No Picture of a Puncture

Eventually, it happens to everyone...Caught out with a flat tire. Three miles from home and I get a flat. A spare toob I had, a spare toob I installed. Hit it with the CO2, and behold! A leak! Not dead yet. I carry patches just for this situation. What I didn't have was a spare CO2. An assessment of the conditon of my rear tire, and lack of desire to walk lead me to conclude my ride on a flat tire - very slowly! It was time for a new tire anyway. Upon my return I added another cartridge to the seat bag!

I'm off for some fitness testing at a secret location this weekend. Secret because a friend is doing it gratis. Hoping to gain some insight as to why I'm so slow and the path to improvement.

Hally-Loo-Ya

I haz powa! Big thanks to the guys from Baltimore Gas & Electric for hookin' a brotha up!

Diaster of a Storm

Posting from the Blackberry... 13 days (so far) without electricity is no fun. I weathered Ike, well. Only damage was losing part of the roof off my garage. The aftermath has proven to be the real diaster.

My first thought, what a great training opportunity! With atleast a week off of work I wanted to do a mini-camp. However, I quckly found out it wasn't so simple. Without electricity, no refrigerated food, air cobditioning, or hot water makes proper nutrition and recovery almost unpossible. Without a/c it's near 3am before the house is cool enough to sleep. Sleeping late isn't an option either, because you have to get tasks done in the daylight. Those hours between nightfall and sleep are mentally taxing. Boredom isn't something I do well. And cold showers suck!

Fall racing is pretty wrecked. The Dave Boyd Huntsville Classic was cancled. Without power, I'm not prepared, to travel to Palo Duro. When power comes on there a lot to do domestically. I feel like I need to be here when the lights come on.

I'm bummed.

Ready for Hurricane IKE

YEE-HAW! My first direct hurricane since Andrew in '92. I'll be posting pics and comments on my Flickr account HERE!

Bar Lopping

I've been having troubles descending and making turns. I noticed that I was consistantly locking my elbows. That's bad ju-ju. I suspected I was locking them because my hands were too far apart. I tested the theory by holding my hands close to the stem and riding around. Much better. Tonight I lopped off 40mm per side of my bars to narrow them up.

I was worried about twitchiness, so I also added a longer stem...

The result... It's like I'm riding a new bike! Much better than being spread eagle on the front end. I can bend my elbows and it doesn't feel like I'm going to fall forward all the time.

Unfortunately there is approximately a zero percent chance of riding dirt this weekend.

I've never ridden with a 60mph tailwind...yet.

Beware of Tomato Basil Soup

La Madeline tomato basil soup is one of my favorites. I rarely make it to the restaurant, though. I saw this jar of the stuff at the market the other day. I was pretty excited, it tasted almost just like the soup at the restaurant. Not quite, but pretty close. Cool.

However, I looked at the label to put the nutrition into my training log. OMG! One serving is a whopping 32 grams of fat! One serving is less than a cup. That 2/3 of my fat goal for an entire day. Man, that stuff packs a wallop!

Movin' Like Tortoise; Full of Rigor Mortis

Apologies to Easy E Dr.Dre, but that’s exactly how I felt today. Interestingly, rigor mortis is caused by a buildup of lactic acid… which I didn’t know unitl I looked up how to spell “rigor mortis”.

Today I definitely had the burning ache of lactic acid. I was slooooow and the legs simply didn’t produce. I took it really easy through the trails of Memorial Park. Just as well, as my training plan called for a Tempo or below ride. I just love zooming over the roots and dirt though!

I’m not feeling too good. Lots of snot indicates either something’s making me allergic or I’m on my way to getting sick. Not sure which yet. I sneezed 16 times in a row this morning! Gotta be some kind of record...

Fo' Shizzle Ma' Grizzle

Grill night at my place... started out with a nice fire...

Earlier I marinated these butterflied pork chops in orange juice, soy sauce, and a whole bunch of grated ginger...

I also grilled up a filet of salmon. Seasoned with salt, pepper, dill and a bit of lemon juice...

