Happy New Year

Ok...I am going to spend my NewYear's weekend trying to induce a big training load. I haven't worked out my schedule but I should have plenty of time because I discovered a couple of days ago that the relationship I was in was just to keep the girl company till her soldier got home.

My year was ok. I am disappointed at what happened to my conditioning during October and November and I also gained about 10lbs in that time period. It set me back 6 months I believe. But hopefully my experience will allow me to recover. I did some repeats on a hill yesterday and I am not happy at my climbing ability. Just in October I was probably twice as strong on the hills as I am now. I will put my computer back on my bike and start pushing it hard now.

I will spend some mental energy planning my training over the next 2 months. My first TT will be in 6 weeks. It will be a challenge to get in endurance and strength training at the same time. My big focus will be on the Rouge-Roubaix 100 miler on March 3. It is suppose to be the "hell of the south" ride.

Have yourself a Merry and Happy New Year.

Rich

I quit cycling in the first 3 miles...

I don't know if it's the cold that makes it hard in the first few miles but yesterday I questioned why I ride, let alone trying to race this next year. Funny thing is that it's usually the last 3 miles of a ride that I quit cycling. Anyway to help my attitude I decided I would take a route I have never been on to give me something to look forward to. I was going north on the Trace and decided I would explore the roads west of Ratliff's Ferry and work my way back south. After navigating some great back roads and avoiding dirt roads I discovered I was on the outskirts of Canton....ooops. I rode down 43 back to the Trace and took Yandell back home. Quite a ride...I almost stopped at "Club 43" to get something to drink but I didn't feel like drinking beer with 10 miles left to get home...lol. Best thing is though I found some new roads to ride on and have consulted a map this time so I will know where I am going.

Here's something to gawk at.

Back to normal?

Ok...I got 144 miles in this weekend. I feel like a cyclist again. Do you want some advice...NEVER QUIT TRAINING!! NEVER!!!! or you will pay for having to start over. Actually I never quit, I just didn't make it a priority. I stopped by ProBike today and talked with Gary about racing next year...and I was shocked that the first race will be in Feb. OMG! Why haven't I been training!!!!! The ProBike team got a new sponsor and there will be some money paid out at the end of the season on number of races completed and places. So now I have to decide if I will ride with them quickly as they are about to order team kits which I get to pay for. I probably will. I am really slow and overweight right now and I thought I would have 3-4 months of training before my first race. I am always "a day late and a dollar short". I better go get that headlight for my bike as I will probably be riding at night now. Need a discount on bike parts for cycling. Maybe buy new bicycle wheels, cycling computers, ergomo, cyclops, mavic, cannondale, trek, orbea, specialized. Smartphones.

CALL ME THE BREEZE

Ok I have taken my computer off of my bike and I am now riding only to my heart rate monitor. I get so involved in that I should take a hill at a certain speed and before I know it my heart rate is out of my training zone. I am going to have to face an issue when I get home tonight that I have been putting off. It's a big issue.

Our orchestra is performing Sunday night on Dec 4th at 5pm, so if you want to treat your family to some Christmas music then by all means come on. It will be at Christ Methodist Church. CUMCJX.ORG

What have I been up too?

I had to get a new phone and I have found an awesome toy, tool, whatever you wanna call it.
It's an Audiovox 5600 smartphone that has Windows Mobile operating system. Works just like a PC. I can watch entire movies on it, listen to 1000 mp3's on it with a 1gb card. It's small and amazing. Literally this thing has kept me busy all week fooling with it. I can't believe I got it for $29 at Cingular.

I haven't been on the bike in over a week and I am worried about my weight going up so I have been trying to watch what I eat. Hopefully I can be back on the bike tomorrow.

And now Roberto Heras is guilty of EPO use?

I don't believe it. Why would the top athelete's at the top of their game under the closest of scrutiny be using the stuff? First Tyler Hamilton and his "chimera", Lance 1999 samples, and now Roberta? I know there is faulty science in the detection as some atheletes who had non-negative samples were exonerated. If you have read the latest here are some links

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/9144.0.html

and a perspective that I like

http://velogal.blogspot.com

Dear Santa,

I haven't been bad....not too good but I really would like a fixy for Christmas. If it looks as beautiful as this.

A great MTB BIKE RACE FINISH VIDEO kinda reminds me of my awesome skills


A fair maiden of Cyclocross



















A STORY about how you can run into somebody on a ride to nowhere

Maria Menenounos

Happy Halloween...

