok the list is going to be 326 miles longs so I'll just leave yo with those.

Life is good... when you are happy and have goals.

Getting loaded!

Getting Loaded!!!!

Oh that got your attention didn't it? HA! I'm loading the Ipod with a batch of new tunes for training.

Skillet's tune Comatose is good!
So is Open Wounds by the same band.

Throw some of your favorites out to me... I've worn down my summer and fall tunes. Sorry no Coldplay allowed... gotta take a break from those guys.

Life is good...with a charged up IPod and some new music.

And now I remember...

And now I remember why I don't eat crappy foods!

And now I remember why I never ride over the Big Dam Bridge on Sunday afternoons!

The afternoon ride was OK. I got 42 miles in but jeeze louise it was crowded out there. It wasn't just couples walking their dogs either. It was herds, packs, swarms....whatever you call them, they were there.

I've been eating that crappy (but oh so good) holiday food and I could tell a difference in my riding today. Sluggish is a good word. I popped up to the 20-23mph category a few times but seems to have locked in on 17mph. Every time I would just be riding along and look down it would be 17. Sigh.

And hey kids, if you ride with an IPod (now don't go hatin' on me because I do) then by all means download the Green Day & U2 live version of Saints are Coming. Yes, that song about the New Orleans floods. Oh my goodness! That song hit just as I was starting up Ft Roots drive and by the time I hit the top I was head-banging and had that wonderful coppery taste of blood in my mouth from sucking in air so hard. I pushed it harder that I have in a long time on that climb. Sweating, running nose, tasting blood and rocking it out hard! Ya gotta love cycle training! I do!

Sounds like a beautiful week for you folks to do running and riding while the rest of us slave dawgs are stuck in the office. 61 for a high tomorrow with sunshine. (Cough cough -- I'm calling in sick! HA!)

Ya want to hear spooky? I was riding and my CI went quite. I reached up and it was still there and no, I've not gotten the double sided tape yet. I kept it in place with a cycle cap under my helmet which I like to do anyway. So I thought maybe the mag just slid over and disconnected. Nah, the battery was really dead. I rolled on being happy as a loon. Ride ends and I reach up and lo and behold the thing is still all there but was just hanging on my helmet strap. I'm worse than a kid with this thing....but I sure do love it! Advanced Bionics rulz! HA!

Awwright, I gotta put up my gear before the queen of the estate gets on to me.

Life is good... so is Green Day and U2! HA!

After strom beauty

The storm just came through and the sky was one of the most beautiful i have ever seen. The dark clouds of the passing rain then straight over us were these beautiful white wave looking clouds and in between the two was the most brilliant rainbow I have seen in years and years! This photo does not even touch the beauty of this few moments. Even our neighbors were out with cameras shooting photos. I'm serious... it was an "I'm in Awe of His wonders" sort of moment. I certainly say it was a defining moment of 2009!

Before the storm the winds hit HARD and a huge bag of trash (I have Christmas overflow right now) flew across the backyard! Spooky! The temp dropped from 72 to 54 in just a very short time.

Life is good... and beautiful!

70% chance

thinking thinking thinking....
70% chance of rain tomorrow. Doesn't sound very promising for a ride. Thy trainer may calleth.

I'm feeling the need to go spend money in bike shops. I've never used a heart rate monitor and am considering it. Leave me a comment if you have a recommendation.

I'm becoming a fan of a different bike team. Yeah yeah yeah... I'll tell you real soon. Rock is going to be around next year but it seems their money is tight and they dropped their best riders. I still have my fingers crossed that someone will pick up these guys. Bahati is a nice guy, has a family and kicks it on the bike!

Just got in from dinner out with wife. Things are crowded tonight. Lots of big families eating out.

I'm going to have my "set your goals" meeting with myself tomorrow early in the morning. (Note to Jo... I think it may involve a veni! I have big goals for next year! HA!)

I know I don't talk much about my CI or hearing aid lately. They have just weaved themselves into my everyday life and I couldn't live without them. I did run out of that double-sided wig tape that I keep the CI plastered to my head with. I rode without the CI for the first time in a LONG time on Christmas eve and boy did it stink! I hated... and I mean really hated not having it. I can hear cars and other cyclist coming from behind me with the CI. I can talk to other riders beside me with the CI. Yes, it is my lifeline!

Life is good...

Strong! Christmas Eve ride

Not sure where it came from but the ride today was strong! We had another warm winter day today and after Em and I knocked out a little last minute shopping we had some time before the wife's family came over for Christmas eve dinner and gift opening. I headed out for a 2 hour ride and while I was riding I kept thinking I was riding stronger. When it was all over, I had been riding stronger. Man was I happy to see those numbers!

