Something orange!

     Yesterday was a busy day!  One of the best things about the day was finally getting around to potting two trees (a Calamondin Orange and a Persian Lime) and repotting another orange that had a rough winter.  There is something just pleasing about planting things and having them grow that seems to stimulate me somehow.  I know it sounds corny, but eating out of ones own garden is really rewarding!
     I had picked up four nice bags of soil from The Home Depot that were on special and brought them home.  I didn't realize this, but I only needed one as the roots of the plants were fairly significant. The older tree will have to be repotted again in the near future.  I don't know what I was thinking as I had the pot already and should have just planted it in the right pot to begin with, but such is life:-)

      One thing is for sure...the Calamondin tree looks exquisite!  It is in full bloom and I am hoping I can get some fruit from it this year.  The other two will need some time and I will have to look out this winter for all of them as frost is evil!

     Perhaps the most intriguing part of the process was moving the large pot and having a bright orange corn snake pop out from underneath it.  I think I accidentally hurt it moving the pot as it was a little aggressive.  They aren't usually like that.  I did manage to transport him with my arm, as he was biting my fingers, to the small rose bush for a photo op:-)

Back in the Saddle...

      For almost a week, riding my bike has been put on the back burner.  The weather was the main culprit and getting out for a quick run between showers was easier than having to get rained on on the bike.   The other reason is that it was my weekend for my son to stay over and I even managed to swipe him from his mom for the holiday.   We still managed to keep very busy exercising and he is starting to like running...OK...not really, but he does it even if it is just to please his dad:-) 
     Anyway, when the time came today to jump on the bike, I jumped!  I raced home from work, changed, aired up the tires, mounted the camera, and off I went.  Nothing was stopping me.  It's amazing how work on the bike feels so good.  I was grinning most of the way despite the strong head winds on the way out.  I managed a quick 20 miles and jumped into the shorts and ran 3.  Not bad for a start of the week.  OK...not the start, but for me?...I'll say yes!  Then, it was gangbusters to clean and rush down to the school. 
     My son had lost his ID card and can't get on the bus anymore without it.  So I picked him up and headed home.  Now to get into planting the trees into the pots with the new soil:-)

Alien!!!

     Up at 2 and nothing to do? Write about something scary! Yesterday, while the rain was whipping, I decided to pull out an old favorite.  Alien.  With the upcoming movie Prometheus about to take to the theater, what better way to get a quick brush up on the fun, than to show my son what a very good, scary movie is like. I pulled it out and decided my son was ready to watch it.  I did forewarn him, but he’s 10 so nothing scares him.  After the first ten minutes, I remembered why I loved the movie so much.  Scott is amazing at capturing the quiet and translating it to film.  The suspense just kind of sneaks up out of nowhere and bites you where you least expect it.  The way in which the creature is presented fully grown is amazing and iconic.  I think the creature, in total, is on the screen for a whole five minutes?  But, you’re scared for most of the movie?  This says a lot!!!

       Even my young son loved it.  I don’t think he liked jumping every time the cat jumped on someone, but it was funny to watch.  I can’t wait to see Prometheus just to see if Scott can pull off the same type of movie quality that he is known for.  I’m kind of tired of the lack of quality in not only sci-fi movies, but horror movies alike.  And, being a fan of both, I have been waiting eagerly for this picture to be made.  In fact, now that my son is a fully fledged fan and was actually able to sleep with no problems, bring it on!  OK…maybe after a screening session ;-)   And, just in case you won't be able to get over the scary alien picture, look at this one to relieve any fear then close my page...

This just in…

     The zombie apocalypse has begun.  Lock your doors and bar your windows!  Make sure your son is where you left him and not running loose.   There will be safety nets outside most major cities to quell the uprising of dead and take back what the dead have taken from us.  Barricades will be monitored with the most up to date monitoring systems and manned with personnel around the clock so you and your loved ones will be safe.  Oh, and please, please stay away from Vegas!!
    

      It's really too bad the victim wasn't Chuck Norris or none of this would have happened!  Anyway...just making light of an otherwise tragic situation.  Damn, I hate zombies!!!

It's all about the hat.

     One of the best things about being a dad, is when a son reaches a certain age and wants to be like you in everything you do.  The way you dress, the way you walk, the way you eat...everything.  This sometimes makes it difficult as you must watch what you do in order to be a good example, but it has wonderful rewards.

      I was recently given a hat that my grandfather wore and my son noticed it today and picked it right up.  Flourishing it on his head and trying to get the tilt just right.  He knows I love hats and he just thought it would be cool to wear one like his dads for a day at least:-)  

     What a great son he is and it brought back memories of a song that my dad and I used to listen to, when I was young.  My dad is still around, but I hope I get the stetson if it lasts as long as he does.  Right, Dad?  I know I will have fond memories of you and I only want that for my son.  No matter what a person goes through or what your job, money, love situation may be...great memories are the best thing I could ever give my son as they last forever!

Death by Taste?

