Thor's Hammer

Oh Shoot

2009-12-23T23:19:00.000-08:00

I finally had a chance to sit down and plan out a training plan at lunch today. If I'm going to do 100 in Palm Springs I need to really get going. 50 Miles already this Sunday.

Need to get going. Hope it doesn't get too cold this winter.

Season Recap

2009-10-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

Ok the cycling season is pretty much over now. My last big ride was last week, the Tour de Poway, and now work really kicks into high gear through xmas, so I really don't have time to train for anything until next year.

I'll just briefly recap each ride from the most recent back to my last post.

TOUR DE POWAY CENTURY. This was a tough one. This is a 100 miles loop of North County, going from Poway to Ramona, back though Escondido, though Vista to the Coast, then south to Del Mar and then back east to Poway. It's not a particularly hard Century, there is not a lot of climbing, but it's not easy either.

This was the first century I ever tried last year, and had to pull up after about 55 miles last year due to an injury.

I was feeling pretty good through the first 60 miles or so. The next 10 were tough, and miles 70-80 just sucked... I was hating life so bad. If I could have quit, I might have, but I had no other way to get back to my car, but to ride there. I stopped twice just to catch my breath and get a breather, and I usually never stop. After about 85 miles I noticed my bike felt a little shaky. I got off and spun my back wheel and it spun twice and stopped. One of my spokes came loose again and the wheel was totally rubbing on the brake. So I was riding with my brakes on for how long I have no idea, but I would guess for most of that time that I was really struggling.

Anyway, I am glad I finished, I knew I could, but it tends to be one of those mind over matter things when you go for that long (7 hours and 10 minutes in the saddle). Lotus was there at the finish with Fia and a few friends, but the battery on the camera was dead. Gotta love that!!! Well get that crossing the finishline picture eventually.

CYCLE EASTLAKE - this was a metric century (100K - 62 miles) around the 20th of September. This was a nice little ride that mainly went down and back on the SB Fwy, then went out Otay Lakes to the 94, then southeast on the 94 to Barrat Junction and back. There is a freaking big hill out there at Barrat Junction. But besides that one hill, it was not too bad. There were a lot more riders than I thought there would be (probably about 300), so for a local ride, it was not too bad.

AMTRAK CENTURY - This was a full 100 miles from Irvine to Downtown San Diego. This was a real nice ride, fairly flat, not too hard, but I had a few small problems with the directions. It's called the Amtrak Century because you have the option to return to Irvine on the train. Usually most rides are an out and back or a big loop, so this one being one way was more unique, thus the return trip on the train.

Because I travel with my own support team we went up to Irvine the day before and they met me half way down with new water bottles and gels, then picked me up at the end. I gotta say I have the best support team on the century circuit. I would do this ride again, it was a good course, mostly good road conditions and fairly fast.

COOL BREEZE CENTURY - This ride was a blast. It was very well supported, the course was gorgeous, it was harder than I was expecting, but not overwhelming. The only part I did not like was a stretch you ride on old Hwy 1 along the ocean front. The road is below the new Hwy 101 and so they don't maintain the old Hwy 1 anymore. The road condition sucks on that stretch, but besides that this ride rocks. I will definitely do this ride again. The ride goes from Ventura up the coast to Santa Barbara. Does a big loop around Santa Barbara into the foothill, up to Goleta and back down along the waterfront.

One interesting thing I noticed on this ride was a building a little south of Carpinteria. It said CKE with a star on it. Only because I freaking eat there 2 or 3 times a week, did I know it was Carls Jr HQ. Who would of thought the HQ of a big fast food chain would be in a nice looking 2 story bldg on the coast about 20 minutes south of Santa Barbara. It was weird because really it's not that close to anything commercial, like an airport, or a real major city, etc. But then again, do you really need that these days???

That's a real quick recap of my rides. I really like my new bike. Full carbon is the way to go if you can afford it. Smooths out the ride a lot. I've lost a few more pounds and my body fat has gone down a bit, but I've still got a way to go. During the winter I am going to work as much as I can on intelligent training as far as intervals and strengh and core training, so when I pick up the mileage in the Spring I should be in a better starting place.

Ok need to stop typing and do some exercises.

So Far So Good

2009-08-01T00:57:00.000-07:00

Only 2 weeks left until I head off to Ventura for the Cool Breeze. Remarkably everything is going ok. Last weekend I planned to do about 75-80 miles as my training ride and ended up doing 83. I felt real good at the end also. I probably could have done 100 that day if I had the time.

I have a little soreness in the knees from time to time, but nothing really painful. I was thinking about raising my seat a hair since most of the pain is in the front of my knee, which usually indicates your seat is too low. So I raised it a bit this morning on my short ride around here before I went to work and that pain sort of went away. I'll keep it there and see how the ride on Sunday goes (planning to do about 85).

Couple of short rides during the week, 60 next weekend, one or two short ones again the following week, then the Century.

The only other things I am experimenting with are my shorts. I'm really favoring my bib shorts, espeically for these long rides. I'm going to try the performance bib's I bought a few weeks ago this sunday and see how they go. I haven't gone more than 35ish with them so far, so we'll see. I have another pair of bib's from descente (team CSC) which are comfy, but the pad isn't as cushy as some others, so that's always a consideration with these extreme distances.

I also sent my Garmin back to Garmin for service. It just kept turning off for no reason and they said that they would fix it for free since it was a known problem. They said I should have it back in 7-10 days from when they get it. They got it on Tuesday and I included a note in it that asked them to please try to have it back to me in time for my ride, but we'll see.

Other than that, So Far, So Good!!!

Cool Breeze

2009-07-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

Lotus says this is going to be my new nickname for a while.

While I was out of town this week I was listening to the Fredcast and he had an interview with a bike shop owner in Ventura. During the interview the host of the Fredcast had mentioned that he has done the Cool Breeze Century before and he really liked it. The Cool Breeze is a Century that goes from Ventura to Santa Barbara and then back. They have a few distances available, but of course I am still looking for my first Century, so I'm going there.

The course is fairly flat, nothing higher than 800 ft, so the Coastal winds will be the biggest obstacle. I may actually change my training to do more into the wind riding and cross wind riding and less hills for the next month. Silver Strand here I come (a lot). I did 75 miles last weekend and included the strand in my ride, so I feel the 100 should be doable (my longest ride has been 92 miles with 6,000 feet of climbing, so this Century should be easier than that, but things can happen).

Need a new Goal

2009-06-06T21:24:00.000-07:00

There really are not any more long distance rides in San Diego until October. I think I need an interim goal until then, otherwise I may be even more lazy than I am now.