Em and I had lunch at a local place and while we were in there eating I noticed a couple of Army service folks eating at another table. We got a hold of their ticket and it was funny because the female officer kept saying, "Who did that?" I wouldn't turn around to look at them but the lady seated on the other side of the room was smiling really big. It was so much fun to do that! Now it's your turn to do the same! Pay it forward! Surprise someone you don't even know!

Life is good and Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night....

i been good!

I been good this year Santa! Oh awwright, I've been sorta good. Happy fat boyee?!

I parked it on the trainer tonight for an hour. Legs were jelly donuts by the time I finished. Note to self... if you are home alone next time don't train by the fireplace and turn the heat down. But then on the other hand I sweated my rear off. It was a dandy hour of torture!

In case you are wondering what Lance Armstrong did today, I can tell you he froze his hands off and had pot roast for dinner and he is not the only one making a comeback in oh-nine! Got to love Twitter!

Ok, I'm heading to the bed...zzzzz

Life is good...even on a trainer.

30 & 30

I know you can't really see it but the bank says 30. As I was leaving the parking for the 2nd half of the ride I looked up and it said 29 but I was already bungled up and riding and didn't want to stop again.

It was really a beautiful day of riding I rode a good 2 hours and made 30 miles. I know, that's not much. It was considering the headwind. A couple of times I had those good gust that make you go 10mph.

Had a house full tonight... it has been a busy weekend and I'm seriously pooped! We had our Christmas service at church today and I had completed the homeless video and Greg used it at the end of his lesson. He told the crowd (about 500) that it was one of the most powerful video that had ever been shown at our church. That was my Christmas present right there! Heard a lot of folks cried. I took it straight to the heart... from the heart.

Ok... I really am pooped...

Life is good... even in pooped status.

blog-aizzy-ness

I have blog-aizzy-ness these days. I've been working on a video from the homeless weekend and I was loving it then someone hooked me up to a different song that they thought would be good. I did a great imitation of Charles Ingeles (sp?) during the post production. The new tune behind it is God of this City by Chris Tomlin. Hearing the song and seeing the photos roll through of homeless people is just really hard. There is one photo that I let run a several extra seconds of a guys with dries blood on the side of his head. I want to drive a hard point home. The video will air during the Christmas service tomorrow morning. Terri is the only one who has seen it and she gave me a thumbs up. She made a couple of great suggestions and I edited a little more. Lots of video during tomorrows service! I will be glad when Sunday night gets here! I'll be a tired puppy!

So we didn't see the sun or the warm temps today. Yesterday was like May. Tomorrow is going to be like... well.. December! HA! 34 for the high and 19 for the low. Cayman Islands starting to sound good already. Had some friends who flew into Denver this morning and they had a record low of -19. Oh yeah, they will still hit the slopes.

Life is good... I feel like a kid counting down to Christmas morning.

Cold hands that felt warm

So the dreaded ice storm cometh. About 3 this afternoon folks were getting a bit antsy as reports started coming in about sleet here and there. Wife's office closed down and I had drove to work with her. I needed to stay and the roads were not bad at all when they closed so I caught a ride in with a coworker who lives just down the road.

We walked out to the car and oh man, it was solid covered in ice. Bummer. She had a ice scraper so I volunteered to scrap while she warmed her car up. Then I scraped the coworker's car next to us, then another car, then yet another one for a secretary who is a favorite of mine. Just wanted coworkers to come out to find their cars had been scraped.

While I was scraping, one of my coworkers noticed I had no gloves on. I realized she was right and then it hit me! I just smiled and said, Yeah, I know, but I'm fine really and continued scrapping.

After I jumped into the car it was warm and I began to thaw! HA! Ride sharing coworker is a female and asked if I would drive. She was nervous driving on ice. I was a gentleman and drove (but a nervous wreck on the inside driving someone else's car). I looked down and she was passed the white line on "E". I conned her into letting me stop at a service station and offered to fill the tank since I was getting a short ride home. She paid and bought me a coke. Full of gas we headed home but not without skidding on the bridge. Traffic was the pits.

As we got to the house coworker said, you really ought to remember your gloves on days like this. I just smiled and said I remembered them! She looked at me so funny like well you droffus why did you not put them on.

As I walked up to the hill to the house I realized my hands were indeed warm the whole time I was scrapping ice without gloves. Very warm... I even smiled and hummed while I scrapped.

