I might need to build an ark!!!!

Yes it is raining and raining and raining. I have been keeping busy in fact today I went to the Summit at Snoqualmie to do a little sking. I two planked years ago, then in 1990 snowboarded and have ever since. I was getting a little bored with the snowboard, and went back to two plankin, although this time I am learning to telemark. I did well for my first day, although I would like to take a lesson so that I dont learn bad habits that have to be broken down the road. So it wasnt snowing when we got there but soon after it started and the drive home was filled with torenial rain, hence the fact that I may need to start building an ark. Yesterday we actually saw the sunshine for a bit, it was invigorating and I got a little trail riding in, all of 1/2 a mile, but it was nice, a couple of laps and I was smiling. Seattle certainly has the potential to have singletrack right in the city, Collenade is happening but there are some other areas that could be larger than the two acres given to this project. I miss trials right out the back door. Back to the sun because it was such a highlight, I can not wait for it to come back so that the snow can melt and I can get in some mountain bike rides with lots of ups and downs and twists and turns, I love singletrack, I may have to take the bus out to Renton and ride the cropcircles trail and the tapeworm trial. I am itchin to ride singletrack, road just gets so same, if you know what I mean, at least I can ride, always look at the bright side. So I had fun for a few hours in the snow. I am changeing jobs again, back to the brewery, although the evil doer that was there is gone and I will be the man in charge. It will work out to be a 40 hr a week job, with all my days free and it will get me back on my feet. I would like to get a set of these, they sold out in 28 mins though, I will have to be on it. I would also really like to go to this event, SSWC in Sweden, it looks to be an amazing time, I have yet to make it to one, maybe this will be the one,or I might just wait until they come state side next year and make it a definate, I think by then I will be in race shape again, this year is going to be non commital in the race department, I will just wait and see. Next year I am looking to train a little hard and more and commit to a few more races, of course all this is tentative right now, but it never hurts to have a plan. Fun is the plan. Fun fun fun. I will have some new cycling wear soon, pictures to follow, please dont hold your breath as it might hurt to do so, it will be a bit. I still need to talk with the Vulture, i have ideas man. Still spinnig, sometimes at 130 rpms, my legs are not used to this. So things are good, I mean I could do without the rain, but things are good, it will just make me appreciate the sun that much more when it comes. So I have been keeping busy and trying some new things out. I hope to go to Bend over Memorial day, and camp and ride ride ride. So fun is the name of the game, that and variety. as always keep pedalin and stay sane.
THIS JUST IN:
In a side note, it looks like George Bush said that "we americans are addicted to oil", well not shit, nothing like the biggest crack dealer tellin all his addicts that they are addicted. Ironic, like the pot calling the kettle black. If it werent for the oil companies that really run everything, and helped to create our addiction, acting like they have nothing to do with the problem. Are we finally going to start to change our reltationship with energy and the world? Are we really going to move on to the next level of consiousness. I hope it is not to little to late, because we have some big things to change, and you know if Bush is coming out and saying it that he knows something, that or he wants to increase the level of fear so that we let him take away more rights and more sacred land. Stay strong people, we need to not be so relient on fossil fuels but that takes a collective effort and making consious educated decisions. My little rant.

so its raining...