     Once in a while a guy has to get out of the house with his son and see the town.  Strolling through the park and watching the dog drool on all the strangers he never seems to dislike is a favorite!  But, as so often happens, hunger comes a calling and my son has to eat.  We decided today would be a GrillSmith kind of day.
     We don't get to do this but rarely.  Money is always tight, but one must eat out once in a while to at least experience something new.  In we go...the place is pretty quiet except for a few children laughing in the background.  We are seated in the nearest booth and both of us order a drink.  My son asks if he would rather have salmon or steak...LOL!!  I say yeah right!  He says no really.  Steak on his menu is cheaper than the cheapest thing on mine so we both go cheap.  He orders the steak with fries and I order the burger with au gratin potatoes. 

     We wait for a little while enjoying the conversation and out comes the food.  This has to be one of the juiciest burgers I have tasted.  I actually had to eat it with a fork.  My chatterbox of a son must have liked what he had as well because he didn't say much and ate the whole thing.  This in itself is a miracle.  I on the other hand thought the burger was great tasting, but stuck to the meat and didn't eat the bread.  I also didn't eat the whole thing which again is amazing.  It was just too much food for my now, smaller stomach to take in.  So, the verdict?  Great food and the answer is "yes" you could probably die eating this thing:-)

Dirt, Water, and a Pipe Dream

     A year ago, Katy I decided it would be wise to start growing our own vegetables.  We were looking for healthy alternatives and fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and squash sounded like a great idea.  We went to the store and purchased all the materials and then managed to drive the truck full of soil home without blinding the innocent drivers behind us and hand load it into the two planter boxes.  The idea would be to plant one and use the vegetable stock from the first to toil into the other so that this year it would be a better garden. 

The first year was pretty unsuccessful.  And, one of the reasons for this lack of success was an inferior water system:  The good ole’ soaker hose.  While this would seem like a good idea, it just never lived up to the expectations that I had.  So, this year when it came time to plant again, I started out with another soaker and really realized my mistake.

     The plants were suffering and I would need to water on top of the regular water schedule for them to grow.  And, with both boxes now full of veggies, water was needed.  Enter the underground sprinkler system.  I’ve been needing a good project and this would be cheap and easy on my back.  My son could help dig the trenches and sling pipe and we could get it done in a couple hours after work.

     After work, I picked up all the equipment needed and started to dig.  What do you know; it started to rain…HA!!  So my son and I headed in out of the storm to work another day.  So, today, out came the shovels and cement and into the holes we went.  My son fed pipe and it went together in an hour and faster than expected.  We turned the water on and what do you know…WATER!!  Now our vegetables can get the precious water they need in the heat of the day and we can finally start to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  One other side bonus is that I don’t have to worry about all those hoses when I mow and weed eat.  Now, to keep my son out of the tomatoes long enough so I can enjoy some:-)?
     The best part of this experience was after the work was done.  My son and I went for a nice run together.  He rode his bike while I ran the first two miles.  He, then, parked his bike and ran with me the last mile.  Work and reward.  I love that kid!!

  

Polk County Time Trial Series

I’ll just give a brief rundown of the first two and expound on the third as I remember it better.

This is a very well run time trial series run by Rebecca Marsh of Faith Runners in Lakeland, FL. She is a very fast Time Trial Rider training for nationals. 5, 10 mile time trials on a perfectly straight road await you. Yes, there is traffic. But it is mild and there is a big shoulder so no worries except when passing and turning around. Yes, there is a turnaround at the halfway point so I guess there is one turn:-)

I had never done a time trial before the first one of the series and put out a pretty good time on my first try with a little help from Kent Polk on strategy with a 23:51. I felt this was a good starting point. The wind was fair and the fastest aero rider, Jason Bergwall, beat me by 15 or so seconds and I felt like I could beat that time with a little trimming and time management. After all, 10 miles is a long way. Allan Duhm came in at a very respectable 25:02. The second time trial of the series was not that great. I added the benefit of HED 3 wheels front and back. I picked up a used rear online for near nothing, but the bearings were a little shot. I used Allan’s front.

When I arrived, I was not sure what to expect as the winds were high out south west giving us a 40 degree headwind out of the gate. As many know, it is pretty difficult to recover from this even with the tailwind on the way back…what little there was. My plan was different than the first ride. Keep it at 25 and try to hit a higher speed on the way back as I really didn’t think I could hold that high of speed on the way into the wind for that long. It didn’t work…
It was brutal! Big wind! It really felt like the wheels were just stalling out and I felt used and abused. I did hold 24, but lost the pace on the way back and ended up losing almost 40 seconds from the first ride. There were many other factors that I think probably figured into it…lack of sleep from stress and not eating properly. All the riders lost time except for the new aero rider, Zach Duncan. He rode a very fast 23:38 on his first ride. My ride was still enough to hold 1st in the recumbent division and overall for points with Jason taking second.

Now, for the third race…I knew Allan had been training hard the last three weeks training for RAAM. And, on our last ride together, he was showing a pretty significant speed improvement over the long haul. I had also heard that he was ready…even borrowing an aero helmet from a fellow rider. This was a little intimidating. I knew in my heart that he couldn’t get me and a minute is hard to make up, but he was sure going to try. The pressure was indeed on!

