The long ride

I took the Allez (bike) out for the first long ride to 1.) enjoy the awesome weather, 2.) log some real riding miles, and 3.) start really breaking in the bike. I accomplished all those and more, and this is how it went down...

The temps were pushing mid 50's so I threw on a long sleeve shirt, just to be safe. Apparently, riding is colder than running and being cold is miserable, and we don't want that, now do we?

I figured since it was early Fri, I could take my chances, leave the neighborhood and ride some of the bigger roads that have more traffic. Then I could go to places within the area and explore what I haven't seen before. So, I did a quick loop through the neighborhood logging a quick mile before heading out on the 4 lane highway that drags through town. As I approached the stop sign, it was a 'do or die' feeling - one of those I don't want to, but I don't want to be trapped by the neighborhood feelings, so I turned right and took off.

Another quick mile or so and I turned off the main road heading into another neighborhood with the goal of working through some backroads and very light traffic roads. Off the main road, I was quickly greeted with my first real uphill. Quick flick of the hand on the gears and it's 'click', 'click' as I move down the gears, easing upwards. Nothing to it.

The road quickly flattens out, another 'click' and I'm back into picking up speed when I reach my turn off and then another climb. 'Click', 'click', 'click' and I'm trying to make this one as easy, but it's not happening. My speed drops into the single digits as I push my way up, but that's what it's all about. I tell myself to just think of the downhill and it'll go away... As I reached the top, the road crossed over the interstate taking me into the nearby town. By the way, it's pretty cool riding atop the interstate knowing it's you, the bike, and nothing else.

We level out, I pick my speed back up and start logging miles. Nice, fairly easy rolling hills...the ups are quickly followed by downs and the pavement just starts to look like a blur as my legs really wake up. And that's when I was quickly snatched from my riding groove!

The road isn't the best. It's an old rough asphalt that's definitely seen it's better days. The shoulder is a little cracked and rough, and there are is no lane paint. Because of this, I cheated over toward the middle of the lane a little more than usual, to give a better surface and riding experience. As I geared down, picking up speed, a car came driving by, passing me. Sure, nothing to it...hold the lane....let him go. Easier said than done.

The driver who either doesn't like cyclists or just wanted to be a butt threw a drink can through the passenger window into my line. Swerve and take the chance of wrecking, hit it and take the chance of wrecking, or quickly cross your fingers and take your chances. I took option 3 and was greeted with a can to the leg. Of course it hurt, but what could I do? I surely couldn't run him down, and if I did his car is a bit bigger than my bicycle.

After a few minutes of recovering, trying to maintain speed, I returned to my groove and watched the miles roll by. The route I picked was good; it kept the rolling hills, led me through some pasture land that I didn't know existed and had pretty low traffic. The only thing that could've been better were the roads and a little less "boondock" feel.

I approached the halfway point, which was a small community church, and began my ride back. As I rode back I realized that those short downhills on the way out felt like extremely long uphills on the way back. I just kept trying to make myself look forward to the downhills.

I figured I would try to see just how fast I could hit on some of these downhills, just because everyone wants to go fast and it seemed logical at the time, so I shifted up the gears, got into my speed zone and let it go on the last downhill. I went screaming through, looked at the speed and watched the numbers go up, 19...24...31...32mph. When cruising at 32mph, I made the quick realization of just how small my tires were, just how fast the ground was moving, and I definitely didn't confuse which brake lever was the back tire! What a rush...new speed record - for now.

The way back seemed much slower than the way out; guess that means I need some more practice. Last small hill before the home stretch. Coming close to the top of the hill, I hear a noise in the woods off to the right. Being the new guy that I am, I couldn't quite take my eyes off the road and follow the sounds, but it was beside me and it wasn't leaving. I kept pedaling...faster. Suddenly, as though it was planned, out jumped a deer. A doe to be precise. She lept from the woods, right behind the bike, and proceeded to race me to the top. I wasn't sure what to do. Before I knew what to do, she darted left across the road and was gone. Now, I know why most cycling shorts are dark colored.

By this point, I had had enough excitement for this one ride, so I was in quite the hurry to get back toward town into civilization and off the smaller roads. Just a few more miles. As those miles rolled away, I cut through yet another neighborhood and started having bike issues. The front gear wouldn't shift. If it would shift, it wouldn't stay. If it stayed, it wouldn't stay long. My speed gear was gone and I was on a flat where I needed it. Guess that'll have to get looked at.

Then it dawned on me, if I broke down, what would I do? Who would I call? It was 3pm and most everyone I knew was at work. Guess it'd be a long walk home...

Finally, I rounded the corner, pulled up to the 4lane highway again and saw the entrance to MY neighborhood less than .25mi away. Easy enough.

