Post 101

I'm not posting because a) the oil spill has me all conflicted between my green happy thoughts and the fact I drive a V8, b) the fact that it is raining and I want to ride, c) I haven't felt like it, d) I found this brilliant YouTube video that I think you should watch instead. Hollywood sucks.

100th post

Small achievement, but I bet 88% of all blogs don't make it to 100 posts, so I guess there should be some sense of accomplishment. I also hear that 86% of statistics are made up on the spot. Old joke, I know, yet pertinent.

I'm fighting an annoying head cold right now, it's hasn't exactly leveled me, but it's not much fun and my nose is getting raw from blowing it every two minutes. Boohoo, poor baby!

I had a great commute yesterday, as usual, and am ready to do it again. Rain, rain, go away! This is not good for hitting the trails over the weekend, and I'm stuck to road riding and dodging screws.

At least I'm on my bike. And I'd like to send out two little notes to the trail users of Indian Creek. First, goes to the middle aged women. I'm really happy for you that you can talk with your friends so much that you barely see me coming. Really, I am. I can only guess what worldly matters you might be discussing. Way over my head, I'm sure. What isn't over my head, unfortunately, is that 90-second aerosol blast of ungodly funky perfume that you thought you needed to go walk outdoors. It seriously takes 15-20 seconds of riding at 18+ mph before I can breathe again. That is 528 feet, or one tenth of a mile before I evade your funk. For chris' sake, stop it.

The second demographic involves people who think that the Indian Creek trail system is a dog park for their 80 pound Labs. I'm a dog guy, first and foremost. But Labs are retarded. And so is getting chased by a dog while you're on a bike. Keep your dog on a leash. If you leave a Pomerian off leash, I may just run it over and use it in my spokes to sound like a motorcycle. Those aren't dogs.

Forgot to say something

So I committed a total newb act on Sunday when I was out for my "long" ride. I'm just leaving the neighborhood when I realized I didn't have my pump, but of course, thought "when was the last time I had a flat?". Surely enough, 10 minutes later in the middle of nowhere on South (way South) Metcalf, I ran over a screw. I went through my tire, and through my tube twice and even marked up the inside of the rim. Freakin' awesome. To make things even worse, Penny was getting her yoga on and wouldn't be out of class for about 45 minutes.

Fortunately, I had my patch kit and a spare tire (my Mich Comps were getting long in the tooth), so I went ahead and got everything swapped out/patched up and waited for another cyclist. The first one passed by and even though I yelled at him, he wasn't looking up or stopping. I don't know if he had buds in his ears or what. So of course, it's at least 30 minutes before another cyclist stops to help me. The lady on the beautiful Colnago C50 graciously hooked me up with a air cartridge and got me rolling again. Many thanks to you if you happen to cross my blog!

I rode back to 167th and Metcalf, and then the tire went flat again because of my shady patch job I did on the tube. I re-radio'ed for help, Penny was out of class by then. That was the end of that ride. I think I got 12 minutes in. Rookie.

You better git on that horse

So here we are, about 5 weeks away from my first tri, and training has not been going that hot. I have been riding, and occasionally running, but my swimming is no where to be found. Unfortunately, water wings are out, so I'm starting to wonder if I'll be DFL out of the water. Time will tell. On one hand, I'm disappointed because I had every intention of hitting the pool at least twice a week, but on the other hand, learning how to swim is a large undertaking, and it takes most people over a year before they are anywhere near fast.

Bottom line is, and has always been, that I have to swim/bike/run my own race. Happiness is going to come from within, just as in life.

At least I had a great ride into work today, even though I was later than I had hoped I would be. I'm looking forward to the ride home though, as I don't have to carry anything (YAY!) so I can book it!

Harassment, I tell you

So the 82nd person to say "aren't you going to change your email address?" pushed me over the edge today.  So hopefully I won't lock myself out of my e-world and can successfully transition all of the hundreds of settings between one gmail account to the other. 

I knew there was good reason to not to do this, now I'm just living the nightmare.  Hopefully I can get this all settled out in the next few days.  Egads.

Hullo all

I really don't have much to say, it was a busy weekend and I'm just trying to exhale.  You know about those people who get excited to go to work?  I wonder if it is because they want to take a break?

AB and K have been loving getting to play outside so much, as the weather is FINALLY decent.  Hopefully we'll get 6-8 weeks of this before the temps go through the roof.  Last summer was nearly perfect, but I doubt we'll get that lucky again.  Ah well!

