droopy rides...david drives

more colors

2010-02-03T21:20:00.008-05:00

As per suggestions, added solid to "front panel," so the houndstooth is only on side panels and sleeves. I also added some color combos that had been discussed in the past. The text is only black because I didn't feel like changing it at this point. Thoughts?

Messin' around with jerseys

2010-02-02T21:14:00.005-05:00

I'm still kind of up in the air with this. Any thoughts on using houndstooth for the jerseys? Color combos?

Some New Stuff:

2009-09-29T20:58:00.003-05:00

Granogue 09 font?

2009-09-29T20:46:00.002-05:00

Top or bottom?

Granogue logo '09

2009-09-29T20:43:00.001-05:00

Which one? Top or Bottom?

New Henry's Logo?

2009-08-18T20:40:00.003-05:00

I'm finally getting around to a new logo/shirt for Henry's. (Rick sorry it has taken me so long.) Figured I'd post a draft here, looking for overall comments and any suggestions on alternate text?

remember this is a first draft.

Thanks.

Dan Wilson Special Edition Henry's Jersey!

2009-08-12T08:05:00.005-05:00

Sorry Dan, I couldn't resist.

For the full story behind the jersey:

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.

Clay Shirky on “How Cellphones, Twitter, Facebook Can Make History”

2009-08-09T20:52:00.002-05:00

Came across this video doing research for my "Internet and Digital Technology in Planning" and thought I would share it with anyone still stopping by this blog. If you are interested in Planning and digital technology feel free to check out my class blog "Planning Technology Blog" over at wordpress (IMO, not nearly as good as blogger)

Grad school update: My last class ends this week! Then I just have my final project/paper/thesis, whatever you want to call it. I only have approximately 60 pages to write and then I have finished my Masters!

Hookie Day 2009

2009-03-25T19:57:00.009-05:00

The following narrative and photos are courtesy of Chef Jeff's cell phone:

Thursday
Pick up cheffrey after work in rockaway, supposed to meet with Jeff on side of rt
78, didn't, went to find Hoboken without Jeff, parked on washington
street, supposed to look for Tom & Jerry's bar. (very funny, we get it)
Parked, needed change for meter, couldn't get change from book store,
had to go to CVS and buy something. Discovered drivers in Hoboken like
to use horn, a lot. Dave asked around but couldn't find Tom & jerry's
but could find Louise & Jerry's pub.

Met Jeff N, went to Five Guys burgers, yummy, Jeff N ate half of Jeff P's
burger. Then went to Whiskey bar, then picked up derek at airport,
during which we missed the exit to the airport because dave thought Anheuser Busch factory was on fire. (At night the red lights and smoke look like fire, REALLY IT DID!)

Went to Jeff N's old apartment, (he still had the keys) then went to Northern soul pub, then pizza, (Derek ate a whole pie by himself) then guitar hero

& M of H until 3:30 (Jeff P & Derek stayed up)...Derek wanted to stay up ALL night, Jeff P couldn't. PS jeff P was up @ 4:00 am earlier the day before.

Friday
Hoboken gourmet for breakfast then Jeff's & derek went to dunken donuts and that's when jeff started winning a lot of money from Liar's poker...and dave had to, hmmm drop the kids off at the pool. ("the kids" only swim in private pools) Dave met us at texas arizona for a beer,

(I got a chance to break out the "magic dollar bill" I have been saving for liar's poker. I've been carrying it around for 2 years or so. Yeah I won! with 7 sevens)
(The guys thought it would be funny to give me metrocards that didn't have any money on them. Yeah I was stuck. very funny!)

then we went to DUMBO section of brooklyn for chocolate at Jacques Torres (awesome choc),

then next door to Water street for beers (yes after the burning hot chocolate, needed to cool down), thinking about walking across Brooklyn Bridge) we took the subway back then back to manhattan to St Andrews then John's pizza, then subway to the village and walked around for HOURS!! looking for the gerbal(rabbit) hole (club) which was closed, then to Mamouns for falafel and Kebob then McDougels celler pub for beers and darts which dave and jeff P kicked a**. (derek had some "cellar gas" issues)

and Then pizza again, then saints and sinners for jeff N band, what was that guy's name?, then Five guys burgers again, then poker then M of H until 3:00 (Jeff's both stayed up) (Turns out Jeff N got a boo-boo on his finger and blood on his guitar!)

Sat
jeff P and dave went to look for long lost hoboken bagels and coffee,
dave miss placed his I-pod, (Jeff N put it in the wrong bag, He was dying to hear "Groove is in the Heart") went back and found it and drove back to rockaway.
The End of Hookie Day 09.

Then up late for three nights working on a paper for school.

I'm tired, time for bed...

Yep.

2009-01-28T21:33:00.003-05:00

Yep, I don't update my blog very often. Sorry folks.

Over the break between semesters I had grand plans! One of those taking the LEED AP exam. I heard they are making the test harder come March. So, if I studied between semesters I'd be all set! I didn't do much at all except for laying the ground work and collecting some info but no studying. Yep, no LEED exam. Maybe sometime down the road.

Another thing I wanted to work on was my New Jersey Professional Planners license and AICP certification application to set for the tests. Yep, more exams...

Yet another thing was submitting an application to Rapha's Continental Calling. I have a ride that I have been thinking about for the past 5 years or so, at least since we lived in the farmhouse in Plumsteadville. There are some super sweet roads between here and the Delaware River, a good bit of them dirt. The ride seems to fit well into the Rapha rides but... when am I going to find time to actually lay out the ride, reconnoiter it, and even, gasp, ride my bike for 100 miles or so...

Yep, I'm pretty busy these days...

Yep, I can't wait until I'm finally done with my Masters!

Here's a picture of my sweetie Sophie from Christmas:

Twas the night before Christmas 2008

2009-01-02T21:18:00.002-05:00

Here's a shot at my modified Night before Christmas poem:

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When in the house there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to his room I flew like a sled,

His belly was rumbly, tumbly, and full of dread

I picked him up and held him tight

Off to the bathroom and turn on the light.

Next thing I know I'm lying on ground still holding him tight.

With pains in my ankle and pains in my tush

I get to the toilet for another "pa-loosh"

Look around, look around to assess the situation

when much to my consternation

The results of the evening glisten like dew

all over the house is my son's first spew.

Mama takes over and I'm left to clean

I hobble to the shower to wash off the glean

little did I know this would spread through the clan

no one was spared not woman or man

through strong constitution this could only be beat

by none other than Pappy and Pete!

No updates...

2008-12-02T23:25:00.003-05:00

Sorry I have not updated in a while but, I've been busy with school. The end of semester is always fun! Kris usually is not too happy with me at this point in the semester...I'm pretty grouchy, or is it cross, or a curmudgeon...

Anyway, I had a presentation tonight for one class that went pretty well. On the way out of class someone called us the "dream team." I guess we did ok.

I still have another presentation and 2 papers due.

Here is one thing I've been working at work, that I learned in school. We're proposing putting up a wind tower. So, I used my new 3D visualization skills and came up with this simulation video along with some photos.

The video took so long to make that my screensaver kicked in at the end...oops.

Only two more weeks and the semester is over!

more kits...

2008-10-15T08:13:00.004-05:00

by request (Yo Gava, Gava!):

and tweeked the request:

new kits?

2008-10-14T06:13:00.003-05:00

OK, I really should be spending my time working on my mid-terms that are due next week... but I couldn't resist.

Some of the fonts are not correct, but remember these are quick mock-ups. What do you think?

First MTB ride since...

2008-10-12T20:52:00.004-05:00

...the Fair Hill race in July. Actually, I have not been on any bike since then. Unless of course you count cruising around the neighborhood with Sophie on the back of my cross bike.

Needless to say my first ride since mid July was kind of eventful. I went to the Deer Park section of Allamuchy and three cars pulled into the parking lot as I was unloading the bike. The guys in two of the cars dropped one car off and left in the other car together. Couldn't quite figure that one out. The other guy was getting ready for a trail run, I knew he was serious because he was actually stretching! I left the parking lot and had to stop and adjust my shoe, and catch my breath. I got to a fairly technical uphill and my breathing doubled... actually it was the running guy, he caught me, yes and passed me. In fact that was the last I saw of him the rest of my ride. What a great way to start a ride, getting passed by a guy running! Ugh. Most of the ride went ok, I did kick up a boulder, yes a boulder, and it was the size of a truck, I swear! Anyway, this boulder whacked me in the shin pretty good. Yeah, it left a mark.

So, I'm finally on my way back towards the car and can't decide whether to do the last section of trail. I hopped a log and... I grabbed the wrong pair of shoes, because the cleat is all worn out and my foot releases from the pedal, I fall off the bike and my thigh ends up getting wedged between the tire and the brakes. Yes, I'm still riding v-brakes and yes it left one heck of a mark! I could barely pedal the last section of trail!

I usually stop and grab a bite to eat on my way home after I ride in Jersey. Well, you Delaware folks may have all your fancy-smancy, authentic, awesome Mexican restaurants for your post ride meals. Jersey has this:

How's that for a post-ride meal? I forgot how slimy they are.

The next day I could barely walk up and down the stairs! And my butt is quite sore from sitting on the saddle! In fact, I'm standing right now as I'm typing this.

busy, busy...

2008-09-18T20:21:00.003-05:00

Last weekend and early in the week has been pretty busy. Kristen's birthday was last weekend. So, Saturday night we had her favorite meal at her parent's house. Yummy!

Sunday morning it was off to NYC for a surprise play, or at least I thought it was a surprise... my Mom spilled the beans! We saw Gypsy. Which was OK, definetely not one of my favorites. We stayed at my parents time share. It is really cool waking up in NYC and strolling around while people are heading to work. We drove around nyc for fun, yeah I got back into the city driving grove pretty quickly. I guess it is kind of like riding a bike... (I wonder what that's like?)

I got home, hooked up the large format printer, cranked out a couple of maps for class, showered (apparently, city driving makes me sweat), and heading to campus to get my parking pass. I was only a little late to class.

Tuesday morning, I jumped out of bed and ran the grocery store to get some food for Krissy's birthday breakfast. Taylor Ham, egg and cheese on an everything bagel. (Why didn't I buy bagels while we were in the bagel capital of the world???) After breakfast I headed down to the shop to fill in for Rick. He was vacationing.

Man do I miss working in the shop. I spent most of the day laughing! That Gavigan is one funny dude! YO GABBA GABBA! We got El Jefe for lunch. Boy was that some good mexican food! Anyone notice how much Gava turns red and sweats after he eats spicy food? Had me laughing! I told him he should get a sweatband for the next time he tackles "the pot" at el jefe

After a great day in DE I even made it to class on time without much traffic! What a nice way to spend a vacation day!

School's back...

2008-09-10T19:48:00.006-05:00

I'm taking two classes this semester... ugh. I have anticipated so much time is going to be taken up with school, work and family, that for the first time since '97ish, I am not going to race cross. I think I had raced at least one cross race since '97, crap that is a 10 year streak... Oh well.

I've been pretty busy trying to get stuff done before school starts, but not much has actually gotten done.

I have a fan going in the storage room to try and blow the smoke back to the neighbor. I'm planning on installing an exhaust fan and sealing up the louvered door to try and pressurize the room. Hopefully keeping the smoke out.

Oh yeah, I got a new game for ps2. Over vacation my niece was kind enough to bring her wii. We played a lot of Guitar Hero. So, after much debate I purchased my own for the ps2! Lots of fun!

I have a new nephew! Welcome Henry David! (I think his middle name is after me, not that Thoreau guy.)

He also goes by "Hank the Tank" because he is going to be a fullback and run people over! Go HANK!

Jacob played some soccer this summer and he had a great time!

Sophie enjoyed the beach...

...not sure if she really enjoyed eating sand though?

thumping bass...

