As I was riding home from work tonight the coolest looking fox jumped right out in front of me and across the road. You rarely see foxes especially up close like that. Neat looking animals.
The Holmes Cycling/BodyLogicTherapy team unis arrived today. A few days late for the first race of the season but there is no one to blame but me for that. They look good. I might have to wear mine long sleeve skinsuit to bed. I would no doubt fall asleep faster.
Friday, September 29, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Back in Black
I'm not usually a sucker for TV ads but I'm pretty sure I'm going to run out this weekend and buy some Skinny Black Pants from The Gap. For The Wifey, of course.
Spent
I forgot to mention in my last post the fantastic race at Charm The Legend pulled off. 10th place. Helluva ride.
Last nights ‘cross practice was cool. We had approx 10-12 again. I warmed up well then did some good intervals with Zach. We’d go hard 20 seconds before the barriers and attack for 10 seconds after then ride briskly for roughly 3 minutes before doing it over. 30 minutes of that and I was spent. I did a couple more laps of on/off intensity to wrap up a productive evening. Zach’s a good kid. Plus he’s faster than me so doing workouts with him makes good sense.
Today I got out for a nice road ride. 2 hours of going hard over climbs/rollers. I got wet about 5 miles from home. The sky was dark and I heard a good bit of thunder but fortunately I rode into the aftermath of a storm so I only got wet from the road spray. Fun ride though. I felt great during the entire ride however my legs are now very well worked over.
The Wifey’s baby shower is Sunday. It should be a good time. Not sure who is showing up yet. My other friend Zach and his wonderful wife Angela stopped by the park last night after we were done. They had little Jocelyn with them. She’s growing really fast. I think she’ll be two in a week or so already. I can’t wait to be a parent. Anyway, Erin put Angela in charge of properly entertaining everyone on Sunday.
I wait 10 months so that I can enjoy 2 months of this awesome fall weather. Man this is how it should be all the time.
Last nights ‘cross practice was cool. We had approx 10-12 again. I warmed up well then did some good intervals with Zach. We’d go hard 20 seconds before the barriers and attack for 10 seconds after then ride briskly for roughly 3 minutes before doing it over. 30 minutes of that and I was spent. I did a couple more laps of on/off intensity to wrap up a productive evening. Zach’s a good kid. Plus he’s faster than me so doing workouts with him makes good sense.
Today I got out for a nice road ride. 2 hours of going hard over climbs/rollers. I got wet about 5 miles from home. The sky was dark and I heard a good bit of thunder but fortunately I rode into the aftermath of a storm so I only got wet from the road spray. Fun ride though. I felt great during the entire ride however my legs are now very well worked over.
The Wifey’s baby shower is Sunday. It should be a good time. Not sure who is showing up yet. My other friend Zach and his wonderful wife Angela stopped by the park last night after we were done. They had little Jocelyn with them. She’s growing really fast. I think she’ll be two in a week or so already. I can’t wait to be a parent. Anyway, Erin put Angela in charge of properly entertaining everyone on Sunday.
I wait 10 months so that I can enjoy 2 months of this awesome fall weather. Man this is how it should be all the time.
Monday, September 25, 2006
"Going to want to"
I won’t bore anyone with the details. Charm City ‘Cross was a disappointment from a results standpoint. An absolute blast as far as the course is concerned. I can’t explain why I felt the way I did but I feel like I should have been closer to the front of the race. All things being equal, 20th in a 80-90ish race ain’t shabby for my first competitive effort since Thanksgiving last year.
My intention was to gather valuable info from the PowerTap I used at the race. All it told me was my heart rate was ridiculously high and I wasn’t putting out anywhere near the power I was during practice/training efforts. Whatever.
It was a pleasure to see all the friends and faces from ‘cross. FortJames had some pretty cool news. Nice job man. Said hello to Nystrom briefly warming up. Nice job man. Zach had a great race. Even though I told him he wasn’t allowed to pass me in our race, well, he did anyway. 10th place. Nice job man. John Brewer won the B’s. I did Iron Cross Lite last year which may have been one of his first ‘cross races. John and I were back and forth all race long. He was sooo strong on open straights but less so in technical stuff. I would pass him in the tech stuff and he would blow me away on the long open stuff. I remember telling a few people if that dude could get some technical skill he would be an unstoppable force. Well, he did. Nice job man.
