Wheels-------

My wife pointed out something this morning , said I should clarify it..2wheels2kids and all the big truck pictures..I drove a tractor trailer for 5 years when I first got married , been married for 15 happy years by the way...Had to throw that in there make the sweetie pie happy.. Back to the trucks , loved trucking and would still be doing it if I didn't have a wife and kids..It is a very tough way to make a living , long hours and allot of time away from home..I got to see so much of the country and meet so many people..I will never forget that..

Anyway , I used to pull a dump trailer and hopper bottom hauling all kinda of commodities , wheat , corn , soybeans , every kind of meal you can think of (meal is a feed ingredient) ..Pulled a flat bed for awhile and hauled all kinds of stuff on that , ran back and forth to Ohio a couple times a week when I was doing that..That was probably my favorite time ..Although as I say that I can think of so many other favorite routes I used to do..NC to Pennsylvania , NJ back to NC.. Anyway I had a few different trucks , started with a 1979 cabover K-100 Kenworth then moved up to an 87' Kenworth W900 then I went nuts and bought a brand new Kenworth W900 Aerocab...It was bad###..Oh well all was well until the boys got older and the wife got tired of trying to do it all by herself , and the kids got tired of daddy leaving every other day for a couple of days..Glad I did it , always wanted to be a truck driver, every little boy loves his toy trucks when he is growing up..And I got to play with trucks for a few years as an adult....If I ever hit the lottery I will buy me a new truck to drive to the store and back..That would be the ultimate grocery getter...

So anyway that is why I keep coming up with the truck pics..Don't worry after I get a little better at running this stupid computer I will be putting allot more bicycle pics on here..We start racing again in just a few weeks so I know I will have plenty of stuff to write about..



my sweetie pie



That was at the Columbia SC zoo a few months ago..We are all little people in a big world...Be safe and have a happy new year....Later....



The End----Of The Year

Well just like everybody else who has a blog it is time to reflect on the end of the year..First thanks to the good old man upstairs , everybody in the family still has good health and is doing fine..We got thru all the birthdays holidays doctors visits vacations and a remodel of the floors in our house without much of a hiccup..Hope the next year has the same results..Cody is now in high school and drivers ed..Chase is in the fifth grade and doing well..Karen changed jobs this year and works in Monroe now , seems to really love her new job..And that makes it nice for the rest of us!!!!!!!LOL....She is gonna shot me for that..

On to another subject we didn't race allot this year..I had a bad crash last year about this time , it took almost a whole year to recover from that.. But at least I have ..This year we are going to race the Southern Classic Series and a few select 6hr and 12hr events..Was kinda burned out on racing anyway so it was a well needed brake..As far as the bike shop goes it's an exciting time right now , they have gotten a whole list of sponsors to back us this year and are adding a road bike team to the lineup..Looking forward to seeing our colors at the road bike events...Go Bikes East!!!!!!!!!

That's about it today , ready for the weather to change up..I always thought I would like to live up north at some point in my life..Thought I might be missing out on something..The last few weeks have made me realize what I would be missing ,,,,,Not A Damn thing.....It has been really cold here and had the snow the other day..It is finally going to warm up to 50 the next 2 days..But going to be raining...Oh well can't have it all..

Found this on a web site the other day , food for thought..I think I might use it for motivation this year..Not that I litter or anything , I really try to be aware of that..But I might try to use it to inspire myself to pickup after others who don't really care..The one thing that made me laugh on the list would be the leather shoe..If it will last 40 years why the hell do my shoes wear out so fast then..Based on that figure I should get at least a few years out of them.......

Oh well tomorrow is NEW YEARS EVE!!!!!!!!!!! That used to mean something to me..Now it means its new years eve...Just another day of the year or the end of the holidays..I guess the highlight of this occasion to me would be now I have 15 days available between sick days and vacation days to use up!!! Must plan wisely...LOL..And the truck of the day would be a big flat top Pete bull hauler.......



sweet........

The Holidays

         Well we made it through another holiday.. The kids got twice as much as they need , Karen seemed happy with what I got for her..And I was happy with what she got for me..
         Cody got a bunch of money so now he is ready to buy a BMX bike..This will be the first bike he has ever purchased for his self..He is excited, and I am for him...
         Chase got a bunch of money and he is ready to order a new air soft gun..Sniper rifle just what every 10yr old needs..Yes am I am the king daddy parent..
         I got Karen a pair of rubber outdoor boots , now when I was buying these I though they were a waste of money..Joke is on me , she got to wear them for 2-days..Who would of thought that..WE GOT SNOW!!!!!!!!
         No Shit started snowing on Christmas day..We ended up with 4inches of snow.. First time since 1946.. I think I saw that or heard that somewhere over the weekend..But anyhow it was great,we went walking and played in it allot..And of course we where the good old rednecks..Got out the truck early Sunday am and went riding around for awhile.. Didn't see anybody in the ditch though..Cody got a new fishing rod for Christmas and believe it or not had to go to the creek to try it out..The kids also got a new canoe..I look forward to that one myself..Already found us a 25 mile canoe trip to do..

