ASL 2 class.

So, as all of the 0 people that read this blog know, I'm an ASL student. It's fun, I really enjoy it, and I hope to be good at it someday. I practice. I don't practice enough, but really, what is enough? Enough is NEVER enough! So, I have lately been voice off-ed in school. Or, at least I try hard. It's WAY more helpful and my classmates understand me. It's super no biggie. But anyhow, today we got our criteria for our expressive final. Should be fun. So my partner and I worked on that and then he went home. We got dismissed early because the teacher had nothing left to teach us (?!?).

Anyhow, I stayed late and talked to the teacher (I didn't get to be "teachers pet" by leaving early!) and she told me a couple things to work on during the "offseason". Eye contact. I get distracted when I'm signing and I'll look somewhere else. Obviously the person I'm talking to is going to get distracted too! I need to stay focused! Great tip!

The other thing I should work on, despite her seeing much improvement over the 1/2 semester is that I need to relax. I get really jittery and anxious and try to sign faster than I'm able. I acknowledge that, but it's hard to fix.

Last weekend made a HUGE HUGE difference in the way I sign. That much experience made me MUCH more comfortable using ASL and just doing it at my own pace and making it work. And work it does. I'm VERY happy with where I'm at for having one semester of ASL classes. I'm definitely not the best in the class. I'd say I'm up there, but we all have different strengths and weaknesses. I'm working on mine. I hope the others are, too.

I just need more practice. Always need more practice. I'm working on it. For real. More asl'ing this weekend. And I very much welcome it.

Feels like groundhog day.

Get out of work, go to school. That parts the same most days. BUT, yesterday I ended up stuck on the ice on Western about a block from where I usually park. That sucked. Was stuck there for about 30-45 minutes watching other cars get stuck and helping to push them out. I helped 3 or 4 cars (well, tried too. not sure how much help I actually was, but it's the thought that counts.) I'm still suck, eventually two people come to help push me. It doesn't work, but we're getting closer. So, I decide finally, "the hell with it". and I take my coat off to put it under a wheel. Will this work? I don't know! I was ready to try anything. So, I take my coat off, put it nicely under/in front of my tire and say my regards.

I get back into the car, turn it back on, and a dude in a truck with a chain on the back stops. Fucking A right, kharma! So, I get pulled up the hill, and I manage to park and walk to class. Bogus. That sucked. But, I didn't get towed or ticketed, I didn't miss class, and I made it home. Good enough.

Today at lunch I went and bought 4 70 sandbags for the trunk. Maybe overkill, but hell, whatever! So now I've got the weight equivalent of two high schoolers in my truck, and I get around pretty ok. Summit Ave was a damn slippery lot. Lots of people stuck at Snelling. I made it. I wasn't 100% sure I would, but I did.

So I get to class, go for a walk, give Shawn back the things he left in my car from the weekend, and all is well.

Class finished (that's a whole 'nother story) and I walk out with a classmate. She gets in her car and I keep walking to mine. I round the corner and there is a little purple civic very much stuck. Trying hard to go, but going nowhere (I know that feeling!), so I try to help. Try push from the back, didn't help. Try push from the front. Didn't help. So, she tells me to try, and I get it a little loose. Get it moved back a couple feet and off to the side, but then it's just stuck there. Anyway, eventually we get it back far enough so it can go forward again, and she's on her way. So I head back towards my car. BUT, she gets around the corner, and for some reason is stuck again. So, I go back, and she says she's stuck. Duh. I ask her if it goes back, she says no. I BARELY push on the front and it goes back fine. I doubt she tried, but whatever! So she goes back, then gets it forward again. No biggy. That was WAY easier than the first time.

The best part was when she said/asked "I'm totally not getting home tonight, am I?"

Well, we got her out and on her way. Life is good. I hope she made it home. It's too cold to sit around or walk.

Anyhow. I try to be nice. It works. I had three people tell me they liked my hat today. I can that a win.

I'm home

This last weekend was without question in the running for the best weekend of my life award.

The only bad thing that happened is that I crashed my car on some ice in Illinois. Car still runs fine, and Shawn and I both lived, so it could be way worse. Fuck the car. Totally worth it. Besides, it was kinda fun. Oh, and I didn't get to see a couple Chicago people that I'd like to have seen. And Jon Raleigh refused to come say hi to me. Thanks dude.

The good things include 25+ hours of driving with a new pal in 3 days. A TON of ASL experience and lessons. Meeting several new amazing people. Eating food in 4 states in 2 days. A rally for a great cause. Coffee with a few great new friends. Meeting a band from NYC that played in MI 2 nights prior that had seen the flyers for the rally (proof that it's a small world). Pictures of the Willis Tower. Metal shows in Milwaukee with old friends (and new friends). East Side Ovens brownies. Granola pancakes. Spending time with by best friends kid 2 days before his 6th birthday. Lime Perrier. Good times.

I had an amazing time. This weekend totally renewed my faith in life and totally changed my perspective on a lot of things. Life truly is awesome. (Man, I sound like a kid that has half the word "Positive" tattooed on his chest. I still think POSITIVE would be a most excellent knuckle tattoo. Alas, I only have one set of knuckles...)