2008-07-31T20:57:00.002-05:00

Apparently yesterday the Comcast truck was visiting our new neighbors. I guess they got their cable box switched to our common wall, because when they are watching tv you hear the bass through the walls like it was in our living room. Terrific! I guess we might have to start thinking about moving sooner rather than later... this really sucks!

On a lighter note, bocce was awesome! We made it up there for happy hour, the beer was not really on special, unless you call $3.50 coors light a "special." The other tap beers were $5.50. A little rich for my blood. The pizzas were on special, in fact you could get a pizza for a dollar more than a coors light. I wonder if I could byob?
Bocce was a ton of fun, my team won the first game 12-1, Crushed them! We won the second 12-10, closer but we still beat them! The funny thing was, I was the only one who had ever played bocce before. Everyone really had fun and can't wait for the next match!

smoke 1

2008-07-29T22:02:00.002-05:00

Well, my first attempt at reducing the smell of smoke was to cram a bunch of insulation into the rafters along the common wall. I thought it was working for a few days, but I smelled it again! So, more insulation, still smell it. In fact, I am getting a little bit of a headache from the smoke smell down here.

The second phase of this endeavour was to cut a hole in the drywall to see if the builders didn't crack seal at the base of the beam. It looked like they did seal it with that spray foam stuff, but now there is a 2'x2' hole in our wall. I am by no means a dry wall guy. It turned out awful! At least it is in the laundry room-closet. I used a 2 year old tub of spackle, and a 1 inch putty knife. I think it would have gone a lot better if only I had some better dry wall tools! OK, maybe not, probably operator error...

I need to go to bed, I have to get up early to run... and we have a big bocce ball tournament after work at the Mohawk House.

done...

2008-07-27T17:03:00.003-05:00

...no more bike racing for a couple of years. At least until I finish my masters, shorten my commute and have some time to train. Maybe I'll take up golf, or fishing, or hiking, or drinking, or running, or hunting...

our new neighbors in the townhouse right next door smoke, a lot. So much that the smoke is seeping through the common wall somewhere downstairs. So, when you walk in, you are greeted by the smell of smoke... splendid.

JIBJAB

2008-07-18T08:30:00.001-05:00

Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!

payback's a ...

2008-07-10T20:38:00.005-05:00

Anyone remember this post a few years ago?

Well, the guy that took George out that day, Steffan Schumacher, won yesterday's tour de france TT, by a lot, enough to take the yellow jersey. So today, he gets taken out meters from the finish by one of Hincapie's teammates, Kim Kirchen. Kim Kirchen takes the yellow jersey and poor Schumacher loses the yellow jersey. HA!

This picture from pez cycling news says it all!

Payback's a bitch!

droopy listened to bootlegs...

2008-07-08T20:28:00.003-05:00

...david listens to podcasts.

Updated the blog with a list of a few of the podcasts I listen to regularly on my monster commute.

Finished up Summer session last week. I took the intro to GIS class, it is a required course and they would not give me credit for my experience. I'd have to take another elective... so I took it. I ended up learning a few tricks. It was kind of good to see how things are "supposed to be done," as most of my GIS experinece has been self taught. I even tutored someone! I must have some mad tutoring skills because she got an A in the class!

I've played golf twice since the last update. Once with Derek and the boys, that was a blast! The golf went downhill once the beers started flowing...

I also played a scramble with Fran, Scott and Pete. Pete and Scott were both wearing black shirts, so, it was the good guys vs. the bad guys. Fran and I won the front 9 by 3 or 4 holes. We started the back nine by losing three in a row! We fought back to one down with one to go and we won the hole! That was a lot of fun! I can't wait for the rematch!

I'm suppose to be racing Fair Hill this weekend and I still have not fixed my bike from the last race, DOH! Also, have not been feeling like getting up at 5 am to ride, oh well, we'll see how it goes...

Tour de Tykes

2008-06-11T20:08:00.002-05:00

Well, another mtb race for me, Tour de Tykes. It was brutally hot this past Sunday, it was a good thing the race was up in the mountains and in the woods.

Get up there with plenty of time to spare, it took me under 2 hours to get there. I was following MapQuest directions and went past a "Road Closed" sign. Whoops! I'm on the course, at the finish! I could have driven over the finish line. So, that's why there was a road closed sign... DUH!

The race started with a 3 mile climb! Yikes. I decided I'd take a different approach then the granogue race, I started slow and steady. I actually, felt kind of good by the time I got to the top and started passing people once it flattened out. Then when it started going downhill, I felt like I was flying! The trails were sweet, with lots of flow. After a few more ups and downs I was on a pretty big downhill, and again I was flying! It felt great! I was actually riding like I was kind of in shape. So, next thing I know after I pass a few more people on the downhill. PSSSSSSSSSSSS... flat front tire! Crap! Oh well, let's change this sucker... tire off, old tube out, new tube in, tire and tube on the rim, open CO2, onto the valve, squeeze the trigger, wooossshhhhh, BAM! UH OH! That was my last and only tube... UGH! Race over! and I was feeling so good... Oh well, maybe next time...

I wonder how that Stan's No Tubes stuff works?

Granogue MTB

2008-05-25T07:05:00.003-05:00

I was able to do the Escape from Granogue race thanks to the support of my wonderful family! I met Kris and the kids at Aunt Mimi and Uncle Pete's Friday night. I have to admit it was pretty stressful getting home from work, 1.5 hour drive, packing all my crap for the race, grabbing a Clif Bar to hold me off until I got to Mimi's, which is another hour drive. Made it Mimi's and they were all playing Guitar Hero, game looked pretty cool but I was too curmudgeonly after getting there, to attempt it. Maybe next time?

Got down to the race in plenty of time, it only took me about 45 minutes from Mimi's. Hung out for a while with all the DCC of D folks, great to see everyone.

So, the start of the race... I started at the back, and felt good at the start along the road. So, I kept going until I was leading going into the woods! Up the hill to the tower and, "uh oh! that wasn't the smartest thing to do!" It took me an entire lap to recover from the effort to get to the front! I kept thinking about The King telling Lightning McQueen,
"...you have more talent in 1 lug nut than most racers have in there entire body, but you're stupid!" The talent part was not what pertained to me but "the stupid" part. Over and over again in my head is The King saying "You're stupid!"

I did take a little break on the first lap, a bug flew down my throat, and it did not sit so well. Yeah, I barfed a little on the side of the trail.

I ended up finishing the race just fine. Maybe next race I will "race" a little smarter.

on the rocks...

2008-05-12T20:08:00.002-05:00

Well, I finally got out for a ride on my mountain bike. The last time I rode it was right before my car accident October 15, 2007. So, what did I decide to do for my first mountain bike ride in seven months? A race! French Creek "On the Rocks." It didn't help that I had been on antibiotics for a few days to get rid of my sinus infection.

It was really cool to have Cheffrey along for the race. I think it was his first mtb race in a bunch of years. He was a little shocked by all the people with disc brakes, 29-inch wheels, and single-speeds...

The race was relatively uneventful. I did have one crash going uphill. Two guys passed me and asked if I was alright... nothing but a bruised ego, and hand, and hip...

After struggling to make up the last very short, very slight incline to the finish, where 5 people passed me, this guy looks at me and asks, "Hey, did you just finish?" "Yes," I answer. He pumps his fist and shouts, "ALL RIGHT!! I WASN'T LAST!!!" Gee, thanks for pointing that out...

Another one down!

2008-05-08T14:53:00.002-05:00

Whew! Just submitted my final for the Land Use-Transportation class! yippie!

Now I have some extra time to ride and work on some other stuff I've been putting off. Hmmm, I wonder how long my "honey-do" list is at this point?

Gotta go celebrate my anniversary and the end of the semester!

(won't be too much fun with a sinus infection)

CROSS?

2008-04-06T12:17:00.004-05:00

My mom is looking at my shirt curiously and says, I guess "CROSS" fits better on a shirt than "CURMUDGEON"

cross: marked by typically transitory bad temper.

curmudgeon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man.

Thanks, Mom.

"Koppenberg"

2008-04-06T12:02:00.004-05:00

So, I was planning on meeting Terry for the "Flanders Ride" today, but the forecast for today was pretty crappy. The weather on Saturday was nice. Needless to say I bailed on riding the Koppenberg today and went down there yesterday. It was a good thing IO did not meet Terry at the Norristown Train Station parking lot because where we usually meet is now a 4 story parking garage,

and it was closed. So, we wouldn't have been able to park there!

I ended up driving to Conshohoken and parked a few miles closer to the climb. It was a good thing too, because I struggled.

Here is a video of the Port Royal climb aka Koppenberg.

And no, I did not take the video! I could barely keep the bike upright because I was going so slow! But, I made it! and I even made it back to the jeep.

I'm having a little bit of trouble walking up the stairs today.

North or South Jersey?

2008-03-28T09:01:00.002-05:00

Came across this while reading the New Jersey news.

Growing up and working in North Jersey and having lived in Philly and Delaware. I certainly understand the difference between North and South Jersey.

There was some interesting stuff on the blog. Like Rutgers football is the great unifier for New Jersey!

Here are some of the questions:

Wawa or 7-Eleven?
Jimmies or Sprinkles?
Taylor Ham or Pork Roll?
Sub or Hoagie?

Then there is the whole sports aspect to it:
Eagles or Giants?
Flyers or Devils?
Phillies or Mets-Yankees?
Sixers or Nets?

fun stuff!

What we've been up to lately:

2008-03-27T21:25:00.002-05:00

In photos:

Add to that a memo assignment and an exam...
...Busy past couple of weeks...

Monte Paschi Erocia Video

2008-03-10T20:19:00.002-05:00

OK, so I found video from the Erocia race and I thought I'd try and post the video.
This will be a good test to see about uploading Sophie's video. The Slipstream rider off the front in the first video is the former mountain biker Ryder Hesjedal.

Eroica1
Uploaded by burnie87

Holy crap! It worked!

Part 2

Eroica2
Uploaded by burnie87

Monte Paschi Erocia

2008-03-07T22:42:00.002-05:00

This race sounds awesome. Check out the gallery. Makes you want to ride your road bike on some dirt roads dosen't it? Here is the english version.

Hopefully, I will be able to do a ride on the "le strade rosso." There are a ton of "red" gravel roads in the area. I probably won't be able to do anything until after class is wrapped up in mid May.

Another hopefully... I'd like to do a Tour of Flanders "tribute" ride down in Manyunk to hit the cobble climb near the start of the bike path, any takers? I think my parents are in town that weekend. So, it is a distinct possibility. I could probably use some help getting to the top of the climb as I haven't ridden in a while...

Integrated Land Use and Transportation discussion

2008-02-26T21:24:00.003-05:00

For class we had to discuss another student's essay in an online discussion forum. Well, my response included a paragraph on the importance of mixed use developments...

My answer led me here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Place

then here
http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/roldenburg

The subject material covered in the Project for Public Spaces are some of the reasons I'm pursuing the planning profession...

All of it is kind of a synthesis of "droopy" and "david," huh?

After some looking around I saw that this guy is a "Place Maker." Yes, I'm a regular reader of his website.

Video is worth...

2008-02-20T21:58:00.003-05:00

When I got home from work the family was upstairs in Sophie's room. Jacob came running to the top of the stairs and said something about what Sophie can do. Sophie runs out with this big smile on her face looking all proud. OK, this is going to be good.

(here's where I would insert the video, like I have time to figure that out...)

Kris and Jacob get Sophie to show daddy. She walks over to the rocking chair and pulls herself up onto it. Then reaches over to the dresser and climbs up on top of it. She stands up, yes on the dresser, and claps, Yeah Sophie! Then she walks across the top of the dresser to her crib, grabs the side of the crib, throws her leg over the railing and then she flops into the crib, a good 2' drop onto the mattress. Then gets up laughs and claps... Yeah Sophie! She did it another 3 or 4 times for me. She is going to be quite the daredevil.

