antibike: Or how i learned to love the ride

Loafing

2010-12-20T13:41:00.001-05:00

My usual end of the year Christmas/New Years break is in full swing. I get a fair amount of vacation time to use throughout the year but the past few years it’s been good to save up what I can and totally remove myself from work. This year I’ll not see the bike shop for 17 days. No plans really. Just a little shopping. Visit family and friends. Watch some movies. Drink a couple beers. Don’t ever think for one minute I feel working at a bike shop has any stress involved with it. It’s good, though, to just be gone for a huge chunk of time.

Movies. I watched two movies over the weekend that I DVR’d and been meaning to catch up on. Both piqued my interest when in theaters but I just don’t make a lot of time for that. Movie #1, The Book of Eli. Good premise, lame execution. Not bad. Movie #2, The Road. In a word, dumb. I felt the two hours I spent on this movie would have been better off napping. The other Cormac McCarthy movie I saw, No Country for Old Men, was excellent. They always say the book beats the movie. I can see how that could be the case here. Dumb movie.

I’m still running quite a bit. I’m not giving up the bike. Right now it’s just so much easier to slip on the running shoes and head out the door, even if it’s 7pm. Not as easy or safe to do that on the bike. The plan for 2011 is to dabble a bit in some Duathlon events spring/summer and rejoin the Cyclocross Brotherhood in the fall. Maybe a halfie thrown in for good measure. 2011 is the year I turn 40. I intend to approach this the same as all my other birthdays, it’s just a number. Year 40 will be stronger than year 39.

I leave you with my favorite picture of Haley and Landon so far this year.

Democrats, Nickleback, Cervelo and grilled meats

2010-08-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

I think today’s ride was amongst one of the three strongest rides I’ve pedaled so far this year. The numbers may not say it but for two hours I was on top of every gear at all times regardless of uphill or downhill or into the wind or whatever. Good sensations as they say. Five weeks.

I ran into Hebe and Kara on their bikes today. Unfortunately we were headed in opposite directions. I bring this up not because I was bummed that I couldn’t hitch up with them but only to say there are a few things subjects in life I generally shy away from in conversations with friends. Two of the bigger topics would be politics and music. It surprises me sometimes to hear what a certain friend might listen to or how another friend might feel politically about an issue. The funny thing about it is for the most part there really is no wrong answer to how YOU feel about something. I know what I like but the beauty of individual freedom is while I might disagree in large part with a Democrat or strongly disagree with Nickleback I respect your feelings to disagree with my thoughts. I’m sure most of my friends would puke if I made them listen to my Sufjan Stevens playlist but I’m OK with that. So many times I see people passionately oppose a friends views to the point of offending said person. Why? So, I say keep on jammin’ to Nickleback if that’s what makes your day. I got no problem with it.

Nice day today.

I thing the Cervelo R3SL might be the best bike I’ve ever thrown a leg over. Really, I mean that. After a couple thousand miles on it and after replacing that garbage SRAM Red stuff with trusty ol DA 7800 I can confidently say this bike rocks. If only Cervelo made a CX. Wow, that bike would be nuts!

Meats and sweet corn on the grill this afternoon for Mom, my lil sis Shannon and DJ and Uncle Greg. Time to fire up the Weber. A’ight.

I scream

2010-07-18T21:04:00.005-04:00

I finally checked off one of the big items on my to-do list since we moved into the new palace. The basement was in need of a new ceiling. There was a half-assed drop ceiling installed when we moved in and considering this would be my man room I needed to get it right. I’m far from a handy-man so this wasn’t going to be easy but I didn’t want to hire a pro either. What ended up costing me approx $400 probably would have been triple that if I hired someone. I’m sure I made this task way harder than it needed to be due to my amateur abilities but I definitely like how it turned out. Still some work to do down here but the major stuff is done.

basement before

after

This heat is energy sapping. I’ve continued to get just over 8hrs on the bike a week and at least two sometimes three runs 3-5miles a shot. Getting out at the crack of dawn helps or a late day run works but the cumulative efforts add up. Makes the couch even more appealing.

I’m not even thinking about ‘cross yet. Too hot. 1st race September 12 I think. Long way off. Although Labor Day will be here before we know it.

I need to fly somewhere. Any thoughts?

Bummed to hear about Nancy’s soccer injury. I’m sure Ray’s taking good care. Hang in there Nancy!

Anyone have a cool TT bike I could buy. Size sm/med. I had a nice rig but I sold it to LK. Ooops. That’s a pretty sweet bike. Wish I still had it.

Haley was up last night partying in her room ‘til 10-10:30pm. Thought she’d be passed out tired by 7pm tonight. Wrong. 9pm and she’s still awake partying again. I announced my intentions to go to Lowes this afternoon and she said she wanted to go with me. We had fun. She helped me pick out my goods then we stopped at McD’s for a bit of ice cream. Fun times.

Short work week for me. Two days off to end the week then MS Ride next weekend.

OK then.

No one noticed I was gone.

2010-07-11T17:41:00.007-04:00

It’s been 195 days since my last post. Oops, sorry about that. Does anyone blog anymore? I know FatMarc does. I mean besides him. Someone commented to me a year ago maybe closer to two that blogging was dead. Facebook, Twitter were the new preference in go-to social media. Evidently there must be some truth to it.

There’s been dozens of times I had the thought to post something but damned if Facebook is just easier, albeit condensed. I guess that’s what bugs me is I’ve gotten lazy. Whether anyone reads this blog or not, there’s a tad bit of therapy when I sit down and type away random thoughts.

Anyway, riding has been good this year. I’ll be over 3500 miles by the end of the week. Still on a record pace for one year. Since The Wifey and I purchased a house in Camp Hill it’s also gotten much easier to get out for regular runs. Going back to Memorial Day when we moved in I’ve been able to get out 2-3 times a week for 5k at a shot. Ran a bit over 5 miles last night and felt good. No idea where running might go but there are times when it’s just easier to zip out the door and pound out 20 minutes.

As a result, I now weigh a full 5 pounds less than I did back in 1989 when I was a high school senior running track.

Haley and Landon are going to be 4 and 2 in the next couple months. They are more and more fun every day. Pretty cool little kids although I think Lando is a bit of a mommy’s boy. I’ll need to fix that.

Haley & Lando

The new house is great. It’s real sweet to get out in the morning for a ride or run and get back to the house for the 3 S’s and then grab my Salsa fixie for the .63 mile ride down the street to work. I’ve driven my car roughly 5 times for a total of 8 miles since we’ve lived in Camp Hill.

The new sled

I need to do more of this. My 9th grade English teacher would want me to do more of this.

Anatomy of a ride, winter styln'

2009-12-28T16:31:00.010-05:00

Today on this chilly, breezy yet otherwise quite sunny afternoon with another week before I head back to work, why not go for a ride. I've always said the weather really doesn't hinder a 'real' cyclist. If you have the right clothing and dress the part it's really pretty simple. Let's start from the top. For me this is your standard shorts with a long sleeve base. Easy.

Next we add the important and very necessary thermal bits that make this possible. A long sleeve thermal mock and wind-proof thermal tights go over the base layers.
Follow that up with a outer layer which in my case is a light thermal wind-proof core long sleeve jersey. I can typically wear this piece alone in the 45-55 degree range.
Now we get to the extremities. Fortunately for me, I don't have a bad problem with toes and fingers. Some people like to go with a much thicker sock and/or a specific 'winter' shoe. For me, a lite wool sock will do just fine. The standard shoes followed by a good fitting thermal bootie. I prefer velcro to zippered and reflective comes in handy on rides home from work. That takes care of the feet.

As for the noggin it depends on just how cold it is. If it's above 35 or so I don't worry about my ears and just go with typical cycling cap. Today was about 32 with a stiff wind-chill that was most likely into the mid to lo-20's. In that case I like a fleece hat which is almost too warm but that's not really something to complain about. Add your favorite lid and I always like a pair of clear lens glasses. Keeps the crap out and the cold air off your eyeballs.
Last but not least is the gloves. On the left are the lobster mittens and on the right are a lighter yet effective glove for cold weather rides. The lobsters are good for most winter days. The lighter gloves are good for low-40's and up. My lobsters are well worn, probably need replaced really, so today I wore the light gloves inside the lobsters. Worked perfectly.
Once you get all that on you still need a bike that works for a ride like today. There's still bits of snow/ice/frozen jib here and there on the roads. The weekend had lots of rain and warm weather which re-froze in some areas that don't get much sun this time of year. That being said, I don't like road slicks unless I know I'm not going to find that frozen crap somewhere. Enter the 'cross bike with its 'cross tires. Again, perfect.

There you have it. I hope everyone had a safe and happy Xmas and enjoy the short work week. Now go ride your bike!

2009-05-25T10:33:00.000-04:00

Eleven

2009-03-01T17:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday DJ!

Opening gifts

Landon partying hard

The now famous Pouty Lip

Haley gives DJ a Happy Birthday hug

The Triathletes

2009-02-26T21:25:00.002-05:00

Swimming Haley

Triathlete Haley - Gameface

Helloooo

2009-02-09T21:58:00.000-05:00

DJ B-ballin

2009-01-24T14:16:00.001-05:00

Rock n Roll

2009-01-18T16:54:00.001-05:00

Just give me my grub , Dad

You lookin at me

2009-01-12T20:52:00.001-05:00

It's Hip

2008-12-30T16:38:00.002-05:00

If you must know, have someone blast you in the package. It sorta feels like the aftermath of something like that. Not terribly painful, just achey.

mmmmmm

2008-12-29T16:45:00.001-05:00

Number Two

2008-12-28T21:13:00.003-05:00

Oh what fun it is to ride

2008-12-16T21:03:00.001-05:00

Movin' on up

2008-12-07T19:44:00.001-05:00

Commuter Update

2008-12-07T11:10:00.003-05:00

Now that Old Man Winter seems to have kicked the door down and firmly planted his ass on the busted worn out smelly couch known as Pennsyltucky I finally missed a bike commute two weeks ago. I drove to work for the first time since May 31st. 119 of the past 120 days of work started and ended with ride. That's 99.2% for you math impaired folks. As it stands right now the YTD through November is 89.6%. There are 15 days of work for me in December of which I'm 5 fer 5 so far. The weather forecast for this week looks a little sketchy. I can miss one day in the next 10 to maintain a round-it-up 90% for the year.

A couple nights ago I was rolling home at 5pm with lots of car traffic. It's always cool to use a bike to get back and forth to work. I've tried to keep a level head about it but there are times when it's hard not to be overcome with a sense of smuggness as I look around at all the poor fat bastards all snuggled up in there carcoon all hypered up to get up the ass of the sucker in front of them so they can get home 10 seconds faster. It's hard not to smile, just a little.

I'm feeling a need to bust out the fixie for an extended period. Winter months just seem to be a good fit for it.

