OK, so maybe I'll give it a shot

So, a couple of weeks ago I sent a mass e-mail to my cycling friends. Told them that I wasn't going to do any road or track racing this year. No shock, I did one criterium and one track race at the end of last year....and those were my first races since hanging up the shoes in '97. Cyclocross was a blast, but I just didn't hold on to the fitness after that.

Finally, I'm starting to feel OK on the bike. I may try and do the Festival of Speed at the good old Dick Lane Velodrome in May. Problem is, I'm still at Category 1 on the track. I'll probably just pick and choose which races I want to do that weekend. Track racing usually involves about 5 different races in a night and most people do them all for the "Omnium", which is an overall score (and usually pays the most) from all events.

I'm in no shape to do a points race against a Pro 1/2 field, but I may be able to get lucky in a scratch race or miss & out. If I can get some sprint work in, there's a chance I could squeak out something in the keirin. This is all assuming I can keep feeling OK, and I don't have to work that weekend.

I don't know who these people are, but it's part of the reason I can't get totally psyched about psychling again...

A day in the life of a Professional Cyclist

The last two years I raced bicycles I filed a W-2 that included the job of "Professional bicycle racer". I held a Pro license and had a couple of contracts with sponsors. By no means did I ever "make" money racing a bicycle. As a pro you are entitled to claim losses, which I did. Sure, there were a few weekends where my winnings outweighed my expenses, but it was certainly the exception and not the norm.

Today I made $150 riding my bike for two hours. A customer who happens to own a very successful commercial real estate investment company wanted someone to ride with him this weekend. I volunteered. He simply needed the encouragement of an experienced rider to take care of the logistics of planning the ride, route and pace.

We rode at a relatively leisurely pace until I suggested some intervals, to which he wholeheartedly agreed to. After our two hour ride, he took me to lunch and handed me $150 cash for "gas money"....uh, we drove HIS Lexus.

Long story short, he wants to ride again on Monday or Tuesday. I think I'll make the time!

While riding, we discussed his desire to implement a fitness program to his employees (roughly 8 or 9 people). These people are NOT athletes. He just thinks they'd benefit from some sort of individualized plan. On the way home I thought "why not me?". I just finished writing a proposal for his company and hatched Brookshire Fitness Solutions. It took all of 2 hours to write the proposal and design the logo. If it pays off, it will be time well spent. I'll let you know if anything comes from it. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my return to professional cycling!

The new dog

Here's a pic of Olivia and Bear from this past weekend.

Spring is here

Spring can't get here quick enough for me this year. I was cold all winter. Unfortunately, I've been feeling the affects of spring in the way of allergies all week. It seems to get worse each year. I may also be fighting a cold.

I went with three first round upsets in the NCAA tournament - only one of them pulled through. I've got Kansas winning it all. Sounds like most experts like UCLA. I'm really hoping for a Tennessee - UNC matchup in the Final 8. I only wish Dean Smith was still at the helm as the Volunteers sodomize the Tarheels in Charlotte.


Turkey bacon has less than half the calories of real bacon...and if you eat it often enough you'll forget how good real bacon tastes. Not a bad substitute.

Since I really don't have a mountain bike anymore, I borrowed one that we rent from work. It fits terribly and made for a most miserable ride yesterday. I rode with a friend that does long distance mountain bike races. She drilled me. I couldn't keep up on the hills at all. The allergies or the cold (if I've got one) have left me exhausted.

My phone is AWOL right now. Why do I have such a hard time keeping up with something that most people can't live without?

Next weekend Olivia has two birthday parties and a soccer game on Saturday, then another birthday party on Sunday. Her social calender is very busy.

I still prefer reading a newspaper or magazine over reading something on the internet.

If I put down some weed killer on my lawn this year I'm afraid all I'll have left is dirt.

Music for the 21st century

If you haven't checked out the Music Genome Project at Pandora radio, you need to: www.pandora.com. You can type in your favorite artist and it will continuously play songs by artists similar to yours. You can add other artists and the site will evolve and become more specific. The best part is it's FREE!

I was trying to figure out a way to channel the music to my receiver so I could enjoy it over my better speakers, and my ones outside. I thought about a sound card or a digital-to-analog converter.....then I just bought an iPod headphone adaptor for $6 at Target. I plug it into the headphone jack on my computer then splice the seperate (L & R) audio cables into a traditional audio cable, plug it into the auxilary inputs and VIOLA! I may lose 1 or 2% in sound quality, but it's hardly noticeable. Sounds awesome!

I have about 7 different stations that I created. I love that I can get a consistent type of music with different artists and it plays forever. The artist, album and song title are there if you hear someone you like and want to go out and buy their album or download it from a music service. Sometimes I loathe the internet, but it definitely has its advantages.

Odds & Ends

Might as well start calling this the "Olivia Bus". Had our parent/teacher conference yesterday as Olivia completed her third semester at school. She is doing great. Her teacher couldn't stop talking about how well she is doing. She said that Olivia is a perfectionist. She doesn't get that from her dad! It's funny, there are some things in my life that I am absolutely obsessive about....and other things that just "get done".

"Bear", as he's now been named, is doing well adapting to his new surroundings. Olivia loves that she has a dog. He's having some difficult with house training, but is a very sweet dog.

It's gonna rain like crazy again today, but I'm riding my bike to work.



Went to the Banff Film Festival on Monday night with a friend. It was phenomenal. It is a travelling show of 10 short adventure films from the week-long festival held in November. They had a drawing and I won a titanium camping cookset. Very nice. There was a film about some guys attempting to climb a natural stone arch in a bay somewhere off the Italian coast. The guy was attempting a very difficult move over an over, each time falling the 50 ft. into the water. When he finally pulled it off the crowd went nuts. Very breathtaking cinematography.

Everyone knows that I'll die a Republican, but I have noticed a real shift in my views on the environment the last decade or so. Watching films like the ones at the festival make me realize how valuable saving our natural resources is to enjoying life. Not yet ready to wear hemp sandals and turn vegan, but I think twice about how some of my actions affect the earth.

I work Saturday. Gonna go mountain bike riding on Easter for the first time in about 10 years.

Dog....Poop

Highlights from the weekend:

Olivia's mom got her a dog yesterday. It is actually quite cute. They don't know exactly how old he is, but he's somewhere between 8 months and a year and a half. Looks like a small lab. He's brown - Olivia has decided to call him Hershey...or Chip....or Hot Chocolate....or Bear. He's very skinny under his full coat of hair. Pretty timid, but very loveable.

While I was working on teaching Olivia how to wipe her butt, she commented that one of her poops looked like a pickle.

Was supposed to go to the CDC Career Fair today, but it has been postponed due to damage to the Georgia World Congress Center from Friday's tornado. It's too bad - there were some good jobs I was looking forward to learning more about. I've discovered that I have a few contacts there that I didn't know about. I'm going to spend today trying to find out more about how I might get an early lead on something there.

I'm officially under 185lbs for the first time in about 5 years. I ran into a friend of mine I used to work with at the Chamber of Commerce at the grocery store last night. She is not under 185lbs....

Olivia for President

Apparently, Olivia’s kindergarten class is learning a little about elections. They were assigned to make a campaign poster with a promise that they would keep.

Most kids wrote that they would promise to treat people nicely, give money to the poor or make recess last for 3 hours each day. My daughter, never one to mince words and get right to the point, wrote this:

As her campaign manager, I can tell you that she will definitely keep her promises....