Things that I am digg'n

I have 2 new mountain bikes this year. The 69'er Top Fuel from Trek and this bad boy. I have no time yet on the dually (except for Interbike where it was awesome), but this is what I was riding last weekend. It rocks...hard. Too bad I am off the bike for at least 3 more days.


I am also digg'n this. It gets bigger by the day and according to the host body, movement has been felt. Week 20 down, 20 to go.

Some guys show scantily clad women spread out over their custom cars. This is my version. So hot, so hot.

Well, this weekend holds more cabin work with the Old Man. I won't have a camera, but I'll see that cat on the dash for many hours again.

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Move your mouse over that X in the top right corner, click it, and then get back to work. Later.

OTB, either definition is not good.

OTB-In a race this stands for "off the back". Not good.

OTB-In my case it means "off the bike". Also, not good.

This winter I went down hard on my knee. My front wheel went out on some ice and I pile drived my left knee into the asphalt. It looks like I tore some ligaments. I have been continuing my riding with the assumption that it would heal. Well, with the introduction of intense riding a couple of weeks ago, the pain has gotten worse. I took almost a week off, but the 4 hour ride yesterday brought back the pain. Now it gets iced twice a day, I swallow 3 ibuprofen 3 times a day, and I am keeping off the bike for a minimum of a week. Rest now so I can race later, hopefully.

This means NO Transiowa. I would end up dropping because the pain in the knee would end up getting worse and worse during the event until it was too much. I would probably end up doing more damage as well.

Some times you gotta do what you gotta do. I guess I am glad that my life does not only revolve around cycling, and I can look forward to some other things the next couple of weeks.

Other big happenings? Top Chris SL tied the knot this weekend. Check it out with KC here.

In other news, J-No and L-No have a new set of twins in their family. Here is the man with all four young'ns. They had other children before, but they were given up for adoption because they did not have the required blond hair and blue eyes. I kid, I kid.


J-No requested a pic of my Transiowa bike. Here it is. Four large water bottles and a handlebar bag (mount is on, but bag is not in pic) would have aided me in my now cancelled assault on Iowa. I figured I should make J-No happy as he is the one of the 3 people who read my blog.

I am going to take this bag of ice off of my knee and head to work now....

Ragnarok 105

Chances of me starting tomorrow are not looking good at all. I wish this was not the case. In a long held history of cycling I now present to you my reasons/excuses why it is not my fault (all of which are obviously not my fault, duh).

1. I race for fun. I am far from earning a paycheck in any sense of the word. Riding 105 miles on gravel in at least somewhat decent conditions sounds fun to me. Sub 35 degrees still sounds fun. Sub 35 degrees with much water on the ground and more coming from the sky does not. Take out the water factor and I would be there without problem. No fun, no check, no race.

2. This was supposed to be a "tune-up" race for Transiowa. If I spend the next 10 days recovering then that hurts my chances at Transiowa. That doesn't sound too smart, does it?

3. I am still nursing my knee from a fall this winter while riding. It hurts still when I ride. My back finally seems 100%. Do I really need another physical ailment? Do I need to make my knee worse?

On the flip side of these excuses, I do feel strong and my bike is 20 minutes from being ready with fenders and such.

I guess it will have to wait for Iowa. Hopefully, things will go better there.

Rock out with your light saber out.

This year I have put more hours on the bike, but all at low intensity. Last night represented my second ride that put me into the red and the legs are coming around. Good news for the legs.

Saturday, oh Saturday. I am set to do this. 105 miles on gravel. Weather? Oh, a balmy 35 degrees with snow and rain. This looks like it may turn into a race of survival. The higher the difficulty, the larger the gaps are from those that are strong and those that are striving to be. Hopefully, good news on the weather front.

And, great news to speak of, today has arrived. The Office is back with new episodes!! Pam and Jim, Angela and Andy, and Michael and Jan have a wacky dinner party tonight. What crazy antics will my second family be up to? Tonight will tell.

