The group ride Thursday was a million times mo'bettah because these latest rounds of rain kinda cooled things off; but the trade-off was the sauna-like lack of evaporative cooling. Really the term evaporative cooling does not apply to North Central Texas. El Paso and the parts that are in the Mountain Time Zone maybe but not here in Plano. This time I rode my bike to the meeting place so I can bail when the pack came near my folks' place back in Plano.
It's a wee bit unnerving cycling with three lanes of commuter traffic going or exceeding 50mph; but that's what cyclists do in suburbia Dallas. The ride itself was pretty uneventful (but hot). Took some turns up front pulling in a rotating paceline, accelerating sometimes to see who would follow but then I remembered that there's always a stoplight 'round the corner so I stopped the self-inflicted interval workout in the heat. Whenever people would accelerate up a hill (just barely qualifies as a geographical anticline) I would go to the front and and spin the pedals just a wee bit faster. Nobody responded which was fine with me. My legs were still feeling the residual tenderness from the cramps on Tuesday's ride. On the ride we cruise by my high school alma mater and I see the band geeks practicing their drills. The road to my high school used to dead end, now it's a pretty major thoroughfare that connects Plano to Allen. I can use such an un-nice term because I was a band geek too. So I ask the peloton who else here is a band geek? and about 4 people raise their hands-too funny. I played the tenor sax during marching season and bass clarinet during symphonic season. First chair may I add? Thank you.
Note to self: a base layer is completely useless and is deleterious to normal, heat-shunting effects. I read somewhere that it helps wick the heat away quicker-BULL$HIT! What it is good for is for putting fabric between the (rare times the) shoulder strap rubs against the nipples (making 'em tender) when you wear bib shorts.
Everything is nice and built up from what I remembered back in the day (which was considered the sticks). The golf course which was kind of remote now have million dollar homes on its margins. It always surprised me why owners of such exorbitant homes would want their neighbors within spitting distance of their property. Why is dat? We ride next to my friend's property which was huuge back in the day and now the city of Allen bought it up and subdivided it after Kent's parents passed away. I remember hanging out with Kent and Rory at Kent's Mom and Dad's and making riding plans and general tom foolery to inflict upon the North Central Texas scene.
Before going to my folks, I detoured to catch up with Brent (because temporarily he's living real close to my parents). Saw his two chilluns: Abigail and Gabriel. Beautiful kids. We committed to seeing Colin tonight at a grill called Obzeets in between Frisco and Plano off of Preston Rd. We'll be taking our kids too so we won't be staying too long.
Riding in the Texas heat makes my brain lazy (as opposed to when you say?) but the endorphins from the ride are keeping me loopy. I'm like a happy drunk with nothing but white noise resonating in my brain and a $hit eating grin on my face cycling back to my folks' house. Saw a lot of new, built up stuff from a mostly grasslands ecosystem from what I remembered twenty years ago. I guess the city manager(s) did an ite job zoning all the (human) artifacts where animals and photosynthetic organisms used to reside harmoniously with others in the ecosystem for generations before they got ripped away by big-a$$ machines to be replaced by concrete and carnivorous (and potentially diabetic) hominds along with their various, synergistic polluting lifestyle perpetuating machines (if you like that kind of stuff). Uh-oh, I'm sensing sarcasm...
I'm a co-parenting father of 3 exceptional kids, living in Colorado, married to the most bestest girl in the world. Herein containeth my e-manuscript of my cycling addiction and life's generalities. If this is an emergency, log-off and dial 9-1-1; otherwise, go ride yer bike...
12 June, 2009
11 June, 2009
Wednesday in Dallas
Hmmmm Wednesday. We went shopping with the folks and my Mom and Dad being the gracious grandparents that they are got my chilluns some new hiking shoes for our family trip to the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia. We also got some goat cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, and artisan bread for this evening's dinner edition to compliment the main course of Salmon steaks. We don't mess around when it comes to eating that's why I need to cycle when I visit my folks.
After dinner, after the tornado warnings, after the early warning sirens, and after the torrential down pouring of rain, I took off to see Colin Boyd play in Greenville (the street, not the actual town). After his acoustic gig we hung out a 24 joint shooting the shizzle. Catching up on people we've known for at least two decades including our international friends whom we think about more often than not. It was exceptional hanging out and just talking. We had quite the inner circle of friends growing up in our formative years here in Texas and mutual interest continues 'til this day. Colin is a musician that literally and figuratively sings for a living full-time. His collaborations with uniquely Texan musicians and songwriters were also cool to hear about during our conversation. Other than being an old, good friend, my perks in this friendship is also hearing his music. He has a new CD--titled Shine--out too which I picked up for myself and my other intentionally displaced ex-Texan, friend living in Colorado. Yeah Colin that was a nice evening. When it was all said and done it was about 2:15 ante-meridiem. On my drive home I was treated to Mother Nature's light show from the random thunderclouds gathering and dispersing creating some nifty looking air-to-air and air-to-ground spiderwebby lightning strikes, all the while jamming out to Shine. It's lights out for me...