Until next time.
-Jason

I took this picture a LONG time ago.

Like, totally in 2005.

I was a bike messenger in Philly. I was meaning to deliver a package, but it had been a busy day, and I was in a hurry, and I went in the wrong door. I came back out and I saw this sign.

It spoke to me. Albeit COMPLETELY out of context.



Just a reminder that the clues and motivation are out there if you stop to look for them. Life guides you. Sometimes it tells you to step the fuck up.

Carry on. The internet will crash if you stop wasting time on it.

The Rally in Michigan was Today.

So, yesterday I got up at 6:15am, did my routine and went to work until 4:30, then drove around and gathered required equipment for road trip, then I went to class...

That got done at about 8:30, then I met Shawn and we rolled to his house to pick up his stuff and then to Target to get him a hat and gloves.

We then rolled out and got a videocamera and got on the road. Left St. Paul around 10pm. From St Paul to Madison was a cakewalk. After that it started snowing and whatnot. It got really icy just outside of IL, and inside of it as well. Saw a lot of cars in the ditch, and I was driving carefully. Didn't matter though, because somewhere in IL near Rockford (Rockport?) I ended up sideways and then backwards on the freeway, and then into the guard cables. Messed my car up really good. That' REALLY depressing, but it still runs fine. It's all body damage, so it could be worse.

Back on the road, things still aren't great. Still slippy, and I was getting really tired. I drove into Indiana and then Shawn took the wheel at a Dunkin Donuts. We got back out there and I was able to nap for a few minutes. He got tired about an hour outside of the destination so I took over again and brought us home.

Then we found where we needed to be and we got there. Rally was good, albeit short because it was freezing and snowing. I hope it works. We'll find out eventually. If it didn't/doesn't work, then students there have until 2012 to figure something else out. Which is absurd.

We had coffee with the promoter and a few friends. It was really fun, and a learning experience. Lots of ASL this weekend, and it's not over yet.

I think I sign pretty well for an ASL 2 student. Just have to keep practicing. Same as anything else. Right?

So now I'm here in a Super 8 room with Shawn watching Cheers (It's not, but neither of us are watching it).

I'm going to try to catch some sleep for the first legitimate time since about 6:15 yesterday morning and see how I'm feeling when I wake up. Head out in the AM hopefully after some breakfast. Maybe stop in Chicago for a meal, and then up to Milwaukee for the rest of the day/night.

Good times.

song of the week....

Or maybe just song of my day...

Deaf People and students at Michigan State University need your help.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/DeafEd_MSU/?e

Go read this, then add your name to the list of people in support. I understand budget cuts need to happen somewhere, but not when it will isolate the deaf community in Michigan into an oral program. That isn't the way this should work!

Really, go read it.

To summarize, MSU is looking to make room in the budget by cutting deaf education and ASL classes at the university. That would leave only Eastern Michigan University as the only deaf education school, and a strictly oral one, at that (what is this? the 1950's? It's almost 2010, for christ sake.)

I am about 80% in to make the drive out there next friday for the rally. If you're in, let me know. I could use someone to split gas money with...It's not a short drive...

My English Comp Argumentative Paper.

Feel free, and please do, read this entry. Punch holes in my statements. Tell me what I messed up. I'd really appreciate that. It's a rough draft. Tell me what you think. It's not like we all don't have an extra 20 minutes that needs wasting on the line, is it?


Why on Earth Would We Have A Food Shortage in America? (working title)

On November 16th, 2009, Jason DeParle with the New York Times reported that, “The number of Americans who lived in households that lacked consistent access to adequate food soared last year, to 49 million...”. That statistic is a record number since the Department of Agriculture began tracking food insecurity 14 years ago. Food insecurity is defined by the World Health Organization as “having access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life” (Teems 209). An important point to deduce from that is food insecurity is not necessary the same as hunger. A person can gorge themselves on frozen pizzas and hotpockets, wash it down with can after can of Coca Cola and still not eat anything nutritious, healthy, or reasonably satiating. A large part of the food security equation is nutrition based. Food production is not the issue at hand. Researchers for Oklahoma State University reported that, in 2009, we as a country, are projected to produce 2.17 billion bushels of wheat, 12.1 billion bushels of corn, and 2.88 billion bushels of soybeans (2009). That is a large amount, quite literally, tons, of food being produced right here in our own country. That's not even counting the fruits and vegetables we grow here, nor the massive amount food we import from other countries. With this much food production going on in America, why do 14 million American citizens million have trouble with getting enough of the right food to eat?