So I think I'm going to work my way upto a 100 Mile the weekend of July 4th. I did 45 today and will try to do 1o more each Saturday until then. I think I can work in 1 to 2 rides during the week also since it's getting to be light out pretty late now.

At least this is my plan.

Updates

2009-05-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

The Solvang Century did not go well. I went about 55-60 miles before calling it a day. We had a real rough night the night before with Sofia, so I did not sleep much, did not eat well the night before and just really had no energy or enthusiam for the ride. It was a realy nice ride, good rest stops and lots and lots of riders. I might actually try it again, but it is pretty far to get there. I would probably go up 2 days before just to make sure I was not so stressed out the dat before.

Then I started to ride with the Trek group again before the San Diego Century (which is tomorrow). BUT.... I really hurt my knee about a month ago on a training ride to Alpine and beyond. My guess is that I just over stressed my knee, becuase I have not had much time (really any) to do any rides during the week, so I just think I overstressed my knee.

After resting it for about a week or two I have started to get back in the saddle. But I'm only upto about 30 miles so far. I might go 35 this weekend. The knees still hurt a bit, so I'm for sure taking is cautiously for now.

I cancelled my entry in the San Diego Century since I knew there was no way I would be able to complete it. But I don't think there is going to be a Poway Century this year, so I'm not sure what is going to be my next goal.

Frackin A

2009-03-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Just like they say on Galactica.

I'm out of town and I brought Thunder with me (YES I NAME MY BIKE, WANT TO FIGHT ABOUT IT!!!) and I was just giving it a quick once over before I put it in my van and noticed the rear wheel was rubbing a lot on the brake. One of the spokes had apparently become very loose and caused the wheel to go WAY out of true.

This is a total pisser, I can't imagine how much more effort I put in to cover that distance. Thinking back I was noticing that it felt a little wobbly going down some of the descents to Alpine. It shouldn't have since I just took it in, but I did not think anything of it at the time. They actually have mechanics at all the stops who could have fixed this for me right there if I would have thought to check it.

ANOTHER VALUABLE LESSON LEARNED....for whatever that's worth...

I'm stronger for it now??? Yea that's it...

DNF

2009-03-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

Yes again on my second try to complete a Century I got another DNF as my result. I enjoyed the ride and it was pretty tough and hot. Most of the climbing was done in the East Country Mountains and it was about 90 out there. I felt like I was struggling, but when I looked back at my splits and time on my garmin I was actually doing ok.

I made a huge rookie mistake and wore a new pair of gloves. I had bought them a few months ago and figured the new fresh padding would be a benefit on this long ride.

DON'T EVER WEAR OR EAT ANYTHING NEW ON A CENTURY.

After about 30 miles my hand really started hurting, I could feel a blister developing. It hurt to grab the handlebar. Around mile 45 it was real bad. I took off the glove then, which helped, but it still hurt. At the rest stop at mile 59 I had pretty much decided to call it a day as to not agrevate the blister. I have another century in 2 weeks in Solvang, which is more important of the 2 to finish since I could do the Granfondo anyday myself since it's in my backyard.

I knew not to do anything new on a ride, I've heard this from other people, but the gloves were the same as my current gloves, so I figured it would be ok.... wrong...

Anyway I did go 77 miles, burned 5800 calories and lost about 5 pounds, and climbed 5500 feet accorind to my Garmin. I also tweaked my back going up Fury Lane, a freaking steep climb after youv'e already gone about 76 miles. I went a lot harder than I normally would have, since I thought I was going to have Lotus pick me up on the park at the top of the hill... Again a rookie mistake.

Lesson learned (and I guess reinforced) and now to prep for the Solvang Century. I'm actually going up in there this week for work, so I may scout out a bit of the course. It really helps if you know what's coming to you can pace out your effort.

SUNDAY.SUNDAY..SUNDAY....!!!!

2009-02-27T21:58:00.000-08:00

Ok the Granfondo is this Sunday. I went for a short ride this afternoon just to see how everything felt. I am very worried about the leg, but everything felt fine.

I did not really push it for obvious reasons, but so far, so good. I'm just worried that I'll go out too slow, but I guess if I have energy towards the end I can always crank it up in the last 20 since it's flat to down hill more or less.

I think I have to also remember not to kill myself Sunday since I have the Solvang Century just 2 weeks later.

They changed the course a bit from the initial layout, probably to accomodate the rest stops. So becuase of this the course actually goes right by my house on Medical Center (my ETA about 8am) and then goes within a block of another friends house in Rancho San Diego (have not figured out my ETA there yet).

Did I mention my bike is in sweet condition though. I took it to Trek to get a few things done to it (new chain, new front deraileur cable, true back wheel) and man does it feel good. The best thing was the cable, that was way overdue. Shifts like a champ now, almost seems like it's electric (yes they make those now if you got the $$$).

Well here we go!!!

NOT AGAIN!!!!

2009-02-23T23:48:00.001-08:00

I went for a ride on Saturday, my last long ride before the Granfondo on Sunday the 1st. I was hoping to do about 65-70 miles.

My first 40 miles were great. I felt that I was going slow, but my avg MPH were pretty good for me. I went home, refilled the water bottle and headed out for the last 30 miles.

I think I cooled down too much, I was really tired leaving my house, but I pushed on. After about 8 miles I started to feel a lot better, got out to the lake and then it reared it's ugly head. That fricking pain on the side of my leg came back. It has totally been gone for almost two months now and now decides to come back the week before my ride WTF.

All I can do is try to do my PT exercises, ice it and take lots of aleve. There is a 50 mile option on the Granfondo, so I have that, but I was ready (more or less) for the hills and the challenge of the 100 miles. But I have the Solvang Century on the 15th, so I guess it's better not to push it in the Granfondo, so I can have a good go of it in Solvang.

Man this sucks...

5,000 Miles

2009-02-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

Rode my 5,000th mile on Thunder last week. It was a very hard ride last week, so I did not even realize I hit that milestone until later in the week when I was reviewing the ride in my head. I dis all of the hills in the Granfondo, so I know I can do those. It's just the endurance to get through the rest of the ride that concerns me.

I went out for a ride on Sunday hoping to do 72 miles, but only ended up doing 42 becuase of the weather conditions. It wasn't raining, but it was pretty cold and windy. Wind is a bitch on a bike. I was riding accross the bridge on the SBFwy and felt like I was going to get blown over the side. Also riding into a head wind sucks. Normally I would do about 25 mph on certain parts, but was only doing about 16mph.

More rain and cold scheduled for this weekend, soooo....

