Pay Now & Pay Later

Traditionally, when I get snow blowing the driveway, and doing all of my outdoor stuff, like feeding the birds, squirrels, deer, turkey and whatever else we have hanging around the yard, Sam & I take a hike through the yard & forest. Sam loves these hikes, as she sniffs new smells, gets some exercise, and we bond together. This was the case Saturday, after about 3" of snow fell. After the pummeling VQ workout at Coach Stan-O's, I had to do all of the outdoor stuff.



Sam is getting up there in age, like 16 now. She's deaf, pretty much blind, and old. We went out and took our hike, and she enjoyed it as much. When we got done, G took our pic, as it may be the last snow hike we take together. She did her best, but it was taking its toll on her.

OK, not the smartest thing I have done in a while, but I did the 433rd Annual Tour De Groundhog Cross Race a weekend or so ago. I know my doc's told me NOT to do things like this, but I did. And I paid dearly. You see, my friend Pain has been nice to me lately. Just a nudging here & there, nothing too major that I could not handle. The course was a muddy mess, and I figured I walked about 3.5 miles during the race. Afterward and for several days, I was a wreck! Barely walking, and in more pain than I choose. G had little sympathy for me, as it was all self inflicted.

I "raced" meaning that I did some riding, and a LOT of walking, as I can no longer physically run, due to the 4 surgeries performed on my left leg, and part of the tibia/ankle is "dead" from nerve damage. Still managed to pull off a 3rd place podium shot for the masters 30+, and 8th overall from a field of 18. My buddies Robert & BikerDanny raced as well. Robert got 4th in the 40+ while not riding a cross bike in about 35 years, and BikerDanny got a 8th in the Senior Open and 3rd in the Classic, while have never ridden a cross bike before that weekend. Geez! Tone it down boys, you're making The Turtle look bad.



A big thank you to Coach Stan-O and The Badger for lending us their cross rigs for Robert & BikerDanny.

My rig after the race.

BikerDanny after his race

BikerDanny running the mud/slog hill

Quarterly meeting with RV & The VQ Ratz. Lotte, Junior, Dr. Reid, The man with two first names, The Turtle, Coach Stan-O & RV. Badger, V & Bartonville could not attend. Had a great workout, and always good to see RV with the group.

Epic Ride & "Big" Things to Come

For those who know me, I have been a Big Brother through the Big Brother Big Sisters organization for about two years now. My "Little" Ike is 13, and we have become great friends over the past two years, working through the lows, and enjoying the highs. We hang out, have fun, chat, go to bike races, movies, he helps me with chores etc. He has matured more in the past two years than he knows.

The Heart of Illinois Big Brothers Big Sisters mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of children and youth, primarily through a professionally supported one-to-one relationship with a caring adult, and to assist them in achieving their highest potential as they grow to become responsible men and women by providing committed volunteers, national leadership and standards of excellence.

I have been nominated & received "Big Brother" Award of the year for 2009! I am kind of a "fly below the radar guy", but I thought this was pretty cool. I will receive the award the award March 27th at the annual Black Tie Dinner!

Headed down to Springpatch Saturday am, to ride with the Mack Crew. I knew this was going to be a long one, but oh well. Uncle Gary had Raymond, IL in his sights. High for the day was 67 degrees!

To put this in perspective, I have 36 miles on the road for the year. I have been riding the CT indoors, but this comes NOWHERE near what outdoors does to you. I also have not done this identical ride since March of 2004, a true 90 miler, into a 25 mph head wind. We took off with about 25 of us. Several miles down the trail, we hit about a block of pure mud. We all had to stop, take our wheels off, clean all of the mud out etc. Five miles into the ride, and you could not even recognize our bikes, they were that filthy!

18 miles into the ride, we hit a "mud patch" about 20 meters long. EVERYONE of us, with exception of Uncle Gary and maybe one other hit the deck. We ALL went down. You could not have seen this in a movie! It was nasty.

15 or so turned around, leaving 10 of us trekking to Raymond, into the wind. Robo & MarkShea did about 90% of the pulls. Man, they are in GOOD shape! The Turtle played conservative, as I have not ridden this far in almost 5 years!

Turn around in Raymond, 40+ miles to get home, with a tail/cross wind. 27-31 mph for the next 26 miles. I made it with Uncle Gary, Robo, MarkShea & JW for as long as I could, and got popped off the back of the blistering pace with 4.5 miles to Pawnee, the finish sprint. The Turtle was smoked!

Good miles, almost 90 for the day. Got home, washed the bike, came in, hit the jacuzzi, put the pajamas on, ate dinner and went to bed at 845pm, just to wake up and do it the next day with The Badger & Lotte, for another 40 miles.

Needless to say, I was pedaling squares on Sunday, and they knew it, taking mercy on my soul, like a wounded turtle in the pond.

Because I Can, I Guess

Have been kettlebelling my little butt off lately, as well as riding, doing VO2's, SE's etc. Looking forward to this weekend. It is supposed to be above -12 degrees! Yeah!!!!

The computrainer workouts are fun, as a group with the VQ Ratz, but they stink when I do them on my own, like last night. I try to follow the workouts from Coach Stan-O, but it's never the same as with the group. The Badger is out of pocket right now, so The Badger Den is off-limits for working out, Lotte, The Man with Two First Names, Junior etc. have school & work commitments, so it makes a tough week. Oh well, soon enough it shall be spring!
When I was in Eugene, OR several weeks ago, we had dinner at a brew pub, called the Steelhead Brewery I believe. In the men's restroom, they had this chalk board above the urinals, where you could write an encouraging slogan for your favorite team. The do PAC 10 football, and the HUGE rivalry is between the Beaver's & The Ducks. While I was doing my business, I erased all of that junk, and DREW my favorite mascot, Yunior! Beret, gym shoes and spots. I quickly high tailed it out of there before one of the Duck fans came in & saw me though!