My gloves... well, I gave mine to a homeless man 2 weeks ago. Not only were my hands warm...but so was my heart.


Life is good...with a warm heart and hands!

Quick Hit Thursday

Sorry...been swamped!
Heading to Branson tomorrow to take the folks. Mom turns 80 next week.
The trainer I sold, I bought back. I'm so happy to have a trainer for my bike rather than a studio cycle.
Had Buffalo steaks the other night. I love them. They are very lean.
Diet has had it's highs and lows.
Next week is the Ft Roots VA Christmas caroling. All the bike climb the hill to take goodies to the vets and sing Christmas carols as a token of thanks for letting us train on their "driveway".
Out of here until Sunday night.... y'all have a good weekend.

Intercity

Up at 5:30 and out the door to help deliver hot coco, donuts, new coats and a duffel bag full of new thermals and food stuffs to the intercity. An emotionally amazing morning.

More later but I've got a bizillion things to do!

Yes , yes and yes...

Yes I worked out, yes I sweated... a lot. Yes, I was good on my diet today.

If you are free on Dec 20... go to Juanita's. Altus Pocket has their first concert. I got to hear these guys on MySpace... yep, search Altus Pocket and you'll find them. I'm loving this band! Here's the kicker. One of the guys is the husband of one of our audiologist. The headliner for the night is going to be Machnia (I think I spelled it right). Who are they? Ever heard of the band Evanescence? Well this is some of the orginal members. So make the date... oh and they have a realy cool t-shirt.

Life is good... it just really is.

Sin

Chocolate is the devils food.... hmmm, devils food cake does sound good right now!

Oh boy, I've done it now! I was doing really good on the ole diet then we went to Branson and I kicked back a little. Then I chugged and bumped along Thanksgiving week until the big day and off the wagon I roll! It's Elliot's fault... she wanted fudge and cold coke so I partook. Well, then partook and partook and partook. Then I hear this, "Oh George, this cheesecake is sugar free!" Well scoot your rear down the bench sis because I'll just bring my fork and eat right out of the pan! HA! Not really but it was good enough to.

Today I'm working along being my happy fat self and up pops an email. Oh gawd no!!! Oh no no no no no no! And another 4 no's. It's my coach... COMING TO TOWN!!!! Breathe man breathe! In and out...slowly... Pop a couple of FRS chewables. Ok I can handle this. I told the truth... it's the best way when you've dug a hole.

So the plan is to get back on the wagon and eat like I'm supposed to not like I want to. I had lost 6 pounds towards the 20 so he was happy with that. Said that just shows him that the 20 will not be that great of a deal to do. Now the training. Well, he was disappointed. I'm getting to ride but not like I should be as far as training. I'm going to scout a couple of giant parking lots to loop at night. I'm just not a big fan of riding roads at night. The gym for core strength training is on the list as a "you must do this now". So what will happen when he comes to town... can you say "training camp"? Yep, the end of the year is going to involve something called pain. But he promises once we get past that the training is going to rock. Then he told me something that I thought as a bit random. "I want you to find some time and do nothing but think about why you are doing this. In silence and no distractions. Mediate your cause." So why do I want to train and do this ride. Because there is a $28,000 piece of equipment that is very important to get for the hospital. We need another machine that screens newborns for their hearing. If we catch it early enough we can do something about it way before it's noticed in kindergarten. Yes, that's why I want to train and do this ride.... that's exactly it.

I'm going to see the logo for the ride next week. I'm super excited! Yes, I will post it. Right after the holidays the jersey has to head out the door to LG for production. All of the teams are getting their 09 kits made and since this ride is earlier than the past ones (Gee, I finally learned not to ride in 100 degree heat... imagine that! HA!) then I have to get it in earlier.

Ok well... got to get on the trainer here in a few....

Life is good... and boy does it shape up when the coach comes to call! HA!

home.

This photo probably doesn't have much of an affect on you unless you are actually one of my family and know the house in this photo. Inside this home is full of love and laughter. It's the home where I grew up and the home where my parents still live.

Oh the memories I have of this home and the family who has and is still living there.

I took this photo on Thanksgiving night just before we surprised my parents we special Christmas ornaments from each of us. I hung the lights outside the house before we did the surprise so we could get the full feel of a special Christmas tree lighting. My niece Lindsey came up with the idea and it made the afternoon that much more special.

(Geo releasing a long happy sigh)

Life is good...when you can always go home.

Saturday night quick hit

Christmas decorations... good grief! Up to the attic, down from the attic...repeat this many times.
I have to admit though, Terri has the house looking all cherry and festive!

