everything looks perfect from far away.

another draining weekend, but another good one.

saturday i woke up early just to hack up a perfectly good golf course and swear a lot. it was fun, but it would have been more fun had i not played like a jerk.

by night, scott and lisa stopped by to stage the costumes and then it was off to sam's for the halloween party. i went as a plain clothes clown, and an angry one at that. i don't have much liking for halloween, but i tried to be somewhat of a sport anyway. my goal for the night was not to over indulge and i succeeded at that (mostly). nobody jumped the fire on a bike, but that was mostly due to the size of the said fire. i guess that is what happens when you start throwing furniture on the pile. rob stoked it pretty big, and that baby was hot...

yesterday we did some stuff around the house, got some paint samples for the bathroom and had a relaxing day. i didn't get my yardwork in due to the rain, but that is ok i guess.

my off season training begins in earnest tonight (again?), which essentially means consistantly doing something everyday. i would like to get to the weight room this winter, but i say that every year.

i'm going to grow a moustach and a mullet.

our coffee maker is faltering under the shear volume we ask it to perform. well, from making us coffee every morning. not exactly banquet volumes. you'd think a fairly expensive coffee maker would be able to hold up (krups). we're thinking about going back to mr coffee (my old one never gave me trouble).

last night, we started robin's training program. run 2 min, walk 4, alternating for 30min. she wants to do a marathon in 2007, so we begin small. after that i did about 30 minutes on the trainer (with individual leg pedaling) and then my core strength circuit. not feeling too sore this morning either. man it felt good to do something.

so, i had been in contact with a pro (jason sager) about buying his team bike from this year. after much debate, i'm going to pass on it. it's a nicer bike than i will ever be able (or want to) buy full price but the high miles will ultimately keep me from buying it. thing is, if i'm spending that kind of green on a bicycle i want it to be new. i still want a cannondale, but it will most likely be a new scalpel 2000. it's got the carbon lefty, and actually the identical frame to that i was going to buy. full xt. the only thing i wish it had was the crossmax wheels. maybe i can work that out...

this weekend, well, tomorrow morning greg and i are playing in a scramble gold tournament in dubuque. then it's back home to head to sammy's for the big halloween bash. ron is pumped that he has his schwin ready to jump fires. that bike is old man, hopefully we don't have a repeat of this....

this sucks

this is bad on several levels...
1) circa early 1990s equipment (this is from 3 wks ago)
2) the chain is dangling
3) the chain is the least of his problems, look where the bike broke up front(wtf)!!
hey dude, i know a great ortho pa!!

another day in the ghetto...

wednesday morny. hmmmm.

i'm really itching to get back to training. well, i'd settle for exercising. we've been just busy enough for me not to be able to get on the bike all too often. its effects have rendered me a little depressed and lethargic.

tonight will not allow me to get back into it though, we are going to the ben folds show at the orpheum. finally robin gets a chance to see him. i saw him a few years back at the same venue, it was amazing.

the packers signed some guy with the nickname taco. oh boy. maybe with their high draft pick they can get someone to replace ahman green for next year....

i dislike the white socks almost as much as the yankees. actually, the playoff run they are putting in is reminiscent of past yankee teams. they are pulling out the close games every single time and catching a ton of breaks. eat your hearts out cub fans...

happy day.

today is the anniversary of the marriage to my dream woman. it's been 2 years already, seems like a few blinks of an eye. i'm happy that robin is my partner in life, she really makes the bad things seem...well...not bad at all.

went downtown for breakfast this morning and boy was it worth it. tasty food with great company.


...:....

i've been thinking about the race from this weekend a bit. it seemed like i got a lot of attitude for not racing. i had made no secret of the fact that i was done racing for the year. even though i wasn't racing and i had a lot of other things i wanted to do with my sunday i showed up and took sign up sheets, tried my hand at announcing, anything i could do to help the team. whatever, just seems like i'm not really as welcome at the team things as i used to be...

blown.

well, this was an interesting weekend. friday, i golfed at hawk's landing and boy that wasn't pretty. i never even added up the score but i'm pretty sure i was over 100. this course is a little tough for guy who golfs once or twice a year, but it is really pretty out there for sure.

saturday, robin and i started to make some decorating decisions around the house. we even put some things up on the walls...it's really starting to feel like home now.

