shield your eyes

this guy

2012-01-11T09:51:00.002-06:00

today is the second day he's pestering me in my office.

a year in.

2012-01-07T16:47:00.000-06:00

24% vs 29%

2012-01-07T09:57:00.001-06:00

a few scenes from this morning's ride.

hydration

2012-01-07T05:40:00.001-06:00

the jar of coffee i'm having before this morning's ride.

i think i've been here before.

2012-01-05T13:08:00.001-06:00

it has been a little while since the last post.

christmas has come and gone, so has 2011. alas, 2012 is here and now. i am looking forward to posting more stuff than last year. i have had lots of things going on and too many side projects and aspirations to keep much focus on any one thing and in 2012 i hope to change that.

my brother and i have both already registered for this year's Total 200 already too. it is a long ways off - the end of june - but i think it will be here and past before you know it. in preparation for this ride, and others, i will probably be posting more cycling related content. again, hopefully.

**also: i just switched to the new blogger interface so forgive me if my posts look a little jacked for a minute.**

you and i are gonna break it

2011-12-13T07:49:00.002-06:00

with my lack of commuting via bike as of recently the only thing i can think of is how much i despise driving around town. people just can't get out of their own way and it makes me feel miserable that i am contributing to the cluster each time i get behind the wheel.

quality shapes

2011-12-05T07:39:00.002-06:00

i feel like i've been beaten up.

rode the T4T Epic Ride yesterday. did poorly, time wise, i think, but finished. i am convinced it is due to my lack of training and my lack of time spent on the mountain bike, but i have no concrete evidence to prove that.

every year that proves to be a very well organized event, run by a solid group of folks.

things are continuing to heat up

2011-11-30T05:43:00.002-06:00

friday night - west florida wheelmen christmas party, should be good times.

sunday - toys4tots epic ride presented by PORC. 50 miles (5 laps) at the UWF trails. bring one toy each for a boy and a girl to registration at 7am, start at 8am. tons and tons of raffles and prizes. be there.

all about the weekend

2011-11-21T07:41:00.000-06:00

from the weekend

2011-11-14T07:39:00.003-06:00

life at work

2011-11-10T15:29:00.000-06:00

don't have access

2011-11-03T12:49:00.001-05:00

happy november

2011-11-02T13:06:00.001-05:00

business to discuss

2011-10-30T05:41:00.002-05:00

here it is... sunday morning. sitting on the couch in my argyle sweater and boxers, wrapped in a fleece blanket and drinking coffee. there is a law & order re-run on the television and i have just made a cursory run through of some of my favorite websites. the boy and shea are still tucked away in dreamland.

in approximately five minutes i will be in the bathroom getting all dolled up for this morning's wheelmen ride. we're doing the alabama point loop today. the wind is supposed to pick up and it is cold (for florida). jacob said he was going to show up and i was trying to talk remy and peaches into showing up as well..... i would like it if they all showed, but since i am always in need of more operating income i would be better inclined to bet against their arrival just so i can make a quick buck.

in other news, i need to get up with my mom and bro to see how this recent spat of wintery northeastern storms has impacted them and theirs.

happy sunday!

gold

2011-10-29T18:10:00.000-05:00

ick

2011-10-17T12:57:00.002-05:00

oh baby

2011-10-16T15:27:00.001-05:00

ky+pregnancy test+condoms+hangover pills = hilarious checkout display.

that story and more.....

2011-10-12T05:28:00.003-05:00

2011 Fenner McConnell/Matt Wantz Memorial Ride

Saturday, October 22nd

42, 62, & 102 mile options

preregister now for $25 at active.com

or register the morning of for $35

be there or be square

long drag to the finish

2011-10-11T08:32:00.002-05:00

this past weekend i was finally able to get back on the bike.

saturday morning i met up with peaches for an early morning love ride. it was nice and easy with good conversation and good weather. just all around good stuff.

sunday i participated in my first wheelmen ride since the hot heat of summer. we rolled out to hurst hammock and back with a +/-15mph wind out of the northeast. my legs felt great the whole day which made me even more excited to be back on the road.

on october 22nd this year's fenner mcconnell/matt wantz memorial ride will be taking place. a handful of years ago this memorial ride was the first century i had ever done. due to various reasons (excuses) i have not done the whole thing since then, which is a little regrettable, but some of my excuses are good. this year i plan to do the entire thing once more. fingers crossed.

two in

2011-10-09T05:22:00.002-05:00

a row.

