Alright alright alright... I'll tell ya

Alright, alright, alright… I’ll tell ya!

It’s leaking out faster than mixing beer and ice cream!
I’m going to do another ride!
Here’s the lowdown:
Thursday, May 24th, 2007
I’m going to ride across the state of Arkansas in one day.
Yes, it’s a fund raiser for the hospital
Yes, it’s a lot of miles. 311 miles in one day.
Start at the Arkansas River in Fort Smith, Arkansas (Actually, I’ll go over the river to Oklahoma and ride across)
I plan to ride through Little Rock around 3:30 for PR stuff then leave for the farmlands on the way to Memphis by 4:30.
Yes, I will have a support car this time.
Yes, others have already started talking about riding with me.
Yes, I just started training for it and my trainer did a fitness assessment and I hurt from head to toe. Serious.
No, I’m not getting a new bike for it. I know my bike is going to be 3 years old and it’s a 58 and I really need a 56 but I’m used to it. I can’t just toss aside my 3 year love affair! HA!
Yes, I hope to design a new jersey for the event.
Yes, I’ve got to drop some weight. About 18 lbs but trainer said that will happen with no problem.

So what’s the plan? Well, like I said, I had my fitness assessment today and even though I rode my bike all summer there a muscles that you just don’t have to use. I guess maybe I should say, you don’t think you use. Trainer woke them up today. I’ll list the drills/reps as he gets it all lined out.

I’ll spend the winter in the fitness center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday I’ll ride lunch rides. On the weekends I’ll be riding Saturday mornings. More than likely going back out on the Carve farmland rides. We usually started by 7 and finished by 10. Sunday’s will find me doing some sort of ride. Unless it’s raining or below freezing then I’ll be out there. I have to be if I plan to pull this off.

I actually did part of this ride last Oct with John, Paul, Robb, Mike as part of a fundraiser for John’s church. I rode from Ft Smith to NLR but also took a short break in there. Now if I do this ride, I can’t take a SAG break. I have to be the one that stays on the bike no matter what. I remember last year so well. Man, we got up and looked out the window to see the plants rocked back and forth like they were in a hurricane. It was cold and spitting rain. I was dreading it. But we got over the river and circled up and had a prayer and then it was just like when I started the around the state ride, the butterflies flew away once I started pedaling. I suspect I will be hiding in the lobby restroom of the Hampton Inn in Fort Smith again next May as I’m about to start yet another journey to raise funds and awareness for the hospital and it’s patients.

Welcome to the ride!

A whole new day... a whole new journey

Yep, there is something brewing but I still can't tell you yet. That's crud huh?! Let's just call it a brand new day and a brand new journey about to take shape and I can't wait. Yep, I'm giddy about it.

I didn't even look to see when I last blogged but Saturday was fun. I rode from the house to US Bank in NLR and cheered on the ladies doing Race for the Cure. Then I rode back home and worked around the yard the rest of the day. I was really nice to be out there getting it whipped back into shape. The lawn service came today to treat it for winter. Now I just need to go hit the garden center for flats of pansies. Today during lunch on the HR lounge Andree' was talking about getting her pansies last weekend from WalMart and said they were some of the best looking she had seen. Guess I'll try there first. By the way, my boss Eric is in CO for a few more days and I just saw the opening for Monday night footbll and they're in Denver and it looks cold. Eric hates cold. The funny thing is most of his past vacations have been to cold places.

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. Oh joy! Hey, at least I get one of those new toothbrushes, a pack of the latest hi-tech floss and a sample size tube of the new brightening,whitening,kill off the bad breath sort of toothpaste. Then I'll get a little reminder card for me to come back in six months. I'll go home and flip the calendar for 6 months from now. Oh hold it, the 06 calendar doesn't go that far in advance. I'll write it somewhere. Then it'll be one more thing in the back of my mind.

Oh funny story. I was talking to my neice yesterday out at the 4H center and was asking her why all the giant spiders appear in Oct. We always have the monsterous hairy kitten eating spiders show up on our front porch and they make huge webs (yep, saves us a bungle on Halloween decorations from Wally World!) and the reason is becasue there are less insects now and they are on the move. She said, that's why you see a lot of transulas (sp?) because the males are looking for love. Seems they go for a walk and find their little hairy women hiding in borrows so they come to call. I asked Shannon if the guys stayed with them all winter and she just laughed. The answer is no in case you are wondering. She said they have their own place. Thought you all would enjoy that nature lesson! HA!

Well, that's it for now...

Race for the Cure weekend

I'm not sure how many women will be running and walking in this years Race for the Cure in the morning (http://www.becauseicare.org/) but I would put money that it'll be way over the 30,000 mark. The weather today and for tomorrows race is perfect! Cool temps and a sunny sky. A runners delight no doubt. The week starts with a few RFTC events and ends up in a full blown "shut the downtown down" frenzy! Everyone gets involved and it's fun. It starts in downtown Little Rock, over the bridge to NLR then back over another bridge to LR again.


The guys show their support by being a part of "Three Miles of Men". It's 3 miles of screaming, sort of rabid acting crazies that go nuts when the women run by. There are signs and wild customs. Loud music. It's really like a tailgate party honoring those ladies.