After dinner, after the tornado warnings, after the early warning sirens, and after the torrential down pouring of rain, I took off to see Colin Boyd play in Greenville (the street, not the actual town). After his acoustic gig we hung out a 24 joint shooting the shizzle. Catching up on people we've known for at least two decades including our international friends whom we think about more often than not. It was exceptional hanging out and just talking. We had quite the inner circle of friends growing up in our formative years here in Texas and mutual interest continues 'til this day. Colin is a musician that literally and figuratively sings for a living full-time. His collaborations with uniquely Texan musicians and songwriters were also cool to hear about during our conversation. Other than being an old, good friend, my perks in this friendship is also hearing his music. He has a new CD--titled Shine--out too which I picked up for myself and my other intentionally displaced ex-Texan, friend living in Colorado. Yeah Colin that was a nice evening. When it was all said and done it was about 2:15 ante-meridiem. On my drive home I was treated to Mother Nature's light show from the random thunderclouds gathering and dispersing creating some nifty looking air-to-air and air-to-ground spiderwebby lightning strikes, all the while jamming out to Shine. It's lights out for me...
09 June, 2009
I'm vacationing in a blast furnace!
This Texas wildflower's scientific name's Monarda citriodora . We hillbillies call it Purple Horsemint. 
So a typical day here with my folks is we have breakfast together. A rather large breakfast because we sleep in late and it's closer to 10:30-11 when we finally do eat. The afternoon we (team 3/5s Mequi) hang at the park or pool with Ruby. In the evening we have another large-ish dinner and talk and watch a movie or read/journal. If I'm pooped out, me and Mason'll take a nap. I love napping. This'll end at 11:30pm. It's a great circadian vacation rhythm don't you think? In the mornings when everbody's still asleep I take Ruby on a 45 minute walk in the open space area near my folks' house.
Today is Tuesday. We finally went to the playground and it was just us there (then eventually another family showed up). Mason was playing on the playground and Maricel and I were playing catch with the Frisbee while Ruby looked on and sniffed a bunch. It was hot. At first I liked this heat novelty but with all novelty items it loses its charm just as quick. Now, it's downright oppressive; and the sad thing is this the coolest part of the North Texas summer. You should be around come August-September. Coupled with the humidity it's a miracle I lasted as long as I did (20 years on and off) when I used to live here. Walking to the park, I remembered there's a cemetery here within city limits. Long before Plano became a municipality two powerful philanthropic land barons ruled here: the Bowmans and the Haggards. Since they had a lot of land the city wanted, these two families and the city zoning peeps listened to their conditions should they fess up significant chunks o'land. One was the cemetery had to stay unmoved within city limits and another was the Haggards can have domesticated animals also inside city limits. It's pretty cool actually seeing this stuff in such a homogeneous community. I snapped a couple of pictures of the Indian Paint brush wildflowers thriving this time of year and the Bowman's cemetery plot (I tried to get fancy and B/W it).
Later that evening too I went and did the group ride in Richardson. For reasons unknown to me it's called the Popsicle ride. Damn. Again it was HOT! The speeds were pretty quick but the heat--92°F--and humidity--50%--did a number on my cardiovascular system and primary movers. Hung with the leaders until we got back to the main road (3.5 miles to go) and both legs were seeping with lactic acid, and, eventually they cramped. boo-hoo!!! Apparently lactic acid buffering suffers (my intensity was good) when it's superseded with homeostatic functions like temperature regulation. It was really difficult pedaling in that heat and humidity but it was a really fun, quality ride. The ironic thing is this is the year our kit did a funamental color change...to mostly black. Yes black with me sporting a black skid lid (that matches my bike nicely boy!) to boot. Hmmmm. So, I made some mental notes from this ride and they are:
1) It's stop light central out here so cranking up the wattage only to be shut down is like an interval workout. Next time, I'm sucking wheel until we get out to an uninterrupted stretch of road.
2) Conserve energy and bring a bottle of water to pour on myself and another one filled with electrolytes to drink.
3) Drink water like a teenage loser at an illegal rave who just took some homemade ecstasy from a swarthy individual with an overactive thyroid beforehand.
I talked with my Cajunous brother Brent today. I love that guy. What makes him lovable is his unconventional ways. He pursued his dream and became a fireman and was also quite the bike racer back in the day. Also his warped sense of humor just kills me. We played catch up on the phone today and when I inquired about his youngest brother, he replied, You know he's a functional mongoloid right (pc? no; hella funny? yup.)? Damn, I 'bout pissed me pantaloons after he said that. We're going to try and hook up sometime this week before we leave.
So a typical day here with my folks is we have breakfast together. A rather large breakfast because we sleep in late and it's closer to 10:30-11 when we finally do eat. The afternoon we (team 3/5s Mequi) hang at the park or pool with Ruby. In the evening we have another large-ish dinner and talk and watch a movie or read/journal. If I'm pooped out, me and Mason'll take a nap. I love napping. This'll end at 11:30pm. It's a great circadian vacation rhythm don't you think? In the mornings when everbody's still asleep I take Ruby on a 45 minute walk in the open space area near my folks' house.
Today is Tuesday. We finally went to the playground and it was just us there (then eventually another family showed up). Mason was playing on the playground and Maricel and I were playing catch with the Frisbee while Ruby looked on and sniffed a bunch. It was hot. At first I liked this heat novelty but with all novelty items it loses its charm just as quick. Now, it's downright oppressive; and the sad thing is this the coolest part of the North Texas summer. You should be around come August-September. Coupled with the humidity it's a miracle I lasted as long as I did (20 years on and off) when I used to live here. Walking to the park, I remembered there's a cemetery here within city limits. Long before Plano became a municipality two powerful philanthropic land barons ruled here: the Bowmans and the Haggards. Since they had a lot of land the city wanted, these two families and the city zoning peeps listened to their conditions should they fess up significant chunks o'land. One was the cemetery had to stay unmoved within city limits and another was the Haggards can have domesticated animals also inside city limits. It's pretty cool actually seeing this stuff in such a homogeneous community. I snapped a couple of pictures of the Indian Paint brush wildflowers thriving this time of year and the Bowman's cemetery plot (I tried to get fancy and B/W it).
