Last Day of July 2008

Cyclo Cross bike en route via Federal Express...eta Monday.
Now debating on selling the highly regarded loved LeMond.
Disc'd for the first time this year w/ B last night. Shot a 6 under. Almost aced 4 - Chains...good game.
Bathroom and Family room are finally starting to wrap up. Only a couple of last little things to do like:
- Cut hvac duct and install vent covers
- Hang pocket door and install all handles/locks
- Securely mount vanity/sink to wall
- Install faucet/drain in sink
- Install shower head/hose, On/off valve and all trim/hangers assoc w/ shower fixture
- Install center light in bath
- Finish trimming out window casing
- Attempt to install recessed lighting in hallway (3 of them)
- Help w/ furnishing and setting up fam room w/ TV/Stereo w/ surround/ wireless/ fax/computer/etc
Biked in Tues/Wed/today and most likely tomorrow.
Ride in numbers today:
26.5 max/16.8 ave/1532 odo/7.7 trip/27:23 min

Update

Friday - Vacation Day -Skatepark w/ Danny D for an hour or so and then home to do home equity building (H.E.B.)
Saturday - Breakfast ride to Kiel w/ good size group. 55 miles then HEB.
Sunday - Food Shopping & then HEB all day
Monday - Made an offer on a CX bike...no word back yet. Jeeped in cause bike had to go to LBS for tuning. Quick 10 mile loop in the evening.
Today - Ride in numbers 7.6/17.7 ave/32 max/25:48/1497 odo. Looks like I'll break the 1500 mile mark on the LeMond today.
Got news today that the old building I work in is SOLD! And that our owner is expanding the other/newer facility to consolidate our retarded two building, 40 employees way of life that has just bugged the crap out of me for the last couple of years...I feel like this is a really really good shot in the arm during this super slow, shit economy time that has been going on for a few months. I hope and pray that things do start to turn around in the next year for the better...it really couldn't get much worse than it's been and I get the feeling that people are hanging on by their finger nails. When this place is doing good it's great and vice versa of course when it's not. Only time will tell.

WedNiteBikeRide

Made the group ride w/ only a min or two to spare...didn't think I was going to be able to make the entire ride w/ the commute and then the rush to get from my house to the meeting spot...told myself you can drop anytime if needed but try to hang on. And I did. 40 miles, a new route that I've never seen, close to perfect weather and going the entire distance made this group ride a really good time.
56.6 total yesterday and the LeMond has 1416 on the odo.
I emailed some guy in CO about a cx bike and didn't get a reply. The search continues....and it was a nice Salsa too. Errr.

Excited again

I called my friend who's rebuilding my Triumph motor and said that he has the lower case back together and is just waiting for the heads to come back. They are going to be getting a re coated and bored. This will save money as I will reuse the original pistons. This brings new excitement and that's a good thing.
On the other hand I've been eyeballn' a couple of cross bikes and really need to pull the trigger soon on a bike if I really want to hit some CX races. Looks like I'll have to get a WCA membership and start out as a Cat 4 beginner. This also gets me a bit pumped but to have both is really not that easy to achieve so we'll see how things go w/ the cycle first and then revisit the cx race bike to see if it's achievable.
Rode to work again today...one of the nicest mornings in a while. I put on the arm warmers for the first half of ride....Saw Nicko at intersection...Ride in numbers -
7.7 mi/27:34 min/16.7 ave/29.8 max/1359 odo

Recap

Quiet at work today...production layoff...people taking vacation...etc...don't like it.
Friday - Cut grass and out to eat w/ in laws.
Saturday - SMBfastRide...54 miles and hit by a scattered rain storm...oddly fun. Sat aft shopping for baseboards at the HD and Menards...set up and start.
Sunday - Walk/Jog/Walk/Stretch for a total of 4 miles. Grocery's. Clean up driveway and tidy garage to set up for day of building home equity is what I like to tell myself to keep me trying to enjoy it as much as possible w/ it being so darn hot and humid.
Monday - today - biked in trying to keep active. This week looks decent for biking to work everyday. Will continue w/ the finishing details of the house and even taking Friday off (vacation day) to really try and get it done.
Thursday I have a haircut appt w/ my gal who just had a kid and this will be the first one w/ her since May. The temp was ok but am glad she's back. My hair is crazy in this weather especially w/ the humidity and wearing a bike helmet first thing in the morn.