2011-10-09T05:21:00.001-05:00

ugh, for reals...

2011-09-26T03:05:00.002-05:00

morphine and antibiotics.....

buzz

2011-09-24T04:47:00.001-05:00

i don't really feel like it, but i'm about to make my way toward dahlonega for Six Gap.
are we there yet?

pensacola cycling classic - 2nd edition

2011-09-21T05:16:00.005-05:00

sunday i "helped" the awesome dudes from CycleSports bicycles at the pit tent for the crit race downtown. since we were being fueled by some donations from Pensacola Bay Brewery i actually didn't do very much.

the subaru team was out there representing as were a handful of wheelmen (and wheelwomen). a lot of these folks i will see again this coming weekend up in Dahlonega, GA when i meet my brother up there to ride Six Gap.

breakdown the plan

2011-09-09T06:05:00.002-05:00

monday (tuesday)

2011-09-06T07:50:00.001-05:00

processors

2011-08-24T12:40:00.001-05:00

exodus

2011-08-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

by some strange lady

2011-08-17T20:01:00.004-05:00

kanpai

2011-08-17T05:08:00.002-05:00

calories

2011-08-09T07:30:00.000-05:00

on the other side of this break

2011-08-04T05:50:00.002-05:00

we're switching things up in 2011. we moved house already this year. we lost a fair amount of space, but gained a yard with some grass for the boy and mable to play in. i also gained a garage, which is awesome.

yesterday, to continue with the theme of changing things for the better, i quit my job. it was a tough decision to make, but it was a long time coming. i feel like a giant weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

pretty soon we will be back in the washington dc area to attend a family reunion of sorts. we're looking forward to getting out of town for a minute, to say the least.

last night, to celebrate career shifts, we went to sumo sushi and stuffed ourselves. on the way back home i poked my head into the new skin & bones tattoo parlour. this place is HUGE!!

to wrap up, the clock just ticked over to 6:00am and the heat index is already at 96.

changes

2011-08-03T06:51:00.003-05:00

ghostly assassin

2011-07-25T07:04:00.000-05:00

that's easy too

2011-07-24T11:55:00.001-05:00

one total

2011-07-20T13:14:00.000-05:00

late and out dated

2011-07-20T05:10:00.002-05:00

porc hosted another edition of the fat tire challenge this past sunday. it has been a few years since the previous one and i am glad to finally see this race come back. this time around though, the gentlemen at porc managed to get it included in an alabama race series and have it timed by about time events. they also had a preregistration system this year, which probably worked out for the best.

rewind to march or this year. i rode a time trial out at the blackwater trails and, at that time, hadn't been riding the mountain bike much. a few days after the time trial i disassembled my mountain bike and began stripping the frame for repaint.

fast forward to this past friday. i had been wishy-washy about actually going to the fat tire challenge, but finally decided to give it a go. so, with my mointain bike still in a state if disarray and without any paint or sealant or frame saver or anything i decided that it would be a fantastic idea to put it together and go race in the rain.

needless to say, my wishy-washiness evolved into poor planning which further grew into poor performance.

this brings us to today. in my garage, looking sad, is one rust colored stripped bianchi muss frame and fork, covered in sand, with no braking power. my brooks has gone from a dark and classic honey color to an off-white, dry, crusty, and dusty version of itself. my shoes are still coated in mud and nature and are still holding onto the half inch of sand that made it inside the shoes while i rode - this was a particularly nice occurance since, on race day, i left home without any socks to wear.

good times. sort of.

retroactive

2011-07-14T07:07:00.002-05:00

out into the open fields

2011-07-04T09:30:00.002-05:00

yeah, well ok.