Later that evening too I went and did the group ride in Richardson. For reasons unknown to me it's called the Popsicle ride. Damn. Again it was HOT! The speeds were pretty quick but the heat--92°F--and humidity--50%--did a number on my cardiovascular system and primary movers. Hung with the leaders until we got back to the main road (3.5 miles to go) and both legs were seeping with lactic acid, and, eventually they cramped. boo-hoo!!! Apparently lactic acid buffering suffers (my intensity was good) when it's superseded with homeostatic functions like temperature regulation. It was really difficult pedaling in that heat and humidity but it was a really fun, quality ride. The ironic thing is this is the year our kit did a funamental color change...to mostly black. Yes black with me sporting a black skid lid (that matches my bike nicely boy!) to boot. Hmmmm. So, I made some mental notes from this ride and they are:
1) It's stop light central out here so cranking up the wattage only to be shut down is like an interval workout. Next time, I'm sucking wheel until we get out to an uninterrupted stretch of road.
2) Conserve energy and bring a bottle of water to pour on myself and another one filled with electrolytes to drink.
3) Drink water like a teenage loser at an illegal rave who just took some homemade ecstasy from a swarthy individual with an overactive thyroid beforehand.
I talked with my Cajunous brother Brent today. I love that guy. What makes him lovable is his unconventional ways. He pursued his dream and became a fireman and was also quite the bike racer back in the day. Also his warped sense of humor just kills me. We played catch up on the phone today and when I inquired about his youngest brother, he replied, You know he's a functional mongoloid right (pc? no; hella funny? yup.)? Damn, I 'bout pissed me pantaloons after he said that. We're going to try and hook up sometime this week before we leave.
07 June, 2009
Texas Break, June 2009
Well it's Sunday and it's HOT kids! We came in Saturday night after a rather hot and long day of driving. The kids were exceptional sitting pretty much straight through a thirteen hour day! Yeah, the kids rock; don't know if I want to put them through that again. Peep dis: no DVD player, just kid stuff on my Sirius/XM satellite radio and conversation. Yeah y'all, great kids. Tough and patient-the both of them.
I know I'm close when I can tune into my radio and listen to KNTU. It's the North Texas University jazz radio station. I received my teaching certification there and my undergrad at The University of Texas at Austin. They've changed their name to the University of North Texas but that wouldn't go over too good if their radio call sign actually matched their latest moniker. Good jazz (straight ahead, bop, and modern jazz trio--no electric) is hard to find on the radio. Real Jazz on Sirius does a pretty darn good job most of the time but they were playing a tribute to Benny Goodman--which isn't necessarily a bad thing--but I'm not much of jazz clarinet kind of guy. It's kinda up there (for me) with a jazz flautist. They were rocking out Saturday night as team 3/5's Mequi were cruising east bound on 380 to McKinney.
So Sunday, I ripped some iTunes and took some iTunes off my computer onto my Dad's iTunes Library-specifically Raul Malo's "After Hours" and John Doe & the Sadies' "Country Club". Both awesome albums if you're a country/standards kinda dude (dude being a genderless term mind you). Went and walked/ran with my Ruby (read several blogs before this one). When we first saw her, she showered Maricel with kisses. Afterwards, being the good girl that she is, whenever she gets too hyper with her greetings, she forces herself to sit down with her tail a'waggin' mightily (on the floor)! So she sat down in front of me waiting for me to scratch and bear hug her. We both missed Ruby pretty sorely. It was really nice to pet/hold her again. I think she grew a bit more too. Ahhhh, Ruby...
Gave my truck a good washing and waxing. She was filthy and this was her first wash in months! Afterwards my Mom and I went to do some food shopping for dinner. Dinner was a Pasta-pesto dish with vegan meat starter (soy protein) mixed-in. Salad was a quick one where Maricel cut up the lettuce and we had croutons poured in. My Dad and I washed this dinner down with Maredsous Bruin/Brune (8% alcohol content).
Yummy, quick, and fairly healthy (with just a dash of alcohol). During the day, Maricel hangs out with Ruby in her kennel. It's a huge kennel made for a huge dog. Ruby is perfectly content with Maricel journaling and watching TV while petting Ruby inside her kennel. The dynamic duo is together again, at least for this week. Later that evening, team 3/5s Mequi went and saw the Disney, Pixar animated movie "Up". Great movie for all, including families with wee ones. We felt great walking back to our car in the hot, breezy Texas evening talking about "Up". Highly recommend it y'all kids.