Happenings

Friday - Wedding Rehearsal then ran into some old classmates at the tavern we were at.
Saturday Morning Bfast Ride was nice...I was a little slow mentally from being out til midnight Friday and woke up late...it stormed and I thought that the weather would be too crappy for a ride but when I let the dog out the sky looked clear to the west and the radar showed a nice late morning so I got it together and hurried to the meeting spot. Made it at exactly 8 am and the group kinda hangs out and chit chats....go figure. 54 miles and a new route and new restaurant keep it interesting.
Sat Aft Wedding for Matt and Nicki - Outdoors at TA, Tori was the reader. She did excellent.
Sat Night was the reception at the bull...free beer, good people.....good time.
Sunday again woke up feeling a bit slow due to the night before...finally got it together and did yard work from 11 to 4:30 then ended the long weekend w/ a fat dinner at the In Laws w/ the Gpa's.
Monday morn had me feeling the weekend yet so I drove in....didn't feel good at night so jumped on the bike and rode around the block...not surprised that I felt better after a 20 minute ride...
Tuesday ride in was pretty quick....ride home was slower w/ head winds and high temps.
Which brings us to today....Hot Humid and overall peak Sheboygan Summer today.
Some person laid on their horn at me this morn...everyone is in such a hurry...I knew it was going heavier traffic cause it was 7 am and not 6. Ride in numbers...
32.3 max/16.5 ave/7.7 mi/28 min/1254 odo
I will join the faster group ride tonight if I still have the energy since Tor will be otta town til late, but w/ the weather as it is this would be quite the feat, but the workout would be substantial.

Rides

Last night I joined the Wednesday night bike ride group...40 miles in 2 hrs w/ some serious hill action. I feel a little better today but last night I was worn out pretty good. This ride is w/ the experienced racer type guys and I need to work on my pack skills and paceline. I did feel that I was all over the place last night, trying my best to just hold on, but Brian called me out. I all I can do is my best and I'll have to pick up some pointers, practice and try again.

Numbers for last night:
40 miles/19.3 ave/2:03:44/40.8 max/1136 odo

Ride to work numbers for this morn:
7.7 miles/17.0 ave/27:03/29.4 max/1144 odo

Counter Productive

Friday - biked 50 miles w/ group for breakfast...was finally able to "pass it forward" w/ Dano getting a flat and me being able to provide a tube and air. This has done for me twice. Tor, Shermann and myself went down to the riverfront to meet up w/ her bro Danny D and his wife Jamie & check out the cardboard boat race. Shermann was a star getting pet by many strangers that instantly fell for his good looks.
Watched fireworks from our roof. Seen three cities displays from said roof. Pretty cool.
Saturday - Jogged 4 miles. Had to walk at mile 3 for a bit. Afterwards Tor and I jogged down the road a bit and back. Took a full load to the town dump. Cleaned garage to organize. Another load to dump. Prepped new Exterior pre hung door for installation in the lower hallway at the entrance to the sunroom. The Sunroom is very poorly insulated and can get super hot in summer and super cold in winter. All that was there before was a crappy interior door that was replaced w/ a multi pane glass door that just didn't work well.
Sunday - Jogged 4 miles again first thing...ran the whole way this time. Installed door. Still need to trim it out but will wait cause we'll be doing the entire lower level after bathroom is complete. Speaking of....tilers are supposed to continue today and wrap up by weeks end. After door install we headed out to Elkhart Lake for a late lunch (sucked) and some sun. Sun got covered up by clouds and I went swimming. I found a pair of aviator sunglasses in the lake. After we got home Tor went back to painting and I ended the day watching the Tour de France.
The counter productive part was w/ all this good exercise I was eating pretty crappy all weekend. So be it.

Catching up

Tri was fun. 32 out of 302; 4th in age group. I run slow.
Broke 1K on the roadie last night.
Ride in this morn was slow...I'm a bit tender all over.