       OK back to the weekend I was off last Thursday and Karen had to work so I got to finish all my shopping that was cool..Then Friday I got to get out on my mtn bike..That didn't workout to well , my buddies told me the trail was in great shape Thursday , well Friday we had that freeze thaw thing going on and it was a total mess..What normally takes me 55minutes to do took me 1:20 minutes to do..My bike weighed 20 extra pounds for all the mud..then we had Christmas and the snow so that was about it for riding..The snow will be gone in a few days and they are calling for 55degrees again for next weekend..perfect ride weather..And I almost forgot Karen bought me a new seat Brooks Saddle...The king daddy saddle,,,It is so bad ass it forgoes the name of seat..It is a SADDLE....Made by a saddle company....      

cool blast from the past

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I found this pic on another blog this morning and had to have it...Memories baby.....I had JT pants and
scott goggles and a haro number plate...Yea I was the bomb.........Or at least I looked damn good.....And since I was surfin the net I also found this big truck check it out.........



bad ass.........



Sponsors

Or club level teams , here in Charlotte there seems to be some confusion..We are lucky enough to have a great mtn bike scene..We have a local promoter who organizes a summer series and winter series along with several one off races 6hr-12hr ..And a few other events as well..Along with all the other races in the area we are covered up..You can damn near race every week , give or take..
        Back to sponsors ...Well with all the races we have our promoter decided to have a team category...OK the way it works is all your team members race and there finishes all add up and at the end of the series team with the most points splits a few hundred bucks..Or the winning shop gets a check...Not a bad concept , except now everybody in town claims they have a sponsorship...Here's how a local deal works, you get a bicycle at discount, you get parts and purchases at a discount...Discount means you pay for it...Now I know we have a few in town who get more or less but it takes away from the ones who are good enough to get more for everybody to run around sponsored...And yes I am on a local club level team,LOL..But I think I need to stimulate my local sector of the economy , here's the deal...
        I am in the building business, it's slow..The company I work for has 15 houses sitting for sale...You buy a house (they range from 500to1.5)from me and I will give you a bicycle and clothes and I will cover all your repairs up to a hundred dollars...Now that's a deal , everybody else in town wants to sell you a bike , i will give you a bike....your choice up to 3g's...and 2 uniforms...and you can tell everybody you brought a new outside of industry sponsor into the sport...Sounds like a deal to me!!!!!
        Point being if you have to buy your way in you are not sponsored , you are part of a club...You go to our local mtn-bike web site you will see people selling stuff claiming they have to because of sponsor changes,BS.....Just sell your junk and buy a new bike from your new best bike shop friend...But call it what it is..Not what you want people to believe...
       Anyhow Christmas is right around the corner and I ain't ready yet...got to Finnish up today...I hope Santa brings you what you have asked for and you have a great holiday..I will not be back to post tell after Christmas,got allot of plans for the next 4-days..Just not sure what they are,got to check with my social director(the wife)...I let her control the events around the holidays ,and sneak in a few rides when I can...That's called keeping the peace...And they are calling for snow on Christmas day..A white Christmas...Haven't had a white Christmas in years.....Cheers and Merry Christmas
       And just so as to not hurt any future club member mtn bike racers feelings...Have fun and enjoy being part of the team , if it helps to bring more people out to enjoy the great outdoors, then it's a win win for everybody....Keep on Truckin................

X-MAS......

Well it's the week before x-mas, still got shopping to do..Gonna go after work.. Not much happening here at work so kinda bored today..Already cruised all the local mtn-bike web sites..Not much going on We have a local winter series here in Charlotte about to start up (Jan) , they are going to add a Clydesdale class this year..Got all kinda of posts about that, from the looks of it that will be the biggest class(LOL)....The big discussion is what size person fits the title ..From all the posts I have read I am beginning to wonder if i am a fat ass..LOL LOL...Oh well that's our society these days, if we whine long enough we get what we want...Now we will have about 27 classes to chose from at sign ups...so I guess I need to speak up, if they can have a class, I want a class, we can call it the half class, halfway between RACER BOY and BIG RACER BOY..if we have 27 classes already what's wrong with 54..Then we all can have a 5-dollar metal..LOL......Kinda like the trophy kids get just for playing a sport, even when the team sucked!!! I used to coach basketball with my kid and one time I had a large kid on my team who refused to run...He flat told me "why should i run , we get a trophy anyway"...........Oh well I am a big boy (figure of speech) I will sign up in my regular sport class and suffer thru the cold and wet and mud and have a bowl of well deserved chili...Then complain about the little dudes in my class that should have there ass in expert....LOL...At least I make myself laugh.......
           Now to change the subject , yesterday on my way home I get a call from my oldest...Dad where are you I want to ride my dirt bike and mom ain't home yet...I need his life.............
          

New To This

Well hello world.....
                                  If you stumble across this I am sorry ...But hang on maybe you will enjoy...
                                  Had last Friday off , killing vacation and sick days, can't carry them over so
                                  didn't do jack Friday....Saturday I was so tired of the weather here I got out
                                  all my riding gear and hit the rode...32degrees and raining...Got soaked but
                                  believe it or not didn't get cold !!!!!! Only rode for 20 miles but what the hell
                                  it beat staring at the walls or TV for the rest of the day....Sunday came around
                                  and managed to get my oldest one to go mtn bike with me...We went down to
                                  Cheraw SC , state park , they have a nice 8mile loop thru the woods down
                                  there that is really different from anything in the Charlotte area ...It is a shame it
                                  doesn't get anymore trail love then it does...According to the sign-in book we were
                                  the only ones since DEC 5th to even ride the place...Oh well my hidden secret place
                                  oops............ let the cat out of the bag....Anyhow only had to back track twice,
                                  from missing the trail....The ride was good not to cold 41 and sunny...
                                     Went to the trusty bike shop today got my brakes fixed ...Now a couple of
                                  nights of shopping and back to night riding...Well that's about all I have to say today
                                 so until next time.................see ya.....