There are a lot of factors involved in the issue of food security in America. Most Americans have a a budget they can't, or at least shouldn't, go over every month; families only have so much money available every month to cover expenses. Utilities, healthcare costs, rising fuel prices, and a weakened economy all play a factor in the costs associated with living, and also the amount of money families are able to be spend on food. The large amounts of greatly processed and unhealthy food available at our local supermarkets are certainly not helping American families make better choices about what they eat. It doesn't take a scientist to notice that Americans aren't making healthy choices at the checkout counter. It does, however, take a little more investigation to uncover just how much of our national food supply we're feeding to animals in an attempt to feed the country with calories from animal sources, and why that's an issue. In 1997, David Pimental reported for Cornell University that each year an estimated 41 million tons of plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce an estimated 7 million tons of animal protein for human consumption. That's an aggregate loss of 34 MILLION tons of food that could be fed to hungry Americans every year. About 26 million tons of livestock feed comes from grains and another 15 million tons from forage crops. Those numbers are sure to have gone up in the decade since Mr. Pimental reported them. That is a gross misallocation of edible food that could be better used to feed the American public. Simply put, as consumers, the down-turned economy is putting the crunch on our pocketbooks. Healthcare and utility costs are rising, and the food we have ready access to isn't doing it's job to keep American citizens healthy and well nourished. The food that we eat plays a big role in our lives, affecting everything from availability of food, to healthcare and fuel costs.

Current events notwithstanding, the healthcare issue is a big factor right now. Let's start there. It might seem strange to start a discussion of nationwide hunger on the topic of health insurance costs, but, as we'll find out, healthcare costs make up a huge chunk of our individual annual budgets. Insurance premiums are rising every year. As of 2009, healthcare costs have risen 5% since 2008, and a whopping 131% since 1999. The average family health insurance policy costs is $13,375 annually (Fritze 2009). That's like buying a new subcompact car every year. You wouldn't even be stuck with buying the same car every year. At that price, the consumer would have options! As of the writing of this paper, you could buy one of 6 new cars annually for the same price as the average family health insurance policy in America. In case you're curious, those options would be a Toyota Yaris, a Smart car, a Chevy Aveo, a Kia Rio, a Nissan Versa, OR a Hyundai Accent (Gold 2009). Granted, those cars are fairly basic, but when you consider the extravagance that would be necessary to buy a new car every year the point is hard to ignore.

Why exactly are our healthcare costs on the rise? That's a question that can't be answered in entirety in this paper, but we can touch on it. A large part of the reason is that Americans are eating more calories per day than ever in our history. In fact, between 1970 and 2000, the average number of calories eaten every day by Americans has risen 24.5% (USDA Factbook 2003). It's quite plain to see that more food plus an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are making American's fatter and more unhealthy than they've ever been. Reporters in America are writing new articles about the obesity epidemic every few months, at least.The diets and activity levels of Americans have a large role in shaping, pun intended, our nations health. It's no longer the case that people die of old age; Americans can't continue to believe the myth that people routinely die simply from getting too old. Rather, people die of heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, cancer and a whole slew of other medical conditions. According to the Washington Post, a study of more than 500,000 middle aged and elderly Americans discovered that eating approximately 4 ounces of red meat, about the size of a small hamburger, caused a 30% increase in likelihood of death during the next ten years, mostly from heart disease and cancer (Stein 2009). Furthermore, Rashmi Sinha of the National Cancer Institute said herself that, “The bottom line is we found an association between red meat and processed meat and an increased risk of mortality.” (2009). In that same article, Rob Stein reported that “After accounting for other variables that might confound the findings, such as smoking and physical activity, the researchers found that those who ate the most red meat -- about a quarter-pound a day -- were more likely to die of any reason, and from heart disease and cancer in particular, than those who ate the least -- the equivalent of a couple of slices of ham a day. Among women, those who ate the most red meat were 36 percent more likely to die for any reason, 20 percent more likely to die of cancer and 50 percent more likely to die of heart disease. Men who ate the most meat were 31 percent more likely to die for any reason, 22 percent more likely to die of cancer and 27 percent more likely to die of heart disease.”. Those aren't small numbers. Americans cannot ignore consumption of animals as a significant contributing factor in rising insurance costs. The evidence is there. Americans eat a lot of meat. Meat consumption is linked with higher rates of death and those that eat meat will have more medical problems than those that abstain from meat. Ilness, and the high percentage of unhealthy people in America is what is driving insurance costs up. A total lack of regard for the proper maintenance of the American body is the main cause of increase in insurance premiums. That rise in costs is directly related with how much money Americans get taken out of their checks to pay for healthcare costs and subsequently don't have available in their bank accounts for their grocery needs. The next large part of that is the misguided allocation of American resources.

As mentioned earlier, America produces an extremely large amount of grain every year. There is no reason we shouldn't be able to feed the hungry in our country, and quite possibly other countries, if we were just to rearrange how those grains are allocated. I will start this section off with two statistics from Jonathan Safron Foer's new book, Eating Animals. One, on average, Americans will each eat 21,000 complete animals over the course of their lifetime. And two, Americans are known to choose to eat less than 0.25% of the edible food grown on the planet. (2009). In addition to that, it takes, on average, 16 pounds of grain to produce one pound of edible animal flesh (PETA 2004). What those to statistics mean, taken together, is that the majority of Americans are eating in a manner that is inherently wasteful and inefficient. As of the year 2000, Americans were eating almost 200 pounds (199.99) of grain per capita, 195.2 pounds of meat and a whopping 593 pounds of dairy products (USDA 2003). If we take the statistic given early, 16 pounds of grains for one pound edible animal flesh, that means we feed 3,123.2 pounds of grain fed to animals PER PERSON to satisfy the American demand for meat. Another way to put this, as David Pimental did in 1997, is that "More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans.". He believes, that we would feed humans directly, instead of redirecting those calories to animals, we would be able to feed nearly 800 million people annually (1997).