Got to go to this haunted house....just keep clicking things in the rooms.

http://members.thai.net/sinthai/room.htm

Ok...I have got secrets but do I have to wear a costume?

I have discovered a huge breakthru in training for me, buttttt.....I can't tell you guys about it since I may have to race you at some point, but it does involve alot of pain once a week. My substainable power has dramatically gone up and after yesterday's ride I am excited about my prospects next spring.

I don't like to go to costume parties and my friend Donna wants me to go to one tonight. It just seems silly for adults to dress up, get drunk and act stupid. I would rather go to Natchez and attend "Ghoststories" where several authors will tell stories around a bonfire.

The Piney Hills, Contusions, and Pink Ribbons, Just enjoy the ride fella.

Honestly I thought it would be funny if I took my pink 4th place ribbon to put with the other trophies at the coffee shop that the other guys bring in after their weekend races. But these guys went too far. After all I paid for it in blood, sweat and loss of skin.

I got to Ruston La on Saturday after a 5.5 hr drive(it was supposed to be only 3hrs but I had to go back and get my seatpost and seat). When I arrived there were several hundred mountain bike racers from Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. I have never seen that many serious athletes on bikes before. Saturday I pre-rode the course wondering if I was going to be able to finish the 10mile course. I am not much of a mtb'er and the course had some technicals, including a ski-jump hill with ramp called "Tomac Hill", pretty(scary) fun.

I entered the clysedale division and I asked the guy at the registration if should ride a different class and he asked, "How fast can you ride the course?", I said "hour and ten minutes on my pre-ride" and he said "Just enjoy the ride then"...lol. At the start I figured I might as well win the "hole shot"(the sprint to the single track) and I did...afterward I just laughed and waved the guys past me telling them I wanted to win something. In the first mile I passed a clysedale who was in third in front of me and he was stopped fixing a flat. I was very happy that I was going to get a podium finish and raced to hold my spot and kept my eye out on my six to make sure I didn't get passed by another clysedale. It was funny that I would get passed on the flats and downhills by other class riders but I either hung with them or passed them on the uphills. So that's good for my strength but shows my poor skills. I was not comfortable on the jumps or climbing the switchbacks.

When I crossed the finish I was happy about my performance(relatively speaking) but there was the guy with the flat at the water table laughing it up with 1st and 2nd finish clysedales...WTF! I said I thought you had a flat and the guy said, "Wasn't me". I knew what was up...he needed the points to finish in his state's overall rankings.

I finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes but here's where I had problems. First I crashed in the first mile, and afterwards my rear deraileur quit working( I had some problems before the race with it). So all I had then was my chainrings. Then after my first chain drop my front deraileur would only switch between the middle and big rings. I dropped a chain at least 5 times and twice it resulted in crashing. I lost between 3-5 minutes due to the mechanicals. The second place finish was 1 hour 2mins which would have allowed me to contend for 2nd, but if I had been more comfortable with the course I could have shave 1-2 minutes more at least. The winner was a hoss from Arkansas with 53 minutes, so he would have been safe anyway. If I had my bike checked out by a good mechanic before I raced I could have been contending for 2nd place. Lesson learned

I did win this ribbon and won a hat in the drawings and had a good time hanging out, camping, with other riders and I will go back next year to finish in 55 minutes.

A good note is that 5 riders from Jackson finished on the podium in a field that was from Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, all competing for their states' respective overall titles.

It's on.

Ok...I am confirmed for racing this weekend. I am going to Ruston, La to race mtb, and I have only been on a trail with my mtb 3 times this year. My expectations are to campout, ride alot, and hangout with like minded people for 3 days. I am going to have take a leave from my deployment for Socom3 but that's ok....they can do without me. Here's my clan.

Creaky Cranks and maybe a race too.

I haven't accomplished a whole lot this week. I have only been on my road bike once this week. It's in the shop this morning, because of an annoying creak in the cranks when I am putting on the power. I don't think I will be getting a whole lot of sleep for a while because of Socom 3..a video game where your online competing. We call it Socrack because it's addictive.

I hope to be racing next weekend in Ruston, La on my mountain bike.

What a great weekend.

