The weekend

Considering all the stress in my life, Olivia and I had a great weekend.
Olivia had a soccer game, in which her team got destroyed. She played very well though, and is much more aggresive than last year. She just needs to charge the goal a little more.
Camping was fun. We set the tent up on my deck, started a fire in the chimenea, made S'mores, and watched a movie in the tent. Olivia fell asleep around 8:30. I went inside and did some work on the computer and watched a football game. Around 11:30 I decided she would probably be up as soon as the sun rose, so I figured for a decent night's sleep I'd take her inside.
Yesterday we went on a hike at Sope Creek. We took Bear and had a good walk. We then tried our hand at some fishing on the pond. Didn't catch anything but a turtle. It was a fun day anyway.

Campin'

Olivia and I are planning a "backyard camping" trip. Actually, we aren't really even going to make it to the backyard - it will be on my deck.

Saturday we'll go shopping for ingredients to make S'mores. We'll pitch the tent, lay out our sleeping bags, arrange the various blankets and stuffed animals, then light a fire in my chimenea. It should be fun for both of us.

Vegas has the odds at 3-2 that we'll end up in my bed before midnight. Not sure my little girl is quite ready for the great outdoors.

Back in the saddle

John O'Brien took this - interesting shot. He met me at the door when I opened the shop today and had this photo all blown up. Nice guy
During my scratch race qualifier - not much mojo going on...
We had a pretty big pro field
Rick Miller and I making an exchange during the madison event

So, I raced the track last night. I thought I might have a good night because I've had pretty good fitness lately and rode well last weekend....I think I might have overdone it. I was just flat last night. I just couldn't accelerate well and lactic acid seemed to rush into my legs during the first lap of every race.


I rode a decent miss-and-out, finishing 10th out of about 30 in the pro race, but that was pretty much the highlight of the night. There were some real studs there. I completed my first madison since my epic crash 12 years ago that witnessed me waking up on a backboard in an emergency room. I rode with Rick Miller from Philadelphia. We didn't do great, but we were a pretty good team as far as working together, and our "exchanges" were pretty solid. Rick is a really nice guy, and it took a little bit of trust on his part to ride with me considering how long it had been since I had raced.


Afterwards, a good group of track cycling peeps met at a new bar in Decatur that is run by a fellow cyclist. I was exhausted and ended up crashing at Joe and Wendy's house, which was within walking distance of the bar :) The bad news was that they had stopped serving food when we got there. Keith was a lifesaver and walked back to his house and brought me back some grilled chicken, some pistachios, some Doritos and yogurt!


My butt hurt too bad to ride today! The track really beats me up. I'm meeting my client in the morning for an easy ride on the Silver Comet Trail, then I have a lot of work to do around the house - clean, mow, dishes, etc. Sooooo looking forward to that, not.


Did I mention that Tennessee football sucks???

This n' that

A lady called the bike shop yesterday and asked me if we sold soccer balls....

Another guy came in and asked me if I could change the cleats on the bottom of his shoes because he "didn't have the right tools". The cleats are held in by a bolt that accepts a regular flat blade screwdriver... I'll bet HE is the only tool around when he opens his toolbox.

The Ryder Cup started this morning. I'm a fan of that type of golf.

I have a bad feeling that Tennessee is gonna get their asses handed to them by Florida tomorrow, but I hope I'm wrong.

Here is a list of foods that Olivia will eat:
Macaroni and cheese
cheese quesadilla
chicken nuggets (only from McDonald's)
cookies

I'd probably cancel my cable subscription if it weren't for Family Guy, college football, and a good Carey Grant film on AMC every now and then.

I'm gonna take my track bike in the shop to prep it for tomorrow, but I still don't know if I'm racing or not.

To prove that my cupboard truly is bare; I put a hot dog bun in my toaster and scraped out the bottom of the peanut butter jar for breakfast this morning.

It's Thursday

Hmmmm...I'm beat. This week has flown by - It's already Thursday. I have really focused on doing some networking this week. If I don't get out of the bike shop soon I'm going to need to apply for food stamps.

I recovered pretty well from the race on Sunday. Maybe I'm in better shape than I thought. I'm really struggling with whether to race at the track Saturday night. It's the last race of the year and I love track racing, but racing really can't be a priority right now.

Unfortunately, I've felt the arthritis in my hip for the first time in months this week. I really thought that dropping some weight and increasing my flexibility had really helped relieve it. I'm finding that it flares up when I'm dehydrated or put in a really hard effort. It's nothing compared to what it was a year ago though.

I got the most bittersweet of invitations this morning. My new client told me that he has an extra seat on his chartered Leer that he's taking to Knoxville on Saturday morning to watch the Tennessee/Florida game! Regardless of whether I race on Saturday, I'm still on the schedule to work the first part of the day - can't get out of it if I wanted.

The weather has been great this week. I love a crisp Fall morning, even though we haven't exactly had one yet, I've still opened a window each night this week. I love Fall.

Will work for food >

Finding myself, being a hero, and suffering like a pig...

I could, and may, write a long synopsis of this past week's trip, but right now I'm just exhausted. Happy, but exhausted.

I got just what I wanted out of my little roadtrip - some great time alone, away from the stress. I went to the Tanasi trails in Ocoee, TN. I got a nice campsite, rode my bike a ton and enjoyed the wilderness.