Apparently she was doing it about 15 times before I got there.

(I'll try and post the video. Anybody from the "AV Club" have any pointers, shoot me an email...)

Falling apart...

2008-02-04T20:25:00.000-05:00

Sunday prior to the Super Bowl I actually went out for a ride. I have not ridden very much in the cold in the past, oh, maybe 6 years. So, I have kind of forgotten the art of dressing properly for rides in the cold. It used to be I'd look at the temperature and know exactly what I needed to wear. Now, not so much... Temperature was 48 when I left, and what did I do? I put almost every piece of clothing I had on. Yeah, way over dressed!

I went out on my normal "morning" loop and struggled big time. At least I wasn't the only one over dressed, the llamas had their full winter coats on. (I wish I brought the camera)

For the past few months I've had this gray spot on the back of my head and it keeps getting bigger. The fine folks at work are accusing me of dying my hair in an attempt to look distinguished, thanks guys!

Tonight, Sophie was showing me her somersaults (assisted). Then Jacob showed off his. Then Kristen showed off her mad somersault skills. My turn, I crouch, and roll... holy crap! I had no idea where I was rolling! I was sure I'd end up crashing into the wall or door frame or something hard and immovable. Instead, I gracefully completed my somersault sprawled all over the hall and a massive crick in my neck. Yeah, I'm typing with my head at about a 90 degree angle.

Falling apart...

droopy doesn't update...

2008-01-19T18:53:00.000-05:00

yes fatmarc, and all my loyal readers (mom), I haven't been, sorry. not really been "feeling the blog" lately.

Here's a quick little story. This past weekend was our annual "hookey day." We hung out in Philly on Friday, then we went to play some paintball up in Jim Thorpe. I felt like total crap all day. Might have had something to do with drinking in philly the day before??? So, I was kind of miserable, my head was killing me all day. My buddy's were concerned and asked how I was doing throughout the day. Which was fine except for my headache. So, we are driving home after 6 or so hours of paintball, and a headache. Chef asks if there is anything they can do to help. I say, thinking of the impossible, "Well, some advil sure would be nice." Chef says, "Oh, I have three in my pocket. I've had them all day." Thanks! If only he offered when we first got there...

I set up thee tent in the house today while Kris was at work. We had lunch in there. It didn't really work to well. Sophie decided to walk across our "table"... chips went everywhere! There sure was a lot of static electricity in the tent:

I'll try to update more often, I promise.

It's been a while...

2007-12-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

monthly update here...

I finished my class earlier in the month. What a relief! I've only finished 9 credits and if I get accepted into the program, I should know by the end of the month, it is going to be a long tough road to get my masters.

A couple of neat things I came across from the class:
- mkd homes
- community supported agriculture
- the end of suburbia

I've been passing the "free" time trying to do things I have not been able to do while taking classes... time with the kids, playing video games, drinking beer... what? no riding on the list, Nope, too frickin cold out there!

I got a call from Michel this afternoon, he was in town today. I had planned to go down and see him in DE. Then go check out all the_sht go-cart action, but alas things were pretty hectic with errands at home and Michel had some jet-lag to deal with. Maybe next time...

busy, busy...

2007-11-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

To pick up where I left off...

After the Granogue race we stayed at mimi's and Pete's which is right down the street from Ludwig's corner. Had a great dinner prepared by our very generous hosts. It was like being on vacation! After dinner we got watch a movie on the home theater system, man is that sweet. Problem was I only made it through the first 5 minutes of Herbie, Fully Loaded, before I went to sleep.

The Wissahickon race went reasonably well, all things considered. I did get myself taken out on one of the first corners. Some guy was trying to sneek on the inside and we bumped, well I go the worst of it, landed right on my back!
It was kind of crazy having bubba and pappy there. Their first time watching me race, too bad it wasn't when I was faster...

I did the Lehigh Velo Cross the following Saturday. MUDDY! Check out some of Dennis' photos. I was pretty happy that I didn't get all disgusted with the whole thing. The one race I did last year in similar conditions had me dropping out after a half lap. I think the fun course had a lot to do with hanging in there and having a good time.

Anyway, I've been busy with school the past few weeks. We had a group presentation, I think we had something like 150 power point slides!

Yeah it was frickin' long probably close to 2 hours. By the time it was my turn to present my final part, I did the intro as well, I was ready for the thing to be over and I could tell that we had "lost" most of the class by that point. I flew through my slides just to get the thing over with...I hope it wasn't too noticeable.

sorry about the lack of updates. My class is over the first Tuesday in December!

Granogue-

2007-10-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

I did two cross races this weekend and... Wow, that hurt!

It was great to see all the DCCofD crew at granogue. Even saw Andrew, my co-promoter of the original Monkey Hill cross race back in 1997. Almost 10 years ago! It is really amazing how far cross has come in DE since that race. I think we had maybe 50 people show up in December and we thought it was a lot of people! Now we have granogue with around 500 people (not sure of the exact number)

My race went as well as could be expected. I seemed to do alright for the first couple of laps, then it was all I could do just to get around the course. I did alright through the twisty stuff and the fast turns, but anywhere I had to... well... pedal I had some trouble. Had one guy curse me because I wouldn't get out of my line to let him pass. I ended up beating him to the finish. some people? Other eventful thing was I rolled my front tubular on the downhill sweeper... that was pretty sketchy. Threw the tire back on the rim and finished up. I took it a little gently through the turns for the remainder of the race.

I'll finish the Wissahickon part of later... I'm really tired... yeah, it is only 9:30... I told you this weekend hurt!

Cross Preparation Part 5?

2007-10-18T19:56:00.002-05:00

um... yeah... a cross race? two cross races in two days? ah... sure, I'm ready... I just finished gluing my tubular on. just need to true the rear wheel, and the bike should be ready to go.

Now me on the other hand... I still have not ridden since, well a few weeks ago. I wonder if I still fit into my skinsuit? I haven't had that thing on since this:

It should be fun to get back out there and "race." It'll be more fun hanging out drinking beer!

Looks like we are treating this weekend as a mini-road trip. We're staying at Mimi and Pete's Saturday night. They live literally right down the street from the Wissahickon race.

Finally, got the rental car. After all the stress, I wondered what I would end up with? Turns out I got a brand new VW Rabbit... the very same car (minus the gti) that I've been thinking about getting as the next car.

Should be a good time this weekend... maybe I'll even remember to bring my camera?

Cross Preparation Part 4?

2007-10-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

OK, it has been a little while since the last entry. A lot seems to have been going on, but not much riding. Kris had a light workload two weekends ago. So, she was able to get home pretty early. Instead of riding, we went to Nockamixon for a picnic and some disc golf. Jacob seemed to enjoy it, more of the running around in the woods, than throwing the discs. Even Sophie got into it by throwing, ok, dropping, the disc into the baskets and cheering afterwards. She liked it so much she'd get all pissed when we had to go to the next hole. Needless to say.. no riding two weekends ago.

Last week I actually got up and rode the trainer Tues and Wed. On my drive to work Wed, about half way there I'm sitting at a stop light and..... WHAM!!! Some lady plows into the back of the mazda. She hit me pretty hard.

Still haven't gotten it to the body shop for the estimate yet. Everything should be covered through her insurance. I just hope they don't total the car. It has a lot of miles on it for an '03 (just over 150,000).
So, as I'm sitting in the parking lot waiting for the police to show up, I figure I better call Kris and let her know I was in an accident and I'm OK. No answer, home phone is being forwarded to the cell... hmm... So, I try to call her the rest of the day and no answer. I finally get a call around 5:00 and she says, "Are any of those ten messages on my cell from you?" ah...yeah! She was wondering why I didn't call once I left work, so she decided to turn her cell phone on. ARRGGGHHH!!! What good are cell phones if they are not on!?!?!?!?!?

Kris worked again this weekend and I was stuck at home with no outings as an option. The morning outing is huge for breaking up the day. It was a good thing she had easy days. Sat after she got home we went to the Bubba and Pappy's for dinner. Tom and Lynn came back to their house after Nanny's funeral in Uniontown. It was nice having all of the in-laws together. We even drew for our secret santa's... no I'm not going to tell who I got.

Sunday, we went pumpkin picking and corn maze at AGA farms.

After the pumpkins and corn maze we had to go pick up my parents mini-van in Doylestown. We actually went out to dinner! We went to Poco's, one of our "regular" places when we were living there.

All in all a great weekend. Although no riding and granogue-wissahickon is coming up this weekend... yeah I'm in the weeds! Bubba and Pappy are going to watch my "race" on Sunday for the first time in the 13 or so years of knowing them, I should be in top form by then...yeah right.

Cross Preparation Part 3

2007-10-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

Well, so much for consistency. After a pretty good string of rides last week I go the big 1 ride in and it does not look very promising that I'll get out this weekend. Since, Kris works and my parents aren't around to watch the kids. I have my fingers crossed that Kris has an easy day with under 20 patients to see. (seems like 20 is the break point between a long day and a short day) If she's home early enough I might be able to sneak out...

So, last night I met up with Chef for a mtb ride at the Deer Park section of Allamuchy. It was to be Chef's first ride on his new bike (my old jamis) We rode our usual loop and I was feeling pretty good so I pushed it a bit and wouldn't you know it? Chef was right there the whole time. Now that he got rid of the tank he used to call a mtb, I think the playing field has been leveled... crap... I bet it won't be long until I'm chasing him around. Really had a good time at the Mooch, a lot of fun!

hmm... it might be time to start thinking about gluing up some tubulars... granogue is only a couple of weeks away...

Cross Preparation Part 2

2007-10-02T06:21:00.000-05:00

Well, last week I actually rode 4 days! Two of those I rolled my lazy ass out of bed and rode the trainer before work. Thursday I met up with Chef and did our Allamuchy road loop. So, it was a nice ride, a little harder than last time I rode it. I was even lucky enough to catch a cold!

On to Sunday, Jeff and I had an opportunity to actually meet up and ride on a weekend, which is very unusual. We had to plans: 1. meet at the Salisbury Trails in Bethlehem, then go to the Highland Pub afterwards. 2. meet down at my place and ride the country roads around my house, then get some of the best wings from Big Daddy's A flip of the coin and we went with riding from my house. Which was really nice for me, I rarely get to show anyone the roads I ride on around here.

The plan was to meet around 8:30-9:00. I popped up out of bed at 7:30... crap... Kristen has my car with my road bike in it! I call Jeff to discuss options. He says he was debating whether to call and cancel or not because he was feeling sick too. After some deliberation it was decided I'd ride my cross bike. Strike 1 averted.
Run downstairs to get ready... DUH!!! when I ride the cross bike I use my road wheels, and they're in North Philly! Gee, I hope I have some road tires lying around. Grab one and throw it on, turns out it was the one with the cut in the side wall... STRIKE 2. Ended up finding some OLD tires to throw on. Strike 2 averted. Started getting ready... AW crap!!! my bag with all my riding stuff is in my car... which is in North Philly!!! Grab the old limar helmet with no padding in it, decide I'll wear a cap underneath... the good one is in North Philly... what about this mercatone uno cap? The bill is horribly disfigured... Oh my old syncros cap... that'll work... STRIKE 3 averted.

Finally made it out the door and had a really nice 2.25 hour ride on northern bucks county roads. About 1.5 hours in, I started struggling! Yeah I'm out of shape...

Got home with no major incidents. Went to Big Daddy's to grab some wings and beer, I only had a few in the fridge. Ended up walking out of there with a bucket of wings, chicken fingers and fries for Jeb, and a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon tall boys. Cross training at its finest! I was cool to hang with Jeff and my son watching football and eating bar food. Thanks for coming down Jeff!

PS- Chef Jeff brought some homemade salsa, the stuffs ROCKS!

PPS- I wrote this blog instead of riding the trainer this morning. I had the wrong rear wheel and didn't feel like running out to the car... STRIKE 1 and I'm out.