So now I go to work. I have to work on the bike and get it ready. Maybe you could get back to work as well? What is that? You have more useless blogs to read. Alright...

The Office

Six days to the return of the best show in television history.

Work has been very busy lately. You should get busy as well.

Another weekend, more working.

You know what this means....

Time for my Dad and I to head up to the cabin for more work. Cable, WI seems to have snow cover still, but not for long.

Friday afternoon I was able to sneak away for a few hours to ride my monkey. Spider Lake Road proved to be very soft, but fun to ride.

I snuck into this guys cabin and and left a note stating, "take that sucka"!!!

Camba has maps all over. You can see were I was, you can see where the cabin is (C9).

Getting farther and farther away.

Pretty, so pretty.

Many head into the Northwoods, some do not make it out.

This sure beats the gravel roads around Rochester.

Ice, ice baby. Even the gravel roads up there are incredible.

Deer are everywhere up there. It is a little absurd.

Shoo!


This is a 2 minute walk from the cabin. Right next to the Canoe drop in. Did I mention that you can enjoy the cabin too?


The women folk came Saturday to help clean, and stain the walls. Left to right; Kim, my sick sister, my momma, and my baby's momma. Pic taken at one of the restaurants at Telemark Lodge.

Me, the dog, the Baby's Momma in the living room, chillin'.

Upstairs before.

Upstairs after.

Same spot.

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Upstairs after, same corner. Upstairs is 99% done and it looks flipping awesome!

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. .Dang it, more deer!!!

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Kim got sick. She got it from my brother Peter. He got it from my Dad. Now I have it. Nina tries to be supportive.

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Special shout out to my family. Because of them, I am home with really bad stomach pains, aches all over, and frequent trips to the bathroom. If history is any indicator, I will be up and at'em tomorrow. Again, family, I could not have done it with out you.

My folks left early. Sunday was my second niece's baptism. Becky and I were not invited. I guess after my sister-in-law's Dad (her mother recently passed, R.I.P.), Uncles, Aunts, and several friends, there was no room left for anyone except my parents on my brother's side...again. Nope, siblings were not welcome (luckily for her, she does not have siblings). Am I spiteful? Yes. Do I care if they know? Not anymore. Do I think they care? No. In the not sinking to their level department, we continue to send Christmas cards and they will be invited to the baby shower and baptism of our child. I guess there is always the hope the things will change, but after close to 5 or 6 years of this, hope wains.

Time for you to work. Millions on welfare are counting on you.

Back from "out East".

So, last week I had 5 days to get in 7 days of riding in what should be my biggest volume week of the year. I increased my previous max weekly training hours in one week by over 25%, and that is with 2 less days to play with. I was tired. Knee bothered me some, back just a little, but I cranked out some big hours on the bike.

Friday saw me fly out to Maine to see my brother, Sam. After being under threat of being snowed in, a stop at deicing was needed before taking off. I was thankful for the fact I had a direct flight as cancellations and delayed flights seemed plentiful.

Sam picked me up from the Boston airport and we headed North to Biddeford, Maine via the coast. Got to see some cool old towns and George H. Bush's "summer" home. Met Sam's girlfriend. I can't remember her name, so I'll just call her Sam's girlfriend. She is cool for a girl.

The next day saw us head out to Bethel for some mountain action and XC sking. Little did we know that the world's largest SnowWoman lived there. We skied a bunch, I slept a bunch, Sam watched the NCAA tournament a bunch. It was all good. I definitely had a lot of fun in the only state with one syllable.

Now, I am back. Grinding out repairs at the shop and getting ready for this coming weekend. Me, the folks, and my baby's momma are going up at the cabin for more work.

For now, I am still a little tired.



W's dad owns this place. The picture only gets about 2/3rd's of it. It was impressive.


Me, Sam's gangsta girlfriend, and Sam.

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A "pick" of us heading to Bethel; where the players play. Get it? "Pick"?

