Commute

Yea, first bike commute of the year (and first ever on the recommisioned Redline d440).  Nice getting 24 miles in before work.  The steel frame and Big Apples make the road feel real nice.  I can certainly tell it is heavier than the Masi Evo climbing the hills though.  Need some racks still, it was along ride with a backpack.

Summer in the winter

Ok, so I am complaining - again.  Really, why is it 84F on the last day of winter, 85F on the first day of spring, and today is forecast for another 81F day.  You'd think with this sunny warm weather it would mean lots of miles.  Well, nope.  Family schedules still reign supreme.  I can't even ride my motorcycle to work.  Plus, with the early spring I got an early bout with allergies.  Lost my voice last week.  This week, the voice is back, but my head is spinning and I have coughed so much that my stomach and chest muscles are sore.

Missed all 4 days of the Athens Bicycle Gravel Rouser.  The few rides I have been getting in are breaks from the office.  Not all a bad thing, but work is really slammed (still) so it is hard to justify long lunch rides.  First race is really close, it is going to hurt.

I picked up a used Race Face Next LP crankset.  I stripped all the paint and replaced the missing carbon inserts.  Nice crank and looks really good on the Monocog.

Couldn't resist adding the picture.  Chickens, dog, mud boots and a stick equals a happy little boy.

Life always gets in the way of living it seems

In what seems to now be my monthly cycle for posting (the months go so fast), here is an update to cycling life.

I drank a lot of coffee during the month of January.  Shelly bought me the Starbucks refillable tumbler for Christmas.  So, I made one or two trips to the coffee shop everyday.  Oh, and if you notice, even Starbucks is on the 29er kick.

The logistics of having a family with 3 kids, a spouse, a job, a spouse with a job, a church, an extended family, an extended church family, and trying to train for the coming cycling season (OMBC opener is just about 8 weeks away now!) is exhausting.  As you can see below, the kids agree.  Lots of days I get to bed by 11pm and wonder 1. why I am so tired, and 2. what did I accomplish?  Training?  Well, that isn't happening.

February begins with a high every year though as the 4th is our wedding anniversary.  This year marks 17 years hitched.  I was excited to take Shelly to dinner at the newest restaurant in Athens, Sol, a Cuban fusion place that opened in the old Salaam location.  I don't know if it was really the food was great, or if I was influenced by the fact that I was at dinner without any kids!  Just us.  Doesn't seem to happen much anymore.  The food was really quite good.  Based on a good friend's recommendation, I had to get the chicken and yellow rice (Arroz con pollo).  Too full for dessert and they were not set up yet to make a nice Cuban coffee, we headed home where Shelly's folks were watching the boys.  Oh, forgot to mention that Brock and I got sick the day before and were still feeling pretty pathetic on the 4th.  Life always gets in the way of living it seems.

Good news of January and February is that I have a limited number of miles on the trainer.  That is because the weather has been fairly mild for a south eastern Ohio winter.  Lots of sunny and 40 degree days means road riding.  No trail riding since the trails aren't frozen, but miles none the less.  I did rejoin Team Athens again (figured as long as they let me on the team, I better join).  Looking forward to some more riding and racing this year.

Happy Riding...

Saturday

A little UEFA soccer and some indoor rolling, that is, at least until Brock woke up.  All the windows and the wood stove made it feel like a summer ride.

No Time

Most days I feel like I am living the Guess Who song, no time.  And everyone just wants more.  Work has asked me to put in more hours.  Church is asking me to play guitar more.  Ethan is playing basketball and practicing 2-3 times a week plus games.  Brock is so stinking busy, if you turn you back on him for 2 seconds, you don't know what you'll find when you turn around (like on his belly on the island counter top).  I am way behind on firewood for the year (luckily it has remained fairly mild thus far).  I am planning to finish part of the basement into another bedroom to move Michael into so we can move Brock out of our bedroom and into his own room.  I had to turn down playing soccer after a friend asked me to join their indoor team, just can't commit the time to play.

Typical Saturday: drop off Ethan for warm-ups before his first game at 9am.  Run to the gas station, grab some milk at the grocery store, pickup a package at the post office, and be back to the school by 9:30 for his game.  Home around 11 and replaced the furnace blower.  Grabbed a bite to eat and put in a quick 17 mile road ride.  Dropped Ethan off at grandpa's at 3 and stopped to get a truck load of firewood.  Home around 5 and showered and in town to get a sandwich and drop off Michael at the winter homecoming dance by 8p.  Back home, get Brock in bed (a chore in and of itself) and back to the school at 11p to pickup Michael.

Anyway, with the weather being mild for an Ohio winter, I have put in some miles outside instead of just on the trainer.  Speaking of miles, I finally looked at my 2011 log.  Managed 1,665 miles, 107,700 feet of climbing, and nearly 92 thousand calories.  Not too bad, more than double what I did in 2010.
Folks got me a near rear tire for the Masi, a floor pump, and a rechargeable taillight (Serfas USL-5R) for Christmas.  I'll try to write something up about the taillight.  Shelly also got me a 900 lumen headlight (bright!).  Now if I just had the time to get some night trail riding in.

Not a real blog post without pictures, right?

Christmas Eve's Eve OU ball game with Ethan.

The shadow proves the sunshine.

I love this old barn.  Ride past it all the time.

Glove and jacket weather.

Updates in Photos

Black Friday meant I got to take Ethan and Brock to the big park in Wilkesville.  Weather was crazy nice.

We finally started getting some eggs from our new chickens.  Mmmm, fresh happy eggs.

Finished off the pre-deer hunting week Saturday with a trip to Lake Hope for a ride with the new SLX brakes.  What a difference.  Single finger stopping, modulation is excellent, quiet, they don't drag.  Been a while since I was on the trail, too long.

Obligatory picture of our Christmas tree.  Thanks to Shelly, it got put up and decorated.

Newness

Got a new camera at work so I can shoot detailed photos of parts for the many reports I seem to be writing lately. Of course, no time at work to shoot so I can get familiar with the camera. Had bring it home to do that. On the plus side, I got to play around with to taking shots of my new disc brakes (Shimano SLX M666 with XT rotors) for the Monocog Flight. Pictures taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX5 on apature priority, without flash.

Enjoy.