Ride On !!!!!!!!!!!

Yea I am eating my words on a regular basis now! I was ranting and raving about how road bikes suck and here I am going out of my way to exstend the trip!

Last night I went out and covered some ground. It's been so long since I rode around the house area my loop brought me back toward the house and I had only done 17 miles. So I took the next opinion and headed the other way. Ten more miles I and I was happy and home.

Two weeks ago I had no desire to ride that bike at all, now I am looking forward to tomorrow so I can slip out and ride. The mountain bike just hangs there waiting it's turn. Although I did go by the bike shop yesterday and pick up some more Stan's fluid for the tubeless tires.

I guess I should have just kept my mouth shut and just ridden. It doesn't matter what you ride as long as you are riding. So now I will just do that.

My favorite thing ride.......

It's A Long Week,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Sometimes when you try to cram 5 days worth of work into 4 days, it makes for a long week! That my friends would summarize how my week has been going!

Highs and lows...

Plus I tried to mow the yard and the belt snapped with half the yard mowed. That left half of the yard mowed and the other half not! Of course it was the front yard in that state. The repair shop did have the belt in stock so I got it fixed the next day. so a one evening job turned into 2 days worth of work.

No, I haven't ridden since Monday but I am gonna go tonight. Yes it will be on the road bike. I guess I am all happy and love road bikes now. What a difference 2 weeks make.

Or what a difference your kids can make for you! If they like it I like it!!!

Enough said...........

Great Times..........

So we had a long weekend, besides New Years Day I haven't had a day off since the first of the year. I enjoyed the weekend! I rode Saturday by myself and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Sunday came and Chase wanted to go ride. That was a first, he hasn't asked to ride in quite awhile. We went to Beatty and rode 1 lap, it wasn't a long ride but it was a great ride! Anytime I am spending time with either of my kids I am a happy camper.

Then Saturday night we went to a cookout and had a great time followed by another day off. I wish we had 3 day weekends every weekend!

So I got up yesterday and headed out on the road bike. This was my first ride of the year by myself. Last week I sat around and fussed about how I hated riding the road bike, then I take off and have a great time. I rode a full 50 plus miles and enjoyed every minute of it! I went all the way down to Pageland and came back.

Total I was gone for about 3 hours and got a really good start on my tan lines for the year. So now I find myself looking forward to the next ride. Maybe tomorrow after work

Bout' Forgot..............

Yep we have been busy all morning and I am glad it's Friday! It finally dawned on me that I haven't done the blog.

So here I am. I plan to ride this weekend and see what's going on over at Uhwarrie. Besides that we have the cookout.

Nothing else!

That my friends is a good weekend! Hopefully I will be back Tuesday with a few stories of a good weekend......

Happy Memorial Day......................

Yep,,,,,,

I will be glad when the week is over! It seems like it's been going on forever. Monday time flew by but since then it's been slow as hell. I am ready for a long weekend!

The last time I had a day off was back in December. We usually get snow and I take the day off anytime it snows. The kids and I always play. But this year we had no snow, I miss that. But the plus side is I have more days off than usual for this time of year.

We are gonna do a cookout with friends this weekend but over all that's it. I will get in a few good rides on the bike and the rest will be rest. Then we have a short week next week and we will be about two weeks from a vacation.

A well deserved vacation!

Back To Normal.............

As most people, myself included. Hate change! But it's part of life. Deal with it and move on. I find that it seems to be happening a lot in my life right now. So I just do as I said and keep moving on.

With all the changes here at work the last few days have been crazy. But now 3 days in it's like normal just different. I have things figured out and am doing fine but some people are still fighting it. Why they don't except the fact that it's the new normal and move on makes me scratch my head. I would have preferred things stay the same but overall I like the new system.

So with all the things happening at work it has made me think about how things are in my normal life. With Cody growing up and kinda drifting away from the bicycles at the moment. He wants to spend more time with his friends, I am fine with that and understand.

He is growing up.

We still spend just as much time together, it's just a different kind of time. We now talk and work on things more than ride and talk. I wish it was the other way but understand. As long as we are talking that's all I am worried about! If we stop talking then we have a problem.

I have good kids and they are growing up. Weather I like it or not I can't stop it.

Change happens, you adjust and deal with it.......

A Little Less ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Hectic!!!! Yesterday was crazy! We went live here at work with our new system and it was a zoo. The only plus to the day was it time to go home really fast.

So far today has gone a lot better!

OK, yes I rode the mountain bike all weekend and Cody and I even went out on the road bike last night! That hasn't happened in a long time. I was kinda surrprised when he wanted to go. We only went for a 20 mile ride but at least he wanted to go. Maybe he is ready to start riding again.

He says he is, he kinda misses it. It's funny how I was fussing about road bikes last week and now here I am riding and enjoying it! It's funny how spending time with your kid can make anything fun.

Even road biking.......

And bet your ass, if he wants to road ride this afternoon I will do it and love it!!!!!!!

