Partners ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I can always count on the dog to go but that's been about it. We are talking about my walking. The wife will make an appearance once in awhile but most of the time I am on my own with the dog.

                                             But last night was different!

When I got home from my ride I decided I still wanted to keep going so I went up stairs and got Chase. He didn't want to go and I pulled the "DAD" card! So he begrudgingly came with me. He, the dog and I all headed to the country club, we got there at 7:30 so we where late enough we could walk the cart path.

Guess what! I had him running all over the course helping me find golf balls just like I was the other night! At one point I even started laughing at myself. Again, here I am 46 years old and running around hunting golf balls like a kid. The only difference was this time I had a kid with me! So that made it alright!!

At least to me it did. We left the house and he didn't really even want to go, at first he didn't even have much to say. But after we got a good stride going and found the first golf ball he was into it. We walked that whole side, 9 holes and our take for the night 6 golf balls.

It was dark when we hit the car and I spent the better part of 2 hours with my kid out and about having fun. He got away from the video games and it didn't even kill him. He even agreed to go again. If I haven't learned one thing with having Cody graduate and start school this fall it's the fact that you better do all you can with them when you can! Before you know it they grow up and start going their own direction.

Yes Cody still lives at home and I see him everyday, but he has his own things going on now. I miss our time together, like it used to be. I don't want to wake up one day and wish I had made more time for Chase. Of course he has total different interests than his brother did and yes he isn't totally sold on bicycles, like his brother was.

But we sure had fun looking for those stupid golf balls................. I can't wait to go again...........

Back In Action!!!!!!!!

So I got home and went to Lowe's, 5 minutes later I was headed for the door with my new weed eater! Another hundred dollars and I am good to go. Three more years and we can do it again. As I stood there looking at them I saw the one with 89 dollar tag and the one right beside it for 130.

They looked the exact same except one was a Bolin and the other a TroyBuilt. The Bolin yellow and TroyBuilt is red. The shaft on the TroyBuilt is about 2 inches longer but that was it. So as I stood there scratching my head a sales guy walks up and we start talking. I ask him what the difference is between the two and he says nothing but the color and length of the shaft.

Then he says the only reason the Bolin is yellow is because TroyBuilt didn't want it to look exactly like there regular one? SO I ask him to say that again, I wasn't following I guess. Well after he explains it I just shook my head and got the yellow one!

Turns out TroyBuilt makes the yellow Bolin brand, the reason it's yellow is they don't want to sell a weed eater under a hundred bucks with there name on it! How lame is that? Long story short, I got a new Bolin/TroyBuilt weed eater and the yard looks good. Time to move on!

Tonight I will pedal..........

Growing Up !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night made me think I might finally be reaching that milestone! This post has nothing to do with bikes, it's all about me "Growing Up".

So last night I mowed the yard and driveway, then I got out the weed eater and tried to start it. No luck! I even went and got a new spark plug and still no luck. This is where I think I might have grown up a little bit.

The younger me would have beat that stupid weed eater slam into the ground. Believe it or not that's what happened to my last one! Something about yard equipment that don't work just drives me through the roof! I hate to do the work anyway and then when the damn mower or weed eater won't work it makes me mad!

Last night I took a deep breath and about the time I was ready to start pounding I just walked in the garage and put the weed eater down in the corner. I thanked "it" for the 3 years of faithful service it has provided me and I went in the house. I told the wife we need a new one and I took a shower.

No harm no foul...........

Any Advice !!!!!!!!!!!

At this point "Any Advice" would be nice! I am talking about what I need to do to get stronger. I ride and I ride a lot more, then when I have a chance I try to ride again! But then I go out and it seems like 50 miles at a decent pace will kill my legs!

It's starting to piss me off! I can go for longer distances but not at a decent pace. By decent I mean like 16 or 18 miles an hour. Not like I am trying to set a new speed record or anything. Lately Kelly has been doing a 100 mile ride just about every weekend. I still haven't done my first hundred much less another one!

