New Job

Today is my second day, first full day, at my new job. It is pretty laid back here and everyone is really nice and very helpful. Best of all, there is no dress code, except for days I am in court, of course. Also, I don't have to clock-in and clock-out. It is almost like I am a real attorney, finally! Yesterday was the receptionist's birthday so we went to lunch at Cimarron Steakhouse. Steak for luch on my first day and the boss-man paid for it, SWEET!!! I am a real attorney for sure.

Riding recently has kinda sucked for me. Sunday was a beautiful day and I felt like I had lead in my butt all day. We took off from Buch's in Norman and headed toward Chickasha. Once again, an hour-and-a-half into the the ride, everyone turned around. That left 7 of us to keep on trucking. The pace picked up substantially as did the hills. I was struggling to stay attached and finally ended up getting dropped. I limped in to the gas station where Steven told me they were stopping and I was so frustrated. Sometimes I feel like I am just wasting my time on that bike. Somedays it feels like I am going backwards and that all this riding is only making me slower. Anyway, there I was 30 miles from Norman, tired and frustrated as hell, debating on whether I should just call someone to come get me because I really did not want to get back on my bike. I ended up back in the saddle and trying like Hell to not get dropped. Well, Eric M and little Jacob decided they needed to see who was the fastest (dumb little boys) and I got dropped, AGAIN. But thankfully, Charles stayed back with me and he didn't even say a word. He knows not to talk to me when I get frustrated. He's a smart man, by the way. So he towed me up and down the hills into Washington and then the flatland had arrived. HOORAY! All of a sudden I felt ok again and we rode back into Norman. We walked over to this healthy pita place on Campus Corner and sat on a park bench and ate lunch. It was nice to be off the bike and hanging out in the beautiful weather. It was 70 degrees and sunny. I even got some tan lines from the ride. Tan lines in February-that is almost unheard of in Oklahoma.

I was planning on racing this weekend in Texas for Walburg and Pace Bend road races, but they are so hilly. I don't want to go all the way to Austin to only get frustrated again. Also, my grandfather is in the hospital in Enid and he is not doing so hot. I think I need to go hang out with the family this weekend instead. My dad is also going to be in Enid for the weekend. I am going to try to get in a good training ride Saturday morning and then hit E-town that afternoon. Hopefully, a good hard ride on Sunday will get me ready for Lago Vista next weekend. It is hilly too. I can't wait.

Mt. Scott

Mt. Scott
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

I went to Mt. Scott today. The sign reads "closed during incliment weather." As you can see, the gate was closed. It was cold, windy and foggy at the top. The ride down was soooo cold. At times, I was only going 18 mph down due to the strong wind. My last time up Mt. Scott, Cate passed me and he said, "you need to spin faster or your going to start going backwards!" I thought to myself, spin, what the heck is he talking about? I can't spin up this thing! Anyway, I climbed Big Rock twice and Mt. Scott 3 1/2 times. We stopped off a Subway to refuel and came back to OKC. The weatherman predicted 60 degrees today. I think we maybe hit 40. Tomorrow they say 70 degrees, so maybe we'll get lucky and actually hit 50!

Preregistration

My plans to race Valley of the Sun stage race this weekend have been spoiled. I did not preregister and for some odd reason, registration closed a week before the race. I have never done a race before that you couldn't register on site or one that closed registration an entire week before the race. So, I am still in OKC. I am a little bummed though. I really wanted to do that race. I think I could have done well. I guess I 'll have to wait until next time. I just finished painting every doorway and all of the trim in my house. It took about 5 hours and I am tired. I haven't touched my bike since Sunday. Maybe I'll ride tomorrow. I am not working right now and I don't start my new job until next week, so I am hoping the weather watms up and I can get in some good riding.

WEEKEND RIDES

I put in a little over 160 miles over the past 2 days. Saturday it was cold and rainy but I wanted to ride anyway. I loaded up the bike and took off for Buchanan's in Norman for the group ride. It wasn't much of a group. There were 6 of us who started off together. One guy got dropped about 10 miles into the ride so we were down to 5. Smathers pealed of in Purcell, so then it was 4. We rode out to some little town, it was only a church so I don't know if that even makes it a town, but we stopped there for water. A cold front came in and it was kinda misting. The wind was blowing like crazy and I was miserable. I only brought enough food for 2 hours. I was not doing to hot at this point. Steven and Andrea started picking up the pace. I thought, how wonderful--I am blowing hard and they want to go faster! I hung on as long as I could and then I blew. I bonked so hard! I could only go about 15 mph across the I-35 bridge and I barely made it up over the over-pass. Thank goodness I was almost back to my car. Once I got to the car I was seeing double and I was a little delirious. I found the nearest Taco Bell and inhaled 2 bean burritos and a large fruit punch in 2 minutes flat! I went home and went straight to bed. I had the chills so bad and was shaking. It was not a pretty sight. I took a little siesta and felt much better.

