Little dog and life

Sadie under the Christmas tree

It's Monday and I'm finishing up lunch and wanted to get another photo of Sadie out there for you. The pup has certainly come to life! Today was the first day that we have had to leave her alone for more than a couple of hours. She is actually alone for 4 hours this afternoon. She was supposed to be in her crate until she gets completely housebroken but the child gate was up and she was in the kitchen and had an accident. Ugh! I suspect that Emily just couldn't put her in the crate but when I before coming back from lunch I sat it in front of the TV and turned on Animal Planet.

Storm came through Arkansas last night and several tornados came through. It was wicked.

Well, it's back to work...

Crazy Friday

It's early morning the Friday after Thanksgiving and the house is quite. Terri has slipped out to join the frenzy of shopping. The big thing that my family talked about yesterday at my parents house was some 4 dollar food chopper. Ok we'll get one and it will be in the attic by Easter. HA! This shopping day seems a lot like Race for the Cure with teeth.

We took Sadie to my folks house so she could meet the family. I don't think she ever got to walk. My mom cuddled her like a grandchild and of course Sadie fell fast asleep. She was a live wire all the way home! One of the funny things she seems to have discovered is her tail. Around and around she goes. Bless her heart I don't think she has understood yet that it's attached to her.

Our house was a revolving door of high school and college kids last night. It's fun to have so many kids hanging out at our house and feeling comfortable enough to not care if Terri and I are in the room. They all treat Terri like a mom. It's fun to watch the giants come through the door and cut up.

We played a board game at my parents yesterday called Loaded Questions. It's a blast! We had two teams (Emily, Shannon, Barbie and Cathy) vs. (Terri, myself, Lindsey and Joe). You have the cards that are color coded and ask the other theams these really wild sometimes very truthful questions and the other team tries to pick who gave what answer. One of the questions was , "If you were a westler, what would your stage name be?" Barbie got so tickled that she had taken a drink and then started laughing and water came out her nose. Other questions were things like lifelong dream, favorite body part, most expensive thing your ever stolen, how many contries you've traveled.... great game! We'll go buy one.

Well, I need to make some coffee and make my list of things to do today and one will be ride my bike even though it's only ggoing to get to 52 degrees this afternoon. I know LSU plays the Hogs but I already know the outcome (I hope I'm wrong) but I have too much to do to spend it on the sofa.

By the way, next year Terri and I are hoping to spend our 25th anniversary at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I can't believe that Sunday is our 24th anniversary. How time flies when you're having fun!

9:25pm update ---
It's been a fun day and the tree is up but not decorated. I've got to find the light that's loose on one of the strands. And I didn't have the right stapes in the staple gun for part of the outside so everything is sort of half done.

I did manage to even get in a fifty miler this afternoon. Felt great to be out in the cool air and enjoying the beauty if a late fall day. There were several guys and girls out. I saw several families out too but something tells me they didn't ride to long due to the temperature and the wind coming off the water. I was really hoping to hit the 6,000 mile mark for the year but it's looking a little slim. I'll get close though!

Sadie had her first accident in the house today but I caught her just as she started so not much damage. We are supposed to go to Petsmart tomorrow at 4 to learn about potty training. The dog doesn't get to go.

Once again we have a house full of kids and tonight it's loud!!!! So I guess you can figure out why I'm back in the bedroom writing on my blog?

Hey Y'all! Meet Sadie!!!!

Sadie in the front yard! One happy camper!

What a fun day it's been! For starters I wore blue jeans to the office which I've not done since last year's snow storm. Since I was just there until 11 this morning and most folks were gone I figured who would care.

I stopped by and picked up Emily at the house and we went to Bryant to get the puppy I had seen and talked to the lady about. We got there and the pups were great looking yellow labs. Beautiful pups but nor what we were looking for. We also saw a chocolate lab that was a about 4 months old but looked as though it was mixed with something else.

So we go to the animal services in Little Rock and we walked in and the first pen had the perfect little pup that looked like the photo's of the dog we really went to get. What are the chances? The pup had already been sterilized so she was ready to go. Emily's eyes lit up and she had this huge smile and then gave me the nod. We took Sadie outside and the pup came to life. Sadie and Em bonded in record time. It was great to watch. After a year of asking, Em finally got her puppy. She passed on the real registered Golden Retreivers and saved one from the pound instead. This pup is actually part chow so it will have an even fuller coat.