I certainly hoped The Crimson Tide could pull off the upset but it was not to be. Florida is tough. A Gator/Sooner title game should be incredible. Too bad 'Bama and PsU can't match up in a bowl game.

Happy Birthday to Jackie Brown and Katie Hebe.

Breakfast with Uncle Santa

2008-12-06T12:26:00.003-05:00

The Tree

2008-12-02T08:12:00.002-05:00

Found a tree for Pappy and Gabu and Auntie Em

Someone turned the lights off

Tree for Haley and Landon

Haley helping Dadda cut the tree

The decorating begins

Landon helping out

All we need are gifts underneath

2008-11-24T08:36:00.001-05:00

The sky is shitting! Revisited

2008-11-21T09:13:00.002-05:00

I suppose my extreme dislike for the white shit has now been tempered by TLW's extreme love of it. Funny how that works. I'm happy when she's happy.

Today my favorite college football team is.....

2008-11-08T19:41:00.001-05:00

And I can still say, albeit a bit shakey, Roll Tide!

2008-10-29T22:03:00.000-04:00

Genii @ work

2008-10-07T12:44:00.002-04:00

I get offended when people automatically assume that just because I work at a bike shop I most certainly party all day and do no work. Today, for instance, the collective minds at the Cyclery assembled the new electric sleds we just got in and had to put them through the gauntlet. In order to properly test the user capacity of this POS we had Seve driving with the elfish Hammy riding bitch. I think we exceeded the weight limit but it held up nicely. Not easy work my friends.

A Sunday in Milwaukee; or, Sorry about your luck

2008-10-05T21:40:00.003-04:00

In the parlance of Alex Trebek, if I threw out the following towns; Valley Green, Yocumtown, Goldsboro, Cly, York Haven, Mount Wolf, Manchester, Conewago Heights, Newberrytown. Your correct response would be; What are tiny little redneck podunk towns of Northern York County? Yep, yep. After years of wanting to do a ride down to the metro Mt Wolf/Manchester area I finally did. I was never quite sure of the roads, whether I'd make a wrong turn and end up on a dirt road or in the middle of the Susqy River or worse than that, actually end up in York proper. I managed to make a perfect 2hr, 36 mile ride out of it with a want for more. The area is certainly not as scary as I make it, pretty scenic really. Practically zero traffic. Pancake flat to extremely hilly terrain. Good time.

After the Phillies finished off the Beer Guys today I took TLW over to Lower Allen for another rendezvous with the Mega Fort playground and then a hike on the nature trail next to the Yellow Breeches. She loves the hikes and of course I love it when she has a happy time.

Hockey starts Saturday night if you're a Flyers fan. I'm not used to The Flyers and The Phillies playing at the same time in October. The Fightin Phillies have the Dodgers next. Should be a tight series. Why do American League playoff games take 5hrs to complete?

I need a beer and wing night. Anyone interested?

Haley, DJ, and Brayden. Saturday night fun

I think she's done with the swing there pops

Haley rounded the corner on the Nature trail to find this.......

........a giant tree goiter. Scared TLW for a moment.

2008-10-03T09:17:00.002-04:00

Go Flyers!

Cheesesteaks v Miller Lite

2008-09-28T18:13:00.002-04:00

From a sporting standpoint, aside from the PsU winning, this has been a remarkable weekend. Phillies make the playoffs and will play the Beer Guys. The Mets lost. The Crimson Tide have rolled another. As embarrasing as it is to call myself a Raiders fan, they are at least winning at halftime. Baby steps. The Flyers looked good Saturday. Yeah, it's only preseason but a cheering fan needs some preseason games to work a proper ass-groove into the couch. Not that I'm a big Brett Favre fan but I do like to see old guys throw 6 TD's in a game. All in all, pretty cool.

Now for the not so cool. Haley must have picked up the same barf-your-brains-out-violently 12hr flu bug that The Wifey had middle of last week. Friday night thru early Saturday morning were some pretty forgettable hours for me. TLW went from laughing and jumping around and acting her typical nutty self one minute to projectile vomitous the next. Without getting to graphic, after a couple hours, there was simply nothing left in her although she continued to spit up and heave every 20-30 minutes. The Wifey was busy with TLM so I did my best to get little Haley through it. I can say beyond any doubt, there has never been any moment in my life where I've felt more helpless. By 3am Saturday morning whatever it was seemed to finally pass and she was able to sleep more than the 20-30 minutes at a time she had gotten up to that point. Not fun. Although I'm sure there will be more moments like this. Today TLW seems back to her wonderful little entertaining self.

The weather this weekend sucked ass. I didn't ride yesterday and today just didn't look good either but I finally just went out regardless of the rain and got a good workout in. A little easy and a little hard at times. I continue to believe I might actually manage a 'cross race this season. After what transpired Friday night I'd certainly have to say moreso than ever, you never know what might come up. If it were'nt for the rain on Friday and my loath for running with a bike slung over my shoulder through the muck, I had seriously considered racing Saturday at Phelps. That, my dear promotors, is why people wait to prereg.

I've recently become enamored with powdered cinnamon donuts. As I've said a millions times, if not more, that is why I ride. Well, it's awfully fun too.

Bye bye.

Landon on his first hike at Pinchot - 9 days old

Percy? What did she just say?

2008-09-24T23:39:00.003-04:00

The Thomas Bathrobe Collection

So, if 1= busy what does 2=? I never really cared much for algebra. So far 2 has been manageable. Once again, it goes without saying just how much work The Wifey puts into being SuperMom. Trust me, it’s not a job I’d apply for any time soon. I took two weeks off work after Landon was born to help out as best I could. It was practically a vacation to go back to work! I do remember with Haley it does get easier as they grow. Hard to believe TLW will be 2yrs old in a few short months. She’s such a fun little girl.

I haven’t stopped keeping track of my commuting success rate. I’m just waiting for the next time I drive to work to refigure my number. I last drove to work on May 31st. We’ve had some awesome weather this summer that’s certainly helped the cause but I did ride to work in the rain a few times to keep the streak alive. I’m pretty sure it will take an act of ice or snow at this point to force my hand.

I did plenty of riding this summer to get myself fit to race this fall not really knowing if it would be the right thing to do, if at all, considering the timing of Landon. After the first couple weekends of ‘cross I’ve certainly felt the desire to be out there but haven’t regretted not making it. At this point last year I hadn’t raced once yet. Why? Because there weren’t any friggin' races scheduled so damn early! This year I could’ve done four already, forshitssake. ICLite seems like a good one to start with. Low-key and fun. I would have hoped to have one race in by then but we’ll see.

I’m happy to see Lance coming back to the sport. He makes people pay attention. This will most definitely be an interesting few months leading into next seasons professional cycling scene.

I once again would like to thank everyone who has sent their well wishes and a helping hand since TLM was born. Haley and Landon have tremendous family and friends who’ve spent a lot of time and effort to make things easier on them and their parents. We all appreciate it.

Is The Little Hammster in love?

Yer my boy

2008-09-02T21:04:00.003-04:00

Landon Patrick Kessel, I am your father

Haley, the big sister - What just happened??

FauxHawker Haley

2008-08-13T20:07:00.003-04:00

Team Columbia

2008-08-01T17:44:00.003-04:00

Team Columbia's latest hire for the future

Nice day for a hike

2008-07-21T20:19:00.002-04:00

Haley and I cruised over to Lower Allen for a walk in the woods. The playground was too hot with the sun beating down on it. This isn't the first time we've gone for a walk along the nature path back by the Yellow Breeches. In the past we've always done it with her bad-ass BOB Revo stroller but today we walked the whole stretch along the creek and back. TLW had a blast. She loves splashing in the crick. Then she found some sticks and startedchasing me with 'em. We had a fun time. She was pretty wiped out so we got her back home in time for lunch and a nice power-nap. Every day I see her growing and learning and communicated more and more & better and better. She's a little rocket surgeon!

It was the best of rides

2008-07-03T20:01:00.002-04:00

The Wifey and I headed up to Jim Thorpe for some R & R Tuesday afternoon. We spent the night at The Inn. Wednesday Erin’s parents came up with TLW to join us for another night. We had a good time. Haley constantly amazes me at how smart she is. I have no frame of reference as this is kido number one for us but I honestly never expected a one and a half year old to be smarter than me!

I got out for a nice long ride on the Lehigh Gorge Rail Trail from Jim Thorpe to White Haven and back. I took the old Giant CX’r on this trip. Solid. The funny thing is looking at the GPS elevation data for this ride. The grade change is so gradual that you don’t really notice that over 25 miles you’ve actually gained almost 500feet. You don’t notice, that is, until you turn around and head back the way you came. Good ride. Beautiful day.

A Tale of two rides - Jim Thorpe to White Haven and back again

Haley had a good time up there. She fell asleep without a problem and woke up on time, like a Swiss time-piece, 7:00AM.

Last Sunday I got out for one of those silly little rides that turned into a silly big ride. I usually have some idea where I want to go hen go do it. Sunday I had no plan to start other than to do a climb or two. I didn’t feel like straying to far from home so eventually I just ended up doing every grarly climb I could think of close to the Kessel Estate. After two hours I pretty much got most of ‘em save for one or two. As best as I can tell I climbed 4800feet over two hours and was never further than 7 miles from my house. I could have finished up the ride with Evergreen over to Fishing creek but, quite frankly, I was pretty whipped. Fun times though.

Happy Days

Happy Independence Day all.

one point five

2008-06-27T12:14:00.002-04:00

Teeth Brush

2008-06-26T20:37:00.002-04:00

Little Squirt

2008-06-15T23:41:00.003-04:00

Fathers Day number two for me today. Last year on Fathers Day TLW surprised me by saying “dada” for the first time. While there was nothing groundbreaking today it was a great day to hang with my wonderful little girl. We met The Wifey’s family for breakfast this morning. I was holding Haley’s hand as we walked into the restaurant while she waved and flashed a smile to everyone she saw. She’s almost 18months old and already knows how to command a room of adults. I’m a very lucky dad to have such an awesome little girl like her.

Tiger Woods is a warlock. Ridiculous. I would almost think about calling in sick tomorrow just to watch golf.

With the impending life-altering events scheduled for early September I have yet to seriously consider whether or not racing ‘cross is in the cards. Do I want to? Heck yes. Can I or should I, or will I even want to after the fact? Not so certain. Whatever the case, I gotten in some very nice “non”training rides the past few weeks. Building the foundation. Today was a beautiful day.

Speaking of riding, Mays commuting went down at 91%. June is a 10 fer 10 so far. YTD is 79%.

TLW helps her Dada open his card

Love the caption

Negative 29

2008-05-26T23:12:00.002-04:00

It's really quite amazing when you stop to think about just how big space is. I'm talking the stars and planets and universes and black holes kinda space. Not the empty space between my ears kinda space. It's hard to comprehend the vastness of it. You look up to the sky on a clear moonless night and you can see millions of stars which isn't even scratching the surface of just how far you can go. It amazes me that with all that stuff out there that none of it hardly ever runs into something else. I mean I'm sure it happens but I'm also sure it's super-mega-rare.