This year the Fast Girls Slow Guys bike club will be wearing our hot pink and blue jersey and we'll be on the NLR side just before they go back over the bridge into Little Rock. The temp at starting is to be 48 degrees. So that means if I ride down from the house it will be sort of chilly. I guess I might ought to run my leg warmers and arm warmers through the washer after work. They've been laid up in the top of the closet since a I guess about April. Once the sun rises the temps will warm up to a nice 78 by days end. One of my pals once had a big cup of capped Starbucks in one of his bottle holders on his bike and with it being cool in the morning, I might just do the same! HA!

The event really is great and it's so awesome to see the "pink ladies" run and walk by. I think one of the rules is you can only wear a pink shirt if you're a breast cancer survivor. I'm not positive but I think there are no company t-shirts that are pink. That really makes it better for the sidelines because the cheering goes on for a couple of hours but man when a pink shirt comes through the crowd just explodes! There are other runners that are pushing wheel chairs with a lady fighting cancer that was well enough to be out there and let me tell you that's when the crowd goes into this rabid fever pitched frenzy cheering. There have been a couple of years when I would cheer on a runner/walker in pink and you could see tears in their eyes. Yes ma'am we are all cheering you on!

Changing the subject a little, I stumbled upon a great blog. ( http://triboomer.blogspot.com/ ) This guy is an Ironman. Yes, one of those Ironman. I'm always blown away reading their stories of endurance. This Ironman is on a mission. His wife passed of cancer not long ago and he is honoring her through his racing. The note he writes after she passed will bring tears to your eyes. It did mine.

Ok, so the Big Dam Bridge is open and boy has it been crowded! I rode with an engineering firm the other day during lunch and was really surprised to see so many folks out there at lunchtime. there has been a funny and not so funny thing happening on the bridge. It's a non-auto bridge so nothing but walkers, runners and bikes. Well, folks are walking their dogs and seems the pups need to go to the restroom and it's catching folks off guard. Yep, doggie piles on the bridge. Even the sportswriter had an opinion on the front page of Sports a couple days ago. I keep telling myself, like anything new, you have to give it a little time for folks to get the hang of it.

Well, I've eaten my lunch (Hey Emmy, Sonic!! HA!) so it's time to get back to work.

Go have yourself a fantasic weekend!

The BDB is open! Y'all come on over and enjoy!

I know, I know… no blogging lately. I just sort of ran into a dry spell. We all have ‘em sometimes. It was the end of “true” bike season, I was having problems trying to be a dad with a dog problem (ha!), I had a garage that had stuff piled everywhere, blah blah blah…

So here’s everything I’ve done since the last blog…

Max (the daughter’s boyfriend’s dog) has a new home on the lake in Heber Springs. If I would have know he was getting to move up then I would have gone and he could have stayed! A home on the lake… nice! It was hard on everyone to let him go. I think it was hard on Sean most of all but we just couldn’t keep him. Now I have to say things are a lot quieter and Sadie has figured out she can eat without worry. Max was sort of Mr. Alpha Male and guarded the food even if it was in two places. She is still hiding things in funny places. Zero, Tyler’s dog came over to play Saturday and this dog is about 4 lbs but really a funny little dog.

We opened the Big dam Bridge over the weekend. Yep, that’s really what it’s called. It’s built over the dam so … a lot of folks call it “BDB” so they don’t have to say the “d” word. The newscasters have had fun with it. Thursday night was the 75 dollar a person sunset reception. I volunteered at the shuttle lot. There were a lot of very nice cars. Lots of money folks. All I had to do was welcome the guest as they pulled into the parking lot and let them know where the shuttle buses were then I could go over myself. A friend came back from the party to the shuttle lot and said it was nice but sort of a shallow party. I went on home. Besides, it was cold!

Friday, took the day off. My uncle passed in Alabama some my mom and couple of sisters went over and I stayed with Dad for part of the day on Friday. Brit and Landon came over for the afternoon sitting. Landon is 7 weeks old and a cute little man! Matt and Victoria are due around Christmas and Ryan and Melissa’s twins are due a tad before Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to have a grandchild but not anytime soon!!

Saturday, out at the celebration by 7:30 for the opening of the bridge. Had to go to the same shuttle lot and catch the thing to Cook’s Landing. People everywhere! I ran into Shannon, my niece, who was going to run the 5K over the bridge. My volunteer job today was to stand in the path and keep folks off as the riders come over the bridge for the opening. Several quick speeches and 3 prayers are said. Then the lock and dam horn blasted and here they came. It was a “lump in your throat” moment. The sounds system suddenly starts cranking out U2’s “Streets have no name”. It was awesome. I saw so many friends coming over the bridge!

After I finished I looked for Shannon again but no luck. There were hundreds and hundreds of runners everywhere. So I caught the shuttle back to the car and I couldn’t believe how many folks were still coming in for the run. It looked like the LR Marathon morning. It was so great to see all the excitement. When we pulled into the shuttle lot the line to shuttle to the race was all the way down the drive. I mean like 100 yards of folks. They still had an hour before the race.

I drove over to Burn’s Park and changed into riding clothes and took off. The Boy Scouts were having a jamboree so there were hundreds of boys on bikes so I had to ride very cautiously. The bike path belongs to everyone so I can’t get upset but several times I had to call out sort of stern to get them to move or I’d hit head on. I don’t know if I got over 15 mph the whole time.