As I pulled into the driveway, I looked down to see that I had completed right at 12mi in 45mins time. The good part--I finished. The best part--I finished before the rain...

I'm Easily Distracted

this was supposed to be posted on Fri Feb 13th.

I have come to the conclusion that I have issues when it comes to cleaning and general household chores.

I came home from work, and took the new bike on it's first long ride (more later), then decided I'd help Bethany around the house before the big weekend.

The weekend consisted of baking cookies, hosting a cookie class, me going camping, and her family visiting for the Mercedes Marathon. Read: BUSY.

So after the ride, I proceeded to shower, pack, and clean up around the house.

After showering, I noticed the picture on the bathroom wall, then remembered we had two more that needed hanging. I thought, sure, I'll do that for her and finish it. So, I proceed through the hall and then notice the laundry that hasn't been folded.

I'll stop and fold the laundry. I folded and sorted the laundry (minus a few of her shirts that I didn't know what to do with), then proceeded to put it away in the drawers.

As I went back into the bedroom, I got distracted by the goodwill pile of clothes, so, I decided to take care of that. I went to the storage shed, pulled out the garbage bag, then proceeded to make our bag.

Phone rang.

Went downstairs to answer the phone, then noticed the mailman out front. I went and got the mail, brought it in, threw most of it away, and then took the trash out.

On the way in, I noticed my pile of camping gear, and decided to finish packing up. Went upstairs, picked out some clothes, grabbed my sleeping bag, then came back downstairs.

Checked the weather online and somehow spent an hour doing so...

Phone rang.

Took another break to play a game on the xbox before Bethany came home. (Really only 30mins).

Bethany came home.

Started preparing the kitchen for baking cookies. Started making icing.

Realized I never did finish packing my bag. Went to pack my bag.

Came back and finished the cookies. Picked up some clutter downstairs.

Finally finished enough to call it a night and decided to back upstairs.

Reailzed I still never hung the pictures in the bathroom, or put the clothes away. Basically, looks like I did nothing...

Don't you hate those days?

I hate shoe shopping

Typically, when I go shopping, I know what I want and I go get it. I research it a little online, get some reviews, make my decision, and go to the store. It's always worked, and it's efficient.

Except when it comes to shoes.

I'm a guy. It shouldn't be hard, but I almost feel like a girl when shopping for shoes. And this time, not only did I feel like a girl, but I felt like a frustrated girl at that!

Let's backup just a bit....

....I'm getting insoles made for my feet, to help with some of my pronation problems. These problems are what led to my previous stress fracture and more recent bout with shin splints. Instead of pushing on, I went to find the problem, and now am trying to correct it.

After meeting with the pedorthist (foot dr.) he recommended a pair of dress shoes and running shoes for my foot, gait, and heel strike. No big deal. He even went as far as to tell me where to purchase them here in Birmingham - what a nice guy.

Ok, now back to the shopping.

Shoe #1- the running shoe. His recommendation was the Brooks Beasts.

I called the local shoe shop, asked for the shoe, and was given 3 other recommendations for shoes, and still not the Beasts. After persisting, he then tells me he'll order it, and it'll be here in a couple of days. Ok, I'll wait.

A couple of days later, same recommendations for other shoes, still no Beasts.

I called a few of the other local stores, including the big box retailers, still no Beasts. Seems like nobody has them.

Finally, after nearly two weeks, what do you know, the local shoe shop gets a pair in. And not one, but two pairs. How about that... While trying them on, still more other recommendations.

Can he not let me buy what I want to buy?

Finally, I have my running shoe. Now to get the insoles fitted to them!

Shoe #2- the business shoe. Anything by Dunham.

As per his recommendation, these shoes are only sold at two locations in the area. One by the Galleria, and one in Trussville. Should be pretty simple, or so I thought. I drove to the store to see the selection (so that I could go home and do some research), only to find out that they had limited sizes in the already small selection.

The lace up shoes I first like, nope. The slip on shoes I liked, they had some. Since they had a few, I called the first store, and asked them to hold a pair in my size and color. I'll pick them up later. As I showed up later, yea, they sold the one pair I asked them to hold. How nice.

I then called the Trussville store to check for the same. Luckily they had what I needed plus some. So, after driving out of the way for the first store, to be told they sold it, I finally made it to the second store to pick up my shoes.

Now, I have a pair of running shoes and a pair of dress shoes. Hopefully by this afternoon, I'll have a pair of insoles to fix them both.

And after that, I hope I have a pair of running shoes that will hold up and allow me to put some running miles down! I'm tired of being sidelined....

I bought my bike!

Saturday was a pretty good day!

After some quick early morning home chores, we went out shopping for bicycles. We figured we'd go to one of the local shops and check out their selection to see how it compared with some of the others.

Just like car shopping, play one seller on the other and see who comes out better. And see which one treats you better, just because you'll be going back quite often. So, that's what we did.