Given that meat is so wasteful, and that eating meat is being increasingly proven to cause a great number of medical issues, we could conclude rather simply that raising animals for eating meat is a large cause for the food shortage issues in America. This paper could stop there and I'd say that I have made valid points and the negatives outweigh the positive, but, as always, there's more to the story. David Pimental, mentioned early with Cornell University, also reported that animal protein production requires more than eight times as much fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein. Pimentel also found broiler chickens to be the most efficient use of fossil energy, and beef, the least. Chicken meat production consumes energy in a 4:1 ratio to protein output; beef cattle production requires an energy input to protein output ratio of 54:1. Lamb meat production is nearly as inefficient at 50:1. Other ratios range from 13:1 for turkey meat and 14:1 for milk protein to 17:1 for pork and 26:1 for eggs (1997). So, when we also take into account the large amount of fossil fuels required to produce and transport animal flesh, we can also see that a large portion of the oil produced is allocated to that industry, thus removing it from the supply for our daily use in other industry or personal transportation, further raising prices at the pump, and on our heating bills. This is yet another knock to the pocketbook, leaving Americans with less money to spend on their nutrition and food.

We can even take that one further, with more help from Pimental, grain-fed beef production requires 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of food. Raising broiler chickens takes 3,500 liters of water to make a kilogram of meat. In comparison, soybean production uses 2,000 liters for kilogram of food produced; rice, 1,912; wheat, 900; and potatoes, 500 liters (1997). That means, that the animal agriculture industry in America is very deserving of a large portion of blame for the water shortages in the southern and western states in America. If the Americans that live in that area of the country are bothered with water usage restrictions, they are able to voice that concern with their pocketbooks.

Writing checks to the companies that raise, feed and water these animals is a fantastic way to ensure that these abuses never stop. All of the citizens in this country have a voice in all of these matters. If Americans are concerned with the food shortages, water shortages, and rising fuel costs, they need to focus their energies and expenditures on the solution. Not being part of the problem is to be part of the solution. Americans can't continue to endorse the practices outlined in this paper if they are to live healthy and sustainable lives. While Americans may not emotionally or mentally endorse these practices, consumers are able to vote every time they make a purchase. Change doesn't need to happen only in the poll booths. One person can't change the world, but collectively, humans and societies have the power to do great things. Gandi had it right when he suggested that people “Be the change you want to see in the world”. Change starts on a personal level first. It's never to soon to change, but can often be too late.





DeParle, Jason. "Hunger in U.S. at a 14-Year High". NY Times. 11/16/09 .

Foer, Jonathan Safran. Eating Animals. NY, NY: Little, Brown and Co, 2009.

Fritze, John. "Average Family Health Insurance premiums". Washington Post. 11/21/09 .

Gold, Aaron. "Cheapest Cars of 2009". About.com. 11/21/09 .

"World Wheat Report". OK State University. 11/20/09 .

"Meat Means Misery for the Worlds Hungry". PETA. 11/20/09 .

Pimental, David. "Eight Meaty Facts about Animal Food". Cornell University. 11/21/09 .

Stein, Rob. "Daily Red Meat Raises Chances of Dying Early". Washington Post. 11/21/09 .

Teems, Jennifer. "Hunger and Food Insecurity in America". The Faster Times. 11/20/09 .

USDA Factbook. U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2003

A Productive Saturday Morning, and an exciting Sunday in the works.

Today started out at a good rate of progress. I knew that I had a 7 page paper (double spaced-rough draft) due for my English Comp class on Tuesday. As of about 8 am this morning I hadn't put a word to paper, digital or analog. By noon, I'd had written my paper, and I think it's good, too! 11 different sources, a whole slew of statistics. Now I have a solid 3 weeks to rewrite and edit and expand upon information for the Final.

I'll try to post it up here if anyone cares to read it. It's about food insecurity (hunger, almost. Not exactly) in America. If you didn't know, we (as a country) are experiencing the highest rate of food insecurity since the USDA started trying to track it 14 years ago. It's pretty interesting.

So, yeah, if you're interested in reading an argumentative research paper on almost hunger, I'll probably post it tomorrow.

Tomorrow. I'm going to church. Crazy, huh? St. Francis Cabrini. I hear they have an interpreted service and I think it would be good to witness. So, the Holy Day is Holy once again...For the first time in probably 12 years or so...

Then, I'm meeting with an ASL study group at 1 for some good studying time (which will be great. Carol threw a TON of new signs at us on Thursday).

Maybe that's all. Just ASL heavy. That'll be awesome. I tricked you into thinking something actually exciting was happening, didn't I!

I think I figured out a key difference between myself and others.

Just tonight it hit me. I was at my Deaf Culture class. We met at Charles Thompson Memorial Hall, or, the Deaf club, this evening. It was a really great experience to see it all, and listen to a Deaf panel discuss their thoughts, ideas and upbringings. It was a very valuable experience, and was a bit eye opening.