I finally hit the open road and rode over the Broadway bridge to circle around to ride from LR to NLR on the BDB. Got there to fast so I had to wait for them to reopen after the race. I jumped on with a couple of Carve riders and it was great since the lead was calling out and we were able to get over fairly quick.

The rest of the day was spent getting things ready for our Redneck Oasis rest stop. I borrowed all sorts of stuff from all sorts of folks. Our rest stop was going to be the best.

Sunday morning… laying in bed awake at 5… oh just get up! I rechecked everything again and again. Terri and I head out and when we get there all that’s there is a ice machine… in the field. We go ahead and get things started setting up and the rest of the stuff arrives except the porta potty. Ok, I’m thinking to myself, this could be bad. The guys can take care of themselves but girls well that’s a different story.
More later….

Weekend is on!

Our riding club has started a new line of products for the Big Dam Bridge rest stop for next weekend. You will need to ride out 65 miles to sit on this throne!

Our club never says "No drops". Think about that while you look at the photo! HA!

I'm excited about all the event for next week! Tuesday night we have a volunteer meeting at Buffalo Grill. Thursday night is the Sunset Reception (yep, the 75 dollar a pop wine and cheese party). Saturday is the 5K and Sunday is the bike ride. I decided to take Friday off just so I could get things done around the house and to mae sure I have everything in order for Sunday. I really want to spend some time Saturday down at the 5K. Sunday is going to be crazy for me!

I'm getting all the tunes onto a few CD's this weekend and scuring the sound system we'll be using. It's going to be fun but a lot of work too!

Cool weather and thoughts

The temp outside on the employee patio is a nice 72, blue sunny skies and a slight breeze. Yes, a day that I want to one of the grounds guys rather than an office guy. They have begun to plant pansies so you know what that means. Cooler weather ahead. Harvey is our grounds director and an awesome landscape designer and knower of all things dirt and flowers. I watch to see what they do and then go do it at home. They water extra, I water extra. They plant pansies, I plant pansies. One of my favorite things is when they come back my office in the early morning and mow. The first thing I do after they finish is crack my window and smell the fresh cut grass. Then to look out and see the office lawn is carefully cut with the perfection of a pro baseball field. If I could only get my lawn to look half as good and Harvey and the boys do here.

Tonight is considered the last after work club ride. Well, unless you have lights. It's getting dark now around 7:15 so the 6 o'clock take off gives you just enough time for down and back on the north side of the river. I'm hoping to run out there and ride and get home in time to see the new season episode of CSI.

I sent out my request for volunteers for the Cato rest stop that I'll be staffing for the BDB 100 ride next Sunday. Man, it's hard to believe that it's already here. 600 riders already signed up and many more will sign up over the next week as the weather reports start coming out. There are rumors of cut off number. I say let them all sign up! We want big.

Well, back to work, lunch over.

Sunday

Been a nice day and even had a tunderstorm to come through and cool everything off. I was really hot and muggy before the storm came. The TV was warning of winds to 70 mph or more. It got wicked but not that bad.

I downloaded a crop of new songs and made a new play list that takes me down and back on the river trail but adds an around Burn's Park as well. If you haven't ripped down the trail with Jeff Becks "Freeway Love Affair" blasting in your ear then you haven't enjoyed the full effect of the trail. I remember that tune in college and remembered how much I liked it and I ran across it accidently while downloading. I dumped several I thought I wanted as well. Hearing Heart's Baracuda is a great climbing song. I didn't think it would be and I actually put the song in the wrong place but when it came on I was on the back climb of Burns and I passed the horse riders that were on the road. That was funny.

After I got home I crashed on the sofa and Emily went to babysit a few minutes later. The next thing I know I'm waking up and missed small group. I laid there for a bit and Father of the Bride with Steve Martin was on. As I sat there watching I began to have a lump in my throat. There is a moment in the movie where he watches his daughter grow up. Em and I got to spend some Dad/Daughter time together yesterday talking about some pretty serious stuff. Seeing that movie just reminded me that even though she's just 16, Em will be heading off to college, getting married and all that stuff. Tough to think about.

Terri called and she did go to a Pirate game last night and said it was one of the best games she's ever seen. They won but it was down to the wire. She said it was really hot up there (Pits). She said she is in the middle of everthing. Said it's a lot like Denver with all the stuff downtown.

Saturday 9.15.06

Woke this morning and took it easy. I was fun to wake up on a Saturday and not have to rush a breakfast then head off to ride. I had coffee and just tinkered around. It was fun and relaxing.
I watered shrubs said good morning to neighbors on both sides. Ron is funny in that he mows his grass whether it is growing or not. Trust me, it hasn't been growing.

A little while later Terri was up and about and getting ready for her trip to Pits. She went up a day early for a business meeting so she could tour around a new ity a little bit. The Pit Pirates were playing at home tonight so she was thinking of going over to a game.