Next stop was Petsmart for food, dog wash, toys, a leash, a collar, a friendly store clerk that told me everything there is to know about classes there. Everyone in the store looked our way and smiled. They all wanted to know her name but we hadn't figured it out at that point.

We got home and got the little girl washed up and as we were drying her she fell asleep. Big day for the little pup. She slept in Em's lap for a while then woke ready to play. We took her outside and she whizzed and you would have thought she had performed a miracle! Em and I cheered and clapped. HA! I hope my neighbors were watching so they could have a good laugh!

The rest of the evening has been fun playing with her and laughing. She basically looks like the lint you clean out of the dryer trap with legs and a face.

I put more photos out there tomorrow.

We spoke to Tyler tonight. He's doing great, tired from work and school but great. Said someone ordered 60 pot pies from his store (Boston Market). He will be having dinner with the Minton's tomorrow. I'm ready to see the kiddo!

(Tyler, if you're reading this, how was the burrito? HA!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A dog????

Might have one of these little pups this afternoon!!!

How can one work when there's a possiblity of going to get a puppy today? It's been a while since we've had one but when we went to Lee and Connie's house Sunday night and saw Max, their Golden Retreiver, then I knew it was time to get serious. Of course Em has been wanting one for a year now. So we're going to look around today.

I'll update tonight....

Scenes from an afternoon ride

First off, Tyler is graduating! He's just been super busy finishing up everything and working. It didn't help that he got his phone turned off but everything is fine.

Ok, scenes from an afternoon ride:
No where else in Arkansas can you find a more diverse grouping than that of the river path on a Sunday afternoon. The are all sorts of walkers. There a runners. There are roller bladers. There are skateboard folks hanging at the skatepark. There is a midevil battal being played out in a field. There are family bike groups, mountain bike groups and road bike groups. There is a couple of awesome trick bike guys in a parking lot doing tricks on BMX style bikes that is worthy of a magazine spread. Yep, they are that good! There was a rugby game in full swing as well as soccer. It was one of the best afternoons out of the path I've had in a long time!

Phil spoke of changes in the church this morning. I'll make this short but I'm ready for a change. I'm hoping we will start looking at other churches just to see how we feel. I want to visit First Assembly and Fellowship North. Just thinking out loud...

The Thanksgiving holiday is coming fast! This is just a 3 day workweek ahead and I'm thrilled! I saw the list of employees out this week and it's a mile long! Maybe it will be quite for a few days and I can get a lot done.

We are looking for a dog (again). We just got back from Lee and Connies and they have a 9 month old golden retrever and Max is the sweetest dog I been around in a long time.

Tomorrow is Terri's birthday. It'll be fun!

The list just keeps getting longer

Ya ever had one of those upcoming weekends where your do list just keeps getting longer and longer? Mine is now about an arm length long and there's NO bike time listed. Now how crappy is that?

This is what I call "attic weekend". The summer stuff goes up and the winter stuff comes down and there's the beg and plead of Terri and Emily to bring down the Christmas stuff but leave it in the garage until next weekend. Y'all, guess who has to park their car out on the driveway during the holidays? Yup, you bet cha! I do! But the fun part is that on really cold morning you can scrape messages one your back window. Of course it melts within minutes when I punch the rear window defroster button.

Terri was at a board meeting yesterday so Emily and I went to a new restaurant called Firefall Grill. It's really good! It's one of those wood smoked food joints. It was so much food I couldn't even eat all of mine. Then we went over to Pier One for a dad/daughter shopping trip. We always cut up and laugh when we get out. And we didn't even buy anything.

We haven't heard from Tyler this week and it has us on nerves. He's phone we turned off (typical college kid stuff...). We'll probably talk to him this weekend. He was having some concerns about graduating and his classes so now you know why we are stressed. He was sick at the first of this quarter and missed some internship days so he needs to make them up. Got to have 90 hours done by 12/17.

Big weekend for high school football. Benton will play Springdale tonight. Springdale destroys everything in site so maybe Benton came stop this train!

Emily and I watched Christmas with the Kranks last night. There was a part missing on the dvd version of the movie. It wasn't a big part but a funny one where they are calling friends and trying to get them to come to the party and everyone's saying no. If you haven't read John Grisham's Skipping Christmas then get it and start reading it on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That's when the book starts. It's a really funny book!

Well back to work then home for the weekend! The Attic weekend! HA!

Mid week madness

Remeber yesterday I was talking about Joe Kurmaskie? Here's a copied photo from the Men's Journal website. It's a great article!