I wanted to stay to watch the rest of the afternoon races but truth-be-told, it was Sunday, and there was football to be watched. The couch reigns supreme on Sunday afternoons. Me and my wonderfully supportive and quite pregnant Wifey stopped in Hunt Valley on the way home to fuel up on some quality fast food. Wendy’s. First time this year I’ve had fast food of any sort other than a couple bean burritos from Taco Hell.
It’s official. KHam narrowly edged out VisitPA Ray for the season long MASS series title. No doubt, the two best Mtb’ers in the Mid-Atlantic finished 1st and 2nd. Waytogo guys.
The Wifey and I completed week three of six tonight of our Pregnancy classes at Harrisburg Hospital. Ho-hum. I guess I’ve picked up a few things but honestly I think breezing thru a book or two would suffice. Week 5 will be cool because we’re going to tour the actual hospital facilities.
The woman teaching the course kept saying “gonna wanna” all night. I’m sure I do it too but she must have said it a dozen times. Because I was so bored I tried to keep count of how many times to make the night go faster but then I got distracted by the Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews I was eating. Sometimes I forget that Erin reads this. Ummm……yeah, I was paying attention.
My intention was to gather valuable info from the PowerTap I used at the race. All it told me was my heart rate was ridiculously high and I wasn’t putting out anywhere near the power I was during practice/training efforts. Whatever.
It was a pleasure to see all the friends and faces from ‘cross. FortJames had some pretty cool news. Nice job man. Said hello to Nystrom briefly warming up. Nice job man. Zach had a great race. Even though I told him he wasn’t allowed to pass me in our race, well, he did anyway. 10th place. Nice job man. John Brewer won the B’s. I did Iron Cross Lite last year which may have been one of his first ‘cross races. John and I were back and forth all race long. He was sooo strong on open straights but less so in technical stuff. I would pass him in the tech stuff and he would blow me away on the long open stuff. I remember telling a few people if that dude could get some technical skill he would be an unstoppable force. Well, he did. Nice job man.
I wanted to stay to watch the rest of the afternoon races but truth-be-told, it was Sunday, and there was football to be watched. The couch reigns supreme on Sunday afternoons. Me and my wonderfully supportive and quite pregnant Wifey stopped in Hunt Valley on the way home to fuel up on some quality fast food. Wendy’s. First time this year I’ve had fast food of any sort other than a couple bean burritos from Taco Hell.
It’s official. KHam narrowly edged out VisitPA Ray for the season long MASS series title. No doubt, the two best Mtb’ers in the Mid-Atlantic finished 1st and 2nd. Waytogo guys.
The Wifey and I completed week three of six tonight of our Pregnancy classes at Harrisburg Hospital. Ho-hum. I guess I’ve picked up a few things but honestly I think breezing thru a book or two would suffice. Week 5 will be cool because we’re going to tour the actual hospital facilities.
The woman teaching the course kept saying “gonna wanna” all night. I’m sure I do it too but she must have said it a dozen times. Because I was so bored I tried to keep count of how many times to make the night go faster but then I got distracted by the Jolly Rancher Fruit Chews I was eating. Sometimes I forget that Erin reads this. Ummm……yeah, I was paying attention.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Monkey Bubble
Dubya Tee Eff?
Woke up. Fell outta bed. Dragged a comb across my head.
Got some good things done today. Things that needed to get done.
Short little EZ ride on the road sled. Fine tuning the fitness or as Chris Horner loves to say “I was finding my form today”. He loves that word. Read it in VeloNews or Cyclingnews.com. Every other word is “form”. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy. I hope he races lots of ‘cross this fall and does well.
Speaking of. Charm on Sunday. I’m excited and nervous. Nervous and excited. First race. Don’t know what to expect. Did I do enough? Not enough? Too much? Hopefully just right.