Served up with some cilantro potatoes...the pork chop was out of this world. That marinade made a great and flavorful pallete.

I'm not sure I've ever seen the GFS Ensemble this confused before. More than you ever wanted to know about tropical storm tracking models...HERE!

Desperate for Dirt

Five days of rain killed any hope of riding on dirt this weekend. Instead, I rode my new ITL route twice this weekend. *Click* the little pic, for a bigger one. This was better on the north end. The traffic on 43rd is eskeery so I took that part out. This route works pretty well. There's still traffic, but there are also some long stretches to extend the legs. I want to try one more addition, a stretch down Allen Pkwy. That should yield one more long uninterrupted stretch. As it stands this route is exactly 40 miles.

Some sights along the way... At the Memorial Park Nature Center they are teaching a mushroom identification seminar! Hmmm... I wonder if they will teach which ones are the "good" ones! HA!

The new ITL route takes us by the HPD horse stables on N.Post Oak... We stopped to pet them for a moment. Horses are so cool. Second only to dogs.

Hoping for things to dry out. Last week was supposed to focus on dirt riding.

LA Weekend

Started my Friday and Sunday here. Highland Coffees - one of the best!

No better to start out the day... a rich cup of coffee and time to relax.

I came over to Baton Rouge to visit two old friends. Hmm... I don't mean they are old! Just that we've been friends for a very long time. T'was good to catch up, and enjoy some fun together. Friday/Saturday was a trip to NOLA for a show at the Maple Leaf and some cycling.

It's been a while since I've been back to BR. Some things remain wonderfully unchanged!

But others... well... I was pretty horrified to find this at the North Gates along Nicholson. *click* on the photo to get more pix...

A Great Block

Yesterday wrapped up probably the best two weeks of training to date. Training gains aren't linear. It's hard sometimes to keep the faith through those times that feel futile. Then BAM! Instant improvements... Need more dirt time...

A simple meal tonight. First I pan-browned some chicken breasts. Then degalzed the skillet with a touch of white wine. Then sauteed some garilc and onions until just brown. Added some chipped cherry tomatoes. And some more white wine!

Right at the end added some kalamata olives and fresh parsley. Served up with some potatoes. For the potatoes I chopped some fresh-out-the-garden cilantro and steeped it in 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about an hour. Then mixed with the cooked potatoes.

Tasty!

ITL Route #2

Still looking for the perfect ITL training loop. This was my route today. 40 miles of tempo pace, almost completely in the loop. *Click* it to enlarge. I don't like the north part of the loop. 43rd is really busy weekdays. It's OK on the weekend though. The south side is pretty good. Buffalo Speedway just north of Braeswood is super rough. Ended up riding almost that whole stretch standing up. Felt like Memorial Park's roots!

I have some ideas...

Austin Weekend

Took a quick trip to Austin over the weekend. Went to The Backyard for the Snoop Dogg and 311 show. Good times! When in Austin, eat at this place...Torchy's Tacos...

Damn good indeed! Awesome tacos! Seriously, like the best I've ever had. YUM! Thanks to Gard for steering us to this place, and being a gracious host!

Sooper Sunday

Early-morning dirt today. I arrived at the trailhead and someone at a nearby campsite was cooking bacon. Oh my... the tummy started growling. I had a small package of Cheeze-Its that I quickly downed. From there I hit the dirt. Had a good ride. Ran into a few folks from H-town. Surprisingly it wasn't too hot. It pays to get an early start!

I felt a bit askew! This was the result from a trip over-the-bars! The gal behind me said it was the most graceful dismount ever! Actually, I think the words "mentally disabled gymnist" were used! HA! Kinda hard to explain but I went over and pretty much ended up doing a cartwheel/handstand on the trail! I wasn't going very fast, so no serious harm done. Ma ka-nee is spranged a bit, though...

The ka-nee started getting stiff while packing up the truck. The only thing I had for an icepack was a bag that a jersery came in. Just for the record CapoForma jersey bags make great ice packs!

