Finally !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is one Friday I am glad to see. Just being the week after vacation and back at work I have been slam worn out! Then through in fact that my hand still hurts and the ribs are the same it's been a long week. 

I got the one ride in and I tried to ride last night but that didn't workout. My hand didn't want to cooperate. That sucks! I plan to rest tonight and I am gonna hit it early am tomorrow. I want to get in a 50 miler, it should workout. I think I can handle it as long as I keep the Ibuprofen going!

So besides that we need to get another motorcycle over to the shop and put on consignment. The kids have out growin it and I want the money! I need it to buy more toys!

That's what it's all about, the toys........

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

Nice and Easy ,,,,,,,,,

That was my motto. I hit the road last night for my first ride since I screwed up my hand and ribs and wrist. "Nice and Easy", for the most part it worked. I managed to put in a full 30 miles and had a 15.9 avg speed.

Not the fastest, not the slowest! I usually end up around 18.5 or so for my average. Plus I managed to avoid the rain. I had a few sprinkles fall on me but that was it. The only time my hand hurt was when I hit the big bumps. As long as I tried to ride on the smoothest sections I did OK.

I know I am turning into a big road wussy, after all the cleaning and washing I was really kinda proud of my old bike. Remember I am riding a 25 year old frame and fork. Bridgestone stopped making bikes back in 92'.

Last year I had Cody strip my new bike and put all the stuff on my old frame. Steel is real baby! It might be a little on the heavy side but it still only weighs about 20 pounds.

Yes I know everybody else rides new bikes, carbon and high end aluminium. But I ain't like everybody else....

Don't have plans to change either............

This Is Getting Weird..........

Yep my hand hurts and my ribs are killing me. So what move on. I got shit to do.

Last night I actually took the time to wash wax and clean the chain!! All on the road bike! I hardly ever wash the damn thing much less all the other stuff. It has a shine like it never has before. If I am gonna spend the next 6 to 8 weeks riding it I want it clean.

The chain even looks brand new! I didn't know how dirty the bike really was. I should have done this a long time ago. My son asked if I even knew when I washed it last and I honestly can't remember.

But the point is I am actually trying to embrace the road bike. If I have no choice but to ride it that's what I will do.

I'm loving road biking right now. Ah, the effortless descents. The steady red-line heart rate of a hard climb. The smooth, flowing lines and leg-pumping flats. I go through phases with road biking; generally a few weeks of loving it until I get mentally worn down by run-ins with traffic, or distracted by deeper outdoor adventures. But right now, it's perfect, it's pressure-free, and it's just what I need.

I copied that from another blog I follow. It seems to sum up the way I feel right now, not over joyed but the "right now" fits. Now if I can get the yard mowed I will be on the road............

We Made It !!!!!!!!!!!

One more family vacation in the books. The big one of 2013 is history! The kids played and rode the wheels of the golf cart, and Karen and I did a lot of walking. Ain't quit figured out why I allow them to have the golf cart when I pay for it but it is what it is.

If we needed it we had it, but most of the time the kids get to play. The truck did fine pulling the camper and the trip went by way to fast. Now it's  right back to work. Like I never left. The only light I see is the next vacation coming in the middle of August.

The weather was pretty good, we all got a little to much sun and I drank a lot of beer! Life is good. We got home Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend unpacking.

Of course yesterday I hit the woods for a mountain bike ride and promptly busted my ass! Yep, over the bars I went! I knew when I left the truck I didn't have enough air pressure and sure enough that was my downfall! The front tire washed out and I hit the ground.

Now I will be on the road bike for an extended period of time. I broke my hand! Two bones in the back of my hand are now cracked. My hand is swollen so tight the skin looks like it could bust! The doc in a box said there isn't much they can do. If they where completely broken instead of cracked I would need surgery.

Since they are only cracked, which I am glad I don't need surgery. I just have to wait till it heels on it's own. The projected time off of the mountain bike 6 weeks!!!!!!