I got to ride some trails last night, and it was great.  It's been like 5 years since I've been on a mountain bike, and there was a lot of rust there, but overall I felt good.  I still get headaches after riding, and I'm not sure what's causing that.  I'll have to look into that a bit more.  It only seems to happen during MTB rides, never cross nor road rides.  Probably something that can be cured by getting a bike fit...

Penny had a big race yesterday with her runner girls, the Brew to Brew.  She was very tired when she got home, but seemed to have enjoyed it.  I'm proud of her, as always, for continuing to push herself and showing our boys how to live an active lifestyle.  It's not very easy in Johnson County and our dependence on cars and creature comforts.  I hope that the boys grow up loving to have the sun on their backs and the wonderful smell of nothing as you breathe clean air.  This spring has been ripe with that.  Speaking of...I think it's time AB and I camped outside in the backyard again.  That should be fun!

Enjoy the weather all, and try something new this week.

Please sign this petition to stop the upward trend of our childrens' obesity problem!

If you've recently seen Jamie Oliver's new show, you know that he's trying to change the way our children eat~not only at home, but also in our schools.  By doing so, he plans to deal a massive blow to the likes of obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. He is trying to encourage us to get back into the kitchen and cook for ourselves and our families, thereby cutting out the fast and overly processed foods that are making us sick. And fat. And depressed.  If you are interested in supporting this effort, click on the link and sign the petition!

http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution/petition

“This Food Revolution is about changing the way we eat. We need to start cooking again, to make sure our children don’t grow up on a diet of processed food, at school or at home, and so they won’t have to battle obesity and diet-related illnesses when they grow up. Cooking is one of the most important skills a person can have and it has been proven that families who cook together eat better. A small change in your kitchen in could save the life of someone you love. America needs to do something now, before it’s too late.”

Liar-face

Yea, I'm talking about myself.  On Tuesday, I said I was going to ditch my Sprint Evo and get the Hero.  Well, now all this info "came out" today, and the Evo should be out on June 13th.  That's like 60-something days from now.  I guess I can wait.  DANGIT!  IWANTMYNEWPHONEANDIWANTITNOW!!!!

But this new Evo seems like it might be worth the wait.  I don't think I've ever seen all the e-nerds have such big phone boners about anything, save maybe the iPhone, and we all know how that changed tv commercials for forever.

So unless they decide to charge for 4G access (which will hand more customers over to AT&T and Verizon), or if the phone is $300 (same result), I think I'll spring for it.  I can't wait for my new HD video camera/phone.

And for all of you dear friends that have no idea what I'm talking about, check this out.

Quote of the year

I would say quote of the day, but I think it deserves more thought than that...

"Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can not eat money." from 19th Century Cree Indian.

Blogging with Norah

I wonder if the Norah Jones playing in my ears is going to effect the content of this post?  Probably...I think that'd be a good psych experiment.  "Is Music Intensity Reflected During the Writing Process?  Measurements in Aggression, Empathy, and Mood Scores as Effected by Aural Stimulation."  Wow, I guess that piece of paper on the wall was worth something after all.

So my tri training has pretty much sucked recently.  I moderately wrenched my back yesterday, so I laid on the couch and caught up on Fringe and Lost (almost).  There will be more of the same tonight, as I need to rest one more day before getting back at it.  Pun not intended.  2 days of rest, followed by moderate activity.  Ice/TheraFreeze help the process.  And lots of ibuprofen.  That's my recipe for soothing a sore back.

So now I went from Norah Jones to James Taylor.  Hmmm...this really isn't my cup of tea.  Where is my Porcupine Tree station?

Let's see..what else do I have?  I think I'm going to skip waiting for the Evo and go ahead and get the tried and true HTC Hero.  Sprint has dropped the price on it, plus it's getting Android 2.1 in a week or so.  I'm quite excited, since I hate my Instinct S30 more than a herniated disk.  Ok, not that much, but it's on the same list.

Hopefully I can get in the last two episodes of Lost tonight.  I kinda gave up on the show this year, but figured since it's the last season, I probably should stick with it.  I've also been catching up/watching all my Seinfeld DVDs I got for Christmas a couple of years ago.  They are EXCELLENT to watch on the trainer, and time flies by so quickly I can watch 3 episodes pretty easy and get my exercise in too.  Might as well buy the Entourage and True Blood dvd releases.  Hell, by the time I'm done watching all those I might weigh 160 pounds.  That might be too skinny.  I'm already having problems getting pants to fit me properly.

Ok, that's enough of that.  I'm going to finish listening to Dream Theater and head out into the bright shiny world.  I recommend you do the same.

Twitterati

I rejoined twitter for some god-awful reason, so as if this blog isn't enough, you can read my thoughts on the twitter thing.

www.twitter.com/bmwracer3