To bring it down to a smaller scale, think about just chillin' on your bike cruising along on a beautiful sunny Monday afternoon the amount of bugs you might come across on a 52 mile journey. All that wide open Perry county space would lead most people to think the chances of meeting a tiny little bug face to face would be slim but bordering on the rare. All that wide open space. A tiny little fly, or a bee, or a gnat. Little specs of jib no bigger than your pinky finger nail. All that wide open space and those stinkin' little critters found my bike riding eyeballs no less than half a dozen times on my 3hr tour. Some were straight ahead assaults leaving a self-defending split-second squint while others were the periferal sneak attacks that leave no time to react. Little bastards.

Today I made the 3rd Annual Memorial Day Ride to The Wifey's Grandparents House. There is no way I could have ordered better weather. Even the forecasted wind was made to order. South south west. Perfect. I love this ride. It's a great chance to hit some Bee-U-T-full Perry County roads. I passed on the opportunity to meet an old friend and decided to check out a different route. Iron Mountain Rd just north of Millerstown is the steepest beeyatch of a mile long dirt road climb I'd ever care to come across. Like an old friend, I know I'll visit Iron Mtn again someday, just not today. I bypassed the mtn and was happy to do so.

Of course the main attraction of the day was not spending 3 wonderful hours on my road sled but the feasting of quality grilled meats and other assorted glorious goodies while catching up with The Wifey's extended family. Yum.

Warning! Geeky riding-with-a-PowerTap subject matter follows. Interesting tidbits from the ride. 1st hour avg watts was 191, NP 220. TSS was 66 with an IF of .822. 665 calories expended. Avg speed was 17.4mph. This included the hardest climb of the day, The ridiculous Lambs Gap Rd. The lower early portion is pretty chill but if you measure the average gradient from a mile to go all the way to the top its a 10% climb. The final .40 is 13%. Poop.

Second hour avg watts was 187, NP 206. TSS was 60 with an IF of .774 and 670 calories. Avg speed was 17.3mph. Pine Hill Rd off of 850 is one of the coolest little climbs I've done. Perfect asphalt. Tree-lined. Kicks at the end. Over the top drops into a killer scenic view of the valley. Good stuff.

The final 57 minutes was a relaxing 160 avg watts, NP 178. TSS was 42.5. IF was .668 and calories was 550. Avg speed was 18.8mph.

Add it up. F U N ride. Oh yeah, and a very negative balance.

Haley is such a cool little girl. Tomorrow she hits 17 months. I love her.

Jam bong

2008-05-12T23:46:00.004-04:00

Please bear with me as I try to get a handle on my narcissistic guilt.

Many of you know I’m an avid bicycler. I’m fortunate to be in a good situation to leave my car parked and ride to work an awful lot. I’m also fortunate to have an understanding employer and fellow co-workers who permit me to leave work at 5pm a couple days a week so that I can spend some time with TLW before she goes to bed at 7pm. So, I ride home at 5pm or I ride home at 8pm.

My ride home is never alone. There are always others with me. What amazes me is the stark contrast between the 5pm and the 8pm people I ride home with. The 5pm crowd is retardedly hyper while the 8pm crowd is super tranquilo.

Case in point; this evening I left work at 5pm. I made it through the 18th St traffic mess without incident and directed my way out of Camp Hill on my trusty fixie, the commuter of favor lately. As I approached the bridges that cross the Yellow Breeches on Spanglers Mill Rd I could feel a few of my fellow commuters bearing down on me. The bridges are sketchy at best and make a hard right up a hill upon crossing. Just as I’m approximately half-way over the bridge one of my fellow commuters accelerates and passes me just as we make the hard right up the hill. My fellow commuter chops my line and speeds off leaving me to fight for control to stay on the pavement.

My point is this; no way do you see this kind of behavior from the 8pm crowd. As much as I like being home early to hang with The Wifey and TLW, I sure could do without the 5pm clowns to share the ride home.

Did I mention the fellow commuter in the aforementioned experiences of today was driving a Subaru? Or did I leave out the fact that this Subaru driving fellow commuter had a Yak rack on his roof? With 2 bike mounts? Oops. My bad.

April ended with an 81% commuting success rate. May steams along at a robust and unblemished 8 fer 8. 100%. My aim is to keep it perfect this month.

My wonderful mother told me she looks forward to visiting this blog and keeping up with what’s new at The Kessel Ranch. I promise I will do better to update more frequently for no other reason than that. Happy Mothers Day. A day late.

Cape May April 2008

The awesome Cape May Zoo!

Snakes are fun

Gators bore TLW

Bears ain't no thang for Haley!

Giggitty Giggitty!

2008-04-08T22:10:00.002-04:00

This guy is dumb. Real dumb.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing funnier on TV than Family Guy. Nothing. Two and a Half Men is good, but still doesn’t push the envelope of holy-shit-did-he-just-say-what-I-think-he-said quite like Family Guy.

The Quest for Lord Stanley’s Cup begins. I’d give the Flyers better than a punchers chance.

There is a new Legend. Not that the Old Legend went away. K-Mad’s Father rode the final 85 miles of the Ronde in epic conditions. A tip of the cap to you Thotis. Not sure I would have made it.

For the month of March; 73%. April; 83%. YTD; 74%.

On/off

2008-04-03T07:59:00.002-04:00

Who says the bathtub has to be only for baths?

The Wifey has been in Philly the past couple days on a teacher testing trip so TLW's Da-Da has been the Adult In Charge. Last night I had to take Haley to the doctor's for a routine check-up sorta visit. She was a happy, singing, laughing little girl all the way up to entering the examining room at which time she had a complete meltdown. For twenty minutes she was hooting like someone just ripped her first morning baba from her hands. The nurse did a couple things. The doctor did a couple things. The nurse came back in to give her a couple shots. As soon as we crossed the threshold of the exam room she immediately stopped crying and was perfectly happy again.

I think mothers are better equiped to hear their children in distress like that. I can say without a doubt that sound has replaced the vacuum cleaner as my number one least favorite sound. By far. We survived it together though and The Wifey made it back from Philly early enough last night to put TLW to bed. All is well again.

New kicks

2008-03-17T09:41:00.002-04:00

Week in review.

I rode a little. Ate a lot. Hebe's party was fun.

Haley is a fun little girlie.

A little sleepy

Still sleepy

Fast new shoes!

Add it up

2008-03-08T20:51:00.003-05:00

The elbow still hurts. The obvious prognosis was correct, tennis elbow. I was told to take 600mg of IB five times daily for a month and ice as often as possible. Now, if only I was better at following doctors orders. I’m not good at wolfing down giant pills like that throughout the day nor am I great at remembering to put the icy gel-pack back in the freezer after I’m done with it. The doc did say she was disappointed I waited so long to see her. I guess I’m closer to getting a steroid shot than anyone would care for. Poo.

Little DJ had his big one-oh last weekend. He had a couple friends over and some family to celebrate. TLW was having fun playing around with the boys. She’s really becoming more and more of a little character every day. Lots of laughing and smiling and playing. Naturally, with a crap elbow, it seems like she wants her da-da to pick her up and hold her more than usual. Whenever I’m chefing at the stove or washing some dishes she’ll maneuver herself in front of me and tug on my pants and reach her arms up to me. How could I possibly refuse?

The Wifey and I briefly toyed with the idea of selling our house in order to quickly buy a new house this past week. We love where we are but also loved living in town. A house went on the market on a very desirable street that had a lot of appeal to us. It is larger than our current which was the main reason we considered it but we unfortunately couldn’t make the numbers(money!) work. Unless someone out there wants to shoot me couple grand or twenty we won’t be moving. I’d gladly give naming rights. The YOUR NAME HERE Kitchen. Or The YOUR NAME HERE Basement. Maybe I should proposition Coke or Pepsi on this one.

We planned a trip to the Charm City today but the weather didn’t cooperate. I haven’t cruised around Inner Harbor in a while and thought it’d be a fun trip. Some other time I guess.

I finished up February with a 60% commute rate. That combined with January gives me a 74% rate for the year. Not bad, but I know I can do better. Only running 60% for March.

The St. Hebe’s Day party should be a real good time. I’m looking forward to it. The finest entertainment could simply be finding a good seat and people-watch all night.

I wonder if our Kenny is a da-da yet? Go Kenny!

Goin Camping

2008-02-28T09:10:00.003-05:00

We made a tent this morning for TLW. She loved it.

Tennis anyone?

2008-02-24T20:27:00.003-05:00

My friggin elbow is killing me! My belief is this is a repetitive use injury. Before all you funnymen leave “snake charming” related comments I can assure you that’s not the case. We’ll leave it at that. My diagnosis is Lateral Epicondylitis. Whatever the case, I suppose I need to pay a visit to the doc’s office. Joy.

I got a nice ride in today down to The Berm for little DJ’s final b-ball game. Turned out to be a pretty decent day. I got nice and mud spattered about halfway. I took the most direct route which involves a cool 1-1.5 mile dirt road complete with a short 18-20% climb.

Everytime I shifted I’d get this sharp pain shooting through my elbow. Might this be the motivation to renew my passion for the fixie?

Speaking of DJ. There’s a milestone birthday in the little man’s future. The big one zero for him. Can you remember where you were when you were 10? Me? Hardly.

In honor McHammy’s recent dry spell, which unless I’m mistaken will now stretch into a 4th week now, I thought I had found the perfect direction for our little Kylie to take his life. As I was flippin channels tonight I came across this. What could be more perfect? Already an experienced male model, I was excited at the prospect of success for The Hamster. Until, the small-print-disclaimer-fast-talking dude at the end of the commercial mentioned the deal breaker. Eligibility requirement #8 dooms him. Maybe we could all chip in and buy Hammy some shoe lifts. How’d the weekend go KHam?

Grilled Honey Mustard Chicken sammy

2008-02-17T22:18:00.004-05:00

Old news here but I’m always at a loss when it comes to smoking. No need to rehash all the reasons why it’s no good for you. You know it. I know it. We ALL know it. Yet, it still happens. The Wifey, TLW, and I went out Friday night to The Crapper Barrel. I was flummoxed to hear the hostess ask us if we wished to sit at a smoking or non-smoking table. Never mind that we had a 14-month in our hands. Pretentiousness aside, because you know plenty of folks have no problem killing their loved ones with second-hand smoke, I had to wonder how a restaurant that prides itself on a family-friendly atmosphere would allow smoking anywhere in it’s building.

I’ve always vocalized my feelings about smoking. We tod id. Restaurants should ban the practice. Bars/pubs/taverns should think about it as well. Our government should stay out of it. Let me make choices, I can handle it.

