I have a new blog... follow me there!

Hey friend! I have a new blog...

http://northdirection.blogspot.com/

You'll love the ride... top down and going very fast towards the north,

Life is good!
Geo.

Friday 05 15 09

Nice day! We had sun. Most of us forgot what it was and called 911 to report the mothership was coming over the hill.

My IPhone had freaked out on me and froze up. I finally got it back to life by blowing on it and pushing the little button then blowing some more. The application is call I-CPR. That's just a load of bull crap I'm making it up! But there are so many apps for IPhone that someone would have believed me.

I rode this afternoon after work and it was one bad ride. Not bad like good=bad but bad as in bad=bad. I figured it may be because I haven't been drinking a lot of water like I was before the 24 hour ride. Also I noticed that my toes were trying to go numb again. That was the reason I took time off since the big ride is to let them come back to life.

I did ride over to the Little Rock side and saw where Paws on the Pavement run was going to be. I will be riding Cycle for Sight for UAMS medical center tomorrow if not raining but I plan to take extra cash and roll over to the doggy bakery tent and get the pup some uppity treats. There are a lot of tents set up so it should be fun.

The Greek food fest is also going on. Twits are saying the lines are long. I need some Baklava.

Riverfest is in a week or so. Huge music line up coming this year. Hope Terri and I can go wonder around and hear Heart or 3 Doors Down or the B52's. The signs are up already announcing the closure of the river trail section by the downtown for Riverfest.

I got a treat today! I scored signed gift photo from Altus Pocket. Google them. Great band! Thanks guys! I plan to have you cranking in the Ipod during my ride tomorrow.

Don't know who all knows but HUGE congrats to one of my friends who told me she was expecting! I'm giddy! She and her husband will be great parents.

Had Arkansas Hands and Voices board meeting last night. WOW! Got a lot rolling and lots of great stuff coming up. I really loved how we were able to say yes really quick to giving out some scholarships. I love the board. Very good group of folks... and yes, my communications sub-groups rules! HA!

Well I'm going to go read some more of a book I started. Really good! It's called Halfway to Heaven. It's a book about a middle aged guy climbing the 14er's. That's the mountains over 14K feet in CO. It's really funny and down to earth.

Back to life

I sort of took a break from everything for a moment. It's been nice.

Since the ride I've been waiting on my middle toes to regain feeling. My right hand was that way right after the ride but it regained feeling within a couple of days. I still have a numb toe. I suspect it will bounce back soon enough.

Everyone wants to know how much was raised. Honestly, I don't know yet. There are still some checks coming in. Did I hit the $10K mark. I doubt it but still happy with whatever did come in. It's just a little more to help the kids along.

The Joe Martin Stage races were last weekend in Fayetteville, AR and I had a great time. there were storms Friday morning so I decided I wasn't going because the Weather Channel said it was a slow moving storm. It wasn't. It blew right through. I had actually gone to run errands and came home and saw the storm was already passed so I threw clothes in a bag and took off. I got up there just as the afternoon road race was abut to start. My timing and parking could not have been better. I got out of the car and straight ahead was Floyd Landis sitting in a chair. I could not believe I was standing there with my camera in front of the Tour de France champ! I didn't except this so I brought nothing for him to sign. I took a couple of shots then walked up and introduced myself and told him thanks for coming to Arkansas and how did he like it so far. He said we was really enjoying it. Very down to earth normal acting guy. Thanks Floyd, you're the man!

I kept looking for Bahati in the crowd but never spotted him. Finally saw him in the team car in jeans. Not a good sign. I kept my distance even though I really wanted to meet him in person. I've been following his career since they were here 2 years ago. He is a national champ. He drove from LA (26 hours) and had tired legs for the time trail and missed the cut by 3 seconds. He is really ticked about it. He could have done that so easy but was saving his legs for the road race. It was a costly mistake. I just gave him his space.

Sunday was spent at my sisters house for Mothers Day... watching it rain.