Cross Preparation Part I

2007-09-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

Wow first time out on the bike in 3 weeks! Great way to get ready for cross. Most everyone else is/was down in B-more racing today. Me? I was out on a lonely 1 hour tour. I spent much of the ride trying to figure out how on earth I'm going to survive a cross race and how to prepare for the eventual first race, probably going to be granogue.

Found some new arrows painted on the roads:

Maybe a hundred mile ride a couple of weeks before would help????

You know it is time to shave your legs when you can see the leg hair in your shadow:

OK, maybe you can't tell from the photo, but boy are they furry.
.
I've ridden by this place quite often and finally had an opportunity to snap a picture:

PYRAMID POWER!!! Maybe some of the power of the pyramids will rub off if I ride by there often enough????

It was a good ride. I even had the pleasure of being yelled at to get off the road, as I was on the bike path??? Gee, that never gets old...

Came home and watch the Eagles clean house, then watch the Giants squeek by.... We may have a game next week? Derek, do you have your Eagles helmet? Wait, I wonder if I can mail it out to KC by next Sunday?

Well what do you know...

2007-09-21T19:04:00.001-05:00

I have been riding my cross bike.

Kris went through the photos that were still on the camera and lookie there I'm riding my cross bike!

Holy Schmoly...

2007-09-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

I can't believe the last post was August 25th! Sorry.

Well let's see where to start...

I have not ridden any of my bikes since the trip to Delaware in the last post. It is not like I haven't had the opportunity to ride, I just haven't felt like it? Even though cross is coming, I just don't feel it as much this year. I guess "life" is catching up? I still plan on "racing" a few times this year. That is/was until my shoulder decided to stop functioning properly! Doctor says it is probably tendinitis in my rotator cuff. Great! She said to treat it with advil and ice. Right now I have two "boo-boo buddies" wrapped around my shoulder. Fantastic!

Over Labor Day weekend I finally finished the patio. This is one of the reasons I have not posted anything... I've been waiting to get a photo of it!
*patio photo to go here*
It actually turned out pretty nice for a amateur hack! There are some pavers that stick up and some that are low. I blame it on the inconsistent thickness of the pavers from lowes.

Found out that the data on our old hard drive is "unrecoverable". There goes two years worth of photos! Makes me sick just thinking about it! We also lost all the email addresses from our outlook. So, if you used our "dk" account, we lost your email address, please be so kind as to shoot us a quick email. Thanks.

I started a new class at Temple, Sustainable Design and Development.
"Explores the theory, practice, and social value created when development occurs in a sustainable manner. Planning and design of ecologically sensitive projects are addressed in a lecture/discussion format. Case studies are used extensively in concert with guest lecturers to provide the student with a comprehensive overview of sustainable development. Case studies include: technologically innovative economic development, cultural and social development, ecological architectural design, landscape architecture and green spaces, and transportation systems. Economic and design comparisons are drawn between sustainable and non-sustainable models of development. Based on the premise that sustainable community design and development fulfills the basic needs of people and extends opportunities for economic development without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Sounds like fun huh? The class is good so far. It is certainly not as hard as the last one.

Went to NYC this past weekend for Krissy's birthday. A night away without the kids in NYC! We stayed in my parents time share. It was sweet! Went to a nice italian restaurant a few blocks away. Boy was that yummy! I was really looking forward to waking up in the city and going out to breakfast and a stroll in the morning. I had the best corned beef hash! Thanks Mom and Dad for the place to stay! Can't wait to do it again!

What can I say Eagles suck so far. It looks like it might be a long season! At least the stinkin' Giants suck too! Maybe the Eagles can at least beat those losers!

I've been futzing around with some logos:

Found a CBGB font and thought I see what it looked like:

Well as Tigger says, "TTFN"

Delaware for a Ride.

2007-08-27T20:21:00.001-05:00

My parents were up this past weekend so I could do the Iron Hill race. But then I started thinking... start time at 2:00? $25 or $30 entry fee? Nah.

Called up Brent, Terry and emailed Rick to see if they wanted to ride Saturday. We intended to meet at 10:30. Turns out I-95 south was closed. Yep, closed! They routed everyone onto an offramp and then right back on, but what a mess! Needless to say I didn't make it there until 11:00. Good thing for cell phones!

I jumped out of the car as they were all waiting for me. Hopped on the bike and down the "church climb" and ZAP! Stung by a bee or a wasp or a yellow jacket! Oh great this is going to be fun! I wonder how much this is going to slow me down. It is already going to be tough enough keeping up with Brent and Slick Rick! They really fly through the trails at Middle Run and White Clay! I was giving it everything and using every inch of the trail, and then some, just to try and keep up!

We took a break at one point and as we were rolling out, Terry takes a tumble. One of those dumb little wrecks, but those seem to be the worst for damage. Right Schnerbs, or should I say wheelie-boy? Terry toughed it out to a point he could turn off and get to the car. Turns out Terry fractured his wrist! We continued on to some amazing new trails in Middle Run, really, really fun stuff!

Afterwards, we went to El Jefe for some mexican food. Man I miss the mexican food down there! Stopped at the shop to pick up a few things and fix a few more. Great to see Andrew and Vince. I ended up walking out of there with out a penny in my pocket! And I could have easily spent more money!

All in all a great day. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the kids!

COMPUTER DOWN!!!!!!

2007-08-19T17:22:00.001-05:00

Yep, my hard drive crashed right before I went on vacation. Lots, and lots of fun getting running again!

Short update:
- Jeb is great on the airplane
- Sophie not so much, she likes to poop on the plane... (Kris is a champ at changing dirty diapers in the airplane bathroom)
- vacation in South Carolina was rather "swamp-like"
- good thing there was a pool!
- dragging two kids in a bike trailer on a cruiser in the "swamp -like" conditions is ...TOUGH!!!!
- great time with the in-laws!
- Rook is a fun game, right Pete?
- I start school next week.
- Cross season is approaching fast... I need to start riding!
- more kids on the way in our UD circle, and they're not ours. Congrats Speedie & Farf (twins...YIKES), and Coyle & Andrea!
- been working on some cross related "artwork"... stay tuned.

life is good!

Interesting Article

2007-08-01T08:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry I have not been updating lately. Lots of excuses but thought this article was worth posting a link to.

"Americans can be hypocrites in the performance-enhancers debate"

4th o july...

2007-07-13T19:29:00.001-05:00

Yikes! It's been a while...

We flew down to NC to visit family over the 4th. First time with the kids on a plane. Once we got loaded up everyting was fine. Prior to that I was a bit of a mess... never realized how much extra stuff the kids need, pack and play, car seats and such...
No real events at the airport, unless Sophie poopy counts as an event?

Jeb was great on the plane. I'm not sure if it was the lollipops we gave him for his ears, or the Backyardigans episode I loaded on my ipod, regardless he did great.

(airplane picture goes here)

We got to my cousin April's in time for the bbq. Aunt Ruthie was there, Uncle John was in STL, Grandpa Smith was there from STL, my parents and Johnny were there straight from a trip to the the four corners with "the boys".

It was a great weekend. Flying with the kids was no big deal. In fact, we're doing it again in a couple of weeks!

Sorry for the lack of updates...

Another rookie mistake...

2007-06-25T20:21:00.000-05:00

We had a nice family weekend. I think the first weekend Kristen had off in about a month. So, we did some family things during the day. I cooked breakfast, french toast and bacon, yummy! Saturday morning we went to the pool at Nockamixon, fun but it was a little chilly and breezy, a great day to be outside, but a little on the cold side for hanging around a pool. The kids had fun, nobody got really wet, except when Kris went under the dunk bucket things...

Saturday night Brent and Alice came up for some dinner. We had margaritas, Jon G's recipe, and ribs, chef jeff's recipe. Jeb help me with the dry rub, the garlic powder came out a little fast, but hey its garlic! It was really nice to hang out with B&A, we haven't hung out properly in a few years. Thanks for coming up.

Sunday morning after pancakes and sausage, Kris went to the gym. After lunch I had a 2 hour window in which to ride. I can do the two hour loop I did, well tried to do, last week. The ride was going really well, not sure if my fitness is coming around or more likely it was the new 105 cranks (Thanks Henry's!). I didn't even make a single wrong turn. I was setting a good time, I was due to be back under two hours until... Flat! No big deal, stop and change the tube... what the?!? Crap a short valved tube!??! Oh man I hope I can get the pump on it... Nope! Now what? Maybe if I use the old valve as a sort of valve extender??? First I need to rip the old tube open to get to the valve. Dang it, nothing sharp... I can just stretch it to break it... good idea! Until...WHACK! The tube smacks my hand, OW! Get the makeshift valve extender on... Dang it, no air going into the tube!! If I only took my cell phone when I had my hand on it before I left!! So, there I am about 5 miles from home with a flat tire. Guess I'll ride it home! It was surprisingly pretty smooth for riding a flat... Now I wonder how much damage I did to the rim?!?!?! Next time: long valve tube, pump, food, cell phone, large water bottles and money. Be prepared right?

For dinner we had a picnic at Stover and the kids got to play on the playground:

Fugawee Indians

2007-06-17T19:40:00.000-05:00

Sunday my parents came over to help with the kids and I got to sneak out for a ride. I decided I'd do my two hour loop. I figured it wouldn't hurt too bad and I could still function the rest of the day. Two hour ride? two small bottles should cover it, I'll bring this FRS chew just in case, thinking ahead right? 9:30 and I'm out the door.

The first hour or so was going great, I did miss a turn and had to go back to get back on track at one point. Next thing I know, well I didn't really know, I was on roads I have never been on, Buckwampum Road? Hmm? Keep on going... detour? road closed ahead? Aw, I'm on a bike I can make it. At this point, I'm hurting and figure unless the road is closed due to a major washout I'm crossing, even if I have to repel and swim across the thing. The entire road was gone, they were doing some sort of water main crossing or something. I crossed on a 3 foot wide precipice of rip-rap about twenty feet down on either side in road shoes! Finally, back en route and I was reminded of the Fugawee Indians. They were know for their navigational skills and often heard saying, "Where the fug-aw-wee?" Yep I was lost.

I got to the end of the road at a T-junction and I had no idea which way to go. I went left. Huh? water up ahead? Gee, I hope it is Lake Nockamixon. WHAT!?!?!? The Delaware River!?!? OH CRAP! I'm almost out of water! Oh man, I'm up near Rieglesville? Yikes! 212 all the way home! After an hour of rationing water and seriously thinking of stopping somewhere to beg for a Coke... at that point a nice cold Coke wold have been the best thing in the world! I made it home.

I inhaled, a Coke, granola bar, bowl of cereal, two bottles of water, took a shower and crashed for two hours! So much for being able to get anything accomplished.

After I recuperated I made Paella and sangria for father's day dinner... Yummy!

Happy Father's Day to all you fellow fathers!

New trails...

2007-06-15T21:12:00.000-05:00

We bathed and put the kids down before Kris and I ate tonight. Delmonico steaks with caramelized onions and blue cheese, grilled potatoes, and Renwood Zinfandel. YUMMY! Yeah, I forgot the vegetable, shh... don't tell the dietitian ;-)

Last night (Thursday) I was able to get a ride in after work. After much deliberation the night before I decided I'd ride La Bala Blanca (my mountain bike). I wasn't really excited about riding Allamuchy again, same old stuff, even though this year I added an extra loop Derek showed me on our last hooky day.

After work I get to Allamuchy (Deer Park Rd {yeah DEER PARK}) I park next to two cars backed in next to each other. Funny how after years of going to state and county parks to ride mountain bikes you can see the "signs." Guy and a girl talking and giggling listening to music in their car on a beautiful Thursday evening...anyway? I start to unload la bala and remember I had to pump up the front tire because it had a slow leak. Pump it up and DOH! Valve rips out of the tube. Man, I should just go home. No, the family won't be home until 8:00 I need to ride tonight! Dang it! No tube in my bag... I should go home... No, I need to ride... OK I take the tube in my saddle bag and use it. That means I have to do the rest of the ride with no tube, if I flat I'll have a long walk out of the woods. Finally, I'm off.