Wegman’s grocery recently stopped selling tobacco products at all their stores. A lot of people freaked out. Even some non-smokers had a problem with it. Who do they, the powers that be at Wegman’s, think they are to impart their morals on me, the consumer? Here’s a case where someone has made a powerful statement to the public without The Gov getting involved. You, Mr Consumer, have every right to choose smoking, however, I, Wegman’s, will no longer enable your habit. Very cool.

McDonald’s still uses trans fats for their French fries. Maybe they could take a page from Danny Wegman, AND the entire rest of the fast-food industry and get that straightened out.

Saturday I worked at the cyclery. I was hugely disappointed to learn upon arrival that it was NOT pancake breakfast Saturday. Seems that’s going down next Saturday. Although, my potential sour mood was tempered dramatically by The Legend making an appearance and subsequently working all day. After work I took my Ladies out again for some grub. This time to The Coliseum. We had to wait a bit so that Auntie Em could wait on our table. Benny showed up to entertain us. Later still, I finally got to meet KMad. She’s a cute little baby. Nice work Thotis & Jules.

Commuting has been rough so far this month. Crap weather and Erin being away a couple days has hurt my percentage thus far. The weather for the week looks favorable. I could possibly get'r up to 63% by Friday.

Jack Shit. You may or may not know him. Whatever the case, it’s how I would describe my activity level today.

Crunchy Corn Cereal

2008-02-14T10:04:00.003-05:00

I'm such a sucker for breakfast cereals. Most people know of my love of Honeycomb. I've had love affairs with Wheaties, Total, and Honey Nut Cheerios over the years but I'm always hooked by the here today gone tomorrow existence of Quisp.

Quisp is one of those cereals that harkens me back to days of yore when your humble narrator was but a tiny little punk earning his stripes on the mean streets of East Berlin. Days spent riding my sweet 'Goose around town trying not to find trouble or vice versa. I'd fuel up every morning with this sugary substance to get me through the day.

A few years ago I was out in San Diego visiting my brother-from-another-mother, Glen, and I found a huge stash of Quisp at the local Von's. I bought several boxes and smuggled them back to the Commonwealth to share with my friends here.

Now every once in a while I find it at Giant and I buy a couple or six boxes. It's not an incredibly tastey cereal, not bad, just not great. That's not the point though. When I throw a leg over my steed this morning to ride to work, just like all those years ago, I'll have been powered by the silly little alien dude and his sugary goods.

No go

2008-02-08T09:34:00.000-05:00

As I supsected, The Wifey did not approve of a 2-day nanny while she's gone so it's just me and TLW. We'll have a grande ol time. She's gotten over her stuffy head runny nose thing that stuck with her for weeks which means she's been sleeping much better. My biggest obstacle will be to actually get her to sleep and stay asleep. Or we can just stay up all night and party.

Haley loves her hat.

4M

2008-02-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

This ain’t global warming but maybe in a way it should be. A little while ago I linked a pretty cool video of a physics teacher who had an excellent take on the topic. Here it is to refresh. Basically it boils down to this; if global warming turns out to be real and we do nothing, we’re screwed. If we heed the warnings and take action, well, good for us whether it’s real or not.

Which brings me to Diet Mtn Dew. Or more to the point, aspartame. Go ahead and google aspartame. You’re likely to find as many links to studies and articles claiming it will kill you slowly vs those which say it ain’t no big thang.

I happen to be an aspartame user. I’ve read the studies. One week I’ll read it’s fine. The next it’s not. Am I drinking poison or am I drinking a pleasant calorie-free beverage. Never mind that I lost a pile of fat in large part due to my refusal to drink calories anymore.

So, perhaps I should apply the global warming principle to my aspartame dilemma. Heed the warning, true or false, and presumably live out my years poison free or continue to drink laced beverages at the risk of pushing my expiration date forward a tad. What to do?

Seems easy enough. I just need to overcome my neurosis about drinking calories. Any thoughts? Maybe I could devise some sort of diminishing aspartame patch to wean me off. Or I could simply burn the extra 150-200 calories I’d need to break even by drinking naturally sweetened beverages again.

What sort of fun could I get into burning 200 extra calories a day? Let us count the ways. Just a smattering of thoughts here.

-25 minutes of competitive badminton
-1hr 40minutes of accordion playing
-1hr 28min of brushing my teeth
-3hr 15min of napping
-1hr 58min of watering the lawn
-30min of chopping wood (axe version)
-2hr 15min chopping wood (shuckin’ the corn version)

-2hr 57min of praying for forgiveness

The Proposition

2008-02-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

I love fantasy sports. But I don't do it for money. It's purely and simply a fascination to play GM and do better than anyone else you're up against. Easy stuff. What I don't do is gamble. Never have. Seems to much like a slippery slope to me. I do, however, look forward to the Super Bowl every year when Vegas makes what very well could be a crap game, or not, by adding a sense of drama and sillyness with the prop bets.

Basically, a prop bet is any bet that has nothing to do with the actual outcome of the game. Some of this years prop bets, as usual, are pretty funny.

Predict the Coin Toss
Heads
Tails

Tom Brady’s Total Passing Yards Will Be an
Odd Number
Even Number

Which Song Will Tom Petty Sing at the End of His Halftime Show?
Free Falling 2/3
Don’t Do Me Like That 5/1
Learning to Fly 12/1
Great Wide Open 9/1
Last Dance with Mary Jane 4/1
Runnin’ Down a Dream 7/5

Who will the MVP of the Game Thank First?
Teammates 2/1
God 5/2
Family 2/1
Coach 5/1
Doesn’t Thank Anyone 6/1

Jersey Number of Player to Score First Touchdown
Over 43.5
Under 43.5

Who Will Have More?
Amani Toomer Receiving Yards +15.5
Tiger Woods 4th Round score -15.5

Who Will Have More?
Total QB sacks by Giants and Patriots
Shots on goal by Jaromir Jagr

Who Will Have More?
Longest Field Goal by Giants or Patriots +24.5
Phil Mickelson 4th Round Score (FBR Open) –24.5

Who Will Have More?
Tom Brady Interceptions
Derek Fisher (LAL) Free Throws Missed

How Long Will it Take Jordin Sparks to Sing the National Anthem?
Over 1 minute 42 seconds
Under 1 minute 42 seconds

That last one is my favorite. It has nothing to do at all with the game itself. Some poor sucker will no doubt lose his kids college fund as a result of the outcome though. As I was seeking out some of these prop bets I happened to come by this gem of an article. Go ahead and read it. And hang in there while reading it. It'll change the way you look at (or in this case listen to) our National Anthem forever. Plus, it's funny in so many ways.

So if you're not a Pats or Giants fan but you want to sit and watch this game with more than passing interest, go ahead. Why not? I'm taking the under on The National Anthem.

Next question

2008-02-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

So, it looks like Wendy's once or twice a year takes the prize. Sounds about right to me. I spent a lot of time on the road this week delivering fitness goods with McHammy or VisitPA Ray. Good times. Both are quality delivery mates.

The Wifey is running off on some work related 2-day trip in a week or so. She's not normally excited to go on a trip like this but this time I think she's looking forward to it. Her and her co-worker, Nikki, are looking at this trip as a way to get away from needy little babies and also to get away from Haley and Molly for a couple days. In a way I'm happy to see her get away but I'm also slightly freaked out because this means I'm in charge of getting TLW taken care of. I've done one night before but never a 2 nighter. I've joked that I'm going to hire a 2-day nanny for this event.

January wrapped up with a 20 out of 23 commuting success rate. 87%. February started off crapilly. 0%.

Eli's Coming.

Snots

2008-01-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

The Little Lady has had a pretty nasty cold the past few days but it sure hasn't dampened her mood to terribly bad. Her nose is Rudulph red but her smile is as endearing as ever. She really hams it up when the camera comes out.

Looks like another drive day. At least the weather losers couldn't screw this one up.

Three Dog Night

2008-01-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

I saw No Country For Old Men tonight with Poo. Good movie. If anyone wants to explain it to me that would be cool too. One of those movies you have to see a second time I’m thinking. Does the answer lie in within TLJ’s dream? In the end who has the money? Dammit! I need help with this one.

The hype on Cloverfield is hooking me. I think I want to see it.

I built my PowerTap wheel for the mountain sled. I can see the future. It has more mtb rides in it.

18 days of work so far in ‘08. 16 of them started off with ride to and a ride from. 88.9%. Tuesday should have been but wasn’t due to the weather losers missing their forecast of an inch or two by……an inch or two. I drove in expecting the forecasted white shat. Never came. Losers.

Hockey is real good this season. The Flyers are competitive again. El Diablos seem to be the only team that’s giving them fits. They punked the Sid-less Pens tonight. I missed it. Wish I didn’t. I love watching them play Pitt, and win.

The Giants will ruin the perfect season. Eli’s Coming.

McHammy is a McManwhore.

The Invisible Rant

2008-01-15T19:31:00.000-05:00

From time to time people ask my “why is it called antibike”. If you had the chance to ride along side me today as I rode to work you’d find the answer not once but twice. I’m typically fairly sympathetic towards most motorists as they merrily slave along in their day’s travels. It’s inevitable that someone will do something dumb to put me or them in harms way but most often it’s bad judgment, not a flagrant twitch of douchebaggery. Someone will see me and overreact by driving clear into the opposite lane of traffic or something along those lines.

What makes my head boil is when a driver clearly sees me yet still accelerates to pass me and then immediately makes a right turn in front of me, cutting me off in the process, as was the case this morning. That act is my number one asshole driver maneuver. There is NO WAY I can’t be visible to a person that pulls off that stunt. It is a total lack of respect for my safety, my life. A 3000lb car vs some chump on a 15lb bike. Nice odds. I chased that loser this morning, but get this, he obviously new he chopped me because he accelerated and drove off at a high rate in a very twisty residential neighborhood. Way-to-go tough guy. Congrats.

Not even a mile later some tard woman pulls off a perfect “I’m an asshole Camp Hill driver who parks on the wrong side of the road maneuver”. She does this right in front of me. She drives into my lane causing me to swerve and pass her on the opposite side of the road. Think about that for a moment. For an insant, this stupid driver is in my lane coming directly at me in her 3000lb car. I didn’t know her intentions until I was already by her. All I knew for sure was had I stayed put, I was meat. Had I swerved further to the right, I was meat.

After those two close-calls, I very seriously considered whether or not I somehow crossed over into some kind of parallel tard-driver dimension. A universe where me, your humble narrator, was invisible. I’m not joking. I’m not laughing right now. It wasn’t until I walked into Bob’s Bagel Shack and was greeted by friendly faces with my usual Everything Bagel that I knew I was visible.

So, there you have it. Antibike. My daily experiences as an afterthought on two wheels. The commuting equivalent to a pile of dog shat. The sentiment of, “yep, I see you, now get the hell outta my way or I’ll just run your ass over regardless”. None of which will make me stop either.