I'm committed now

2009-01-27T20:33:00.000-08:00

Ok I paid my money, so now I'm committed to the 3 events on the right. We'll see what happens. Only 4 weeks until the first one now. Luckily that one is basically in my back yard, so I can train on big chunks of the course a head of time. This weekend I'll do a lot of climbing (up Honey Springs and then maybe half of the rest of the climbs), then next weekend a longer ride with medium hills, the following weekend a real long ride covering most of the century, then following week an easier ride, then the century...

It just better not rain on any of these weekends, or I'm going be screwed.

Training Sir

2009-01-25T23:53:00.000-08:00

What kind of training????

Army Training Sir...

Just had that going through my head all day saturday on my training ride around here. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just ask any guy who went to high school in the mid 80's.

Chuckles like that help a lot to keep you going. The distract from the pains you inevitably feel after doing any physical activity for 3-4 hours.

Cycling Training Sir...

I was going to ride with the Trek group yesterday, they are starting their training series for the San Diego Century which is in May, so they are only at 25 miles today (wow I said only). But if I rode with them I would only really have time to do that milage since I would also have to add in travel time to get to the site of the ride and other inevitable delays.

So I chose to ride myself around here, hoping to do about 65 miles. Couple of loops near the lake, maybe once or twice on the SB Fwy, about 5 hours in the saddle, maybe 6 in total including pit stops, waterbottle refills, etc.

I actually only did 49.4 miles, but I'm glad i did ride here. At least I got twice the milage in. It was pretty cold and I now pretty much have come to the conclusion that I am not good in cold weather. I started at 9am and it was about 60 at that time. That isn't really that cold, but you have to bundle up for various reasons.

But whenever it has been cold I have not riden well. I usually end up going 1-1.5mph slower when it is cold out, vs. when it is warmer and sunny. Plus I usually go for longer distances when it is warmer. When I rode with the Trek group we mostly started at about 7:30am and I was always at the back for the first hour or two. But at the end 12-2pm I was always on the lead. I just pick up as it warms up.

It's not just a starting thing though, becuase when I ride in the afternoon, I am full power right out the door.

So I am a bit concerned about my ride in Solvang (which is about a hour North on Santa Barabara, but still on the Coast. It's going to be freaking cold there. I was looking at pictures of riders on their website and they were all pretty bundled up. I guess we'll see. I'll actually be in that area the week before on business, so I'll be able to get a better idea about the weather conditions, but I'm still a little (actually a lot) concerned.

So Far So Good

2009-01-14T22:01:00.000-08:00

I've been able to get in a few rides since Christmas and everything seems to be going well so far. I've done Honey Springs twice now, which is a 50 mile round trip, so I'm optimistic. There are 3 rides I'm thinking about for this Spring. The first is Mar 1 which will actually go right by my house and up Honey Springs Road.

The others are linked to the right. I'm a bit worried about trying the Granfondo followed by the Solvang Century 2 weeks later, but I figure if I don't ride too much in between the 2 rides I should be able to complete the second.

This weekend I will try to go 60 miles around here. If I can do that I think my leg problems will be finally be behind me.

Now I just need to work on my speed.

Learning how to walk again

2008-12-05T21:06:00.000-08:00

So since the last post, I've been to a sports specialist, had Xrays taken, had an MRI done and now been to Physical Therapy. AND I'm still not exactly sure what is wrong yet. I meet the sports doc again next Friday to go over the MRI's and then also talk about my shoulder (whole other story).

Frankly I think my knees are fine and the tendons for the most part. My physical therapist says my problems stem from my Mother (not....)

Ok, what we think is really wrong is that I never did heal correctly from when I sprained my ankle a few years back. It looks like I have been favoring it and over-rotating out my foot outward to reduce the amount of pressure that is put on it. That in turn though puts more pressure and stress on other parts of my leg since I am stressing those parts more by a more unnatural gate. The stress of that 90 mile ride to Julian was what tipped me over and caused the rupture/stress/pull whatever it is that actually happened to the side of my knee (because being clipped into the pedals causes my legs to bend (or just work) correctly, but since my leg was not accustomed to working correctly it said WTF and here we are).

So my doc will look at healing the knee and my physical therapist will now work on teaching me how to walk right.

Atleast I think that is where we are at today. We'll see what the doc says on Friday and go from there.

I did go for a 15 mile ride on Monday with absolutely no pain, but quite often the pain does not start until about 20 miles into it. Every seems to be surprised though when I tell them the pain doesn't start for 20 miles. I think they look at me and say, "you can go 20 miles????" And I think to myself, Oh no you di ent...

Holding Pattern

2008-11-15T20:18:00.000-08:00

Cycling is in a total holding pattern right now.

My injury unfortuneatly did not heal itself. I went riding about 2 weeks ago, about a 25 mile ride and I felt ok. It did not hurt as bad as it did during the Century, so I was pretty hopeful. But I went for a ride last weekend and it was bad, real bad.

I did my normal route up Olympic, then Hunte to Proctor Vly road. But even going up Olympic at Chick Filet it start to hurt, and got progressively worse. By the time I got to Hawkeye Park it was pretty bad. I called Lotus, but she was out with Fia shopping in PB. So I figured I could make it home, since it's mostly downhill.

IT HURT SO BAD!!!!

If you saw me, you probably got a good laugh. Here was a big guy on a bike pedaling with one leg, the other just hanging loose, staying clear of the pedals. So going down most of of Olympic I was using my right leg as little as possible because I knew I would need it to go up Sensai hill.

I got home, but it hurt real bad. It actually hurt more than after the century and hurt longer.

I called to finally make an appt with my regular doctor. He could see me on Dec 15th. Are you kidding me A MONTH.... I know what I need to do is just get to a physical therapist, but I don't want to wait a month to do it. I'd like to try to ride the Solvang Century which is in March, so I need to start my rehab ASAP.

I called back and none of the other doctors in that faciltiy could see me any sooner than that either....

The next day I thought that maybe it would be better to go to a Sports Specialist anyway, so I called and made an appt with one in Eastlake and he can see me next week!!!! Yeah!!! So I think this will probably work out for the best.

I don't have anytime to ride right now anyway, work is crazy this time of year, so as long as I can hopefully be able to start riding again in January, I should be able to try to do the Solvang Century.

DNF

2008-10-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

Yup, that's the result of my first Century, big fat Did Not Finish.

I've been experiencing some knee pain these last few weeks and it reared it's ugly head up big time during the century.

I got through all the real tough riding no problem (all the climbing was in the first part of the ride). But then around mile 40 it got real bad. I felt it starting around mile 15 or so, but as the day wore on it just got worse and worse. Like I said at about mile 40 I knew I was not going to finish the ride. Every pedal stroke just hurt worse than the one before it.