Monday, after a super leisure morning trying to figure out my older brother's old-assed waffle maker at my Mom and Dad's, we had eggs and Belgium waffles. It was kinda rubbery because the machine wasn't delivering consistent heat and it had no audible way of telling the user it's done! Well at least the eggs were good. Took the Rube out for an early morning walk. Kinda wore a blister on the right ball of my foot because we walked for about 40 mins in my flip-flops. We went to Jack Carter Pool in the heat of the afternoon. It was hot! Even walking on the sidewalk at the pool caused great distress to my non-heat tolerant doggies. They even had a wading/kiddie pool where Mason could fart around and climb up and slide down the aquatic fort. It was fun and I even remembered to bring the sunscreen and some beverages ice-chilled in a cooler. While Mason continued napping from our ride back to Lolo and Lola's, Maricel and I played catch with ball and gloves in the front yard while Ruby watched and chilled with us. I don't think I've mentioned this but it's like Africa hot out here; but oddly enough I kinda like it compared to the fifties and rain we left behind in Colorado. This heat's going to get old awfully quick though. For dinner, I made a fettuccine, broccoli, bean sprouts, tofu, thinly sliced onion, garbanzo beans, sprinkled with generous amounts of fresh, whole leaves of basil concoction covered in a peanut/fresh ginger sauce I made from scratch. My Dad and I washed the solids down with a lovely liquid Syrah wine named Red Bicyclette.
It complimented the meal well, I thought the Syrah might be a bit strong but it was rather subdued (like team 3/5s Mequi roasting underneath the hot Texas sun). At the used CD store I picked up Dinosaur Jr's Where you been and Pavement's Terror Twilight. Thanks Mom! When my Mom and I were picking up groceries for dinner it was about the same time I would be doing my first Texas group ride since I've lived here. Made a mental comparison about tomorrow's conditions and here it is: o my goodness it's going to be ehfing HOT! I don't know if I can physiologically handle this heat under physical taxation? Damn. Wouldn't you know it? My kit this year underwent a drastic aesthetic change and our primary color's black (with matching black helmet). I better stock up on water and Clif bars (our sponsor!). Tomorrow morning I'm making breakfast burritos!
We're having chill time now. We're also on vacation time-we get to sleep whenever we get there. In fact, my chilluns crashed in the living where Mason plum got pooped out (w/ Ketchup on the corner of his mouth) and crashed on the carpeted floor whereas Maricel fell asleep on the couch after journaling and reading her book still with her bathing suit on from the pool earlier.
Isn't this what a vacation with the out-of-state Grandparents' supposed to be? Yeauh! Long live the teaching profession with at least some semblance of a break!
I know I'm close when I can tune into my radio and listen to KNTU. It's the North Texas University jazz radio station. I received my teaching certification there and my undergrad at The University of Texas at Austin. They've changed their name to the University of North Texas but that wouldn't go over too good if their radio call sign actually matched their latest moniker. Good jazz (straight ahead, bop, and modern jazz trio--no electric) is hard to find on the radio. Real Jazz on Sirius does a pretty darn good job most of the time but they were playing a tribute to Benny Goodman--which isn't necessarily a bad thing--but I'm not much of jazz clarinet kind of guy. It's kinda up there (for me) with a jazz flautist. They were rocking out Saturday night as team 3/5's Mequi were cruising east bound on 380 to McKinney.
So Sunday, I ripped some iTunes and took some iTunes off my computer onto my Dad's iTunes Library-specifically Raul Malo's "After Hours" and John Doe & the Sadies' "Country Club". Both awesome albums if you're a country/standards kinda dude (dude being a genderless term mind you). Went and walked/ran with my Ruby (read several blogs before this one). When we first saw her, she showered Maricel with kisses. Afterwards, being the good girl that she is, whenever she gets too hyper with her greetings, she forces herself to sit down with her tail a'waggin' mightily (on the floor)! So she sat down in front of me waiting for me to scratch and bear hug her. We both missed Ruby pretty sorely. It was really nice to pet/hold her again. I think she grew a bit more too. Ahhhh, Ruby...
Gave my truck a good washing and waxing. She was filthy and this was her first wash in months! Afterwards my Mom and I went to do some food shopping for dinner. Dinner was a Pasta-pesto dish with vegan meat starter (soy protein) mixed-in. Salad was a quick one where Maricel cut up the lettuce and we had croutons poured in. My Dad and I washed this dinner down with Maredsous Bruin/Brune (8% alcohol content).
Yummy, quick, and fairly healthy (with just a dash of alcohol). During the day, Maricel hangs out with Ruby in her kennel. It's a huge kennel made for a huge dog. Ruby is perfectly content with Maricel journaling and watching TV while petting Ruby inside her kennel. The dynamic duo is together again, at least for this week. Later that evening, team 3/5s Mequi went and saw the Disney, Pixar animated movie "Up". Great movie for all, including families with wee ones. We felt great walking back to our car in the hot, breezy Texas evening talking about "Up". Highly recommend it y'all kids.
Monday, after a super leisure morning trying to figure out my older brother's old-assed waffle maker at my Mom and Dad's, we had eggs and Belgium waffles. It was kinda rubbery because the machine wasn't delivering consistent heat and it had no audible way of telling the user it's done! Well at least the eggs were good. Took the Rube out for an early morning walk. Kinda wore a blister on the right ball of my foot because we walked for about 40 mins in my flip-flops. We went to Jack Carter Pool in the heat of the afternoon. It was hot! Even walking on the sidewalk at the pool caused great distress to my non-heat tolerant doggies. They even had a wading/kiddie pool where Mason could fart around and climb up and slide down the aquatic fort. It was fun and I even remembered to bring the sunscreen and some beverages ice-chilled in a cooler. While Mason continued napping from our ride back to Lolo and Lola's, Maricel and I played catch with ball and gloves in the front yard while Ruby watched and chilled with us. I don't think I've mentioned this but it's like Africa hot out here; but oddly enough I kinda like it compared to the fifties and rain we left behind in Colorado. This heat's going to get old awfully quick though. For dinner, I made a fettuccine, broccoli, bean sprouts, tofu, thinly sliced onion, garbanzo beans, sprinkled with generous amounts of fresh, whole leaves of basil concoction covered in a peanut/fresh ginger sauce I made from scratch. My Dad and I washed the solids down with a lovely liquid Syrah wine named Red Bicyclette.