Sunday morning was so nice. The sun was shining and it was 60 degrees. We rolled up to Buchanan's for the group ride and almost 25 people were there. Amazing what good weather brings out! We headed north due to the strong northwest wind. I felt sooooo bad. I thought oh my gosh, I am going to get shelled at 15 mph. I started eating my figs hoping that would help. About an hour and a half into the ride there was a cut off. Some people said they were heading back. I kept going and looked back and there were 5 of us, again. What is funny is that there were 3 chics and 2 guys. I knew I was in good company though because 2 of the people had on National Championship jerseys. I'm not talking about the knock-offs you buy from Performance but the real deal. Anyway, I was suffering the whole rest of the way. It was hard for me and I was just sitting in. The cross wind was brutal and I was so happy when we turned back south. We stopped in Minco to re-fuel and then took off back to Norman. We started this little rotation and after 4 of those I popped. Eventually everyone was strung out and it was like a time trial into Tuttle. We re-grouped and Steven kept nailing the hills. I would hang on for some of them and then POP, once again. It was killing me. We hit OKC and the pace slowed down so I was happy for that. I don't think I could have handled many more all out efforts. We rolled back into Norman and went to Moe's to grab some burritos. It was good stuff!

This weekend was tough. It is the hardest weekend I have had since last season. It was really really hard. I suffered alot. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

Hit and Run

Well, I rode the river during lunch and it was a great ride. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. What more could I ask for? Except .31 miles from my office I got hit by an SUV. I was setting at a stop light and this car was honking at me from behind. I don't know what exactly they wanted me to do about the red light. It's not like I can make it turn green. I guess they wanted me to move out of the way. Like I'm supposed to ride on the grass or something? So I threw my hands up in the air! The light turned greed and I clipped in my pedal and started making my right turn into the office park. I heard the engire roar and felt the hit. My bike slid out from under me and I slid across the road. Luckily, I was only going 10 miles an hour and the car was just excelerating. Otherwise it could have been really bad. I jumped up as fast as I could to get the tag #, but I am not sure I saw it correctly. I was a little shaken up. So, I called the police as soon as I got in my office and my police officer buddy, Rick, answered the phone (lucky me)! He did an accident report and he came out to my office and took some pictures of my scrapes, both on my body and my bike. He ran the tag # that I thought was correct and it was not a match. So, be on the lookout for a black Expedition trying to run you off the road. And Rick told me that it was awfully hard to see the bangs on my bike due to all of the dirt and mud caked on it! I thought that was pretty funny, especially coming from a guy who washes his entire bike with a toothbrush after every ride! (lol)

Trainer

It has been too cold to ride outside the past few days, so I've been stuck on the trainer. I have found out that it is much easier and much more bearable to do a CTS or Spinnerval DVD workout than it is to just ride and watch tv. Last night we did the CTS Time Trial DVD. And the night before we did the Spinnervals Time Trial DVD. I am not very good at time trials, so hopefully these workouts will help me out. My first TT is coming up quickly. It is stage one of Valley of the Sun in Arizona on February 18. In order to do well in the overall, I can't afford to blow the TT, so I'm trying to get better.

I brought my bike to work today so I can ride during lunch. I forgot my iPod though. I'm going to try to run home on my morning "smoke" break and get it.

PRE

http://www.stevepre.com

I have been reading the book "PRE". It is so awesome! I have heard of Steve Prefontaine, but never really knew much about him. Magen bought Charles the book for Christmas and I started to read it. I can hardly put it down. It is so motivating and it easily relates to cycling as well. I just found this website, too.

This quote is so true:
"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement."

WORK

Well I put in my 2 weeks notice at my job on Tuesday. I found another job that will be so much better for me. It will be more flexible and it will pay way better! Plus, they have an office in Lawton, which means I have an excuse to take off for Mt. Scott! I mean you can't go to Lawton and skip climbing Mt. Scott. One of the partners has a house in Medicine Park that he said I am welcome to use, so I am real excited about that. That little town is so cool. Check out their web-site: http://www.medicinepark.com/. Just thinking about it makes me want to take off work now and drive down there and ride. And with my new job, I'll be able to do that!

Charles and I rode last night after work. We rode from the house to the river and then stopped off at the new skate park. It was opening night, so there were a ton of people there. It was pretty fun, especially watching all the little kids on bikes, skateboards and roller blades. We stayed there for 30 min or so and I was getting so cold and then we had to ride home still. Again, since I have lost my good winter gloves I had these little DeFeet "sweater" gloves on that didn't help keep my hands warm at all. They were so cold. But we put in a big 25 so that was good.

It is supposed to be 60 degrees today and sunny and I'm kicking myself for not bringing my bike to work so I can ride at lunch. Maybe I can go for a little spin around tonight after work. Weather permitting, I am looking forward to a long ride tomorrow!

Big Dog!