Two guys I was riding with helped me get to the end by pulling for me (letting me draft off of them). It actually helped a lot. Those last two miles were really bad.

Lotus was waiting for me at the 3rd check point (mile 53) with the monkey to cheer me on. Luckily she actually had my van with her, so my bike actually fit inside along with the car seat.

Oh well, what are ya gonna do. It sucks because I totally could have done it and I spent a LOT of time training for it, so not to complete it is a downer. But stuff happens, you just need to accept it and move on.

Almost There

2008-09-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

The Century is almost here. It's next Sunday, Oct 5th. I feel I'm pretty ready for it. We actually did a ride last week, which I feel was actually harder than the Century will be. That ride was 92 miles and went from near the 56 to Alpine, via Ramona and Santa Isabel. That ride had a lot of climbing in it, about 3 times more than the actual Century, so I feel I should be able to handle the 102 miles of the century.

I went riding today and struggled to do 50, but that was mainly due to a new pain I'm getting in my right knee. Hopefully this was just a today problem, not one that will persist, since I have not really had this problem in the past.

Silence is Golden

2008-08-27T23:07:00.000-07:00

I feel like I had one of my most enjoyable rides ever today. I went riding this afternoon after hustling through what I had to get done at Pendleton today. I was going to go ride in the morning, but I just wasn't feeling it dog...

Anyway, My bike had recently developed a clicking sound. Upon each revolution of the cranks it would go "click". When there is a lot of other noise around you, you don't notice it much. But when you are strugling up a hill at 6MPH you hear nothing but that damn clicking!!!!!!

I had just taken my bike into Trek about 2-3 weeks ago and they put on a new chain and cleaned the gears. The sound started right after that. So of course it was their fault (of couse I am wrong again).

It was just a coincidence. My actual hub was dirty, in that there was sand or dirt in it. So the mechanic told me he would take it apart and clean it and that should make the clicking go away.

I am happy to report it did!!!!

When I started my ride I could not believe how quiet my bike was. All I could hear was the whiring of my wheels. for a cyclist it's almost nirvana like. If you ever watch a time trial it's the sound you hear there. just one guy pedaling; whir,whir,whir. It was fantastic.

My First Century

2008-08-13T21:45:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I did my first Century!!!

I didn't even realize I had done it until Dave (one of the ride leaders) had mentioned it to me at mile 63.

Wait for it.......

Yes we did a metric century, 100 kilometers!!!!

5 hours in the saddle...

Ohhh I hurt.

I went out and bought some new shorts this week. Hopefully that will help.

Honey Springs Road

2008-08-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

My ride this last saturday was a doozy. I had no idea there was such a creature so close to where I live.

This last Saturday we rode from the Rancho San Diego area to the Chula Vista Trek store, back out Otay Lakes to the 94 and then up HONEY SPRINGS ROAD.....

It sounds nice enough, but trust me 7 miles of climbing in 104 degree heat (and I mean climbing, a little over 2000 feet of climbing) can really test a cyclist. Quite a few people actually didn't make it had to stop and get picked up so they could fight another day. If you live in Chula Vista and are familiar with Chick-Filet hill imagine going up that for 7 miles in 104 degree heat. I actually had to stop 3 times myself just for a breather each time.

I drank 5 bottle of fluid (either Gatorade or water), ate 8 fig newtons, 2 Gu packs, and 2 sport bean packs and still came back 3.5lbs lighter than when I left that morning.

After the hill we still had about 15 miles of riding to get back to the start, but after the hill, that was nothing. Here is a link to the ride.

The real kicker of it, was the heat and the fact that the hill came in the back part of the ride. Until now, most of our climbing has been in the front part of the ride, which makes sense, as each week builds upon the previous. Next week has even more total climbing, but it's broken out a bit more and no single hill as severe as HONEY SPRINGS ROAD.

I'm insulted (I think)

2008-07-25T20:30:00.000-07:00

I was on my Saturday group ride last week and one of the ride leaders was riding behind me. One of the things we were working on was drafting last week, which means riding as close as you can to the guy in front of you as you have the nerve to do. The closer the better, but usually you want to stay within 1 tire length (ya I know, it's a bit scary, but if you trust the guy in front of you not to make any sudden changes, it's not that bad. But becuase we are all newbies I only trust a handful of the group so far). When you are drafting behind someone, they say you usually use 30% less energy than they guy who is on the lead. It's bizarrly true. Besides the actual incline of the road the wind or just wind resistence can truely affect your ride. If it's really windy, the wind itself can actually stop you in your tracks.

But anyway we were riding up the PCH and the ride leader behind me says, "Hey, you give good draft". If he wasn't actually bigger than me, I would be insulted, but since he is, we both kinda laughed. My bike is set a bit more upright than most road bikes, so I would give a larger draft than most.

It's my bike set up, ya that's it.

THOR WINS!!!! THOR WINS!!!!

2008-07-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Thor Husovd the God of Thunder won stage 2 in the Tour de France on Sunday!!!

It was very close, there were a few riders nipping at his heels, but he held them off to take it at the line.

THOR WINS!!! THOR WINS!!!

(Insert Thunder clap here)

Have a nice day.

Oh it's on

2008-07-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

The Tour started today and the first stage had an impressive end. Alejandro Valverde who is one of the favorites to win the whole thing made an amazing acceleration at the end of the stage to win it. It was like everyone else was standing still. It was quite impressive.

Kind of reminded me of my ride today. I was doing my Saturday training group ride and a few groups passed us like we were standing still. Man I still have a looong way to go.

We did 37 miles today and I felt pretty good afterwards. I could have went much farther if needed. I did manage to break my seat post today on the ride though. I was "dancing on the pedals" going up a hill and on the top of the hill I guess I just sat down with too much force (or ass) for my poor bike and I heard this load CRACK. I pulled over quickly and did not notice anything really wrong a the time. But as I continued I felt the seat getting a little bit looser, until with about a mile left I knew it was going to give at any minute.

So I cautiously finished the ride and luckily it never came off the post. I took it into Trek today and they ordered the new post from Trek HQ. Hopefully it will come in this week so I can ride this coming saturday. It will be by far our toughest ride, 4000 feet of climbing (mama mia) and I'm actually interested to see how I would fair.

Good Stuff costs Good Money

2008-07-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

Shoot riding a nice bike costs lots of money. It's kind of like owning a German or Italian Sports car. When everything is working right, there is nothing like it, but when they break, oh man...

Right now I really need new tires. My current tires (or tyres in Europe) are getting pretty worn, and the rear one is actually pretty scary looking with all the micro-cuts in it. It's just a matter of time. Minimum I'm probably looking at $60 for the pair (now remember, you can buy a new bike at Target for $80 or so).