It complimented the meal well, I thought the Syrah might be a bit strong but it was rather subdued (like team 3/5s Mequi roasting underneath the hot Texas sun). At the used CD store I picked up Dinosaur Jr's Where you been and Pavement's Terror Twilight. Thanks Mom! When my Mom and I were picking up groceries for dinner it was about the same time I would be doing my first Texas group ride since I've lived here. Made a mental comparison about tomorrow's conditions and here it is: o my goodness it's going to be ehfing HOT! I don't know if I can physiologically handle this heat under physical taxation? Damn. Wouldn't you know it? My kit this year underwent a drastic aesthetic change and our primary color's black (with matching black helmet). I better stock up on water and Clif bars (our sponsor!). Tomorrow morning I'm making breakfast burritos!
We're having chill time now. We're also on vacation time-we get to sleep whenever we get there. In fact, my chilluns crashed in the living where Mason plum got pooped out (w/ Ketchup on the corner of his mouth) and crashed on the carpeted floor whereas Maricel fell asleep on the couch after journaling and reading her book still with her bathing suit on from the pool earlier.
Isn't this what a vacation with the out-of-state Grandparents' supposed to be? Yeauh! Long live the teaching profession with at least some semblance of a break!
30 May, 2009
My Kids Are Finally On Break Too!
This week was pretty cool cycling-wise. Rode the mountain bike with Alec, Billy, and his son Hogan. Went to a pretty technical area called Apex. That was the time my fork of five years officially died. I'da given her her last rites but I'm not accredited for such duties. It felt like every time I hit an obstacle at speed it hit back just as hard. There was this metallic clunk and the grommet that moves with the fork displacement showed about less than an inch of travel. Not good. Gotta look for a new fork now.
Went to my daughters' last day at their Elementary School. Wouldn't you know it, it also rained like the dickens! Thunder, lightning, and hail to boot too. That was as if it were on cue for us to leave. From their I went to Boulder to ride with my teammate Chip.
We rode sixty miles in about three hours and change. It was right at my threshold of completion without bonking. Traded pulls on the way back to town as if we were bike racers or something. We were flushed after that episode. Great ride.
Saturday, I rode another 2.5H in the hills out here where I live. People (let me correct myself-guys), make it a race. There was this guy who glued up to my wheel when the terrain starts to get interesting. I told myself (and my legs were extra-crispy from the ride with Charles the other day) that I'll chill and climb seated. There are some really steep pitches and this guy, just to hold on to my wheel, got out of the saddle and was rocking it to stay next to me. I was sitting so I couldn't get the desired watts to my pedals (I need to get a 25 tooth cog instead of a 23 for these hills). I grew tired of this bozo huffing and puffing to stick to me so I got out of the saddle and powered away from him. Stayed away from him all the way to the unofficial top of the climb.
On the way down I pedalled my butt off and began to cramp after the high rpms. That's good. I gotta get my legs to fatigue more often to emulate race pace, especially towards the end of the race when everybody gets antsy and wants to put the evil, stinky sprint on you wherever strategically possible.
This evening I take my doggy for a walk in an open space park just downhill where we live so she can get some exercise too. Great week and it's not over yet. Tomorrow our son-Mason-turns four and we're going to celebrate it!
Yup.
Went to my daughters' last day at their Elementary School. Wouldn't you know it, it also rained like the dickens! Thunder, lightning, and hail to boot too. That was as if it were on cue for us to leave. From their I went to Boulder to ride with my teammate Chip.
We rode sixty miles in about three hours and change. It was right at my threshold of completion without bonking. Traded pulls on the way back to town as if we were bike racers or something. We were flushed after that episode. Great ride.
Saturday, I rode another 2.5H in the hills out here where I live. People (let me correct myself-guys), make it a race. There was this guy who glued up to my wheel when the terrain starts to get interesting. I told myself (and my legs were extra-crispy from the ride with Charles the other day) that I'll chill and climb seated. There are some really steep pitches and this guy, just to hold on to my wheel, got out of the saddle and was rocking it to stay next to me. I was sitting so I couldn't get the desired watts to my pedals (I need to get a 25 tooth cog instead of a 23 for these hills). I grew tired of this bozo huffing and puffing to stick to me so I got out of the saddle and powered away from him. Stayed away from him all the way to the unofficial top of the climb.
On the way down I pedalled my butt off and began to cramp after the high rpms. That's good. I gotta get my legs to fatigue more often to emulate race pace, especially towards the end of the race when everybody gets antsy and wants to put the evil, stinky sprint on you wherever strategically possible.
This evening I take my doggy for a walk in an open space park just downhill where we live so she can get some exercise too. Great week and it's not over yet. Tomorrow our son-Mason-turns four and we're going to celebrate it!
Yup.
