One of my teammates from Austin came up this past weekend and we had two really good rides. We did Mt. Scott on Saturday. My goal was six times but I blew myself to pieces by going to hard the first time up. So, the next four times were pretty pathetic. I had a difficult time doing any drills up it. I was lucky to make it to the top each time. And I was so relieved when Charles said, "okay, I'm done." That was after five, so I lucked out and didn't have to waddle up that thing again. On Sunday, we rode to El Reno, up to Okarche, back through Piedmont and then home. We ended up with exactly 80 miles and we averaged, no kidding, 20.1mph for the entire four hours. Actually, we had 20.5 mph average at 3 1/2 hour mark but we were tired and needed a bit of a cool down on the way home. So, 20 mph average for four hours was dang good.Especially because there were only four of us and 3 out of the 4 were chics.Yep, that is correct. A group of four with 3 women rode faster and longer than most big male dominated group rides! I won the Okarche city limit sprint but Charles got the Piedmont and OKC ones. But, at least I got one of them.

We also had our sewer line re-done. It was such a mess, literally. But we can now flush our toilet and not worry about it overflowing! We had to work on the rent house on Saturday night...after Mt. Scott. It was like torture. All I wanted to do was eat, shower and sleep, but it didn't work out like that. But we are so close to being done with the rent house. Like maybe even this weekend.

I have training camp in Austin this weekend, but I'm not sure if I'm going. I'm also thinking about doing Valley of the Sun stage race in Phoenix, Arizona on February 17-19. But, no decisions yet. I'm sure I'll decide the day before what I'm going to do. At least that is how it usually goes!

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney


I had a bad encounter yesterday with a very mean nasty and generally unhappy clerk at the judge's office. I guess because she was unhappy she wanted everyone around her to be miserable as well. So, the above quote is always a good rule to live by but even more applicable today!

Team

If you haven't already checked this out, you should do so now: austinflyers.com and click on TEAM JOY RIDES. This is my new team for 2006. I am excited about racing at the next level for the 2006 season. I have been training and working hard so I am hoping for some good results. I also just got word that one of my Austin teammates will possibly be in town this weekend to deliver my goods to me. She has heard so much about the famous MT. SCOTT hill climb that she wants to come up and give her a try for herself. So, I will be happy to show her our little cycling mecca of the world.

Riding and Riding

We did Mt. Scott on Saturday. Actually we did it 5 times, which is the most ever for me. We rode from I-44 out to Scott and then climbed 5 times and then rode back to the car at I-44. We did about 3 1/2 hours and at least 2 of those were climbing. By my 5th time, I thought I was going to die. I wanted to quit so bad but I knew Charles was at the top waiting on me and that if I made it up that 5th time, I was getting chocolate cake from the Iron Star grill. That was enough motivation for me so I kept going. It wasn't fast by any means, but I made it FINALLY! And I got to eat the BEST chocolate cake.

Sunday we did the Buchanan's group ride. Actually it was not really a group at all. It was only Charles, Angie and myself. Everyone else was either mt biking or staying warm inside. But we rode anyway. Charles took off and Angie and I hung on for dear life. We finally settled into a nice rotation and made it to Paoli. We were about 5 miles short of Pauls Valley. It was getting colder by the minute and my stomach was shaking by the time we stopped in Paoli. Then we rode back toward Norman. It warmed up a little which made the ride a little more bearable. Charles and I were doing the sprint for the city limit signs and I nearly blew myself up at every one. But we made it back to Buch's safe and sound with about 3 1/2 hours at nearly 20 mph average. We were hauling BUTT! At one point in the ride Angie said..."hey, have you seen our average?" My reply was..."yeah, I'm trying to not think about that right now!" And we saw a live armidillo on the side of the road. Normally we only see dead ones. So that was a new thing.

Then we got back to the car and Charles couldn't find his driver's license. He said it may have fallen out of his vest pocket somewhere between Paoli and Purcell. So we drove all the way to Paoli desperately searching the shoulder for his license. We did get to stop at Sonic in Purcell on our way out so I could get a corn dog and Charles got his shake. We were starting to bonk so we have to get some fuel. We didn't find his license but at least we tried and I was happy with my corn dog. Except I should have ordered two!

We got home, took showers and went to bed. I slept for a few hours and then we had to go to the rent house to work. It is almost done, thankfully. We didn't finish up until 10:00, which is my bedtime and we still hadn't eaten dinner. Finally, we made it to bed by 11:00 and I was so tired. 7:30 came way too soon this morning!!!

Charles ski

Charles ski
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Charles on the lift at Taos.

Charles & Rio Grande River

Charles & Rio Grande River
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

We pulled over on the way to Taos and hiked down to the Rio Grande river.

MJQ ski

HPIM0387
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

This is me on the lift at Taos.