I think the main difference between me, and a lot of my peers, is that when I learn something about the world, I tend to not ignore it as readily. Maybe that's just my imagination, but, when considering that I acknowledge that smoking is bad, so I don't do it. I understand that animals suffer to create our (meat eaters) meals, I know that minority groups are discriminated against, I know that drinking regularly is not good for you, and so on. I think all of these things are common knowledge, but I also think that some people choose to ignore the facts (and the beliefs that they know to be true, but suppress). I have a very hard time suppressing my outrage at injustice. I know I'm not alone in that, and I know I'm not perfect. We all have to choose our battles, but it seems to me a lot of people aren't fighting at all.

Just an observation. Fight for something. It'll make you a stronger human. You just might like it.

This seems appropriate

Gorilla Biscuits - Two Sides lyrics

Some people think they're always right and right is all they'll ever be.
Well there's two sides and ego's divide.
And we're so concerned with who's right.
These people are so quick to judge.
Let's get the judgment straight.
It's not who's wrong it's how we get along.
And I'm not too sure that we do yet.
TRUTH is a word that you're sure of.
Or so you've said,
But I'd love to see you give someone else a chance.
Open up, It's not so hard.
Is hard what you want to be? to kick some ass.
It's a sure bet you'll get your way with no friends left.
Don't say you don't.
For God's sake give me a fucking break
you don't even know my name.
TRUTH is a word that you're sure of.
Or so you've said
but I'd love to see you give someone else a chance.
I listen to the things you say, I've weighed the facts out in my head.
Can you do the same...No, then don't waste my time.
TRUTH is a word that you're of.
It's all you said
but I'd love to see you give someone else a chance.
This time my mind is set.
My side you'll never get.
What I say.
What did you say.
We can both be right just not in the same way.
You think we could reach some common ground...No...no way



I don't think I need to add much else to that. There is a reason this is my favorite band.

Went to the Bike Race Today

Didn't take any pictures (I really need a camera that isn't my phone. It was really great to watch a bike race again, and also really great to see a lot of friends I hadn't seen in a while. I was surprised that people I didn't think would really notice my absence saying hi. It was pretty awesome. I'll be back. Not a full time amateur bike racer, but I'll be around on occasion. It'll be good. I'm excited for it.

Congratulations/Good Job's are in order to Smithers and Patty first and foremost. I only caught the 1/2 race, so I don't know how the others went, but I heard everyone had fun and liked the course.

I'm excited to go pedal in circles next summer at the velodrome again. That'll be fun.

Thanks y'all. It was nice to see you. (Taylor and Frye, where'd you two disappear to? I missed you both...)

Bicyclists VS. Drivers.

So, I was just perusing Amazon.com for a safety razor to buy when my Schick Quattro runs out of blades when I came across this discussion http://www.amazon.com/tag/health/forum/ref=cm_cd_search_res_ti?_encoding=UTF8&cdMsgNo=69&cdPage=3&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1KQF3WY5W3NQ2&cdMsgID=MxZPVVEPQDSXL9#MxZPVVEPQDSXL9

. If you're a bike rider, you don't need to read it, you know what it's about. Mostly drivers saying how much they hate bikes, and relish the days when they hear about bicyclists being struck by cars, and then the cyclists crying over how their transportation choice is better because it uses less natural resources, and so on and so forth. It's quite clear to me that this discussion is lacking a very particular mentality.

Why is it that whenever we, as humans, are doing whatever it is that we do to occupy our time, or get around, or whathaveyou, we always think that we are doing the right thing and that everyone else can fuck off (so to speak). I know I do it. When I'm on my bike, I want everyone to accommodate me and pay me no mind so I can do what I want to do when I want to do it. When I'm in a car, I'll speed if I want to, I'll roll through stop signs when I want to (I never want to do that, for the record) I'll get angry if someone is going slow or otherwise stupid.

Or, for example, like yesterday, I'll gladly move over in my lane on a one way street to make room for a car that is mistakenly (I hope) turned the wrong way down that street.

The thing that I, and we, all forget is that whether we are bikes inconveniencing drivers, or drivers inconveniencing bikes (which I tend to have no leeway for) is that we're all human. It's almost as though the drivers that wish death upon cyclists for running reds, or stop signs only see a bicycle, and cannot see the human perched upon it. Can they seriously wish death upon another human being for something as trivial as a minor inconvenience? Is it really worth getting really angry, to the point of vehement over a few seconds lost? Is life really worth that little? Can't you make up those few extra seconds by using an ATM instead of going inside the bank, or a restaurant drive through? When did our spare seconds become so precious? Or, is there more to it than that? I guess I don't have the answers. I just wanted to bring the human quotient into the equation. I'm not trying to raise anyone's blood pressure any higher, just bringing a different perspective. The lack of tolerance that drivers have for cyclists is really quite unfortunate.

Be safe out there, whether in car, riding a bicycle, on your feet, whatever you may choose.

-Jason

I'm back!

Hello. I wonder if anyone missed me. Who knows, I'm not too concerned.

What's new? I'm still working at the Blood Center (which needs donors right now, so please consider giving the gift of life this holiday season).

The biggest news is that Margaret and I kinda separated. It's a really long story and not really internet friendly, but the gist of it is that we're going to attempt living apart and seeing less of each other as a way to reignite the respect and desire we once had for each other. Wish us luck!