Dodging Dolly's Downpours

Hurricane Dolly made landfall far from the Houston area. Yet, we got a strong gulf moisture in-flow. That's meant sporadic, but, heavy rainfall. The clouds gathered Wednesday afternoon. Rain drizzled as I lead-out from the house but never got heavier. Got in my prescribed 4-hour base ride -dry- and returned home. I returned long enough to have a recovery drink, and get out of the bike kit and the skies opened up! HA! Just made it!

Yesterday, luck ran out. It was pouring. It's odd. If I'm out riding and it rains, I make peace with it and savor it. But taking off in the rain is infinately more difficult. I stayed in and took care of some domestic tasks.

Today, I'm going to do something I rarely do - combine workouts. Yesterday the menu held a 1.5-hr Tempo ride. Today's menu was 4x6:00 R6 Z4-5a intervals. Feeling that I need to do both... I'm going to do both. I'll shorten the intervals to three or four minutes then follow with the tempo ride. Rest and recovery is slated for Saturday.

Dirt Tan!

Hit Memorial Park before the rain started this afternoon. Unfortunately, the rain started so I high-tailed it off the trail and back to the concrete. Undaunted, I rode the paved paths to downtown. Two more hours of riding in sporadic rains, then it was back to the house. I got a nice dirt tan today...

I started a fire in the backyard, and let it get ready while I showered off the dirt tan. No more rains...

Then I topped some pounded chicken breasts with blue cheese...

Wrapped them in bacon... mmmm... bacon...

Then I grilled 'em with some zucchini sprinkled with thyme and served up with some greens.

Return to BASEics

doG dammit base miles are boring! My season-long training plan calls for a healthy stretch of base miles mid-year. Partly caused by the split mountain bike season we have here in Tejas. Sometimes I think that base miles were invented by coaches to make you so bored that you want to go out and to mega hard intervals.

I'm not there yet, but I probably will be by the end of this week.

My motto for the ride after a tough day...

Here's my tip today... don't ride on garbage day. Man, I wonder sometimes what people put in their garbage can. They can definately infect the breeze. And while drafting METRO busses can be fun, getting stuck behind a garbage truck's draft, well... not so good...

Three hours of base and it was time for reward!

Pita bread pizza with green salad splashed with balsamic vinegar and almonds.
OH YEEEAAAAH!

Modernization

I'm now the proud owner of a modern desktop computer. My old one died. When I say old, I mean OLD. It was still running Windows98. I suppose in computer years that's like 100 years old or something. Anyway the hard drive died a slow progressive death. I was able to get a good deal of data off before it quit completely, but not all of it. I lost my digital photo directories. Glad I have the blog, because that's the only pictures I have of the last year now...

Done!

The MR2 is done. Well, as done as it's going to ever be. Here are some before/after pics...

More photos [HERE]

Has been a fantastic journey. Along the way I learned a lot about chemistry, paint, sanding, and (mostly) patience. Painting teaches you patience for sure. Like any artisan I know where every defect is! I'm really happy with the end result. It was a ton of work. I will never, ever, complain about the cost of bodywork!

Would I do it again? Absolutely. There is something uniquely satisfying about painting... exposing the beauty within... that's a great journey for both life and cars!

Final Touches

This week's been filled with with lots of...

1. Removing overspray from the previous paint job from various body parts...



2. Removing lots of compound spatters. Not as easy as it looks. The residue disappears when wet, but reappears after it dries. I regret not cleaning as I went...



3. And I broke a window. Because it was not installed correctly I couldn't get the trim piece in place. It was glued in with urethane. There was no way to remove the window without destroying it anyway. So, I took a chance and decided to try to lightly grind a notch to cattywampus the trim piece in. The window went *POOF* and intantly shattered. This was the result...



I popped and crackled for almost an hour. Made a neat pattern though!



I sourced another window from American Auto Glass on Yale. The owner Robert was very helpful in this endeavor! Changing out the glass was pretty simple, except for vacuuming out all of the bits of glass. It was kinda fun smashing the window out. Don't get to do that everyday! I cut out all of the urethane sealer and replaced it with the proper -flexible- type.



Window refitted... correctly this time...



Next time, before-and-after pictures...