Headed out on a training ride this afternoon and got bored on the river so I was going to ride on out to Scott or England since there was no wind! As I was heading out that way I spotted a group of cyclists and just as I was catching them they pulled over. I figured it was a flat or something but it turned out to be the mayor of North Little Rock (yes, he rides) as well as Rob, Charlie, Kenny, Tom and one other guy whose name is slipping my memory at the moment. I'll think of it about 2am. They were looking at new bike routes and boy did they come upon a GREAT one! There was a rode I've never seen before and have gone past it a million times. It was a great social ride for the reminder of the afternoon. By when that sun started setting the temp really dropped.

I stopped over at church and did a quick run through with Greg for tomorrow. WOW!!! You should see the auditorium!!! It's beautiful. We start a new series tomorrow called Joy to the World and each week is a different Joy. Nice to have a whole month of happy stuff. We have some great video coming through...starting tomorrow.

Hope to get out and ride tomorrow afternoon then it's back to the real diet come Monday. These holidays may be a bit tough on the diet plan.

Life is good... when you ride new places with new friends!

Put 'em under the lights!

I have an idea... I was noticing this morning that folks coming through the checkout lines on TV were frowning until the camera wa on them. Well by golly, I say someone paid a bunch of temps to pose as news folks and point cameras on random people shopping this holiday. Everyone of them smiled when the camera was pointed at them. Just think how great the holiday season would be if people smiled?! Just a random thought... back over to Itunes for new music... yes, I'm smiling!

I'll write a real blog later...

A Season of Thanks

Heading to the folks house in a bit. Just wanted to throw out a thanks to all of you guys out there! Everyone have things to be thankful for... simple things.

I am mentally in great shape. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I did just typing that. But really, I am so in tune these past few days. Spent time with Terri in Branson, short work week, took yesterday off just to spend with my dad only. Just the boys. We headed down to Hot Springs and ate at Fisherman's Wharf and laughed and cut up the whole day. I left him falling fast to sleep in his chair at the end of the day. There is not enough money to tag that day. It's one I am making sure is burnt in my memory.

The morning training ride was good. Started off cool but warmed quickly as I took to the climbs. On the way down once I stopped several times to shoot the last of the fall leaves so I would have them to use in media as next fall rolls around. The river was dead... no one out. At the end of the ride John E pulled up beside me in his family van. I'm used to seeing him in his truck. He had started just before I got there but we never saw each other out on the trail. bummer. He's a good guy. and fun to ride with.

The other mental goodness is Terri and I are celebrating our 27th anniversary today. It's so cool that everyone got to take the day off and eating massive amounts of food in honor of our anniversary. Bless y'alls hearts! Buh ha ha ha! (Note to Terri: I LOVE YOU!!)

The final mental goodness is.... I'm not getting up and having to go fight the crowds at 4am shopping.... whooo-ray!

Life is good.... Life is thanksgiving!

AWESOME weeknd!

Just got home from an awesome weekend with my wife in Branson. Get this... no computer at all... we both took off our watches. Would have turned off the cell if we knew family wouldn't need us. We stayed at the Hilton on Branson Landing .. ate at Catina Laredo (oh my gosh that was good!). We shopped and shopped and shopped so more. Knocked out a lot of Christmas and who wouldn't when EVERYTHING in Branson was 50-70 percent off. Serious. Guess what else they are doing?! All stores in Branons open at midnight on Thanksgiving. Even the Starbucks was opening at midnight! Unreal!

Going to be a great short week at work... just think when we go to work tomorrow it will always sort of be Wednesday! Well since we are off Thursday and Friday!

Life is good... and yes I'm still completely crazy about my wife after all these years!

Quick hit

Oh yeah... life is good!! Gas in my hood is $1.55 a gallon. If you use your Kroger card after buying grocery's it's $1.45

Fall Training

I got two good rides in this weekend and still had lots of family time and yard time. I don't know, it all just clicked.

I started a real diet last week and stuck with it all the way until Friday lunch! I got to take the weekend off from it but only once did I train wreck. Tomorrow is not going to be so hard to get back on it because I know I can do it now. Besides, junk food now makes my tummy flip! Oh trust me I know.

Saturday morning I got up and ate these packaged chocolate chip mini muffins and a juice glass of milk. My tummy slapped the snot out of me and told me not to abuse him ever again. When did he tell me this... a few minutes into my ride. Tummy settled down but he was not a happy camper there for a few. Speaking of upset tummy's... what was Saturday in the runners world? I saw 2 different folks tossing their cookies on the side of the trail. One guy I had seen earlier doing an all out run... I mean the sort of run if bees are chasing you. We had our friend the wind on Saturday morning too. By the time I finished my arms hurt but it was from being so tense from staying upright during those cross wind blast.