I worked a 13 hr day yesterday, between working for Danielles parents and slingin drinks at the bar. Working my ways towards being a bartender or at least picking up some skills from "Uncle Treg" inside joke, but he is one efficient, great bartender. He has a lot of knowledge about all beverages being consumed in the bar world. So I slept in, dogs are out of food, so off I go. But over coffee I was reading a copy of this. Anyone interested in eco friendly articles about things going on should pick up a copy. Here is another great site to check out. I think that it may be created here in Seattle but am unsure. I have an idea for the summer, and need to get a business plan together for the organic delivery business down the street. I think that people that order organic groceries delivered to their homes would be in to them being delivered by bike, hence even less of a relience on petro. what do you think? Start local, just in the area, maybe I should find out how many of their clientel are here in the Ballard, Fremont, Greenlake local. I think that they may be able, if it were sucessful to get rid of one of there trucks hence saving them a bundle of cash, insurance etc. The other idea will be more of a secret until I can get it up, but I think that it would also have potential, and if it works would be saving petro in the process. On a completly well somewhat related topic, I have heard that the bike circus may come here to seattle, but that may be a rumor. Think bike powered rides, etc. A big celebration of human power. So it has been raining cats and dogs, and I am headed to Port Townsend and was going to ride my bike, but decided that 1. 60 miles in the driving rain, would not be good for my cold, or legs. 2. 13 hrs yesterday and 6 hours sleep didnt do me any good 3. I will get to spend some time with danielle on the way over. This was not an easy decision, but one that I think is the smart one given the history of doing too much and focusing on slowing down a bit. Some may say that I am selling out, or maybe that is just my synical side, but recovery is the focus, being too hard now could put me down and out faster than we think. I must rebuild from the begining almost, from a body and mind arena. It is hard to always be wondering if too much too little, but like I said last post, undertraining thats me for this year. So I am off to get dog food, in the rain, then off to the Strange Brewfest out in Port Townsend, to see all my beer family. Lots of ideas floating around, may be the reason I overtrained was to focus on a personal level and finding, creating as Julia Butterfly calls it, "my tree to climb" I like that phrase a lot. It is a good metaphor. Rage on and as always keep pedaling.

undertrained a goal i hope to obtain...

I am not one who does much in moderation, be it work, cycling, life in general is usually moving at 1000 rpms, however I am aware that this is not always the best approach. I am trying to learn lessons daily, weekly, or when life throws them my way as was the case last year. It was a very hard time for me, and I still would have liked to race the season as was planned, but if you take the motto everything happens for a reason then last year and the road to recovery have been for a reason. I have some ideas, I have learned some things and it has brought me to a different place. I am not willing at this time to put any pen to paper and spell out those lessons, maybe i never will, and then again I might, such is the beauty with life, we get to choose daily, and we always have the opportunity to quote end quote change the road that we are on. So one of my goals is to be undertrained, to ride when I want and not to feel that I must or I have to ride, who knows maybe I will be faster, or slower, or does it matter maybe I will have more fun, and that truely is the bottom line. Have fun, at whatever it is you may be doing. I admit that this is harder to do than it is to say, but then again so is anything worthwhile. So my goal is to be undertrained, I have done the overtraining thing to exhaustion thing and it is a place I never wish to be again, so I have been spinning on a geared road bike, yikes sin, no it is a bike and I am riding, which is better than not. No worries I will be back on the fixie soon enough, smaller gear perhaps. I must talk with the Vulture about a bike, we have some ideas. I have also been spinning on the mountain bike with road slicks, can you say 130 rpms, it is fun as well. I have plans to ride with friends, long ones too, just not willing to overtrain, so I sleep more and maybe do a little less, and it is taking getting used to, but I am ready for the challange, again moderation is only good in moderation as well. Rage on all. Thanks to all for their support, encouragement and kick in the pants, I will not forget any of you. You all know who you are anyways. as always keep pedalling.