Road bike if I can stand it. Which I can, I just can't take the rough riding on my hand, it will never heel..

By the time I get back in the woods it will be the end of summer, or the end of July anyway.....

It's Gonna Be Limited..........

As of this post the posts will be slow for the next week. You have been warned. Yea I will take the computer with us and I will make an update sometime next week. But it won't be everyday.

Every year I go through this, anybody who does a blog goes through this. You take a week off and your stats go straight down the drain. It all falls back to the "what have you done for me lately" thing.

No updates, no visits.....

Oh well, I plan to update a few times so do check back. Besides that we are ready! Hell I am halfway out the door now. It's hard to  work hard the day before you leave! I have wrapped up about everything I could here at work. I know there's something I forgot but it will be here when I get back.

I let all my customers know, that's all you can do. I tried to get a few of them to get the loose ends wrapped up and they didn't but I can only do so much. When you work with a bunch of contractors and the jobs carry on for months at a time you have several things going on. I try to cover my end that's all you can do.

I have one customer starting a big project at the coast, I wish we could have gotten together this week to finalize everything but he didn't get back to Charlotte. We need to finalize the floor layouts before they are built and he needs to sign off on them. Now someone else here who knows nothing about the project has to meet with him Monday and get it all nailed down.

That scares the hell out of me as far as something going wrong....

But it is what it is. I don't let my job control my life. He kinda wanted me to come in and meet him Monday but that ain't gonna happen. Family first.. This project will start off rough but the next one will roll just fine. Life goes on..

Anyway have a good weekend and I will update a time or two next week....

Count Down............

Now we are in the bottom of the loop. It's Thursday and here I am, camper pretty much loaded and things are ready. Tomorrow night I will hook up the camper and Saturday am on the road.

I still can't believe it's June and I still haven't taken a day off. This has to be some kind of record for me. I went ahead and filled out the calender at work. Every year I see these guys who have days at the end of the year. You have to take them our you just lose out.

They always end up with damn near two weeks off at Christmas. This year I am gonna get in on it! I have it worked out that when I leave for Christmas I won't be back till the 1st. That's 12 straight day!!!! Hell it's like I am giving myself a Christmas present.

I like Christmas..........

Gettin Out ..............

After all the rain it was nice to see the sun. I got home yesterday and headed straight out the door. The sun was shinning and it was nice and warm, out the door I went. Just a light wind that rarely was head on, it doesn't get much better!

The yard had another day to dry out before I get it mowed and  I had my first two workout day in awhile. I swam 1500 yards yesterday morning and then 27 miles on the road bike. Not a bad day, I even ran into a group of 4 that was out riding. I recognized them from a ride last year when I ran into them.

Last year I spent the evening riding with them, it was fun we swapped numbers and I talked to them once or twice but never made another ride with them. They invited me, it's not there fault. I am just kinda like that, I have my few riding partners and I will go out of my way to ride with them.

But the rest of the time I prefer to ride alone. I get my head in my own little world and it is what it is. If I want to push it I can, if I don't I don't. It just seems to work for me. I can hold my own when I need to and I can enjoy my own pace when I want to.

The point is I think they might have thought I didn't like them. Which is totally not true. It's just me being me.....

I even tried to find a phone number for one of them last night, just to call and say hi. Maybe even make one of there rides. Didn't have any luck though, I can't even remember where my pump is much less a phone number from last year. So next time I see them I guess I need to turn around and say hi.

I kinda feel guilty for just blowing by them last night and not stopping to talk. I could tell they checked up to see if I wanted to ride but I just kept going. I should have stopped.....

I Could Get Used To This.....................

What could I get used to, you ask. With the trip starting Saturday morning we are packing. This is the first time I have ever packed a closet for my trip! Yea that's right, a closet.

Instead of packing a suitcase we are packing the camper. Hence the reason I am packing a closet. I actually have a closet and a cabinet that are all my own! The wife has the same amount of space. I threw my flip flops in the corner of our room and packed up.