yesterday, ron and i headed to beechwood for the 1st annual beechwood blaster race at mike's property. they ended up getting a pretty solid turnout, although a few more would have been ok too. it was raining hard for the sport race but it ended up being not too bad for the comp/expert field. ron and i were on the pa announcing...i maybe should stick to racing.

all in all, it was a good weekend but now i'm more tired than before it started.

irrational.

it's friday and i couldn't come any sooner. it's been one of those weeks that seem to go forever.

i'm golfing this afternoon, then heading to greg's for their party. then it's off to the barrymore for the new pornographers concert. not one i'd neccesarily have chosen, but it will be good i'm sure. tommorrow is a house day (finally). we have a bunch of odds and ends to take care of and hopefully we can take a chunk out of our list. it's supposed to rain so that may offer even more motivation to coup up and work. sunday i'm heading to beechwood for the first annual mtb race presented by big ring racing.

should be a good weekend, and a full one at that.

black thunder.

yesterday we had an employee appreciation thing at work for our successful Q3. they brought in really fatty cakes (exactly the last thing 90% of this place needs) and coffee from anchora. the coffee that caught my attention was the one labelled: black thunder. i had 4 sips and that was it for me. i was wired all night (sorry robin). beware of the black thunder.

i did some more drills on the bike last night, this time focusing on cadence. i set up a mirror to watch my pedal stroke and i've really formed some bad habits over the past 12 months. i'm really going to focus on improving my efficiency/stroke over the winter months, i think that will make me faster. i did my core strenght circuit as well, and my body is sore! sore is good though, because i will heal stronger.

i think i'm going to head over to the beechwood race this weekend. maybe i'll even bring my bike and do a few laps after all the racing is done. it looks like it will be chilly and wet, but what would you expect at the end of october?

we didn't win the lottery last night (imagine that?). it's a moronic play on my part, i can't win in drawings that have 12 prizes for 15 people much less 1 in 150 million. it's amazing the popularity of the lotto worldwide...i guess everyone has a bit of a millionaire fantasy. i'd buy a hummer and drive it off a cliff. fuh2/3!

i hope everyone has a great thursday.

road to fitness?

i'm always amazed at the sensations i get when i haven't done something for awhile. in this case, running. i ran for 30 minutes last night, just to get the blood pumping a bit. i hadn't run since pigman (around 2 months ago) so this was a shock to my system. in fact, you would have thought i hadn't run since 1998. i couldn't breath, my legs were tingling (like your hands do sometimes from running the lawn mower). i thought i was going to keel over.

what a wuss.

muzzle of bees.

back on the bike again last night. it was an absolutely gorgous day, so i did the most logical thing i could: i set up the trainer and spun indoors. now, i know what you're thinking. but, the objective for yesterday was pedal drills and core strength. i'm trying something new this off season, and it started last night. i'll keep you all posted.

robin is still feeling the stomach virus she was cursed with. more wiped out than anything...i wish there is more i could do for her. ron and christy also got the virus, so i was thinking it was just a matter of when for me. last night, while watching the nlcs/mnf game(s), my stomach was really churing. but, nothing came of it. hopefully that is the extent of my affliction. we'll see.

friday i'm cutting out early and golfing 18 with gregory. i love the offseason. we're playing hawks landing which is supposedly pretty tough. considering i've played exactly 9 holes in the last 2 years, it should be interesting.

and that is all i've got.

ouch.

this weekend hurt, and i don't mean in a good way. friday night ron and christy (and the sydster) came over for dinner. i was absolutely beat when they left (chasing an 11 month old is hard work). sleeping in seemed like the thing to do. saturday, we did some major house cleaning, caught some of the badger game (holy crap) and then it was time for kevin and heather's wedding. it was a nice event, but i drank a little too much. topped the night off with toppers and headed to bed to sleep it off. well, that plan didn't come to fruition. a couple hours later, robin was up with a major stomach virus that required her...ahem...to get rid of some goods (fore and aft). that's an understatement, because by the time she was done (4 hours later) she was on 'e.' she couldn't eat all day yesterday and even drinking was upsetting her stomach. needless to say, she isn't going to work today...even if her stomach was back to normal she's got nothing in the tank.

i wonder how pat's race went this weekend?