I heard a comment while at work

Well I heard more than one, and I will get to that in a second. I would like to be volunteering my time building trial right now, but I have another test at 1:30 and then I am volunteering teaching snowboarding for disadvantaged youth tonight, so next week I will do both, but finding the balance right now is the challange, as it always is. I am getting a lot of satisfaction out of the volunteer thing, helping to better our community, doing my small part, helping to create my vision of the way I would like it to be. This is why the comment I overheard at work struck a cord with me. A regular who comes in to the restaurant where I work and seems to be a complex individual said something to the effect of "as individuals we are always supposed to leave a place, be it a bar, a room, a bathroom better than we found it," he related it to the edwardian and victorian ages being killed by World War I or was it WWII, I cant remember which war it was. He was advocating the formation of a gentelmens society that would have the basic premise be that, that you always leave a place better than you found it and if everyone started doing this there would be no messes to clean up. Well lets take it a step further, if we all did a small thing each day and left ever place we went better than we found it what would society look like. Could we knowingly drive our cars? Shop at the store and use one use containers? But if this feeling where the driving life force, the earth would not be where it is today, we would be living much different lives, becasue is the earth not a place that we visit and must strive to better each and every day. I personally think that we our overly concerned with stuff, without really caring where it came from. We are concerned with quantity over quality. If we adopted the regulars way of thinking and expanded it from just the places that we visit to the overall place that we live, earth and our environment, we might have less stuff but a greater quality of life. When it comes down to it for me, I struggle some days, like we all do, with instant gratification, I want to see results. I think does what one does really matter, well yes and no. Nothing can souly done with the intention being to please others, the motivation must come from within. Not that you dont do things for others or to help them you most certainly must and do, but you cant not always be looking for immediate rewards and gratification. I am an advocate of community, and I hope this is making sense to you all, because it is a little wordy and rambling, I am prone to both of these things, as most of you that read this are probably already aware of. So back to the point. I am going to do something small everday to make where I go and mostly the earth a better place to be. be it on my walk with my dogs to pick up trash in my area of town, be it help a co worker out, plant a tree, etc. " Be the change you want to see in the world"-ghandi This is one of my favorite quotes and really rings true for me. Each day the more I look in to it and the more I hear we as a society are getting it we are moving in the right direction. However we need to rethink the way we live and think about living another way, leaving a lighter footprint on the earth, I am reading about soil right now and we really need to work towards restoring the land without chemicals, in a sound ecological way if we are to succeed as a society, if not, if we keep raping the earth of its natural resources we will be our own worst enemy. Another quote and I am unsure where it comes from but I hear it a bunch, goes something to the effect of "we are our own worst enemies" truth be told when or if we have a huge collapse the only ones that we can blame are ourselves. It is kind of like not voting and then bitching about the president, "not voting is voting" a quote from the Ginger Ninjas. So enough of my rambling, there are no definate answers, but lets all work towards a world that is nuturing to the environment and to each other,treating each other as brothers and sisters, not that we need to love one another, but lets all just move towards getting along peacfully. Farfetched, maybe, maybe not. think about it, live and examined life, one baby step at a time. as always keep pedaling, use it as meditation, solve all the problems of the world while out then come home and take some baby steps. Visulize whirled peas!!!!! thanks for reading. I have some links but another day. Text is the only thing today.