Max ended up at our house again and Sean won't be taking him home and the Sherwood Human Society couldn't take him either so I'm pretty sure that I'm stuck with a dog. It was so nice that 24 hours we had just Sadie. We were getting used to it and spoiling her. I have to put the kiddie gate back up to keep them out of the back bedrooms. I'm really bummed about this and Em and I talked a long time about it and even though I told her that Sean had to have the dog out of the house by the time I got home from work Monday, I doubt it's going to happen. I told Em that he is dodging responsibilty like a divorced dad. Sure, they had the kids when it works out for them but the real responsibility belonged to others. I know, that was a harsh thing to say but it summed up the problem. This is a tough deal that has caused a lot of emotion.

Em and I went down to Benton to take shrimp and red snapper to the folks and we got the better treat. Barbie had made homemade pizza. It was out of this world. I can't remember the lat time I had homemade pizza. A bit later she asked us if we wanted Oreo pie. Did i die and go to heaven. Well of course I had... I was at my momma's house! HA! We ate pie and held our breath thrugh the last seconds of the Arkansas v. Vandy game. A very sweet win (Ya hear that Jim? Houston Nutt's circled wagons paid off! HA!)

Speaking of my nephew Jim. Sherry, my sister and his mom came over to mom and dad's house. She has lost 25 pounds and looks awesome! I saw her pull up in he drive and hop out and walk briskly to the hpuse. She hasn't walked like that in a long time. Once again, loosing weight has proven to have huge benefits. She used to couldn't even sit through a movie because her legs would hurt and she was all excited that small things like that are starting to hppen now that she is loosing weight. I'm really happy for her! She has twin grandbaby's coming soon and she'll get to be a great grammy to them and feel great too! Keep it up sis!

We got home and I went down to the river for a ride. I was surpsied to fine roadies out this close to dinner time on a Saturday night. Guess their wives were gone on business trips too. I plugged in my tunes and had a great ride and kept it 20-22 mph. I telling you, riding with tunes is awesome! I rode the river then around Burns Park then along the river some more.

Got home, kicked back and enjoyed the evening. Not a whole lot really but boy did I have fun.

It's 4:30 and the weekend is about to start...

This is copied from an email someone sent me and it's just funny and weird stuff that was said in their office over the past couple weeks.

We offer no explanations. And rarely ask for one. We only write down what we hear.
"Tomorrow I will not wear my bathing suit to work."
"I just have this phobia of being like the biggest geek."
"As long as I get all of the accounts that endanger wildlife, I'll be happy!"
"You bet, but I'm the flowery, pretty odor."
"I'm gonna print out a big "A" in Helvetica Black and beat you with it."
"Your heart is embedded in your chest."
"I need someone who can rub the hell outta me."
"Is Koom-Bye-Ya My Lord a religious song?"
"Circles...yah, they're fun. They're like breaking out of the box of everyday life."
"'I'm simply a gong booming with love."
"This cake is sweating."
"You don't have to be hungry to eat cake and M&Ms"
"Why are you doing that breathing thing?"
"Why are you smelling the dusty dinosaur?"
"Why don't you go back in your cave troll boy?"
"Dogs don't ever spit things out...are you kidding?"
"You're gonna be in big trouble if you pop one of those."
"How tight are your thumbnails?"
"Jennifer here...here is a fur ball."
"Who smells like dog biscuits around here?"
"I think you're rubbing on my cerebellum."
"I have some extra lips if you need some."
"Erin, do you want this recipe for scrubbed tongue?"
"Never mind, I'll just go bleed silently."
"Oreos help me find my center."
"She's pretty, she's very pretty. And she's soft too. But she's yucky, yucky, yucky."
"Hey look, if I can maintain with a rat on my desk..."
"I need to tell you sometime about the leech boy."
"All right who has the biggest head?"
"Yes, But first a beer."
"Did you know that cats can say 8 consonants, all the vowels, 2 diphthongs and 1 tripthong?"
"Now you got me singing 'Frosty The Snow Man', Bill...I hate you."
"Yeah, I sit there and ha and stink at the same time. And I shed."
"So there we were comparing nostril size."
"I want to be lied to, he'll just tell me the truth."
"That's why we're here, to remind you, you have a hairdo."
"My lungs are glued together."
"I'm blonde Bill, but I'm not that dumb."