I'm a full time American Sign Language Student currently facing the dilemma of where to focus my studies. Learn to interpret or other? Any insight?

I've been taking dance lessons. I feel that if I'm going to try to be a gentleman, I should know how to dance. Seems obvious, right?

I haven't ridden my bike in months, much less trained for anything. I'm happy with that. I had a good time with it, and I'm (at least temporarily) over it. I'm sure I'll be back on it as soon as it gets nice out. I just have other more important things going on in my life to spend the time and money I have spent in the past on racing bikes.

Not much else new. We'll see where this blog re-imagining takes us. Follow it if you care to. It's going to be much more life aware than majority focused on bicycles. I hope to keep it relevant.

Oh, another important thing. Upon last checkup I'm still cancer free. Which is great news. I still haven't gotten the Petscan that oncologist really suggests I get (because Health Partners doesn't think it's essential and therefore won't pay for it) but so far, things are as good as I could hope for them to be. Even went to the dermatologist a few weeks ago and didn't get cut open or stabbed. It was nice.

Updates from yesterdays HCMC journey

If you follow me on Twitter, you know it wasn't be best time I've ever had. It was probably up there, but I don't think it was quite the worst 2 hours I've ever had...

I went in there knowing I was in for a Catscan, and then a trip to get looked at by the Dermatologist. I did know realize I was walking in for them to pretty much fuck me up.

I got there right on time for the Catscan. 8AM. It's a good thing I do mornings well. I had to fast for at least 4 hours (which, when it's 4 hours from 8, I'm sure as hell not waking up at 4 just to eat, so it turned into a 10 hour fast, which was fine, and turned out to be a good thing...) I went in, they set me with an IV, which I already didn't expect. Then they put me on the scanner, in the clothes I walked in wearing (which seemed odd. They didn't weigh me or anything...not even BP) So, I was lying there, and they had to call my Oncologist because she wanted them to scan "higher", which apparently wasn't specific enough. Go figure...

Anyhow, I'm sleeping in the machine by the time they come back in to get me, and then they get me ready (didn't strap me down this time...). They inject me with a contrast liquid (NOT the same as the lemonadey stuff they use for abdomen scans...) they tell me I'm going to feel warm and flush, and maybe like I peed myself because my bladder would warm up. It's true. It felt like I peed myself, but I didn't, so that was nice. So they did the first scan ("lower", I guess), and as they're finishing I get all sorts of nauseous. They say that that happens occasionally, and I get moved out of the machine, handed a bag, and then I proceed to throw up the nothing that was in my stomach for a few minutes. Apparently I don't agree with the contrast. Which is AWESOME, because they had to put me right back in with more contrast for the dr. ordered "higher" scan. So they injected more of that devil juice into me, although not as much, nor as quickly, and they got the 2nd one done. I hobbled around for a bit, but didn't throw up again, and then was discharged shortly thereafter.

It only got more fun from there! I went to the dermatologist expecting them to look me over and say that either I had goofy spots and we should arrange for them to be removed, or that I was ok for the time being. I showed them the new spots on my hands that I didn't like, and the consensus was that they were fine. Just sun spot wart things. BUT, then they said we should freeze them off anyway so they don't spread. That's about when things got interesting. So I didn't have much worth being concerned about, so they got the liquid nitrogen (which I was very intrigued by...) and then they look at my scar. They notice new spots in my scar approx where the original melanoma was. They didn't really like the looks of it, but they also weren't very suspicious of it, because "it wasn't behaving like a melanoma", whatever that means. BUT, spots get chopped off, apparently, so they went and got the bioposy kit.

Then it got really interesting. I got put on my side, I got a topical anesthetic, and they punched a 6mm round hole in my shoulder, threw one year old scar tissue. It didn't hurt, because I was numbed up, but I kinda watched and it was gnarly. The anesthetic, because it was only injected into the skin, and not below it, made my arm raise up, and then the cut the top off with the punch, so I totally looked like a small bloody volcano. That part was fun. The 4 stitches were fine, too. For about 5 hours, but we'll get back to that...

So, I'm injected, (again), punched, stitched, and now about to be frozen (keeping in mind I was not prepared mentally for ANY of this.) So they grab nitrogen tank and pretty much try to freeze my spots off. So now I have a few day old gigantic blisters on the back of my hands where they froze shit off. Apparently they'll scab over and fall off in a couple days. That only felt like they were sticking a small needle through my hand. It could have been way worse, I imagine.

BUT, the 9.5 hour workday got cut about 6 hours short as soon as the anesthesia wore off and my body became aware that it had gotten stabbed repeatedly. So I went home early and took it easy. I feel MUCH better today, I haven't had a bandaid come off the stitches without blood on it, so maybe I'm still doing to much? It doesn't hurt though, and it's not ripped, so we'll just let it ride.

Speaking of riding. None for me, thanks. Doctors orders. Stitches out in 2 weeks, and then I'll be at the track (sounds familiar doesn't it...For those of you that weren't paying attention or have forgotten, last time my shoulder was cut open, my first race back was on the track, and WAY sooner than I should have been racing again. Oh well. Let's call it a tradition to put a positive spin on it.

