Just a guy on two wheels

Been a while

2010-07-13T17:01:00.002-04:00

So it's been a while since my last post. I guess the literary fire has waned a bit. I seem to have lost my competitive fire on the bike. So that is one less thing to write about. In 2010, I have participated in 2 bike races. I finished one. I don't seem to have it in me to do intervals anymore. Or watch my HR. Or use a watt meter. I guess when you've done something for as long as I've ridden bike it becomes stale. I'll be looking around for some new kinds of adventures. Trail running is one. I had some fun with that last fall. It didn't seem that running fitness translated to the bike though. I'll be trying a triathlon in early August. We'll see how that goes. I had some success with that last year. Maybe I should take up a fossil fuel based sport and get totally lazy and fat.

SAMMS A GRAND AWARD WINNER IN POPULAR SCIENCE!

2009-11-12T16:08:00.001-05:00

So my employer won a rather prestigous award today. Check it out here!

cute pic

2009-04-14T09:52:00.001-04:00

Not sure when this picture was taken, but aren't we cute?

A Great Christmas Duet - Bowie and Bing

2008-12-19T19:34:00.001-05:00

This is great. After hearing this I couldn't get the tune out of my head!

I want to be there

2008-12-18T13:42:00.001-05:00

Clearly this is a place I must visit in my lifetime. My name and my hometown. Yes, it must happen.

Halloween 2008

2008-11-01T15:22:00.002-04:00

Here are my Halloween hooligans! They had a great time cruising the neighborhood and collecting candy. Robot Boy had a tougher time moving around but received much acclaim for his costume. Thanks, Mommy!

The newest rider

2008-09-15T20:39:00.003-04:00

So I had the boy out on the Target brand like-a-bike and he figured it out! The three year old little nipper can balance on two wheels with the best of them! Woo-hoo!

The Perfect Bicycle Commute

2008-09-07T13:35:00.005-04:00

On Friday I had a perfect bike commute. I made it down the mountain and through the Baylor School intersection with no problems. After I crossed the Walnut Street Bridge I found a nice stand serving free organic coffee and treats from Greenlife Grocery. The stand was sponsored by Outdoor Chattanooga. They do this the first Friday of each month. After I got my coffee and talked for a few minutes I hopped back on my bike made my way to work. Nothing like a free cup of coffee to energize the rest of your ride.

On the way home it got even better. I cruised through downtown and passed the Nightfall set-up,then made my way across the Market Street bridge. As I'm cruising down Cherokee Blvd, I decided to stop at Suck Creek Cycles to see what was up. As soon as I walked in Adam offered me one of the new wit beers from New Belgium Brewing, for FREE! You can't beat a free beer after a long day at work. Shortly after I finished my beer Chris Gilligan arrived with a home made elderberry, echinacea wine. I had a snort of that too. After I was done ingesting "re-invigorators" I got back on the bike and rode to and up the mountain back to the house.

It's hard to beat free, time-appropriate beverages bookending your workday.

Days of Yore

2008-08-10T08:53:00.002-04:00

I'm in Winston-Salem, NC, visiting my pal Herbert, who recently moved here from Chattanooga. W-S is where I spent my formative cycling years while in college at Wake Forest University. One of my favorite rides back then, (16 years since I graduated), was to go out and climb Pilot Mountain. Back then it didn't seem too far away. Yesterday Herbert and I rode out there and it seemed like a looooooong ride. The climb was as difficult as I remembered, I'm glad I had a 26t cog in the cluster. I guess when you are young and stupid 23t is all you need. Now my knees aren't so tough. It was a great day for a bike ride but I can tell that I don't have the physical capacity of a 20 year old anymore. I guess when I race now I have old age and treachery on my side rather than pure animal strength.

It's been fun being in W-S again. They are doing a lot to rebuild downtown. W-S isn't up to Chattanooga's level of downtown quality but I have a feeling they'll get there. Now that Herbert and Amy live here I'll be looking for excuses to visit more frequently.

Mt. Evans 2008

2008-07-28T12:49:00.002-04:00

I went out to Colorado for my summer vacation and took part in the Mt. Evans Hillclimb as one of the "fun" events. I'm proud to say that I finished the event as the East Tennessee Master's 35+ Mt. Evans Champion. I ran into Steve Bacon of Bike Zoo on the start line and managed to make it to the top ahead of him, hence my championship designation. The weather for the event was terrific, sunny and warm. As we started, at around 7,200 feet, I felt pretty good. I lasted a mile longer with the peloton than I did 2 years ago, making it six miles with the bunch rather than five. At this point I executed a successful reverse attack and watched the locals ride away from me. I hooked up with a few other guys and we stuck together up to mile 14. We got to mile marker 14 in approx 1 hour 5 minutes. Not bad for someone with limited red blood cells. The second 14 miles were not as successful for me. My group of 4 shed 1 at about mile 15. The remaining three of us stayed together until we hit treeline at 11,500 feet. Then one fellow took off and left two of us behind. Us two stuck together and discussed training with wives and kids at home between gasps for breath. Finally with about 5 miles to go I couldn't maintain contact any longer and let the local go. I carried on solo chugging my way up to the top, glad that I had a 26t cog to keep the legs spinning. The final switchbacks were very deceptive and seemed to take forever but I finally made it to the finish line at 14, 140 feet. I was feeling a bit loopy at this point and was glad they had race volunteers who were very clear about giving the racers directions about putting on cold weather gear and getting down the mountain. My finishing time was 2:40:25 placing me in the 41st position. I was a bit disappointed because this was 2 minutes slower than my last attempt, despite my feeling better and having a lighter bike. I guess age is catching up to me. Anyway this was a challenging ride that I recommend folks try at least once if they have the chance.

