A warm winter day

Sunday is the last day of the training week and I still needed to get in a two-hour ride and as luck would have it, the weather was almost perfect. By 9:30 am it was already 41 degrees and the skies looked pretty clear so I suited up and headed out.

Don Bull felt I needed to get in a little upper body work before my departure--actually not a bad little workout.

I gave the Litespeed a little tune up and put on the new fenders--the big question for the day was whether the fenders would do their job even with the really wet roads from all the melting snow.

The front fender kept me pretty much mud free--I'd give it an A+--so nice to stay dry!!

The rear fender also kept me spic and span with not a lick of mud on my back--another A+.

However, the fenders do deflect a lot of mud and water onto the drivetrain which I guess could become a problem after a really long ride.

Cruising along--it was bright and sunny--almost warm.

This is pretty must what the roads looked like all day so to stay dry after two hours I was really impressed with the fenders. I think I'll hint around that I need some for the 29er for my birthday.

Gorgeous!! I headed down to Milford to climb the hill up to the Boy Scout camps--it's by far the longest and steepest climb I have found around here--the 39x25 did not help my cause.

Other than a few patches of ice, this thing was the the only real problem of the day--I am no dog expert but this thing looks like it hauls ass (part greyhound?) and I did not have a 35 mph interval on the training schedule for the day, so I stopped to exchange pleasantries with it--it finally got bored listening to me bark and left as the owners pulled up in their car.

Cora took a couple of photos as I was sipping my "recovery" beverage--that girl makes a mean latte.

I could not resist a little cuddle time with Boo Miles.

Little did I know she was softening me up for play time--I guess Max explained to her that I needed more upper body work--she was still chasing me out the door to work asking if I would do that "lifting thing" one more time before I went.  I replied with the usual "I'm late!"  She smiled and reciprocated with the usual "then bring me a cinnamon roll from work and I will not be mad at you."  Nice.

Some sledding fun

little red before his first sled run...

It's all about the giving...

Hopefully everyone is as happy as I am-- here's a taste of how the morning went.

Ahh--Avery, the Moxie girl--"the best person she ever got!"

Well, we all know the Don is raucous--but karaoke, please!

The Bull took it to a new level belting out Y--M--C--A....

He did however pause to let use know he would have preferred a Batmobile...Y--M--C--A..

T-Lynn is all about the bling! Jacob Ice, Daddy?

I'm not exactly sure what this is, but it apparently is the "best ever".

Poor Donny's Geo Trax would not work.

My new best friend--Biscuit. I don't have to feed him and I don't have to walk him and I don't have to step in his stool--that's my kind of dog.

Meet Chunk--some kind of electric hamster --how this made its way into our house , I will never know--I think it may have been meant for one of the Village People?

You should see Chunk run on his wheel--nice!

I'm off to sleep--Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas!

I had to work last night, go figure, and for reasons I will never understand, everybody decided Christmas morning was the time to visit the ER, so I got home a bit late--Max was indignant, but kind enough to inform me that I was exactly 25 mins late, and that he and Bella would both forgive me for being late and for working. After a quick shower, it was time to get the show on the road--a show that apparently started at 6 am and had been going full speed ever since. Needless to say, the kids were jacked way up to get into their presents. I guess I can't blame them, last time I checked Christmas is all about getting.

As it turns out, I was like the proverbial little kid on Christmas morning--I cleaned house and got all sorts of really cool little nick nacks--thank you everybody.

The sporty Rapha winter cap and Hincapie Pacific Rain Jacket--both very nice and very stylish not to mention very functional. Almost makes me want to go for a ride in the freezing rain--okay, maybe not really so much.

I'm told I'm getting two more of these once they are finished--Phoebe's is awesome.

Embrocation--medium hot--can't wait to see how well it works.

Even if it does not work, no worries 'cause the thought of embrocating really gets me worked up.

I've really wanted a Syntace torx wrench for a while now--I'm too cheap to buy it for myself.

Great surprise!

Some fantastic books--haven't had a chance to look through them yet--at first glance, the photography looks great in all of them .

Max gave me the Rouleur Photo annual on my way out the door to work last night "so I would have something to do." He was so cute--he said he got it for me because he remembered that I like to ride my bike and thought I might like it. Well buddy, I love it--thank you for being you.

Sorry about the poor photo--notice the stylish german fenders--where were those yesterday? They will definitely come in handy.

I was totally surprised by the pedals--I did not think they were really available--Cora managed to find them at Bike Nashbar among all places--I'm told they were "priced to move," whatever the hell that means.

So if you are keeping score, and after all that's what Christmas is all about anyways right, I got half the stuff from my list--I'm not quite sure why I did not get the car, but there is always next year. Who would have thought that getting half was more than enough to satisfy me--for now anyway? Thanks again, everybody! Merry Christmas!

You guessed it--another house update

After a bit of a delay, the windows are finally here and are in. It's really starting to take shape. They're putting in the rough plumbing now and have completed installing the tubing for the radiant heat. The electricians are coming next week. It's pretty crazy how many decisions have to be made every day--exactly where the shower drain will be, the location of light switches, etc. It seems kind of simple now, but I know it will drive me crazy if I forget something--I'll get back to you about that in about 9 months.

We extended the roof on the porch--we weren't sure how it would turn out, but it looks like it will be perfect--can't wait to get a grill out there!

Note the trench leading away from the basement window--the basement has already flooded twice. They didn't get a chance to put in the drainage before the ground froze.