THEN my garmin Edge 305 started acting up on Sunday. I rode my bike towing Crong to visit my parents on Sunday. Everything was fine going there, but when I went to leave my Garmin would not turn on. When I got home I looked on the website for how to reset it, and that seemed to work, but when I tried to download the data, it would not transmit. And now it's only turning on sporatically.......

I sent an email to Garmin, we'll see what they say. It's not under warranty anymore, so it will probably cost me $99 to fix it... Hmmm the new 705 would only be 499 or so... NOT.... Maybe I'll read the fine print again with my credit card. I think the one I usually used last year actually extends the warranty for a year on anything you buy. That would be sweet.

Here we Go!!!

2008-06-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

I just pedaled my 3,000th mile a week or so ago on Thunder (my road bike). I just checked and I bought the bike in Dec of 2005. Considering I really have not riden more than 200 miles in the last 6 months, that would mean I was averaging 1500 miles a year (not bad for a recreational rider).

Well I'm hoping to get my milage and fitness back to where they were and then some.

I got an email from my local Trek bike shop that said, "Want to ride a Century? We can help you do it"

Ok they piqued my interest, as I read on it's an email about their Century training program that helps you build up your milage so that you can participate and finish a Century (A bike ride of 100 miles) and in this case the one they are pointing towards the Poway Century the first Sinday in October. As I read on I say to myself, I've always wanted to, the training is free, why not!!!

So this group rides on Saturday mornings and gradually rides farther each week, starting this Saturday with a 25 mile ride. Then adding about 5 miles each Saturday. They also recommend some smaller rides during the week, which shouldn't be a probelm to complete, except for trying to schedule them into my day (or night).

But the key thing about this, is that it will have tremendous benefits to me physically and emotionally. In total I should do about 1800 miles over the next 4 months including the event. That equates to 129,600 calories burned or about 37 extra pounds burned off vs. doing nothing.

I'm excited!!!

Here we Go!!!

Whoa this sucks

2008-06-06T01:38:00.001-07:00

This makes me cring. There was a recent bike race in Mexico right across the border from Brownsville Texas. Here is a link for some video.

link to kare video

Newschannel 5 story and video

Freakin Idiot. He apparently was soo drunk that he just passed out behind the wheel and plowed into the group of cyclists. There was even a cop there who totally swerved out of the way of the car.

Look what I found

2008-01-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

You may be saying, "What is it?" It looks like a funky corn dog woth powdered sugar and sprinkles??? But that just does not sound like a food.

Well you are close. It is actually the thing that I went all the way to London to look for, the thing I was kicking myself for not finding when I was in New York, the thing that I was soo disappointed with when I tried it at the del mar fair, it is a.........

DEEP FRIED TWINKIE!!!!!!!!!!

But this one was done right. What is so hard about sticking a stick into a twinkie, dipping it in a healthy (ha ha) amount of batter and deep frying the sucker.

IT WAS GOOD..... Pretty much everything I was expecting it to be. Not the best dessert I ever had, even by a long shot, but it was everything I thought it should be. A fun over the top treat. Nice creamy center, soft normal twinkie cake blending into the battered shell.

The powdered sugar was good. I'm glad it had some. It's sad but I think if they put a little whipped cream on top with the powdered sugar it would really top it off. It would add a little extra creaminess to ofset the powdered sugar.

Well if you are every in downtown Las Vegas, right next to Glitter Gultch on the corner is some kind of carribian themed casino. In the back you can get some Nathan's hot dogs (which were also pretty good must say), but you will also find the elusive deep fried twinkie!!!

Here is a pic of the inside.

Sorry about the picture quality on the second shot. The camera rep doesn't have a camera with him and is still learning how to properly use his phone camera.

Here's your Chance

2007-10-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

We have ridden our bikes a bit on the Southbay expressway and got busted once. Well your chance to ride (or walk) a bit of it leagally is coming up (and will probably never happen again).

Here is the link for info. http://www.southbayexpressway.com/fun/

I signed us up for the bike ride.

Hopefully we will be in Korea, but if we aren't then you'll find us here.

I need my bike

2007-09-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh.

My road bike has been in the shop for 3 weeks now. My rear rims has some hairline cracks in it, so I took it in to get checked out. The good doctors at Trek confirmed that Thunder needs rear rim replacement (and it's covered, yea!), but they are having a problem getting the rim from Trek.

So I have been without my favorite bike for quite a while now. I have riden my mntn bike a few times with Lotus and that is fun and a good workout, but Thunder is like my ferrari, where Lightning is like my mustang.

Damn I miss my ferrari.

Midnight Madness Bike Ride

2007-08-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Lotus and I rode in the 34th Annual Midnight Madness Bike ride last Saturday. It is a 20 mile bike ride that goes from Downtown to Harbor and Shelter Islands, through Old Town and back through Downtown. It starts at midnight and ends when you get back (it took us 2 hours, but we were not going that hard).

I had trouble taking pictures becuase it was at night and everything was moving. After a while I figured out that the movie feature on on camera was my best bet for the night, but unfortuneatly I only had a small memory card with me, so I did not take much video.

Here are pics of Lotus and me at the start line.

This ride is consider a Fun ride, which means it is not timed and so it is more about having a good time, then racing. There were two actual contests, a costume contest and a "Light up the bike" contest. The winner of the costume contest got 2 tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flys, and the other received a new bike from REI (at least a $300 value). The lady in the picture behind me entered the costume contest, something about Star Trek...

Here is video of the costume contest. Their entry was called Don and his Hoes... They were blowing bubbles and I think they had music too.

There was another guy dressed up as Captiain Jack Sparrow, but I'm too lazy to go through the effort to post that video. Here is a pic of the Fire Man with the ladder and his co-pilot that I liked a lot though.

Here is the winner of the light up your bike contest. They had a siren, a horn, the works. I saw another bike that night that had a car stereo hooked up to it and they were pumping the jams (or whatever the kids say today).

Here is a picture at the start of the ride. There were about 200 of us at a stop light.

Here is the last video clip. It's from near the end of the ride. You can see the Star of India in the background at the end. The loud voice you hear is the harbor police passing us on the left.

No Animals were harmed

2007-07-31T19:10:00.001-07:00

So much for this $1,000 wheel

Hi Mom I'm on TV

2007-07-29T16:19:00.001-07:00

Hey did you guys see me at the Tour de France?

Thor's Website

2007-07-11T23:32:00.000-07:00

I was looking on the web for a lightning sound that I could use on my blog. I remember that Thor had a lightning sound somewhere on his website. I found the sound I remember, but I don't think I can import just the sound.