Raccoon Mtn MTB Race

2008-06-30T20:55:00.004-04:00

Whew, what a tough ride! This was my first mountainbike race in about 10 years. The technology and speeds have changed a lot! In the Sport 30-39 class we did 2 laps of an 11 mile course. I finished the first lap in 66 minutes and then fell apart on the second and completed it in 79 minutes. I clearly need to work on my technical skills. Given that I'm a roadie I figure I did reasonably well. The vibe was much more fun than a road race too. I think I finished fifth from last. Eh, what're you gonna do?

MTB Race

2008-06-28T22:17:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow will be my first mountain bike race in years. Hopefully there will be someone like this cheering for me!

Ouch!

2008-04-26T14:28:00.003-04:00

The IT band is what I have been dealing with lately. After several weeks of physical therapy I seem to be on the rebound. Lots of stretching and exercises to come. At least most of the pain is gone! This has not been fun given how painful it was while riding. Kind of like a knife stabbing the side of my knee. I'm back training now and look to be in top shape for Mt. Evans in July.

Work Has a New Site

2008-03-07T19:46:00.002-05:00

So after a lot of work we've finally got a new website at work. It is far more user friendly and easier on the eyes. Take a look! If you have any interest in heavy metal remediation this is the site for you!

Duke goes down

2008-02-19T20:27:00.003-05:00

Sunday night was very nice. All 5 Duke starters fouled out and the team that usually wins by 14 points, lost by 13 to Lil Ole Wake Forest. Final score 86-73 I believe. Go Deacs!

Great Quote

2008-01-17T20:57:00.000-05:00

"I'm in an odd triangle- I Love my Wife, I love my bike, my Wife doesn't care for my bike sometimes and my bike is indifferent to my wife...."

Thanks, Steve Carpenter for the quote.

This is a pretty clear picture of my home life.

This is Class!

2008-01-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

I love me some PBR. Price competitive, yet tasty. My first car was a VW Rabbit.

My New Toy

2008-01-09T12:52:00.001-05:00

I finally pulled the trigger and got meself a new MTB. The 15 year old Ritchey will now go into semi-retirement and be used as a kid hauler. The new Specialized Epic Comp will help me go faster in dirt and be a fun hog.

More Christmas Merriment

2007-12-25T13:21:00.001-05:00

Nothing's better than seeing the lights at Rock City!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T12:58:00.000-05:00

Here's the gang looking forward to Santa coming down the chimney. They are very thankful that their desires were met and we now have The Littlest Pet Shop and GeoTrax items all over the house! Thanks, Santa!

First Snow of Winter 2007

2007-12-16T09:52:00.001-05:00

Here's a pic of our first snow in Tennessee. Not quite so much as we used to get in Maryland but something is better than nothing.

Friends

2007-12-16T09:50:00.001-05:00

Eric came to town for a visit. Here's a pic of him with the gang.

Superstar!

2007-12-16T09:47:00.001-05:00

To LA and back

2007-12-16T09:27:00.001-05:00

I recently took a whirlwind trip to LA, Louisiana that is, to meet up with my folks and get some furniture from them. The joy of it all was driving a white, Chevy cargo van all the way down there and back. No visibility out the back. Relying on mirrors to travel in reverse was not easy. Fortunately, 99.8 percent of my travel was going forward on I-20, both westward and east.

Here is a picture of the bayou upon my entrance to LA on Saturday. Taken at 70 mph.
Here is a pic of I-20 once I left Monroe on Sunday morning. Looooooooong and straight through LA and MS.
The sign says Mississippi River. This was taken as I crossed back into MS.
Here is the sign for my official entry to MS.
Here is a sign representing what many denizens of MS are.I missed the Alabama sign so Georgia was up next. I did however spend a long time in AL on I-59.
Finally I made it back to the home state. The mountain top I live on is less than 20 miles from this sign.

This drive wasn't much fun. 8 hours down and 8 hours back. I did get a free dinner off the folks at a pretty good restaurant in Monroe. I highly recommend the Waterfront Restaurant. It's right on a bayou. Monroe bills itself as the fast food capital of LA, luckily I did not have to experience that.

YES...

2007-12-16T09:17:00.000-05:00

...A PBR Tallboy does, in fact, fit in a regulation pint glass! However Delerium Nocturnum from Belgium does not! But it sure tastes good!

New club

2007-10-28T18:09:00.000-04:00

Looks like next year I will be riding for a new (to me) club, Scenic City Velo, here in Chattanooga. The one drawback to this is that they will be wearing red shorts. I'm a bit of a traditionalist and prefer darker colored shorts such as Black. The pic below explains why this is so for me.

Off season

2007-10-22T20:45:00.000-04:00

Not that I ever really had an on-season this year, but I did have some good rides. We'll forget about my racing exploits for now. I'll be doing a little maintenance riding for now, perhaps work out the upper body a bit and focus on other fun things to do. I'll also be tracking the cyclocross results on cyclingnews.com while rooting for Jon Page and drinking a few more of the following.