Oh did you know it has been raining? Yep, so far everyday in May except 2. My ride day and my daughters birthday. If I would have planned the 24 hour ride for 1 week later it would have been cancelled because the trail was flooded. It's finally gone down and there is a UAMS Cycle for Sight ride there this weekend. Yes, I'm riding it.

Well is life good!

Flood of thoughts

Today I took the day off to take my dad to the doctor. Little did I know the air inside the room would be sucked out. The heart doc is the best in town and very good bedside manners. Dad's legs have been a bit numb and his feet are red/blueish some times. The doc put his hands on his legs and slowly rubbed down to his toes. He said dad has about 5-10% blood flow in his feet and that his feet are room temperature. Not good at all. Used words like amputation and gang-green(sp?). He also said he wants to try some other things first so we are sent to the Little Rock office for a die test from chest to feet. When the doc was talking to him I tried to focus on the doc but my eyes wondered to look over at dad. He had fear in his eyes like I've never seen before. It was a crazy look. A very sad look. It's going to be a long summer I think.

As I drove home I wanted to see how bad the river trail was flooded. I can't believe this is one week after my ride!! I'll let the photos do the talking.

I just thought this was funny. A drinking fountain in the middle of the water.

If your dog is between knee deep and chest high then they play here.

This is my new friend Mack. He almost got stepped on. I almost poopied in my pants.

Not sure if you can see this but this guy was bow fishing. There were huge fish swimming in fron the main river. When the water goes down they will be trapped and die. It was stick to high heavens when that happens.

North Little Rock side of Big Dam Bridge

Happiness is a choice

Happiness is a choice. That was the first thought I had as I woke this rainy Saturday morning. That was a little odd for me. Happiness is a choice? Where did that come from? As I sit here tapping away I realized it has come from 50 years of life. Very simple.

I turned 50 yesterday and told myself I would roll into the 2 half of my life with a smile and that I did. Yes, I rode a little bicycle ride but I did something that I never really did before and I think it carrying me through. I smiled. I smiled a lot. It wasn't a big smile but just a grin more or less because I was happy and I chose this happiness. I was surrounded by family and friends and I was trying to make a little difference in the world.

I then celebrated with a room full of family and friends last night. What a day… what a day!!!

I know I know, you want the bike ride write up. So here you go...

I slept good the night before, well until about 4am. I woke and was ready to jump up and hit it. I stayed in bed until almost 5.

As we enter into a epic event in our lives we seem to forget things. I forgot the most import things until the very last second you know the normal day-to-day things that you must do. No, I did brush my teeth. I got to the car and was actually backing out and something was missing. My cochlear implant!!! Terri was laughing at me. I had the hearing aid on but wanted to wait until the last moment to put the CI on so I would get the longest run from the battery. It was a good plan and it worked.

We got to the hospital and I got to meet Jennifer Thorpe. I call her a CI queen. She is a great CI spokesperson. I always thought she would be a fun person to know in "real" life not just cyber. I was not wrong. She is a great person to know. Very sweet and her and Terri seemed to have become friends as well. I also met her brother David. He came to ride and man did he. Super strong rider who seemed to never tire. Jennifer's son was also out there and it was great because you could tell they are a tight family. I loved this.

I also met a new ride named Rob. This guy had lost 50 lbs and was in great shape. He did some super pulls during the morning. Once I looked down and we were cranking a 20mph line. We got to the bridge and I said to myself, "This is crazy! I have to slow way down or I'll blow this afternoon." I let them go ahead.

Just as the ride was about to start a car pulled up and Van got ready. Van s one of those very smart and practical riders that is always good to have in the mix.
As we got to the bridge the first time I also met up with Matt Covington. Matt is one of those folks I out high on the list. He has to use a walker sometimes but that doesn’t stop him for what he likes to do which is ride. He is also considering an implant and that’s how our paths crossed. He has this cool like trike-bike and the guy can roll.