so I got some tests done

Yes I am getting lots of tests done. Resting Metabolism, VO2 max, lactate threshold, already in the bag, and just a couple more to go, those being max strength and sprint lactate at Seattle Performance medicine, with Dr Emily Cooper. So I wont share all the numbers, well I probably will, but not just yet. Lets just say I was happy with the numbers, at first I was worried that they would be all screwed up and it would be determined that my body was not set up to do what I have been doing. That says nothing about the mind and that is what really matters, passion and determination account for more than the physical. Belief in what one is doing, we all need a passion, something that at the end of the day we pursue for us, it is our song so to speak. Cycling was that, then I was in such a dark hole that there seemed to be no light, now there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My body is adapting, my critical mind is relaxing and I am again seeing greater fitness and a path. I am still working on other avenues, but there is nothing like a good trail ride to put it all in perspective. I love bikes, but nothing compares to raging some really good single track, suffering on a big climb knowing that it all goes downhill after that, nothing even compares. Cornering squeezing every ounce of speed out of it, the flow of twisty single track, the skill of flowing over rocks and roots, using as little brakes as possible. I cant wait to get out and rage on some Northwest singletrack, sooner than later, it will be a sloppy mess out there right now, what better reception to the woods than that. I am again dreaming about some races, I would love to commit to doing Boris' three race series I am just unsure that would be good for the body, although I am still considering it. One glich in that is my dad and step mother will be in seattle to visit during one of the races, not so good in the timing department. Maybe a fly in fly out thing. Still on the planning block. So I have a pretty high metablism, are in interested in how they find this out. They put an airtight mask over my face, then hook it to a machine and I lie there, not sleeping, but relaxing and the machine analyzes my breath and they can tell what, in terms of protein, carbs and fat that I have been eating, and how fast my metabolism is. The doctor recommended on a non work out day, i.e day of rest I consume at least 2400 calories, and that I have been eating too much protien, so I need to eat less protein and more carbs, I like what I am hearing. My body fat is high, I will not share that here, I will just work on getting more muscle and less fat, this could be part of the lack of carbs. I burn too much fat at high levels of exersise, due to the carb deficency, is what I have been told. Being in shape is fun, getting there again is not always so fun, it is a balance, and it just takes time.
In other news it was sunny yesterday so I put skinny tires on the Vulture and went for a spin, that is the other thing, I need to do more spining, ie higher cadence stuff, not the fixed gear sloggin that I do all the time. Hench the thin tires on the mountain bike, equals lots of spinning. Yes sun in seattle if only for a couple hours. We were on track to break some 50 year record but missed one day, day 28 I think, then it rained sideways the next day, then sun. So not all is bad, but man do I miss the sun, it really has an uplifting, energizing way about it.
Speaking of the Vulture, he is moving from in Bend outside a little bit, his grandfather and father I believe bought a place and there is room for a shop, plus he will have more time to spend building bikes, with someone to watch rio a little more often. Wade thanks for the call the other day, your kind words really helped me through the day. WE would like to get down there to see you in the spring time.
Speaking of Bend, I wonder how Sloane is liking it. I have always really liked Bend, trail access right from town and miles and miles of trail to explore.
So today I am going to see the Imax movie about the tour de france, mind over mountains or something like that,it is here for a short time, and I need to see it. Friday I hope to visit Kent, I have been so busy, but he is another of my favorite people, so calm and full of great insights and really a man that walks the walk. Kent has a little thought on heart rate monitors, i used one for a while with no info about zones, so I gave it up, I plan to use one again every so often to get and idea of how my body feels in each zone. But on the whole I think being aware intuitively is the best way to ride, otherwise it can become overwhelming and then the real reason to ride is lost, it becomes a numbers game, when the real fun is just being out there. Actions speak louder than words, my day must get going. I wish everyone well and as always keep pedaling.

dead fuckin last....

I got dead fuckin last, but there is a story, and it goes a little something like this, a little experience would have gone a long way. So it was raining cats and dogs last night, and not the usual warmer rain, cold to the bone, kind of cold. So I arrived at the registration point, and irish pub near Safco field and yes the seahawks had won so it was mobbed with rabid fans, not really my cup of tea, but and interesting culture clash. Paid my 5 dollar entry fee and was handed my first manifest, with locations and addresses, being new to the area I asked around to get the idea, lets just say information was not that forth coming. So I just listened and got and idea of where the points were, there were however secret locations to be revealed at other locations. This being a press release party for Cranked magazine the theme was other publishers mainly the stranger, the seattle weekly, The Seattle PI, and the Seattle times along with others. So Red Bull was consumed, it was free after all, no vodka for me, others decided that was necessary, I imagine it helped them to stay warm. Justin the promoter, I had met him months ago at a Brewfest, wished us well and sent us on our way. It was a mad dash to the first checkpoint a mere 4 blocks away, to get a signature, I lost time here getting my manifest out, then it was off the the next checkpoint, running redlights, ducking through alleys, over slick as snot trian tracks, and the continual pounding of the rain. So I took the obvious route and was doing alright passing people and such. Note the next time I race one of these with secret stops I will think counter intuitively so that I can get the flow right, seems to be the way these things work. That and bring a real map of the city, laminated no less. From the second checkpoint it was off to the third checkpoint, trying to pick up items needed on the way. ok third checkpoint off the the fourth, up to capitol hill, should have come here second, would have worked out better, get to the fourth check piont, re think things and take off to the book store, I have a copy of the stranger check, seattle weekly check, auto trader check, now all I need is a copy of Real Change a magazine only sold by the homeless. Shit where am I going to find one of those, ah well it will happen. Off to another secret location right next to checkpoint two. shit I am going in circles. So all I need is the real change. Ride by the bar where the race finishes, not many bikes but I dont stop I need a full manifest. Anyway here is where I go from doing well to Dead fuckin last. Many folks finished without a real change and placed, this would have been handy to know, I could have finished 45 minuetes ahead of when I did, instead I rode around downtown, up to capital hill and finally down to Pioneer Square before getting a real change. I was happy, I had fun in the rain, and felt good. Next time I will if one shy of something finish or at least check in to see. I didnt crash, it was raining like I was going to need an ark, we are currently in a spelll of 27 or 28 days of rain, man I am getting used to being wet. So I had a few drinks met some cool people and got a my first spoke card as well as my dead fuckin last momento. Which you will have the pleasure of viewing in a few short lines. the important thing was I showed up had a great time and am becoming part of the excellent bike culture here in Seattle. With out further ado I give you
thats on the top tube of the fantastic crappy mountain bike frame that will go on the wall of the garage with a big DFL over it, to remind me that the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy the ride. What a blessing to be dead fuckin last.