I am gonna do a hundred this Saturday or sell my bikes!!!!!!

Please Come Out and Play ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

That's what it felt like last night! I came home fixed my lawn mower and then mowed the yard in the rain. About the time I got done it quit raining, go figure... We have had so much rain lately the grass had to be cut and I sure wasn't gonna waste a Saturday doing that!

Well when I got done I tried to talk Karen into going to the country club with me and then I tried Chase. Neither one wanted to go so off I went with my trusty co-pilot Daisy the dog! She will always go, all I have to say is "ride" and she gets in the car.

Well left on my to entertain myself I can kill time like nobody's business! We hit the course and walked a lap around the nature trail. Then with nobody still on the course we walked the cart path. Then I saw a golf ball, and another and another! We ended up walking all over the course! Up and down the fairway through the woods, everywhere! By the time we headed for the car it was dark.

Way dark! We were out there for 2 hours walking and hunting golf balls. Our take for this effort, 8 more golf balls. The passenger floor board in my Blazer is almost full of golf balls now. I still haven't decided what I am gonna do with all of them or if I want to go golfing yet. But at least I have plenty of golf balls now.

I even got to laugh at myself when we were heading for the car in the dark. Here I am 46 years old and running around a golf course going through all the wooded areas looking for golf balls like a 12 year old! I had fun though...............

Time Fly's !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I posted Monday and then the bottom feel out for the last 3 days! I did manage to take a ride Tuesday night and then went to the golf course again. Followed by my brother coming into town, he was at the house last night. It's been a busy week. No complaints it makes time go a lot faster.

I hope to ride tonight, I even charged my lights for tonight! I have got to mow the yard tonight before it gets to tall. That's if  the rain holds off! We have had more rain lately than we have had in months. Because of that the yard is growing at a high rate of speed!

It was nice to see my brother for the first time in awhile. We don't get to see each other that often with the distance between us. He has kids I have kids that type of thing. Plus the distance 500 miles, it ain't hour away. But we are gonna try and work on it. One of these days we are both gonna be old and then it's gonna be harder to see each other..

Life moves on!!!!!!!!!!

Better Than Nothing............

After my sickness over the end of last week and then my bout of throwing up Saturday morning. I finally got out and rode yesterday, it felt great to be back on the bike too. I did a nice 44 mile ride and went all over the county. I even tried a few roads I usually would never try. I just kinda figured it was Sunday so traffic should be a little easier.

It was heavy but not to bad. Plus the traffic must see enough bike use to be used to it. Nobody really crowded me but not being used to heavy traffic was a little unnerving. I guess I am really really used to the light traffic on my side of the county. I won't make a habit of venturing over toward Weddington very often but it was nice to have a change of pace.

I ended the ride kinda of tired but not to bad. Plus I was home early enough I took the dog to the country club and still managed to get in a 4 mile walk. Total for my "easy" day, 44 mile bike ride and a 4 mile walk! I must have really been stir crazy. Even the wife was asking me if I was trying to prolong my sickness. She said I needed more rest.

But to be honest I really felt better! After getting out and sweating a little bit. Plus the break from the bike seems to have been a little refreshing. I never really kicked it yesterday and still had a good overall average speed. I did miss out on a good ride with Kelly Saturday but that happens.

While he was out doing a hundred miler I was home on the couch sick so I guess I have a good enough excuse. Although next time I would really like to make the trip with him. He rode from his house to Morrow Mtn. State Park and back! Not a bad ride at all. It's definitely one on my radar. Every summer I say I am gonna make the trip over there and then I don't!

I need to work on that..............

No More Plans,,,,,,,,,,,,,

As of now I plan to make "No More Plans". The reason being I had plans to ride all weekend. "Had' being the key word! I got my quick 35 in on Wednesday and a good walk on Thursday. I figured I would wait and get busy on Saturday.