Fall has arrived a few days early. Awesome sleeping weather. I always get a kick out of that one too. Sleeping weather. What does that mean? And why is 50 degrees sleeping weather? I’m not sure but it seems to work.
Little Junior is approx 3 months away. We came up with our boy and girl names. Anyone who can guess the initials gets a bagel w/ cream cheese. My treat. And no, Josh, before you say F.U.K. better think again. I got shot down by The Wifey on that one. There will be no Fogarty Ulysses Kessel. Maybe the next one. Marriage is all about compromises, right?
A woman came into the bike shop a couple days ago with a rear wheel in her hand. The tire’s sidewall was badly deteriorated in one spot although the innertube was not exposed just yet. It protruded some but not terribly. Anyway, she claimed her tire had a MONKEY BUBBLE and wanted me to fix it. Sure. Why not?
Woke up. Fell outta bed. Dragged a comb across my head.
Got some good things done today. Things that needed to get done.
Short little EZ ride on the road sled. Fine tuning the fitness or as Chris Horner loves to say “I was finding my form today”. He loves that word. Read it in VeloNews or Cyclingnews.com. Every other word is “form”. Don’t get me wrong, I like the guy. I hope he races lots of ‘cross this fall and does well.
Speaking of. Charm on Sunday. I’m excited and nervous. Nervous and excited. First race. Don’t know what to expect. Did I do enough? Not enough? Too much? Hopefully just right.
Fall has arrived a few days early. Awesome sleeping weather. I always get a kick out of that one too. Sleeping weather. What does that mean? And why is 50 degrees sleeping weather? I’m not sure but it seems to work.
Little Junior is approx 3 months away. We came up with our boy and girl names. Anyone who can guess the initials gets a bagel w/ cream cheese. My treat. And no, Josh, before you say F.U.K. better think again. I got shot down by The Wifey on that one. There will be no Fogarty Ulysses Kessel. Maybe the next one. Marriage is all about compromises, right?
A woman came into the bike shop a couple days ago with a rear wheel in her hand. The tire’s sidewall was badly deteriorated in one spot although the innertube was not exposed just yet. It protruded some but not terribly. Anyway, she claimed her tire had a MONKEY BUBBLE and wanted me to fix it. Sure. Why not?
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Hillbilly Horseshoes
Crummy day to be off. Although I did everything I would have had it been sunny. I made a quick trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a few goodies. In the process I’m sure I single handedly put one or two mom & pop stores out of business by not shopping from them and also with my $24 purchase most likely paid the daily wage of two or three “undocumented” Wal-Mart janitorial staff. How do I sleep at night?
Next, a trip to Lowe’s to procure the goods needed to assemble Ladder Ball as a gift for my Brother-in-law’s 40th B-day. The Legend introduced us to this remarkably addictive lawn game. I think you could probably call it about 30 different things but whatever you call it, it’s a freakin blast to play.
Finally a stop to the local grocer to purchase the frozen fish sticks my wonderful wifey so desperately desired for dinner. Damn if those things aren’t really tasty! Not the healthiest by any stretch but yummy. The more grease the better the taste I guess.
After all that I was hoping the drizzle would have subsided. No luck. I got out for a ride anyway. I got drenched when the drizzle turned to an outright downpour for about 5 minutes but it still ended up being an excellent training ride. You always know when a particular workout you’re doing is going to be good when your 10 minutes into the meat of it and you’re dreading the rest of it. Ouch! Oooof!
Last nights ‘cross workout was somewhat mixed. There was a good turnout. 10 people, give or take. I warmed up fine but I found it hard to do what I was meant to do with others riding in proximity. It was meant to be a difficult workout to begin with but I was too often tempted to latch on to Nate’s workout with Hebe and Scott in tow. In the end I didn’t ride as hard as I needed to but still managed to get some good hard efforts in and quite a few laps of the Lower Allen CX course under my belt. To finish the night I did a couple practice starts with Zach Adams and his group. Like I said, not a bad night, but not as hard as I should have made it.
Now, I lay here, feeling a bit whipped. When is my easy week Coach?