My first alleycat race

My first alleycat race will be this evening. A local bike culture magazine is celebrating their press release, and what better way to do it than hold a bike race. I know not what to expect, mayhem, crazyness, and lots of fun. So wish me luck and good legs. I worked boat loads this week on my girlfriends parents house, installing flooring, and worked some extra days waiting tables as well. So my legs and body are feeling the effects of constant flogging. But taking this on, and racing tonight has given me some strength and energy, I hope that brings me good legs too, we will most certainly see. So think of me this evening and send me energy, and a good safety net. More details after the race.

I struggle therefore I am..

those of you who have read this site for awhile I sure am aware that my path in life has changed something drastic. Reno/tahoe to seattle, leaving a very lucrative table waiting job for love, kind of sappy I know, racing like a maniac to getting so sick that riding down the street is a challange. So here I sit hoping that the struggle will define me. It is said or I have certainly heard that challange and struggle define you as a person. Why is it then that i feel so damn lost, is that all part of the process. I fantasise about the way it was all supposed to turn out. I remember thinking long ago that I could just be happy being part of the pack, following the crowd when I was young, I just had to get some things out of the way. Well those things turned in to some more things, and i came to the realization that I never wanted to be part of all that I just thought that was what was expected. so I moved on, angry upset and frustrated, that my parents hadnt done this or that, that I had had to do this or that. Then I realized how horrid that all sounded, me complaining about such trivial things. So life followed a certain path. Well it is all too confusing and I am not in the right state of mind to keep going. What I am saying and what is evident to those closest to me, I am in a defining time, I am in the cocoon so to speak, I just want to find my wings, i want to be creative, I want to fly, to sing to find my wings so that I can put down the armor, and be me. I am seeking happiness, sufficency, i dont need to have the world I just want to define my place in it. I want more than what i have right now in the sense of the spiritual fulfilment of what I do. I know no other way to say it. I am feeling slighltly better and riding more, but as you can see the mental is striving for more. So I would be willing to say I have felt this way for awhile, although at my last job the money made it easy to continue doing what I did and forgetting about the real purpose I was here. Now I am confronted and challenged to define, i asked for it I damn well better rise to it. thanks for reading and keep on pedalling.

Oh what a feeling....

My good friend Mark McDaniels sent me this today. this is not my story, and the source is credited at the bottom. To say more might spoil the story so here it is...