My weekend started with going to the fair Friday night, cheating death on some rides, eating great greasy fried fair foods. Saturday with a great group ride (The Gravity Ride) out of Clinton, which was an almost perfect ride, with a comfortable pace, and a plenty of hills to play on and then recover again with the conversational pace. The ride was followed up with coffee and beignets at the Gravity Coffee shop, and fun conversation. From there I went to Stamp's Home of the SuperBurger. I had been listening to people talk about how good the burgers are so because it was a weekend I had to try it. The burger was good, but the sweet potatoe( Ok..so you say pot-a-toe) fries were awesome. The whole week I had been eating on a calorie restricted diet so I had been fantasizing about what I would eat on the weekend. That was followed up by a nap and then yardwork for the rest of the day while I enjoyed the weather. I woke up early Sunday, sat on my porch swing, drank tea and watched the sunrise. Then on to church and afterwards, lunch at Abner's(hungry lush), with another nap, and some time goofing off in the yard enjoying the weather and a rare chance to walk barefoot in the yard and that night, Supper club with some friends to watch Desperate Housewives. I loved the weekend.

Calorie restriction...it's a rough life.

Before I start training in November I am going to try to drop 15-20lbs, so this week I am on a liquid diet keeping my calories below 500 till Friday, to get the system flushed out. Then I will go to 1500-1800 calories a day for October. My mileage is going to go down to about 50-85 miles a week during the phase. I am at 209 lbs and I have got to lose the weight. My friends say I am crazy that I am good for my size but they don't have to race against 155 lb riders up a hill. They are brain washed that muscle weight is good. Again who wants to carry that weight up a hill? When it comes to going up a hill; weight is weight. It's going to be all about power to weight ratios next year. The weight is keeping me out of touch with the Cat 3 riders that I want to compete with.

When November starts I am going to sign up at Trainright.com to get some coaching and accountability and my mileage should approach 300miles per week by late November thru January.

My "cranky" factor has gone up a bit which makes some situations interesting. I have fasted before and it gets easier after a few days.

I ride Continental Tires

Fridays game http://www.spaceinvaders.de/

A break from cycling. My legs are used up and I am going to go spend some time at our family's cabin for a few days. Maybe I will get some good recovery and be stronger next week. Maybe next weekend I will do the American Cancer Century. This week I started using a reel mower to cut my yard and I am very happy with it. No noise, no fumes, no allergies. Of course you can't let the grass get very high or allow weeds to get out of hand, and you need a trimmer.

Drunk Cyclist Video

My new bike mechanic.

Solo Masochist Century Club's new member

I guess I will start with how I got to the decision. I missed the ride from ProBike Saturday morning by 5 minutes and took it as a sign that I needed to go home and clean up my yard from the hurricane and mow it. This took 5 hours and I was pretty tired especially after borrowing my friend Kevin's reel mower(old timey human powered mower). At 5:15 it struck me that I could finally do a 100mile solo ride Sunday morning on the North Trace since I didn't have orchestra at church Sunday morning. I rushed to the store to get some Powerbar Tangerine gel(mega caffeine) and a couple of Cliff bars. That night I got my bike ready and changed the battery in my bike computer but couldn't figure out how to get it powered up so I just took the computer off my mountain bike and put it onto my road bike.

Sunday woke up at 4:45 and cooked a couple of eggs and rice, let it settle and finished my morning routine and was on the bike at 6:14 when there was enough light to ride without a headlight but I did have my rear blinky on. The bugs were horrible and I couldn't take deep breaths or I would suck them in and head to keep my head down to keep them out of my nose and eyes. They were bad until full light which was around 7:45-8:00.

My goal was to average 18-18.5 mph and I was really struggling to maintain 18.5mph. At a known 20mile mark I looked down at my computer and it said 18.4 miles and it dawned on me that I didn't reset for the wheelsize difference. I back off the pace and stopped at mile 26 which was Choctaw Boundry stop and ate a banana and some gel and tried to reset the computer but couldn't.

At Hwy 16 the chip-seal pavement was rough but after a few miles, I stopped noticing. I turned around at the rest stop near Kosciusko and ate some M&M's and another banana while the mosquitos feasted on me . *scratching leg now* I reloaded my bottles and camelback and headed back. How wonderful it was when I got back on the smooth asphalt. I stopped at RiverBend to reload water since I had a constant stream of sweat running off the whole way, but the fountain was cutoff. I check the bathroom and the sink had running water so I gulped down 2 bottles before I started wondering why was the fountain off but the bathroom wasn't. "Was the water ok for sanitation and not drinkable? Am I going to get sick?"