There was wind but wind is wind…

This is the moment of the ride that I hooked up with another Rob. I really respect this guy. He came out to ride the River to River ride a couple of years ago and is a Cycle Zydeco rider. Very smart rider. We talked for a few and it was sort of weird. It was almost as if I was talking to an older brother. We rode and rode and rode. He pulled and pulled and pulled. We locked in on 15mph which is the speed I had hoped to roll. He finally had to go home and he said the words that stuck with me the rest of the ride. "Don't let them pull you too fast." I was like those words were branded into my mind for the rest of the ride.

When I had a rider pulling to fast I was simply slow down. I was crazy at first because I love the 18mph pace but I had to go the time distance and not the length distance. It's a different kind of animal. Boy is it a different animal.
Terri, Emmy and a few others were stationed at one of the pavilions that would be used for the family picnic later and they kept us in food and drinks. Terri was awesome because she knew the perfect things to say to me every time I rolled in. She had seen me go down on the R2R ride and she knew how I had it in my heart that no matter what happened this time I was not going to have a “DNF” (Did not finish) mark beside my name.

I had taken my watch off and that was another excellent idea for riding a 24 hour. I had no idea what time it was for a lot of the ride. We were rolling along and here comes Mike Moore. He had said something about getting out there around 1. Was it 1pm already? It felt like about 10:30. I was giddy. Serious it’s like 5pm on Friday afternoon sort of giddy. Again I chose happiness…
Mike was an event super puller who pulled a lot until he rolled past a century mark (105 miles was the last length I heard him say and he was still going). He has a heart of gold.

Dan Herrington and Mike’s son Collin also jumped on the train that afternoon. I got to know Collin a bit more when we took a break during the family Picnic time. He’s a good guy. And Dan, Dan is one of those guys who is always smiling and looks for the good in everything. He has chosen happiness.

We got another surprise while we were riding that early afternoon. Yale! Yale is one of my favorite folks in the world. I don’t say that lightly. He was a great rider and super nice guy. He has had a rough year and we haven’t seen him much so when I spotted him I almost wanted to unclip and bear hug the boy right there in the middle of the ride.

There was a big picnic and we took families up the trail and over the bridge. I really enjoyed that. The picnic was a big success and thanks to everyone who came out and for all the volunteers who took time out of there busy lives to put it all together.

The sun was beginning to set so I knew it must be getting close to 8pm. That’s when Lance jumped on the ride. Lance was another in the super pull category. He lives next door to Matt and Mandy. He rode until around midnight I think. He is really nice guy with a mini cooper that he actually got his bike in.

Jump back a couple of hours and Chris Irons, David Wonn (an Ironman and the ultimate go-to guy for all things Tri!) and Chris Lyle appear on the bridge. It was great to see them! I knew those three would keep us going and they did. David had this super beam light that was a life saver. It was like having a Coleman lantern at a campsite. He does a lot of training in early morning hours (I think) so he had the right equipment for nights. Thanks David. Chris’ light was the same way. Mine was OK but I kept turning it off in case I needed it later. I did a couple of times.
So we are riding along and I see a rider coming toward us on the road smoking fast. I’m thinking man, that guy is rolling. His helmet light is coming to us abut at the speed of light. Oh man it’s Mooney!!! Yes! Robert Mooney is the State Champion rider. This guy would probably ride right up to Armstrong say “Hey bud!” then drop him. Mooney is a complete riot. He has chosen happiness. Always smiling and cutting up. He and Bethany are the sweetest couple. There is a photo that was made of them last fall I think and it’s one of my favorite. The photographer (oh crap I can’t remember if it was Bob or Jonny who took it) really captured the moment.
Any way so now I have, Dwonn, Chris, Chris, and Mooney. Talk about laughing. Sometimes I could hear them talking but I’ll be honest, most of the ride was a bit of a roar that grounded out the voices. Anyway, some of the things that were talking about were a riot!

Chris Lyle finally has to leave. Thanks for the pulls man! I appreciate you!
It’s now about 3am and we are doing a loop then stopping for about 10 minutes. I realized at that time I had made it to the final quarter. Each quarter would hold something special.