It was then, that I heard the bad news…Allan was out with a knee injury! Crap! I felt bad and called him on the way out to the time trial and offered my condolences. He’s a good rider and hopefully he’ll be able to do it again!!! Keep up the recovery big AL!!!!!!

When I showed up at the TT, it was a monsoon! Big rain and wind. Crap! I just sat in the car and when the rain let up a little, I was out warming up. I was back on the Alex 320 wheels as the rear HED was having the bearings replaced and Allan had sold his front to cover RAAM costs. The word spread that the start time would be moved back 15 minutes and we all lined up at the start. I was placed second to last as one of the two riders who beat me didn’t show up due to the rain. The bad news was the quicker of the two was there. I looked at Zach and just had a sudden urge to kick ass! 10…5...4...3...2...1...I’m off! The start seems to take forever. I don’t want to overdo it at the get go but still wanted to get up to speed as soon as possible. The wind had died down and the rain had stopped so it was going to be a nice cool run. I ramped it up to 27 and held fast. A little head wind of about 5mph, but figured I could do it. I caught Rebecca at 2.5 miles and kept up the speed. I didn’t see Zach in the rear view mirror so I thought I may be good. At the turnaround, I kept it nice and clean.

I kept it in the big ring so no mistakes and cut right around the cone…perfect! It was after I was ramping up, that I saw him coming into the turnaround. I put it in gear and managed to hold 28 for a little while before realizing that was probably a mistake. I then tried to keep it at 27 again and as I faded I would shift one down and speed up my revolutions and shift back up again to get the power going. It was then that I was in the thick of it. At around mile 8, I started to catch too many riders. I was having to veer out into traffic and had to wait for a car at one point. No drafting is aloud and this made it difficult. I then started to really give it all I had. I tried to ramp it back up to 28, but just couldn’t anymore. I finished strong, but dizzy, and coughing my lungs up from breathing the thick Florida air. I turned around and caught Zach as he crossed the line. It was going to be close. We congratulated each other on a ride well done and rode out for the warm down. After I arrived back, the results were posted. 23:39…Nice! Zach finished 7 seconds ahead. Darn it:-) I couldn’t actually be mad as I almost reached my goal and there are still two more races ahead of us. This win leaves me in overall standings 1st. There, of course, will be no overall win (some turkey, UMC blah, blah, blah ruling...:-)), but this raises my confidence level a little knowing that I still have a bit of weight to lose. I think on the next TT, I would like to break 26mph. I did learn that the turn around and the start kills your average…kills it! But, I still have a few weeks and I know that my dog is willing to help when needed:-)

A nice ride until...

     Sometimes I am able to get out to Bartow for a nice ride on Tuesday evenings.  There are about ten or so riders and a few are pretty fast.  Big Al on his Bacchetta C.A. 2.0 is always trying to put a hurting on me and so I am always off the front to make him work for it.  The only other Tuesday "A" ride is hectic and dangerous with sprints and so on and it only averages about 23.  On the previous Tuesday that I rode the Bartow ride, I put in a 35 mile ride at 23.8 mph average and on this one, I was looking to do as well.
     Right off the bat, the wind is strong.  Allan is pulling the lead DF along at about 23 and I am feeling stiff from running 4 miles the day before.  I wanted to let my legs warm up some more so held on for the first couple of miles.  I then hit the front.  Allan is looking strong and is right on my heels.  It takes a while for me to get off the front and hold there.  What I didn't realize is that now we are going in reverse of the previous Tuesday and I was lost...face palm!  I would go to make a turn and they would go straight. If I would go straight then they would make a turn.  Each time I would have to turn around and pass them and get out front again.  I actually felt good as I would pull up beside them and then get off the front again.  I would just use this as a challenge.  It is pretty hard to catch riders of that speed.
    So about a third of the way into the ride, I am off the front about a quarter mile.  It is quiet and there is no traffic.  The head wind is strong and hearing is not so great.  It forces me into a peaceful work time and I focus on matters of person;  blanking out the hard ride and going into the zone.  When out from nowhere this happens!  All I could think about was not going under.

     Knowing that we have a 3 foot rule and are aloud to take the whole lane if the lane is under 14 feet, I am mad! There is no oncoming traffic and he could have used up the entire oncoming lane. And, even if there were traffic, by law he would have had to wait for traffic to clear in this situation.  I "politely" let out what I had say and went on with my ride:-)  
    I like to carry a GoPro camera in case this happens and I hoped that it would come to good use.  The ride went on and kept on as it was.  I pulled into the parking lot about a minute ahead with a pretty good average.  I was eager to get home and analyze the footage.  Luckily the driver was nice enough to leave me his billboard and I was able to call the company and have him suspended.  Now, some of you may question why I didn't call the police and the reasoning was this:  I could have easily called the police.  They would have given a ticket to the driver.  The companies insurance would have gone up and the driver would likely have been fired.  In our current economy, all we need is someone without a job causing even more trouble with bikes.  It was better that they know cameras are out and safe driving is demanded on our public roads.
     In the end, though, despite the close call, the ride was great.  The wind was a beast and all came out with a strong finish!  I am looking forward to riding again in Bartow as soon as the schedule allows.