The last 15 miles was where the struggle began. Everything up to that point was fine. Back got sore and when I stood up to rest my seat my legs felt like they wanted to cramp. I know I passed a few riders looking tired. I was.

I made it home though and by my watch I had ridden for 5hours and 26mins...excluding the stops. 18.9MPH!!!!!!!

Items of interest:

Wildlife:
1 fox(dead)
3 raccoons(dead)
1 6ft smake(thankfully dead)
2 tom turkeys
15-18 hen turkeys

Food:
2 Powerbar Tangerine gels
2 Cliff Bars
4 homemade secret recipe gels
2 bananas
1 bag of plain M&M's
powerade to reload water bottles

Friday'g game.... I haven't figured it out yet but having played around with it...It's pretty cool


Try it out http://www.moovl.com/

Ivan Basso's sister since you requested it.



Ivan Basso's sister since you requested it and here is a lot more http://richsbuzz.blogspot.com/2006/11/basso-to-team-discovery-means-one-thing.html.

Damn Hurricane,

The hurricane has impacted my business(mortgages) a little. I had loans not close or fund because of it. Good News today is that one of my customers from the coast just called and said he was alright but his house was gone. He is not going back to the coast and is going to buy a house in Memphis. Jackson has gotten bigger and some corporations from New Orlean are moving to Jackson as their regional headquarters and that will be good for business.

I have been riding my bike everwhere since Thursday until today and gas stations are back in business. I will still get around on my bike as much as I can now that I have an excuse. But I really love driving my TSX.

Sunday I got a 70 mile ride in by myself on loop that I have been wanting to do for a long time which included a hill that turned out not to be as bad as it looks on the map. For some reason commuting is not the same as training because my back was not accustomed to my road position and the legs didn't feel so hot. Just only a week before I had a great ride with the ProBike team and was feeling strong. Lesson is that I must never skip the recovery ride. Everytime I skip, I end up with bad legs within a couple of days. Maybe I will have recovered some form for todays 40miles ride.

During the hurricane fiasco I have been hanging out with friends at Buffalo Wild Wings watching football and girls or playing cards at some friends houses. Ridgeland which is a city next to Madison has had a curfew from 10pm to5am so there havn't been any late nights.

Devastation.

We just went through the worst disaster in US history. I live in central Mississippi and we had Cat 1 & 2 winds from Katrina here. There is NO gasoline unless you want to wait hours or days. We are just now getting power. This is some bad stuff happening. I am now going to be commuting on my bike for a while now. Too bad it's so hot.

Ode To Kelly Monaco.

Single file!

Saturday I road with the local Pro Bike guys. One Cat3 and a couple of Cat 4's. I just wanted to see where I stand. I think I did ok. Where I fell off was in the last few miles when they cranked the pace up to 25mph. I have a 23 mph substained pace brickwall. Next training focus will be how to get to substain the power to stay up to pace with them. I feeling good about Cat5 next spring.

Get ur Videos

1. a bike messenger race.
2. Pedro and Napoleon on the sledgehammer
3. San Francisco

Don't be late.


Or the Saturday morning group ride will leave without you. I got to the ride late Saturday and when I was pulling into the parking lot they were leaving. I thought great...They are going to be in a paceline and I won't catch them till maybe the turnaround at 34 miles where they would probably stop. They had a 9 min lead on me. It was 85 degrees when I left the parking lot. I figured I would have fun trying to catch and if I did catch then I would have something to feel good about. After 9 miles I caught a group of the Slow Spokes...nothing to feel good about but maybe...just maybe. I passed the last straggler at mile 17 who fell off the pace and knew that the next group would be the paceline I just might make it.

The heat on the pavement makes mirages....and everynow and then I would think there they are...but only to find it nothing but air, until I did get a good glimpse of a yellow jersey going around a curve. I dropped the hammer...but after 2 miles of flat road I knew I couldn't make ground....Please let there be hills to give me a chance. There were a couple of hills just enough to slow down the group(group riders generally slow on the hills out of laziness and they would not have the aero advantage). But then I lost sight again on a long slight decline. By this time I am way too deep anaerobicly but I figured I would get a break on the way back because I could sit in the pack and relax. After the next set of hills I finally caught the group which turned out to be 4 riders. Their speed had just dropped because they were getting tired from their high pace. It couldn't have been that high because I caught them...right? But anyway we got to the turnaround at RockySprings and the ride back was extremely hot and 2 of the 4 had dropped off and I cruised back with a guy who could carry on a conversation so it turned out ok...slow but a beautiful ride on the Natchez Trace south of Jackson.