21 May, 2009
Summer has Officially Started Kids!
what can i say? the one-hundred and eighty-seventh contractual day hath passed and so goeth me in the way of the ecclesiast-everything is (not so) meaningless. not much of a biblicist (nor a religified person, but tolerable of both) but peep dis verse (guess which book):
'Meaningless! Meaningless!'
says the Teacher.
'Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.'
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look! This is something new'?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
it's not all gloom and doom; anyhoo, here's my paraphrased version (i don't necessarily agree with everything is meaningless but most everything certainly is): one day, we're eventually going to hang out with st. peter, or become constituent, sub-atomic particles (i mean really that's all we are if you think about it, orderly arranged but headed towards entropy) like right after the beginning of time-your choice. so, the ephemerality of your presence at work and everything that's not work makes you aware of choice (i.e. how do i choose to spend that time participating as parent/spouse/competitive cyclist/employee?). i ask you how are you going to spend your time? personally, i have 10 weeks to demonstrate my participatory balancing act. i'll start if i don't stop.
speaking of time, my science department just recognized my wicked valuable, extremely cool, co-teacher's efforts in my school district. the district, therefore, after all these (34) years of dedicated service is giving her a pension. that's right, she retired. i worked with this lovely young lady for ten years! it flew. one day, she's working with me; the next, she has quite the grin on her face. she is a class act, the science department-myself included-is going to miss her presence sorely. ten years y'all...
the last day-our teacher inservice-was kinda busy for me. i had 4 kids come in whose missing assignments were going to do them in (fail them) for the semester. they all finished their respective assignments-all late as hell may i add-in front of me, in my classroom, showing an honest effort, and i graded it without late penalties (why would you arbitrarily make it less because of lateness? i agree though, somethings are not negotiable; if they had to make up a lab-forget it). it ranged from some major, test-worthy assignments to piddly daily assignments but they're so delinquent with their homework, everything counted. needless to say they all passed with a "d" except one boy who earned a "c". the one common denominator they shared was drama. regardless of gender, drama is unfortunately a unifying, as well as ubiquitous, thing here at the high school. i'm sure y'all remembered high school hi-jinx. nutty. i told them if y'all go of to college this type of behavior wouldn't even fly. hope they listened. we'll see.
today, i checked out early to go for a mountain bike ride with my boys. a little thundercloud rolled through and they all deferred (read: chickened out, wimped-out, spontaneous loss of spinal vertebra, ambivalence, lame-osity, no shit-or-get-off-the-pot-filter, don't make me think for myself...etc. get it?). so i did a solo off-road, uphill time trial at mount falcon. i did the climb okay. not in off-road mentality that's for sure, too much time on the road bike. low rpm climbing rhythm, no decent turns in the Ss. i'm doing a race this sunday, so i need to get miles in any way, shape, and form (off-roading counts). i'll let you know how that goes. the race might be rained-out though.
my teammates registered to do the iron horse classic in durango which is (one-way) 6 or so hours away this sunday. the weather there too doesn't look good and the race starts at 8k feet and wouldn't you know it? they're forecasting rain/snow mix at 80% chance. not good. so i wonder who's actually going to be foolish enough to drive 12 hours for a 20% to race in decent weather. statistically i wouldn't do it (but then again i didn't preregister and have to fess up 70 bones).
i think friday, tomorrow, i'ma go for a road ride with my boy chip.
'Meaningless! Meaningless!'
says the Teacher.
'Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.'
3 What does man gain from all his labor
at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
'Look! This is something new'?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
11 There is no remembrance of men of old,
and even those who are yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow.
it's not all gloom and doom; anyhoo, here's my paraphrased version (i don't necessarily agree with everything is meaningless but most everything certainly is): one day, we're eventually going to hang out with st. peter, or become constituent, sub-atomic particles (i mean really that's all we are if you think about it, orderly arranged but headed towards entropy) like right after the beginning of time-your choice. so, the ephemerality of your presence at work and everything that's not work makes you aware of choice (i.e. how do i choose to spend that time participating as parent/spouse/competitive cyclist/employee?). i ask you how are you going to spend your time? personally, i have 10 weeks to demonstrate my participatory balancing act. i'll start if i don't stop.
speaking of time, my science department just recognized my wicked valuable, extremely cool, co-teacher's efforts in my school district. the district, therefore, after all these (34) years of dedicated service is giving her a pension. that's right, she retired. i worked with this lovely young lady for ten years! it flew. one day, she's working with me; the next, she has quite the grin on her face. she is a class act, the science department-myself included-is going to miss her presence sorely. ten years y'all...
the last day-our teacher inservice-was kinda busy for me. i had 4 kids come in whose missing assignments were going to do them in (fail them) for the semester. they all finished their respective assignments-all late as hell may i add-in front of me, in my classroom, showing an honest effort, and i graded it without late penalties (why would you arbitrarily make it less because of lateness? i agree though, somethings are not negotiable; if they had to make up a lab-forget it). it ranged from some major, test-worthy assignments to piddly daily assignments but they're so delinquent with their homework, everything counted. needless to say they all passed with a "d" except one boy who earned a "c". the one common denominator they shared was drama. regardless of gender, drama is unfortunately a unifying, as well as ubiquitous, thing here at the high school. i'm sure y'all remembered high school hi-jinx. nutty. i told them if y'all go of to college this type of behavior wouldn't even fly. hope they listened. we'll see.