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Yo, we're here.

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Well, you can read the sign.

We could see this as we drove into town and had to check out what it was. Look at the people at the base, and note the trees that are the arms. Skis made up the eyelashes, and car tires the smile.

If you think this picture is lame, then you are lamer for looking at it.

We ended up on a trail that was not groomed. It was...ahhhh...interesting skiing.

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Sam fall down go, "ouch".

Yeah, I picked myself off of the ground more than once as well. This time, I could not make not sharp corner.

Check out the mountains in the background, yo. Me on the left, Sam on the right.

Sweet action shot. We were classical skiing, for the record.

Oh, the poor golf carts don't like the winter. Poor, poor golf carts.

Sunday night Sam took me onto campus to do some work on me. I took the liberty to take this pic of Sam's closet friend. Sam, thanks for the "cracking".

Well, that is it. I had oodles of fun, but I am glad to be back and see my woman at the same time.

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Now for some bike time, some work time, and clobbering time.

Back online!!

Finally got our computer hooked up again. Sanding floors, staining, and applying protective coats caused the electronic box to be unplugged and stashed away in the dining room for the week.

I sit here now with a bag of ice on my knee. I have to hit the trainer and get some big hours in before heading to Maine this Friday to see my little brother, Sam.

I am finally not as groggy. We are taking the "trouble maker" greyhound to the kennel until it's owners come back. We have 2 of their skinny sprinters, but the male has made it a priority to wreck stuff, pee on stuff repeatedly, on "#2" all over. The female is much better.

I like to sit down and post pictures of my worldly adventures, but I barely have time to type this crap.

I gots to go. Work it.

Jusst when I thought I was healthy...

Wednesday I fell down hard on my kneecap while out riding around on the ice. As soon as I stopped my knee was hurting bad. I worked on coating the hardwood floors.

Thursday, more hurt, more floor work, no bike.

Friday, see Thursday.

Friday night. Go to sleep. Deal with whiny greyhound we are watching from 2am to 5:30am.

Sat, groggy. We finally have time, so we go meet with the Grandfolks to tell them of what Becky has cooking in the oven. No bike. Knee starting to feel better.

Sunday, groggy still, rock out on gravel. Start out with a painful knee and a 30 pound bike. Knee pain becomes a little more tolerable at about 2 hours in, just in time for the laces on my right Lake winter boot to break. Rode North to Hammond, then North on some paved road I didn't know was there. A right on some gravel found me in Millville. Took more gravel East to Plainview. Then headed south past Elgin and back west into town.

6 hour ride yesterday=knee hurts more today.

We got our crib ordered with dresser from the Amish store. Seems like that is about the only place you can find a crib that is NOT made in China.

I have to call Lake shoes now.

You gotta get back to work.

Yes, I am serious.

"Just as you are planting the beet seed in the ground, I am planting my seed in you," a quote from my favorite assistant to the manager.

Not sure how to say this so here it goes....I got my wife knocked up. Yup, she has a bun in the oven. She is preggers. Baby on board. My spawn. The fruit of my loins. Future knee biter. The circle of life.
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Oh yeah, it's all in there.

So here are some answers to the most common questions:

-No, we are not finding out the sex. We are waiting until it gets into puberty for that.

-She/he is due Sept 16, so she/he is almost 13 weeks along. No Cheq fat tire for me this year, and we had just gotten the cabin too!

-Yes, there is only one in there

-As far as I know it is mine. If questions pop up about that later, Maury Povich will help sort them out.

-We weren't necessarily trying or preventing. Let's say that we had pulled the goalie, but had not tried to take a shot on goal yet.

-We have seen 3 ultrasounds already. You can see the fingernails and everything.

-Yes, my boys can swim.

-I would prefer a boy, but would be just as happy with a girl. As the cliche goes, "I just want it to be healthy."

So there you go. Have fun at work.

Hydration...

...will be important in this race as it will be in this "tune up" race I just got in to.