Sawtooth

2007-10-06T15:49:00.000-04:00

I hadn't ridden an official century in about a decade, so Sunday, Sept 30 I opted to take on the 6 Gap Century in Dahlonega, GA. This ride takes in some of the most nasty climbs of the Tour of Georgia, including Wolfpen Gap, Hogpen Gap and Unicoi Gap. All in all I think it was around 11K feet of climbing. Since I have been training irregularly lately, I opted to go for the enjoyable completion rather than shortest time. I woke up bright and early so I could make it down and start on time. Promptly at 7:30 AM the century riders took off. It was a cold morning so I'm glad I had thought to bring armwarmers and an undershirt. Even so I still got the shivers on the downhills early on. But I wasn't nearly as bad off as the goons from Florida who were wearing sleeveless jerseys. Anyway the ride started at a reasonable pace and I leapfrogged my way from group to group towards the front. Good thing I did because less than 10 miles in I heard a crash behind me. The first couple climbs came and went and I felt pretty good. I stayed within my limits and paced myself knowing there was much worse to come. To keep my head out of the competitive mindset I forced myself to stop at every rest stop and pig out on the usual cookies, bananas, PBJ, etc. The mile markers seemed spaced very far apart. I suppose that's due to the climbing we all were enduring. Finally I cruised over the top of Unicoi Gap and saw the base of the climb to Brasstown Bald. Damn, was that thing STEEP! I'm very glad that was not part of the course. We carried on and made it to Hogpen Gap. My respect for pros increased a great deal on this climb. Hearing of them attacking each other on this blows my mind. This was 7 miles of gravity mocking me. I was in my 26 tooth cog for the majority of this climb and was wishing I had a compact crank. It seemed to go straight up with the worst of it very exposed. As I looked around everyone seemed to be in slowmotion. Some folks were walking about as fast as I was riding. The rest stop at the top of Hogpen was the biggest one of the day and I made sure I enjoyed it. It was a lot of work to get there. Zooming down the back of Hogpen was a test of nerve. Bad road, lots of turns and shade. But I made it down safely and with a grin on my face. The other big climb of the day was Wolfpen Gap on which you've also heard about the pros going crazy. This was the prettiest climb of the day. Narrow, shady, lots of turns and lots of painted messages left over from the TdG. Wolfpen was a challenge but the turns and scenery distracted my mind a bit and made it much less painful than Hogpen. I strongly recommend coming down this way and bringing your bike or motorcycle. It really is something. The last climbs of the day weren't terribly challenging except for the fact that my legs were shattered by the more famous climbs of the day. I felt fair though and timed my Clif Shot to perfection with 15 miles to go. I actually had some energy left over to carry me to the end. Of course the 6 mile descent back towards the finish helped too. As John Harritt knows I don't ride with electronics on my bike so I'm not sure of my exact time, but I think I finished in about 6.5 hours including rest stops. The link can be found here.

Race Rig

2007-08-29T20:45:00.000-04:00

Here's a pic of my race rig, post River Gorge Omnium. The crash I succumbed to in the crit did some minor damage. Left side of handlebar got scraped up but thankfully they are aluminum so no need to replace. Left pedal scuffed as well as left side of rear QR. Finally, I got a mystery scuff on the right side of the downtube, starting on the edge of the "D" in Litespeed. It's very faint so no worries. The bike lives to ride again! After a quick bath she was much happier. Note the Indurain era Campy Shamals. Call me retro.

River Gorge Omnium

2007-08-26T21:21:00.000-04:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of racing the River Gorge Omnium here in Chattanooga. Being a Cat 3 and over 30 I had a dilemma. Race Pro-1-2-3 against teams like Jittery Joes or race Masters 30+ against "retired" 1's and 2's. I chose the latter.

Saturday Race 1 - River Gorge RR, 62 miles, 2 mountain climbs including a mountain top finish. We rolled out around 8:30 AM. Neutral rollout until we got onto the two lane highway. As with any long RR it was pretty tame for a while until everyone got warmed up. Then guys started trying flyers before we got to the hills leading up to the first major climb. I went off the front myself, but it turned out it was right before the first hill. 500 meters, right turn and uphill we went. Turns out I was setting myself up for sag climbing. I started at the front and was mid-pack at the top of the hill. We then rolled through some small ring climbs and flats in Tennessee and Alabama before the first big climb, Sand Mountain. Sand Mountain got my attention. Narrow, shady and steep would be the best description. This is where the big hitters went nuts and took off. I tried to stay in contact but wound up in the second group, just ahead of the moto official. Once on top we had a group of about 6 chasing and I must say I never felt so pro. We kept the front group in sight across the top of the plateau and descended like crazy trying to catch up. Once we descended and were on the flats we wicked it up and started making up ground. Then we actually had to work our way through the caravan which consisted of the wheel truck and a couple of chase cars that had passed us on the plateau. Unfortunately, they weren't offering rolling handups as seen in the TdF. We finally caught the front group and caught our breath. But bad news was on the way. I started cramping right as we started a vicious stair step climb. I drifted back through the pack and off the back. I managed to hold the gap at about 75 meters the rest of the way up the climb. I started making up ground but the peloton hit the top of the hill and began zooming down while I was still chugging my way to the top. Game pretty much over at this point. I kept plugging along by myself for the rest of the race which was about 12 miles. On the final ascent to the finish I managed to catch a few folks but still only finished in 32cd position.