Back to the hills.

It's Friday..So here's a little game for you. Just keep clicking things over and over till you get to move on to the next room. Hope you don't get too scared.

http://members.thai.net/sinthai/room.htm

Wow! A rare day.

Tuesday I rode a course I have ridden a hundred times. It's on the Natchez Trace. But I haven't ridden it in 2 months. I have been riding on a much hillier route and my mileage has gone down drastically in the last 2 months due to being sick, the heat, the rain. I was suspecting that it would not be a great day. But Tuesday was my best ride ever. I set a personal record for the first 30 miles and I hadn't really tapped very deep into my heartrate. The feeling of having more power than I have ever had in 20 years just felt great. It was a rare day indeed to feel that good on a bike.

Today, well......I am back to the hills. Hopefully my partner will not blow out. Sunday we rode in 110F heat index and he blew out after 15 miles and he almost didn't finish the 40 mile ride. LOL he even got within 200 ft of his house and had to get off his bike due to cramps. He likes to party alot and I think he is going to have to figure out if he is either going to be an athlete or professional beer drinker.

On a personal side: It's getting really tough coming to work and being around a receptionist that smells good, looks good, sounds good, it's all good, and available.....you know what I mean? Wish I could get over the fact that we work together.

Excellent Tour De France photo album.

http://snortingbull.smugmug.com/gallery/689800

Ughhhh.....

Bad news for cycling...I have had upper respiratory and bronchitis with no riding since last Thursday. Rule #34 don't play with sick kids. My "friend's" daughter was sick last week when I visited and I guess I got the daycare croop. It wasn't worth it. New helmet and jersey are on the way here. The jersey is made of a new "dimpled" material. Maybe I will be faster now.

It's Friday and why am I not loving it?

Ok...Because I have to sit in a class tonight, and all day tomorrow. I was suppose to be in a continuing education class today but I have 2 loans not closing on time next week. My knee hurts, maybe it's only a strain. How do people climb mountains? I climb little hills and I get a sore knee. MayB I will spend $50 bucks to pay somebody to tweak my pedal positions.

Colorado Cyclist has some good deals on jerseys so maybe I will spend some money to make me feel better about my cycling. Since their deals are so good maybe I will get 2 bell helmets, ghisallo and sweep r, different colors.

I am getting my securities licenses back just incase the housing market goes bust. It's quite possible it will happen. Wallstreet Journal thinks it will.

Ivan Basso is on a tear at the Tour of Denmark this week. I really think Team CSC is a class act. So now I have another team beside Discovery to cheer for. Besides Ivan's sister is pretty hot http://www.imagehigh.com/view.php?image_id=782567

Reflections in a pool on cobblestone.

Awesome photo from Paris-Roubaix taken by Tim De Waele located at http://team-csc.com/gallery_start.asp .

OMG it's true

“Cadillac announced today that they are coming out with a line of Cadillac bicycles. Now that's when you know the price of gas is getting too high. When Cadillac starts making bicycles!” —The Tonight Show’s Jay Leno

http://www.cadillacbicycles.com/

Wish I could be kayaking.

What a fun ride we had Monday. New routes are always fun. No wonder everyone has always been talking about the Lake Cavalier and Lake Norman area. But beware of the hills on the return back up when you can coast 40mph downhill on them. There was one of those. Nice rural setting. Got the map out and am planning more routes through that area between Jackson and Flora.

Wow! just started seeing a girl and I get 2 speeches 2 nights in row about 1.)how selfcentered I am and 2.)the other about why I wanted to know why she had 2 different gymn memberships but never used either one them. Am I really that bad? Monday after our ride Kevin's wife(great cook) wanted to know if I would eat with them...duh? Well the girl and I had sort of talked about me coming over to her place that night but it wasn't all that set in stone because she knew I was going to ride and wouldn't be home till dark then I would have to eat. When I told her that I was going over to eat at Kevin's she seemed Ok about it. NOT! When I called at 9 after I got home she was peeved. I told I had to eat one way or the other, somehow and that she could have cooked or something(she doesn't cook at all so that wasn't a good thing to say). Found out she had pizza and had extra but threw it away. I am too logical for my own good. Attention Girls...guys are logical and you need to except it.