She is packing the kids stuff tonight and we will be ready to go. I plan on repacking the front storage bin tonight, the one under the front. Since I brought it home I have been putting all the stuff we need under there and haven't really try to organize it. It won't take long and it will be done.


I think I can get used to this! Hell we are already looking into leaving it down at the beach next year. That way we could just call ahead and have them put it on a lot for us. We just show up and spend the weekend at the beach.  Just like having a house except it's on wheels and I can take it home at the end of summer.

Then you drag your house to the mountains for the fall. Simple as that....

Counting Down.............

Counting down to a no stat week. Also known as a vacation week, and no I have no intentions of riding running swimming, anything during my vacation. It just doesn't work like that for me. I have tried it before and found it was more of a hassle than it was worth.

I would take a bike with me and get one ride in. The rest of the time I would spend the week pushing it around the hotel room because it was in the way. A vacation is a vacation! I don't get paid to ride a bike.

OK, so the weekend is over but I enjoyed it. Saturday Kelly and I slipped out for a road ride. I ended up with 55 miles for the ride, so far that was the longest ride of the year for me. Knowing my riding habits it will probably end up in the top 5 for long rides this year. It's not very often I put in many more miles than that.

Then yesterday the wife and I hit the road on the Goldwing. 225 miles later we were home. We had a destination when we left and time to kill so it was fun. I needed a part for the camper so we went to Camping World in Statesville. It was the only camping store open on Sunday.

But we went via Salisbury, with the return route taking us through Mooresville and Concord. We even spent the better part of an hour sitting under the bank drive-thru waiting for a storm to blow through. Of course right after we hit the road to come on home it started to rain again!

It wasn't to heavy so we actually stayed pretty dry. I did get in a swim this morning so I am off to a pretty good start for the week.....

Stat's ..................

OK I added things up....

Were gonna go with the 700 miles so far on the bike.

Swimming, I am up to 75225 yards or 43 miles! Not bad.

Running, I have done a total of 5 races so far. Mileage would be around 60 miles total.

Plus one mountain bike race.

The day total, I have exercised everyday except for 38 days. I was doing really good on that until last month with the shoulder. That caused me to miss 17 days right there. Before that I was averaging about 6 days a month.

It's Like Raining,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

A lot! So here we go again, another round of the wet stuff. It's held off for several days but we are wet again. Not that I mind, but I do hope to ride the road bike a lot this weekend. I find it funny that I am looking forward to that.

Once again I am hung up on the road bike! I like the fact I can go out the end of the driveway. Yesterday my buddy was telling me he had ridden about 1500 miles so far this year. It made me think about where I am so far this year.

In the last 5 days I have 120 miles in and It made me think. I know I don't have as much as he does but I bet I have quit a bit. As he pointed out just 2 laps a week at one of our local trails and you would have 24 miles and I know I have ridden it alot!

So If you add up the mountain bike rides at twice a week I would have about 528 miles right there. That's based on 22 weeks and twice a week. So take that and add in the few road rides and I am right 700 miles for the year.

Not great but not bad!

Now for the second part of the year, I need to get busy. I have been working on the "day" total all year and I am pretty happy with how it's going. Now I have another stat I want to keep up with. If I look hard enough I can come up with a total on my swimming too.......

Just Like A Bike...

You know what they say, "just like riding a bike". Well swimming is the same, it took me 2 swims to get back in the rhythm. This morning was a little rough but by the time I found the halfway mark I found I was back in sink.

I swam a total of 1500 yards this morning. I was kinda worried when I headed back that it might be a little harder than it has been. Yesterday was tough I had a hard time but I got the hang of it. Today I started off a little slower and it seemed to work better. I found my rhythm pretty quick and just stayed steady.