today, i checked out early to go for a mountain bike ride with my boys. a little thundercloud rolled through and they all deferred (read: chickened out, wimped-out, spontaneous loss of spinal vertebra, ambivalence, lame-osity, no shit-or-get-off-the-pot-filter, don't make me think for myself...etc. get it?). so i did a solo off-road, uphill time trial at mount falcon. i did the climb okay. not in off-road mentality that's for sure, too much time on the road bike. low rpm climbing rhythm, no decent turns in the Ss. i'm doing a race this sunday, so i need to get miles in any way, shape, and form (off-roading counts). i'll let you know how that goes. the race might be rained-out though.
my teammates registered to do the iron horse classic in durango which is (one-way) 6 or so hours away this sunday. the weather there too doesn't look good and the race starts at 8k feet and wouldn't you know it? they're forecasting rain/snow mix at 80% chance. not good. so i wonder who's actually going to be foolish enough to drive 12 hours for a 20% to race in decent weather. statistically i wouldn't do it (but then again i didn't preregister and have to fess up 70 bones).
i think friday, tomorrow, i'ma go for a road ride with my boy chip.
15 May, 2009
The Meridian Ride and other stuff
well kids, four official days left in my contract for the '08-'09 school year (i'm renewed). today's a work day without kids. we have graduation to contend with today. finished creating and running off my final exams for both of my class; two versions each if they're dumb enough to copy and completely biff a test worth 40% of their grade. the sense of finality is coming to a head y'all. cleaned up a bit; i'll save the serious stuff for when my kids come in the rest of the week. got a keep a decent-looking academic area workable and clean. got home and mason wanted to ride. here he is doing uphill intervals. he's getting ready y'all.
haven't been writing as much due to time shizzle, but here's what i've done for racing (which ain't a whole hell of a lot). did a quasi-mountain biking marathon event called the front range 50. got a whole zero hours in training the week before for it (hence the cycling dad reiteration). i figured i could do a sub-five hour, 50 mile off-road excursion. won't be purty but definitely doable. my roommate from college whose a pretty hardcore guy did it too. i show up late to get my number plate and i just get to start the race with my event (there were several that day, this being the marquee event). so off we go with the front range's best 200 or so riders in my event. the start's absolutely nutty. we climb a hill first and you should see these two hundred riders fight for first dibs to the single-track section. mayhem baby. mayhem. fast forward 4h 35 mins later. i finish. ego somewhat illed but an ever so slight release of endorphins. 50 miles on a mountain bike for the second time in 2009 felt like my worst enemy taking a jack hammer to my body's contact points on the saddle. the joy could not be expressed in words kids...
thursday did the meridian training ride. musta been going slow because i was able to hang in. my first hour ride for the week. finished top fifteen, started to cramp during the uphill sprint. talked to one of the elite guys when we started the ride. nice guy. real down to earth and his legs can crush most competitors. talked about how we have the same vacation spot-lake tahoe; and how some of the elite members are doing the tour of some name near lake tahoe. pretty intense competition for that stage race. i attempted a xc mt bike race last year there and it was canceled to due hazardous breathing conditions due the wildfires. they're lucky, when i show everyone's fighting for second place (to last).
Friday. since the grown-up things in life i used to take for granted are difficult to come by nowadays (i.e. movies, hanging out in restaurants, just melissa and i hiking..etc.), i purchase the next best thing: delicious, small batch, hand-crafted (as opposed to spleen-crafted) beers. to celebrate friday, i purchased Russian River's Blind Pig IPA (floral hoppiness and happiness too i suppose);
Brewery Ommegang's chocolate indulgence (kinda tastes like Sammy Smith's Oatmeal Stout);
and Left-Hand Brewery's Imperial Stout (a wee-bit pruney).
of the three, the Russian River's batch was a new flavor I haven't encountered and boy was it freshy-fresh! I recommend this one, the others are simply ite though.
saturday rolls around and maura has a soccer tourney. three games. they didn't make it to the final though because they lost one game out of three. speaking of three, maura scored three goals that day. i witnessed it jackson! oh man, her third goal she wound the kick up and planted it just inside of the top edge of the goal. it was impressive. this was after i dropped off maricel to her choir concert about 70 miles away round trip. then! after this! we all head off to elitches (an amusement park) to watch the choir competition results in which maricel's school won first place with a superior performance (top notch, better than excellent). i witnessed her choir sing too. very tight sound from the choir director who's a task-master to boot. ever since my thirties, i get real nauseous from most amusement park rides. so, all the adventurous souls (the rest of my family plus melissa's brother and mom) do the hard-core rides while i hangout with my son at the little kids rides. he absolutely loves the little kids' rides which in turn makes me have some vicarious fun. so all day at the park we do this. i'm having fun without even riding one ride! it was almost like a tailor made father-son outing. great day/evening hanging out with the family.
sunday rolls and today's maricel's last soccer game and picnic. i watch them play, drop-off the cooler, and i get my ride in. i get a 3.5 h ride in but i wanted a 4h one just to get my endurance up for doing 80 mile road races here in colorado usually involving inordinate climbing of some painful sort. i roll from my house. since we live on a ridge, all my rides are downhill. this means i'm hurting going back to my house especially if there's any wind to contend with. if i can help it all my rides will be fairly local so i'll always climb. kinda did a figure-eight looopy-loop today. i shouldn'a gone too hard for the first climb but i couldn't hep myself. once i saw another rider, the testosterone poisoning began and the burn crept into my legs as i finished the first climb. the second climb wasn't sustained and it's pretty mellow. it also circles some of the prettiest real estate where i live. all rolling horse properties with nothing but blue skies and a pesky northwest wind keeping me honest. my legs were hurting on this half of the figure-eight but once i settled into a slower rhythm i was able to sustain a cadence for the last, long climb without dropping off. at the gas station i sit down on a bench next to a group of harley riders taking a break. i volunteered if they wanted to switch bikes i'd be pretty amenable to it. she laughed and said they're from the springs. i asked if they're going to deckers on their way back and she said they were. on my way back mercifully there's a tail wind and effort back to my house is actually fun instead of the grind i always expect.