2011-07-01T08:09:00.002-05:00

all i got

2011-06-29T09:33:00.003-05:00

remove it

2011-06-28T05:25:00.004-05:00

it ends. it ends quicker than it began, so it seems.

we packed up and hit the road thursday night around 9pm and pulled into arlington around 2:30 friday afternoon.

the nephews, niece, dad, brother & sister-in-law, and myself all went to pie-tanza for a big pasta dinner on friday evening before my brother and i rolled over to revolution cycles in clarendon to get his hubs adjusted. once back at the house we organized all of our supplies for saturday's ride. after that.... sleep.

not really. i didn't sleep very well at all. 4am came way too soon.

patrick showed up and all of our supplies and bikes and bodies were loaded up in the truck, before hitting the 7-11 for breakfast, and then continuing on (via a few u-turns and google map checks) to anacostia park in south DC.

we did our check-in with the volunteers and got ready to go. all of the participants merged into their groups and a few words were shared by the ride organizers before everyone headed off towards the capital building. the natural ebb and flow of a hundred cyclist trying to get in where they fit in was certainly present, but after about ten miles things smoothed out and a few folks proceeded to nail it. cruising at +25mph toward the first check point was not how the day needed to go, so we kicked it back a little bit and paced ourselves.

after some rolling terrain, a puncture, and some rest stops we finally rolled into the lunch stop at 107 miles. my average so far was sitting right at 19.2 or 19.3mph. not bad. it was a nice break to sit in the grass in the shade and eat a little bit of turkey and cheese. also... that was the best pepsi i think i've ever had. anyone who knows me knows i don't really drink sodas too. after lunch we saddled up and began the last half of our ride.

after the third and final check point a few of us started to put in a little more work. probably less in an attempt to go faster and more so just to hurry up and get done. in our hurry we missed a turn and had to double back through southeast dc. it only added about two miles over all so it wasn't a total screw up.

back at the finish we checked our computers to figure our stats: 204.53 miles; 18.2mph average; 8,737 feet of elevation gain; 11 hours, 11 minutes ride time; somewhere in the ballpark of 14 hours total time including lunch and all check points.

i didn't get much sleep saturday night either as my body was too exhausted to sleep. sunday came way too early, but we managed to get it together and head to the silver diner for breakfast where i proceeded to maul an order of cajun salmon and scrambled eggs. and then we packed the truck and hit the rode for home around noon on sunday to arrive back in pensacola about 3:30 monday morning.

whirlwind trip. lots of miles past, but it was totally worth it. we are already planning and talking about how we can improve for next year's edition of the total 200.

for the record, i would like to thank cyclesports and truly spokin for hooking me up - always; the volunteers and organizers of the total 200 did an amazing job with logistics and lunches and support and everything in general; my dad for taking a lot of the driving and fuel burden off of my shoulders, i think if i had gone by myself (which was initially the plan) i would be in such a state of exhaustion and utter confusion i would probably still be curled up and wimpering in a corner somewhere; my brother and his family for putting us up and feeding us end everything else; and most importantly to shea and mrok for letting me escape pensacola to participate in such ridiculous endevours and for holding the fort down at home and for allowing me enough time in advance to prepare myself for such an event.

it was awesome.

just one bathtub

2011-06-23T06:53:00.002-05:00

it begins.

i'm at work right now, not really focused on anything remotely associated with work. on our dinner table at home, my bags are 95% (i made that percentage up, but it seems right in my head) packed and ready to go. my bike is (mostly) cleaned, lubed, and waiting.

tonight my dad will be scooping me up to get on the road for washington dc. on saturday my brother and i will embark on the total 200. will we succeed in record time? will we fail miserably? will we succeed miserably? who knows.

in dreams

2011-06-22T04:56:00.001-05:00

microterminology: a phrase that means very little.

visualizar

2011-06-21T05:01:00.002-05:00

controlled burn at uwf over the winter.