Start the climb of the usual loop, huh? where's that trail go?
It goes up and down and around and over logs, over rocks, down exposed rock, over exposed rock, switch backs... THIS TRAIL ROCKS! Man it felt good to ride a new trail and a sweet one to boot! Eventually, I run into a guy with his son. He gives me the low down on the trail, it is new as of this year. He says that the other trails got ruined after the race they had there... (12 O' Muchy?) I end up back on the main trail and finish the loop and decide I should ride the new trail the opposite way I came, downhill! Get on the trail, cruising along... cross a log... oh look there's the trail that gees back to the parking lot... WHAM! ENDO! Dang it! I crashed! Ouch, that's going to leave a mark. I hit my knee on a rock. Maybe I should take that as a sign to take the trail back to the parking lot? Nah! Onward! The trail seemed a lot shorter this way, I guess when you're going down instead of up?

Back to the car, load up... Man my knee hurts. Maybe I should stop and get some frozen peas for my knee. Crap! I only have $2 on me... Two cheeseburgers or frozen peas for my knee? Yeah, cheeseburgers. Once I got home I could hardly walk. I immediately went to the freezer to get the kids "boo-boo buddy".

I had to do field work today with a bum knee. Fun stuff! I wonder how I'll do with my planned cover bridge ride Sunday?

Last minute ride

2007-06-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

7:30 last night Jeb and I are sitting on the couch reading books and Kris comes down after putting Sophie to bed.

She says, "Why don't you go for a ride?"

Dumbfounded I say, "huh? Now? It is 7:30."

Reassuringly, "You'll make it back before dark."

"Jeb, can mommy finish Reading your books and put you to bed, so, daddy can go for a ride?" I ask.

Jeb says, "The sun is going down, you need to bring your lights."

"OK Jeb, I'll bring my tail-light the headlight needs to be charged." with that I'm off.

I made it out the door in record time! Cruising through town some ruffians say "Go Lance!" It took me a good ten minutes down the road to come up with this witty response, "Thanks, but my name's Dave." zing!

I'm cruising along, feeling great, legs are churning, flying...

until WHAM! BUG IN THE EYE!!!

Kinda like Mater in this Cars trailer (Link to you tube)

I couldn't see a thing. In twenty years of riding I've never had a bug hit my eye like that one. I could barely keep my other eye open. I had to pull off to the shoulder and get the thing out of my eye. After a few minutes I finally get it out and look up.

Yeah a bunch of llamas staring at me. They seemed concerned.

"I'm OK now, I just had a bug in my eye."

"Thanks for your concern, but I think I'm ok."

"Yeah, that little bug really got me good."

"Alright, I'll see you guys later. Thanks again."

My eye has been pretty oozy all day... I may actually have it looked at...

La Bala Blanca

2007-05-30T20:02:00.000-05:00

In the last post I said I'd post some photos of Granogue. Instead, I'll post some links.
Here's some video of the race on Bill's mountainbikeracer.com (I'm the last rider in the video and yes, a lot of the people started behind me.)
As I was looking through some of mlkimages I noticed this one with J.Brown just behind me and it got me thinking...

Since my new mtb an Orbea is made in Spain I thought of one of my college roommates, Juan Portilla. He was/is from Madrid. I have not heard from him since he sent me an email after 9-11 telling me how all of Spain was sympathetic and he told me of the moment of silence the entire country had a few days after. Can you imagine an entire busy city just stopping and having a moment of silence? I digress, Juan had this car, a brown Volkswagen Rabbit, and he called it "The Brown Bullet". It was far from a bullet... One time he got the car stuck on our chainlink fence, frickin' hilarious. He needed me to get it off of the fence. Very funny! Until a couple of days later I got my car stuck on the same part of the fence, DOH! Digressing again... After Juan went back to Spain he sold the car to... yep J.Brown. I'm taking the photo as a sign to name my new Spanish mtb "La Bala Blanca" Now, I just need to get some decent labels for my label maker...

Granogue Race

2007-05-22T05:10:00.000-05:00

I got to race my bike this weekend! Thanks to my folks for watching the kids.

A few interesting tid-bits from a guy that has maybe ridden his bike (anyone of the three) 6 times since January. Lined up for the start and went through the "corral" and wouldn't you know it I'm second row. I have absolutely no business being in the second row. I guess old habits are hard to break? So, I lined up on the left side which happened to be right next to Tom with the megaphone (Heckletron 3000). So, everyone is standing there waiting to start and I'm sporting the new pink Henry's kit. Yes, pink. They said pink is the new black. Besides it benefits breast cancer awareness. So, as we are waiting Tom says over the Heckletron 3000, "Hey, everybody be nice to the gay guy in the pink!" Gee thanks Tom.

I met my friend Andrew, "one of those old school mountain bikers," at registration. He too had not been riding much at all but came out to support the event anyway. I suggested that I wait for him and we could ride together. He said in typical limey fashion, "Bah, we're at a race." End of the first lap he caught me, he started a minute or so behind me. We rode together for a while, until I got my second wind.

After looking at the results, and after the staggered start is taken into consideration, he beat me by 1 second! Maybe I shouldn't have stopped to take off my arm warmers, or stop to tighten my shoe, or stop to catch my breath, or stop to let people by... next time no stopping!

Thanks to fatmarc and the cycling community in Delaware. They really have a great thing going down there. I'm honored to still be a part of it, all be it a small part.

I'll add some pictures later...

Yankee or Dixie

2007-05-14T20:07:00.000-05:00

My cousin April (62% Dixie)sent me a link to this Yankee or Dixie quiz. Usually I don't check out the "fwd:fwd:fwd:" things, but this one peeked my interest. Being of a mid-western mother and a yankee father and having relatives in Dixie as well as living in dixie for a spell. I found this quiz quite interesting, add to the blood relations, my time spent in Delaware, where does Delaware fit anyway, Yankee or Dixie? I think the canal might have some being on the answer. I was curious to see my results (53% Yankee). Thanks April.

GIS Geek stuff to follow:
I could create a map with overlays based on the terminology and region, it would be a fun project but, I don't have time for it...

Looks like I might "race" this weekend at Granogue. Boy is it going to hurt, I am really, really, really out of shape... unless "round" is a shape?

Finished...

2007-05-06T18:19:00.000-05:00

...with school for the summer! Handed my take home final in last Tuesday. What a relief! Now I'll have more time to actually ride! YEAH!

I went for a ride at High Rocks, Tuesday afternoon. Boy did it feel good to be out on the new mountain bike!

So, Tuesday night I thought I might go celebrate with a classmate that lives around here. Maybe we'd go out for some beer and wings. Instead, Kris, Jeb, Sophie, and I went to... PIZZA HUT!!! and you'll never guess who was there, (besides all the screaming kiddies)... SPIDERMAN was there! Yeah, he was kind of fat and out of shape, and he was wearing some cheesy USA jacket. I think to hide his belly, but the kids got a kick out of it, and that's what matters. We went there early enough that I could possibly go out after. I got home put the kids to bed... me too, asleep by 10:00... LAME-O!

Saturday was the T-town swap meet. I loaded up a bunch of the bike crap I have laying around. I ended up doing pretty well, I still have that set of ten-speed wheels... anyone? Derek, I sold that kyak paddle for $20! Since I had a pocket full of cash my "wheels" started spinning... what kind of bike should I get, a commuter for lunchtime in Sparta? A pit bike? Trick wheels for my cross bike? Trick wheels for my mountain bike? Oh the possibilities!

After some discussion with Kris... looks like a new helmet for Jeb, a hitch rack for her jeep, and a trailer to take the kids on rides. Yep, married with children.

In other news, I finished a pretty cool project at work. I installed aerial photos of Sparta on a wall in the new town hall. I think the overall dimensions were 98"x110". I even got mentioned in the county newspaper. I'll try and post a photo of it soon.

Got out on the road bike this afternoon after cleaning out the garage. I did the loop I used to do in the mornings before work. I quickly discovered that I am really, really, really out of shape! I am sore from an hour ride! I didn't even push it. Except when I hammered it by the kid on his schwinn varsity. I could not let him get my wheel!

yep, new bike...

2007-04-24T07:30:00.000-05:00

Maybe I should finally get a new seat for the new bike? Looks kinda crappy doesn't it? I think the white saddle on the road bike is in better shape.

This past weekend I had "off", no term paper to work on. I decided I'd go to Henry's and pick up my frame. Jeb went to the Rutgers, Scarlet and White football game with my parents.

I took Sophie with me to DE to get the frame and some bits form Henry's. They are busy on Saturdays.

I didn't get a chance to finish this entry before I got my take home final... So, this is all you get until I finish the FRICKIN' FINAL! (Have I said how much I dislike this class?)

I will say this about Sunday's attempted ride at Wissahickon, I f'ed up and didn't finish my bike. Brent was right, my stem was set too low, and I would have killed myself if I tried to ride with only three gears. I almost killed myself riding with all 24 gears at High Rocks later on Sunday!

After this take home final I am done for the summer! (Have I told you how much this class sucks?)

Finally, an update.

2007-04-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

A few entries ago I talked about my Planning Law class and how much of bitch it was going to be. Well, I just got through the toughest part. A 20-25 page law paper... yep lots of fun. If anyone is interested the title is "The New Jersey Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act. Too much? Too Fast?". Let me know and I'll send you a copy.
I SUCK at writing, so 20-25 pages was pretty tough. Good thing Kristen was around to bail me out. If I get through grad school she is going to be the reason. Thanks Kris! There were quite a few late nights working on this paper.

some reason the photo is not loading, sorry.

So, it was a 10 Red Bull paper, I had the Guinness once I found out that class was cancelled!

Yep, I was sitting in front of the computer working on the paper until the very last minute. I had to run out to Staples for more paper, we ran out. My classmate Joe, calls and says class is cancelled! I think to myself, "I guess we get another week to work on the papers?" Then Joe tells me he emailed his to the professor. Doh! I can't let him get all the brownie points! I emailed it in after a few beers and dinner from the new taco joint up the street. I got an email back from the professor, he's ok and he's looking forward to reading my paper!?!?!? Man, he's in for a let down!

I have a week "off", no paper to work on, just readings for class. Then we get our final exam, it is a take home, open book. BUT after the final... no more school until late August!!!

I have a bit of a list of things I want to do this summer:

RIDE my new mountain bike! Yep, after 11 years my red jamis is going to a good home.
Blog more. sorry I haven't been updating but now, NO MORE TERM PAPER!
Build the patio under the deck.
teach Jeb to ride a bike
finish painting the house.
listen to the Harry Potter books again in anticipation of the final book.
Read the final book on vacation in South Carolina.
watch some movies, a guy from work lent me "Intermission" he thought I'd like it.
RIDE!
maybe even race my bike?

The kids are doing great. Sophie is starting to pull herself up and stand all by herself. Jeb just signed up for tee-ball.

They had a good Easter.

the pictures aren't loading, I guess when you don't blog for a month you forget how to do it....

Sick Day

2007-03-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a sick day. I had a dentist and an eye-doctor scheduled. I hate the dentist, nothing personal, but I don't really understand the whole process. Both of my grandparents had dentures... What's the big deal??? Right? Anytime I go it seems like I'm there for the next few weeks getting "work done"... ugh.
After the dentist I had about an hour. I got the oil changed then went to Mesquito Grill for a brew and the best buffalo chicken sandwich! the BEST! The beer selection there is unbelievable! I think even Buddy would be impressed. I sat at the bar and the bartender turns on some music, first the Police live, something or other, then Black Uhuru, then Ben Harper... needless to say I felt very comfortable. I think I could have spent all day there. They even had darts! Been a long time since I threw some darts. I'll get back there any chance I get! (sorry I couldn't find a link to a webpage for them) If I find one I'll throw it up on the links list.
Eye doctor, I think I'm finally going to get contacts. So, I can ride my mountain bike and actually see the rocks while riding. Watch out Rick and Brent!