BUT the reason I mention it, is becuase they changed the intro.

It's pretty funny/cheesy. You gotta see it

click for Thor's website

Sorry Thor, your my boy, but that's just kind of ......

THOR WINS!!! THOR WINS!!!

2007-07-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

The God of Thunder wins stage 4 of the Tour de France!!!

It was the first real old school sprint of the tour (long wide approach) and the God of Thunder put the Hammer down and showed em how it's done!!!

GO THOR!!!!

(insert cow bell and thunder sounds here)

Oh ya, and with the stage win Thor is now in 2nd place overall!!! He has a shot at getting the yellow jersey if he can win another stage in the next day or two!!!

But after that, forget a bout it. Saturday is the first real mountain stage, and it's all over for the sprinters after that.

This is the best TDF since 2003. This year rocks so far.

About the Bike

2007-07-07T18:18:00.001-07:00

Here are some pics of my road bike (aka Thunder) and some accessories to Thunder.

First here is Thunder.

Thunder is a 2005 Trek Pilot 2.1. The frame is made of ZR9000 Custom Alloy Aluminum (very light, very strong). The fork and Seat Stays (the black parts) are carbon fiber (probably in the 100 strands per inch range). Carbon Fiber is very light, very strong and absorbs road noise more than Aluminum does (it's also much more expensive). I opted for this set up because an entire carbon fiber frame can break under a lot of stress, and I can put a lot of stress on a bike. Once I lose more weight, my next bike will probably be all carbon fiber (I can dream...).

Thunder weighs in at 21.6 lbs as you see it (incl pedal, bottle cages and bag). For comparison, Lightning (my mntn bike) weighs in at 30.8 lbs and my old steel Roadmaster mntn bike pushes the scales at 36.0 lbs. The lighter the bike, the quicker you will go in the long run. A pro, full carbon bike will usually run about 15 lbs equiped.

Currently Thunder runs a full Shimano 105 triple ring set up, which means it has 3 chain rings in the front (52-42-30 teeth per ring) and 9 in the back (11-25). "105" is also brand name for Shimano, it is their medium grade set-up. Ultegra and Dura-Ace are the step ups from 105, and each step would add about $500 to the price of the bike (I know...). They usually do not offer 3 front chain rings in Ultegra and Dura-Ace, because the smallest one is called a granny gear, and if you need to use it, you don't need to be spending the money on the good stuff (Yes, I still need it).

Here is a picture of my dashboard:

I have 2 computers on board. The one on the left is a Garmin Edge 305. It's a GPS system that tracks practically anything I want it to. If you click on the picture and zoom in you can really see the display well. I currently have this screen showing me my current heart rate, my avg heart rate for the entire ride, the % grade I am going up or down, my elevation (I live at 330ft, Ronin and HF are at 600ft), calories burned for the ride, how long I've been riding and time of day.

But the main thing I like about the Garmin is that I can download all the data to my computer and it will print a map on Google Earth showing me where I went, my heart rate at any time on my ride, I can compare lots and examine a ton of data about my ride. It's really cool. I also have a mount for it on Lightning, so I can do the same for my rides on that bike. See I told you it was cool...

The other computer on the left my basic cycle-computer, which has a sensor on my wheel that can tell me my speed, miles covered this trip, avg speed, max speed, total miles covered, etc. This one is a little more precise than the garmin, because it measures via actual wheel rotation, vs satelite. I find the old school computer is just a bit more accurate, so I have the Garmin measure other stuff that the old school computer can't do. Plus 2 screens give me more info than 1.

Ok, Now to get silly. Here is a pic of one of my cycling shoes.

These are Shimano SPD's (SPD is just a brand name for Shimano's shoes). I like Shimano shoes because they are fairly wide in the toe box. These shoes have a carbon fiber sole, which makes them very stiff. You do not want flex in your cycling shoe because that takes away from your power.

Here is the bottom of my right shoe.

You can tell it's my right shoe becuase the bottom of the cleat is all scratched up. When I come to a stop, I unclick my right foot and set that on ground to steady myself. My left cleat still looks almost new. My pedals are Speedplay X2's (same brand that Fabian Cancellara uses (he won the stage at the TDF today) mine are steel, his are titanium). They have unlimited float, which means I can rotate my foot sideways a lot. Most pedals do not allow you to rotate your foot much on the pedal, these do.

Here is a better pic of my pedals.

Here is a pic of my helmet (it was on sale when I got my bike, nothing noteable about it besides that)

Here is my new workstand.

Workstands are surprisingly expensive. They usually run $150-$250 (tell me about it). I got this one at Performance bike in Bonita for $39. It definitely has it's limits, but it will be serviceable into the foreseeable future. A few weekends back I was washing and working on all 3 of the bikes and I about died afterwords. I am getting too old to be on my knees, or squatting for a few hours. My legs were sore for about a week afterwards. So I got this to help aleviate that.

Here is a pic of the stand in action...

Ok, that's it for now. I could get real crazy and post a pic of my gloves, or my cycling clothes, but I'll save that for another time...

Its's that time again!!!!

2007-07-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

The most wonderful time of the year!!!

Yes, the Tour de France started today!!!

It's on, pretty much throughout the day on versus (channel 65 on cox south).

I can't believe I was actually excited to watch the prologue today. It was the first time the TDF has ever started in London. The started just north of Big Ben/Westminster Abbey, zoomed by Buckingham Palace, did a loop through Hyde park, zoomed back by Buckingham Palace and ended in St James Park.

There was a lot of hype around starting in London, because a lot of the specialist in the prologue type events (short time trials), were British, so they were supposed to give the real pros a run for their money, because of the adrenaline of being in front of home town fans.

But alas Fabian Cancellara put them all in their place (he is the world time trial champion don't cha know).

Thor did not look very good, he doesn't seem to be on form yet, unless he is sandbagging it to try and trick some people later on.

My pick for the race is Andreas Kloden of Astana. I think their uniforms are butt ugly, and his team mate Alexandre Vinokourov (Vino for short, gotta love that) is the actual race favorite, but I think Andreas will come up with the goods. Astana is sponsored by a few of the major industrial giants of Khazacstan (Astana is the Capital of the Country, ahh you learned something today...).

Tomorrow's stage goes from London to Canterbury. The route would seem to favor a bit of a breakaway if he can build up enough of a lead, or it could be a sprint since the last 20k is pretty flat. My choice for the day is Robbie McEwen, of Predictor-Lotto. But of course it would be cool if Thor won...

1202 Miles o Fun

2007-07-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

It took us 3 days and we barely made it (really).