no issues

2011-06-11T15:49:00.002-05:00

down to place domino

2011-06-10T06:59:00.002-05:00

free shipping

2011-06-04T12:25:00.000-05:00

New Madbury

2011-06-02T07:09:00.002-05:00

summer is here!! it has been hot already, with temps and the heat index in the hish 90's and in some cases the 100's.

we got registered for the Total 200 the day before they cut registration off. talk about procrastinating. now, with 3 weekends between me and that ride i need to get some training started. ha!

injury

2011-05-25T12:55:00.001-05:00

john tyler wasn't honored

2011-05-24T07:20:00.002-05:00

it is pretty much summer time. the mountain bike has been disassembled and is being stripped. i'm going to take my time with it since i probably won't be on the trails again until fall/winter.

you make the difference

2011-05-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

would you believe the charcoal briquette?

2011-05-17T07:26:00.002-05:00

saturday was new helmet day and i was having a hard time deciding between the green and white version and the black and white version. i eventually went with the black and white, because, well, that's how i do it.

sunday morning's wheelmen ride was the out-and-back to navarre beach. the weather was borderline chilly and we had more flats and crashes than any other wheelmen ride i've attended. i will chalk this up to the strong winds taking a lot out of everyone.

later on sunday evening i grilled up two steaks - one to eat right away and one to save for lunch at work monday. i ate both sunday.

could eat a cake

2011-05-06T07:20:00.001-05:00

yo, eight ball junkie

2011-05-03T07:18:00.001-05:00

led by a barrel-chested

2011-05-02T07:21:00.003-05:00

friday was our first day of our summer schedule at work. 25% more weekend for 10% less money. you do the math. a co-worker had a small, informal get together at his house to kick it off right. the next day, saturday, i crawled out of bed and proceded to get ready for a ride.

last summer, as part of my training for CDT2010, i attempted a ride out to fort morgan in alabama. i ended up not completing it and turning around due to lack of water (it was summer time) and a lack of knowledge of the area i was in. i returned home that day with somewhere around 90-95 miles logged. still not a bad ride.

this past saturday i was determined to complete this ride. i knew where i could stop to ensure hydration didn't become an issue, but i still didn't know how close or far i was to my destination when i turned around last time.

i made it to the entrance. they charge a small fee - $5 - to get into the fort, which i wasn't keen on paying since i was just going to ride a loop and leave. to make up for it, i rode out to the end of one of the sea walls and sat in the sun drinking water and eating peanuts.

the entire way home i had a head wind. on top of that i had flora-bama mullet toss traffic and spring break amateurs walking into that traffic to contend with for a portion of the ride. it was fun/nerve wracking dodging people and cars and i almost, for a brief moment, felt like i was in some urban fixed gear video. almost.

once home i dawned some swim trunks and sat in Mr. Ok's kiddie pool and showed my proud cyclist sunburn to all the neighbors walking by and basked in my 105 mile trip.

sunday i met up with the wheelmen for their ride, which was nice. i felt good. for some reason they were all riding unusually slow for the entire ride. we discussed the possibility of putting together a really, really long ride in the near future. it is one i've been thinking of for a while but i don't know many people who would be up for it. details in the future, for now i will relax and enjoy monday at work and the fact i pulled in 155 miles over the past two days.

i know a handful of people, but i don't really know anyone who enjoys mondays at work.

slippery gulch rodeo

2011-04-26T07:08:00.001-05:00

later became infamous

2011-04-22T07:20:00.003-05:00

i ordered these panaracer stradius sport 700x26c tires just before the chasing daylight tour last year. by the time the tour rolled around i had already determined these things sucked and had purchased a set of specialized tires to ride the tour on. in january when i got my new bike i put these panaracers on it. i figured i'd give them another try.
-
these things are not good. they mount terribly. so much so that when i ride my road bike now i carry a tire jack to get them back onto the rim after i get a puncture. speaking of punctures, these things are about as durable as riding around on wet toilet paper. i ran over a q-tip in the road a while back and was amazed it didn't go through the tire.
-
if someone is going to give you a pair of these for free - don't take them, it's a waste of your money, time, and effort.
-