ZOINKS!

2007-03-23T20:54:00.000-05:00

Date night.
Tonight is date night. Our neighbors watch our kids one week a month and we watch their kid one week a month. So, today Sophie is apparently being difficult all day. Long and short of it is we end up with Sophie, while Jeb goes over to play with Luke.
Sometimes we go out, sometimes we stay in and cook. Tonight I cooked. Since it is lent, we had scallops "piccatta"... (anyone know anything about scallops and lemon? for some reason I think it is a "no, no"?) It was still yummy. Picatta calls for white wine. I stopped at the PA Liquor store and picked up a cold bottle of Smoking Loon chardonnay, on sale. I decide to pick up another bottle of white. So, at least we have one bottle of white and one bottle of red in the house. Hey, look the warm bottle of Smoking Loon is on sale too! (duh!)
We go through the first bottle of chardonnay and start on the second, a little unusual for us, and wow, this tastes different. How can two bottles of white Smoking Loon taste so different?
Oh?!?! the cold bottle was a chardonnay and the warm was a "viognier". What the hell is a "viogner"? The chardonnay was better (are they trying to fool you into the viogner too, notice the picture?). As Kris put it the viognier was like drinking a bottle of perfume. (must be french... Miche?) but we finished it anyway... Zoinks! TWO bottles of wine tonight!!!! the keys on the keyboard are not as large as usual... good thing for spellcheck....

Dang It...

2007-03-18T09:08:00.000-05:00

... I have a few minutes, Jeb is upstairs watching Johnny and the Sprites and Sophie is sleeping. I've had an eventful couple of days.

Wednesday I took the day off and headed down to DE to help out Roger at Henry's. Rick was on vacation. The trip to DE coincided with Kris's planned visit to Blaz. So, the whole family loaded up and headed to DE. Dropped the family off at Blaz's, got to Henry's around 11:30. Got a few repairs done. Hopefully, it was enough to give Roger a few days without much of a repair load. Back in the days of working at Henry's there was nothing worse than being in the shop solo and having to get repairs done in addition to normal shop stuff. It was kinda fun working in the shop, like old times.

Left the shop and went to Capriotti's, our favorite sub shop! Brought subs to Blaz's for dinner, YUMMY! Stayed at Blaz's until about bedtime. The kids were TIRED! It was great to see Blaz, I haven't seen her and kids in a quite a while. Jeb and Cora played all day and both were all tuckered out. Thanks for the hospitality Blaz!

Friday, snowstorm coming, I ended up driving to work. There was an outside chance I could meet Chef at the Mohawk House for a pre-St. Pat's day celebration. By 12:00 there was about 3 inches on the ground and the office closed at 1:00. I guess no bagpipes and irish dancers, oh well. Dang Snow! It took me 4-4.5 hours to get home. I did stop and get supplies, corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, Guinness and Harp.

Saturday, Derek and family were going to join us Saturday for some St Pat's day festivities but Derek couldn't get a flight home until Sunday, dang snow! Ended up having Corned Beef (CB) and Cabbage with just the family. I don't think I cooked the CB long enough, it was kind of chewy, I guess the 3 hours wasn't enough, Dang Snow! I noticed the beers weren't very cold, hmmm?

Sunday, I get up and see a note from Kris, she got up earlier and went to work. The refrigerator was not cold. In fact, it wasn't working at all. Dang refrigerator! Spent the morning making "ice boxes" out of the snow on the deck.

(I'd put a picture of the "ice box" in here but, the camera took a digger the other day)

It looks like Jeb and I are going to have "soft" ice cream for lunch today!

Sophie's First Birthday...

2007-03-06T21:15:00.000-05:00

...or should it be her second? I guess they don't count the day she was born as a birthday???
Regardless, Sophie is now 1.

We had the families over for dinner and cake. The cake was made by one of Jacob's friend's mom. Man was it good cake! I had some for dessert tonight... yummy! I used a fork not my hands like Sophie.

Well have to keep it short, I have to work on a 25+ page law paper on the Highlands Act in New Jersey. Fun stuff!

Pictures

2007-02-09T07:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of our newly tiled foyer:

Anyone interested in an Entertainment Unit?

Haven't posted any pictures of the kids in a while:

Sorry no updates...

2007-02-05T20:39:00.000-05:00

I've been kind of busy...

Here's a quick update:
- Our foyer is now tiled. Kris did a great job picking everything out. Turns out the guy doing the tile was a motocross guy, I gathered he was a pretty good amateur, and could have gone pro but "decided" not to. (I think he had a family)
- Class last week I was the first person to present a case. I muddled my way through it, but we ran out of time. So, I have to do it again this week. (In fact, that is what I should be doing right now!)
- Thursday night I was suppose to drop some chairs off at the chairman. Instead, I got a speeding ticket! 80 in a 65... ouch... the frickin' cop was tailgating me, so I sped up to get in front of traffic in the right lane. I had no idea it was a cop...DOH!! I wonder how much that is going to affect our insurance.
- we had two pools going at work, an eliminator pool that started with the playoffs. and the "squares" pool. So, I spent Friday, "working" on them...
- Sat Kristen worked, Mom and Grandpa, came over. I ended up making chili, it was good but not as good as the last batch. Maybe because I used Dogfish Head 60 minute IPA instead of Hop Wallop. John and Dad made it up from NC for dinner. They stopped at the Marine Corps museum on the way up.
- Sun, Kris worked again, Mom and grandpa were not coming up because they were preparing for the Super Bowl party, I was on my own, and a little hung over. Jeb watches a lot of tv when Kristen works...
- Sun night loaded the kids up and headed over to D-town for the game. I think I only ended up watching a handful of plays and a couple of commercials. We left at half-time to put the kids to bed, and didn't even turn the game on when we got home.
- I didn't win any money in the office pools. I had a very crappy year in the pools. I guess it is pay back for last year.

Postcards from Mom...

2007-01-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

My mother can be a bit quirky sometimes. She likes to reuse stuff, like postcards...

I get a postcard from her the other day. She wants to know if I want a red or flame Le Creuset oval dutch oven (A Christmas present she was going to exchange for me, I can't wait to make some carnitas in it). She put two spaces on the card where I could check which one I wanted. I understand her sending the card, I'm kind of busy and all I would have to do is check the box and send it back, very considerate of her, but she called me to tell me she sent the postcard and asked me which one I wanted over the phone anyway! I don't know where she got this card but it was a gift card she found somewhere for a subscription to Natty G. Now I'd hate to waste a perfectly good postcard that has already been written on. Especially since it already had the postage paid. So, I decided to write mom a little note... on every available space of the postcard and as small as I can write. I gotta get my money's worth out of that postage stamp! Kristen sees me hunched over this card and shakes her head wondering what the heck I'm up to. I proudly show her how much writing I have managed to fit on the empty spaces of the card. Kris shakes her head again, "You think she'll be able to read that?" Hmm, hadn't thought about anyone actually reading it...

... A few days later I get a call from my mom and she can hardly talk, she is laughing so hard, she manages to tell me she has been laughing for the last half-hour reading my card! She liked it! and I guess she could read it, most of it anyway...

Although, I'm still waiting for my Natty G subscription ;-)

Go carts and class

2007-01-17T21:19:00.000-05:00

One of the benefits of working for municipal government is I get 13 holidays off. So, I had Monday, Martin Luther King Day off. I spent most of the day running around with the family, we went to the tile store (we're picking out tile for the foyer-downstairs bathroom), etc... After I got jacob to go down for his nap, I headed down to Henry's to pick up a few things and work on my wheels. I got my spinergy as true as I could then onto my tubulars. The rear freehub was all jacked up, ended up cramming it full of lube, we'll see how long that lasts. The most notable thing was that I was able to lift the tublar right off of the rim! The glue was not sticking! Apparently in the last crash-fest, I mean race, I had rolled the tubular and it had popped back on. Boy was I lucky I didn't race Nationals! It could have been ugly!

Went out to a mexican restaurant with Brent, Rick and Jen. I don't get to eat mexican very often anymore. It is a big change from the days working at the shop when we had mexican almost everyday for lunch! The "cart" had some pretty awesome tortas!

At dinner Brent says something about the go-carts in Wilmington. Yep, we ended up racing go carts for the rest of the evening. Those things are pretty fast, my back, shoulders, arms and hands are still sore! My best time was 23.111 and that was on the track when I couldn't get by "Vanilla Killa", she was wearing red high heels while racing. Yeah, I was pretty pissed I couldn't get by her. She even flipped me off at one point! Oh yeah, Brent flipped me off too! It wasn't like I took them into the wall or anything... rubbin's racin'...

Tuesday night had my Planning Law and Administration class. Everything I had heard about the class was that it was pretty easy with a lot of guest speakers. Turns out my class is being taught by a Penn professor, who has been teaching Planning law and Environmental Law for the past 30 years or so! Aren't I the lucky one! Tons of reading, a 25 page paper (due April 17, TAX TIME!), and a take home exam due May 8th (my anniversary)! So, at least I got that going for me!

And I wanted to take two classes this semester... yeah right!

Looks like I'm going to have to put my "spring racing" on hold...
See you all sometime in mid-May! (I hope it won't be that bad)

Under the weather...

2007-01-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Ever since I got back from nationals I have been "under the weather". It started with hives that were all over the place and any time I scratched an itch it became worse. One week of it and I had enough. I actually went to a doctor. She said I was allergic to something, "Do you have a Christmas tree?". I'm allergic the the Christmas tree?!?!?!?

I was taking an antihistimine she gave me. Took a weeks worth but still wasn't better. We tried changing detergant. Not it. Took all the Benadryl we had in the house. Now I've been battling a cold for the past week. It sucks! Past few days its been a Tylenol cold and allergy. In addition to the cold-allegy meds, I've been trying heavy doses of chocolate (there are tons of Hershey kisses at work). In addition to the chocolate, cold allegy meds, I've been trying to dull the "pain" with several beers a night. Nothing seems to be helping...

The tree is gone as of Tuesday, I hope that helps...

EAGLES WIN!

2007-01-07T20:15:00.000-05:00

Didn't get to sit down and watch much of the game, but got to see the end.
Derek is in KC for his new job and was at chicago pub watching the game and checking the blog. He apparently shared the fridge photo withe the bartender, Joe. Joe said something like, "You got him beat! You have thirty beers to choose from, he only has 2!"

After loading Sophie up with wagon wheels I called the chicago pub in kansas city and asked for Joe the bartender. "Joe. I'd like to pay off my friend Derek's tab and buy him a drink." Joe replies, "He just settled up and left!". I reply "He is such a LOSER!!!"

So, I talk to Derek and he says, "I was sitting at the bar and someone tells Joe he has a call, and I tell him I'm going to leave anyway." DEREK!!! THAT WAS ME ON THE PHONE!!! YOU LOSER!!!! Oh wait a minute... the giants LOST!!!!! That's right!!!
E
A
G
L
E
S
EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hmm, Kris should be home any minute now...
Hope she doesn't see all the beer caps... shhhh....

By the Way, i think I figured out where all of Sophie's wagon wheels went:

It was a good game, the Eagles finally figured out some clock management.
Derek, sorry both of your temas lost! Kansas City Chiefs and the Giants! How did KU do? Wish we could have gotten together today. Can't wait to visit KC.
(for all you cyclocrossers, yep, I have a place to stay in KC for nationals next year)

E-A-G-L-E-S...EAGLES?????

2007-01-07T17:37:00.000-05:00

There's a game on?

Gotta feed Sophie:

Check the chili:

Help Jeb with Blue's Clues game(I guess there won't be any IM):

Gotta get a beer:

Holy cow... there's more I swear... how many wagon wheels can Sophie eat?