Sidebar:
Only a few folks had known that I had put this into quarters. The first was my warm up quarter. I knew I was good for that one. The second 6 hour quarter was going to be my make it or break it quarter. I knew this quarter would be my hardest. 9 hours of riding is about when I start to break down. Did it happen? Yes. Did anyone know? Terri may have. I stopped to eat a PB&J sandwich and the first bit almost made me barf. I was actually looking for a hiding place in case I did because we are at the family picnic and the last thing you want to see is someone puke just before the hot dogs are served. HA! It was the sweetness that didn’t take too well. I remember a Sunday or two ago we had lunch we friends and Doug Kilgore has rode a 24 hour ride on the CAC track to raise money for the school. He was talking about the sweet stuff and how I wouldn’t like it through the whole ride. No kidding! I finally settled back down and was good once I was riding again.
Rebecca Irons shows up and swaps or with her husband Chris. So now I have Dwonn, Mooney, Rebecca. I’ve never heard so much laughing … and uh, singing going on. They were singing on the way up the bridge (which is a mini mountain sometimes) and since the wind wasn’t blowing I could hear them and got so tickled.
DWonn has to ride back to his house a “do a little work”. Then we got back to the hotel and Mooney had to leave. He was so funny. He looked at his watch and said, “I have to get up in thirty minutes and go to work.” It was so matter of fact like something he does all the time. He said before he left, “Geo do you realize you only have two more laps?” My mind was blowing.

I have my first caffeine. About half a can of Dr Pepper. Now this is the first caffeine other than a little bit of chocolate in 3 weeks. That was the coach’s orders. Holy smoke Batman!!!! That rocked my system. I was wide awake and charged. It also made me wonder about me drinking as much caffeine as I used to. Maybe it’s not such a great thing after all. I learned that I could get steamers with favor shots at coffee places that satisfied me just fine. They are a lot cheaper too!

Just about that time Jo shows up! Now if you put Jo and Rebecca on the same ride you are going to be laughing and having a good time. Jo is one of my all time favorite people to be around. She’s just one of those down to earth folks who is easy to be around. Actually most of the people I enjoy the most fall into that category.

I start talking sunrise. It’s what I am longing for. Just let me see the sky starting to lighten. Sunrise is my favorite time of the day. I love to be in our kitchen and watch it getting daylight. There is just a Noah’s Ark sort of hope to each new day. It’s a new day, clean slate; it’s yours to make it what you want.
We make it back to the hotel for the next to the last time. Keith Moore and Kim Cossey jumped in we rolled along. I told Rebecca this lap was sort of like the end of the Tour de France. The work is over and the last part is sort of just a let it soak in and enjoy the moment. We did! We stopped on top of the bridge and looked around.

We were riding back towards the bridge again after getting to the turnaround and up roll Mariann! I’m so excited. Mariann is an Ironman several times over. She is gold. Wife, mom, friend to everyone, always smiles, writes very inspirational things on her blog and she has time to train for Ironman. Yep, she has it all together. I was so excited to get to ride with her.

Well it’s time… time to roll to the hospital and close the 24 hours. The crowd was out there and we rolled it on in. The waved and clapped for us then sang happy birthday. It was a moment that will be with me to my last days.

There are so many people who made this event happen and inspired me and cheered me on. The biggest of these is Terri. She pushed me out the door on training days. Pulled me up when I was down. Knew what to say and what not to say. I still can’t believe that more than have of my life has been spent with her. She my fiends is far better than gold.

And Emmy, thank you so much for cutting up and making me laugh. You are the most beautiful daughter in the world.

Tyler, oh man, talk about cutting up. I know you fell out of the basket the stork was carrying but I’m so glad you landed in our house!! You are and amazing son who I am so proud of.

Last but not least by any means… my friends. There are too many to name them all. As cheesy as this sounds, I love you guys! Ok, honestly not cheesy… completely sincere. I really do love you all.