See you in 2 Thursdays!

Cancer update.

Is it back? I don't know. I do know that I now have insurance again, and that means that I went to the hospital last week. They said they weren't sure, but the X-Ray came back clear. They want to see a dermatologist who is more visually adept at picking up spots and what they may be. So, I do that on Tuesday. The more unsettling news is that I have to get a catscan right before that on Tuesday morning also. Why? I'm not totally sure. Looking for things the X ray can't pick up. So, that's neat. They wanted me to get a petscan (what's the diff?) but my insurance wouldn't cover it, and I don't want to pay $4k for it. Screw that. So, I wait all over again.

The spots that are making me nervous are just on my hands. They're small and new, so, it's still early. We'll see what they say. Maybe they're nothing. Just playing it safe.

Here's hoping it all comes back clear. Naturally.

The best laid plans of Mice and Men...

So, I had a nice fancy training schedule based around the times I had available, and then I go get a full time position at work...

Which is amazing, but a cause for revision/abandonment of the training program. Time instead to be an adult, save a bunch of money, and try to buy a house sometime in the next year. They're too cheap right now to not. So, if anyone has awesome resources for that, those would be good to send over.

Thanks

I was afraid of that.

So, training is going well. By that I mean I've been doing it. One whole week now. BUT, today was a major setback. Knee issues. Again.

I went about 130 miles today. Got super lost in the NW metro and just rode around. Nothing strenuous, no big hills. About mile 95 my knee was acting all retarded again. It just doesn't want me to push even (very) reasonably hard on the pedal. My left knee. In the soft fleshy spot below the kneecap to the outboard side. It blows. I don't know if it's my position (which has been looked at), but I doubt it, because it's not bike dependent. Any of my bikes cause me to be temporarily crippled on the bike. I HAVE to figure that out. And quick! Tomorrow I'm "resting" it. Helping out a pal and then possibly playing tennis in the afternoon. Or not. I don't really know yet. But then on Sunday I'll be out again w/ The Fix for another easy 60. If it keeps being sore I'm in deep trouble.

Only time will tell.

So far so good.

Aside from Mondays Mishap (Margaret took both our keys to work with her, so I couldn't leave the house for too long-couldn't lock the door) where I couldn't ride, So far I've been going as planned. Monday I ran for a few miles instead. yesterday I took it easy and rode to school and work. Then I got home and ran some more. (when I say "ran" I pretty much mean "jogged for 2 miles")Today I had to bring Margaret her phone at school, because she forgot it, but then I rode over to my favorite intersection (Ramsey/Grand/Irvine and did some hill repeats. Twice each up Irvine and Grand, and thrice up Ramsey. Then I got SOAKED on the ride home, but that's ok. It wasn't ridiculously cold.

So far, So good. Jut gotta keep it up! "rest" tomorrow and then a long day friday!

Training for 2009 Dairyland Dare.

I will chronicle my exploits (which aren't going so well today...) Between now and the event itself, (A 300k, 22k elevation ft jaunt through the Blue Mounds area of WI on August 15th). I have a training plan written up, but I'm not the best at following those. So, if you or anyone you know is up for a bike ride on the days that I have designated as bike days, shout me a holler.

It goes a little like this.

Sundays start the week w. the 60 miles easy Fix ride every week.

Mondays are between 60 up to 100 miles of harder hills/hill intervals to test the knee. Usually Afton, Afton/Stillwater, or Stillwater/NW WI hills.

Tuesdays are ride my bike to school/work days, but no training/riding hard

Wednesdays are either a rest day or a hard lillydale/hill repeats on ramsey interval day depending on the week.

Tuesdays are ride my bike to school/work days, but no training/riding hard

Fridays are going to be 150-200+ mile days save for 2 rest weeks. The first friday after the first rest week I will be going to Hinckley and back, and the first friday after the 2nd rest week I will be riding to Spooner, WI and back.

Saturdays will be easy days either lillydale or greenway to cedar lake trail and back to greenway miles.

And then is Sunday Fix ride all over again.

Couple hard days, couple long days, couple super easy days. NEAT!

I have a full calendar written out until the Event, BUT, that's my whole summer, so there is room for messing around w/ it. And I have August away from school, so I can w/ workload there depending on how I'm feeling.

BUT, if ANYONE is into riding anything like what you see above, let me know. Help keep me honest. I'll need riding buddies to stay motivated.

I rode far yesterday.

Earlier in the week I mentioned on twitter that I wanted someone to ride far with. Mike Hall mentioned he was going to Duluth that weekend. Long story short, I was in. As luck would have it, so was Monty Byrnes. This was good. The more the merrier.

Plan was to meet Mark in NE at about 6:45 and ride out to Lino Lakes to meet Mike. That went off without a hitch. 25 miles from my house we were at Mikes house filling bottles and emptying bladders. We set out up 23 (where Mike has the first mishap of the day-broken spoke) and down Kettle Ridge to Wyoming, I think and then onto a bike trail to North Branch. 5 miles down the road from North Branch was a tiny town. I stopped there twice, but I forget the name and don't want to google it. From my house to Mikes house Mark and I avg'd 17 mph. That was good. From Mikes house to this tiny town we avg'd 22mph. It was NOT Mike making us do that...Mark just wouldn't take it easy, or, more accurately, that WAS easy for Mark. We all made it, and at a good clip.