It started as a trip to get Matilda, but on the way we got a patio unmbrella, 7 cupcakes, killer deep fried ice cream, a mess of ice cream sandwiches, cycling shorts, grits and finished it off with some good spaghetti and spumoni.

It was a real good trip. We also saw some sea lions, went to a bike store in a quaint little town and saw a bunch of touring cyclists. Here are pics of those.

If you click on the sea lion pic you can see that one of the lions flipping sand on himself. It was pretty cute watching them flip sand on themselves. Then you can see the hard core touring cyclists. If you can imagine, they are cycling with all that gear on the PCH south of Monterey. Those are some pretty killer hills. I couldn't do it right now...

Oh wait, here is a pic of one of those hills. We were literally in the clouds.

Here is another pic from the PCH.

An Active Weekend

2007-06-24T21:41:00.000-07:00

Man I can't wait to go back to work tomorrow...

NOT.....

We were quite busy organizing, cleaning, shopping and bike riding though.

Lotus got her compost bins first thing Saturday morning. When she got back she made breakfast, then was out in the back yard building her new "machines" and tending to her children (all 30 or so of them, (don't tell the others, but I think her favorite is the zucchini)). While she was doing that I was doing bike maintenance. The mountain bikes where just crazy dirty. So I had to wash them, clean the chains and then re-lube the chains (it sounds easy, but it takes quite a while). While going over the bikes I noticed that Lotus's rear wheel was a bit wobbly (more on that later).

Oh ya, before that I put together our new patio table/fire pit (it rocks). I think I mentioned on someone else's blog that we got new patio furniture. It's a set from Target (love seat, 2 chairs, 2 ottomans and a table/fire pit). So after I put together the stuff, of course you have to clean it up. Target packed it very well and this thing is huge, so clean up took a while too (lots of cardboard to cut up, etc).

THEN we went for a bike ride (normal course, "Chilis, Rancho Paseo, Telegraph, Fwy, Olympic, Home") on the way home we stopped by Ralphs to get a few things for dinner (Lotus made sushi, which we ate on our new Patio.... I know....)

Dishes, then the Lost season finale on Tivo, then bed.

Day 2 (Sunday)

Woke up at 9:30am which I have not done in maybe a year. 9:30 is crazy late for me. I got up and my Hamstrings were just killing me. I think it was from bending a lot from working on the bikes. But I got dressed and we were on our way. First stop was Performance bikes on Bonita Road. They had a few things on sale that I wanted to look at (and bought all of), Gu 24pks, chain lube, and a bike stand (so my freaking hammys won't hurt as much). Then we went to Trek in Kearny Mesa to get Lotus bike worked on. One of the reasons I bought Trek bikes is that they will take care of anyting minor for free for the life of the bike. Their policy is adjustments, but they have done much more than that for me. The frames are also guaranteed for life, so the only thing I would ever pay for is worn out parts, etc.

So we took the bike in and I told them the rear wheel had a wobble and he said he would take a look at it right then and took it into the back. 5 minutes later we were walking out the front door with a bike that was as good as new!!! I of course still spent 40 bucks on other stuff though (degreaser, tire levers for the mtnt bikes, patch kit, tubes for the mntn bikes and a new bag for Lotus's bike) I had a coupon which Trek sends from time to time, plus their prices are good, so what's not to love. Now if they had shorter top tubes... But that's another story.

Then we went to Carls Jr for lunch, then to 1.5 Targets (the one next to Trek doesn't have a garden shop, so we did not go in) we still need an umbrella for our set. Then I went for a bike ride on Thunder (yes I named my road bike today, my mntn bike is now named lightning)(you would think my road bike would be lightning since it is actually faster, but no, for some reason it is Thunder, just feels right to me and that's all that really matters since it's my bike (and if you don't like it you can just get your goonie-goo-goo ass out of my house)).

So todays ride was pretty good, I did 31 miles and cranked my 2,500th mile on Thunder. I also got to try 2 new flavors of Gu, since I bought a variety pack of them at Performance Bike earlier today. The Strawberry Banana was ok, I just wish it actually had caffeine, but I did not care for the Tri berry. Something about it just did not taste appealing to me.

I also came back down Telegraph from the Target shopping center for the first time in about a year. Since they have been working on the fwy they closed the bike lanes under the fwy, so it was not safe to go that way. Well I have not been missing much. The road is vary bumpy (like the rest of telegraph until you get to Hunte Pkwy). I'm glad they are going to be resurfacing it this month, that should make it smoother in the future (although with Chula Vista you never know) my street was awesome when they first built it, then the resurfaced it and it is worse than before (less smooth and lots of grooves and rough spots).

Took a shower, then mowed the front lawn, aerated it and worked in the garage organizing a bit. Thank goodness Lotus mowed the back yard while I was riding, I don't know that I had the energy left to do that too.

Typed up this massively long and rambling post and now it's off to bed...

Fuel???

2007-06-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from our trip to Chicago/Milwaukee.

This is a picture from Lou Malnati's, which is supposed to be one of the best places in Chicago to get a real Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.

We had quite the trip getting to Lou's. They are only open until 11pm and we got there at about 10:15pm. Normally, that is no problem, but the pizza takes 30 minutes to cook, so we were up against the clock. When we arrived in Chicago it was kind of tense, becuase we forgot our TomTom, so I was not sure how to get there. Luckily Hertz gaveaway my car to someone else (initally tense), but they upgraded me to another car and that car had a GPS device in it (and much nicer), otherwise we may not have made it.

The Pizza was just ok. I did not think it was much better (or worse) than a pizza you would get at Uno's. I know Uno's is a derivative of the first real Chicago deep dish, but I guess I thought once you went national, you would lose some of that origial quality and character. So we wanted an authentic Chicago Deep dish, from Chi town. Oh well.

These are pictures from Moody's Pub in Chicago. Lotus looked on a few Chicago blogs and a few of them said this place made a mean burger. The indoor part was very dark, the outside patio was pretty cool.

The weather was very nice that day. About 72 degrees and a nice breeze. It was just a beautiful day for a burger. And this was a good burger. It was called a Moody Blue burger (of course). Lotus had a regular cheese burger and the rings were pretty good too. But if you go, stick with the Moody Bleu, it's a keeper.

We barely made our flight home that day though. There was a lot of traffic in Chicago that day becuase it was so nice out. We flew Southwest and walked straight on the plane since it was already boarding. Luckily we checked in on line the night before, so we were still in group A. Oh that would have sucked if we would have got there 5 minutes later, we would have ended up in the last group and probably would have each been sitting in between 2 other people.

Shiny New Bikes

2007-06-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here are pics of our shiny new bikes. It kind of freaked me out how shiny the rear cogs actually WERE.

They are still pretty clean looking, but not so shiny anymore.