I have to put the caillou game in... jeb said pretty please for the hundreth time... thank you to whoever got jeb the blue's clues and caillou game!

Eagles Giants PLAYOFFS!

2007-01-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

My buddy Derek is in Kansas City. He got a new job. We usually get together for EAGLES giants games. So, we're trying to figure something out... IM or something...
In the meantime GO EAGLES!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2006-12-24T10:41:00.000-05:00

All this morning (Christmas Eve) Jeb was pretending to be Santa Claus:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

man...

2006-12-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

I don't have class anymore, and I'm not training (not that I ever really do), but it still seems as if I don't have any time. So, this one is going to be short.

I went up to Cyclocross National Championships in Providence, Rhode Island last Friday. I didn't race, I thought I'd enjoy myself hanging out with the DCC of D and other MAC brethren. Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

Got my first grad school grade, an "A"... So, I got that going for me. One down, two to go, before I can get admitted to the program. They have a policy that if you take three classes and get a 3.something, they will wave your undergrad GPA, a necessity for me, as well as wave the GRE's (like I have time to study those frickin exams)

That's all for now.

Happy Holidays!

Phillipsburg Cross

2006-12-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

Raced Sunday in Phillipsburg, mom was babysitting and the race was local (30 minutes away). I figured out a few thing not to do before a cross race...

don't leave your bike in the car for the entire week before the race!
don't eat 2 bowls of Cookie Crisp 1 hour before the start!
don't show up to the race 15 minutes before the start!
don't not pre-ride the course! (PRERIDE THE COURSE!)

While hurrying up getting dressed I'm thinking about this being my last cross race for the year, and dang it there is a monster hole in my gloves. Oh well I'll get some new ones for next year.
Line-up with out any idea of what lays out on the course... not a good idea, especially on this course, as I'd find out later...
Got my usual great start, I decided it would be smart if I didn't lead the course. So, I sat in on the guy in first...
not so bad, usual cross stuff, hmmm off camber drop off.... no problem,
ok 180 around a tree off camber... why's he running it?...I can ride it...NOT down I go and take out most of the guys behind me... oops, sorry guys.
back on, S turns through some trees... no problem... dang it, under the tape, hey but back on course
what the heck is going on with my bike? The freehub is sticking, crap... anytime I coast the chain keeps going... NOT GOOD!!!
ok, pavement, hey, cool a skatepark, hmm, up a bank and down, tight but no problem...
barriers... no problem
pavement... no problem
course goes up a steep hill... carry momentum, doh! it goes back down, lucky...
more pavement...What the!?!? Holy crap that is steep! and LOOSE! Momentum is your friend... guys are getting off at the bottom, I'll cruise by them and get off halfway up....BAM!! I'm on my back in the loose dirt!!! Aw crap!! there were all those people watching!
Whew, we're back on grass, through the football uprights
Hey, why is everyone stopping at the top of this hill?!?!? WHOA!!! STEEP!! AND LOOSE!!! Made it...
OK, now I have to do it a few more times...
No problem... I'll get off the bike and run around the tree...WHAM!!! on the ground, DANG IT!!! the ground is frozen!! OUCH!!! That's gonna leave a mark!

The rest of the race was a lot of the same. Sometimes I could make it on the technical stuff and other times, well, I couldn't...

This photographer knew to set up shop at the bottom of the loose steep drop off:
This is how you do it.
This is how NOT to do it.
Don't steer into the crash, you dummy!

That was probably the most fun I've had racing the cross bike all year! Even though I am a little banged up! The course reminded me of the Ft. Devens course of a few years back... good job guys! Thanks!

Whew!

2006-12-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

The paper is done and handed in. My first graduate class is all done. One down 11 to go?

Thanksgiving "break" was nice, I had 6 days in a row that I did not have to go to work!

Thanksgiving was great! Spent the day with the in-laws, I think there were 19 people there. The Lancaster cousin's came out, t-bone and Lynn came down from Maine, THEY'RE HAVING A BABY! and Lynn looks great as usual!

My favorite thing about t-day was one of the guys brother was going to his in-laws and they were having tofu-turkey, not that there's anything wrong with that. Anyway, he keeps taking pictures of the turkey in the oven, and sending them to his brother.

Friday: the boys came over for a ride. We were going to go mtb but man was it going to be muddy. I convinced them to go for a "road" ride around the lake. It was cool, but it was a lot shorter than I remember. Afterwards we went to wawa for hoagies, they're from St Louis, so it was a bit of a new experience for them. Back at the house we played ps2, man they whooped up on me in Medal of Honor! I suck! That night everyone came of to our house, my mom brought Brunswick Stew. It was yummy. .. there wasn't any squirrel in ours... I think...

Sat. drove out to Carlisle for the state champs cross. The venue was great! They could have a MAJOR cross race out there. The race went as usual for me... great start then the fade to back begins. After most of the race I found I was gaining on a guy and almost got him but I think he finally saw me and turned it on a bit. Oh well. My family was there, aunt and uncle were driving back to NC down 81, my uncle had to pick up a bumper he bought on eBay in Hagerstown. My parents were driving the boys back to St Louis. So, Carlisle was on the way for everyone. I don't think my aunt and uncle, and the boys had ever seen a cross race. I hope they liked it. One notable thing about the race was, having that much family there, well, there was a lot of cheering for me... I ended up 28th out of 36 finishers.

Nice shot of my family after the race:

Love 'em! Thanks for cheering!

...working on a term paper...

2006-11-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

...and boy does it SUCK!

I hate writing term papers, YUCK!

No racing today.

2006-11-19T21:28:00.000-05:00

I pre-registered for the cross race today, but there was no way I was going back to that mess. So, what did I do instead of slogging through the mud today:
- Sophie didn't wake up until 8:15!
- Fed Sophie and Jacob
- Decided I would have bacon, eggs and toast.
- Hung out with Jacob watching tv.
- Mom came over.
- Jacob and I went "fishing" at the Lake (Guy's/EVO I have a great place to put on a race)
- Watched some guys play disc golf
- Looked at the boats
- Jacob wanted some food, so we went to wawa for hoagies, he pushed the buttons.
- Ate lunch with Mom, Jacob and Sophie
- Went out for a ride to the Lake (Guy's/EVO I have a great place to put on a race)
- Came back, told Jacob he had to go to sleep
- Jumped in the shower
- Ran to the grocery store
- Made Chicken Paprikash, to take over to In-laws
- Loaded up Mom's mini-van (had to make about 10 trips, I kept forgetting things)
- finished prepping dinner
- served and ate dinner
- came home in the jeep with Kris
- put Jacob to bed.
- here I am
- I'm going to bed.

Not racing today was worth every penny of the $26.20 entry fee!

What a waste of money...

2006-11-18T13:49:00.000-05:00

Went to the Evo-Guys race today. From what I could tell the race was going to be run in some fields around some guys house and with all the rain we were in for a slog. I held out some hope that they could configure the course to at least make it a little interesting. Not really. Although, they did not have much to work with. I'd say 98% of the course was on grass. A lot of it was in hay fields that hadn't been mowed in a while. (I pulled foot long pieces of grass off of my bike.)

With all the rain, about 90% of the course was 3 inch deep mud. Now, I can handle mud, as long as there are some sections were you can carry momentum and some speed. The whole thing was about at running pace. I hate this kind of race and to me it is not modern cross, more like what I'd imagine cross was like in the 20's.

Oh maybe the fact that I have no fitness came into play? It was the absolute worst conditions for someone with my lack of fitness.

No, I'm not going back for more tomorrow. $58.40 down the drain! Damn! That is over a month's worth of my bike allowance!

Anyone want to meet me for a ride tomorrow?

Highland Park Cross

2006-11-15T22:16:00.000-05:00

Mom said she'd come over and watch the kids while I went to the race! Woo-Hoo!
I figure if I'm going to actually ride my bike, it might as well be a race, right?

Sophie was up but Jeb was still sleeping, changed and fed Sophie and out the door by 8:15. crap map quest says an hour and a half... crap need gas... crap I hit every light on 309... It wouldn't be race day without some stress.

I actually got to the race about 45 minutes before the start. Number, suit-up, sweet free red-bull, pee, almost didn't make it to the potty, yeah, I was doing the pee-pee dance. Ride the first section of the course. hmm this is going to be a little slick. lined up early, I learned that from the Granogue race, I got a second row start, right behind Fort James and Pauly. I got a really good start, one of the things I'm actually good at, I think because there is a lag between the effort and your body realizing what the frick is going on. So, I'm sitting there in about 6th position and notice Pauly is off the front by a bit. Heck, while I'm here I might as well try and help Pauly. So, I get to the front of the group and kind of ride next to a guy, not blocking but disrupting. It worked for a few seconds, until we hit the next hill and it was like the dam burst, people kept passing me... Usual cross race story for me, any uphill I get passed, any downhill or section I can carry momentum I pass them back. I was back and forth with a Kissena guy. He had a bit of a gap on me going into the barriers before the finish. I knew I was faster through the barriers, closed the gap through the barriers. Into the right hand 180 onto the paved finishing straight, he goes wide, I changed my apex and got inside of him and on the pedals before him... beat him to the line! Felt good to actually sprint someone at the end of a race!

Hung out and ate my "pork" bbq sandwich, the lady gave me chicken instead of pork. I ate the sandwich in front of Tom and Kelly warming up on the trainers for their race. They didn't want any of my sandwich?!? Tom remembered he needed his number pinned on, "Its in the truck". Nope, not there. Tom runs around looking for his number, after about five minutes he sees a crumpled piece of paper on the ground about 20 feet from his truck, yep his number!

Good to actually get out and race, good to see everyone, wished I could have hung out a little longer, but had to get back to releive mom from watching the kids.

Looks like Mom is going to watch the kids again this weekend! Sweet more racing!

Thanks Mom, it means a lot to me.

New York City

2006-11-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

Took the family to NYC last Friday evening. April, Cayley, and April's friend Tonya came up to spend the night at my parent's time share in NYC. The location is sweet! 56th and 6th or something like that. We took a stroll down to Times Square:

We look like a bunch of tourist don't we. I guess we were.

We went into the Toy R Us. And stumbled across this little lizard:

The thing moved it head, eyes, and tail. Jeb did ok with it until it started to roar! He was a little freaked out.

Everyone came by the house Saturday, after spending the day in nyc for cheesesteaks, I make a pretty good cheesesteak, thanks to my time working in Ganello's.

Trick or Treat

2006-11-01T06:26:00.000-05:00

I took the kids trick or treating. Jeb filled up his little pumpkin with some good candy! I envisioned us doing our little cul-de-sac, but he wanted to keep going! We hit the next cul-de-sac over as well.

It was cold this morning!

2006-10-31T22:11:00.000-05:00

I got up to ride in the morning again, I was a little psyched about an earlier sunrise. Man, was it cold, and I'm sure it is only going to get colder. It has been quite some time since I actually rode/trained in the cold. Yeah, I think I'm getting old and soft.

I rode the road bike with the new 10 speed for the first time outside. It's nice. I ended up putting the wheels that came on the fuji cross bike on my road bike as "training wheels", complete with 25c tires. The bike felt like a total PIG! Oh well.

Did anyone read the "At the back" section of the latest Velonews? Man did that start the wheels spinning! (like that is hard to do for me)
Here's some highlights of the resulting thought process:
- I could do that, how much training do you need for a 10 minute hillclimb?
- an am and pm hillclimb
- held in between mtb/road season and cross season (September)
- short climb less than 10 minutes
- around tinicum park
- "picnic" in the park between races
- possibly on dirt roads
- open to any type of bike (fixed gear)
Who's in?

or could be done in Manyunk? more bars in manyunk, some sick climbs too ("koppenburg"?)

School update.