Little McHammy, VisitPA Ray, and myself commute regularly, if not religiously. Both McHammy and VisitPA Ray have longer commutes than I do so I’ll never out-commute them in terms of miles but there is one way I can. My goal is to out-percentage them. I know it’s still heavily skewed my way because even if it’s raining I only get rained on for 20 minutes or I only have to be frozen for 20 minutes but I’ll try to track my success rate and keep it posted here. YTD – 100%. Thursday looks tricky though. Chance of precip later in the day.

It was cool to finally visit The Coliseum Saturday night. Auntie Em took fine care of our table. Benny and Joshy were highly amusing in their own special way. I haven't been out that late in a loooong time. I'm not sure I'd go back there. It's just too much of a zoo. The food was good, but I can get better. The bowling was fun, but I can go better. Fun night though.

Speaking of McHammy, I wonder how he enjoyed his coffee beverage tonight?

Golden Arches and the like

2008-01-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Hard to argue with 67 degrees on the 8th of January. Although there is clearly an “r” in January I wasn’t going to deny my stubby little legs some fresh air. Getting a nice ride in anytime is therapy but especially when you can get in a ride when the weather could just as easily be 20 degrees and frozen roads. Good times.

Speaking of good times. Last Saturday we took TLW over to The PA State Farm Show. She absolutely loved it. All the farm animals and different sites and sounds were all she could handle. She has her cow/mooing down to a science and she was working a pretty good chicken cluck too. By far her most favorite part of the trip was the merry-go-round. The Wifey and Haley got on and she grinned from ear to ear for the duration. In fact she just about had a meltdown when we walked away from it. Good thing your typical one year old is easily distracted.

Sunday I rode down to meet The Wifey and TLW at The Berm to watch little DJ’s 4th grade basketball game. Pretty fun to watch. Aunt Shannon and Uncle Greg got to hang out with TLW as well. On the way home I took the opportunity to stop at Wendy’s and procure myself my first fast food meal in well over a year. Yum.

Say what you want about fast food. Some people live on it and do fine. Some get fat as hell. You healthy options at fast food seem to be much better now as well. Personally, I just avoid it all together. In my case, I love to eat. I also love to be thin. I know if I allowed myself regular fast food I’d have to work harder at being thin. Not worth it. The stuff tastes great. I wonder if it’s ever been proven in some way that fast food uses some kind of addictive sinister non-caloric additive that keeps it’s customers coming back? I haven’t heard much recently about the Big Tobacco scenario happening in the realm of fast food.

At any rate, the last time I could think of a full fledged all-in visit to a fast food was after the Charm City ‘cross race in September of ’06. Also a Wendy’s. So, the latest antibike poll will deal with your favorite fast food. Who do you love? And how often do you love it?

I wonder if I could somehow slip this one by The Wifey?

McHammy

2008-01-03T21:54:00.000-05:00

I blew out a rear tire no more than a half mile from leaving work tonight. Calling The Wifey was not even a consideration because of putting TLW to bed at that very time. My only option, McHammy. Thanks a bunch Kyle for turning around and driving my broken down ass home. In your honor.

Happy Birthday Haley!

2007-12-27T19:13:00.000-05:00

Today we celebrated Haley's first b-day. Thanks to all the friends and family that made her day tons of fun. Haley's pap-pap made a huge Elmo cake, which was awesome, and we picked up some Elmo cookies at the PA Bakery. Good stuff.

Factor in the gifts from a couple days ago and I think we're in good shape for a few years. Whoever came up with this Elmo thing is a genius. And rich. Thanks again to everyone who came and helped us celebrate. We couldn't have made it through this first year without all the support we get from you. Hebe gets special mention for the handwritten card. Very nice, thanks.

Now we'll see if TLW will sleep tonight with all that sugar she ate today.

Peppers

2007-12-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

The strawberry wins. Funny, that happens to be one of my least favorite fruits. I don't have a problem eating them as part of a cake or a muffin or something like that, but all by it's lonesome, the strawberry is low on my list. Time for the veggies. This time vote for multiple choices. One footnote in the fruit voting, I forgot The Tomato. Despite it's confusion as a veggie, I don't feel good about adding it to the list. Sorry.

I haven't touched a bike since last Thursday. I feel fatness and lethargy setting in. So far, I don't seem to mind a bit. Although the weather could cooperate a tad and stop being so nice out.

One more week of winter vacation to go. I've been trying to catch up on making DVD's of little Haley's first year. We've taken over 3000 pictures in the past year of which I'm guessing 90% were of TLW. I also have over 5hrs of video to navigate. Fun to look back. It's only been a year but the first one is the busiest for little babies. I would say her walking to crawling ratio is up to approx 40/60 split. She can walk fine but sees crawling as a faster more stable mode of travel still. We'll get there. Then the fun really starts.

Orange you glad I......haven't I heard this before

2007-12-21T15:33:00.000-05:00

I think I wrapped up all the gifting loose ends today. Actually, The Legend is still on my gift list. Yo, Hebe, any needs or wants?

Auntie Em and I braved the Crapitol City Mall this afternoon. As full as the parking lot seemed outside, it wasn’t all that bad inside. We breezed through our visit unscathed. Fun times.

Coakley’s wings last night. The best. A pretzel ham & cheese sammy too. Very tastey.

This is my way of breaking the news to The Wifey that there is yet another new bike in the garage. See, I don’t keep my bike stuff a secret. Actually, this is addition by subtraction. I bought a LeMond Zurich frameset but I’m selling my Salsa ‘crosser. I absolutely loved that frame, but, I figured I try to pass it on to the highest bidder while it still might have some value. As opposed trashing it making it my winter roadie/commuter sled. I’d much rather trash a perfectly nice, 2.1lb full carbon LeMond frame. BTW, first impressions of the LeMond; awesome! Very stiff and rigid. Moreso than my Madone. I wouldn’t say uncomfortably stiff but if I were 15lbs heavier that’s exactly what I’d be saying.

Catching up with old high school friends tonight. Our first chance to meet little Katie H. Then it’s a wonderful xmas breakfast Saturday morning. A wonderful xmas turkey Sunday evening. A wonderful xmas ham Monday afternoon. Somewhere in there I’m going to have to fit in a wonderful xmas beer or three. The fridge as it sits right now bears some Guinnesses (guinness’?, guinni’s?, what the hell is the plural of Guinness anyway?), Spaten, Franziskaner, Yuengling. I think we need to get busy.

I need a nap after that trip to the mall. It always takes all my energy. Only three days left to vote for your favorite fruit. How on earth is my favorite fruit, The Orange, in a tie with someone elses favorite fruit, The Kumquat? Who among us has ever eaten a kumquat? Who even knew a kumquat was a fruit. Kinda like a titmouse isn’t even a tit, or a mouse.

nor'shitter (a pictorial)

2007-12-16T17:37:00.000-05:00

Which of these pics doesn't belong. TLW learning to sew.

ketchup

2007-12-14T20:24:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay. I’m sure you, my loyal readers, have been beside yourself wondering what’s going on. My apologies.

‘Cross is done for the season. I almost made the Triple C my last event but something was tugging at me to do one more race. I finished up with the final event in the PA CX Series at Wonderland in Lancaster, which doubled as the PA States race as well. I had no real aspirations to crush the competition as I’ve raced the Elite Masters category in the PA Series this season. It was a good learning experience racing the old guys. I have a tremendous amount of respect for these fellas and I hope I at least showed I belong. For the most part these guys have been doing cx longer than any and really have it dialed. At any rate, Wonderland was another serious slop-fest. Lots of running. Refer back to Lehigh/T-town for my thoughts on running. This time was different though. I was doing this race purely and solely because I love ‘cross. I was happy to finish the season healthy and wiser than when I started.

Thoughts on this season. It IS possible to race solidly without ever actually “training”. I rode a fair amount. I made my rides hard when it felt good to go hard. I never felt burned out. I figured out my CyclingPeaks software a little better and used my PowerTap to my advantage. I never rode two hours when I only felt like one and a half. Somehow, it worked out ok.

Also, by not putting expectations on myself to finish top 10 or top 15 or whatever, I took further pressure off myself and just went out and raced as hard as I could and lived with the results, good or bad. Sure, there were times I felt great about things and times I wished I did better. But, as a whole, I’m happy.

Thoughts on next season. Probably take the same approach. I will make every attempt to work on my glaring weakness. I can’t run. I loathe the run. One-third(2) of the races I did involved a serious amount of running. At Lehigh, 4th thru 8th(me) was separated by 1:20. I couldn’t run to save my skin that day. Perhaps a little running in advance of cx season will aid my cause.

I’d like to race a larger number of events next season. I’m still feeling my way in this race scene. It’s crazy to see some of these guys racing from April thru December. I find it hard to focus on 10 weeks. It was awesome to have The Wifey and TLW attend a few of my races. It’s not easy packing up a 10month old and hanging out in a field for 2-3hrs while I do my thing. That should get easier as time goes on.

Enough about that.

Little Haley is doing amazingly well. I declared she was officially walking on Thanksgiving Day and she thanked me by refusing to work on her craft again until a few days ago. She seems to have found her bravery again and is steaming ahead full gas on walking skills. 13 days until Haley officially leaves infancy and hits toddler-ness. One year old. That will be fun.

She has taken a real affection for eating oranges with her dad. I love oranges. When I sit down to eat an orange, it’s not just one orange. Two or three is the norm although years ago I remember eating 6,7, sometimes 8 oranges in a sitting. Love ‘em. Haley will practically crawl up my legs to get a chunk of citrus. She clamors for as much as I’ll give her. Earlier this week she was suffering from a cold so all the vitamin C was doing her some good.

Two more days of work and I’m done for ’07. that will be nice. No plans. Maybe a little shopping. Hang with my two wonderful ladies. I will visit a fast food joint for the first and only time this year. Probably Wendy’s and probably that double patty jalapeno cheddar artery clogger thing. Watch some good xmas movies. Ride a bike or two. No doubt shovel some white shat that’s fallen from the sky.

That’s all.

Ooooooh fffuuuudge.................

2007-12-02T22:07:00.000-05:00

Go ahead and guess what explitive I just fired out as this was unfolding? Dummy. Thank you Dennis Smith for being in the right place at the right time.

Lemme tell ya

2007-12-01T19:27:00.000-05:00

Hebe ‘Cross has come and gone just like that. As usual I have mixed emotions. After not racing for a month I was expecting the customary shock to the system. We raced 5 laps and I didn’t feel good until 2 to go. My legs came in just around the time Tom McDaniel caught me and some other dude. I was stoked to have McD with me because he’s a big dude with loads of horsepower to shelter and tow me on the flats. Shame is the other dude stacked the barriers and ate shit right in front of me with 1.5 to go. What disappointed me was I wasn’t riding in his line. I was ready to attack him over the barriers on the left but when he lost his footing he clogged the entire left side. I T-boned him good twisting my stem/bars in the process. By the time I straightened my sled and got going again McD was 10 seconds up the road. See-ya. To make matters even testier, I never totally straightened my stem so for the final lap and a half my bars were a tad to the right. I was happy to hold off Moats. He’s been right on my tail at a few races this season but hasn’t quite caught me yet. In the end I finished 15th. Good MAC points. Without the incident I probably would have lost a sprint with McD for 13th. Although 12th was only a couple seconds ahead of him so who knows how it would have worked out if we could have worked together somehow.