The highlight, or lowlight, however you want to look at it, was that on my Friday ride I happened upon an old lady who flagged me down. Her husband had broken his ankle. Long story short - another 2 1/2 hours later and I had ridden to the Whitewater Center, got a hold of the Ducktown Paramedics and led them to the site while they drove an ATV & trailer. I felt somewhat like a hero, but was also beat. My ride ended up being over 6 hours.

I drove back to Atlanta just in time to make it to the Kate's Club Cabaret charity event. It was a slightly smaller even than the past ones. I ducked out relatively early, knowing I was headed to Macon the next day.

I drove to Macon mid afternoon on Saturday and found the trails for a preview lap. I rode, but got lost and couldn't make sense of where the course went. When I returned to my car, I met the race director and a few of his friends. They invited me to ride with them and help mark the course. It was very beneficial, but I was feeling the efforts of the day before. I helped them for about half the course, then headed back to my car and drove to the campground on Lake Obefsokee.

It was hot and there was absolutely no breeze last night. I didn't fall asleep till about 2, and was awake by 6. It sucked. I drove to the race site early and set up my pit. 4 hours 42 minutes later I finished 3rd overall! I will write a longer post later, but today I actually felt like a mountain biker. I could tell that I was riding well, but didn't really know how well. I suffered like a dog the last lap and a half, but I'm pretty sure that only 4 of us made the 4 hour cutoff to start a 7th lap. I can actually say that I am proud of myself. It wasn't the biggest race - 40-50 people, but you can only race who shows up. It was my first event of this kind and I really rode over my head.

As soon as the pain goes away, I'm hoping I'll feel recharged and satisfied with making the decision to take a few days to myself.

Misc.

Well, it looks like my trip may be delayed because of weather. I have pretty much decided that I'll head out early tomorrow morning, try and ride some before noon (wherever I go) and make a decision as to whether to stay and set up camp for a night. While I'm looking forward to some time away, time spent in a wet tent is not my idea of fun.

Regardless, I have a lot to think about the next few days. I was presented with a business proposal last night that is very intriguing. I need to see if I can get my arms around the entire thing. The idea is a service type of business. If it was a product I think I could think it through more clearly. I think it definitely has legs, it's just the implementation that has me a bit puzzled.

My new personal training client is proving to be elusive. He has been travelling a lot and has a big deal he is trying to close. I hope that he can be more consistent in the future.

My resume has seen several revisions in the past few weeks. It's close to being something that I can present a little better, I think.

Olivia is off on her trip. Her cruise actually starts tomorrow, so it looks like she'll be on the backside of Ike.

Monday, Monday

Olivia leaves for a Disney Cruise with her mom tomorrow after school. They'll fly to Orlando, stay at the Disney Resort and then cruise for 4 days in the Bahamas. Olivia is really looking forward to it. They really do cover all the bases on those cruises.

The weather forecast is starting to look iffy for my camping trip. I may, once again, have to change my venue. Looking now at Bear Creek in North Georgia. It's not much closer, but my friend Jay went there this past weekend and said the campground was pretty deserted. It's also easy to find, which could be a problem at Tanasi because I'll be arriving after dark on Wednesday.

I've got a busy next couple of days. Lots of chores and my "to do" list today. Tomorrow, I have work and then I'm meeting with a friend to explore a business idea he has - could be a late night. Wednesday morning I'm working out with my new fitness client, then working, then taking off on my trip.

100th post

So, I couldn't sleep, as usual, last night. I started thinking of my strategy for this race next weekend. I have no idea how many riders there will be, but I'm shooting for a top 20 finish.

The race has a LeMans start - riders run to their bikes from 1/2 mile away. This shouldn't be a problem for me. However, in calculating lap times, it will make things difficult. In order to complete 7 laps (which last year would have put me in the top 15) I would need to average just below 40 minutes a lap. Looking at last year's lap times - most riders were well above 40 minutes for the first lap.

Factor in that on some laps I'll pull in my pit to get water, food, energy gels, or just plain rest...and I have no idea how to prepare for this thing. I guess I should be more concerned about the fact that I haven't ridden 4 hours straight, even on a road bike, in over 12 years. Time on a mountain bike is even more painful. I think my back and my legs are going to be more of a factor than anything else.

This has been an extremely stressful week - I'm glad I've got something to look forward to. I may just end up hibernating in the woods for five days and forget my other obligations of racing and going to the charity event.

THE PIG

This is the race I'm probably gonna do next weekend. I need to suffer some. It's a 7 mile loop - you do it as many times as you can. If you can start a lap before 3:59:59 you get credit for the next lap, assuming you can finish it. There are much longer endurance races out there, but this one will be long enough.

Shorter post

FUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!! Do you ever feel like the harder you try, the harder it gets??

Short Post

My little vacation plans seem to be changing by the hour. I'm now thinking about heading to the Tanasi trails in Ocoee, TN. They are less than 100 miles away, a little easier, and there's a little more to do in the area. I am supposed to attend a charity event on Friday night. I assume I'll come back for that. Since I have Sunday off I may try the 4 Hours of Pig mountain bike race in Macon.

I picked up a new client yesterday to coach. It's less structured than the other guy I'm coaching, but the pay will be better. I am trying to get him to commit to at least a couple of days a week of one-on-one training. Unfortunately, he is very busy, and it may be sporadic.

Tennessee football sucks.