very nice.

pat and katie are getting married. i'm very happy for them, and excited.

pat called me last night to tell me the news. and to ask if i'd be the best man (which i am honored to accept). it's funny, i don't think i have spoken to pat over the phone since i called him about our engagement. in fact, i can't think of many instances where we've actually talked on the phone. i think my dislike of telephones (i have issues) plays into that for sure.

anyway, congrats to pat and katie! on another pat note, he is embarking on the edmund fitz 100k ultra marathon this weekend. good luck with that. as pat said last night on the phone: 'the 100km distance is tricky.' i can think of a few other adjectives, but what do i know?

addict.

like an addict quitting cold turkey, my off time from the bike is taking it's toll. my muscles don't know what to do, i've got horrendous knots in my calfs and arms. my arm knots were bad enough to numb up my hands for awhile.

i feel restless and without purpose. i need to ride tonight. short, easy but i need to ride.

work has been a zoo, the lack of entries lately can be attributed to that. i have all the free time in the world after work, but without riding i don't feel much like updating. cycling is a narcotic.

we've been doing some yard work the past few days, in an attempt to get our lawn up to par with the jones' for next year. it actually looks better already, and it hasn't been that much work.

good luck adam...

hold your tongue and say apple...

this weekend we're off to the eau claire. while we're there we're going to hit the orchards...something we really enjoy buy didn't get a chance to do last year. i always end up with an apple rush after connells, what with the 'samples' being whole apples and all. here's to eating a peck and buying a bushel.

i'd also like to hit my most favorite bike shop anywhere...anybody's. we've bought 4 bikes there already and never have looked back. they build them up well and back up the work. i'd like to say my next bike will be from there but we'll have to see about that. they do carry cannondales...

and of course, the joynt is always a possibility when r and a are in town.

enjoy the weather!!

Click on this.

hot...cold.

if you click on the jason sager link to the right, you'll see from the last couple of entries that we departed park city at just the right time....

still trying to get back into the flow of everyday life. take a week off and it takes another week to get back up to speed. problem is, do i really want to get back up to speed? i always come back from breaks with a...gasp...positive outlook and it usually takes mere minutes to smash that once i'm back at work. i've managed to hang onto it so far, though, maybe i will win this good fight?

the weather broke as promised and .:.presto chango.:. it's fall. i'm happy about this to a degree....fall is the best weather of the year but i always feel a little nostalgic about the gosh darn heat and humidity.

busy day at work today, i better go get it started...after another cup of coffee (which by the way is horrible at work, but it procrastinates another 10 minutes or so).

thanks for reading.

our trip to park city taught me a few things......

on a long road trip, one needs to make all the friends he can...



and every man needs a comfy jock....



and a room with a view.



when riding, it's nice to have good friends there (and a map)...



d-town salt lake city is creepy (in a church sort of way)



but at the end of the day, we still had big smiles...



because the views were breath taking...


and the utah sky was blue as we remembered.

season over.

that's right, i think i'm done for the year. my last hurrah was park city and that is a good way to end things. i may show up unfit to mike's race later this month, but i think my attempts at being competitive are done for the year.

inevitably, that brings up plans for next season (athletes are psycho that way) and i've already put together my annual plan for 2006. right now, i think i may be biking a lot more. the triathlons i did were rewarding but it has been a solo adventure... and i'd really like to pull back my ties with my teammates.

tentatively, i'd like to do 3-4 early road races and a 12 hr duo mtb race. then, i'd like to pull the training hermit bit and hit heavy volumes in june and then rest some in early july. pick up intensity in mid july and finish the season with some fast racing, culminating at fat tire where i'd like to finish top 50. however, for my own mental sake, this is not binding and i will be tweaking the plan.

every year i say this, but i would really like to hit the strength training this year. core stuff, stomach...back...shoulders. this would make me a much better athlete. also, i hope to add a full suspension bike to the arsenal this winter. i keep coming back to the cannondale scalpel...we'll see about that.

so there...my life is already planned away. all i know is that for the next couple of weeks i'll be resting (as much as my sanity will let me).

still planning on doing a photoblog deal of our western adventures, maybe tonight? i've also thought about a recap of the year, but that almost seems holiday letterish and those really suck it...

monday morning and this is all i can think of...