2006-10-27T22:12:00.000-05:00

I walked into class last night and BAM! A QUIZ! The professor is not messing around! He gave an quiz right after we took the mid-term. I guess he figured people would be slacking after the mid-term. I got my mid-term exam back. Boy was I nervous about looking at it. I didn't even open it until I was out of class and in a quiet area...

I got an A. A 97 out of 100. I missed 1 point off of the last three questions I answered. I guess I was getting tired.

Friends and Family

2006-10-25T22:24:00.000-05:00

If I had to describe the past few days with two word then "friends" and "family" would have to be it. Started the weekend off by heading down to Granogue Cross. This race is put on by a bunch of my friends from back when I was living in Delaware. I drove down with my Dad, he was ok with going as long as he was back home for the Rutgers game. I did the Masters B class, or the "old slow guys" class. I had a fun race, I was really flying through the fast technical stuff. My problem was and is anytime fitness was needed as opposed to skill I was a hurting pup. (Ended up 22 out of 40 something, I think.) After the race, Terry met up with us, I was going to swap his Marin (which used to be mine) for the Specialized I got at T-town. I figured it would fit him perfectly. I guess he is not as tall as I thought, it didn't fit. Oh well. It was cool to hang out with Terry for a while. He is now a lawyer! I never would have guessed back in the college days.

Got to see the whole DCC of D crew and my friend Marc:

thanks to velophotos.net for the picture.

Got to see Brent and Alice as I was leaving. One thing missing from cross was having Brent (Ty Domi of cross) racing, I was looking forward to lining up with him in the old man's class, but he jacked up his foot or ankle. I wouldn't consider it racing with him because he'd smoke me as usual! I think in all the years racing with Brent, I maybe beat him once, only once. (DNF's don't count)

After the race Dad and I drove up to Pete and Amy's. Spent the night at Amy and Pete's. It was almost like a mini-vacation. Thanks for the hospitality. I only had about a five minute drive to the race, so, I got to hang out for the morning. They came up to watch the race, Pete and Scott have never been to a cross race. Amy is a seasoned cross spectator. When she was living in Boston we would crash at her house and go to the Super Cups and Nationals at Fort Devens, yeah it was a while ago. I think they all had a good time, especially since there was free beer. Scott made the comment, "They're selling water for $2 but the beer is free!" NICE!

Monday night, was the first night in a long time I could get together with the Jersey boys. We ended up going to a bar down the street from Allamuchy, I think we may hit this place after a ride in Allamuchy? Clams and a huge NY strip later and I was ready to get home.

While I was sitting at the bar a get a call on my cellular from a strange number. Pick it up and it is Michel from France! "Dave, I am in town, when can we get together?"

So, Michel came over Tuesday night. It was great to see him!

All in all I had a pretty busy few days and got to spend time with a lot of good friends and family.

Life is good, although I'm a little pooped...

Hey, you're in second place!

2006-10-23T21:37:00.000-05:00

I had just gotten lapped in the "spiral of death" and on the run up my brother-in-law Pete says something like, "Go Dave you're in second place!"

Yeah, I'm cracking up in the picture.

droopy didn't stress ... david's a mess

2006-10-20T20:47:00.000-05:00

droopy never stressed about exams, but boy David was a mess yesterday! I was a nervous wreck! Usually on the way to class I drink a coke or coffee, yesterday I couldn't drink anything for fear of it coming back up. The exam went ok, 20 essay questions, 2 and a half hours and one filled out blue book later, I was out of there with a sore hand! I can't remember the last blue book exam I took.

Big plans this weekend, racing granogue cross saturday, saturday night to Pete and Amy's for the Rutgers-Pittsburgh football game. (My father is a Rutgers alum, my father-in-law is a Pitt alum) Needless to say I'll be pulling for Rutgers, sorry pappy, I grew up going to Rutgers football games. I even know the cheers: HOO-RA, HOO-RA, RUTGERS RA, UPSTREAM RED TEAM, RED TEAM UPSTREAM, RA, RA, RUTGERS RA! Some things you never forget.
Sunday I'm racing the Wissahickon cross, which is right up the street from Pete and Amy's. It'll be a nice commute to the race. Hopefully I'll have some photos to share.

(I haven't been updating as much because my work connection sucks for updating on my lunch hour.)

Busy, busy...

2006-10-10T20:45:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty busy. So, here's a quick update:
-took a vacation day last Wed.
-made pancakes and bacon
-went for a hike at Lake Nockamixon
-drove to Henry's to finish my cross bike
-barely finished the cross bike
-went to DCC of D cross practice, and got my arse handed to me, those boys and girls are fast
-picked up a Granogue Cross shirt that they are selling at the race (my design)
(Here's the "poster" design. T-shirt has less information)

-Thurs worked from home and went to class
-Friday my alarm didn't go off, found out on the way to work that we were moving the office to the new town hall
-Friday night had baby Luke over for a couple of hours
-Saturday bagged the race in Hagerstown, I started thinking about spending 6 hours in the car for a 45 minute race
-made french toast and bacon for breakfast
-Saturday went to the T-Town swap meet with Jeb.
-bought a frame to use as a time-trial bike, too big (measured wrong!)
-bought some vision tech integrated aero bars for said tt bike.
-bought seatpost for said tt bike.
-anyone want to buy a 58cm Specialized Allez, cheap?
-Sat pm rode the cross bike over to Lake Nockamixon, had a good ride
-went to 5:00 pm mass
-thought about going out, but don't remember what we ended up doing for dinner, Sophie was cranky (she's getting her teeth)
-Sunday am homefires, eggs and toast for breakfast
-Pumpkin picking with the family

-picked up pork bbq and wings
-went to Buba and Pappy's for the Eagles game (they have HD TV) Pete and Amy met us there.
-watched the Eagles game! E-A-G-L-E-S!!!!! EAGLES!!!!
-Kristen drove home
-couldn't sleep, had boo-boo belly until 3:00 am

What day is it anyway?

The other night...

2006-10-04T09:23:00.000-05:00

Jacob was playing, something, not really sure what he was, I guess some sort of super hero. I remembered to take a picture...

labels... labels

2006-09-30T15:48:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking aobut getting a label machine for quite a while. I want to make a few "custom stickers" for my bikes. After looking into having them done, I figured if I had a label maker I could do them myself. Well, Office Max had one on sale...

I hooked it up and I can't stop making labels...

The "sample" roll is the perfect size for chain stays and seat stays.

I GOT AN "A"

2006-09-28T20:45:00.000-05:00

First quiz in, oh, 12 or so years, and BAM! I got an A.

I have a feeling he'll make them harder, now that the first one is out of the way...

Here's the description of the course I'm taking, in case you were wondering:

*CRP 0401 Planning Theory (3 s.h.) F
Provides the base knowledge of planning theory that serves as a springboard into more advanced courses in this degree program. Explores the nature of planning and how it relates to geography, politics, economics, society, and culture on a local and regional level. Also details the various levels of planning, step-by-step approaches to planning, and the many limitations and boundaries with which planners are confronted.

Sounds like fun, huh?

Strange things at 5:30 am

2006-09-28T20:30:00.000-05:00

I had been getting up and riding at 5:30 am, three days a week. I had a nice streak going, probably 4 weeks in a row! Then, well, nothing for 3 weeks! Started back up this week and now it is still dark when I get home around 6:30. I did my road loop this morning and it really is a nice little loop. I think I was passed by 2 cars the whole ride! There were quite a few going the other way though.

Wed morning I rode my new cross bike (I'll post a picture once I finish it) to the local park for some cross practice. So, there I am cruising around a park, in the dark, in my "costume", with a headlight and a blinky taillight, I ride around one of the pavilions and "Holy crap!" there is some dude sitting at one of the tables... he scared the sh!t out of me! We exchange pleasantries, and off I go, thinking that is strange some dude sitting at a park bench at 5:30 in the morning. He was probably thinking the same thing about me, "Look at that freak in those funny clothes, with his headlight, blinky tailight, riding around in circles jumping on and off his bike?!?!?" A few minutes later a cop pulls into the park with his lights off and proceeds to the pavilion. Another few minutes of riding around in circles, jumping on and off my bike and the cop pulls away. More circles and jumping on and off and I see the dude walk off toward town. Strange huh? Now, what could they have possibly been up too?

This is the funniest!!!!!

2006-09-25T12:31:00.000-05:00

Bob Roll talks about poo!

For those of you not familiar with Bob Roll, he was a member of the 7-Eleven cycling team. 7-Eleven was the first American cycling team to race in the Tour de France.
He is really quite a character, bobroll.com
Bob Roll now commentates on the tour "DAY" France for OLN, among other things I'm sure...

I've been working on some "things"...

2006-09-20T21:03:00.000-05:00

So, there have not been any updates in a while. I'll post more once some of the "things" are done...

Recent Family Photos:

2006-09-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted any photos in a while, so here are a few.

Jacob's Birthday at the Beach:

On Juce and Brudy's boat:

Jacob's first day of nursery school:

Aw man...

2006-09-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

I can't believe just about a week has passed and I have not done all my readings for class yet, yikes!

Jeb starts nursery school on Thursday and we have orientation tomorrow night. That ought to be fun.

I put the IF on ebay today, I'm not sure if I priced it right or not. If I don't get what I want I will ride it again this year... or maybe I'll put it up as a frameset...
I have a big problem with bikes, I like to "fin-agle", buy this, sell that, swap this for that, take this off of that bike and use it on this bike, and hopefully end up without spending too much money. It is kind of like "Flip That House", "Flip That Bike, and those wheels, and those tires, and don't forget the shiters, or the deraileurs..."

Time.

2006-08-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

Time is hard to come by these days. There are a lot of ways I spend my time.
- Work
- Monster commute
- Family
- Riding
- "Mr Mom" time (Kristen works weekends)
- Home projects (this one has been pushed back lately, but the list is still there)
- Other

So, lately I've felt I'm starting to get a handle on budgeting my time. For instance, I've been getting up at 5:00 am and riding a couple of days a week. Things are going pretty smoothly. I feel good about how I've been spending my "precious" time.

So, what do I do? I enroll in a grad class! There go Thursday nights! I wonder how I'm going to fit studying into the "equation"....

Poor, poor George...

2006-08-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Man, George Hincapie has had some really bad luck this year.
He's got the Eneco Tour wrapped up. Finishing straight all he has to do is finish one place behind Schumacher and he wins. He is in perfect position on Schumacher's wheel, and WHAM! Schumacher takes George out! Schumacher then rolls in and snags the time bonus for third place and wins the overall! Discovery protests and the judges decide Schumacher didn't do it on purpose, he got hit by a fan and had to swerve, or some crap. Like my Dad always said in his best European accent, "International rules, Americans lose."

As George is walking to the line he shows his respect for history with this gesture.
Very much like this picture from the 1988 World Championships:

Claude Criquielion ended up suing Steve Bauer for "damages". Maybe George could win the lawsuit?

Aw man, that hurt...

2006-08-21T18:51:00.000-05:00

Jeb got himself a play kitchen. The thing is HUGE! It's pretty cool, looks like it will stand the test of time, it's well built. Being that the kitchen is so huge, it had to come in a pretty huge cardboard box. Now, I'm more excited about the cardboard box than I am about the kitchen. "Man, we can make a cardboard house out of that box!" I start cutting here and there, a door! Hmm, how am I going to get the roof on? Tape! Lots of tape! With the correct supports here and there it will stay up, I'm sure of it! As we are raising the roof and applying tape to strategic locations, I need to hold the supports with one hand and get the tape off of the "gun" with the other... That's when it happens... the tape is stuck to my lip! I don't know how it happened but it did. Instead of being patient and wetting the adhesive with my tongue, until the glue dissolves and the tape falls off. I ripped the tape off! Yes, there was a big chunk of my lip on the tape! Needless to say that when you rip a chunk of skin off of your lip you start to bleed! Yeah, that hurt...