Well I woke up yesterday and was sick! I had been feeling pretty bad last week but I thought it had passed. That was the reason I had been trying to take it easy over the week. I wanted to feel good for the weekend. I spent the whole day either over the commode chucking grits or sleeping in the bed.

We had my neighbors daughters wedding last night and I made it but I sure wasn't the life of the party! From there it was home and back to bed. I had dreams of riding this morning only to wake up and find it pouring rain! I don't really need to spend 3 hours out in the rain so now I sit here trying to decide what I want to do.

I was on a roll knocking out 140 miles a week and now the last 2 weeks have gone to shit. The last 2 weeks have so far produced about 40 miles each week......

                                              Not good...................

9 More ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

So I road Wednesday night and then last night I walked. I want to ride tonight and then Saturday and Sunday. So I walked last night. I took the dog and we went to the country club. First lap I did the nature trail and then hit the cart path. If you wait till late evening you can get away with that.

So far I have about 20 golf balls we have found! Last night was the biggest yet! We found"9 More". Usually I find about 2-3, once we found 5 but 9 is the new record. I went home and checked out my golf bag, now I could go play a round and the only thing I would have to spend would be the green fee's.

As I have said before I used to play all the time. You can spend as much on golf as you can on bicycling, any hobby costs. My wallet is maxed out with the bikes and the only way I will be hitting the course will be if it's cheap! I might break down and buy a new glove but that's about it. I kinda miss it!


I might miss it but I don't plan to take away from my riding this weekend. Karen and the girls are going to a winery tonight and I am going to ride. Tonight will be an easy ride followed by a long one tomorrow. Then Sunday I will see where I am. If I feel good I will ride, if I feel bad I will lay in the pool. Either way I have options.

The only thing set in stone for me this weekend is the fact I am going to a wedding tomorrow night! My neighbors daughter is getting married, the same little girl who used to spend the night at our house and play with all the boys. She grew up sometime over the last 14 years and now she is getting married.

Life moves on and apparently I am getting a lot older! To me she is still a 7or8 year old and riding with me to get lunch. Chase my youngest used to think the world rose and set by her when he was a baby. He used to want her to hold him anytime she was around. Now she is out of college and he is starting high school..

                                                       Damn time fly's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Observations !!!!!!!!!!!!

First off the weather was perfect last night and I finally hit the road for a quick 36 miles. So we are back on schedule, tonight is a break and then Karen has plans for Friday afternoon so I will ride then followed by Saturday and Sunday. Three more rides and I will be back up to 130!

Now for my "Observations", I had to take my to the airport this morning and then I decided to come back across Charlotte a little different way. The way I came took me right thru some of the most pricey neighborhoods. I got to see the joggers and the walkers.

It also took me through one of the rougher sides of town! When you leave the airport West Blvd isn't the nicest area of town! But as I came through there I saw something that made me take a second look. The Charlotte city buses all have a bike rack mounted on the front. Not trying to be prejudice or make statements that offend anyone, but you never see black people get off and get a bike off the front of the bus.

Today I did, and then I got to sit there at the light and watch her get on and ride! No big deal but she was probably in her 50's and riding a nice Specialized Globe bicycle. It was neat though, she new how to ride and it was very obvious she rides all the time.

I know this for a fact because the first thing she did as she glided down the sidewalk was let go of the bars and start digging around in her purse for something. Never once even weaving, made me proud! The fact that she could appreciate a nice bike and was used to using the buses for transportation was really cool. You might see that on a regular basis in New York city but here in Charlotte it just doesn't happen.

People don't use public transportation here. Everybody drives a car no matter what, they drive everywhere! I live in the country and of course we have no bus service. So to see someone use the bus and a bike on the same trip makes me proud! I don't care what color they are, that's what it's there for.

She made me jealous!!!!!!!!!

Guess What ????

I still need a ride! We got a rain storm that lasted about all evening. I sat on the couch for about an hour before I gave up and changed back into my regular clothes. The evening was shot!