Saturday Race 2 - River Gorge TT, 4.3 miles - The legs were feeling a little nasty from the morning exertion. I didn't have TT bars but did have some Cane Creek clip-on drops. I warmed up well and rode to the start. Nice course, mostly downhill. One booger of a climb about 1.5 miles in. Back to the small chainring for that! On the steep descent to the flat section, I got a huge speed wobble from using the Cane Creeks. My hands were too close together and the slight wobble was hugely magnified at the back end of the bike. The hands then went straight to their normal position on the regular drops, and the wobble was gone. Sometimes I miss my old bike! Flat across a dam a hard right and downhill to the finish. Time 10:34 or so. Second to last place. But a lot less guys were racing.

Sunday Race 3 - Downtown Chattanooga Crit - 50 minutes, 4 corners, flat and fast. I warmed up good and felt good at the start. We started and I was mid pack, which is where I stayed until a guy tried to pedal through a corner. When we went down I was right behind him. I locked it up, got sideways and thought I was going to save it. Then my balance deserted me and the back wheel came up. I landed on the left side of my ass and my left hand. Then a guy behind me clipped my shoulder. Immediately my gluteus felt like it had a tennis ball inside it and my wrist was hurting. I got up, put the chain back on the chainring and headed to the pit for my free lap. I got pushed back in but things weren't the same as before. I rode in the pack but my wrist and rear kept letting me know was up. I managed to hang in until the last lap when I let go on the back stretch and just rolled in. Post race shake down: slight road rash on left elbow and shoulder. Big, fat hematoma on butt and very sore wrist. I may be getting an xray on that tomorrow.

All in all, I'm not real happy with the results, but I have to keep in mind that I haven't raced since LTC and have been moving, starting a new job, etc. Wait'll next year! Next up on my agenda is the Six Gap Century in Dahlonega, GA. It goes over some of the sick climbs of the Tour of Georgia.

Poor Decision Making

2007-08-22T20:56:00.000-04:00

I signed myself up for a weekend in the hurt locker. Lots of vertical, a TT and a crit. I haven't done a race since May and that was quite a fiasco though I did look good for the first 5 laps. This looks to be even more of a pain extravaganza. Hopefully I will have good sensations, as the pros say, on the first day and do OK. It's also been a while since I did a 30+ race. But I didn't feel like trying my hand at a Pro, 1, 2, 3 Crit. I'll let you know how it goes.

Moostash

2007-08-18T16:33:00.000-04:00

As you can see the little fella has quite a healthy growth coming in. He's been cultivating it for some time now. His goal is to be able to rival any biker by October. We'll see how it goes.

3 county, 3 mountain Sunday

2007-08-13T05:26:00.000-04:00

Sunday was a tough ride. Left the house at 7 AM to hook up with a couple folks. Zoomed down the frontside of Signal on the bike to the K-mart. Headed out through Falling Water to Mowbray Mtn. Ascended Mowbray and rode around up on top for a while. I'd never spent much time up on top of that ridge before and really liked it. Hurtled down Hensen's Gap into Sequatchie Valley and headed south on East Valley road to Powell's Crossroads. From here I got to climb the back side of Suck Creek Mtn, which is quite an effort. Fortunately, I wasn't concerned about speed and did it far lower than race pace. Descending the front side of Suck Creek was the same as normal, sedate. Not a lot of curves and not terribly steep. At this point I had ridden about 60 miles and was debating whether to do the final climb up Signal and back to the house or to catch a ride up with a friend in their voiture. I chose to do what my man Stuey O'Grady says and "Harden the F*ck Up." I did the final climb, but used every gear I had to do it. It hurt a quite a bit. All told I think I had over 70 miles and three significant climbs on the day. Woo-hoo!

River Gorge Coming Up!

2007-08-04T17:00:00.000-04:00

Me and and the Ghisallo are going to take a stab at racing again now that the move is over and I can train a bit more regularly. When this pic was taken I had been dropped in a crit after blowing up due to lack of training. I hope to have enough fitness this time to finish all legs of the omnium I'll be participating in. Check out the details here. These races should take the starch out of my legs, but it should be a good bit of fun. Mountainous RR, rolling TT and flat crit. Yeowch!

Climbing Fun

2007-07-30T22:13:00.000-04:00

I took myself into the pain cave, solo, on Saturday. Rode up Suck Creek and down into Sequatchie County, then up the back side of Signal Mountain. 8 years erases the painful memories of climbing Signal from that direction. My memory was quickly refreshed during those long, vertical miles. Ow! Here's a link to my RIDE.

Green and Lean

2007-07-17T13:45:00.000-04:00

Steward Environmental Solutions

Go to page 26, #8 and you will see what I am working at now. I'm not on the scientific end, rather I'm a beancounter. But I'm trying to help make the world a little greener.

Home, sweet home

2007-07-01T18:15:00.000-04:00

Here's a pic of the home that is soon to be ours. We close on July 13. It has a few things that need to be fixed but nothing that is a showstopper. What is very disappointing is how little people do to make their homes ready for sale. Very few of the houses we looked at had even minimal work done to make them presentable. We sunk a bunch of money into our old house to make it look pretty before it even went on the market. I guess the demand here doesn't make it worth the effort for those looking to move on.

Deep into the pain cave at Leonardtown Crit

2007-05-28T13:36:00.000-04:00

Here's a couple pics of me at the Leonardtown Criterium, right here in SoMD. In both I am at the front however one is before I spectacularly blew up and one is after I recovered a bit. Little training and an open bar at a wedding reception the night before do not engender high performance. However I was top 7 for the first 5 laps. Then the wheels came off and I rocketed out the back of the pack. Oh well, at least I had a brief bit of glory and did lead for a lap. BEFORE:

AFTER:

A sharp eye will note the mid-90s era Campy Shamal wheels, much like Indurain used, and the 1997 Campy record gruppo on the 2006 Litespeed Ghisallo. Someday I'll get a new gruppo, but this stuff just keeps on working!