We showed up at the shop, looked around and I probably asked 1000 questions. Don't tell him, but they were all staged. I knew most of the answers, but wanted to see what he would say. Honestly, he couldn't have been better.

I got brave and took one of his bikes out for the test ride and immediately fell in love. Fast, responsive, light, and SMOOTH ride! The only problem was the color. His bike was white. After some discussing, he found a black one at his sister store, just for ME! :)

So, from the sister store, we purchased the bike. I haven't taken official pictures yet, but here's the catalog picture for the temporary...sorry.

If the picture isn't that great, it's a Specialized Allez Sport.

The maiden ride was Sun morning, and now that spring is coming, hopefully it won't be long before I really start putting some miles on it!

Hooper the Horse

Everyone needs a good morning laugh. For your laugh today, I present to you a video spoof of Beyonce's "Single Ladies".

Except, this is performed by Hooper the horse, from the Detroit Pistons Basketball Team.



And by the way, in this case, Hooper is a guy. I know Hooper, and yea, he's skilled!

It's official - I'm nuts!

I did it. Whether it was smart or not, we'll see, but it's too late now.

I registered today. I've been talking about it, dreaming about it, and training for it, but I finally made it official.

I signed up for the Springhill Medical Center Grandman Triathlon in May!

It's still a few good months away so I still have some training time, but if all goes well this will be the building block for many more to come! The "Grandman" is a considered a quick sprint triathlon and will consist of:
- 1/3mile swim
- 16.4mile bike ride
- 3.1mile run

Like I said, if this one goes well, then I'll continue on and sign up for the Chattanooga Waterfront Traithlon for July. After that, maybe a few quick runs before the Vulcan 10k in November!

Still if all goes well, then maybe the Augusta Half Ironman in 2010! Yea, here's to dreaming!

The craziest part, I don't have a bike! :) The closest I have is my college commuter that's barely holding on right now. Guess that means I'll be buying a bike soon...

Bacon Explosion

Heard of the Bacon Explosion yet?

I mentioned it the other night, thinking it sounded pretty good and should be one of those things you try, just for fun, but Bethany didn't quite agree.

I'm not quite sure my gut would either, but still.

Basically,
2lbs thick bacon
2lbs pork sausage
1 jar bbq sauce
1 jar bbq rub



1. Create a bacon weave. Make it tight.
2. Add the bbq rub to the top of the weave.
3. Press the 2lbs of sausage on top. Keep it within the confines of the bacon square.
4. Cook the remaining bacon to your preference. Chop it up and add it to the top of the sausage.
5. Add some of the bbq rub and some of the bbq sauce.
6. Carefully roll the sausage & inner bacon layer tighly together. In a log fashion.
7. Roll the sausage forward, this time including the bacon weave.
8. Glaze the outside of the log with the bbq sauce.
9. Place in a smoker. 1hr per inch of thickness.
10. Slice in slivers and place on biscuits.



After some more reading, this has been determined to be one the biggest platters for this years superbowl entertainment. Personally, I wouldn't mind. Don't worry, if you split it among friends, you won't be responsible for consuming all 5000 calories in this thing!

Photo Credit: BBQ Addicts-Bacon Explosion

Oddities of the Radio

On the way home the other day, I heard a random commercial sponsoring some sort of local event...I wasn't paying attention. But, you could go to their website, fill out the application, and possibly win a $50 gift card to McDonalds. Yea, McDonalds.

Now, I don't eat at McD's too much, and I don't really pay much attention to them either. I do know that they have the McChicken for $.99. So, for the $50, I could get roughly 45 of those things (gotta factor in tax).

Have we, as a society, gotten to the point that we can be paid off in Fast Food? I mean come on! Personally, had I paid attention, I may have entered the contest, but not for the chance of winning a gift card for fast food!

I would prefer the $50 though, I could definitely spend it elsewhere.

Unbelievable.

Things I learned this morning...

It's not unusual for me to get up and get to the gym before work. I've been going after work, but now that Bethany has a new job, the morning works better! It's more fun to share dinner and the evenings with my wife. And I feel better throughout the day.

This morning was no different, except I was supposed to join up for a "trial swim" with the Masters Swim Group. Seeing as how they start at 0500, I set my clock a few minutes earlier than usual, so I'd be on time.

I arrived and was in the water just after, so the timing is fine. Not such a bad thing. But what I did learn:

1. There are some really great swimmers that show up at 0500! I thought I was good, but I was relegated to the "beginner" lane. I am a beginner, but compared to others, I'm a fish out of water! Holy Cow. For comparison, I swam 3000yrds (1.7mi) while several others cleared 4000yrds easy.

