Old San Antonio Road

Today we met at Akin High School for a ride down Old San Antonio Road. There were six of us on the ride today - Mr. P, Little Bro, Sunflower, Martillo, Bunny, and I. It was a beautiful day down here in Texas. I bet you Norsemen get tired of me saying that, eh? There were loads of bikers out today. We saw everything from teams practicing their pacelines to old folks on mountain bikes. It was just a great day all around. Sunflower brought her friend Bunny today. This was the first time I met her, and she turned out to be cool and a pretty good rider. Hopefully she will ride with us again. Big Cat was a no-show and I never heard back from J-Man. Hopefully they can make it out next weekend.

My HR monitor indicated that my average today was 121 bpm with a max of 161 bpm. Ok Ok. So I didn't work that hard today :).

Tomorrow I have to finish unpacking my new office in our new building. On Tuesday I am off to Orange County, CA. I then travel from the OC to Minneapolis on Thursday and return to Austin on Friday evening. It should be a shit week for sure.


Sunflower (in blue) and her friend Bunny in the parking lot at Akin H.S. before the ride.


Heading down Old San Antonio Road toward Buda. I think Little Bro needs a longer shirt.


Bunny (in red) and Martillo hammering down the road before the turnaround.


Little Bro dicking around as usual.


Bunny having fun on the way back to the cars.

Phantom Turns

It is supposed to rain today and I have a lot to do, so Little Bro and I went to catch a spin class at the gym this morning. I must say I worked pretty darn hard at spin. I looked around today and saw people barely breaking a sweat. I am also sure that there are a lot of "phantom turns" going on when they are to increase the tension. It is your loss SUCKERS!

I have to go unpack my office today. We moved from an office building in South Austin to one in West Austin that is much closer to my house. So, I need to go unpack today so that I can be ready to work on Monday. I am going to take The Bug with me so that I can spend some time with him. I also have to stop at the Home Depot to pick up a few hundred pounds of salt and 10 gallons of bleach for my water conditioning system. Fun fun.

My wife is sketching out some shelving that she wants built in the living room, so I guess I know what I will be doing tomorrow afternoon. This will be the first real build project in the new house. I am actually kind of looking forward to it.

Tomorrow a few of us are meeting down south to ride down Old San Antonio Road. It will be a leisurly pace, but I enjoy riding with my friends as much as I do riding hard, so it is all good. Enjoy your weekend.

On the Road Again

I went for a run tonight because it was such a fantastic evening. The temperature was in the low 60s and we had one of those perfect orange Texas sunsets. This was the first time that I ran in a few weeks because my Achilles has been sore. It felt good to get back out there tonight.

I think Texas has the best sunsets.

I got some pictures in the mail from the 3M run taken by the professional photographers that they had there. They send you these teasers and you can buy the pictures if you want. The problem is that in my teaser I look like SHIT! I look seconds away from passing out. I don't remember feeling that bad, but damn. I am surprised the paramedics weren't following me with a defibrillator.

Tomorrow I have to give a presentation to the senior managers at my company on the status of the industries I manage. I give presentations all the time, but this one is making me nervous. I have worked hard putting it together and just want to get it over with.

Over the past two days all of my friends have PUSSED out of the Hell Week ride in Texas. Some dudes just can't attach their balls and stand up to their wives! BROS BEFORE HOES!

I am going to finish watching American Idol and then watch the TOC recap on Versus and then head to bed. Have a good night, y'all.

Super Sunday

It is a fantastic day in South Texas. Right now the temperature is 61 degrees and it is bright and sunny. We met at the Veloway this morning for a leisurely Sunday morning ride. Little Bro and I met Mr. P and Mr. S at 8:30am. Big Cat is still nursing an ankle injury so he couldn't make it and J-Man is sick. So it was just the 4 of us. We did a lap around the Veloway and then headed South on Mopac. We came back to the Veloway and did 3 laps before calling it a morning.

Mr. P took his new roadie out for its maiden voyage today and seemed to like it. I set the bike up for him yesterday. Mr. S hadn't been on a bike in a month because of business travel. He is the President of our company and spends a lot of time on the road. Mr. P. reports to Mr. S, and Big Cat and I report to Mr. P.