we grill out for dinner, wash it down with some fat tire ale, and prepare for monday. the kids are all full, washed, and before mr. sandman arrives we read 'em some books. speaking of which, nighty-night.
haven't been writing as much due to time shizzle, but here's what i've done for racing (which ain't a whole hell of a lot). did a quasi-mountain biking marathon event called the front range 50. got a whole zero hours in training the week before for it (hence the cycling dad reiteration). i figured i could do a sub-five hour, 50 mile off-road excursion. won't be purty but definitely doable. my roommate from college whose a pretty hardcore guy did it too. i show up late to get my number plate and i just get to start the race with my event (there were several that day, this being the marquee event). so off we go with the front range's best 200 or so riders in my event. the start's absolutely nutty. we climb a hill first and you should see these two hundred riders fight for first dibs to the single-track section. mayhem baby. mayhem. fast forward 4h 35 mins later. i finish. ego somewhat illed but an ever so slight release of endorphins. 50 miles on a mountain bike for the second time in 2009 felt like my worst enemy taking a jack hammer to my body's contact points on the saddle. the joy could not be expressed in words kids...
thursday did the meridian training ride. musta been going slow because i was able to hang in. my first hour ride for the week. finished top fifteen, started to cramp during the uphill sprint. talked to one of the elite guys when we started the ride. nice guy. real down to earth and his legs can crush most competitors. talked about how we have the same vacation spot-lake tahoe; and how some of the elite members are doing the tour of some name near lake tahoe. pretty intense competition for that stage race. i attempted a xc mt bike race last year there and it was canceled to due hazardous breathing conditions due the wildfires. they're lucky, when i show everyone's fighting for second place (to last).
Friday. since the grown-up things in life i used to take for granted are difficult to come by nowadays (i.e. movies, hanging out in restaurants, just melissa and i hiking..etc.), i purchase the next best thing: delicious, small batch, hand-crafted (as opposed to spleen-crafted) beers. to celebrate friday, i purchased Russian River's Blind Pig IPA (floral hoppiness and happiness too i suppose);
Brewery Ommegang's chocolate indulgence (kinda tastes like Sammy Smith's Oatmeal Stout);
and Left-Hand Brewery's Imperial Stout (a wee-bit pruney).
of the three, the Russian River's batch was a new flavor I haven't encountered and boy was it freshy-fresh! I recommend this one, the others are simply ite though.
saturday rolls around and maura has a soccer tourney. three games. they didn't make it to the final though because they lost one game out of three. speaking of three, maura scored three goals that day. i witnessed it jackson! oh man, her third goal she wound the kick up and planted it just inside of the top edge of the goal. it was impressive. this was after i dropped off maricel to her choir concert about 70 miles away round trip. then! after this! we all head off to elitches (an amusement park) to watch the choir competition results in which maricel's school won first place with a superior performance (top notch, better than excellent). i witnessed her choir sing too. very tight sound from the choir director who's a task-master to boot. ever since my thirties, i get real nauseous from most amusement park rides. so, all the adventurous souls (the rest of my family plus melissa's brother and mom) do the hard-core rides while i hangout with my son at the little kids rides. he absolutely loves the little kids' rides which in turn makes me have some vicarious fun. so all day at the park we do this. i'm having fun without even riding one ride! it was almost like a tailor made father-son outing. great day/evening hanging out with the family.
sunday rolls and today's maricel's last soccer game and picnic. i watch them play, drop-off the cooler, and i get my ride in. i get a 3.5 h ride in but i wanted a 4h one just to get my endurance up for doing 80 mile road races here in colorado usually involving inordinate climbing of some painful sort. i roll from my house. since we live on a ridge, all my rides are downhill. this means i'm hurting going back to my house especially if there's any wind to contend with. if i can help it all my rides will be fairly local so i'll always climb. kinda did a figure-eight looopy-loop today. i shouldn'a gone too hard for the first climb but i couldn't hep myself. once i saw another rider, the testosterone poisoning began and the burn crept into my legs as i finished the first climb. the second climb wasn't sustained and it's pretty mellow. it also circles some of the prettiest real estate where i live. all rolling horse properties with nothing but blue skies and a pesky northwest wind keeping me honest. my legs were hurting on this half of the figure-eight but once i settled into a slower rhythm i was able to sustain a cadence for the last, long climb without dropping off. at the gas station i sit down on a bench next to a group of harley riders taking a break. i volunteered if they wanted to switch bikes i'd be pretty amenable to it. she laughed and said they're from the springs. i asked if they're going to deckers on their way back and she said they were. on my way back mercifully there's a tail wind and effort back to my house is actually fun instead of the grind i always expect.
we grill out for dinner, wash it down with some fat tire ale, and prepare for monday. the kids are all full, washed, and before mr. sandman arrives we read 'em some books. speaking of which, nighty-night.
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