Speaking of cheese… I smell something really good cooking… more later today and photos.

Life is good… choose happiness!

Ride day!!

Breakfast #2 done. Checking over all the equipment one more time. Sleeping bag packed... oh wait, I don't get to use one of those! HA! Got Rascal Flats "All night long" from the movie Cars stuck in my head!

Last post on here for the day... follow the adventure on our other blog:
www.gears4ears.wordpress.com

Facebook and Twitter: cobbgeo

Twas the night before...

Twas the night before the ride...

The day was crazy! Nice start with "I still have too much to do" finish.

Just chilling and about to watch American Idol.

More later!

24 hour bike eve

Slept like a rock and ready for the busy busy day ahead. It's bike ride eve. Got to wrap up things at the office today so I can feel good about being out the next couple of days. Things are really falling in place.

Folks keep asking if I am nervous about this ride? Not in the least bit. As crazy as this sounds part of it is because I get to sleep at home before I ride. Anyone who has done an event such as century ride, Ironman, Xterra can tell you the night before is always a wreck because yo normally are sleeping in a hotel. That had a lot to do with my last big ride. p way to late, couldn't sleep on the hotel bed, etc etc. A good nights rest the day before is going to make a massive difference.

Lots more updates coming up!

Life is good!

Geo.

Ready to rock!

I'm just really looking forward to this ride unlike an other I've done. I know the route by heart. I know the tough spots which is the "mountain" called the Big Dam Bridge (www.bigdambridge.com). I know, it's like I get to cuss when I say that. HA!

Sunday I went out for a easy spin and was loving it. At one point I was solo on the trail and it's a long flat straight stretch and I actually closed my eyes and rolled feeling the warm spring air and sunshine. I was priceless. Total calm feeling.

I've had nothing but positives about the new route. Lots of thumbs up. I'm glad about that because I was nervous changing a little bit of the course this close to the event. But it's a safety issue and well... I value my friends.

Lots of rain right now but all reports have the rain heading out and looking like Thursday will be a nice day to ride. It's 30 chance of rain every day of the summer.

I have a early meeting today with Audiology then get to sit in a panel discussion for grad students of Audiology this afternoon over at U of A. I'm excited!

Still need some more funds to get that goal... please consider donating!
www.archildrens.org

Life is good!

Gears for ears route change

Changing the Gears for Ears route. Alltel office to Alltel Arena. No Cantrell. No downtown Little Rock. No Broadway bridge. It's a MESS down by the Cathedral School construction. Much much safer route!

last dance...

Tonight was the last real training ride. I can ride until Tuesday but supposed to take it easy. Just ride around a look at the flowers sort of riding. That actually will be he [ace for the whole 24 hours. Just easy riding but for a long long long time.

We started putting the food list together. Going to be sort of hard when we have no idea how many folks are going to ride but it's only he ones who give a little bit of a donation to the hospital are the ones we'll feed and provide drinks to. That's only fair, ya know. There will be a million folks out there because we certainly would never request a closed trail. I want folks out the re riding and be healthy.

I did a radio show this morning and it was a blast. Thank you Jennifer, Eric and Gang for the warm welcome and friendship. Always make me feel at home there.

Tomorrow I will be on 91.7 with Kevin Clay. I can't wait. He's a pal anyway so I will be relaxed for that show.

The donations are coming in finally so I can calm down a tad but there is still a long ways to go. Please make your donation to www.archildrens.org Just think, you are changing a child's life for the better in just a few seconds and clicks of a mouse.

Life is good... when you're clicking for kids!

One Week!

In one week and 2 hours we'll be rolling out for the 24 hours on the bike for Arkansas Children's Hospital.

Donate now! www.archildrens.org

Running around

How weird this has been! I took a day off the bike and ran errands after work.