Next, a trip to Lowe’s to procure the goods needed to assemble Ladder Ball as a gift for my Brother-in-law’s 40th B-day. The Legend introduced us to this remarkably addictive lawn game. I think you could probably call it about 30 different things but whatever you call it, it’s a freakin blast to play.
Finally a stop to the local grocer to purchase the frozen fish sticks my wonderful wifey so desperately desired for dinner. Damn if those things aren’t really tasty! Not the healthiest by any stretch but yummy. The more grease the better the taste I guess.
After all that I was hoping the drizzle would have subsided. No luck. I got out for a ride anyway. I got drenched when the drizzle turned to an outright downpour for about 5 minutes but it still ended up being an excellent training ride. You always know when a particular workout you’re doing is going to be good when your 10 minutes into the meat of it and you’re dreading the rest of it. Ouch! Oooof!
Last nights ‘cross workout was somewhat mixed. There was a good turnout. 10 people, give or take. I warmed up fine but I found it hard to do what I was meant to do with others riding in proximity. It was meant to be a difficult workout to begin with but I was too often tempted to latch on to Nate’s workout with Hebe and Scott in tow. In the end I didn’t ride as hard as I needed to but still managed to get some good hard efforts in and quite a few laps of the Lower Allen CX course under my belt. To finish the night I did a couple practice starts with Zach Adams and his group. Like I said, not a bad night, but not as hard as I should have made it.
Now, I lay here, feeling a bit whipped. When is my easy week Coach?
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Fantasy Day
Today was a good day. I like my Sunday’s to unfold just like today did. I stumbled outta bed at 7:30. Did some quick internetting. Sat down with Erin for some breakfast. Waffle with granola mango and banana. Opened up the garage and got my road sled cleaned up for a ride. Hebe rode over at 10am and we set out for a quality ride. I got 2:20 in. Good steady wattage ride. Great pace. Good conversation. Home by 12:30pm. I had my do-list already knocked out so I had the rest of the day to do a mega-lounge. NFL opened up this afternoon. Which means fantasy football has kicked in. Nice. Had dinner tonight at Erin’s parents. Good, as usual. Pork chops taste good. Now, I lounge again, watching the Manning’s do battle. Doesn’t get much better.
GOODNIGHTNOW!
GOODNIGHTNOW!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
.jpg){kind=link}
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Smooov
So, for those who haven’t heard yet, The Wifey and I have a decision to make in the next few months. What on earth do we name our child?
We started off making separate lists and combining them. Then tossing the ones we didn’t like. We were left with some cool names but truth be told nothing has absolutely jumped off the page yet. There are a couple names I really like but Erin doesn’t and some she loves and I don’t. What to do? After all, it’s not the name we will be called the rest of our lives.
Any thoughts?
‘Cross training has been going well. Crap weather aside, that is. Rain last Saturday and Tuesday morning kept me indoors. I loath exercising indoors. Today I flogged myself pretty good. I do need to remind myself that, although I’d like to do well at Charm City, the real racin’ doesn’t start for 6 ½ weeks in Delaware. Build + rest + build = fast. Sounds easy enough.
I made a HUGE pot of chili tonight. One less jalapeno this time. Last time was just a tad too hot. Good stuff. Four beans. Black, pinto, kidney, and northern. Red and green peppers, a Serrano, and two jalapenos. 1lb of ultra lean ground beef and 1lb of very thinly sliced steak. Throw in a pot for an hour and viola. Yum. We have enough to feed us for at least a week. It always gets tastier after a couple days.
I shaved all the hair off my head today. Purely for the comfort. There are times when I like having hair. There are times when I don’t. Yesterday I woke up thinking I didn’t want it anymore. I have a rule when I get this feeling. It’s sorta like the waiting period when purchasing a gun to prevent some crazy sucker from getting pissed and offing a bunch of people before he’s had a chance to cool down. Whenever I feel like losing the hair I wait a day just to make sure it’s what I want to do. I know it grows back but it takes a while. Anyway, it’s gone and I feel happy that it is.
I think I’ll sleep better with no hair as well. Less hair to get in the way of my dome and my cushy pillow. Yes.
