Various Happenings

1) My sister-in-law who has been staying with us runs almost everyday. On her run on Friday she got mauled by a dog not far from our house. Not just any dog, but get this, a Bull Mastiff. Thankfully a neighbor was driving by as the dog attacked her and it only had time to get her hip and elbow before he beat it off of her. We spent all day Friday in the emergency room with her. They were concerned there was some artery damage so she had to have an angiogram or something where they go up through the artery in the groin with a camera. There was artery damage, but not enough to warrant surgery. The dog who is never out of the yard somehow escaped the fence they have constructed around their property. The dog has to stay in quarantine for 10 days at the vet according to Texas law.

2) I went on a great ride yesterday with a few friends. The ride leaves from the Progress Coffee shop in Austin and heads east into the flat lands. Most of the 40-50 people were local racers from various teams. We did 50 miles at an average just over 20 mph. It was a great ride and I had a blast.

3) My boys are getting bigger by the day. Angelo keeps telling me he is going to the bike shop and he will be back soon. That kid has bikes on the brain at 2 years old. Tony started daycare last week and is doing great.


5) THIS GUY is definitely up for the Cold Bastard of the Year award.

6) I will be at home for a few weeks and look forward to getting in some solid training time.

7) This picture of my cracked seat was requested by Ron.

To Do or Not To Do

The racing season started in Texas last week with the Copperas Cove road race. It seems like just weeks ago that the racing season ended. My coaching plan doesn't have me ready to race until April. The first criterium of the year is coming up on February 2. With being sick for a few weeks and having started my base training late due to the new baby, I have no doubt that I am not race ready. In fact, I am almost sure I will get my ass stomped. However, some of my friends and teammates are doing the race. So the question is should I put the ego aside and go and have fun, or follow the coaching plan and hold off for a few more months? Decisions decisions.

Out With the Old

I found a long crack in the shell of my saddle. Probably from poppin' wheelies and shit. :)


See ya pal.


You better live up to the hype.

I feel like I have finally gotten over my cold. It took almost two weeks. Since last post I have been in Charlotte, NC and Irvine, CA. Tomorrow morning I am heading back to Irvine and then to Vegas and back home on Wednesday. After that I have a bit of time at home thankfully.

Biological Passport

The next great idea in the fight against doping. Do you think THIS will make a difference?

Not So Windy

I arrived in Chicago yesterday and found the weather to be very mild for this time of year. I am departing early this afternoon so I will miss the cold weather that is moving back into the area tomorrow. Lucky me. I have had some serious chest congestion since Monday. I had to cut my workout short on Monday because I couldn't breath that well. I took yesterday off because it had gotten even worse. Today I feel slightly better and hope to get back to the base building tonight. I feel like I have talked about being sick a lot lately. There was a time when I was never sick. Then I had a child it all changed. Oh well.

My off-season weight loss continues to be on track. I just passed through 60 pounds lost since I kicked my lazy lifestyle about 15 months ago. I still have a bit to lose, but it will come. I know the question that you are all asking yourselves. "After losing 60 pounds does his Johnson look bigger when he is naked?" The answer is yes. Yes it does.

Traveling is harder now than ever. I miss my two little guys immensely. I look forward to seeing them both later today.

Have a good Wednesday.

2008 Already

Hard to believe it is 2008 already. Time really does fly. I have just been lying low with the family the past week. Base training has been going well. I have one more month of base before the more focused training begins. On Sunday I rode alone from my house. It was a good ride and my training goals were accomplished. On Monday I rode with 3 other people near my house. The ride was going great until one of the guys wanted to adjust the seat post on his Cervelo. He accidentally broke the seat post clamp by over tightening. So we had to get him squared away with a ride. We abbreviated the route after that. The two other guys I was with wanted to go ride a large hill near before heading home. I opted to turn off and head home since I had already blown my max HR goals for most of the day. Today I ran 7 miles which was fun except for the stiff wind. However, it is definitely easier to run into a stiff wind than ride into a stiff wind in my opinion.

My first two rides on the new Rotor Rings were good. I like them a lot. I can't say I can tell a real difference on the flats. Where I can tell a difference is under load on hills. You can definitely spin much smoother than with standard chain rings. I have heard that a difference can be felt while sprinting as well, but I have not tried sprinting on them yet.

My wounds are mostly healed over. I took a lot of care to keep them covered with bandages and after they stopped weeping with Tegaderm. I read that most road rash could be in good shape in a week if cared for properly, but I didn't believe it. In the past I would neglect it and it would scab over and then be there for a month. My leg still hurts from some bruising, but the open wound is under control. I am going to create a road rash kit for the next time this happens.

I am going back to work tomorrow. After 10 or so days off it will be a change. Let's hope the housing market comes around in 2008 because my business is tied tightly to housing construction.

Happy New Year!