By the time it quit raining it was even too late to do the golf course. Maybe tonight it will all workout, until then I wait! But we all know the deal. Good things come to those who wait!!!

Ready Again ,,,,,,,,,,

Last week we were planning a ride and the rain killed it. My buddy said he didn't really mind he was a little burned out anyway. At first I thought, "I guess so, he rides all the time". Then the rain stopped me again the next night and I finally got a ride in on Thursday.

I spent the whole ride trying to dodge a rain storm only to get soaked from the road spray the last 5 miles. I should have headed straight to the rain to start with, it would have at least been fun!

Anyway we had plans for Friday night and Saturday and then church Sunday. The yard needed mowed last night and all that worked out to mean I have only ridden 1 day since last Sunday. Guess what, I think I needed a break too. I just didn't realize it! Tonight I am riding and looking forward to it.

Not just going through the motions, I look forward to getting out and covering some ground. Austin Chaney has been off limits for the last few weeks because of repaving so they should be done with that by now. That is my favorite way to get out to the Wingate area. Tonight I am heading that way!

I need to ride!

Like A Damn Kid !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I have mentioned this before but I grew up in Kentucky, yep a little further north than south. I know I have said this before also, we had "seasons". Yes you could tell when spring came and when the summer ended and fall began! Of course winter was the same, you knew when it was happening!

Here in N.C. if the leaves weren't coming out or coming down you wouldn't even know what time of year it was. I miss my seasons! Last night reminded me of that fact. It was raining lightly and that killed my road ride so I took the dog and we went to the country club and walked in the rain!

                                         "Like A Damn Kid"

Growing up we used to play outside in the rain all summer long. It was that time of year, if you didn't take advantage of the season you missed out! Plus that was back in the 70's and parents used to send you outside and tell you not to come back till supper. As long as you weren't getting in trouble or late for supper life was good.

Kids today miss out on so much. Point is I had a ball last night just walking in the rain. It never rained hard but it rained just hard enough to get soaked. The dog didn't mind and I was smiling the whole time! I hope it rains again today, life is short don't miss out!

Besides getting caught in the rain, I didn't need a shower last night....................LOL.....

Weird ,,,,,,,,,,,,

I started racing bicycles back in 1982! Think about that for a moment, I even had a paper route for awhile when we lived in Kentucky. I even remember the very first instant I was pedaling without someone holding the back of the seat.

                              AND I STILL LOVE IT....!

I started racing mountain bikes back before they even put shocks on bicycles. Now even the crap department store bikes have shocks. Point is I always come back to the bike. I tried swimming and my knees really fuss when I try to run. But I have my bikes!

I am still hung up on the road bike right now. I just can't seem to find the motivation to load a bike up and drive to a trail. Plus I like the fact I can cover so much ground. Although I have cleaned up my mountain bikes and they are fully serviced ready to go. I want to take a trip up to Asheville in the next few weeks, I will ride the mountain bike then.

Until then I will keep road riding and walking/running. Now we are to the "Weird" part! Lately I am on a streak, if I don't ride the road bike I am at the country club walking the nature trail. I take the dog and she loves it! Plus it's summer and it doesn't get dark till 9. I'll be damned if I am gonna be in the house when it's light outside!

"Weird" is going walking on a regular basis and believe it or not I keep finding myself running more and more! As long as I get the knees warmed up with a decent pace walking and keep the pace at a slower speed I seem to be doing better. My knees haven't been hurting and I am up to about 3 miles at a clip! Yes I ran a few races last winter but they were really hard on my knees.

This time they are doing better and I am enjoying it. I may not race these days but I bet I spend more time outside than most people do. Even the ones who think they do!

Get out side summer will be over before you know it. Plus it's only "Weird" at first............

Back In Action ,,,,,,,,,

Or at work anyway. Although for some reason I don't really mind. We are now at the halfway mark for summer and won't have anymore days off till Labor Day at the beginning of September. Chase left for church camp today and we have one more vacation coming.

