First Race In

Went to Wausau for the Big Ring Classic. Also had to plan for two extra days away from home because of a work function. Forgot something, turned around to go back home. Not a good way to start race day. Called Josh on the way up to verify start times. Bad news. Slowed the driving down because it wasn't worth the possible fine if I got pulled over. When I arrived at the venue and walked to registration, the race I wanted to do was starting. 1-1/2 hours to the next start. I upgraded by default. I wasn't ready for the shorter race, let alone the longer one. Guess I'm back in Sport. Started slow knowing I'd need to save energy somewhere just to finish. Hilbert was there. He started pretty hard and I passed him about 1/2 mile in as he was wheezing from a bit of an asthma attack. He said he'd be okay, so I just kept on going. About half way in I was in a rock garden and had too much confidence the ability of my 29ers to roll over obstacles. I misjudged and came to a dead stop as both wheels hit rocks that may as well have been wheel chocks. I kept going and found the landing on my top tube to be quite uncomfortable. Back into the saddle. Another couple of miles I was starting to get my feel for the dirt back. Things felt like they were really starting to flow. I've spent many hours racing on the terrain at Nine Mile Forest and I think that hurt me. As I got more and more confident, my speed increased. The issue was that on this particular race day, we were running some of the trails the opposite that we normally do. I'd recognize the are, but the flow wasn't the same. I'm not sure that this was a contributing factor or if it's just an excuse, but I caught a tree with the end of my bars. The bar got ripped out of my hand. Pain shot into my wrist and the next thing I felt was my shoulder hitting the tree. Rode a lot of that remaining lap one-handed as the trail allowed. Luckily there are a number of fire roads involved in the course. Finished the first lap feeling better, but not great. Looked at the Lap/Finish sign and made a decision to turn right. One more lap. Slow, steady, complete the lap. I finished. It hurt. It was annoying. But I made myself finish. I was DFL, but I was still in the saddle and turning the pedals. One race in the books. Looking forward to the next one. Wrist is still a bit tender, but it will be ready.

Huge congrats to the Curtes brothers. 1-2-3 in Comp SS. 1-3-5 in Comp overall. That's one heck of a family showing.

Remember when cell phones came with a couple of video games on them at no charge? They were simple, didn't take much thought, and were very basic. Bowling, skydiver, etc. Try to find that now. Our new phones have nothing but teasers. Clear 1/3 the maze on pac-man and it's game over, please purchase if you'd like to continue. When waiting for someone at a meeting or a park and ride, it would be nice to have something small to pass the time. Don't let me complete 5-7 rows of tetris just to end the game and tell me to buy, that just annoys me.

I'm surely voting for

Obama now. If he doesn't win, I don't know how I'll handle Susan Sarandon leaving the US and moving to Italy or Canada. Maybe she can take Alec Baldwin and Babs with her as they never followed through on their promise concerning the results of the last election. Is this another empty Hollywood threat/promise? I don't know. Nonetheless, this has me quite distraught.

The Triumphant Toy

No big story here. Just that the Toy passed emissions after previously failing. What did I change? Nothing! The mistake I made the first time was taking it straight to testing after it sat for a number of weeks. Now, running it as a daily driver, it has cleaned out and emits far less than my old grand cherokee did. Let's see, a vehicle that's 6 years older with nearly twice the number of miles (near 225k now) that burns cleaner and gets better economy. Wasn't too long ago that I was told by someone that I should get a newer SUV because my current one was so old and bad for the environment. Well, maybe I should get a Flexfuel pick-up like he has. That will solve all our problems. I get 21-22 mpg during daily driving. 24-26 on the highway depending on the load. Seems to me that we've gone backward with our mpg's over the past 20 years. I'll run my "old-fashioned" car (f'n-a-right-kid) into the dang ground.

Julie is currently at an all day working interview. She's looking to get into a different dentist office. This one is closer to home, pays more, and is very small which should eliminate a lot of the politics that she's experiencing at the current large clinic-like practice where she's currently employed. This could be a very good thing.

Sam has Grandma and Papa Nejedlo spoiling him today. Love the way my parents interact with him. Even my dad who isn't a baby person at all.

Not what I had planned, but...

No niner on the trail. No commuter on errands. No Gardin on crit laps. Don't own an SS any longer.

Cut the lawn. In the house for a quick-change. 45 minutes on the trainer. Does that qualify as cross-training? It's saddle time, but not the way I wanted it. Probably more of the same tonight.

Really need Sam to get to that one-year mark so I can put him in a Burley.

Need to Re-organize/prioritize

Saturday - Worked from 5a-9a, haircut at 9:30, home to watch Sam while Julie did some volunteer work. Out in the afternoon to clear brush and cut trees.

Sunday - more of the same.

Monday - Dead to the world, body aches, no way I could be a landscaper.

So, what's missing? Didn't make it to Lake Geneva to cheer on the Big Ringers - who, by the way, are having a great season - let alone race. I miss it. I haven't even been on my bike. Saddle time must start now. No exceptions. Even if it means charging the lights and doing crit laps around the school campus at night. Wausau in two weeks. May not even make a good showing in Cit, but the soul needs it.

Another Weekend

Got all the A/V hooked up in the rec room. Now when CB visits he can go down there and play PS2 until his departing flight. Finished up a few other small projects. New shower curtain rod. Oil changes in the lawn and driveway equipment. Good share of the garage cleaned up and organized.

C'mon, people, this is exciting stuff here, isn't it?

Did some yard work with young master Nejedlo in his backpack. He spent an hour in it this time. Cleaned up the yard - again... dang dogs. Picked up garbage... dang high school kids and contractors. And, felt the difference between the leaves on a deciduous versus a conifer. Everything is a learning experience for the little turd. Love to see him going through this process. He's really liking the outdoors, that makes us very happy. Sam and the backpack represent about 2/3 the weight I've lost over the last couple months. Didn't realize how much better I was feeling until I strapped on the additional weight again.

Getting ready to leave on Wednesday for OK to see Tim and Laura and the boys. The time away will be good. Taking the clubs to see if I can resurrect my old name. Bringing the skinny tires as well to get some miles on without the guilt of thinking I should be doing something else.