I am missing kayaking and flyfishing. I used to go to Arkansas and do some trout fishing once a month. Trout don't live in ugly places.

It's Monday.

I spend a good deal of my time waiting around for other people to do what they are supposed to do. As if I am not already slow enough. I gotta nice link though for some(scroll down the page) eye candy in case any of you are bored also. Hopefully I will be on my bike in any hour.

Happy Friday!

Wow..how great it is to not have a headache! I am able to concentrate now. So far I didn't have an cold or flu like symptons like I have had before when I kicked the caffeine habit. I have been drinking green tea this morning but I am afraid that there is a little caffeine in it though. I went to see a "friend" and her daughter last night and it felt kinda like family time. Funny how much paternal instincts I have. I have known that little girl since she was born.

It's also group ride today and I haven't ridden but once this week. Maybe I will be feeling good for it.

I got a picture up today of a place I don't know where. If anyone can tell me where it is I would appreciate it. I suspect it's in Spain, where on the plains in Spain, it always rains..or something.

Today's image..though it does seem airbrushed.

Karaoke Singers

They gotta be the happiest of people because they just get up and there and holler and it must be good therapy. Last night we celebrated my friend Kevin's birthday at BWW and it was also karaoke night there. I even got up once to sing with a group of guys but one guy had the mic shoved into his mouth, and I thought it was just gay to sit up sing with no mic so I sat down. I gotta cut my grass today because it's been 9 days since the last cutting and my tomatoes are about to play out with the heat. I may start some new ones for the fall.

The evil brew itself......mmmm.....No more.

The withdrawal continues.


It's not feeling good today. Muscles are tense. Headache. Empty feeling like I didn't eat breakfast or something. How do people who get addicted to heroin or crack or cryst meth beat their drug habit? If it's this bad with caffeine then it must be shear hell for them. It was bad yesterday afternoon so I made a cup of tea, which made everything better. So much for the cold turkey. Slept great but of course I was up at 6:15am. The guys at the coffee shop are probably wondering what happened to me.

ZZZZ's on the bike.

The sleep thing is crazy. During my ride yesterday, I closed my eyes and woke up riding thru the grass on the side of the road. I can't believe I dozed off for a second on the bike. Even though it was 95degrees I fell asleep! Then to make it worse, I couldn't even fall asleep until 4am in my nice comfortable bed.

Evil Dark Mistress


The bean is an evil and dark mistress. I am talking about the coffee bean. I wonder if the goat that discovered it felt the same way. I always have a cup of coffee in the morning, and week before last I was feeling a little sluggish and I asked for an espresso shot to be added. It was good. The high had me giddy for a couple of hours. Next day, since the other shot was good to me...why not? I got it...felt good but not as good as the day before. That afternoon, I was out on the road picking up docs and I stopped at a convenience store for a Sobe energy drink. Then the sleep starting getting affected. I was hooked on caffeine. Wow, it's that easy. Good thing I never smoked crack. On Sunday I laid around the house feeling like crap, because I didn't want drink any caffeine and around 5pm I succombed to making some tea. I felt better within 5 mins. Well yesterday I was feeling bad for lack of sleep. I have been averaging prob5-6hours of sleep a night because I can't sleep past 7am. Last night was the final straw, I could not get to sleep till 4am. Now I have seperated my life from the bean. No coffee shop this morning and I am feeling sluggish. I dread the withdrawal. I did this before and I literally had flu like symptoms after about 5 days.

Oh yeah....Back in my during and post college days I always used to dream of having a nice keg refrigerator dispenser. But as I have gotten older, my fantasy now is to have a soft serve icecream machine like my favorite local deli has. I asked the owner how I could get one and he said the company would let me have one for free if I could buy $150 worth of icecream mix a week. Hmmmmm....just maybe.....

Whew..it's Monday. I really need to get some work done which I am behind on. Tuesday is my first official competitive time trial. All part of preparation for October's Louisiana's State MTB competition. I am entering as a beginner but I think it's funny because there will be not be too many real beginners in it. The guys that I know who will be in it are by no means beginners as they have been serious MTB guys for years but since they haven't been riding competitively until this year they have been racing all year regionally as beginners. Also they are bunch of skinny guys. I wonder if I am still a clysedale. I stopped lifting weights totally to try to lose all excess bulk. I don't want to carry anything unneccessarily up a hill anymore. Two hill climbing repeats last week and my race pace on Thursday has my legs feeling stronger. I was good covering attacks on hills during Friday's group ride and also attacking the others. With these particular guys I let them make their move because I know they are gonna slow down.