for the majority of 2010 i rode this pair of panaracer RiBMo 700x25c tires on my specialized roubaix. during that time i suffered zero punctures. i was so impressed by these tires i ordered the above pair of panaracers (the stradius sport) thinking i would get the same type of quality but in a less bomb-proof, more lightweight package.
-
when these tires came off of my road bike i didn't think it fair to have them just hanging around, so i mounted them on my commuter bike. they go on and off fairly easily, but you don't have to do this very often as they are virtually impenetrable.
-
seriously. no flats. ever. nearly a year of road bike riding (+/-3,500 miles) and then fixed gear commuting use, complete with skip stopping, skidding, and riding the glass strewn bayou chico bridge twice a day. no flats. ever.
-
they are a bit on the portly side for most people riding road bikes, but for this kind of performance they are well worth the weight penalty.
-
if someone offers to sell you a pair of these, or give you a pair for free - take them up on it before someone else does. and then buy them a six pack.

agenda

2011-04-21T07:37:00.001-05:00

saturday morning. out for a spin. checking out our new hood.

this prison is more laid back than the last

2011-04-19T07:37:00.002-05:00

cut from

2011-04-12T07:47:00.000-05:00

transport his invalid wife through the streets

2011-04-07T13:11:00.001-05:00

eggs benedict

2011-03-30T07:19:00.002-05:00

about thirty minutes in to saturday morning's ride i picked up this little guy. although these tires still have the "nips" on them they are pretty beat, having numerous cuts and holes throughout. when i removed the safety pin from the tire the air actually escaped from a nearby slice in the tire unrelated to the current puncture.

speak the same

2011-03-18T07:01:00.001-05:00

no need for a title

2011-03-17T07:28:00.002-05:00

check it out.

ha!

2011-03-15T07:11:00.002-05:00

the other day, as we were walking and enjoying the weather, i noticed that my letter A was still where i left it, although showing evidence that it had been moved a little. no one has taken it or thrown it away yet.

yet.

storage igloo

2011-03-14T07:43:00.000-05:00

liberty cabbage

2011-03-11T07:06:00.001-06:00

the old dentist appointment trick

2011-03-10T16:27:00.000-06:00

the professor & the puzzle

2011-03-09T12:24:00.000-06:00

three presidents

2011-03-07T07:37:00.002-06:00

i met remy at the gas station on 12th & cervantes and we headed out. it was freezing cold, windy, and overcast. after hours of riding and getting lost we finally made it to keoke. no one was there. we walked around a bit to regain feeling in our hands and feet before jumping back on the scooters and doing a little exploring on some forest roads. after a while we gassed up and headed back for town. once back in pensacola and close to home remy decided to do some off-road ditch carving which ultimately lead to him laying his ruckus down and then it becoming less than operational. he called his brother, then we loaded his scooter into the back of his brother's truck and i continued home.

give or take 140 miles round trip. next time though i will have to wear my long-johns and some different gloves.

what are you going to be doing, come the time

2011-02-28T07:28:00.002-06:00

got in a little bit of riding this past weekend and a lot of family time, which was awesome. the weather was pretty spectacular too. we got to cooked on the grill both saturday and sunday!

first posted picture of the new bike!

contrary to some beliefs

2011-02-16T07:29:00.001-06:00

one rivet on the brooks label popped off, so i pulled the other one off.

now i'm just left with holes.

background

2011-02-14T07:26:00.000-06:00

the daily extra

2011-02-11T07:49:00.002-06:00

there's a myth that circulated for years concerning government dog tags issued to United States Army personnel during World War II. this particularly morbid myth concerns the notches on both sides of the tags. it is rumored that the notches were placed between the teeth of a dead soldier, and then the mouth was kicked shut, ensuring the proper identification of the corpse. but the real answer is that the notches are there to hold the tag in place on the embossing machine. the new dog tags, which use a different embossing machine, don't have the notches.