Can't wait to get the bike cellar into action--I talked to Bud today about putting in a shower basin so I can bathe my babies indoors, as I quickly realized that even with hot water outside, it's not terribly practical at 15 degrees, i.e., we have a hockey rink in our driveway.

Cora was kind enough to get me a keypad lock so I don't have to carry a key when I ride, but I think it was just as much for her because she has quite a long history of locking herself out.

The back corner behind the boxes will be my sleeping dungeon. Hopefully, I'll finally get cool, dark and quiet sleep during the day.

Ok, I give up a little ER humor.

I've tried very hard not to say much about work since we started this blog other than the occasional gripe about working too much. I could not resist making a little something to relay the comedy that we face--watch at your own risk as there is much profanity and the content is somewhat painful. It goes without saying that this is a fictional account based a amalgamation of true events. The funny thing about this procedure is that patients truly love you--because it really does relieve the pain. Enjoy.

Riding inside--a little more fun now.

In the never-ending struggle to occupy myself while riding inside, I came up with a new sport.

I played Wii Fit for an hour while getting in a little Z1--add that to the hour and a half of volleyball,

this dog is tired. In unrelated news--just heard Tiger Woods was just named athlete of the decade over Lance Armstrong--go figure.

Rest and Recovery has been fun --but I'm ready to ride.

Not much going on around here in the last couple of days. I've been working a bunch, Phoebe made it through her operation like a champ and they have only worked on the house two days this week because of the snow. I must say I'm getting pretty good at "resting," which is the politically correct way of saying not riding at all--going a bit stir crazy though, so I guess it's a good thing the training season starts tomorrow. What does that mean exactly? Well, for the next six weeks it's "preparation," basically time to get the ole' body ready for more intense workouts in the weeks to come. I've got about nine hours a week of Z1/Z2 riding mixed in with some cross-training and core work-outs. I'm actually really excited about going it alone without a coach--the key will be accountability to myself without going insane, not pushing too hard and flexibility--yeah, we'll see how that goes.

Hanging with my peoples.

Phoebe insists that Wii Fit is cross-training.

Very proud to show off her new hardware--the operation left her mouth looking like she is a gangsta. In her estimation, the Tooth fairy owes her about sixty bucks.

I was thinking maybe I would go for a ride today. It was 36 degrees and dry so I went out to recon the roads--looks like I'm not the only one not riding.

So much for riding outside--now I'm thinking about leisure again--it did not take long for the snow to return.

Liz Hatch--Kinda Hot!

Aside from my wife, possibly the hottest cyclist I've seen in a long time!

Big Dave lets go climb in the Alps

It's USA no? You scare me. Are you special or what? What you are proposing is basically this...during the worlds craziest annual sporting event drive to like 12 climbs in 7 days...lets plot these bad boys that are scattered across a country the size of Texas.

Alpe d'huez

Col d' Aubisque-- 8 hours apart um...Dallas to Padre...long drive nice beach. All highway...Alpe d'huez to Col d' Aubisque all small roads.

You are crazy!! No?

Which Ones Do We Choose? The Greatest Tour Climbs in the Alps

It took me awhile, but I managed to map out all the "big" climbs of the Tour that run through the Alps--I've got almost every famous climb and a few of the bigger "lesser knowns."

Step 1 is to email the hotel so we can nail down the reservations--that's done.  Once the hotel is confirmed, we can narrow down our list of climbs and leak the details of the trip.  Rest assured, we're so excited, we're about to soil ourselves.  If you click and enlarge the map, a list of the climbs should appear on the left.

View Larger Map

I got to thinking about what climbs would have to be on my "must do list" in the Alps. I started by researching on the web for awhile and it seems everybody  has a different opinion as to what the "greatest tour climbs" are.  Do you choose based on most times visited in tour history, or the longest, the steepest, most scenic, or the climbs which have been the backdrop to historic battles over the years?  For me the choice comes down to history, particularly over the last 10 years.  You see, I started riding just about the time Lance started wrecking everybody in the Alps, so my memory is full of all his epic battles and given that he has already crushed me up Columbine, I think it is only appropriate to see how bad it can get in the Alps.  How long and how steep the climbs are is irrelevant because all of them are beasts.  Number of times visited in tour history is kind of important--if I go over there and kill myself to climb these things, you'd better believe that I'm going to want to watch them on tv for years to come.  Scenery is also irrelevant--it's the Alps, 'nough said. 

So that's how I'm going about it--you make your list and I'll make mine and we'll see where we are--I'd love to hear your thoughts.             

Late night math lesson

Phoebe is such a delight--tonight, she asked to fall asleep on the couch. Of course, the lying down on the couch while Mommy and Daddy watch a movie lasted about 5 minutes before she got up. Instead of playing, making a mess or whining, she sat down to practice math. I found myself totally enthralled watching her. I love that she has so much fun learning--she seems to really enjoy it. The kid is getting really good at her addition. She asked me to write down some problems. So I did--here's how it went.

Is this all he's got? I wish he'd challenge me.

This is kind of a joke--wonder if he realizes I'm way beyond this?

I got the digits--who needs a calculator? I have to remember to "carry" the one.

That did not take long. I can't wait to see the look on his face when I kill this.

Wonder if I should just cross multiply and divide? That would really freak him out.

All done--time to cuddle. He's looking at me like I'm so cute--maybe I should parlay that into some ice cream.