Just a dandy sort of day

You could not have lived through a more perfect day weather wise. We woke this morning to beautiful sunny skies and a temperature of around 60. The day at the office was nice as well. I cracked the window and let the fresh morning air filter through. We had a couple of interviews to conduct and one out of 3 made it. Suddenly I'm ambushed! 6 different positions needed to be referenced, background checks and filled. 2 of the directors were leaving for vacation and wanted it wrapped up ASAP. No prob! Door closed, big breath of fresh air, latte loaded and hit the phone. By mid afternoon I'm winding it down. Directors happy. Hire buttons pushed. It's shaping up to be a dandy Friday!Terri came by to pick me up at the office. It's really been great carpooling with my wife. We decided today that one Saturday we are going to just hop in the car and find some little town along an Arkansas highway and explore the town, have lunch and come home. I know it sort of sounds retire-ish but who cares. We always read these articles in Southern Living about towns in Arkansas and it's one of those, "I didn't know that about this town." Hang around and maybe I'll have some fun story about some chintzy little community.We got home and Sadie jumps up to peek in the back door so I walk over to let her in and what do I see? Max! Nooo! Not again! Will we ever get rid of that dog? What now? Come to find out that Sean had Max out in his backyard and he didn't fix the fence good enough and Max got out during the day and hung around the neighborhood. So Max was brought over here and left in our backyard. Guess what? It's 9:30 and he's still here. Free dog to good home... want him? Give me a call! Guess what else? My stress level went straight through the roof! I wanted to blow a fuse. I told Terri I was really upset about this and took a deep breath. Not her fault and I certainly wasn't going to be ugly around her either. I knew I needed to blow off some steam so what do I do? Hard guess huh? Yep, I'm going to go ride. Terri and Em were headed to a girls night out at Murrays so I was going to be home alone anyway.I dress out and debate on loading the bike for a ride. I keep thinking to myself, "Why am I driving to ride? I have a bike so go ride it." I choose the other, I drove to the riverboat parking lot and parked, hooked up my tunes and off I rode. Lots of bikes. Small groups and solo riders. I catch the few riders that were ahead of me. They went straight, I turned to climb Ft Roots. Mike Mitchell came down the hill as I was starting up. We did the "Hey" thing and I keep on my way up. As I turned I noticed he had turned around and was heading back. I had had the tunes on "tunes only" but flipped the switch to Tunes and Mike. Yes, that's really a program in my new hearing aid "Tunes and Mike". Ok maybe not but it made fun reading huh? Ha! I didn't slow my climbing much and before I knew it Mike was right beside me and we climbed at about 10mph. It felt good to ride that speed and be sociable. It was cool too that the song playing was Aerosmith's "Don't want to miss a thing." You see, Mike is a bit younger that me but he's one of my all time hero's. He's as good as they come. He takes time for what's important such as family and friends. He didn't have to turn around and ride the hill again.We crested the hill and he was telling me about hiding a baggie with food or reading materials in it. It was a baggie with something but the wind was blowing a bit in the hearing aid and I wasn't getting the whole story until we turned around the loop and he was talking about how the overlook would be a great place to have quite time. I agree and have stopped there for moments of quite time on many solo rides. It is a beautiful place up there and you do feel relaxed and it peace. We talked about Men's Fraternity that Fellowship has and I was asking if 1st Assembly had one but they didn't. The reason I had asked was because it sounds like it's about to start back up at Fellowship but I was trying to find something a little closer than west Little Rock and I think it starts at 5:45 in the morning. i hear it's awesome though.As we started heading down the hill the FGSG group was heading up. We exchanged "heys" and Mike and I headed on. We were both enjoying this ride. He was telling me about going down Batesville Pike and hitting 58mph and how the bike was shaking and was telling me that was probably the most frightened he had been. I told him I was the same about my ride in Branson. I made me gun shy of flying down hills.As we got to the forest I asked him if he remembered he first time we rode? It was one night when the rest of the club ended up riding over in LR due to an ABC meeting. I remember riding up to Cooks and there were several riders out the in parking lot and these two guys just had that look like, "I wonder who this guy is we're supposed to meet?" I rode up and said, "Are one on you John Van Pay?" Sure enough, it was John and Mike. After we rode and got back to Cook's it was getting dark but we stood there and talked a bit then I told them I had to get back to the other end. It was now really getting dark and they were concerned. I told Mike I sang as loud as I could as I rode though the forest that night because I didn't want to run over anybody or anything. It was a funny night that I'll always remember. It was also a night that began a great friendship.We rode over and looked at the bridge and it really looks like you could ride over it right now. All in good time. We started heading back. Mike was telling me about how some friends you don't have to worry about or warm up to. He said "You know there are folks you invite over to your house and then there are those other folks that you invite over but everyone is comfortable and you can take your shoes off or put your feet on the coffee table and everything’s fine." We have one of those sort of friendships. No smoke or mirrors, just buds. We rolled up to his truck and talked for a few minutes while he loaded his truck then I head back toward the sub.I flipped the switch to tunes only again and cranked the volume. I wanted to see what the attraction was to riding with music. Now I know! I made it from the soccer field area all the way back to the sub in 2 songs! I looked down and was getting a 22 mph reading and it felt easy. Music was making a difference. I'll be "tuning tha ride" a lot more in the future. I need to rearrange my play list to go in sync with the ride from the sub to Cook's and back. Warm up, fast, easy, warm it back up, heavy metal guitar frenzy, slow it down a bit, then roll in with some Braveheart movie theme ending. HA!All in all it's been a nice day!Oh big high school game... Sylvan Hills v North Little Rock at Sylvan Hills. Go Bears!

Open the windows!

I tell you this new hearing aid is the bomb! I am constantly flipping the switch to listen to tunes! You just have no idea! I forgot how much I liked the Rush tune "Tom Sawyer". It's a hoot to walk through the office with tunes blasting in my head and watching what happens. The soundtrack of my life. There have been times that I've busted out laughing because a certain song would be on and a coworker would be doing something and the song goes along with the moment. My favorite one so far has been a ticked off coworker that couldn't find a report on her desk and she was trashing her desk and Bob Segar was singing "Turn the Page". She just looked at me laughing and said" This is not funny!" If she only knew! I just have to remember not to bob my head during a meeting. I can see it now, "Geo, would you please tell us the latest status of..." Everyone looks at me and I have my eyes closed playing the air drums. Ahhh, human resources at its finest! HA!