I tried out my new heart rate monitor today. I found that my average heart rate was 136 bpm and my max was 203 bpm (not sure I believe the 203). I spent about 66% of the ride in my "target HR zone." I think longer term it will be a good tool to train with. I felt good riding today and was able to drop the hammer over the same stretch that I did last Sunday.

We have a babysitter coming tonight so that we can go out for a bit. We don't get out without the Bug often so I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow morning I am off to Tampa and will be returning on Tuesday.


Mr. S. leading Mr. P and Little Bro around the Veloway.


Mr. P and Little Bro on their new roadies.


Mr. S enjoying the great weather.


The Radillac being loaded for the trip home.

Saturday Ride

Little Bro and I went out for a few hour ride to break in his new roadie. He liked the bike and it ran perfectly. Of course it did, because I set it up! HA! My computer quit working for some reason today so I need to go out to the garage and figure out WTF its problem is. It was a beautiful sunny day in South Texas, but the wind was blowing like a MOFO out of the NW. Tomorrow Little Bro and I are meeting Big Cat, Mr. S, Mr. P and possibly J-Man for a ride in the South Mopac area. Should be fun.

My poor sister-in-law was supposed to arrive in Austin today to do the AT&T Marathon tomorrow. She got stuck at JFK and can't make it down here in time. She is heading back to Boston tonight. She trained for 2 months for the marathon (she trains year round) and now can't do it. She is going to do the Hyannis Marathon next weekend instead. Nothing like doing a marathon in 30 degree weather. Poor girl.


It didn't take Little Bro long to start looking like a biker.


Nice rolling hills on Fitzhugh Road.


Heading home on RT 12 just south of Hamilton Pool Road.


"Go ahead people. Try to reach for my Frisbee. I double dog dare you."

Retro Roadie Postponed Until Further Notice

I decided to do something nice for Little Bro by buying him a road bike (his first ever). I used the funds that I had set aside for the Retro Roadie project. Oh well. I scoured the web for closeouts and deals. I ended up with something that I am pretty happy with. The bike is a Motobecane Le Champion SL. The frame is basically your typical Taiwanese genero aluminum. Nothing to brag about or complain about. It will do the job. But the components and wheels are pretty sweet for the price. I paid $1295 for the bike from Bikesdirect.com. The claimed weight is 15.5 pounds. I won't bother to confirm that, but it is feels light for sure. Little Bro is pretty excited and wants to get out on the road ASAP. I ordered him some Speedplay pedals and Northwave shoes that will arrive tomorrow. I figure for all of the shit I have given Little Bro over the years, he deserves something nice. He has turned out to be someone that I am proud of. He just got back from Iraq in June and finished college in December. He is living with me in TX while he looks for a job. He has an interview next week. I have my fingers crossed. Here are some pics:


Ultegra shifters and Ritchey WCS bars and stem.


These may be the best part of the bike.


FSA carbon crank and Ultegra front derailler.


MotobeWTF?


Ultegra rear derailler and cassette.


Ritchey WCS stem, Cane Creek SCR-5 brakes, and generic titanium railed saddle.

Every Beat of My Heart

A fitting Valentine's Day present, eh?

Properly Pumped

After two days of dropping Little Bro on the bike he wanted some revenge. He got it yesterday. We went to the gym to do his chest workout routine. Let's just say that I feel like this now:


I have lost a bit on the barbell over the years. When Little Bro was lifting twice as much as I was for each set it is a bit humbling. I found help though. In only 15 minutes a day I can look like this guy:


Who cares anyway. I can still drop his ASS on the bike. For now at least. :)

We are running in the morning. Let's hope he sucks at that.