We started off making separate lists and combining them. Then tossing the ones we didn’t like. We were left with some cool names but truth be told nothing has absolutely jumped off the page yet. There are a couple names I really like but Erin doesn’t and some she loves and I don’t. What to do? After all, it’s not the name we will be called the rest of our lives.
Any thoughts?
‘Cross training has been going well. Crap weather aside, that is. Rain last Saturday and Tuesday morning kept me indoors. I loath exercising indoors. Today I flogged myself pretty good. I do need to remind myself that, although I’d like to do well at Charm City, the real racin’ doesn’t start for 6 ½ weeks in Delaware. Build + rest + build = fast. Sounds easy enough.
I made a HUGE pot of chili tonight. One less jalapeno this time. Last time was just a tad too hot. Good stuff. Four beans. Black, pinto, kidney, and northern. Red and green peppers, a Serrano, and two jalapenos. 1lb of ultra lean ground beef and 1lb of very thinly sliced steak. Throw in a pot for an hour and viola. Yum. We have enough to feed us for at least a week. It always gets tastier after a couple days.
I shaved all the hair off my head today. Purely for the comfort. There are times when I like having hair. There are times when I don’t. Yesterday I woke up thinking I didn’t want it anymore. I have a rule when I get this feeling. It’s sorta like the waiting period when purchasing a gun to prevent some crazy sucker from getting pissed and offing a bunch of people before he’s had a chance to cool down. Whenever I feel like losing the hair I wait a day just to make sure it’s what I want to do. I know it grows back but it takes a while. Anyway, it’s gone and I feel happy that it is.
I think I’ll sleep better with no hair as well. Less hair to get in the way of my dome and my cushy pillow. Yes.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Labor Day
It’s such a nice day outside. I think I’ll bust out the hammock and lounge a little. In honor of Labor Day I think I’ll compile a list of my Top Ten Places/Things I’d Like to Visit/Do if I didn’t have to ever consider the word Labor. In no particular order:
- Visit San Francisco Bay area preferably during the first week in December so I could do this ‘cross race. Looks like a blast and I always wanted to visit SF and hang out with Josh & Beth.
- Go HERE for a few weeks. Afterall, it takes a day to get there and a day and a half to get back. Might as well stay a while, right? Why go here? Give me one good reason why not.
- Travel to Alaska. Not sure what I'd do once I was there but holy shit does it ever look beautiful with the mountains and wilderness and lack of people.
- Europe. I'm not sure to count this as One or Six. Germany. Italy. Spain. Portugal. Belgium. Holland. Forget France. No interest in the U.K. Just these six for starters.
- I want to see a couple hockey games in Canada. Montreal v Toronto or Ottawa. Calgary v Edmonton. Good rivalry games.
- Road trip inspired by Road Fever. Southern tip of South America to the most northern tip of North America. I mentioned this book before as being among my favorite. Maybe do this trip a slightly more leisurely pace. And maybe hit some of the more interesting points along the way. Patagonia. Santiago. Atacama Desert. La Paz. Lima. Somehow skip Columbia. Panama Canal. Chill in Costa Rica for a bit. Slight detour to Belize before rolling up the west coast of Mex. Oaxaca. Acapulco. Zihuatenejo. Mananillo. Vallarta. You get the picture. This might take some time to complete.
- Baseball game at The Friendly Confines. Among other thing I'd like to do in The Windy City. After which I'd make a quick trip to the land of the Cheeseheads and take in Madison and a tour of the Trek factory.
- St. Augustine. The Wifey has been there. She says it's great. I beleive her. Sign me up. The rest of Florida I could take it or leave it. I never got too excited about it. Maybe I'd feel different if I visited. Doubt it.
- See a College football game in Tuscaloosa, Ann Arbor, South Bend, and Columbus. Bama is obvious, the rest, just because.
- San Diego. Because it never gets old.
Thanks to everyone who attended the very hastily organized grill-fest last night. Happy Birthday to The Wifey who will turn 28 tomorrow. And lest we not forget The Legend who turned UCI 40 today. Enjoy the day off.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)