Nine ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Close enough to two weeks for me. I couldn't take it anymore, I rode the road bike the other night and it was so so. As much as I try it's just boring! No skill involved what so ever. So last night I came home and loaded the mountain bike up and headed to the woods.

It's been "Nine" days since I crashed and I know what the doctor said but what the hell. I went to Sherman and knocked out a lap and had a blast! I actually surprised myself at how fast I could go. I really wasn't to far off my pace. No my shoulder isn't killing me today either.

Yes I can tell I rode, it is sore but not to bad. It would be pushing it to ride again today. I know that much but at least getting out yesterday will make it easier to ride the road bike this weekend. Maybe by Monday I can get in  the woods again.

Now to change the subject! It's Friday and time to get into the weekend. I think I am finally gonna start putting pictures on here again next week. I like to type and tell my story but I need some pics.....

Have a good weekend and see ya Monday..........

Oh Yea,,,,, Progress.............

I can finally say I have reached a point of progress!

I am happy!

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

But at this point I will take anything, I haven't done a damn thing all week. Last night I rode for an hour and it didn't hurt. Yes I was on the road bike and was taking it easy but at least I was on a bike!

No I don't think I am ready for the mountain bike just yet but I am finally doing something! Maybe by next weekend I will be ready for a ride in the woods. I can't even remember the last time I took six full days off the bike and did nothing. Not even counting the fact I am on week two without swimming.

Next week it will be time to get back to the full game plan! Swim in the am and ride in the evening.

I Give Up .................

OK, I am taking my medicine. But the rest of the doc's orders are going out the window! I have sat around for the last 9 days and done nothing. Really no riding no swimming no picking anything up, nothing.

Has it helped? Yes, it has.

I can almost sneeze now without crying and I can raise my arm up above my head now. So progress is coming, just really slow. No I am not going mountain biking but I am gonna ride the road bike today. I have everything loaded and I plan to ride home from work.

Charles has been riding in and he hasn't gotten run over so I might as well try too. I put new batteries in my tail light and I will charge the light tonight. Yes it will be dark when I come in but what the hell. I got to start riding and if I am gonna ride the road bike I might as well ride to work.

I like mountain biking, I tolerate road biking. No offense to the roadies but to me it's boring. When my son Cody rode with me I enjoyed it but just to go out by myself and ride, it doesn't work.

So "I give up", I can't sit around any longer..................

If I wasn't Going Bald, I am Now.........

Sitting around the house for the last 7000 days I am about to go nuts! Yea' I know it's only been 8 days since I crashed. But damn this sucks..............

If That's What Normal People Do ??????????????

They lead a pretty boring life! Of course I am referring to my weekend. The wife and I ran a few errands Saturday am and then came home. I just couldn't bring myself to ride the road bike and plus I really didn't have the time.

Cody had the prom Saturday night so we had plenty to do. Then with Mother's Day Sunday I never did anything all weekend. That in it's self was really weird. Then throw in the fact I still have a hard time sleeping and that was a weekend I would rather forget!

I did get the road bike ready to go now I just need to get out on it. That's gonna happen today. I am gonna find out just how hard it is to ride and weather I like the road or not I am gonna learn to tolerate it anyway. I can't sit around for the next 2 weeks!

I was on here last week with my quarterly report and it was all good. Then just like that, Bam! I start this quarter with a bunch of do nothing days. I got to turn this around.

Again, if that was a regular weekend for regular people I will stick with my deal all day everyday. I would go crazy if I had that for a regular weekend!!

This Is Gonna Suck ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So after I did my post this morning I had to sneeze and it hurt so bad I broke down and called the doctor. I now have a diagnosis. It ain't good!

Hair line fracture in my scapula (shoulder blade) and deep tissue bruising in my ribs. All that equals 2-3 weeks no mountain bike, or anything that strains my shoulder. I got a shot this morning and start a heavy round of steroids tomorrow for the next two weeks.

Basically there is nothing that can be done for the fracture besides the steroids. That and no jarring or heavy lifting. The only bright light is I can ride the road bike as long as I can stand the pain. Oh, no swimming either.

                     "This Is Gonna Suck"

That's Not Good........

Well after sitting on my ass for the last three days and doing nothing I finally hit the trail last night for a ride. I knew less than a mile into the ride things are worse than I thought. I skipped the pool all week so I could rest the shoulder and hopefully it would miraculously heal overnight.

Guess what? It didn't, it seems far from healed. I couldn't even keep up with the slow people! Any downhill had me wincing in pain, holding on for the bottom. The loop I usually ride in less than an hour took me a full hour AND five minutes.

Then to add insult to injury, I had bent my derailleur hanger when I crashed and I kept chucking my chain in my spokes. Three times to be exact! By the time I hit the parking lot I was ready to be done! Done and not sure what to do next.

I am beginning to think I do need to have an x-ray of my shoulder to see if I have any damage and second, I need to dig out the road bike. It's gonna be a while before I hit the woods again. Third I still don't bounce very well when I hit the ground at 20 miles an hour!

One last thing, for those of you who think "if I had something broken I would have known and already been to the doctor". Well I once walked around with a broken leg so long that by the time I did go to the doctor there was nothing they could do. It had already started healing it's self.....

