Ah, Life!!

I have been wanting to write something for the past few weeks and just haven't had the energy or the time.  I have taken up teaching and my bike riding has ultimately fallen by the wayside.  Mind you, I went out and had two of my fastest training runs to date, but the amount of time I have to spend on my bike has fallen to only the type to let me stay with previous times in the short.  And, not any faster in the long haul.  The good news is that if I continue to stay in shape, it won't take long to get back into peak shape.  So, the goal is to ride on the weekends and maybe once or twice on the weekdays if my job gets out early or if I have a three day weekend.   But, I won't try to change plans to incorporate my riding into my life is something important comes up.
SO, it looks as if my bike riding has taken a back seat to LIFE!  Instead of Jim's Bicycle Life it is Jim's life.  I'm happy with that. 

Tour de Tow

Good ride with a lot of local talent.  I should have a write up soon...

Kent and I Pounding It Out

M5 Carbon Seat For Sale...***Sold***

I am selling my large M5 Carbon Seat that came with my red M5 CHR.  It is drilled for posts (front and back position), drain hole, and water bottles (behind shoulders) and a neck rest.  I used this seat for a couple months before moving to the Railgun seat.  This seat is in very good condition!!!  Pictures below.  Asking $230.00  Shipping on you. 

X-Florida

It has been a while again, but recent not so friendly comments have given me an excuse to write again.  Back in April, Kent, Doug, and I along with a couple of my good friends from Lakeland on what they would call normal bikes did the X-Florida ride.  This is about 170 miles of fast paced (race) miles.  It was hot and miserable.  I bonked pretty hard as I overheated at about 110 miles in and had to recoup at the rest stop while Kent motored on, but I made it up and we both finished pretty close to one another and I was glad for the great company of the day.  My friends from Lakeland came in about a half an hour behind me.  They busted it this year!!  Great Job!!

I have two pictures and a couple videos as people have been asking.  Get out and ride :-)

Me and the Crew Chief

All's Well

It's been a while.  I'm fine.  I'm still cycling and having a great time with my son.  For the most part, I'm healing well from a recent knee injury so I had to hold off for a record Sebring run for another year...haha!! 
My son is doing fantastic!  He is 13 and has become quite the violin player. He still manages to give his dad big bear hugs from time to time and ride his bike with me.  What more could a dad ask for?! 

At Work!!  David's World Cycle

With the recent wane in cold weather, I've been cycling outside!!  YAY!!  I was even able to cycle to work yesterday and will again in the morning very slowly as I have put on so many miles in the last week back to back. The M5 is still treating me like a king.  This is a wonderful bike and takes anything I can throw at it.  Fast!!  It is even fun to just ride along.  On Sunday, I join some of the other riders for a slower ride and it just glides over everything.
And then, there is the seat!!  Kent is the man is all I can say!!  It is comfortable and I can produce power without having to be upright.  The little box is amazing as I can reach right into it on the go for a snack or whatever.  Great job, Kent!!  He is riding a brevet right now without me and I am jealous!!  Here is a link to his seat page if any wish to contact him about his seat. 
Anyway, I'm still here and just doing my thing.  Riding, gardening, parenting....working...LOL!!!  Enjoy the evening!

The fall

I am loving my bike!!!  I noticed some of the leaves are sticking to the bike and well, it needs to be cleaned anyway as it's been so rainy.  Awesome machine!! 

New Seat!!!

Random Pics

I've found myself getting back into one of my forever loves as of late.  Photography has always been fun to me.  And, while I am not the best at it, it passes the time constructively and doesn't require any money.  Here are a few random shots from recently.

Ooooo LaLah!!

Got to say my bike is pretty cool!!!

Starting to see improvements!

I have been riding quite a bit as of late and have started to put power back into the pedals for the last three or so weeks.  I can't say that I have been improving radically, but I have been improving my speed and endurance.   I am looking forward to having a new seat and some relief from pushing on my back.  I am also enjoying some down time from overwork so healing is going much faster as well!  I don't have any pictures as of late, but should bring some to the next post.
Cheers!!!

Pics!!!

I don't have a bunch of time, but figured I would post some final pics of my bike.  It is beautiful!!  This morning was my first group ride back in the saddle.  And, while it was slow, I couldn't stop smiling!!  I snapped a cool pic after the ride at the Starbucks for fun.  Enjoy.

Down Time

This has been an excrutiating wait for me.  Working to heal and waiting on a good time for my body to say, "Let's go"!  No biking and a cut in work schedule to either pain or dr. appts has me rather grouchy and just not in a mood to socialize (Not that I do the latter much anyway).  I have spent a lot of time reading and hanging out with my wonderful son. 
I have been reading a good book by Neal Stephenson called "Anathem" and another by Neil Gaiman called "American Gods".  While Neil is much easier to read, I find Neal more rewarding.  I read Neal during the day..haha.
I am hoping that I can build up to some walking time enough to take Jared to Busch Gardens this weekend. It has been so bad for me to not be able to take him as for a while I couldn't walk much, but hoping this weekend we'll get to go.  He'll love it!!
I know this has been a rather brief update, but I am tired of Facebook and this is a good way for people, if interested, to see what I have been up to.
Oh yeah!....The garden is planted and I have a good start on the trimming of the roses for the year.  I also have a Hefeweisen in the fermentor.  Hopefully this will be a good year!!!!