The first pic can also be seen at gamjams.net if you're interested. Thanks to Mancil of PV for these shots.

Possible pay dirt!

2007-05-23T20:46:00.001-04:00

Well, 2 couples are putting together bids for our house. In a dream world they will battle each other for the privelege of owning this place...meaning drive the asking price up. In this market though, I'll be pretty happy to get what we're asking for. Now I just need to find a new home for myself, yikes!

Au revoir!

2007-05-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

Soon I will be leaving all this behind and getting my own office, albeit in a much more industrial setting. I will be leaving the wonderful world of consulting for the world of manufacturing. Quite a change but should be rather interesting.

Bienvenido a Miami!

2007-04-18T21:05:00.000-04:00

So after making the big decision, I needed a break, so I headed down to Miami to visit one of my best buds. Eric did a great job of making sure I saw a lot of Miami in just a few days, while at the same time making himself ready for a couple months out of town. Here's few of the things I saw.
Good food was ever present. It was so nice to be in a city with such menu diversity! My tastebuds were especially happy after the Haitian meal shown above, which we had at Tap Tap.

In Little Havana I saw old folks in a park playing dominoes. Seems to be a pretty big pastime there. Lots of Spanish flying around and plenty of dominoes clicking on the tables.
Here's a picture of me with my big cock in Little Havana.
There were lots of cranes in Miami, though I think development has slowed. This was evidenced by the ads I saw reflecting "Developer discounts" on condos. I think the fact that many insurers won't provide coverage to places in Florida is putting the hurt on the homebuilding industry there.

It may be sideways but here is an interesting version of the Virgin Mary from the Haitian restaurant we went too. Note the voodoo items on the table in front of her: a dagger, a melon with beads on it, a jug of something, 2 gourds and a black chicken.

Finally, no visit to see Eric would be complete without a trip to the autoparts store. As ever, there is always something to be done to the Fox wagon.

The Decision

2007-04-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

Well the decision has been made. I will now go from being a crit racer in the Mid-Atlantic, to a mountain climber in the sunny South. The clan will be moving to Chattanooga, TN in the near future. Now we are in the frenzy of getting the house ready to sell so we can buy a place down there. At least I already have job down there so one less thing to worry about. Now I just have to sit down with my current boss and break the news to him. It's been great working with him and he has been good to me so it will not be easy to do. The opportunity to be a part of a start up with high potential is too much to pass up. In the future expect to see me climbing that big, ole hill in the background called Lookout Mountain. The Litespeed Ghisallo will finally be in terrain worthy of her.

Decisions, decisions

2007-03-24T11:02:00.000-04:00

So I'm exploring a new opportunity, with a new employer in a familiar but distant city. New opportunity offers more responsibility, interesting tasks and a chance to help out Mother Earth while making a profit. Only problem is that this is a start-up and will not necessarily succeed. With a wife and kids to think about what do I do? Wife is very supportive so it should be an easy decision, if I am ultimately offered the position. I guess we all get comfortable in our lives and uprooting ourselves to try something new is tough. But do I want to remain a corporate drone for the rest of my working days? This is an opportunity to grab the brass ring. Also, as I was told recently, if you want to get anywhere you have to step out in traffic. I think I need to go for a ride and think.

Cute Kids

2007-01-30T21:46:00.000-05:00

No the impish smile on the little guy's face. I may not be able to ride a bike very fast but I can make good looking little people.

Christmahs!

2007-01-11T19:38:00.000-05:00

Some people want to see more pics of my little family unit. Your wish is my command, Herr H! As you can see in the pic above the little man stands in awe of what Santa brought.
Here is a pic of the big 5 year old in the car as we travel down to the beloved inlaws for a visit a couple days after Christmas. We don't travel for Christmas day anymore.

Cruisin'

2007-01-03T19:50:00.000-05:00

The plane on the ground is my ride to the boat. It's a C-2A Greyhound aka COD. COD stands for cargo on-board delivery. Quite the majestic beast, eh?

This is a T-45 training jet. There were a bunch of new pilots getting their first carrier landings under their belts on the boat.

Here's your favorite blogger on the flight deck. Note the cheesy grin. The flight deck is a very busy place. We were very limited on where we could go on the deck so as to prevent getting sucked into a jet intake or having a helicopter propeller take off our head.

Here is a shot of the stateroom I stayed in. Check out the triple stack bunks, or racks as they say in the Navy. This was considered spacious. Junior officers bunk six to a room.

Here's a picture of the island. This is where the bridge is. The Air Boss does his work from the top level of windows.

Anchors aweigh!

2006-12-12T13:25:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I'll be doing this. Despite being a civilian I've been given the opportunity to take a ride on a C-2 Greyhound out to an aircraft carrier. I'll get to experience a trap landing on the deck and a catapult launch on Thursday! To say I'm a little excited would be an understatement. While aboard ship I plan to take in as much as I can and take lots of pics. How many of you have done anything similar?