First stop was Arkansas Cycle and Fitness. Super sponsor and all around good folks. I had bought a light and could not for the life of me get it set up right. Stopped in and Dan had it going perfect in seconds. Almost embarrassed. I picked up few more Pro Bars ( www.theprobar.com). Dan hooked me up with one called Superfood Slam. I tried it Friday night during the night ride and plan to have several of these during the big ride. It was like I had just had a good nights sleep and ready to ride again after about 15 minutes of eating it. Mind blowing great feeling. I told Dan how much I enjoyed it and thanked him for telling me about them.

Next stop was the cleaners... not a sponsor but always a cheery group. Moose Cleaners on JFK. Great folks even when you leave a sock in the leg of the pants you took in.

3rd stop... ok, I'm hungry and where do you think I went? Aww come on, if you know me then you know where I go. Terri is out of town, Em is working and Geo goes to... BLUE COAST BURRITO for a couple of fish tacos. I'm family there. they don't even had to ask me what I want other then... "the combo?" You know you're loved when a eat joint treats you like that. Thanks BCB for being a great sponsor!

I watched American Idol tonight. I don't watch that show like some of my crazy friends do but Kris Allen was really good. A friend from church gave me a hard time about not voting for the Arkansas guy so I texted in a vote. I laughed after I did it.

Tomorrow we are doing job fair at Ft Roots! I'm excited to see the men and women who served our country. Yes, I will try hard to help them get jobs... it's the least I could do for my freedom.

Well, Life is good!

Questions and answers

I can hardly concentrate this afternoon! Taking a break for a moment and answering the flood of emails coming in. I’ve got my office windows cracked a bit and the air is that of late spring. You, know the kind that makes to crazy to get off from work and go play. I’ll be hitting the trail around 5:30 until dark. With the house semi quite this week, not much else to do but ride.

Here’s a few questions that have popped up…

• Is it just you riding or are others riding? There are others. A lot of others for the evening.
• Is it for anyone that wants to enter? Yes, we will be riding slow due to the length of the ride.
• If it is open to anyone, could I ride a little one day then go sleep ride some more then go to work then ride some more? You bet. Several folks are.
• I see the $20 donation for the adult, is that for the 24 hours? The donation is for any amount of riding.
• What are the dates / times for the event? Thursday, April 30^th at 9am until Friday, May 1^stat 9am. Starts at the main entrance of ACH.

There is more info on www.archildrens,org. Just click the Gears for Ears logo.

Thanks everyone! This is getting bigger and bigger and it’s ALL for the kids over here at ACH!

Life is good!

Geo.

Friday night riding.

Sun was high but hazed behind the clouds

Stopped to update Facebook and ohhh & ahh over the Big Dam Bridge.

What a night of riding! Started at 5 and cranked until just minutes before midnight! 7 hours and it was great. I could have kept going with ease but about 11:30 the winds really picked up and I could feel spit rain. I saw what I thought was a flash but after I was driving him I began to wonder if maybe it was a fisherman at the dam. There was no lightening around.

Back up 7 hours -- As I started Doug Pope was rolling in finishing up a ride. He is a good guy and awesome awesome rider. Super strong. Enjoys to laugh and have a good time.

There was a little wind at the start but nothing to complain about. It was nice riding. A couple of times I felt spit rain and knew that the ride was going to be short. Then about 7 the wind stopped. The river was smoothing out and it was rock-n-roll sort of riding. With no wind 20mph was easy. I rode and rode and rode. Had my tunes and was just really enjoying my training time. I mean compared to last weeks night ride joke. Crazy security and wind and 44 degree with wet air. Friday night was 65 at the start and 63 at the finish. Can't beat that!

With the clouds reflected the city lights I hardly had to use my headlights. I was rolling along through a field where I knew I would see deer and sure enough they ran across the road. About half a dozen. No babies. The next time I came through they were laying in the field about 20 feet off the trail and could care less that I came by. They remained there the rest of the night. I was so funny because I would sing out loud before I got there in case the were going to run then they wouldn't do it and plow me down. Guess my singing is not so bad after all, they didn't leave.