2. I need to start making a checklist of items to put in my gym bag. I pack the night before and run through a mental list, but as of late, I've been forgetting plenty. This morning an extra trip to walmart between the gym and work was necessary.

3. To go along with the checklist, I need to check over my clothes a little better. I picked up what was supposed to be a good pair of jeans for today (casual) only to realize that there was a worn hole in the leg. Note to self: these jeans are no longer suited for work.

4. I can eat a horse. After this morning's swim, by the time I got to work, I was absolutely starving. For breakfast, an orange, two dozen grapes, oatmeal, 1/2 bagel with peanut butter and 2 cups of coffee. I still could've eaten more.

If I'm going to keep this up, I'm definitely going to have to change some the schedule of my workouts, so that I can get home early in the afternoons. We'll have to see though.

First Trail Miles of '09

It's nice getting out and getting some hiking miles in. It's really nice when you can do that the first month of the year!

Over the last weekend, I met up with the scout troop, which is working on their backpacking merit badge, and enjoyed a nice 10 miler with them. We decided to re-hike the Cherokee Ridge Alpine Trail around Lake Martin; last year's effort fell short.

It was definitely chilly. The temps started out in the low 30's with a light breeze. Almost everyone was bundled up and layered, which proved to be a problem. The sun broke through the clouds, then everyone realized they were wearing just a few too many clothes. But that's ok - it's a learning experience.

Due to the cold, there were quite a few rock faces that were covered in ice, which made the hike that much better!

Pardon the picture quality, but we all had to gather under some of the larger icicles.

A really neat site was walking under the rock cliffs with icicles hanging overhead. We went ahead and knocked the larger ones down (so they wouldn't fall on us) but still enjoyed the views as we passed.
Overhead:

Ground level:

The highlight was walking parallel to the famous Acapulco Rock on the lake and seeing just what it looks like in the winter.

All in all, it turned out to be a great trip. Six boys, four adults, and ten more miles marked off their requirement.

Next up is the 20miler requirement...

Final Virtual Run

The new year has begun and I've finished the Virtual Tour of 2008.

As of the end of 2008, the stats looked something like this:
Running: 42:06:25 - 247.9mi
Biking: 40:37:58 - 654.39mi
Swimming: 10:52:49 - 15.33mi
Walking: 1:23:50 - 6.24mi
Hiking: 23:50:00 - 43.52mi
Rowing: 0:23:32 - 3.08mi

Grand Total - 119:14:34 - 976.71mi

The total between the year end and the map is different, simply because I haven't started over yet. If there's anyplace you'd like to see me travel to, let me know and I'll put it on the itenerary, and pick it up on the way, or I'll just start over with a new map. I'm open to suggestions...

Riddle me this... (answers)

Here are your answers for the riddles. Let's see how you did...

Answers:

1. If you answered that you are first, then you are absolutely wrong! If you overtake the second person and you take his place, then you are second!

2. If you answered that you are second to last, then you are wrong again. Tell me, how can you overtake the LAST Person?

3. Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100. If you don't believe it, check it with a calculator!

4. Did you answer 'Nunu'? NO! Of course it isn't. Her name is Mary! Read the question again.

5. He just has to open his mouth and ask...

And how did you do?

Riddle me this...

Quick set of brain teasers for you today :)

1. You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?

2. If you overtake the last person, then you are... ?

3. Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10 . What is the total?

4. Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?

5. A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?

Post your answers in the comments, and eventually we'll share the answers, to see just how you did today! :)

Christmas Recap

Ok, so we slacked a little with the blog during Christmas....

Seeing as how Bethany now has a JOB, we had to wait around to receive her "hiring packet" in the mail, until Tuesday. Then we left for Montgomery to spend Christmas with the family.

Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we went to a candlelight service with my folks, and did Christmas with my parents.

Thursday, Christmas Day, we did Christmas morning with Bethany's family.

Of course we made out with a nice little loot from everyone, and surely didn't go away disappointed! It was a great time.

We stayed in Montgomery throughout the weekend, visiting with family, lounging around, enjoying the holidays, and doing a whole lot of nothing. By the time we returned on Sunday, the holidays were over and we both had to go to work. Talk about a SHORT HOLIDAY!

Woohoo!!

Merry Christmas and a Ho, ho, ho to Robert and I. I accepted a position at UAB this morning, so although I don't quite have my degree yet, I do finally have the big J-O-B :). I start in January and will defend my thesis in the next few months. This is a huge weight lifted off my shoulders because we weren't sure how easy it was going to be to get a job in this economy. I will be in a structural biology lab doing things I've never done before, so this is going to be a great opportunity for me to learn some new technologies in an exciting field of research.

Well I better quit stalling and get back to icing the 14 dozen cookies that we need to have done by tomorrow. We will post pictures of our finished product. We hope everyone is having a happy holiday season.

~Bethany