Sooo cold! That's all I can say! There is a ride tonight but I'm completely wimping out of this one. Once I used to the cold then I'll get out there but this first blast is wicked! I think a fire in the fireplace is on for tonight.

I do plan to return to some sort of fitness center schdeule this afternoon after work. Got to do that core training that I was good at then quite during the late summer. My fitness and bike riding attitude has seem to be on a low right now. I think I need to plan some insane rides for next year and committ to them so I'll have to train. I think it's all a mental game with me.

And my eating habits... oh man, now that just ain't right! There's a lot going on that has me stressed and I asked Terri to pick up a pack of cream horns last night when she went to the store and I downed 2 of them plus chips!! I'm going to explode if I don't stop eating like I'm riding 40 miles a day still.

I'm ready for the weekend. Oh by the way, my nephew Jim is coming in from Texas with his family for the Thanksgiving holiday. They will all be heading to Rogers where my neice lives for the holiday. It's funny he hasn't said much about Arkansas in a while (he bleeds orange now ya know!) but this weekend is high school show down and he is blogging "Arkansas" stuff. There will be state troopers at the state line wearing hog hats and awaiting his arrival no doubt! HA!

The cold front arrived at 1:48 pm

I know it's a strange name for my blog today but at 1:47 I think it was 70 and at 1:48 the cold front hit and the temp dropped a mile a minute! At 2pm it was chilly outside. The storm clouds have left and the temps are cool and the wind is ROARING!

I had lunch with other healthcare recruiters and it was great to bounce ideas and listen to what they have going on. No, we didn't swap trade secrets but was able to talk about stuff recruiters have to put up with. Networking is always good!

I found out that Jim Brickman was coming to Robinson Center the Sunday after Thanksgiving so hoping to see that Christmas show! My buddy Gary my have some tickets.

Not much going on today.

He rode across the country with his boys!

Joe Kurmaskie is by far my favorite author. He's not a big famous John Grisham sort of writer but if I put Grisham against Kurmaskie, then Kurmaskie is the winner here. I found a book called Riding Outside the Lines. Joe wrote it and it's a journal of his bicycle adventures. Joe and his writings are the real reason behind why I took the bicycle tour this summer. After reading his adventures I wanted to do the same. So while I was starting my ride around the state, Joe started a much larger adventure. He was starting in OR with his 2 youngs sons and was going trans America! The bike with his son's hook on bike and the bob trail for his youngest son reached 14 feet long and the total weight was a whooping 250 lbs!!! Across the country! Now that is cool! Joe had sent me an email and told me to watch the December issue of Men's Journal. Saturday I picked up a copy in Books-a-Million and there he was with the boys! Joe, if you're reading this, man, you're my hero! I can't wait to read the new book!

Another story in the magazine was about retracing the Lewis and Clark trail. The whole issue was stories that came from a poll of readers. The theme is "What do Men Want?" Joe's adventure was what 33% of it's readers wanted to do as an adventure. The Lewis and Clark story was about these 2 buddy's that fly in, get a brand new GMC 4x4 and drive the trial. Fun story to read. Makes me want to do it! Maybe on a mountian bike!

Saturday I cleaned the yard and as it always does, the wind and the rain come as I finish. Can't tell I did a thing out there! Guess I'll have to do it again this Saturday.

I had only one person show up for the Saturday ride. It was still a good ride but I can't say I wasn't a little disappointed. The ride was only 26 miles and most folks wanted a longer ride on Saturday. So I've led a ride now and done my thing with that. I'll be happy to help out but not lead/set-up the event.

Terri is back home from visiting her folks in FL over the pasted few days. Had a good time.

Hard to beleive that next week is Thanksgiving! Before you know it I will be talking about that I can't believe next week will be Christmas!

Fast and quick

Ok, it's 4:30 on Friday afternoon and I haven't posted all week. Sorry friends and family. Life is good. Terri is visiting her family on the beach. Tyler is wrapping up his senior year. Emily is drama queening about something. Several mailboxes including ours were hit with pumpkins last night. The whole thing was ruined! What moron's! So I've got to go to Lowe's and buy another.
Everyone is riding tomorrow. I'm leading my first ride! Books-a-million to the river and back. Going is all downhill and coming back is all up hill. Have a great weekend! Maybe we'll get a new computer at home someday and I will return to writing at home.