So far this year I have planned gravel endurance races, road crits, mountain endurance races, mountain XC races, local road TT's, local mountain TT's, and some cross thrown in for good measure. Should keep the riding a little "fresh" this year.

I have been back training and things are looking good. Because of time and weather, I have been on the trainer a lot. Saturday will see the trainer and then sanding floors. Hopefully, this Sunday will see me destroying the local gravel on the Karate Monkey.

Now, I want you to step away from the Internet and get back to work. Go ahead, you can do it. Trust me, it will feel really rewarding.

Whhhhat?

Alright, I sit here trying to not make noise as the women are asleep. Bored I was playing around on youtube and found a video with my name in the description. Here it is, and no I don't understand it either.



Don't blame me, you looked at it.

Live Strong pt.2

Oh, my back. I'm back. The back is almost there again. Back to riding. I am bringing sexy back. I am going back to this race.

In-laws are here. I am waiting right now for everyone to get up so that we can meet my parents for breakfast. Baby's momma seems like the last to start the awaking process.

We still have the three dogs. They'll be gone tommorrow when their newly tanned and rested parents get back from Cabo (those bastards).

Seems like I got a LOT of stuff to do. Oh well, it is better that than dead.

Sometimes I feel like this guy, but without the wristband. Who am I kidding, sometimes?

Looks like the wifey woke her but up and is in the shower. Exciting huh?

I am going to breakfast now. Gotta entertain the old people.

Arrrrgggghhhhh.

My back is messed up.

Got a massage.

Going in for the fourth chiropractic appointment tonight (2nd at my REALLY good guy).

This weekend was a constant state of pain.

I am going to be off of the bike for at least 1 1/2 weeks.

No lifting over 25 pds.

It sucks.

In other news I need to take pics of the new rides. They are done for the most part.

Meanwhile, the Careys are in Cabo. Their pets are here. Here is a pic of Nina hanging with her girls. Just a bunch of lazy "female dogs". Get it, get it?

Hey you, your boss is coming.

Just another day, but with presents.

****Warning, lots 'o' pictures****

Well, last Saturday I turned the big 3-0. Friday night I came home to people in my house and a poorly timed shout of "surprise"! It was then a free for all of drunken debauchery. People making out in the hallways, lampshades on the heads, and all around fun.

Saturday morning saw my Old Man and I driving to the cabin to do more work. Good times all weekend.

Before we get to the pics, I want to give a shout out to a couple of people. Word is Mr. Corky (Father of Corky and Corkette) is not feeling so hot.

Also, it turns out that I am an Uncle again. My brother and his wife had another baby, or so I heard through the grapevine. I wish them the best, although I may never get to see Olivia, their baby girl. Good news and unfortunate circumstances wrapped up into one.

And now, pictures....


Surprise!!!


I blow!

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I changed into my party outfit and we were off. MC and I were trying some of the food as Mr. T-Bone enjoyed the minty taste of Palmolive.

The girls were getting crazy. Here they hoist a drunken T-Bone. Nuts, just nuts.

Hey Kurke, did you get the message about how old I am? Thanks dude.

My Baby's Momma and Matt's have huge bunny ears. I never noticed until now.

Can you guess who's forehead this is?

Leaving the next morning at the *** crack of dawn.

Unbelievable action shots. I will probably submit this to some photography competition.

Yep, the cat came with.

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I spend too much money here. I have haven't shopped at one in WI before though. Pretty much the same stuff in Rice Lake as there is in Rochester.

My dad stole a Pimp's safety glasses.

Looking better and better. Needs some more material, and trim work.

Went hiking on the Camba trail right behind the cabin on Sunday morning

I figure I see the tracks of a moose, deer, bear, elk, eel, and land shark in this pic.

I FOUND BIGFOOT TRACKS TOO!!!!!!!

The picture answers the following question: how do snowmobilers attract a suitable mate while drunk at Telemark lodge?

And now, off to work..........................................................................