I would have liked to get a full mile in but I ran out of time. But then again I don't want to make my shoulder hurt, not the first week back in the pool. So far it hasn't even felt out of the ordinary. I want to keep it that way.

One thing I noticed last night was the fact that I already had my exercise in for the day and I was a lot less stressed out last night. I just relaxed and did some ironing. Yea I ironed about 5 shirts last night. I never do any ironing. But just knowing I had my exercise done I relaxed.

Even the wife said something about it.

I got all my clothes ready for this morning and I was gonna pack the bike for a ride home from work. Then I saw the weather and that nixed those plans. I am glad I watched the weather, when I woke up this morning it was raining. So it looks like I will be on the road bike if the rain holds off tonight.

Finally !!!!!!!!!!!

So I could sit here and come up with twenty reasons why I haven't been swimming. Like I said, I could, but I won't! I will stick with two reasons and go from there.

Reason one. My shoulder, the doctor told me to stay out of the pool for at least two weeks, I did. That turned into three and a half weeks.

Reason two. Just plain laziness!

I took me about ten days to get used to sleeping till 6:15. Then it was over! Hell I have been late for work more than when I was getting up early. You would think I would have been early every day. Not! I was late all the time.

Yesterday I was  supposed to meet Kelly and I over slept. Imagine that! So today I set the alarm and it went off. I promptly turned it off and rolled over. Then my conscience took over and I went ahead and got up.

Finally after three and a half weeks I finally made the pool again. It took me about 250 yards to finally get my rhythm back. I damn near choked to death a few times! But once I got it I was good to go.

Yes I look forward to being there in the morning............

Then I Rode................

So before the party Saturday I did slip out on the road bike and got a good ride in. Then Sunday I was up early and did it again. Only difference between the two rides would be the route and the wind.

Saturday I went through the south side of town and got in about 35 miles. If I remember correctly back when I was riding the road bike I was on a south side kick. I have ridden the Pageland side of Monroe so many times I wanted a new area. Subconsciously I went right back to where I used to be.

Funny how that worked out. Matter of fact I was on Google here at the office yesterday looking at different routes. Then Sunday came around and the wind was blowing, I had two choices. Stay at home or keep my elbows tucked in and hope for the best.

I took option two, out the door and on the road again. This time I went downtown Monroe and just went exploring for 8 miles. It's amazing how many areas of Monroe I have never seen and lived here for 14 years. It ain't that large so it's kinda surprising.

So after that I finally hit the road and sucked it up. Even turned out it wasn't that bad. I road around for a while and then turned back to town. Back through downtown and out 601 to the house. Grand total of 44 miles.

79 miles for the weekend, all on road bikes.......

It's Time for A Rest,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

That being said I am tired. Another weekend in the books and it was a good one. Friday night we had everybody over for a cookout. It was Chase's birthday, so now I have two teenagers. Now we are on the count down to his driver's license.

Yes he has already mentioned it! Except he wants a street bike instead of a car. Glad we have 3 years before we cross that bridge. Well Saturday I took him and 2 of his friends for the day to play. We went to Concord Mills Mall and had intentions of playing at the Nascar Speed park.

NOT! I tried to Google the place Friday night and had no luck! I thought that was kinda weird but we headed that way anyway. Well we get there and head in and promptly find out there is no Nascar Speed park any longer!

The kids wanted to play laser tag and climb the rock wall more than they wanted to ride the go-carts so they where kinda disappointed. So we go back outside and find they have a new entrance, and a new set up.

It's now called Speed park and that's it! They have the go-carts and a putt-putt course. That's it! WTH!!!

Well for some reason they wanted to play a round of putt-putt so we did and then hit the road. We went down to Pineville and hit up Sky-High Sports Center. The place with the trampolines that line the walls, a foam pit and dodge ball. They played for two and a half hours!

We followed that with pizza and headed to the house. Chase was happy and everybody was tired! So now we have that one out of the way and we are counting down to 16......

Those where Chase's exact words on the way home.....