Snow skiing

We went to Santa Fe, NM over the weekend to go skiing. We left Friday and came back yesterday. We skiied Santa Fe on Saturday and Taos on Sunday. I had a good time skiing. I realized how much I had missed it the last few years. Santa Fe didn't have alot of snow and only 6-8 runs were open. I think I spent more time on the lift than I did actually skiing. Taos was really icy. They had more snow and about 15-20 runs open. I watched these kids race downhill and it was amazing. There were these little kids, like 4 and 5 year olds racing down the mountain. It was awesome. They would have totally kicked my butt! It was an organized race. There were teams from all over Colorado, New Mexico and Utah there. It was some kind of junior Olympic race. There were Olympic signs up on the mtn so I guess that is what it was. I only crashed once and it was because I forgot I had skies on and I tried to walk while I was watching the races. So, I kinda tipped over. But I hear that Taos is one of the hardest mountains to ski. I have only been there twice before. One time I was 16 and I skiied only about 2 hours because it was too old and they shut down all the upper lifts and the other time I was 21 and I had a broken arm so I didn't ski at all. The greens were more like blues. Some of the greens had moguls on them and most were hard packed and super icy. But it was so much fun. My boots were rubbing on my legs and shins and I have these big "burns" on the sides of my legs from them. I don't remember ever having that problem before. Maybe my calves are just bigger now than what they used to be. We ate some really good mexican (new mexican) food that had this amazing green chile sauce. Possibly the best mexican food I have ever eaten. Plus there was a tango dance group performing during dinner. We ate breakfast every morning at Whole Foods and I am so upset that we don't have one here in OKC. Surely one of the days we will get one. Even if it were in Norman or Edmond I would be happy. They had huevos rancheros that was so good! And the bacon...oh my gosh! Well, I definately ate well over this trip and now it is time to get back to the diet (attempt to stay on some kind of a diet) and the bike training. I haven't ridden my bike since Thursday so I am feeling like a slacker. Tonight I am planning on weights at the gym and then an hour of tempo on the trainer. Sounds like fun, huh? I've got a few pictures from this weekend that I'll post later tonight.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Big Dog says "Happy New Year!" Chica wonders why she didn't get a celebration hat.

Paris in Vegas

Paris in Vegas
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

Scooter in Santa Fe

Scooter in Santa Fe
Originally uploaded by cyclesq.

This was taken during our summer trip to Santa Fe. We are leaving on Friday to spend the weekend in Santa Fe again. This time we are skiing Santa Fe and Taos. I haven't been skiing in almost four years so I am super excited. I can't wait!

more weights=less weight???

I have been lifting weights at the gym for the past 3 months and I have been riding the trainer at least three days during the week and then doing longer rides on the weekends. I cannot, for the life of me, lose any weight. So, yesterday I decided to cut my caloric intake back and see if that works. Let me just say, that today my head is spinning and I am not in a very good mood. This "dieting" thing SUCKS!!! I will be happy if I can make it a week. There is no way I can do it for 2 months. I wanted to be down 6 lbs by the first of March, but the way I feel now, it AIN'T happening! Everyone at work thinks I am crazy because they don't understand the "power to weight" ratio that is so very improtant to being a successful cyclist. So, I am not getting much support for my diet here anyway. Charles understands it, for sure, but he has more willpower than I do and he can go for days on end without eating. I cannot do that. I ate a turkey sandwich with mustard only for lunch two hours ago and I am starving right now. I don't understand. I guess maybe it was never meant for me to understand. But tomorrow we are going to Mt. Scott, so I get to climb hopefully my butt off. And get rid of some of the fat there. And then I have my very last cyclocross race here in OKC on Sunday afternoon. Charles called earlier and said we are going to Santa Fe next weekend. So pray for snow in NM so I can have a good ski trip. We may have to venture north to Taos. I hear there is much more snow up there. Maybe I won't break my arm this time around!

Hard weekend

Friday I got off work a little early. I decided to hit the mt bike trails at Lake Draper. I haven't been on my mt bike in at least four months. It was pretty good though. It was a nice break from the road and the trainer. I did not crash at all, which was a huge accomplishment. It started to get dark about an hour into my ride so I had to call it quits. I may ride in the dirt occasionally but I don't see myself doing any mt bike races anytime soon. Maybe 12 Miles of Hell, but that is about it!

Saturday we went to Mt. Scott. We climbed 3 times and my times have dramatically increased since last year. LAst year I could only go about 6-7 mph up that thing and this time I was able to maintain 9-10 mph most of the way up. After Mt. Scott we rode to Medicine Park. We ate lunch at this cool little restaurant on the river. If you get a chance check this out: http://www.medicinepark.com/ It is such a cool little town.

Sunday we did a 9 am ride from Papa's Little Italy. We did 60 miles and almost 3 hours. It was a good pace-not too fast and not too slow. It was a pretty large group so the 45 mph winds weren't too bad to deal with. Sunday night aka New Year's Eve we ate dinner at Shoguns Japanese Steakhouse with Jeff and his gf Jenny. Then we went to Sophabella's hoping to catch a good band. We were a little dissapointed with the band so we decided to hit Western Avenue. The parking situation was not good and everything look way too crowded so we decided to call it a night. We watched the new year come in on tv and then we were in bed by 12:05. I guess I am getting old!

Sunday we had an early 8 am Peter E ride from Jimmy's shop. I woke up at 7:20 and barely had time to inhale some oatmeal. So, I was without coffee at 8:00 and not in a very good mood at this point. Then Peter E made the executive decision to ride to Luther, which is quite possibly the hilliest ride we could have done. So, my mood was only getting worse. Every hill I had to climb was a little worse than the one before. It wasn't that I was hurting bad because I felt ok, it was just that it was early and I hadn't had my coffee and I was just not in the mood to do that particular ride with those particular people. So, I had my ipod cranked so I didn't have to talk to anyone and I was pretty much left alone. I think Charles could sense my good mood because he didn't say one word to me the entire ride. After everyone else peeled off, myself and one other guy had to ride back to Jimmy's up the dreaded Hefner hill and against the wind. I was so happy by the time I saw my car. I think we did 55 miles but I was so glad to be done with that ride. I raced home in my car and took a shower and then Charles and I went to eat India food. I was so tired though I didn't get to enjoy it much. I went home after that and slept for 2 1/2 hours. I was in a much better mood after my nap!

I think today will be either an easy trainer day or possibly a no ride day! I also added this little counter to the bottom of my site so I can see how many people actually read my ramblings!