Life moves fast, all you can do is hold on and enjoy it. Sometimes I feel like I am wishing life away when I dread coming to work. So I might as well try to enjoy it for what it is, a job! I came to this conclusion by watching a few of my co-workers who seem to let this place drive them crazy.

                                              It ain't worth it!

Anyway we had a great 4th, I road about everyday and got in my 140 miles for the week. I still am not sure what I plan to do with all this fitness but at least I have it when I might need it!

Let's Try Them All...........

All my favorite routes! Last night I pulled out of the driveway riding the road bike and turned right, I figured I would know where I was going by the time I hit the stop sign. Half a mile later I came to the sign, turned left and still didn't know. I did the same thing about 2 more times and then realized what I was doing.

I wanted a change and a new route. Without thinking about it I was going backwards on one of my favorite routes. So I kept going. The reason I ride that route in a particular direction is because of a certain hill that I dread. Once I realized what route I wanted to do I immediately started thinking about the "hill".

Of course it was right where I left it and when I got there I turned the corner and thought to myself, "here we go". Then about halfway up I realized I was moving along pretty good! I had only downshifted one time and my speed was staying steady.

I felt good! The legs were strong and I went right over the top. Bam another personal record on Strava. I guess all the riding I am doing is paying off, the hill I always dread isn't that hard anymore. I spent the whole first 15 miles thinking about a hill that I had built up to be a mountain. It's not! I am getting stronger and it's showing.

Just another reason why I am hooked on the road bike right now. Although having tomorrow off and Karen working I might go down to Cane Creek just to see all the people. I like pedaling through the campground when the place is full. Seeing all the kids and all the setups people have.

You never know when you might find a good ideal on a setup that someone else came up with.

Have a good 4th.............

Good News !!!!!!!!!!

Every once in awhile it's nice to hear it! "Good News" Yesterday while the rest of the USA was watching soccer I was at the transmission repair shop. My truck has been acting up a little and I was convinced it was the transmission.

Guess what! It's ain't!!!! That my friends just saved me about 3 grand! A new transmission for that truck is 3500 dollars and what I need done will only be about 2-3 hundred. Hence I am a happy camper! Anytime you don't have to fork out a small fortune is a good time.

I have an electrical issue that is making the truck shudder, it's not the transmission. A good tune up and a new coil pack and it will be back firing on all cylinders in the right order. That's the issue right now it's miss firing under a load. The transmission doesn't realize that's what's happening and it doesn't want to downshift. So it kicks back and forth from one gear to another.

Now that we have solved this issue we can get back to the regular everyday deals. Cody starts Central Piedmont Community College in about 6 weeks so right now that's what is taking most of our time. Getting him squared away and ready to start. It seems weird but like it or not the kids grow up.

Chase goes off to church camp next week and Cody is working, the house will be empty! The cat and dog will think we are on vacation......

Pep In Your Step ,,,,,,,,,,,,

I figured out how to put more pep in your step! I figured that out real fast! Last night I took the dog and went to the golf course for a walk. Here lately if I am not riding that's been my fall back. It's summer time and I would rather take a beating than stay in the house all evening.

The dog loves it and I get in some exercise, I might not be running but I am walking at a nice high rate of speed. We go fast enough the dog will pull me the first lap and then the second lap she will be walking a lot slower! Two laps are 3 miles, and it kills 45 minutes!

If it's late enough we will go ahead and walk the cart path for a few holes. We have to wait till nobody is coming for that, they don't really like walkers on the golf course. Especially with a dog, they don't want a "mess" left behind! I can understand that so we try to be  little discreet about when we walk the cart path.

Back to the "Pep In Your Step", as we started the second lap last night I heard the thunder, I figured we can make a lap before it gets here. We did but we had to damn near run to get back to the car! The thunder came and then the bottom fell out! We ended up with about an inch of rain.

Maybe tonight I can ride. It just depends on what time I get home. I have to take the truck to the shop, we are having a few issues with the transmission.................