What bugs me is when dumb stuff like that happens beyond my control. If I had screwed up on my own would have been easier to swallow. The course was an absolute blast. Very fast and in true Hebe form it was super flowy. You could pedal through just about everything. Fun times. Brewer won the sprint for the win. Good for him. He’s a nice guy and real friendly. On the plus side from my view is although I finished 15th, I was only 2 minutes behind the winning group. For such a fast race I can take satisfaction in that. At Wissy I was 1:40 back and that was all the way back in October when my level of fitness was a tad better. Mike had a nice finish in his race, 4th.

I wanted to stay for the Elite races but due to the impending crap weather for Sunday The Wifey and I decided to get our tree today which didn’t give us much time to work with. Last year when we snagged our tree TLW was still about a month away. This year we got to take her along and let her be part of the choosing process. I think she picked out a nice tree for her first Xmas. Now that it’s officially December I will no longer allow myself to be grumpy about all the holiday talk/music/ads/bullcrappery. With Thanksgiving being a little early this year, quite frankly, November 24th is just silly to be seeing A Christmas Story on TV. And yet, there it was. Silly.

Look at those teeth!

Haley choose her tree

The Wifey agrees

We Todd Did

2007-11-29T20:42:00.000-05:00

HebeCross ’07 hits the fan Saturday. I rolled a couple laps last weekend with The Legend. The course is going to be Fast. With a capital eff. And as a result, will be hard. As in “WTeff, this is hard!” I want to go fast. I will try my hardest to go fast. It’s not even the hard, sharp, little climbs in the course that worry me, it’s all the wide-open dead-flat shite that gets me uptight. I just have to remind myself one more time my season long mantra. No pressure, just have fun. And, this will be a fun race.

I can’t pass up the opportunity to share this video I caught tonight. I nearly shat my pants laughing.

TLW vs Elwood

2007-11-14T21:39:00.000-05:00

Haley has found one of Elwoods toys and started chasing him around the basement whacking the hell out of him any chance he gets. The great part is even though she whips him pretty good he thinks it's playtime and goes right along with it. Hilarious.

Once an Eagle, always an Eagle

2007-11-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

What a tremendously fun weekend! The weather was perfect early November crispy cool and sunny. I got to spend a lot of time hanging out with my two favorite ladies.

It all started early Friday morning with a quick drive down to my former high school, The Berm, to participate in their Healthy Living Day. I spent the day as a representative of Holmes Cyclery, and more to the point, cycling as a part of a healthy lifestyle. I was given a classroom to do my thing and any kids who ended up in my classroom were there because they chose to be. There were approx 30 presenters and the kids had to choose 5 topics they’d like to experience. I had about 25 kids in each of my 5 classes, which was awesome because there were only 25 seats. Maybe every presenter had a full class, I don’t know, but I was happy to see a strong interest in cycling.

What worried me was he 40 minutes I had to fill in each class. I wasn’t so much worried about speaking in front of 25 kids, just how to talk about cycling to 15-18yr olds without boring them to death. I spent some time chatting about safety stuff. Helmets, lights, gloves, blah, blah, blah. Then a bit about maintenance. Air pressure, brakes, clean bike, fixing a flat.

I finished up by discussing the wattage/power based training I do. I had my road sled set up on my indoor trainer. I then had Coach Oswald do a minute in the first class to set a wattage benchmark for kids to shoot for. The rest of the day I let kids volunteer to do a minute to get an idea just how hard cycling can be. I was able to take their avg watts divided by their weight in kg to produce a power-to-weight ratio. With that number I was able to show them on a chart just exactly how big of a disparity there is between regular chumps like me and Coach versus, say for instance Mr Armstrong. It was eye-opening. Some little 112lb wrestler had the highest ratio.

So, anyway, it was real cool to spend the day doing that. I had a great time and I hope at least a couple of the kids came away with something enjoyable and positive. I only saw two sleepers, both in the morning. I also got to walk over to the elementary school during my lunch break to hang out with my little nephew DJ. I sat and had lunch with him then played football with him and the other 4th graders during recess. How could I not mention how much fun I had hanging out with my good friend Coach Oswald all day long. I got a behind the scene glimpse at the new athletic facilities still under construction. Pretty nice stuff. Good times. Thanks for setting the day up for me Brian.

The rest of the weekend was spent just chillin here at the ranch. I got my garage cleaned and organized. It was still in summer party mode. Just a lot of clutter for the most part.

Today, I coulda, shoulda raced at Spring Mtn. Man, if I just didn’t have the desire to drive almost 2hrs both ways to do it. It looked like the best field of 35+ the PA Series has had so far. I was sitting 4th in points but that will change for sure. I had it in my mind to do well in the series so I’ll have to stay on top of my game and come up with something special for the Dec 8th States race in Lancaster. On that topic, at this point Beacon isn’t looking like a reality so my next race is looking like Hebe ‘Cross on the 1st of December. That’s a long time between races so I’ll probably chill for a week then try to build again for that first week in December.

TLW is so tantalizingly close to walking. She can now stand for a period of time without falling over so her balance is improving daily. Now it’s coming up with the courage to put one foot in front of the other without hanging on to something. She’s such a wonderful little lady.

Good v evil. Rebel Alliance v Evil Empire. Frickin’ Evil takes it. Dammit.

Hebeween Party

2007-10-27T23:59:00.000-04:00

Ummmm, Wow!

Dr. Howie Feltersnatch

I see drunk people

Nascar Nancy & The Grand Wizard

Your most Legendary Host

Hebe and Chepe

Captivated by Nurse Nerdlinger

Gene Hebe? Mike Simmons?

Brokeback Seve & Chef BBP

The Wifey

Kyle Dirt

Cleo

We are.......oooooops!

What can brown do for me

2007-10-27T17:14:00.000-04:00

So I found out a couple things today at the races. Things I already suspected but no doubt confirmed definitively. One; if I have to get off my bike and run more than hurdling a set of barriers, I’m at a distinct disadvantage. Running just flat out hurts me. I suppose that’s something I should work on. Two; on a sloppy, creamy, churned-up, mudder of a course like today where loads of power is necessary, I just ain’t got any.

No worries though. I saw The Fat One after finishing third in his race and his best advice was it’s a fun time, just have fun. I tried. I guess beauty is in the eye of the, man that’s so cliché. Whatever. All things considered, despite the course working me over like a weak little chump, I did find myself bringing 5th-8th back towards me on the last lap.

Hebe crushed all. Nice work man. Now, just take care of The Blaze. R.I.P.?

Speaking of The Legend, a Hebeween Party is on tap this evening. Should be fun.

Boo!

2007-10-26T18:29:00.000-04:00

Haley's first Halloween Trick or Treat night was Thursday night. She had a grand time. Almost as much fun as us big kids had watching her enjoy herself. We mostly hung out on the front porch of Erin's parents house handing out goodies to the little kids. Haley was diggin' all the different costumes. We did take her for a walk to some of the neighboring houses to try her hand at candy grabbing. The first couple she wasn't grasping the concept but by house three she nailed it. That's my girl. She did a fine job snatching all kinds of chocolaty goods for her dad. We also managed to teach TLW to say Boo when she sees a ghost. Pretty funny.

On a seperate note. It's raining biblical proportions right now with a 'cross race set for high noon tomorrow. This WILL be fun. I figure there are two ways to look at it and I'm taking the "Oh yeah, this will be fun" approach. I reserve the right to change my mind when I see the course.

Happy Halloween all.

(Un)Lucky 13

2007-10-23T22:34:00.000-04:00

It’s amazing what a difference a year makes. Racing cross is a hard discipline. I don’t know anybody that would debate that. Whether you finish up front or in the middle or in the back, it’s hard. But, oh how funny it is, that, the closer you are to the front, the easier you can say it is. The suffering, the pain, doesn’t hurt quite as much. The sting doesn’t feel quite as bad.

In one race, Sunday at Wissahickon, I erased all the bad memories from last years races. There is a fine line between putting the work in vs mailing it in. Pride is a huge motivating factor for me. I race against some real fast guys. I know my place. I’m not talented enough to win races at my level. But I know if I truly put the effort in, if I truly put the work in, I can hang in amongst some pretty fast fellas. This season I’ve put in the work and I can say I’m proud of where I was at the end. Sure there were 12 others ahead of me. That’s not the point.

I guess it’s all about expectations. If I expect to race in the top 15 without putting the appropriate time and effort in, well, that’s just going to end badly. My lesson learned from last year is to refuse to put expectations on myself. There are a bunch of goal oriented, goal driven people that just wouldn’t understand that statement. Tough poo. This isn’t my retirement account, it’s bike racing. It’s not Elite Nationals, it’s the B’s or 35+. Putting expectations on myself last year took a lot of fun out of riding. Something I love wasn’t fun anymore. Even the best training rides last year still sucked. No more.

So, now, after a good result, I find myself looking ahead. I wasn’t even considering Beacon. Now, by putting the time and effort in, I’ve earned some MAC points and the right to a better starting spot. Would I be a fool to not take advantage of that? Probably. Would I rather spend November 10th hanging out with The Wifey and TLW? Definitely. Will I expect a result similar to Wissy if I do Beacon? What do you think?

Dinner with TLW

2007-10-19T17:56:00.000-04:00

Little Haley has been practicing feeding herself the past few days. It's going pretty well although every once in a while she misses the target right or left by an inch or three. Regardless, she has a grand time doing it.

Granogue was going to be on my plate this weekend but I decided to race Wissy instead so that I could hang out with the Fam Saturday. The Wifey graduated from Messiah College and this weekend is the Homecoming so she wants to go do stuff and check out new buildings and watch Auntie Em play football and whatever else goes on. So, it just seems like a better day to chill. All things equal, I'd rather do Granogue but Wissy probably suits me better anyway.

Halloween is coming up fast. Do you have your costume yet? What are you going to be? I need answers dammit!

The sales guys usually tell me to shut the F* up.

2007-10-14T19:26:00.000-04:00

As much as I hated the ‘cross race I did last Sunday in Philly, how could I have known such a cool positive would come out of it. I mean really, a crap course, hot stinky weather, multiple blisters, need I say more? I raced the Masters 35+ race. I finished 8th. Whatever.