I raced a Harley today
and after some really hard riding I managedtoPASS the guy. I was riding on one of those really, really twistingsectionsof canyon road with no straight sections to speak of and where most of the curves have warning signs that say "15 MPH".
I knew if I was going to pass one of those monsters with thosebig-cubic-inch motors, it would have to be a place like this where handling and rider skill are more important than horsepower alone.
I saw the guy up ahead as I exited one of the turns and knew I could catch him, but it wouldn't be easy. I concentrated on my braking and cornering.three corners later, I was on his fender. Catching him was one thing;
passing him would prove to be another.
Two corners later, I pulled up next to him as we sailed down themountain. I think he was shocked to see me next to him, as I nearly got by him before he could recover.
Next corner, same thing.
I'd manage to pull up next tohim as we started to enter the corners but when we came out he'd get on thethrottle and outpower me. His horsepower was almost too much to overcome,but this only made me more determined than ever.
My only hope was to outbrake him. I held off squeezing the lever untilthelast instant. I kept my nerve while he lost his.
In an instant I was byhim.Corner after corner, I could hear the roar of his engine as he struggled to keep up.
Three more miles to go before the road straightens out and he would pass me for good.But now I was in the lead and he would no longer hold me back. I stretched out my lead and by the time we reached the bottom of the canyon, he was more than a full corner behind.
I could no longer see him in my rear-view mirror.
Once the road did straighten out, it seemed like it took miles before he passed me, but it was probably just a few hundred yards. I was no match for that kind of horsepower, but it was done.
In the tightest section of road,
where bravery and skill count for more than horspower and deep pockets,I had passed him.
though it was not easy, I had won the race to the bottom of the canyon and I had preserved the proud tradition of another of America's best bikes.
I will always remember that moment.
I don't think I've ever pedaled so hard in my life.
And some of the credit must go to Schwinn, as well.
They really make a great bicycle...(blatantly plagiarized from www.cbrforums.com)
Reminds me of Mount Rose in the summer, I have passed many a car before in some of the twistier sections, and man were they suprised to see a bike go by. Sure would be out of the question on a fixie that is unless you could take your feet out and stay safe. Hope you enjoyed it cause I sure did.

as I sit here in an altered state...

It is almost midnight here, ya know the witchin hour and all, and I am in a bit of an altered state of mind, of course given my ability to type right now, you can take what is written however you see fit. Perception is a funny thing, have you given thought to how you are seen in the world lately and how that might relate to what you think of yourself? Do the mesh? I have been called a physically fit uptight republican by a coworker who has spent less than 2 minuetes talking to me. If this is how I come across in the world I have to change something. However if I know that I am who I am and does it really matter what people think then I can go about my daily life being who I am. Perception does matter to a certain extent though. Well I am not making much sense right now, that and I inhaled dust for 6 hours today while I sanded floors with my girlfriends father. Nothing like being part of a construction project. Timelines, no time, it always takes way longer than you want, when only half the time is planed for the project. We were just talking about this, thats where the whole perception thing came from. Just be happy I dont try to explain the whole thing as there are not enough words to do so. Moving on. I have yet to buy one of these as I have been meaning to and always falling short, so I just tried and had problems, i will try again in the morning. I have got one of these on the way. Rudi is attemptin to ride the Great Divide on a Fixed gear bike. I saw him ride at the Cascade Cream Puff, and was amazed. Cellar Rat, who I understand is making some great Whiskey in Denver is also attempting this monumental challenge. We need to support one anothers endevors, we need to support all those doing positive things on bikes. Such as riding the great divide. Such as writing about it. Man I would like to get back to where this mind and this body can take off on such a journey. Speaking of that I wonder how kent is enjoying his new job. I would like to be out on the bike a bit more, but the workload right now is huger than is humanly possible. Did I just commit huger to text? wow. The workload looks to be lightening at the end of February. It is kind of like cross training, as today I carried stacks and stacks of bamboo flooring up two flights of stairs, I hope you get the idea.

The rat race...