-from my desk calendar

bad people will roast in the cellar

2011-02-10T07:22:00.005-06:00

gorilla girl

2011-02-02T07:25:00.002-06:00

today's post was actually supposed to happen yesterday, but i got busy and forgot. the letter "A" went out before 5a.m.

"A" can be traced to a pictogram of an ox head in Egyptian hieroglyph or the proto-sinaitic alphabet.

we'll have our own air crash museum

2011-01-30T16:31:00.002-06:00

we all went to bed really early yesterday. this means we all woke up really early today. i made some toast for the boy. shea and i had some coffee. then she made me an awesome cheese and mustard sandwich before i was off to meet up for the west florida wheelmen ride.

it was a pretty good turn out, with fair weather and a good handful of folks. i rolled back home with 60.69 miles under my belt.

and then it was time for a quart and a double bacon cheeseburger and tots from TOPS. followed by a nap.

boosted

2011-01-29T09:45:00.002-06:00

ahhh......

i just returned from a nice 43.76 mile ride. the temps ranged from the middle 40's to 61 right as i was getting home. hardly any traffic or wind made for a good start this morning.

there's a good possibility it might be dead

2011-01-26T07:06:00.001-06:00

native capacity

2011-01-24T07:22:00.001-06:00

teleprompters read

2011-01-18T07:07:00.000-06:00

1 hour and 28 minutes remaining

2011-01-14T07:52:00.002-06:00

and adjust

2011-01-12T07:37:00.000-06:00

everyone feel all right

2011-01-11T07:33:00.002-06:00

typical

2011-01-10T07:26:00.003-06:00

saturday morning i woke up and had some coffee and a guiness before heading to the trails for a ride. i had about half a lap in before the front end of my bike went wonky - again. i dropped it off at the shop and the went birthday shopping for shea. i also spent some gift cards i had. once that spending spree was done i came home and did a little painting and weighed all the loose bike components i could find on my new digital scales.

sunday we went to Char-Char's first birthday party. good times!

boring

2011-01-06T07:50:00.002-06:00

breakfast at the office this morning.

working is such a bummer sometimes. sure, it provides enough income to get enough credit on hand to pretty much ruin any income you have - but - with that credit comes the ability to get a decent bike every couple of years and maybe take a trip once a year and get some kind of nice things for the family. however, we do seem to be slipping behind in the battle to get ahead. 2011 needs to be the year that changes.

detection

2011-01-04T07:36:00.002-06:00

a little bit of everything, huh?

2010-12-30T11:04:00.002-06:00

i'm at the office right now. i have taken off a little early every day this week, after all - it is the holidays. did a little bit of painting yesterday. i'm going for a bike ride if it stops raining, otherwise i will do a little more painting today.

take your hat off and stay a while.

2010-12-29T13:54:00.001-06:00

robin

2010-12-27T08:29:00.002-06:00

when leaving coon hill cemetery we tried blazing our way around the gate and through the woods. we were fairly unsuccessful in this attempt. we were, however, successful at finding this discolored and fairly well-hidden bat in the woods. it was burried under some brush a few feet from the edge of the road. had it not been for two ne'er-do-wells on scooters, this thing would probably have remained hidden for quite some time. we decided to bring it with us as something of this nature is a little inappropriate to just leave in the woods - in my opinion anyway.

extra long deluxe

2010-12-11T20:37:00.002-06:00

learn more

2010-12-09T07:56:00.001-06:00

this place is a zoo

2010-12-06T07:43:00.000-06:00

family organizer

2010-12-03T07:37:00.002-06:00

recreation

2010-12-02T07:37:00.000-06:00

the magician

2010-11-30T07:42:00.000-06:00

good morning

2010-11-25T03:42:00.000-06:00

H A P P Y T H A N K S G I V I N G !

potassium sorbate

2010-11-24T07:56:00.002-06:00

put this thing back together this morning during coffee. the only thing i was missing was an 1/8" chain.

renew

2010-11-19T09:45:00.001-06:00

multitasking.