Oh, the weather is awesome today! I have my office window cracked a bit and the fresh air is blowing through. The morning drive was a crisp 63. I just had a quick bite of lunch out in the courtyard with other outdoor craving coworkers. Sounds like the temps are slowing going up toward the weekend then back down.

Dog drama: Sean was supposed to take his dog home yesterday but had car trouble on the way home from the university and Em ended up taking him over there. Then I wake up this morning to find a note on the bathroom counter. Yep, one of those teenage girl "Dear dad, I need a favor" notes. Guess what, Max is back at the house today. Ugh! I'll never get rid of that massive dog. He is just supposed to be there for the day... yeah right!

I was reading a blog from another bike rider and he was talking , actually a rant, about going to a booster club meeting and one of the parents saying something about "being able to still run." Lance runs, bikes, the whole bit. I read their blogs for inspiration and entertainment! Anyway, the blog was about making time to exercise. Sad so many folks don't. There’s work, the kids, etc but when it comes to taking care of themselves they sort of skip that part. I know that I’ve missed something’s due to my riding but if I didn't ride then I'd look like Jobba the Hut too. Another blogger that I read a lot made a comment on Lance's blog about "hail damaged thighs are not normal." I busted out laughing. I've never heard that saying before.

Now all that said, I've got to watch it close. I've decided to take a few days off the bike and give the club riding schedule a rest. But you know what, I've been eating since the weekend like a nuke is going to take us out and I'll never get to eat. Geesh, slow down bud! I swore I would never ever wear waist size 36 pants again but gee, brownies, chips, big lattes. Just writing that is sick! It's going to be interesting to see how I feel Saturday afternoon when I climb on the bike again. Something tells me while I climb a hill i will be telling myself, "Geo, how's that brownie feel now...huh... get yer fat butt up that hill and quit you whinning!" HA!

Lunch over... Geo out!

Monday thoughts

What a day of mixed emotions. Yes, it’s the 5th anniversary of 9/11. I sleep fitfully last night. I awoke from 3 nightmares. I don’t know if I’ve ever had 3 in one night before. One was a 9/11 nightmare. Yes, I saw the building blow up over and over on one of the 9/11 shows last night so I know where that one came from. One was a bike wreck. I know where that one came from. I read an email just before going to bed that some of our guys crashed during Sunday’s ride. More on that in a moment. Now the third nightmare was just plain weird. Hey hey hey, cut it out guys! It had nothing to do with going to work in my underwear and no one notices. But for some strange reason I dreamed or nightmared (is that a word?) that I opened the door that leads out to the garage and there was a guy standing on top of my Explorer. He jumped off like a gorilla and ran out of the garage and down the road. Ok, I don’t even want anyone to analyze that. HA!

So the 9/11 day? I made me feel sad. I think it’s good to remember that day even though I didn’t personally know anyone there. It made everyone think a little different whether good or bad. We thought different. I never really thought about Muslim’s that much until then. I know that the few Muslim’s I do know are peaceful people. I know that they hate what the terrorist are doing in the name of the Muslim religion. There are also so called Christians that are extreme that do dumb things in the name of Christianity but I don’t agree with them. Anyway, during lunch I clicked over to CNN on the web and watched the 9/11 morning 5 years ago unfold. I remembered those images. I remember pulling into the parking lot and Eric on the Point was announcing that CNN reported that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I just kind of continued parking thinking, “Wow, how did they do that?” I walked into the office and told a coworker about it and we thought it was a small plane. We went upstairs to another co-workers office that had a TV and then like everyone else we stood in shock. I remember the second plane hitting and the co-worker covering her mouth and tears begin to flow. It was compassion for another human being. It was sadness for another family who lost someone. Like everyone else, we all felt the pain in one way or another. I remember going to church that Wednesday night and the auditorium was packed. There are days I think about this even when it’s not 9/11. I think about how everyone puts God aside until we really need him like when a 9/11 happens. Don’t you ever wonder why we’ve gotten so politically correct? What’s it for anyway? So we don’t hurt someone’s feelings? I’m all for not hurting anyone’s feelings but to kick God out of everything is pretty lame don’t ya think?

There was a big crash with the group yesterday and I hear we had a couple of guys (Keith H and P Britt) are down with broken collar bones. Sounds like JBar crashed but walked away. I’m starting to think Keith H. needs to take up Dominos or something. He’s had a tough few bike weeks.

Hey, we got rain sweet rain today! WoHoo! I’ve kicked on the sprinklers hard and heavy since Saturday to see if I could revive my yard. It’s looking a little west Texas if you know what I mean.

Oh, did I tell you a neighbor bought the house and land next door? It’s going to be really neat because they are turning the house into a rustic looking log/lodge cabin style house. The closed on it last week and he had already taken off the whole back screened in porch by the time we got home from work. No 3 story zero lot houses next door! Yes!!

Well, that’s about it for today! Y’all stay dry out there!

Been there done that

I woke at the illegal hour of 3:30 and told myself to go back to sleep. I had he alarm set for 5 a.m. but I could only catnap until 4:16 and then said, "That's it. I'm up." I got up and shaved, showered and had a light breakfast and was out the door shortly before 5. It was a beautiful late summer morning with a crisp temperature of 63 degrees and a full moon. Looking like the perfect day or a bike ride.

