Ponderisms

1. Ever wonder about those people who spend $2.00 a piece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backwards: NAIVE
2. Isn't making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool? (My sentiments exactly!)
3 OK.... so if the Jacksonville Jaguars are known as the 'Jags' and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are known as the 'Bucs,' what does that make the Tennessee Titans?
4. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhea...does that mean that one enjoys it?
5. There are three religious truths: a. Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. b. Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith. c. Baptists do not recognize each other in the liquor store or Hooters.
6 If people from Poland are called Poles, why aren't people from Holland called Holes?
7 If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
8. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? Aren't they just stale bread to begin with?
9 Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a race car is not called a racist?
10. Why isn't the number 11 pronounced onety one?
11. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?
12. If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?
13. Do Lipton Tea employees take coffee breaks?
14 What hair color do they put on the driver's licenses of bald men?
15. I wa s t hinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me ... they're cramming for their final exam
16. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks, so I wondered what do Chinese mothers use? toothpicks?
17. Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to them? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen can look for them while they deliver the mail?
18. If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?
19. You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.
20 Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?
21. If a cow laughed , w ould she spew milk out of her nose?
22. Whatever happened to Preparations A through G?
23. At income tax time, did you ever notice: When you put the two words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells... 'THEIRS'?
24. Why are they called "apartments" when they are all together?

2nd Race in Greenville

Sunday went a little better for me. I was freezing cold before the race but for some reason I became comfortable when I went up to the start line. I felt good from the start and went with the first break. We stayed away for a few laps, but then the field caught up (with Andre's help :) ). I felt good on the front though and was able to recover fairly quickly. I was on the front a couple more times and chased down a break, again with Andre's help. I sat in for the second part of the race trying to find out where I wanted to be. I felt like I could move around the field very well and just waited. Then someone rang a bell and yelled "bell lap". The field sped up and the sprints began. After we crossed the finish line the official told us "3 laps to go" don't know what happened there, but I started working on trying to reset my position. The field spread out all of the way across the track and getting where I wanted proved to be a little difficult, my sprint felt good, but I was too boxed in to contest the guys up front.

First Road Race

Well Saturday was not a good day. I ended up in the wrong place in the peleton (behind a guy who broke his chain), causing me to lose the group on a very windy day. Then I ran over the front wheel of my bike with my truck.

I need a beer.

The juniors took first and second, the women all did great, Frank had a good day with a chance to take the win, Adam seemed to do very well, and Stephen and Larry had a good day. I'm glad I didn't rub off on them today.

I wanted to give a special thanks to Kenda tires for this series. 4 of the top 8 riders were on Kendas and even the small 32mm cyclocross tires held well at speed once I got used to the difference. Small Block 8's seemed to be the tire of choice and they did an awesome job. Thanks to everyone at Kenda, the team and I are looking forward to a great year riding all over your tires.

Check out there great tires and cool new kits at www.kendausa.com

Cat Sitter

My wife and I bought this dvd at the pet store called "The Cat Sitter". We didn't really know how it would work, but thought it would be fun just to see. The dvd has different programs, the best of which seems to be the birds. Well our cat, Tatey loves the dvd and is fun to watch watching the video, now she actually watches tv all of the time just to see what is going on, good times.

Last short track race

This past Saturday was the 5th and final short
track race of the series. I wanted to have some fun so I put some cyclocross tires on my bike to see what it would be like. Some other guys were riding cx bikes so I didn't figure it would be too bad and I could work on some more handling skills. My wife, Lindsay got to come to this race, so no matter what this would be a pretty good day. She was my photographer for the day and she did an awesome job while she chilled at the start/finish line. She also decided to critique me and let me know that my knees were a little out and my seat seems low, just when I thought she couldn't be any better, she ups the ante. Its a good to know that she is getting that involved, I told her the beginner class has her signed up for next year.