Roll through 5,000 miles

"What are you going to do as you roll over your 5,000 mile mark?" Mike asked.
"Ummm, I guess keep riding" I laughed.
And I did. I can tell you right where I hit my 5,000 mile mark on the bike. It wasn't exactly on a beautiful street with the colorful fall leaves but it was in a good place. I was in the neighborhood where my wife lived for a while when she was growing up. Rose City. Sort of cool name for a place to hit a goal uh? When you perform well or win a race they give you roses and I got a whole city of roses! Can't beat that friends! I started the ride this morning with 3 good buds. John Van Pay (JVP), Mike Mitchell and Paul Britt. I rode with these guys when they did the cross state fund raiser. It was great to see the guys again. I made sure I pulled the group as much as possible today and we had our sure of wind. I still have a bad "thing" about not pulling all that much when they did the cross state. It's not something I think they even remember but it was a weak riding moment for me. Anyway, great friends and another goal reached. I'm pushing it now for 6,000. That means about 100 miles a week. That equals a couple of 15's on the river after work (yup, with lights and dodging deer), a 40 or so on Saturday mornings and a 30 on Sunday. That's doable as long as the weather doesn't rain me out then it will be spin classes.

I do have to say that I certainly didn't reach this goal on my own. I have an incredible support system. I have a wife, son and daughter that encourage me. I have a zanny family that support me and cheer me on. I have my circle of friends, actually several circles. I have a trainer that tries to kill me in spin classes. I have cyber buds at bikejournal.com. And it took everyone to get me to my goal. So if you're reading this, serious, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

I might have a part time job working a few hours a week at our hospital fitness center. Not sure yet though. There was a glitch in the process so we'll have to wait and see next week. I would just be working the front welcome desk but I would be there to stay in shape throughout the winter months and Terri and Emily can come over since they are members already. Family workouts. Sounds cool!

Mid week madness...

This will be fast. I had a meeting all morning and I'm taking Emily to the dentist and I'm hoping to get a bite to eat.

Yesterday's job fair put us in front of over 4,000 people. It was a good crowd too. They dressed up and most were serious about employment rather than just taking the stuff we give away. My voice was ruff as we finished. Several from LA and MS but not as many as I expected and the ones I spoke with are hoping to go home within the next 6 months. Makes it hard to hire them when they say that due to getting someone really trained then they leave.

One of the department's in the hospital is already decorating for Christmas. Serious! It's an out of the public eye department but still.

I've not been on the bike since Sunday and I'm eating like I'm still riding everyday. This is going to get really bad if I don't cut back. Will is putting together a ride for Saturday morning that will start and end at a coffee shop. FOOD! I will lead my first group ride next Saturday and it will also start at a coffee shop... FOOD! I'm going to Ft Smith next Monday and they have a Panera Bread! MAJOR FOOD! (Those would know me are laughing right now! I love Panera!). Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm not a big turkey fan but there will be lots of desert food!! The new Southern Living came and Terri is talking new recipes... FOOD!!! So there you have it! I'm gonna explode by spring! Now where is that website where I sign up for that tv show called the Biggest Loser? That's a great show to sit on the sofa and eat chips and brownies while watching! HA!

Well, got to run ... Mandy if you are reading this, I hope you get well soon! I know Texans say they bleed orange, so do they barf orange too?

Hot Springs, now that's a good climb

Saturday started like no Saturday I've had in a looooong time! I got up and had coffee and slowly eased into the morning. No bike ride or training to do! What a weird feeling. Sort of like skipping work or something.

Terri and I went down to Hot Springs and stopped to visit my folks in Benton on the way. They were telling us about that my sister Donna and her husband had taken them down to Hot Springs the day before and had gone to a WWII airplane exhibit and was interviewed by the newspaper. We picked up a paper in Hot Springs and low and behold there is my Dad and several WWII airplanes on the front cover of the paper!

We returned from Hot Springs a little while ago. Get quick trip over and she visited with the hotel staff regarding booking a convention and she did the spa thing. We had a nice dinner at Brick House. Terri's steak was great and my prime rib was the pits! Plus a guy was walking through the place at dinner time with a ladder and turned and hit me in the back of the head. I couldn't help but laugh.

After dinner we went up to the top of West Mountain and caught the very end of the sunset. What a beautiful way to end daylight savings. HA!

I got up early this morning and showered and got ready to ride before Terri got up but realized I didn't have anything to eat. I snuck out into the room and got a cookie that was part of the welcome basket and made coffee in the little coffee pot in the bathroom and sat on the side of the tub in my cycling gear eating cookies and drinking coffee. Hey, ya gotta do with what you have. Right?!