So, I head out to do IC Lite Saturday. Unbeknownst to me, the officials do call-ups. Of the top ten from last weeks race only two were in attendance. The Legend gets a call-up. And little ‘ol me gets to line up right next to him. Then Kris Auer lines up right next to me. Damn, two of the fastest Elite masters on either side of me. I know both of those gents would say good luck and do well. It was honor to be there. It was an absolute thrill to ride their wheels for the first two minutes of the race. I’m realistic, I don’t belong up there but it was a tremendous advantage to get on their wheels and let the race stretch out. The course was a blast. I think the ubiquitous spiral of death is just plain silly. Last years IC Lite had a small one. Dumb. Whissy has one. Dumb. However, this years IC Lite had a HUGE spiral. So huge you could totally stay on the gas all the way through it. I was so extremely hooked up tire-wise. With all the swoopy corners the course just flowed so well. The woodsy singletrack had a log which was bunny-hopable. All in all, just a fun time. It didn’t hurt that I hung on for 5th place. I was only approx 20 seconds off the podium. How cool would that have been. It was also great to have The Wifey and The Little Woman cheering me on.

Did I mention as I was doing my final warm-up lap before the race I coast up next to a dude dressed in Gary Fisher digs and a Trek XO-2. I was pretty certain who he was but I chatted briefly with him just to be sure. “Are you racing today”? “Yep” “Cool”. “You”? “Yep”. Blah blah blah. Finally I say my name is Don. He replies, “I’m Keith, good to meet you”. So there you have it. I’m doing a warm-up lap with Keith Bontrager. Friendly dude too.

Today I got out for a nice hard hilly ride. I’m now good and proper sore. A one hour massage awaits me Tuesday morning. Can’t wait.

Ooops

2007-10-11T18:47:00.000-04:00

Yes, that IS pee and No I did NOT pee on myself.

My Little Pumpkin

2007-10-10T20:33:00.000-04:00

Fun

2007-10-03T19:53:00.000-04:00

I was flipping through some books tonight with Haley. The Wifey usually spends time doing this nearly every day but I was astounded at how quickly she reacted to different pictures and textures and fragrances on the pages. I guess it's pretty typical for kids her age to be little rocket surgeons and also pretty typical for fathers to realize at this point that his little daughter will pass his intelligence before she hits 5. My days are numbered.

Goodnightnow.

Vegas Vacation

2007-09-29T16:05:00.000-04:00

Hebe and I flew out to catch Interbike this week. It’s pretty overwhelming to show up at an event like that and not have a game plan. I was attending more from a kid in a candy store viewpoint rather than official business. Makes the whole thing just a little more palatable. Hebe was able to get some good things done relating to the MAC.

What I was really looking forward to was the Cross Vegas event. Cool venue. It was off The Strip a little ways but a huge amount of people attended so it was pretty crazy during the men’s race. Leech was awesome considering it was his first ‘cross race of the year while practically everyone else ahead of him has raced at least once if not twice last weekend. Factor in the non-Americans and you had a field that could be considered the strongest ever assembled for a ‘cross race on U.S. soil. Unofficially 26th place. Nice racing Ry.

Trebon - Page - Wicks

Leech is in there

Disco Tony

Thursday night before we had to catch our red-eye back home we hung out at the Mandalay Bay for the World Crit Finals. That was real cool too. Cipo raced the Industry Cup and never left 5th wheel the entire time until he ate shit with two to go. Ooops, not how that was meant to go. The men’s race was funt to watch but we had to split before it ended. You can watch all those events online here.

All in all it was a great time. I didn’t even mention the dirt demo, which, given my great ambivalence towards mtb’s, was tremendous to see everyone have road bikes to ride on closed roads. Nice.

We landed in Harrisburg around 9:45am Friday and I was at work by noon. I just didn’t want to use a vacation day and spend it sleeping all day. Unlike Hebe, I did NOT sleep thirteen hours once I did get to bed Friday night but I’m sure if you count lounging on the couch before and after sleeping it was probably close.

Most of all, I really missed my two very lovely women. I did some quick shopping for Haley and I would have liked to get something for Erin but I literally had not one more square inch to store anything. I bought TLW a hoodie from the Paul Frank store and some socks at the Puma store. She’ll be a trendy little woman now.

Hebe and Leech are fun to hang with. Good times.

That’s all.

Haley's first trip to the beach

2007-09-15T11:22:00.000-04:00

The Goat Sucker

2007-09-01T19:41:00.000-04:00

The Wifey, Haley, and I kicked off the three day weekend with a trip to Perkin's for breakfast this morning. Can't say that I was blown away. So-so. TLW ate cheerios while we chowed down. She's really getting good at picking them up and eating them.

I wanted to get out for a good ride today but after a week of delivering fitness crap my back has been a bit knackered. This morning I could barely stand up without having a bit of stiffness and achyness. Whatever, riding doesn't really require standing up, right? So, I got out for 2 solid hours of joy. I rode my CCC with road wheels on. I must say, I do love my Malone, but, the CCC is one hell of a comfy ride. I highly recommend getting yourself one.

While I was riding today it occured to me that for everyday dicking around on road rides a 53t large ring is just plain stupid. I have a large ring of 46t on the CCC. I guess compact cranksets with a 50t is just about perfect. Even with the 46t I rarely had to leave it but also didn't feel the need to spin out on any of the rollers I was doing.

The most compelling evidence yet that El Chupacabras is real.

I might actually ride my Mtn sled Sunday. Proof positive that anything is possible.

Haley is absolutely the coolest, most awesome little girl ever.

Night.

The Sexy Little Woman

2007-08-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

60

2007-08-26T10:15:00.000-04:00

It was pretty friggin swampy but we managed to throw a fun little 60th birthday party for Erin's dad. As if 95 wasn't bad enough, I stood at my stainless steel Weber gas grill for an hour cooking up some hot-dogs and hog-birds. I was totally drenched in sweat but there was a job to do and someone needed to do it. Anyway, it was nice to see everyone.

The Old Geezer as Erin calls him

Uncle Jimmy - Babe Magnet

Uncle Jimmy, Cal & Maggie

Haley & Grammy

Haley & The Wifey

Riley & Mike playing "Riley Rules" croquet

31 weeks

2007-08-20T21:53:00.000-04:00

TLW is waaay beyond crawling at this point. She's mastered that skill and now has moved on to pulling herself up next to furniture and standing up. It's really pretty cool to see but just a tad scary. Seems like every day she's improved upon or mastered a new skill. The Wifey apparently was walking at 9 months so I'm thinking Haley might be right on that mark. I can't imagine the thrill Erin and I will feel when TLW actually walks her first steps. Other than teaching her to ride a bike , a skill Haley's father has yet to master, I can't imagine anything will be more rewarding.

twotwentysix

2007-08-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

I’ve been slowly ramping up my “training” for any racing I might do this coming fall. I really want to avoid using the word training or structure. Quite frankly, nothing takes the fun out of riding a bike quicker than doing so in the name of training. Let’s just say I’ve enjoyed the amount of miles and effort I’ve done the past couple weeks. So far, so good.

I had today off so I lounged around the house in the morning. I wasn’t really planning to do much, if any, riding today. Little Haley was a bit fussy and didn’t want to nap so I got her and myself out of The Wifey’s hair and went over to Lower Allen Park for an afternoon of fun. We spent some time walking by the Yellow Breeches. I was dipping TLW’s feet into the water. It was chilly but she loved it anyway. Then we played in the sand at one of the volleyball courts. She loves the sand but I had to really keep an eye on her because she would have tried to eat it otherwise. Finally, we hit the Fun Fort to play on the swing. Again, she’s a big fan.

After all that playing she finally fell asleep for a nap just as I pulled into the driveway. We’re thinking she’s got more teeth popping up causing her to be a little grumpy. So far she’s been taking these growing pains in stride. Hopefully that continues. She’s such a wonderful little woman.

goodnightnow

Priceless

2007-08-10T20:12:00.000-04:00

This story is to funny to miss.

Read

2007-08-01T22:53:00.000-04:00

Good article on drugs in sports.

Royally Tired

2007-08-01T08:13:00.000-04:00

Guess where I rode today...

I got out for a nice long 50+ miler Tuesday. Despite the forecast for 90-ish temps it really wasn't that oppresive. Actually, it was pretty damn nice. Not much humidity I guess.

Haley is in full-on we-need-to-watch-her-constantly crawl mode. Every day she's picking up more speed too. We're so happy and proud of her but at the same time there is now an entirely new level of surveilance. She loves it. She spot something across the room and then makes a bee-line for it with a big smile on her face huffing and puffing all the way. Elwood has now become a target. So far he's been good with TLW but if continues to hunt him down and grab a hand full of fur from his belly he may have second thoughts.

That is all.

As good as it gets

2007-07-27T20:01:00.000-04:00

The Wifey had an outta town meeting today in Akron, OH so I was in charge of getting TLW fed and changed into her jammies and then bottled-up and put to bed. After 7 months of being a Dad to TLW, it’s still almost surreal to say this is the coolest thing I’ve ever done. I mean I’m really lovin’ this. Good times.

This story is a friggin’ riot.

Go ride a bike.

Tour de Farce

2007-07-25T19:51:00.000-04:00

Yep, that was too easy but it sounds just about right. Why on earth did Rabobank wait until now to boot The Chicken. The info they had before Le Tour even started is no different than the info they have now. I guess with the burden of having him win the race with a cloud of shitstorm overhead apparently made it the sensible move. Stupid that they waited but it was the right thing to do. As Vaughters has said repeatedly, catching these cheaters means the system is working, and eventually the sport will stand on less shakey ground. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Disco profits big-time but I'm sure they're feeling a bit subdued.

I worked the MS Ride over the weekend which afforded me a couple extra days off this week. I spent some quality time with the Fam. Little Hales is doing great. She's finally gotten a tooth or two sprouting forth. It hasn't seemed to bother her too much just yet. Hopefully she'll breeze right through this teething thing. I love sitting down to feed her in the evenings. She's a perfect little woman although sometimes she gets impatient with my pace and gets huffy with me to speed it up. She's the boss.

I got 4 straight solid rides in since Sunday. Two of 'em on my Triple C (Chili Con Crosso). That thing is pretty sweet. My hope is to actually train for 'cross this season like I mean it. No sissy-boy shit like last year. At any rate, the Triple C should make a real nice racer.

Speaking of racing. I'm less than a week away from getting this years CX racing kit finalized. Place your orders here. It should look 100% better this year. Much more visible logos and a brighter look.

Auntie Em is officially enrolled at Messiah for the fall. Go Benny.

Did I just read on The Kenny Report that Kenny is going to be a father? There goes the neighborhood. Just kidding. Good Luck Kenny and Sarah.

I have no cute pictures of TLW tonight so instead I'll snap a pic of my dinner. Tomato Basil Pizza Veggie-burger topped with Facon and a slice of swiss, a vat of peppered-up mixed veggies, and a bitchin' cerveza.