The first half of the first lap started out good, then I got sketched out on the tires and nearly slid out on the gravel section. I ended up losing nearly half a lap before I finally got up to race speed. After a few laps I began reeling a couple of guys in and made a few passes through the middle of the race. I felt good through most of the race and was happy with my performance. I fell off for the last laps and they show me in 10th, I think I was 9th but no worries. I was up to eighth at one point but got a little lax and let it go. Besides, it's better to be the slowest of the fast group than be the fastest of the slow group, right? Overall I was 8th for the series, not that it matters, but those are the facts.



The sun was in my eyes:


Check out my skinny tarrs:

Short Track Movie #2

Short Track short movie

Pics from short track

ST Pictures

Here are some pictures from the last race at the start/finish line.

More Pics of the ST Race

#6 is Ray Billings the overall winner.

Pics from the race

Here is a link to pictures from the race.

Short Track

Sunday was race number 4 in the short track series. I could still feel the punishment Leslie put on my legs from Saturday but no worries, I wasn't overly tired. Nate rode down with me and we planned on getting in 3 hours of riding for the day. We got down to the venue and the weather was good, 63 degrees and windy (glad we weren't road riding). Warm consisted of some riding around on the course, that was extremely fast for the day, to get a feel and put in some hot laps to get ready to race. The field was pretty big for the day, 15 or so for the expert class, with some good riders. We started off fast as always as we hit the woods. I felt good for the day and I was starting to shed some of my winter "slowness". After a few laps I passed Nate, he looked shaky, I learned later that his chain was coming apart and he hit a tree, it made a nice little bruise on his hip. My water bottle decided then that it was done riding aand hit the ground, a spectator gave it back and I felt good to go. I passed 5 people on the next few laps and was cruising, I went to take a drink and no stinking bottle, I started to lose a couple of places because I was in search mode for my bottle. Then I started losing a few more places because I was drying out, I looked for Nate but he jumped back onto the track. Then I saw my water hollering at my bottle from the start/finish line, (it must have hitched a ride), so I figured I would stop and pick it up even if it meant losing a few seconds. I got back up to speed but the damage had been done, I kept my spot but definitely fell of towards the end. Like Nate said its good that dumb things ahppen now, then during bigger races, I always want to win, but I've learned its not always in the cards and not always a #1 priority. We finished out the day by doing the entire loop out at the park. It was great training and even more fun, just one step closer to a great year.

Track on Saturday

Saturday, February 9th I finally got to go back to the track after getting the track bike rolling again. It took a few minutes to get used to being on a fixed gear again, buth then I felt good. I missed most of the warm up because I got there late. I got a crash course on team riding a "Belgian missing out"? This type of mock race went for 8 laps, then whoever won the 9th lap got 5th place, the 10th lap - 4th palce, etc. I told Alan (teammate) that I would take 2nd and he can take the win. The mock race went very smooth, a few breaks, nothing major until, with 3 laps to go, it lookedc like a couple of people might get away, but we reeled them in and I took point with two laps to go and pedaled with all that I had. I took 2nd and Alan stayed right on my wheel. As I pulled off I looked to see that Alan and I had gapped the field and rocketed on to take the win. It was great, hopefully we can get things to work like that during the season.

After my mock races I had the priveledge to finish my workout with Leslie. The wind started to pick up, so working on my sprints was a little tought. We did VO2 intervals and went unilt it felt like neither one of us could push any more against the wind. It was a great workout and now I can say that I helped Leslie to get her Stars and Stripes Jersey in August. :)

My next TT bike.

Sunday I did a 3+ hour ride with the group. It felt good after racing on Saturday. The weather was great and everyone was having a good time. There was a paceline class in the parking lot of our store stop: http://bp1.blogger.com/_t3oM6UyotRs/R6ayKgAb8UI/AAAAAAAAAnI/SaVJDN4HRnk/s1600-h/100_2466.jpg

The day turned out to be almost as entertaining as the Super Bowl.

Short Track race #2

Today was the second short track race of the series. The weather was nearly perfect, 60 degrees and sunny. My skills felt a little better today, but I didn't seem to have much power. That's alright considering that it is only February, no anaerobic training yet. My mom and sister Jennifer came to watch today, they seemed to have a pretty good time. Here are some pics from the race:

Ringer

Hope that I don't have to meet this guy in a crit.


http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2005-12/real-rocket-bike