I was surprised how many cars were on the road for a few minutes after 5 on a Saturday. No they didn't all have boats or 4 wheelers. I had emailed the guys leaving from Cook's to tell them not to wait but forgot to turn my cell phone on this morning and hey hadn't read the email. No big deal they only waited a few minutes then left. The ride was nice and I got to Morrilton quick. Petit Jean was only 12 miles away.I got to the bottom of the mountain and pulled over and grabbed the chalk and jumped out. The fun was beginning. Just before I got out, Keith and Brandon pulled up. We spoke for a few moments and then i had to get to work. Chalk in hand I began to scribble messages or my friends. I let a dozen messages on the mountain and then headed to register. Still had a little over an hour before the 8 o'clock start. I spoke with several friends and then found out we were going down that hill not up. Crud, almost all the messages are on the wrong side. I got out to the car and flew down the other hill that we would be climbing and then began to write messages. Mission accomplished

I got suited up and down to the staging area where Fast Girls and Slow Guys would be the biggest group! It was a festive feeling! After a couple of announcements I rode down to the dining area and quickly filled my water bottles. Back to the club zone. A couple o the guys looked at me funny and said, "Geo, are you just going to ride with one glove?" In the rush to get to the staging area I had put on only one glove. I laughed! In Texas I was forgetting to take my bike and on Petit Jean I was forgetting to put on 2 riding gloves.The ride was on! Of course several o my club shot out of the start like a cannon. Most kept up the pace the whole ride. I caught up with them at the lunch stop but of course they were leaving as I was arriving. I have a bite of pasta salad to eat and refill bottles and leave with Keith, Brandon and another guy. We ride a good ways hen I began to drop off. Brandon looks back and I motion for him to continue on with the others. I know where I am and have no problem riding the last miles solo. I see the guys and others have stopped at a rest stop but I continue on. I'm not going fast at all but I'm moving steady. They all pass me a bit later and then Paul Creel and his crew come by and tell me to come on. I did for a while but dropped. I was looking around enjoying the scenery. There was a reason for me taking my time on the ride. It would be my last long distance ride of the season.

I'm still going to ride but I'm not going to be glued to a thought process that tells me I have to be out there every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday afternoon. Saturday rides can be in the afternoons now and Terri was excited when I told her because she can come ride with me now. I'm looking forward to that!

It's been a fun summer of riding. Actually it's been a fun 3 years of riding but I have come to taking my hobby a tad to serious. I have ridden around the state. I've ridden from Ft Smith to Cook's Landing in a day. I've ridden the Ride for the Roses in Austin Texas. I've ridden Hotter'n Hell in Wichita Falls, Tx. I've ridden Section 30a in FL. There are still rides I want to do such as the Mississippi bike trail. I still want to ride the Pacific highway in CA. Yes, I will still ride.I'm also looking forward to slowing down on my rides. There are lots of friends that won't ride with me because I ride too fast. Most of them ride around 15-18 mph. I can do that.

I told Terri tonight that I feel like I have 2 years of chores to do around the house. I used to wash the cars on Saturday mornings before anyone was up. I used to have nicely mulched flower beds now I have a side yard full of weeds. Max goes to his house tomorrow so I'll get the backyard cleaned but up, scrub the deck and make it livable once again. No, it's not all Max's fault but when he and Sadie chase each other they would send the patio furniture flying so we had to push it all up against the house and it looks terrible. I have to touch up paint as well as finish painting the kitchen. I need to tidy up the attic. Hey, it's after Labor Day so I might as well bring down the Christmas stuff right... wrong!!

Well, enough blogging for tonight. Time to spend time with the family...

Returning to a mountain

I'm about to go to bed but wondering how easy sleep will come. I have a early drive in the morning to Petit Jean Mountain for the MS 150. It's a charity ride of 75 miles each day. I will be riding tomorrow but I doubt I will be riding the Sunday edition. After tomorrow my heavy scheduled riding will be over. I'll still go out and ride but it won't be the center o my life. I'm going to be busy the next few weeks getting volunteers lined up for the "mega" rest stop I have been asked to manage for the BDB 100. I'm glad to be a part of this as a non-rider. I got an email today from Fred and I'll be ordering fruit for the stop. This is where Terri will help me (I hope). She knows all the ins and outs of getting large crowds fed and happy since she does convention planning.

Tomorrows ride time should be about 64 degrees.

And tomorrow is already Wednesday!

Brandon and Will cruising along the river trail.

This afternoon was another photo night before the ride because it was the first club ride with the MS150 jerseys. Sad thing was a lot of the members were out working or getting over a nasty stomach bug that hit. The weather was really nice and as the ride started I stopped for a second to talk to Robert on of our new riders about the jersey reorder. Then John Martin was just sort of riding in a ircle and come to find out he was waiting on Allison who was pulling in the parking lot. Matthew pulled into the parking lot and was asking about picture night and I said it was a quick one because the crew had to get the ride started since the sunsets earlier. Matthew gave me a great progress report. He can walk without crutches and plans to ride on the Big D-Bridge ride on Oct 1.

Our newest Jr. rider!

This FedEx rider tried to slip in and go unnoticed amongst the Fast Girls Slow Guys group. Nice try Keith!

Here's a part of the

Fast Girls Slow Guys MS150 team.