My biggest fear of the upcoming ride? The skunk. He/She is out there somewhere and I could smell it once last night but barely. I remember last year momma and 3 babies came up from the river banks and they were really cute. Cute is deadly! HA!

We with temps doing a really nice climb this week to the 80's then I suspect there will be some snakes showing there colors down by the river. I think I've only seen a couple of bad ones. Most are just King sakes.

I took the day off the bike. It was supposed to be raining and we did get some around 2a.m. but that was it until almost 2pm this afternoon then boy did it come down. So I could have rode this morning. That's Ok I'm happy with the 7 hours of night riding. I'll crank it out tomorrow afternoon.

It's not to late to donate to the ride! Just go to www.archildrens.org and look for the Gears for Ears icon on the right hand side of the page.

Life is good... in the dark.

2 weeks from today! Gear 4 Ears will rock

Me and super biker Jenn. She has on the last jersey we did and I have on the new Gears for Ears jersey. Jenn has been a pal since the early days of biking. Her and her husband Chris are those sort of folks you want in your circle of friends. Good as gold.

I rode solo tonight and just punch the clock for a little over an hour. I know.. whimpy! Just one climb and it wasn't too hot of a climb either. Just a climb.

I'm thinking of changing my riding schedule a bit. Saturday is 70% chance of rain. that's a pretty hefty chance so tomorrow is supposed to be pretty and nice with rain starting late. Thinking of taking the training to the river tomorrow after work and just ride into the night. Forget that track riding stuff. I just have to remember to eat something about 4 tomorrow afternoon.

Oh by the way... Arkansas Children's Hospital ruled the river trail tonight! By that I mean our logo was well represented! I saw an ACH blue and white jersey for the 2005 ride. i saw a river to river jersey (like the one in the photo above) from the 2007 ride. I saw last years slick looking CARTI jersey with the ACH logo on it and I had the Gears for Ears jersey on myself. 4 jerseys out there showing ACH. Now that's pretty cool if you ask me!

Did I tell y'all I have been off of caffine for 5 days now. No, I didn't get the headache. Did I cheat, no but I have a placebo. I learned that I can drink a skinny steamer with a shot of flavoring and I think I'm drinking my latte. Hey, whatever works. Brad has me off so that on ride night in 2 weeks that I can take caffeine pills and it will send me into orbit rocking! Said they do that at Ironman. Hey, if it gets folks through Ironman, maybe it'll get me through this. If you think about it, 24 hours isn't a long time at all in the big picture. Friends have asked me if I'm going to start drinking coffee and cokes again after the rid. Serious, I think I'll just stick with the steamers. Oh sure, I'll have coffee or coke every now and then but I don't know, we'll see.

Jump over to www.archildrens.org and make a donation to the ride! OK, what if you could not hear the music... that's right NO AMERICAN IDOL?! Huh? What if you couldn't hear your family... no not that selective hearing that people joke about but no hearing all the time. No laughter, no "Hey, I'm home!" ... and no I love you... what if you couldn't hear that? That's why I ride for 24 hours. If I need to take the pain to help you hear... I will!

Life is good!

Awesome nights of training

The past couple of nights have been kicking for the training!

I rode up tempo and did hill repeats. It was really funny because I rode up behind a group of folks and then down and then as I was climbing again that group was coming down and on the switchback I heard someone say, "Whoa thatguy's climbing it again!" It was my 4th repeat climb and it was just what I needed to hear. I gave me a little extra push. Well that and U2 and Green Day singing "Saints" piped straight in to my hearing aid. Love that song!

I rode on out to the park and climbed the backside. I was feeling really good out there! I rolled into the back of the Nitro group. These guys are screaming fast racers. You know those guys who can change clothes and ride with no hands. These guys are so good they could probably make a loaf of bread while riding. Anyway I snuck on to the back and rode along a little while.

Headed over to the bridge and met up with Moondawg , JMar, Jenn, Mike Moore, Charlie and a dozen others. Great group. It's the band of heathens I used to ride with all the time. Fun crowd.