I slipped out of the room around 7 and headed to West Mountian. Beautiful morning with a hint of fall all around. The hickory trees are turning yellow and the dogwoods deep red. White tail deer gazed along the side of the road keeping their kids close by. It was a great couple of climbs.

Then got on Central Ave and turned by the Arlington Hotel and up to East Mountain. I like it better because the road is one way. No that there were hardly any cars anyway. Passed a couple of runners challenging the mountain as well. Got up to the lookout tower and then down and back up again then when around the north loop.

Got back to the hotel and Terri was up and getting ready. I showered and got into weekend clothes and we headed over to Perkins restaurant to eat. Great breakfast!

Terri said that Emily had talked to Tyler earlier and sounds like he is staying in Denver after graduation. She said she still expects him home for Christmas every year still. I do too!

Happy 50th birthday Wayne!

The Fast Girls and Slow Guys had it's last after work Tuesday/Thursday ride yesterday. It was actually sort of sad that the summer is coming to an end. But as predicted we went out in a blaze of glory!

We tinkered around till almost six rather than starting at 5:45. Rolled out and right off the bat there was hammering going on. No warming up tonight. Stayed at around 20 through the woods and slowed for a moment to cross the short wood bridge then up again. Wayne, the birthday boy, pulled. Yale attacked. Chris then pulled and got us going around a steady 22mph. I took the pull next and took us on down to the river park and then do as I always do and that's pull over to the left and watch as they try and kill each other in a sprint to the bridge. Lord help any walkers that see this train coming!

We stopped for just a few and began the 7.5 mile ride back. Everyone was talking and having a good time while rolling along about 21mph. Open to the open road and Chris cuts loose and takes us to 24. I really need a drink due to dry throat. Chris pulls off and his wife Jennifer (very strong rider) takes us on and bam... Mark attacks. Bro, we are already at 24!!!! The breakaway group slows on up the road as we catch them. Once again we are all bunched up. No real order, just good time. We get just below the cliffs and I pull us around, down and across the long wooden bridge to Burns Park golf course. That's it, need a minute to recover. We all group together and fly down to the river and across by the soccer fields, the hay field and then the small wooden bridge. It's dark now and even darker as we gear up to hammer the last of the path to our cars. "Deer ahead!" the shouts come. The herd run over across without bothering us and the break away group start to crank it up. Mark... Bill... Chr---- DEEEEEEEERRRR!!!!! AHHH!!!! The deer fly out to the right of Chris and he barely dodges. Oh crap another runs between Chris and I. I lock it up and lean to try and slide off the path and feel a slight shift of my back tire. It felt as if the deer rubbed the back tire or maybe I hit a crack in the road or a stick. Then the laughter started. Chris and I laughed so hard and so loud mainly because of our good fortune that we were still on our bikes rather than bloodied on the path. What a rush!

We all got back to Cook's Landing where our cars were parked still laughing and cutting up. Bikes get loaded and we all head over to get pizza, chips & salsa and drinks in Maumelle. Jennifer had gotten the table all set up for Wayne's 50th and made him wear a pink boa, Mardi Gras beads and a funky hat that's a big birthday cake. What a hoot! We give him cards, goodies and a gift certificate from Chainwheel.

We talk about what we'll do now. Winter's coming and we want to continue the fun and friendship we've built throughout the summer so we're going to try and spin in the fitness center on Tuesday/Thursday nights. There's never anyone there after 6:30 so it shouldn't be a problem. This way come the return of daylight savings in 2006, we'll still be is pretty good shape.

All in all it's been an incredible summer of riding! At the moment I'm 117.63 miles away form knocking off 5,000 miles for 2005 and I still have 2 months left! Never in a million years would I have thought I'd do something like this. It's the first sport that I have ever really had a compassion for and excelled in.

I'm not patting myself on the back, just stating a fact about myself and sports. Ask me about who is the current quarterback for Seahawks? I don't have a clue. How many points did Kobe shoot in the last game? How should I know? But ask me about bike racing and, yep, I can tell you about Basso, Levi, Ullrich, Mayo and Lance. I can tell you that Hunter and Donnie are the strongest Carve riders locally. I can tell you that Brice Jones lives in the heights and rides for Jelly Belly. I can tell you that Healthnet ruled the bike race world in the US. I can tell you that Colorado has the best collegiate cycling team.