Sunday

Little Bro wanted to ride on the flats today so we headed down to the Veloway on Mopac South of town. Also riding with us today was my boss, Mr. P. I promised Little Bro that we would keep it reasonably short after complaints of soreness from yesterday's ride, so we targeted 20 miles again. We planned to do a lap around the Veloway, then head South on Mopac to Route 45, turn around and come back, and do another 3 laps on the Veloway and then call it a day. The ride went as expected. Mr. P keeps improving and his wife has given him the go ahead to fork some money over to me so that I can build him a sweet road ride. He is still riding my 1991 Cannondale 3.0. On the way back to the Veloway from the turn at Route 45 three people passed me while I was trundling along waiting for Little Bro and Mr. P (two guys and a gal). They were riding a pace line and blew by me without even looking over. It sort of pissed me off for some reason. There was just an arrogance about that group that I didn't like. So after they opened up a little more that a 1/4 mile gap, I dropped the head and took off after them. I caught them about 200 yards before the Veloway which was about 3 miles away from the point where I took off after them. I pushed it hard to catch them, not super hard, but hard enough. I averaged about 26 mph or so over those three miles, and was pretty happy with that given my fitness level. I just blew right by them without looking over. But this time they definitely looked over at me. HA! Anyway, I think Little Bro will give cycling a chance moving forward.


Little Bro (white) and Mr. P (red) heading South on Mopac.


My guess is that Mr. P. is telling Little Bro that I am a Marketing genius.


The end of a love affair. Little Bro returns the carbon Lemond Zurich to the shop.


My post ride nutrition. An Original sandwich at Schlotzsky's on South Lamar.

Brooozer

I took Little Bro down to Bicycle Sport Shop to rent a road bike for the weekend. They hooked him up with a carbon fiber Lemond Zurich. Since he hasn't been on a bike in 10 years, we decided to do an easy 20 mile loop. I think he thought he would be better at biking than he was, but he did pretty well in my opinion. Tomorrow, we will go a bit further, but nothing that is going to kill him. After all, I am trying to get him into biking, not punish him into hating it. I felt pretty good today. I kept it in the big chainring the whole time and worked on my standing climbing form when we came to the hills. It was just nice to be out on the bike.


Little Bro getting ready to head out.


Little Bro's rental. It got blamed for certain performance short-comings. I just said, "Yeah, it could be the bike."


The top of the hill that whooped Little Bro's ass.


The last hill before home.

What a FU@#ING Day

Today I had a 6am flight to Dallas. I then connected to Shreveport, LA. I drove to Texarkana, TX for a meeting. I then drove back to Shreveport for a flight to Dallas. From Dallas, I hopped a flight back to Austin for what amounted to a LONG ASS DAY. I had my alarm set for 3:30am but somehow managed to get up at 4:40am. I immediately ran through the bathroom, hit the valve on the deodorant can, and jumped into my clothes. Shower? NO. Brush teeth? HELL NO! I arrived at check-in at 5:32am and the self check-in machine wouldn't check me in because it was too late. So I ran to the counter and they hooked me up with a boarding pass. I got to the gate just as they were boarding Group 4. The thing to know about me is that I am NEVER late for anything. So when on occasion I am late, I don't handle it well.

My left Achilles has been sore since the 3M run last Sunday. It seemed to be getting better, but running through the parking garage at the Austin Airport this morning seems to have aggravated it. I did some spinning on Tuesday night and it seemed to be fine. I hope to get two good days of riding in this weekend. Weekday workouts haven't been coming together well the past few weeks due to family and other obligations.


I told you DOUBTERS!

Back in Texas

I got back to Texas last night after spending 4 nights in Hudson, WI which is about 30 minutes from Minneapolis. I was helping my boy Nugget do some drywalling in his basement and just getting some solid hang-time with him which doesn't happen often. It was fun, but the temperatures were painful for me. It was a sweet -10F when we left for the airport at noon. Anyway, my balls are back to hanging low and wrinkle-free for those of you who were wondering.

My brother arrived in Texas today from Pennsylvania. He just graduated college and intends to find a job in Austin. It will be cool having him down here. He is planning to stay with me for a month. He got back from Iraq in July after a 3-year deployment both in the US and Iraq. He was in his last semester of college when he got activated. So, when he got back in July he only had one semester to finish and managed to do so. Some of you may remember when I explained about the males in my family having "the gift" of a dead eye when it comes to shooting rifles. This is the brother that is a sniper.

I am already pressuring him to buy a road bike. It is only a matter of time before he crumbles. MUAHAHAHAHAHA


He may be bigger than me now, but I can still submit him with a triangle choke.

The Great White North

Fuck this. My balls haven't unshriveled since I arrived yesterday.