Ya' got to be tough to play hard...........

Are You Kidding ??????????????

I know I have used that title before but it seems to fit my life quit a bit. Last night I climbed under the deck and hooked up the pool hoses and started getting that ready for the summer. As I was doing that I noticed how bad the yard was needing mowed and decided to work on it.

It has rained so much, the yard has stayed wet and it has gotten a little tall. So I mow and get that done and I feel just fine. So far I have crawled around under the deck and mowed the yard. No problems!

I grab the broom to sweep off the patio and boom! The simple act of sweeping makes my chest hurt so bad I can't even finish the job! I thought by now I was getting better from my crash Sunday. Not! I have skipped swimming all week because of my chest and thought I was getting better.

Last night I hurt so bad it was hard to sleep. As I am typing this it hurts.

What the hell!

I am riding tonight so will see, I did change my brakes last night so now I can stop. Hopefully I can ride without doing to much damage to me or the bike..............

Sometimes It's a Long Time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I am referring to this week. With the training going on all week I am worn out! Just mentally drained from trying to pay attention and learn the new system all while trying to maintain my regular output.

Of course our company thinks we can learn and do our regular deal. That might work at some places but it sucks when you are in sales. Can't wait to see my sales figures at the end of the week. Since I have ignored most of my customers for the last 2 days.

Oh well on too after hours activities. Total for the last 2 days. Zero-nada-nothing. Monday night I was just tired when I got home and last night we did errands, grocery shopping and the like. We now have plenty of food but that's about it.

I hope to at least get in a run tonight, I can't go a full 3 days with nothing! I did service the bike last night so now I just need the window to slip out for a ride......

I hope it happens I am starting to go nuts..........

Day 2 ,,,,,,,,,,,,

So today is now day 2, of it looks like a recovery week. No I skipped the swim again this morning, I don't think my shoulder can take it right now. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day and I can make it.

Now for today, it is now day 2 of our training here at work. We are going to a totally brand new system and so far it sucks! Well at least it's a pain right now, after we learn it it will probably be a pretty good system. Just right now it sucks!

I did get to ride the motorcycle today. I haven't been able to do that in a few days with all the rain. We have the prom coming this weekend so that will keep us from riding the dirt bikes for at least one more week. After this we will be able to play. Plus the vacation is coming quick so lots of stuff coming up.

Now I just need to be healthy and I will be happy!!!!!

It Came And went................

Now I am in recovery. I rode Friday evening and Saturday. Then yesterday I took a chance and hit the woods. I skipped church so I could get out before the rain and it worked out for the most part.

That is right up until I went over the bars and hit the ground. I knocked the breath out of myself and am really sore! No I didn't swim this morning, shoulder isn't gonna let that happen for a few days. I had enough time to turn my shoulder under and try to hit more on my back than on my shoulder.

No matter how many times you get the breath knocked out of you, you never really get used to it. It still hurts every time!

Maybe I should'a went to church.....

Vaacation........... LOL........

Just kidding, she's only gone for 2 days! It's just me and the kids. Or should I say me then the kids. They are old enough to fend for themselves. You really think I am gonna cook.

Again don't worry, we all will be fine. I don't ignore the kids when she is gone. Actually I have a whole agenda where and when the kids need to be. I can't even drink beer tomorrow night because I have to be responsible. The youngest has a birthday party to go to and I have to pick him up at 10:30. It might look funny if I showed up in a cab to get him.

Especially since the party is about a mile from the house!

So anyway I rode last night at Steve's place, and the plan is to hit it again tonight. Tomorrow am will be more of the same. The kids both have plans so we are all good.

Have a good weekend...............

Go Figure !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The wife leaves tomorrow for the weekend, she's going with her mom to her brother's for a birthday party for my youngest nephew. They will be gone all weekend and it's just me and the kids. I could ride my mtn. bike everyday all day for the next 3 days!

But what does the weather do? Rains like a nut! It's been dry for a while now! But yet I can do as I please and it rains.

Fail!!!!!

Oh well, I will get a few rides in it just won't be as many as I would like. I do have to be a little responsible and make sure the kids get fed and watered, the bath is optional! At least on my watch, She comes home Sunday night so she can fight that battle.

Yes I swam again this morning, the weather seems to be keeping me off the bike. Maybe one day I will be able to ride again............

Not To Bad......

OK, after doing all the math yesterday I am kinda proud of myself! That's really not that bad. I have been staying on top of my workouts and sooner or later I am gonna loose more weight.

After yesterday I was pumped to hit the pool this morning. I can honestly feel the improvement in my swimming. It seemed like for a long time I would be all over the board with the amount I was swimming. One day it would be 700 yards and the next 1200.

Now I feel like I am just getting started when I get to 7 or 8 hundred. The last two days I have already swam 2000 and 1750. I would have never thought I would be doing that.

So maybe I will be able to ride tomorrow. I planned on going last night but the sun never came and out, it was still just to wet. If we would have had sun yesterday it might have happened. But we are getting closer.