Buenos noches mi amigos.

orange you glad I got a new cx bike

2007-07-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

and away we go

2007-07-21T19:10:00.000-04:00

Haley's training for 'cross - 20 push-ups!

hammin' it up for the camera

The Little Woman

2007-07-16T18:33:00.000-04:00

TLW had her 6 month check-up today. She has officially more than doubled in weight from 8lbs .5oz to 16lbs 10oz. She's grown 5 inches which makes her a towering 2ft 2in now. The Doc actually projects her to grow to 5ft 5in. Not sure how they come to that figure but whatever. Sounds to me like the avg height of a female. Nice guess Doc.

Tour day France. Whatever. Rasmussen killed 'em yesterday. More like the others let him go. No offense, but he'll lose 10 minutes in the time trials still to come. If Mick Rogers hadn't crashed I'm pretty sure you'd have seen a slightly different outcome. It was pretty cool to see Contador flying up the mountain at 110rpms ala LA.

Vegas Vacation. Hebe and I made plans to hit Interbike in Vegas this fall which should be good times. Flyin' Ry will be joining us as well for some bike show fun and I believe he's doing the CX race out there too. I think we'll be pretty entertained for the time that we're there. The bike demo. The show. The CX race. The World Crit Championships at Mandalay Bay.Who knows what else we'll get into.

TLW having frog legs for dinner

STXC

2007-07-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

Today Haley, The Wifey, and I cruised up the river to spectate some quality Short Track XC mountainbike racing. I’ve been itchin’ to check one of these events out for a while and this surely was going to be my best opportunity. We weren’t disappointed. TLW had a nice time as well. I think by next year she’ll be ready to kick some ass in the kid race. Hammy and Ray both told me this week I should jump into the Sport race. Now that I’ve seen how much fun it looks, I think I might have to do it next year. Looks real similar to a ‘cross race without barriers but probably a tad harder because the race is only 25-30 minutes long.

So, in between cheering on the VisitPA guys and Hammy, I took a few pics. Enjoy.

The Wifey and TLW

Ry, SSWes, Ray

SSWes

SSWes, again

3 vs 1

Ry and SSWes

Ray

Hammy

Ray

Leech

Hammy

Ooops, no chain

Hebe and Proud Mary

The Legend

again

Wes takes the W

point five

2007-06-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

Little Haley turned 6 months old today. She’s such a cool little girl.

He's got a real purdy bike, don't he?

2007-06-25T17:25:00.000-04:00

My new sled.

The Trailster

2007-06-19T17:14:00.000-04:00

The Little Woman got herself a new rig today. It might be a tad big right now but there is no doubt she loved it and this thing is built to last forever. I can't wait until she's big enough to rawk this bad-ass little sled.

Priceless

2007-06-17T20:05:00.000-04:00

The Wifey headed down to Cape May this weekend so I had the Haley responsibilities all to myself last night and this morning. TLW and I had a great time. Last night she ate a ton of food and then drank two bottles of milk and passed out for good around 9pm. This morning she woke up around 6:30am, which was a tad earlyish for her dad but what else could I do? If TLW wants to eat and play, then that’s what we’ll do. To my amazement and delight, she somehow learned to say “da-da” overnight. Or more specifically “da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da”. I know I haven’t heard that previously nor anyone else. Truthfully, there is no Fathers Day gift that could ever beat that one. I love my little girl and today she thanked me for it in her own little way.

I rode today. It sucked. Not sure why. I PR’d the Granite Quarry climb and then the lights went out so to speak. I felt like an oven burnt turd. Whatever.

I shish-kebabed some chicken, steak, and a ton of veggies on the grill tonight. Excellent. Good eats.

That’s all.

break

2007-06-14T21:54:00.000-04:00

I’ve always been a huge fan of funny videos. Usually the best, in my opinion, are the ones of normal regular people doing something stupid and in the process causing injury or shame to themselves. With the onslaught of video websites like YouTube and whatnot I don’t have to wait until Sunday nights to watch AFV.

My favorite site is break.com. Typically my attention span doesn’t make it much further than 60 seconds of content before I move on to another video. Last night, however, one video caught my attention and hooked me for almost a full 10 minutes. It’s about everyone’s favorite current events topic not called The Iraq War. Global warming. Personally, I’m not sure where I fall on the debate. I think it’s sensationalized by the media to get people watching the network news so they can charge more for advertising slots but I also think there is some merit to it. I guess what I’m saying is I think the truth is most likely somewhere in the middle.

So, if the subject interests you and you feel like spending 10 minutes watching this video, I think it’s worth it. If nothing else I think it’s the most subjective look at the topic that I’ve seen or heard.

While you at it, this video cracks me up only because I always wanted to do it myself. I don’t drive enough to go through with it but it’s always been a dream of mine.

As for The Sopranos finale. e-dubs, I read a similar theory to the one you left in comments. While it’s all a very compelling theory, my disappointment was due more to the ambiguity of the ending. If Tony was indeed killed, I want to know that’s what happened. I did read that none of the characters in the diner have ever appeared in the show previously. I just wanted more closure than I got out of it. I will say this, the further removed I am from last Sunday night, the more I’m coming around on the ending.

I might be the only one, but I loved today’s weather. A little overcast in the high 60’s. You sweltering 90’s lovers can shove your manpons further up you ass. Good’day.

Johnnie Blue, Please

2007-06-11T22:26:00.000-04:00

Slackerness. I’m always apologizing for not updating. No excuse really.

Saturday I wrenched at one of the rest stops for the Tour de Cure. There was a time when I was less than thrilled about doing events like that. Nowadays I enjoy it. It’s always nice to say hello to familiar faces and make sure everyone finishes the ride. After I was done Erin and I along with her parents took TLW over to Pinchot to do some hiking. Little Haley loved it.

Sunday I was on a mission to clean the garage. It’s been a wreck for a little while now. I broke that task up by getting out for a couple hours on the road sled. Good ride, lots of rollers.

Monday I ran a couple errands before dropping The Wifey’s car off out at the Volvo joint on the Pike. I took my bike along and rode home from there. The long way home that is. I finally made it over to Whisky Springs. I hadn’t been out that way yet with the Garmin. After putting numbers to the climb it’s more evident than ever that it’s not one climb but a bunch of short ones that ultimately raise you 550ft in roughly 2.75miles. No big deal.

Le Col du Whisky

The Sopranos. All by itself it was a phenomenal episode. As the final episode of the entire series I found it a bit disappointing. Simply too many loose ends to call that the last one.

That’s all I have.

A Dinner Pictorial

2007-06-04T21:58:00.000-04:00

I have a funny shaped, un-mulleted, balding head and TLW doesn't care a bit. "Feed me!"
Yum
All done and quite satisfied. Someone is getting chubby.

Diddly-poo

2007-06-03T22:49:00.000-04:00

One of the finest baseball manager meltdowns ever. The rosen bag grenade was priceless. Although my personal favorite will always be Coach Mora. Coaches threatening to kick the ass of another coach never sucks. Or Lee "F-bomb" Elia telling Chicago fans who the real customer is.

One Soprano episode to go. I'm on the edge of my seat. Really.

I did a pretty chill ride today before the rain hit. Mostly flat 42 miles. Nice and easy.

Pig + Cow + Crab = Heaven?

2007-05-29T17:39:00.000-04:00

It’s Tuesday and I need to recap the weekend. What’s cool is it’s Tuesday and my weekend hasn’t ended yet.

Saturday I was going to do some driveway sealing at my Moms and also here at my place. Unfortunately if there is rain in the forecast, any rain, then it’s a no go on that. Good thing we didn’t chance it because it did shower a little Saturday and Sunday night. I guess we’ll need to reschedule that fun.

As a consolation I did finish my front sidewalk project. I pounded out the original nasty looking sidewalk weeks ago but finally made the time to get the job done. I think it turned out looking exactly how I wanted it to and envisioned it. I’m happy. Now I need to do something with the nasty front porch. That will not be so easy.

Sunday I was still feeling the effects of the cold I had all week. I’m now thinking it’s not just a cold but also allergies. Up until a year or two ago I was never effected by allergies. In fact I’d always chuckle at Sevie sneezing his ass off at work this time of year. Karmas a bitch I suppose. At any rate, on top of this cold, I’ve been sneezing and coughing like a fiend. Slight runny nose and the watery eyes but mostly coughing. It got so bad Sunday night I was tossed from the bedroom by The Wifey since I was keeping her awake.

I got on the road sled for a short 90 minutes. I felt miserable but I wanted to see how I might feel about doing my now annual ride up to Thompsontown to Erin’s grandparents for a Memorial Day feasting. Sunday night we lost our electricity for a couple hours. I was hardly disappointed that I couldn’t watch Neck-CAR. Whatever. Did anyone notice the Indy 500 was Sunday? Pity.

I woke up Monday feeling a tad better. It was foggy outside but the forecast was for sunshine in the afternoon. The picnic started at 3pm and I knew it would take me somewhere between 3-3.5hrs to get up there so I finally decided by 10:30am to give it a go. I must apologize to The Wrecker for not calling as he rode a good portion with me last year and was looking to do the same again. I just didn’t feel well enough to make this a strong ride. Meaning I had every intention of going slow when I needed to and being very deliberate about the pace I’d ride. Sorry Hammy.

The ride was good. Lambs Gap sucked but I knew it would. The coolest road of the day was in Perry called Pine Hill road. A nice wooded gradual ascent that kicked up nicely at the end and opened up on the descent into the valley. Absolutely beautiful view as I dropped down off that mountain. I made it into Millerstown at about 45 miles and I again had the option of taking the more direct route which is a BRUTAL dirt road climb or go east a couple miles and by-pass the mountain and add approx 5-7miles to the ride. I did the climb. It hurt me. Bad. In the end I’m glad I did because the road I hooked up to get into Thompsontown was straight into the wind. Had I by-passed it would have been adding to that torture. 53 miles was this years tally. I can’t wait ‘til next year.

Today I mowed the lawn. After that I went out for a little recovery ride and got a flat about 10 miles in. Not just a flat but a sidewall cut. I had a couple glueless patches and gingerly rode home. Oh, and how could I not mention the biggest news of the weekend. Honeycomb is back! Sorta, I think. A loyal HC fan left a comment on a previous post mentioning the change back to the original formula. I quickly ran out to grab a box to check for myself. Lo and behold. I’m not entirely sure it’s the original formula or not. It’s hilarious, the box actually says in the upper right corner “Now Better Tasting” which is a riot. Nothing like indirectly admitting that you (POST) screwed up badly and changed something that tasted great into something that tasted like ass. Anyway, I’m not sure if my cold/allergies is affecting my taste but it seems like it’s almost the old stuff but I think it lacks just a hint of the sweetness that the original stuff had. If anyone within the sound of my blog can hear this let me know what you think?

Time to put TLW into her new swimming pool. This should be fun. Pictures @ 11.

Dinner. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm........

Auntie Em spent some quality time feeding The Little Woman tonight.

That's all.