Sebring Disappointment....

Me before the accident...

This was going to be my first shot at a RAAM qualifier.  Sebring 12/24hr race came and I was ready.  My legs were overdone physically from an emergency stop a couple of weeks before the race, but I knew that if I were to keep my power level low, that I could make 400 easily if I had it mentally.
Friday afternoon I showed up, pitched the tent and headed out for a nice pre-ride with Kent Polk, Allan Duhm and a few other new friends.  It was fun to chat it up again.  After the ride, I headed back to the tent and prepped for dinner.  It was cool to sit

M5 CHR Review

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I was wrong...
It was not too long ago that I was arguing with Kent over the phone with what I thought was a lack of ability with the utilitarian argument. My Corsa and his CA 2 were what I believed a great utilitarian bike. They served up everything I needed. You could go fast and then hook them up with whatever luggage you needed and take off. And, I just wasn't sure about his and others move to a different s-frame platform. Don't get me

A Drink or Ten...Gallons

It's been so nice to be able to ride my bike the last few weeks.  Speed is up and fitness is up.  I am still about ten pounds over race weight, but when you aren't riding 60 miles a day, your normal weight comes back.  No biggie.  I still fit into my 34s and feel pretty good minus the back (usual).  An easy change at my second job has allowed me to ride my bike to work a few days a week.  I take the long way to add in some elevation and more miles, of course.
While doing this, I was pondering about how if my bees had lived that I would have loved to have made some mead as it would be cheaper than buying the 20 dollar bottle at the store...yikes!  I mentioned this in passing to my friend Kim and he said he had some brewing materials in the shed that I could use if I ever wanted to make some. 

0 - 100

Wow! It's been awhile. I have been working two jobs so no rest. Basically, I go to work around 5am and get home around 6:30. Two jobs is enough to make anybody go crazy, but I seem to be handling it ok. The one thing I miss is riding my bike a bunch. Well, not really. I still ride..just not enough to keep me up with the big boys,  but I run more and am still quite strong and fit. Hopefully I can keep the schedule up until Christmas or after. It's nice to pay bills and take Jared out. So,for now, My goal is to stay fit and work. Rest when I'm dead.
Jared is enjoying his new school and is involved with the TV crew and is in the orchestra.  His school has P. E.  Every day and I love it.  Noki is blind in one eye now from playing with one of his friends, but he still goes full speed ahead all the time and it's not slowing him down.  We should all be like that :-)
Later, friends!

The Team Vite Site Is Up!!!

Woohoo!!  Recumbent racers unite!!! It has been a long time coming, but the wait was worth it.  Yes, there are a few learning curves and it will take a little getting used to, but it is awesome.  The site consists of many cool features including articles by riders and forums for those recumbent racers/riders or soon to be recumbent racers/riders interested in partaking...
Come and give it a look!  LINK

Just no urge...

I had a great ride this weekend , but not felt any urge to ride the last couple of days.  So, I'm not going to. it's been hot! So, what do I do?...ride in it.  This is the best way to train, in my opinion.  Races don't stop because of the weather.  It may be hot, cold, raining, and snowing and you just have to be ready.  All of my rrides have been going well this summer.  While not all have been fast or fun, most have been progressive and I've learned even more about myself.  One of the things I don't quite understand is my lack of ability in a time trial.  Why can I push myself at 28mph for miles and miles, but in a time trial, choke on my own cookies?
I don't know.  I'll just keep on trucking. I have no real need to be the fastest person on the planet and nobody but myself to please when it comes to a wonderful hobby. Today, I will have fun with my son and maybe run. Tomorrow...ride

Nice Week

I had a good week this week!  One of the best things was riding with my son who put in 50 miles on his bike.  He loves it and continues to improve.  I then put in about 250 of my own miles and am feeling as strong as ever.  My speed is better and I don't seem to mind the extreme heat and humidity of the day.  I like to ride in the heat and ride in the rain unless it is torrential.  On Thursday, Jared and I rode 10 miles and then I rode another fifty.  In the evening, it was raining and the riders seemed to love it.  Why not just keep riding...it is generally cooler and most of the time I am sweaty anyway.
The only downside is the amount of grass that keeps expanding over the property.  When I mowed this week, I had to go really slow as not to bog the mower as it was just so tall from all the rain.  The vegetable garden is doing well, although the heat is starting to get to the peas.  The tomatoes are excellent and the greens are awesome and won't stop growing.
My neighbor gave me some organic corn seed that I can't wait to plant.  Wouldn't it be cool to have a huge acre garden and share with the neighbors?  :-)   

A Wonderful Day

Jared and I were invited to spend the day on the water with our friends Matt and Lisa.  We had a great time playing with dogs, swimming in the pool, chatting it up, and some fun time in the power boat going out to the beach!  They even loaned out to Jared a BikeE to ride.  He loves it!!!!!  Here are some good pictures.  Enjoy!

Sophie and Honey Bun

Pepper

Note the Team Vite sign in the background :-)