I have a problem

2007-05-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I wanted to call this, "I have a problem", or "Traffic Jam". We currently have 6 bikes in our garage for 2 people...

One I was borrowing from my brother, so only 5 are actually ours.

Lotus and I have discovered Mountain Biking. I did not think I was going to really like it, but I do. I always thought I was a die hard "roadie", but there is something to this off road stuff.

We recently got new Mountain Bikes, since the ones we were using are about 10 years old and really rusty. The front brakes on the one I was using lock up from time to time, and that can be a bit harrowing when you are going down hill really fast. I either need to fix them up a bit in case Sailor Moon and Junglicious want to use them, or just give them to Goodwill (I guess I should still fix the brakes before I give them to them too).

Our new bikes are pretty cool. I'll post about them later. We both got the same model, with the same paint scheme, so we will be the cutest.... gag....

I Hate Bees

2007-05-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be hating on you bees, but ya'll are just ticking me off.

Here is a recap of my last ride.

Rode 10 miles, minding my own business, passing the old jogger guy with the big Gilligan hat, then BAM!!! a bee flys INTO my helmet. I pull over quickly, take off my helmet and as I am shaking it, the bee falls out to the ground. I should go back and look at my heart rate on my Garmin, I bet it was real high.

I take a deep breath, put my helmet back on, click in and I'm off to enjoy the rest of my ride.

About 5 miles later, almost exactly where I got stung the week before, ANOTHER F...ing bee flys into my F...ing helmet. Now I'm pissed. Give me a F...ing break, what did I ever do to you.

I'm pissed..., so I just turn around and decide to head home, then another F...ing bee flys into my chest and bounces off of me as soon as I started to head back.

Did I mention I now really hate bees.

At least I'm not allergic

2007-05-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

I was riding on Saturday and I was stung by a bee out near the lake. This is the second time I've been stung while cycling. The first wasn't bad at all, the bee stung me on the top of my left quad. I pulled over real quick, pulled it out, felt like everything was ok and continued on.

This most recent attack was much worse. I was out on Otay Lakes road about about a mile east of where the road splits to go to the dam. There is not a curb or real shoulder there, so I can't just stop right away, it takes a gradual slowing, or you will crash.

The bee was still attached to the stinger when I stopped and he did not seem to want to give it up. I think I flicked at him three times before he fell off. I then pulled out the stinger and everything seemed like it would be fine. But this one seemed to hurt more. I did not know why at the time, I just knew it hurt more.

When I got home I looked at the area and it was already a bit red and puffy. Since the bee was in longer, I'm guessig he was pumping the venom a bit longer than the first time. Then I read that you are supposed to scrape away at the stinger from the side (not pull it out, like I did). If you pull at it, you are likely to actually push more of the venom in the wound.

Well the puffyness is gone now, but there is still a big red mark (it looks like a bruise now). Hopefully it will clear it by the weekend.

Did I mention the bee looked real mean too???

They are finally gone Part 1

2007-05-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

This month has really sucked since we got back from NYC. I have not put in so many hours in quite a long time. I have only really had Sundays off this month, and when I say off, that just means I got to work at home instead of in the stores.

This week was really tough, in that about 5 people who are above me in my company were out here doing stuff, so that adds a lot of stress to my daily grind and a lot of extra hours.

They are all gone now, but most of them are coming back in two weeks, so hopefully after that, it will all be good. I'm going to try to get in at least 2 rides a week to get my weight back down to where it was before they got here.

When they are here, there are always larger lunches and dinners eaten by all, thus a need to get my weight back to where it was, before they got here.

New York

2007-04-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

We ate soo much in New York. Luckily we walked a ton too, so the damage will not be that great. Unfortuneatly I have people in town for work, so I won't get to ride until this weekend :(

I never thought I would hear Lotus say this, but on the last day she said, "please don't make me eat anymore..."

Then we went and had 4 desserts that day (coconut pyramid in the morning, Eileens cheesecake followed by gelato (laboratorio de gelato) in the afternoon (since they were only about 6 blocks apart)(we were in the neighborhood) and then red velvet cake after dinner).

I think we covered at least 30 miles total on foot for the 5 days. I had my garmin with me, but I kept forgetting to turn it on and off during the day, so most of my readings were really askew. If I did not turn it off before we went in the subway, once we emerged it had a fit trying to plot our course and I don't think the tall buildings helped much either.

I have not even tried to use the plotting software for the garmin yet. Maybe by next weekend. Hopefully I can plot a day, map it and import it here as an image. That would be cool.

Thunder

2007-03-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

If anyone in the south bay heard Thunder today, don't worry about it.

IT WAS JUST ME!!! THE GOD OF THUNDER KICKING SOME ASS!!!

Have a nice day :)

The Fredcast

2007-03-19T23:50:00.001-07:00

I just want to give a big Thank You to Supe for turning me onto the Fredcast. It rocks...

I've become a huge Fredcast junkie to the point that I actually have a Fredcast licence plate frame.

Thanks again Supe, you rock!!!

A freakin fox

2007-03-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

I went riding out east way past the lake on Otay Lakes Road today. I just wanted to see what was out there (actually haven't driven out there in a while) and I wanted to see if the road continued to be sucky past the skydiving place (it is).

Did you know there is a campground just about 2.5 miles east of the lake (a Thousand Trails RV park). I remember driving past it as a kid and I think we went to a chili cookoff or something there. I remember thinking that it was waaaayy out there.

Anyway, I digress.

A little past the campgound is just a big valley. As I was cycling east I noticed a fox just trotting along parallel to my path. He was kinda cute (looked a lot like Khyber) but much smaller (maybe 15-20 lbs).

He did not seem to care much that I was there, he was just cruising it. If it wasn't that he was a wild animal with teeth, I would have stopped to take a picture.

Then on the way back I passed him again. He had crossed the road and now was on my side again, but approaching me at his same "crusing it" pace. As I got fairly close, he ducked under the wire on the side of the road and headed off into the valley.

It's just weird to think that larger wild animals are that close to where we live.

2000 Miles!!!!

2007-03-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

I pedaled my 2,000th mile on my current bike today!!!

During the ride I was talking with this older guy (I would guess in his 60's) who was from Seattle. He had riden here from there.

I wonder how many miles he has logged.

Step up County of SD

2007-03-11T21:22:00.000-07:00

I was riding on Saturday and I went out east on Otay Lakes Road. It's paved well out towards the end of the lake, but after you pass the skydiving place the road turns into crap. Very bumpy, a very low grade surface. Come on County of San Diego, step up.

Who is Thor???

2007-03-07T21:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not exactly sure, but I hear he likes Pesky Combos...