Hard weekend

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I went to my grandparents house in Enid and then to my mon's house which is also in Enid. I got to see my brother again and he look amazing. He looks 10 times better than he did in September when I saw him. If you never knew what he looked like before his accident, you'd never be able to tell he was in one. I actually managed to not eat a ton of food. I only ate small portions so I could eat more of a variety of things. But I for sure ate a big piece of my grandma's punkin' pie. It is the BEST!!!

Friday I bought Christmas lights and hung them on the house. That was a first for me and they look pretty decent. Charles was sorta surprised when he came home from work to find the house all lit up. I managed a quick ride too. It was such a nice day that I had to ride at least a bit. I only did an hour and a half but it was better than nothing.

Friday night we went to this new Brazillian restaurant. It was awesome! They bought an old building near downtown and renovated it. The whole upstairs is a bar/lounge with an outdoor patio. Very very cool. It is in an up and coming area of OKC that has the potential to be really cool. Plus it is about 3 miles south of our house.

Saturday we did the Buchanan's Bicycles shop ride from Norman. It was pretty windy but also nice and warm. We did 3 hours and about 50 miles. Me step brother was in a wrestling tournament at OU on Saturday also, so I took a quick shower at Randy Soto's house after the ride and then went to the wrestling match. This is his last year to wrestle at Duke because he will be graduating in May. Hopefully he can go on to the Olympics, at least that is his goal. My dad, step mom and other step brother were in town for the meet so I got to see them, too. It was complete chaos in Norman on Saturday. The bedlam OU/OSU football game started at 2:30, the big wrestling tourny was at 9:00 and OU played basketball Sat night at 7:00. It was a madhouse for sure. Saturday night I was so tired. We ate BBQ and hung out in front of our new gas fireplace. It actually puts out a ton of heat, has a thermostat and looks pretty real. It is awesome.

Sunday the max wind speed was 57 mph. No kidding! It was about 68 degrees but the average wind speed was about 30 mph. I felt like I was riding sideways all day. We rode 3 and 1/2 hours and 60 miles. The group split up and most everyone went back after 2 hours. There were 8 of us who kept going to ride in the wind a little longer. Steven Cate whipped the pace up to 30 mph and I thought my legs were going to fall off. I told him 30 was abit fast for me and he just smiled and took off again at 30! Once he got tired, Andrea Rat picked it up where he left off. I guess maybe I'll get faster one of these days. After the ride we met up with Randy and Smathers at BisonWitches for lunch and then headed to Tulsa to watch Greg Romero race pro BMX at the Grand Nationals. I had never seen a BMX race before and it maybe looks like something I want to try. I mean between Charles and Greg...surely they could teach me how to race. After the BMX races we spun by Ankney's house in Tulsa and then to Fuddruckers for cheeseburgers and milkshakes. They were so good. But the drive back to OKC after eating all thar food was sorta miserable. But a good "full belly" type of miserable.

So, I have verbally commited to a team for 2006. My mind is made up and I think I have made the right decision for me. I'll reveal it as soon as I sign on the line.

And please refrane from making negative comments on my blog. If you don't like me or something I say...then chances are I don't like you and don't care what you have to say anyway.

Just some thoughts

I did a four hour ride on Saturday which is, by far, my longest of the winter base miles thus far. I was pretty spent afterwards and was very hungry. All I could think about was food and sleep on the drive home. I got home and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup. I put my sandwich on the coffee table and was headed back to the kitchen to get my soup when my little princess Pepper decided she was going to eat my sandwich. I caught her midstream and yelled at her pretty bad. I must have scared her because she dropped it and ran for cover. I caught her and she was relegated to the backyard for the rest of my lunch. So, I ate the rest of the freaking sandwich anyway because at that point, I was too dang tired and hungry to care if it was on the floor and in Pepper's mouth because I was not about to make another one. I know that is gross and all, but when your tired and hungry...it's all fair game.

Sunday was only 3 hours so not too bad other than my crotch pain from Saturday's ride. The pace was easy and steady so that was good. It started out pretty cold, like 40 degrees but I was dressed well so it didn't bother me too much. It sprinkled on us a little but then quit like five minutes later. I was not too hip on riding in the cold and the rain.