Saturday I spent the day in class for required eduation, and went to Indian Fitness for their Saturday night TDF party. Good time, but I found it funny though on how many local "serious" bikers don't keep up with professional cycling. There was a couple there, Brian and Tina who do keep up with professional cycling and it was fun talking with them, there. I got a free pump for my front MTB shocks...sweeet! Sunday was way too hot for anything, 105 heat index. It was 94F at 5:30pm!

I gotta do something about forcing myself to go sleep earlier. I am feeling like crap for lack of sleep. It's like I am afraid of going to sleep because I will miss out on something? But with this heat I really need to be riding in the mornings to keep my mileage up because it has dropped in the last couple of weeks. Also I gotta watch my nutrition better to make sure I am recovering with this new preperation phase I am in.

I couldn't help but shed a tear or two during the final ceremony of the TDF yesterday. It happens to me while I watch a really tough competition. Maybe I can imagine and appreciate the price they have had to pay to get there.

Last week I officially proclaimed myself as neither conservative or liberal. I would rather take each issue on it's own merit.

The Latest

Not much literary content and I apologize but this is sorta of a cycling diary for me also.

Thursday afternoon I did the Deerfield loop at max speed for me. Mind you I have been at 70-75% up until this week. The loop with some hills averaged exactly 20mph until the final climb out of North Bay. I thought that was a great ride because my best was only 18.5mph. I won't get dropped again when I ride with those tri guys again in a few weeks. I also have a TT next Tuesday. I am hoping it will only be 19 minutes of pain.

Friday was "the" biking day. I got my buddy Scotty out on a borrowed MTB and did a easy ride for about an 1.5hours with him and had a good time. I have been trying to get him into cycling and he acted like he had a good time. Then I rushed home washed the mud off and rode my road bike down to the resevoir to catch the group ride that had left from Indian Fitness. When I saw the front riders I sorta freaked out because there were some fast guys on the front. The tempo was nice, and relaxing in the beginning. Ended up with some attacks on each other on the hills which I was very pleased with how well I climbed against the guys who have been racing. The climbing repeats I did on Monday worked great and paid off. I am about to go home and some more. It was a 25 mile route.

Sunday I was very happy for George Hincapie. My social life has gotta improve. All I do is work, ride, and watch cycling. Funny how simple things make me happy now...like picking tomatoes thatI grow in planters or poaching blueberries off my neighbor's bush that hangs over into my yard.

Got the molding put into my master bath and installed the new throne. I have come to the realization that I will now have to buy new sinks because the existing ones keep leaving rust rings on the counter. This week I will begin on the guest bathroom's floors and hopefully by Sunday I will be finished with the bathrooms and I will be starting on kitchen floors next.

This morning I stopped at the Bike Rack and saw a pink and grey Giant TCR and the pink part reminded me of a RBR girl.

What if I found a girl who liked cycling?

Ok...Update

Saturday morning I ended up riding with some fast tri guys and they took off without warmup at 22mph. When they got to hills they would only drop to 21.5mph. I knew it wasn't going to be long before I blew. I got dropped but before the 35 mile ride was over I caught them and passed them. I have been doing long slow foundation miles. I figured it's time to up the training into prep phase at high intensities since I will be doing some races this fall.

Monday, Kevin and I did climbing hill repeats, race up a hill and recover and repeat again, 10 times. Horse girl(She had horses) but I my phone was off. Don't know what to do about her. I honestly don't think I could trust her after her history with me.

Ok...I use nicknames so I can talk about my relationships without using real names.

Tuesday...woke up at 4:30am with no soreness so I went for a ride because I will have to mow grass when I get off from work. I rode in my biggest gears so I could start working on my strength also.

Lance had a great ride today in stage 10 of the TDF. Ride strong Lance.

It's Thursday and I have not ridden this week since Sunday. I should be riding early mornings. Hopefully I can get a group ride this evening. My bathroom floors are looking good. I have to find a piece of molding before I can install one of my new toilets. I have been battling the dallis and crabgrass in my yard, and the horn worms are eating my tomatoe plants and I can't find the little buggers. The TDF has been great but Disco let Vino take some time out of their lead today. I really need to get a grip on my time management. My fluid and flexible lifestyle isn't working too great now with all the stuff that I have to do. I am amazed at how busy I am even though I am single with few responsiblities.