I think I like this sport because it gives you freedom. Pick a road and go ride. Go explore. See the sights, feel the air, smell the smells of autumn. You can go in a group and laugh and cut up or get serious and work on skills. You can go solo and think about life, set goals or just unwind. You can ride on flatland or you can challenge a mountain.

Yes, it's been a wonder cycling year ... so far!

It's the same as jackhammering your head

Friends, about once a year I get a migrane. Yesterday my lotto number was drawn. About lunch time I started getting tunnel vision then about 3 the monster unleashed the fury! At 4:15 I left the office and drove home with both hands on the wheel and white knuckles. At 4:45 I walked in, kissed my wife and crashed on the bed...still with suit jacket and wingtips on! I'm so glad I only have these train wrecks about once a year and I really feel for those that get them often.

Tonight will be the last "Fast Girls and Slow Guys" club ride at least after work version. With daylight savings about to hit the after work rides will be very limited. This is sad because our little club has had a blast this summer. I've learned a lot about group riding and being an inch off someone's back tire without killing us all. But the last ride will be one of the best no doubt. Wayne is 50 today and we'll go out in style... mad man hammerfest to the finish! But we've all opted to let Old Wayne finish first, even though it's against the hammerheads code of unethics! HA! And I have a new back tire so I'm sure that will make me go faster!

Oh yeah, we are really having fall now! It got cold the past few nights. Terri will push me to build a fire in the fireplace very soon and is already after me to buy wood. I have to admit, I love the fireplace too!

Also Terri go the kitchen table refinished and it looks brand new. It's been nice to eat at the table again. I'll go though the "No, we're not eating in the den in front of the TV" withdrawal now.

Terri and I are going to Hot Springs Saturday afternoon and I hit my buddy Gary up for best places to eat. He's from there and still keeps a place down there but also bought a place in LR when the gas went through the roof.

I finished reading a book called A Walk through the Woods by Bill Bryson. It's a hoot! It's a journal of a guy that hikes the Applilation (sp?) Trail from Georgia to Maine. A friend of his goes with him named Katz and what a pro-hiker he is ... not! It's also one of my neice Shannon's favorite books. I see why!

I received word that our ACH jersey order is heading our way! There were a lot of folks that wanted to get ACH cycling gear so we got all sorts of stuff! I'll be able to have the whole ACH kit as it's known (Uniform). Socks, gloves, long sleeve jersey, shorts! All custom for us! I can't wait for Bike to Work next May... we'll look snappy if I say so myself!

Well y'all go have a good day and don't forget to laugh at yourself because we're all laughing at you! :)

Planning for the big graduation in Denver

The clock is ticking and Tyler will be graduating in just a few weeks but right now he is in a heavy load! He has classes, plus a job, plus an internship, plus the decision of staying in Denver or returning to Little Rock. What a load on a young man. We'll know in a few weeks if he will be staying. Either way, he'll move out of the apartment he's in.

I've recooped from the Austin ride so I'm good to go but got an earthquake of a headache today so I'm heading to the house instead. I must ride tomorrow, I must ride tomorrow, I must ride tomorrow!!!

I finished my annual hospital physical a little while ago and was ticked that I weigh in at 172! I've been at or below 168 for a while now. With winter coming and less rides I'm going to really have to watch it. If I keep eating like I am now, I'll be whale biker.

Now what's up with those Astro's? Come on guys!

Terri and I are going to Hot Springs Saturday night. We're going to stop by my folks house in Benton and visit a little before going on down. If Terri sleeps in Sunday morning then I'm going to take my bike out and go ride up by the Arlington to the lookout tower. Heard it was a good climb. I need it!

In general, life is good...

I want to be a TEXAN!

Austin, Texas! What a town! I would move there in a heartbeat if the weather was like it was this past weekend. My nephew Jim lives just outside of there and I’ve heard him talking about the heat but still what a town! Everyone was very friendly and laid back.

We got to Austin about 6 and got checked in to the Embassy Suites and it was a really nice hotel! Super staff! After unloading we got directions to the Oasis restaurant. Now that’s a cool place if there was one. There are 40 decks and it’s where Austin goes to watch the sunset and now I know why! What a view! I had fish taco’s that were the best! I ordered mind without peppers and Rance didn’t. He also didn’t have any liquid in front of him except a rum and diet coke so he had to suffer until the waiter returned. It was worth it! The boy was sweating! We got back to the hotel and Rance has what’s called Papaw syndrome. He goes to bed very early. 9 o’clock on Friday night in Austin Texas and he’s ready for bed. It gets worse too! Saturday night he was in bed by 8:30 and Sunday night by 7:30. I kid you not. I played nice and watched TV and read a book.