Public Enemy #1

2006-12-04T21:21:00.000-05:00

Ace analyst Herbstreit, is great at picking Goliath to beat David. It's a regular thing for him. But my Demon Deacs proved him wrong once again, with an ugly win over Georgia Tech for the ACC championship. Yeah we're not flashy, Kirk, but we seem to find ways to win. Are you ready to give us some props yet or do you think we're just lucky to be on the same field as Louisville? By the way, thanks for the positive words, Corso!

Wake goes Orange!!

2006-12-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Well who would have thought that Wake would get this far? Typically we are a team that others schedule for homecoming. This year is different. I'll see you in Miami!!

Hell on the business world

2006-11-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

I just had a thought. I seem to be the kiss of death for companies. My first professional employer was Arthur Andersen LLC. We all know what happened to them. That happened a couple years after I left. The next company, Costello, Strain and Co, a small accounting firm in Chattanooga, TN, also vaporized a couple years after I left them. The company I work for now, BearingPoint, has been a regular in the news from Wall Street for several years now. None of it flattering. Hopefully, this will ride out smoothly and my curse will end.

Arachnaphilia and cow love

2006-11-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

So here's the 2006 Halloween gang. The rootin' tootin' cowgirl and her sidekick Arachnid Boy. As you can see, even with goofy costumes my kids are good lookin'. Nothing like eating a celery stick before hitting the streets and getting a candy haul. The little guy was more interested in blowing out the candles in jack-o-lanterns than getting candy, but still had a good time. Big sister scored on her candy. We now have enough to last a year. Hopefully the wife will take it in to school and give it to her students. Next year they will go out as Eddy Merckx and Tina Pic.

Ugh!

2006-10-08T21:45:00.000-04:00

October 7 was a bad day. It was the first trainer ride of Fall/winter 2006-2007. 1 hour of fun pounding the pedals on the Cyclops fluid trainer, whilst watching "More Fast, More Furious" on USA Network. Yeah, those dudes can drive their riceburners and I can sweat like a MF'er when forced to ride indoors. Frickin' weather gods are so unkind sometimes. I can't wait until the really nasty weather gets here so I can ride indoors a lot more. Please don't believe that last sentence.

There's a lot of world to see

2006-09-10T09:52:00.000-04:00

create your own visited country map

Between my wife and I, these are the places we've been. Pretty sad. We need to get out more.

Smokers...keep your butts in your car!

2006-09-10T08:03:00.000-04:00

Isn't this attractive? What, you don't think so? Neither do I. This is what happens when smokers throw their cigarette butts out of the window of their car. Would they do this in their smoky, stinky house? I sincerely doubt it. I guess their disregard for themselves translates itself into diregard for others and the environment. What a way to keep your community looking good. My taxes have to pay for the cleanup of this crap and it pisses me off. But I have found an ingenious solution...see the next pic!

This is called a car ashtray. As you can see this person is a non-smoker since his ashtray is filled with change. All you brilliant smokers could use this device to retain your cigarette butts until you got home or to work. Then you could empty the ashtray into the proper trash receptacle. What, you say? Then your car would be smelly? Well your house, clothes and hair already are malodorous, why not add your vehicle? Smoking is a choice you make. As such it is your responsibility to not ruin things for others who choose not to. Smoke all you want, I don't care. But be responsible and don't expect everyone else to clean up after you.

Sexy Bitch II

2006-08-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

Why, oh why me? The Ghisallo hasn't run worth a crap since I got her built up. Major drivetrain issues. Finally realized that the rear shifter was blown. New ones are now on order and should be on by the weekend. If that happens, I'll be posting a sweet pic of her in her racing finery. She'll still be a bit retro, but look and be plenty fast. Perhaps she'll make an appearance at the MABRA age-graded crit champs! I must be patient with my sweet mistress.

Mt. Evans, I own you!

2006-07-31T20:27:00.000-04:00

Well the 2006 Mt. Evans Hillclimb has come and gone and I survived! That race was probably the toughest thing I've ever done on a bike. It was definitely the longest climb I've ever done. Of a 28 mile race about 26.5 miles were uphill. It started around 7600 ft and finished at an altitude of 14,100 feet. Crazy high and well higher than any TdF climb. Even if the gradient wasn't all bad, the length and altitude made this one tough ride. I was dropped from the peloton at mile 5 of 28. Nothing like living and training at sea level. After that I set my own pace and managed to hook up with a few guys to work with for a bit. At about mile 13 or 14 I had to let them go. I wanted to make sure I made it to the top without blowing and so I had to stay within myself. Now that I have familiarity with the ride I feel that I can push it a bit more next time. As you can see I spent the last long miles by myself. Finally I got within sight of the top and could see the observatory. What didn't click with my muddled mind at the time was that I still had a lot of switchbacks to go up and the top wasn't as close as I thought. I was thinking "Damn, I'm almost done!" when I still had a long way to go. Funny how thin, high-mountain air can make you think strange thoughts. The sign for 1km to go was a welcome sight. The sign for 200 meters was even more welcome. That was the longest 200 meters I'd ever ridden! I was so tired at the top that I couldn't think of any way to post up. I just rolled across the line to my bag of cold weather gear and pretty much fell over. Turns out I finished in 50th place in 2 hours, 38 minutes and 32 seconds. There were 58 finishers. Of course I did win the competition between myself and my good pal, Eric Buck. So out of the Chattanooga boys, I am the reigning King of the Mountains and have the polka dot hat to prove it. Finally, some redemption for getting my butt kicked up Lookout Mtn all those times. Herbert, I'm calling you out. Think you can take my "Chapeau Pois?" :-) I'm sure my new Ghisallo will make me even more competitive next year. (See previous post)

Sexy Bitch!