Joining the space age.


Today in honor of the Tour De France I now have DirectTV. The ole rabbit ears are taking a rest. Just what the heck do people do with 150+ channels. It's ridiculous. At least when I am suffering from insominia I will have something to while away the time. No riding for me today. I ran a mile sprint last night and legs were sore a little, but I really want to have a good ride on Friday to get the weekend started right. This weekends house project will be installing floors and new toilets in my bathrooms. Horse girl called but I didn't get a chance to answer. I just don't understand how she thinks I can keep mustering the strength to see her again and again after she has broken off relations with me for about 6 times in the last 9 years. Besides my friends and family thought I was crazy everytime I did take her back. She and I have some kind of unexplainable attraction. She was my girlfriend in the first grade until she moved away. We can connect but we don't have the staying power. I always said she changed men like she changes underwear, but I think she has seen anyone lately. I wonder if the well is going dry on me with that one. I really would like to be in love again. I really need to call tri girl, she's smokin sexy. I did find out that this hot girl who usually sits on the front row in church on Weds nights while I up on stage playing bass lives in MY neighborhood! It is really tough when a woman has legs that great and brings and bares em up in the House. Oh yeah. If you didn't know, I am a christian who knows that life should be fun and not all uptight with rules. There are no rules...just love. Jesus said the rules won't save you.

Friday morning is the "meeting" day at Brewed Awakenings(coffee shop) where a bunch of guys meet up. It's a good group of guys that are into triathlons, cycling, and fitness and all are pretty straight up fellas. It's a good time to shoot the bull, and rate the women who come thru the drive thru. It's a positive bunch with good influence on an individual. Brewed Awakenings is near my office, and next to my dad's office so I get to see him regularly. He is always passing me his business magazines and Wall Street Journal.

Time to go home because I am at the office because I had to come back to make sure my payroll got sent in to the home office. 36 hours till the Tour.

Just like Lance.

I have been in a riding slump over for the last 3 weeks. Two of those weeks I was sick with sinusitus and bronchitus. When I got back on the bike I over did it where I did 100 miles within 36 hours in the heat. After that my riding has gone downhill. So I thought I would ride for fun for a couple of weeks until I got my legs and lungs back. Monday a friend(Kevin) and I got out our MTB bikes and did some short hills and exploring and on one approach to a technical drop I did something crazy with the front brake and landed on my forehand. I have got to add some air to my shocks. I was lucky I didn't break my neck since my full weight(clysedale) was on my head, but I got a nice little shiner like Lance and a sore neck. I thought that was a good sign. Funny thing is that accident scared me more than all the tumbles and falls and broken bones, cuts, gashes, and scrapes I have had before because my full weight was on my neck.

Tuesday. I rode over to Highland Colony Pkwy to watch the Baptist Health Systems TT because I wanted to check out their set up and course as I mentally get prepared to do it next month. It was a hot ride over but nice and cool on the way back since it showered on the way back. It was a fun ride and I got to ride some roads I don't normally ride. I am going to branch out more from my usual Natchez Trace centerd rides. I met a few riders which is good for me since I solo alot and that might help keep me out of the cycling doldrums.

So today is Wedesday and I have to cut the grass so I might as well get a run in. If my legs felt a little better then I would ride with some tri guys who ride pretty fast, or second thought I may go with the Freewheelers who do a slow ride on Weds. evenings.

Direct TV is coming tomorrow to install and I am excited to be getting the Tour de France or Le Grand Boucle as they say in France, in digital! It will be exciting for the next three weeks.

Ok..I will start my first commentary as a single guy. Last night a buddy and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings...which I will refer to as BW3, to see the final game of NBA championship. The manager always saves us a table on busy nights there, so when we get to the table there are some girls there that the manager knows also. I make some comment to one(who did some breast gymnastics for us last time we saw her there) about her being a regular there..and she goes off yelling "I am not an alcoholic...I don't go out that often...I am not some barfly who is out drinking all the time...etc" which kinda ruined the festive mood for a little while. I was just there to enjoy the game. What is it about my personality that brings out defensive behavior in women, because this is not the first time this has happened to me. Anyway...we left at halftime to go to my house to watch it on my bigscreen...because I was not able to get the whole game effect...because of the noise and neurotic girls. Besides all the second hand smoke is not good for cycling or life in general. Sure wish they would ban smoking indoors, but I live in bubba land where smoking is a God given right.