Saturday morning we watched some of the crit races going on downtown and in the shade with the wind blowing through the buildings it was a little nippy but I love the races! We then went over to Livestrong village and picked up our packets and wandered through the expo. Lots of cool stuff.

Saturday evening was carb up at Macroni Grill. I had some chicken and portabello dish that was great!

Sunday was up early and out to the ride. Austin is at the late end of central time zone so it wasn’t sunrise till 7:30. It was really cool because when we were going out there you could see the event way off from the interstate. I told Rance it reminded me of Field of Dreams when they finally see the lights of the baseball field. What made it funnier was after we turned off the interstate it was a hill and a single file line of car lights. They built it and we came!

So Lance Armstrong spoke for a minute and then the ride started. My group didn’t get released for almost 30 minutes after the start. It takes a while to get 7,000 bikes out on the road safely. The first 20 miles was just a trail to see if you hit anyone. I was never really by myself until about 75 miles into the ride. Even then I could always see people.

I had a couple of flats. The first one at about 60 miles and the second around 82. I was working on the second when the support assistance crew came by. They were everywhere and always ready to help if you needed them. I really bummed out mentally on the second one because I was working toward a time to finish and I was going to go way over. And all the people I worked so hard to pass were all passing me while I changed the tube.

I made it to the almost to the end and then we had to turn and go up a hill into the area where the finish line was and as I turned a gust of wind, which I heard was 30 miles per hour, was hitting me directly head on! A hill and the wind!

But after the flats and the brutal wind there was a welcome that I’ll never forget! As I turned the final turn I heard a lot of folks cheering and I thought to myself that there must be a cancer survivor coming through but when I looked around, I was the only one there! All these folks were cheering for ME!!! They were holding their hands out for high hands, ringing cow bells and really making it a memory ending!

… and for that I say, THANK YOU AUSTIN!

And it's a good day to ride!

Ok, I admit, I stayed off the bike yesterday. Y'all know I've done that a day here and there. It was Dad's birthday so I spent the day with him. Ride before church? Yea, I could have but didn't. Ride after Dad's birthday party? Yea, could have but I didn't. Serious, I woke up feeling really good after the Ride for a Better Life ride on Saturday. That was one of those rides I really enjoyed.

I did mean to mention the "hill" on the ride. It was funny! We started going up a hill and there was writing on the road that just said "Hill" and a smiling face. My first thought was there must be a long hill or something you couldn't see coming up. I watched the guys in front and noticed they really weren't holding back to much to have done this hill before or no one was local. The next thing I know there's a note on the road "You made it". I snickered as well as the others as we all saw it. The folks that put on the event had a sense of humor and that always helps!

Also, I heard this morning that a rider had gone down along the way and was airlifted. He had broken ribs and liver laceration as well as collapsed lung but reports were that he was stable now. This must have happened after I left the ride. I hope he continues to recover.

I'm starting to get excited about Austin, TX!! Everyone has told me about all the cool stuff to see and do. They've told me about a pancake place to go to, about the bats, about how everything is orange, about 6th street, about some world grocery store where you can sample all this weird stuff, and about that I was going to have a blast! Rance and I are leaving about 9 Friday morning to drive down and should arrive in Austin about 6. Saturday is packet pick up day and there is a great crit race through downtown and rumors of some pros racing! Sunday morning is the ride.

I will be riding in celebration for a friend from church named Kathy. She's a real sweetheart and has beat cancer! Yep, she went through the whole deal and she won! She will be here in LR on Saturday walking in the Komen Race for the Cure with the other about 40,000 ladies walking. It's a cool thing to just go and cheer on the gals! We have a deal where the guys line up and it's called "Three Miles of Men". As the week progresses everything in downtown LR turns pink! It's really a cool way to honor, celebrate and remember those who fight cancer.

For a better life

I came across a flyer for a ride in Jonesboro some time ago for the counseling center there that's part of the Southwest Church of Christ so I thought it would be fun to go back to Jonesboro and ride some of the area I'd ridden before. This was the year's best ride goody bag! We got gym bags (rather than the usual plastic bags) with a t-shirt, bandana, first aid kit, a book, pens, electrolytes replacement packets, cups, CD holder, and another bag filled with all sorts of stuff I haven't opened yet.