2006-07-15T13:35:00.000-04:00

Won't this be a hot bike when I get it! I chose to get the lightest production frame made. For the time being I'll have to run my old 9 speed Campagnolo Record. Hopefully if I save my pennies I can look into getting 10 speed Campagnolo in the near future and becoming even more of a weight weenie. Tres sexy!

Speed Racer

2006-05-21T20:47:00.000-04:00

Not exactly a high detail shot, but here is the girl child participating in her first race. She's in the red helmet, overtaking the girl to her right. She finished third on the day and was the first female in the 5 and under category. She'll be an Olympian before we know it! Good job kid!

My boy Chris!

2006-04-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

Chris likes the Swiss! Chris Horner took another stage win in Switzerland today. Last year he won in the Tour de Suisse. This year in Tour of Romandie. Awesome job Mr. Horner! Stealing one from Valverde, in his current form, is terrific. Kick ass my friend! Bring this into the TdF. Yeah, you can work for Robbie in the flats, but when the going gets hilly, I hope to see you in the front group.

Mr. B!

2006-03-12T20:19:00.000-05:00

So I finally got my pal, Eric B, out on a ride. He's been hiding this winter using the graduate school application process as an excuse not to ride. With the temperature over 70 he wanted to poke his head out and see what riding was like again. After 1.5 hours his 'taint' hurt and he was ready to get home. I also managed to take 2 of 3 city line sprints from him. He's been off the bike a looooong time. That usually doesn't happen when he's fit. I have convinced him and another friend, Herbert, to do the Mt. Evans Hill Climb with me this July, so hopefully Mr. B will become a bit more motivated. I need him to pace me on the hill, the really big hill! I need to find some nice mountains in the Appalachians to train on. Maybe Skyline Drive or somewhere in NW MD.

Me and my boy, Ned

2006-03-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

Here I am on March 3, with one of my early cycling heroes, Ned Overend. Back when I got started in cycling he was a regular in Velonews, tearing up all the Grundig races around the world and becoming the first UCI MTB World Champ. Because of him I bought some sweet, Specialized mtb shoes. They were black with red accents and were awesome. Unfortunately the Texas limestone and my lack of balance on the bike tore them up pretty quickly.
At 50+ he is still competitive with guys less than half his age. I hope I am like that when I grow up. Ned rocks it no matter what the age.

Hard Miles

2006-01-16T21:30:00.000-05:00

When it's cold and wet here in SoMD, me and the big fella get our miles in on the trainer. Of course, we can't stand this for more than an hour, but some training is better than no training at all. Someday we might get up to 1.5 hours. I'm not counting on it. Watch out, Jan! I'm coming after you!

Christmas Bike!

2005-12-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Here is my pal's new Christmas bike. Pretty sweet, eh! He's an American, living in Garmisch, Der Fatherland, soon to be riding this Brit singlespeeder. Who knew the Brits could build a decent mountainbike? Who cares? It just looks like fun.

Oooh! Pick me! Pick me!

2005-11-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

Erik Saunders, I want to be an analyst!

Random Thoughts

2005-10-12T20:36:00.000-04:00

Here I am at a 'cross race in 2001, I think. This was the Monkey Hill race in Wilmington, DE. A very cool venue close to downtown. The park the race took place in was right next to the Brandywine Zoo. The zoo's monkey house was right on Monkey Hill. Brilliant! As you can see Saturn was still a team but I have no clue who the rider is. Maybe Mark McC or Bart Bowens? I believe Bart broke his leg at this race right by the monkey house. Nothing worse than crashing with a bunch of monkeys. That wasn't water in my bottle by the way. Instead I had some hip microbrew in there since alcohol wasn't allowed in the park and I wanted to be discreet. Lately, I've been a lazy ass on the bike. I'm proud to say I did ride the other day when it looked like it would rain. It didn't but it could have opened up at any minute. We got spit on a little but had no need for rain gear. The missus wants to try riding the wind trainer. I've explained to her how exciting that is but she'd rather do that than go out in the "cold." Is low 60s, cloudy and windy cold? Come January I'll be wishing for that kind of weather. Winter here in SoMD is not kind. Especially for someone like me from the sunny South!

2005-09-18T17:46:00.000-04:00

2005 SoMD Worlds
In a stunning display of strength and tactical savvy, Eric "the Calves" Buck successfully defended his title as Southern Maryland's world champ aboard his Litespeed Tuscany . By sucking the wheels of his fellow podium finishers, Buck saved enough energy to unleash the fury in the last 250 meters and win by a bikelength. For his troubles he won a 6-pack of Spaten Oktoberfest and the right to wear the coveted rainbow jersey, which you can see in the pic. He's rather fond of that jersey, which he proved by being the first two time winner of the SoMD World Champs. I don't know though, the stripes aren't very flattering. Congrats, Buck!

Tandeming

2005-09-05T18:02:00.000-04:00

We just finished our first metric century on a tandem! What I mean to say is I've done plenty of century rides and races before, but never on a tandem with the little lady. We did the Bay Country Century in beautiful SoMD on a borrowed tandem. Thanks, James! I'm pleased to say we didn't get crushed by too many singles going up the hills. The wife hung tough the entire way despite never having ridden more than 20 miles on her own before. She's quite the trooper! Hopefully she understands my bizarre love for the bike a little more. At least she's more knowledgable now. Good job, Babe!