So, I am now trying to decide what team I am going to ride on next season. I have a two main options and both have advantages and disadvantages. I am just trying to figure out which is a better environment for me to be in. I am so tired of negative women's racing that I cannot stand another miserable season. The past two have been pretty bad and I even question why I am doing it. I really like to ride and race, but the other chics just make it suck sometimes. I don't understand the mentality of some of the girls that race. I mean why do you have to hate someone and be angry at them because they beat you? Isn't that part of the game? I mean only one person is going to win and everyone else is going to lose. That is the reality of it. So if you know that going into the race, why be mad when you lose. And why do women let racing bikes mix with real life. I mean on the bike it is full on competition but off the bike, why can't the competition be over and everyone get along. I guess I would compare it to high school sports. Where you despise the other team and everyone on it just because they go to a different school. I mean really, how stupid is that? That mentality is just so "elementary"! And I am refusing to deal with it this year. I am trying to find a team that is not going be competing with each other...like my past team has been. And also one where everyone is supportive of each others endeavors rather than being so negative about everything. So, I have some decisions to make now and I am very undecided right now.

Maybe turkey and my grandma's pumpkin pie will help me make a good decision.

CX Race--OKC

CX Race--OKC
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

CX RUN

CX RUN (2)
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Cross

I did the local cyclocross race yesterday. It was so much fun, even though Carl beat me. I hate to admit that but he is getting pretty fast so I gotta give him credit for that. Last year he was trying to not get lapped in the B race and now he is placing in the top 3 at every race! I wanted to stay with him but I didn't preride the course and I didn't know where the barriers were so I was sorta off guard when the first set came up. I dismounted good but my bike slipped out of my hand when I was running over and I dropped my bike on the barrier. Then it bobbled around a little and I almost fell down but I managed to stay upright and get my bike back under control. Then my heart rate was way up there so I had to settle in and ride a fast tempo to try and catch back on. I caught a few guys and passed them and I was on my own for two laps. I saw my nemesis Charles M up the road so I pushed super hard and finally caught him. Once I got on he said "what took you so long?" So he and I traded pulls in the wind for the rest of race and held off the chasers behind us but we weren't able to catch the lead group of 7 or so riders up ahead. So I pulled the last windy section and, as usual, Charles jumped hard and out sprinted me at the end. But I won the women's race by more that half a lap and I was prolly 8th in the men's. It was a good race and I got a good workout. I coughed for hours after the race so I know I went hard. Plus my buddy Kurt E was there from Austin. It was good to see him again. After the race I went to Lake Overholser to ride with the devo womens team. They were doing some rotating paceline practice drills so I rode with them and helped them out a little. There were like 16 women there. I was pretty surprised at how many women have an interest in racing next season. Usually there are like 5 chics at races so the more the merrier. We rode 2 laps at an easy pace so I was happy to spin my legs out a bit after my hard effort in the race. Now I have to do the rest of the cross races in order to win both of the overall series. That means one trip to Bartlesville and one trip to Tulsa. Next weekend there are some races in Texas that I would like to go to but Charles tells me we have to dig up the sewer line in our back yard and fix up the rent house. So I may be busy doing some good ole manual labor next weekend. He tells me it is good training and I can work on my upper body strength and my core strength. I think it just sounds painful and not very much fun. But it is better tha paying someone thousands of dollars to do it for us.

Mercy crit

Mercy crit (2)
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Nun

Nun
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Pepper on the pot

Pepper on the pot
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Pepper has discovered a new place to sit on the front porch. I guess the pot is just the right size. Eventually she will curl-up and lay down in the pot. I think she may be losing her mind!

Weights

I started lifting weights last week. I started kinda easy for the first time but then I went pretty hard on Tuesday night. Wednesday I was so sore! I am going back to the gym tonight to lift again, maybe not quite so hard this time. I have been still been riding quite abit. I didn't ride today because I just didn't feel like it. Plus the wind was blowing, no kidding, 35 mph! Too windy for me to ride easy into that. So I am just going to lift today. That should be good because I do some cardio stuff in between sets to get my heart rate up. I've got a cyclocross race this weekend so I don't want to be sore for that anyway. The winter Buchanan rides start up this weekend so I'm excited about that and I have almost decided on my team for next season. But not quite yet!