He's blogging again!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Y'all have a fun weekend!

Delirium made me crazy!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Babies, tornados, and good days

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Counting down the minutes

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

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

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

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

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

SEC, riding and dough-dough eggs

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

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

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

I'm ready for the weekend!

It's 3-1 finally!

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

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

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

Did you know your tire is missing?

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

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

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

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

Toyota-United! Now I'm really excited!

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

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

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

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

All systems go...

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

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

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

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

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

Later!

Is this what cabin fever feels like?

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

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

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

Sleet and snow! Weekend number 2

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

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

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

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

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

Champs for Children

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

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

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

Valentines Day

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

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

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

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

Y'all have a happy Valentines Day!

Brrrrrrr!

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

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

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

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

Toyota-United Cycling Team

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

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

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

Staright into the wind

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wash out

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

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

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

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

Maybe it's time to fasten my seatbelt

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

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

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