Saturday night Terri made an awesome dinner then I worked a little more on Sunday media. I was really done but had those, "Let's tidy this art up a little". Well guess what? I changed the WHOLE format of the announcements into multiple mini commercials. Tyler had helped me download a piece of software for video's and I got hooked and I turned a PowerPoint announcement set into a video with all sorts of motions and graphics. It was something that I had been wanting to to for a long time... raise the bar! We had Christmas lights blinking, fall leaves blowing across the screen. I really wanted a dancing turkey but couldn't find what I had in mind.

Sunday I just loaded the "commercial" in and let it play (after I checked it on screen first). Woot Woot! It worked!

After church we had lunch and I headed over to Sport Clips for a head buzzing. I really thought it was be empty but oh no... Sunday after lunch is prime time to get a haircut. I had to wait 30 minutes and there were 2 families who came in after me. One had 3 boys and the other had 4 boys. Guys were coming in and seeing all the kids who were about to get cuts and left. They knew it would be an hour. Man, I love short hair!

I got home and headed out for the afternoon ride. Lots of families on the river trail today so I jumped off every chance I could get. It was a great ride and I did lots of climbing. Going up Ft Roots was just dandy! My legs seemed to have said, "Hello there climbing legs". As I was heading back to the car I was behind (not drafting) a mountain biker. I realized it was Peter Beland, a local really fast rider and he was cranking it out on the mnt bike too. I just locked in and stayed with him to the car. It was one of those beautiful fall afternoons that when you get back to the car and you look at the sun shining through the last of the leaves , breath in big and sigh in total happiness!

It's just been a great weekend all the way around!

Life is good... when you just let it happen!

Update coming on Saturday

I know I know.. unlike me not to update... check back on Saturday.

CONGRATS WES!

In the blog world you become "friends" with people from all over the world. Wes is one of those. I've busted my brain trying to remember how we ended up reading each others blogs. Other than the elite folks I admire around here locally, Wes is one of the most admired long distance. I remember when he first started riding his bike, when he first started running, when he and Deedee, his wife, started swimming. When they did their first Tri. When he humbly remarked that Ironman was in his distance dreams. Well friends, Wes became an IRONMAN in Florida last week. Even Terri got excited when I told her Saturday night that someone had finally blogged that he made it. Way to go Wes... Congrats on becoming "one of them"!

Wes' blog is listed a Code Geeks Tail over on the right side of this listed under the blogs I read. But here is the link: http://www.codegeekstail.com/
Trust me if you like reading long detailed Ironman reports then you are in luck here and they are awesome reads too!

Life is good... when you have another friend who has made it to the big time!

Game on! The clock has started!

Well kids today was start day! Six months from today we'll be finished with the Gears for Ears 24 hour bike ride for Arkansas Children's Hospital. 6 fast months!

Today's schedule had ride 50-70 miles. I got 53 miles in. Got up this morning and let the pup out and the deck was wet.... rain wet. Oh no, not the first day. But come t find out it was just a pop up shower. I waited for the roads to become semi dry in front of the house then headed out. The closer I got to the river the driver is was. In fact, it didn't even rain on North Hills. I could have been out an hour ago. Oh well, too nice of a day to pout. I headed out to the farmlands since the plan is to "work on your base miles for now". Just as I was about to turn toward the farmlands a large group of Carve riders were coming in. They were riding strong, as usual! I hope that in a few months I can get out there and hang with them again.

On the way back I stopped at Scott and finally turned on the tunes. I was enjoying the morning so much I wasn't bored and needing tunes. I love the smell of the farmlands. Oh funny story, I was riding along and just watching the road in front of me and I could hear a tractor. I looked up and lo and behold it was a giant combine coming at me. I had plenty of road on my side so no worries. Me and the farmer gave a howdy wave.

While I was at Scott I looked behind the building because there was a drive that I thought went back there. For the first time in the years I've been riding out there I noticed the river was right behind the building! I couldn't believe I had missed this beautiful place all this time.

I switched on the tunes and headed on in to North Little Rock. Made it home and got my prize.... a juice glass of chocolate milk. That was one of the things I had to fess up to was my love of chocolate so every time I put in a good effort for 30 or over miles I get a juice glass of chocolate milk as a recovery drink! I was icey cold and tail wagging good!

Well rest time is over and I have a lot of things to get done this weekend!

Life is good... when you chase it with a glass of chocolate milk!