The rat race is a race from Gibsons bc to Roberts Creek. I had the pleasure of heading north over the last two days, first to drop danielle's sister off at college, the UBC campus is mind boggleing in size, after that it was north of vancouver just a bit to the horseshoe bay ferry and off to Gibsons to visit Danielle's Grandparents. That was Tuesday. Lots of time in the car, and an aching back later. I was struck by how much I would have enjoyed traveling a different way or at least I romatizied about how it would be better not to be part of the massive line of cars all the way to Canada, I am sure that the constant rain didnt help either. I am not a good passenger, I focus too much on the road. I imagine there is a lesson to leearn what it is I am unsure of right now. Planning things out sure would help, but that is a whole different post all together. So getting to the point. On wednesday we went for a ride, I cant say that it was sunny, but at least the rain had subsided for a bit. I didnt bring the mountain bike as I wasnt sure I was that ready to explore, but man do I wish I had. So I rode from Gibsons to Sechelt, in Sechelt I went to on the edge bike shop to get a tube, and ask about the local trails. Here is where I wish I had a mountain bike. They have sooo many trials, and Laurane the very nice woman behind the counter told me of a race called the rat race, on dirt and 48-60 km in length with lots of climbing. She said the promoter really likes to make you suffer. It will be on May 6th hopefully I will be feeling up to it. They have a three race endurance series, maybe I will try to do at least two of the races. Last night we returned late, and today has been non stop rain, what better to do than ride over the the Collenade trail work and put in some time, in the dirt and mud, now I am home for a moment and then off to work. I took the long way home, put in all of 15 miles today. Riding in the rain is all mental, you just have to get out in it, that is most of the battle, fenders and foot protection dont hurt at all though. The novice area is coming together well. The Seattle PI stopped by to take some pictures and said they were thinking of doing an article. In other news REI is being featured in Fortunes top 500 as they are supporting this trail building effort, and one of the other times that I did trail work they were taking pictures, so I got news that they are using a pic that I am in. I'll put up links when and if I get word of the articles being avalible on line. Thanks and as always keep pedaling.

First post in the new year....

Well I had hoped to have a list of ta dos for the new year, but as usual, I am running a little late.. however it will be worth the wait. My girlfriend and I are planning to start a blog, that way this blog can go back to being more bike oriented, not to say it will change drastically, but it will start to be about my biking experiences. Not to worry though it will still be filled with rants and rumblings from inside my chrome dome. So what has been happening, lots of work on the girlfriends parents house, painting, tiling, bamboo flooring, cleaning, it is a learning experience. I am coming up with a theme for the year, a way to stay focused on what really matters, to keep it in front of me so that I can enjoy what I create for this year. I am planning on taking more pictures, hopefully black and white and hopefully I will be developing them myself. Moving forward all the time. I hope to better myself in the new year, to get more saddle time and to have more energy. This whole lack of energy has been a defining experience but I would love it to be over, once and for all, I want to be charged up and racing, riding. I miss it all so much. So that too is a goal. I am looking for a good goal, I am thinking about maybe doing just the 50 miler at the e100, it sure would be good to see Boris again. It would be amazing if I could get that much fitness back, given the conversations that I have had with the doctor, she is very positive, but has stressed that I must take it slow or I could be back to square zero, down int hte dumps very quickly.That man is in one word awsome. He is so full of life. I really should call him. Matter of fact I should call a bunch more people. Reno is about to flood from all news reports, and video. 2nd time the river has flooded in 9 years. Funny how I was there the year after the last great flood and left just before this one. Conincidence, maybe. I do control the waters. ha ha. Anyways back to the photos of the latest. I need to get back to riding more as I have put on a few pounds and am not enjoying it. Well I have enjoyed the food and drinks, but not my waist line. Think keg not six pack. ONly one way to get there, diet and exersise. No I have not lost my mind I am not going on a diet I am just planning to eat a healthier more balanced diet, that and attempt to drink less. Well this Subaru was mine now.......

Now I have this, well its in my bank account. WE are officially a one car family at this point in time... one small step towards a smaller footprint. Cold hard cash money, and too boot less overhead and a large weight lifted.


The other day between painting and waiting tables I went for a quick ride, I like to ride through some of the local parks for a dirt experience in the city, well luck would have it I came down a straight away and was confronted by a dog. Being a dog lover I didnt think much of him running towards me well you can imagine what happened, he got a hold of my leg. "oh he hates bike" was what the lady told me. that and he doesnt usually leave a mark. Oh I imagine it is not the first time then. Well needless to say I should have gotten some information from her, this is the day after, the day it happened it look worse. enjoy....
and no I dont shave my legs, that would just be too much real estate of my body to shave. Face, head and then legs, man i would be in the shower for just too long. you laugh. Below you will see my 10 month old dog and his christmas toy courtesy of my mom. Can I tell you how much he loves this thing and how loud it squeaks with the lightest touch. Although given that he has destroyed every other toy within minuetes this has lasted and eternity, a week and counting. Thats all for now. Best wishes to all in the new year, keep on keepin on. namiste.