2005-07-24T21:57:00.000-04:00

This guy is the man. In his first Tour, Chris Horner was active almost daily. Going on the attack constantly, trying to win a stage. He came damn close too! It was great to see him on the Champs Elysees giving it one more shot. I've been following Horner ever since 1996 when he got robbed of an Olympic team bid by Greg Randolph. Horner truly deserved to go. It was terrific to see him finally get a chance to take part in "Le Tour" after so many years of domestic dominance. Go back to the Tour again next year, Chris, and liven it up! Whoot!

Picture borrowed from Cyclingnews.com

2005-07-16T08:28:00.000-04:00

pensive baby Woodrow
Note the faraway look in his eyes. He must be about to poop!

2005-07-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a little telephone time.
boys

2005-07-16T08:26:00.000-04:00

dancing queen

Big ride weekend

2005-07-05T16:19:00.000-04:00

Spent Saturday in the horse country of northern VA. You know you are seeing money when you see that someone has a Lear jet parked in the front yard. Very nice. 67 miles of rolling hills and good company. By the end I was hurting but felt pretty good about what we'd done. Scott G was in town to see Katy and rode with us. He is an aerobic machine lay the smack down on us the entire ride. Of course it helps that he is a grad student and has plenty of time to ride while we all have day jobs. Not much happened on Sunday. Just a light recovery ride of about 20 miles trying to get the lactic acid out of my legs. After 5 miles I was feeling pretty good. Monday, July 4 was a truly manly ride. 70 miles on Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. We (Scott, Katy, Jay C, Tim L and myself) rode from the Front Royal entrance out to the Pinnacles overlook and back. Lots of big hills to go up and down. The 6 mile climb back to Hogback Overlook was painful. Scott and Katy dropped me like a hot rock. Fortunately, I was able to drop Tim and Jay and feel somewhat good about myself. Of course, Tim is 50 years old and did eat or drink much and Jay claims he is overweight. I think Jay is just a sprinter who doesn't care for going uphill. After making it up Hogback I was ready to be back at the car and in survival mode. I'd eaten all my rations (2 Clif Bars and a banana) and was almost out of drinks. I just kept pedaling. I knew if I stopped it would be REAL hard to get going again. A nice descent off of Hogback, 1 more killer climb and I was on the last downhill to the valley below. I was very happy to see the car waiting for me at the bottom of the hill. What a good time that was! All the descending was fun, but I'm no Il Falco. Plus I kept spinning out my 53x13. Next time I'm bringing the 12 cog. We also got to see a couple of baby black bears right near the road. Very cool. You don't see that while you're zipping along in your car.

I'm pooped!

2005-06-26T15:03:00.000-04:00

Just completed a nice, hilly 55 mile ride. I know it's not much to some folks, but to a guy who hasn't been riding much lately it was enough. After hills yesterday and today, I'm quite tired. On top of blowing out my glycogen stores I got stung by a bee when it flew into my helmet and got stuck in my hair. That was quite a sight for my riding partners. Drew of Pax Adventure Center got a kick out of it. Check out the PAC at www.paxadventure.com. Better yet, go to the store in Solomons Island, MD. I think I'll nap now.

Put a fork in me...

2005-06-20T16:37:00.000-04:00

Acted as a course marshal for and participated in the AVC-sponsored Solarex Points Race in Frederick, MD. It's been a while since I trained worth a damn or raced, due to the arrival of Kid #2. But it's been a good trade-off. Anyhoo, the price was right and I entered the Cat 3 race. I won the first lap, dropped back in the pack to catch my breath, and then took off on another flyer a couple laps later. That did it. I redlined, got swallowed up and shot out the back. I spent the next several laps time-trialing with no hope of catching back on. I needed the training so I stayed on the course until the ref pulled me. I think he could have let me get lapped and work in the peloton again. The old farts (masters) and Cat 5's got to do it so why not me? Hopefully, this will provide the impetus to get me on a more strict training regimen and ready to take part in the TTT this year. Whoot!

2005-06-16T21:31:00.000-04:00

Kid #2

2005-06-16T21:29:00.000-04:00

The original Wilmington beach girl.
Mrs. Pedro

2005-06-16T21:28:00.000-04:00

Kid #1

2005-06-12T10:32:00.000-04:00

This is a pic of Todd Herriott of the Colavita squad. He's one of my favorite pro cycling bloggers. He the little guy in red and white. Check him out at toddherriott.com.

2005-06-12T10:17:00.000-04:00

I hooked up with Herbert in Philly for the US Pro Champs when my wife let me off the leash for a day. Herbert, Herbie, the Krabelian, Cranium Boy are some nicknames for this fellow. He is the marketing director for American Bicycle Group and a rather talented individual. He is a sick combination of brains and brawn. 180 pounds and climbs like Pantani. I met Herbert during my Chattanooga days and we've remained pals since. If you want your body to remain whole, DO NOT touch his shiny head.
The race was a gas. Lots of action. I was hoping Fred Rod, Bobby J or Chris H would win. I like seeing the stars and stripes in the Euro peloton. HealthNet won, which for me, is like kissing your sister.
Peter and Herbert, Philly 2005

2005-06-08T22:35:00.000-04:00

That's me front left . The break didn't last.

First Entry

2005-06-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

So here I am dipping my toe into the world wide web. I'm not much of a writer so we'll see how this goes. Maybe I'll add some pics to the blog for your viewing pleasure. Let's see how thinngs work out.