I got to the church about 8:20 after leaving my house a little after 6 a.m. The sunrise out on the fields was a beautiful way to greet the day ahead. Lots of riders there. The unusual part was how many Specialized brand bikes were there. There was even a Specialized tent! I rode around the parking lot a few times to loosen up and a few other guys came out and joined me. 9 o'clock came and they got us all together and made announcements and the "road is not closed for the ride so be careful" speech.

We take off and straight out of the gate I see we have some strong riders. We go through the downtown area and there are these brick pavers about every half block. They were rough but I didn't see anyone fall. There were people on the sidewalks cheering us one as we rode through. That was cool! We then head out through the subs and to the country.

We were challenged with wind and train tracks! Every since my wreck, I hate train tracks. I still pull out of a paceline when we come to the tracks. We have a small break away group of about 20 guys and going along at a nice 21-23 mph pace. I will tell you that these guys were competing for spots. There were times when I really thought I would have to pay someone to get back into the line.
So anyway, we are moving along and I realize the group is getting smaller and smaller. We are dropping guys like flies. What's up with this I wonder?!

I pass a rest stop and then take a curve and then I was solo except for the few folks about 50 yards ahead of me. They just hit the field crossing and the wind is popping us hard cross ways. I feel my bike leaning into the wind. That's always a strange feeling. Another guy comes along and we ride together for a talking as we start to gain a little on the 2 guys up ahead. We finally catch up and make a group of 4. There is a guy that was wearing a red jersey and this man could pull like Rob Carr does. The guys just seems to push the wind out of the way and rides right through. At one time when I was behind him I noticed he was starting to have salt lines across the top of his shorts. Pulling like that would do it.

So we are moving along good and we catch up with a couple other men. Ok, I have to tell you about these next two guys. When the ride first started there was this older guy on a Rock Hopper mountain bike. Had the VW/Rock Shox jersey and all. I thought ok, he'll drop before long on that fat tire bike. But here's the deal. No one would pass him at the start. He was someone special because I could tell easily from the way the local riders were treating him. So here we are about 50 miles into the ride and the guy had gotten way ahead. He was somebody alright! I hope I'm like him when I'm his age! We all took turns pulling and stayed together and took it on home. Even though it was not a competition we were the first back and I was number 6 in! Not bad!

I blew every rest stop today since I had my own food in my jersey and a water and Gatoraid Endurance in the bottles.

I said my goodbyes and thanked the volunteers and called Terri to let her know I was safe and on my way home.

Got to the house, showered and had a bite to eat. Asleep on the sofa for about an hour and when I got up my leg said "cramp baby!!" Ouch ouch ouch... I can hear it now..."Geo, if you would have stopped at a rest stop.."

I watched some of the TX vs. CO game. TX whipped the Buff's. I really like CO for there cycling team. There have been some star riders come out of that school. What's going to be fun is to read Jim's blog about them going to the TX game. I hope Trae got to go and cheer.

You did what??!!!

I had a "meeting" this morning. Man, it was a great "meeting" too! I was so stuffed with "knowledge" by the time we left Ozark Smokehouse... uh, I meant our "meeting". Actually I met with a recruiter from another firm and we ate and talked business. Ok the honest truth was that Rance, Kim and I met and had breakfast.

I rode with the guys last night and Mark was riding strong to have had surgery 3 weeks ago. I really wanted to work hard for the team so I pulled for long stretches at 21-23 mph. My new cleats work really well. When we were coming back Mark and I broke away from the group and cut loose! When we got back to the parking lot and didn't even see the crew coming up the road yet, we gave each other the smashing fist high five! Mark is a great guy that goes to Fellowship and rides for Carve too (I think). I hope I can keep my level up to continue to ride at his pace.

Tonight is Sylvan Hills homecoming. I hope the guys pull a win tonight. they need one! One of Emily's bud's was at the house last night . Boles is a terrific baseball player and an all around good guy. He came by to show us his senior photos and they are great. Anyway, he was going on about how the football team gets this that and homecoming, etc. I looked at him in the eye and said but Boles, you guys got a 5A state title and that's worth at lot more than homecoming. He agreed. Maybe this year we can find some stuff to help them like some sort of event like homecoming. Try outs are 1st week of Jan and games start in Late Feb. Ahhh yes, those baseball games where you freeze to death. I'm proud of our Bear Baseball!

I'll probably miss tonight's ballgame due to Terri working a booth selling these really cool bear blankets and Emily will be down in the student crowd. I've got to be really to ride in Jonesboro.