Sun started to go down so I rode back to my car and got to see a beautiful orange and pink sunset. Man, I love it when I time it just right to catch those.

Funny: I put too much tape on the cochlear implant again and the thing was glued to my head! When will I learn? Yeah, you're right... probably never!

Tonight's ride was up tempo and a bit of climbing. Lots of folks out. I got smoked like tuna by a guy on a tri-bike. Man that guy was moving!

Well thanks for stopping by and hanging out a few. More fun stuff coming up.

Life is good!

Friday and thinking about Mena, Arkansas

Got the OK to ride loops through the night at the local high school track. Should be out there about 8 or so and will ride until daylight and then if there is anything left then I'll load up and stop to grab some Shipley donuts which is between the track and the house. Probably stop at the house then maybe go to the river for the sunrise of the morning.

The nice thing about getting to ride at the track is that I will not need headlights. I will take them but should be OK without. I'm going to borrow a coworkers Ipod and will have 3 with me so I will have enough tunes for the night. This is going to be a huge challenge to ride this bored and tired but when I come out of it I will have a 6 pack of confidence for the upcoming 24 hour event.

Tornadoes hit west Arkansas last night. The town of Mena was so nice to me when I rode through a few years ago. I stayed just down the hill form where it hit. The community college it hit had a super nice staff. Thoughts go out to Mena this morning.

Thursday 4.9.09

First off, Terri van was acting weird and we took it to the Honda place. Transmission. Yep, I can see you looking at this screen and shaking your head because you know it's going to hurt. Nothing like cashing in vacation time for the car. On the other hand, I'm very thankful I have a job and can cash in vacation time for something like this. We should get the van back Tuesday and we can ride together to work so it's not that big of a deal.

I didn't ride yesterday which was probably one of the best days of the year so far to ride. We were dealing with the van and rode together plus I had to start getting Sunday media stuff together. There's video and special songs and special prayers and we'll be packed for Easter. Should be a nice service then it's down to Benton for Easter Sunday lunch with the whole family.

Ok so here's what's up in the days ahead. My daughter said I was weird. It's training so what can I say? It's a night training session this Friday night. Yep, I'll be riding through the night. At first when Brad to me to do this I thought he was crazy but the more I've taken his advice the more confident I have become for the 24 hour ride.

Start time will be after dinner and food has settled. Probably go down to the river and ride as long as it seems safe then I'll take a break and come to the house and put the trainer out in the garage with the garage door open and the studio bike in the den and ride through the night until about 5 then take a break and go back to the river. Hope for 12 hours. I even thought about taking the bike over to Sylvan Hills track and just riding laps since that would be safe. It's open all the time. Low temp is supposed to be 56 degrees so it will be comfortable.

If I stay up all night on Friday riding then Saturday morning will be a nap. I do not sleep during the day no matter how tired I am. It's a rare thing for me anyway.

I'll update Thursday night or Friday with more details.

Life is good...cause I'm gonna get a new transmission!

Monday 4.7.09

Had two great hours of up tempo and climbing tonight. I kept thinking I would see groups out since it was a Tuesday night but only saw 2 groupo's (small groups).

When I dressed at the office before the ride I was thinking, "Man, this is over dressing and it's hot!" But I'm so glad I did because when the sun went down behind the hills the temperature dropped like a rock. My last Ft Root repeat was cold!

Speaking of Ft Roots. There is something dead at the first switchback and that dead smell has been going on for 2 weeks now. Whew.

I may be riding after work this afternoon. Not sure yet. Weather is going to be perfect. 74 degrees and sunny and no F5 winds.

Coming up this weekend is my night ride. I'm working out the details right now but some will be outside on the actual bike and some will more than likely be on a spin bike at home. Friday night may not be the best time to ride a solo on the river. In all honesty, I'm not worried about getting mugged but more that kids like to hang out down there and they would just be having fun but could spell trouble for me so... we'll see. Stayed tuned.

Life is good and I'm really feeling good about the upcoming 24 hour ride for ACH!