Just thinking about life and MS Word on a peaceful Sunday morning

It's funny is it... life I mean... with all of it's ups and downs, laughter and tears, hard work and kickin' back times.

I know, you're thinking, Ok Geo, what does MS Word have to do with this? Mistakes. Yep, it fixes some of your mistakes. I told a friend of mine I would not write an more until I had MS Word to correct grammar and spelling mistakes. When I write these blogs, I just pound out and hit publish. Nope, I rarely go back to check. He told me if I did it would ruin the Geo-ness of the blog. The funny thing is that he wasn't the first to tell me that.

One of the mistakes I can't correct was a mistake on the new club jersey (Crowd gasps!). No you won't see it on the jersey because it's not that kind of mistake. I misordered by 2. I ordered a few extras but in the rush of things I missed a couple. The even worse part is they are not part of the extras I ordered. I need the big sizes. Someone is not getting a jersey until we reorder and there's nothing I can do about it. Yep, I had all the emails and and even verified the orders but even some folks sent several emails changing their orders which is perfectly fine because we want everyone to be happy. Dang, doesn't that make your stomach hurt when you do that. Did you ever make a mistake you can't change?

Ok, on to better things. We got Tyler moved yesterday and he and Shalynn's apartment is beautiful. Serious. They can step through double french glass doors out on the balcony and see the Arkansas river. There are lots of eating places within walking distance. We got the truck loaded and his buddy Nate, a FedEx loader no doubt came to help us get the stuff up to his new place. We had 2 flights of long stairs. Man, the sweat was pouring and the kids kept saying, "Dad, please sit down. You're breathing hard." It was funny. Nate could throw a dining room table over his shoulder and waltz up the stairs whistling Zipp-a-dee-do-dah. Stoutest kid I've ever seen and just an all around good guy. He also was hit on his motorcyle a few weeks ago on Cantrell when a lady ran a yeild sign. It was really interesting to listen to him talk about motocycles and cars and the way folks don't watch for them with all the hills we have around here. I quitely sat there thinking, Yep, I do know exactly what you're talking about. Cars vs. 2 -wheelers, whether its a motorcyle or a bicycle, most people just don't get it.

We got everything loaded and I drove home while Tyler and Nate took the rental truck back. It wasn't until I got out of the car that I realized how hard I pushed it moving stuff today. I didn't feel bad just tired.

I got Emily and Sean to pick up some Hunan for dinner and before we called in the order as I looked at the menu I wanted something good. Something I hadn't had before. Oh yes, there it is! A combination of seafood and chicken with vegatables. The name of the dish? Happy House of Golden Jade. Emily accused me of ordering that just so she would have to say it when she called it in. Serious, it was what I wanted. I can't help it if they have names like that for their dishes. Some our our favorite American restaurants have some funny dish names too. Go to Shakey's and read Joe's menu. Or the Purple Cow. One of my favorite funny dish names is the "Dog Pile". It's just another name for a hot dog and french fries.

We watched the game until I finally nodded off and the kids laughed at me. It was 7 to 14 USC. I told them I was going to bed. 9:30 on a Saturday night? Isn't the a law against that somewhere? I told them that I hoped it wasn't going to be the game of the century and I missed it. When I woke this morning it was front page news, trust me, not the game of the century. We lost 50 to 14. Come on Hogs! We know you can do it. My nephew out in Fresno will start hammering on us way to early in the season and we don't want that. HA! Even though we might have lost there was certainly fire in the Hogs eyes and the fans in Fayettevlle were completly rabid!

I think I'll go ride now...

More HH100 photos

There is a guy in the Stillwater area that always takes tons of photos. So these are his photos. Thanks Kincannondale!

This is where everything starts getting exciting! Almost there!

Jose's SRAM car. We'll miss Jose until next May when we bug him at the Joe Martin Stage races(Right Jenn?)

Before the start. Look down in the lower right hand corner and you'll spot Paul Creel with blue and orange jersey and John Reese with teh white and yellow.

The offical greeter at the start line. Yep, he looks like he's saying, "Y'all have a nice trip."

Rest area #2 where I spent an hour waiting for the mechanic to work on my bike. If you look just above the girl with the orange jersy you'll see me with the blue and yellow on.

Heading into rest area 2. The blue and yellow jersey is Diane Barton.

This was a great rest area. Beach Boy tunes were blasting.

We even got to ride right through the air force base. Got to see several planes and jets. Their rest stop was awesome when it came to customer service!

This was a common site towards the end of the ride.

The skyline of Wichita Falls was the best sight! Most saw the skyline but just couldn't pedal any faster. Just get me there was the main thought.

The blasting water at the end of the ride.

Jerseys are here!!

Our new club jerseys are here! We'll be stylin' for the MS150 new weekend!

They came, hey broke in but they didn't get anything!

Just as the day was getting festive I got a call that our house had been broken into. It seems the jerk or jerks got in but saw the alarm pad blinking plus the dogs going nuts at the back door and knew they were had. Nothing was taken.

I know I know I know... I'm slacking

I know, I know, I know... I'm slacking on the blog.
Yes, there is still more of day 2 to write.
There is still day three.
There is last nights ride.
There is a FedEx truck in town right now with my jerseys!
There are tons of photos to upload.

I'm wide open tonight so I'll finish it....maybe