Next stop, Mark got a flat...We stopped and fixed that and then were off to Pine City another 20-25 miles up 61. we stopped, bought a bag of salty chips and gatorade and waited for Mikes wife to bring his race wheel turned spare long distance wheel. Made that switch and then we were off. Caught some fast tri guy that was riding from North Branch to Duluth and then running the Marathon today. That's just silly. It took the 3 of us about 8 miles or so to catch him, then we rode together a bit and chatted until the roads pointed up a bit. We got to some little hills and it broke up a bit, and we 3 slowed down to stay together. We caught back up to crazy tri guy and rode to Hinckley, where it was time for a potty break on the side of the Munger trail. The plants looked thirsty.

From there the pace finally slowed down a bit into Finlayson where we stopped for sandwiches in some tiny weird "deli" place. Pretty alright! We sat there for a bit, and recovered and ate and then we were back on the trail.

We made it to about a 1/2 from moose jaw. Jaw? lake? knuckle? something like that, I'm not from here. Then Mike flatted the almighty Zipp. Uh-oh! we tried to fix it. The sealant in the tire didn't work. The super glue I bought didn't work. He even tried to patch it from the outside, and that didn't work either. It never held air. He called his wife to come BACK down from Duluth to save the day. I wasn't having that, and had already been contemplating turning around. A few reasons, mostly because I didn't want to have to wake up and ride back the next day when the route wasn't fresh. SO, We tried to continue on with Mike riding just about on the rim, but then he gave up (wisely) and I turned around. That was at mile 120 for me. 97 miles away from Mikes house and just under 30 back to Hinckley.

Margaret was at the NSC in Blaine until 9pm, so I had 5.5 hours to cover that 110 miles. It was going to be close. I felt pretty good from the time I just turned around and was keeping it between 20-22 for the most part, save for purposely NOT pushing it up the hills to save my knees. I made it back to Hinckley in about an hour and a half, and stopped and bought more gatorade to stay reasonably hydrated. Another 20 or so back to Pine City, and I kept rolling. Starting to hurt. Just watching the pavement move on past my front wheel. My knees don't really like long trips. At that point I was up to 175 miles or so and my knees weren't too happy with me.

I kept plugging along, stopping at that little town again (15-20 miles past Pine City) where they told me I was 5 miles from North Branch! By this time it was almost 7. I had just over 2 hours to get another 35-40 miles in. It was starting to look plausible, but I was really hurting. I made it to North Branch at about 7:15, and looked for the trail for 15 minutes. Wasted time, wasted energy. At this point it was about all I could do to go about 18mph without it hurting too bad.

I get onto the trail, and Margaret calls me to say that she got done early. My shot of getting to Blaine was over. She was gonna come get me. I didn't WANT to try to ride home, I hurt, and there was a shower coming (a rain shower, not a physical shower, although that would have been wonderful!)

I rode down the trail into Stacy, and communicated with Margaret that she should take 35 north to Stacy Trail, and that I'd be on that rode. When I spoke with her I was at 197.7 miles and I wanted those last 2.3 VERY badly. I was pretty much falling apart, but I got them. Got to some mailbox on that road, and turned around. Margaret met me when my odometer read 200.3. Mission accomplished. Day saved. Success.

We drove home (but the car is dying pretty quick. It doesn't do well on the freeway anymore...think it's almost time to retire it.) and I got showered and made dinner.

Happy day. Under 12 hours of riding time. Got picked up at 8, so that's just under 14 hours start to finish. I'll take it. RAAM 2011? Doubtful. Margaret won't let me, my knees won't let me, and I don't even think I'd be game for that. Maybe in a team. Yep. I'd do it on a team. BUT, I WOULD love to be on a support crew for next year. I can offer mechanic assistance for the bicycles. Where do I sign up? I'd volunteer a week of my life to drive across the country at 12mph in an RV!

So yeah. All's well that ends well. Wrapped it up today with a 25 mile Lillydale loop with Margaret. Legs still worked, not too well though. Made it up both Ohio and Ramsey. I'll take it.

Now to help out with leading The Fix ride out west for 50-60 miles tomorrow! If anyone wants to ride, Depart The Fix at 117 Washington at 9am. It'll be fun.

OH! Forget to mention that we saw a flock of sheep being herded down the rural highway by sheep dogs and humans with sheep staffs! It was amazing.

rant.

We all know them. The people that hang out on the Marshall/Lake st bridge between St Paul and Minneapolis carrying signs that say "US out of Iraq" and the like. First off, don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with their message, but they're going about it all wrong. Nothing makes me more angry on a regular basis than seeing these schmucks on the side of the road.

Why? Because I personally feel that they make my commute to work, or back from school more dangerous than it needs to be. It's hard enough to ride a bike in the city when drivers ARE paying attention. Do you really think that it's a good idea to be distracting drivers on a bridge? A bridge with a bike lane? I don't. Not only because there is no where to go on that bridge, but because the honks are also unsettling. Call me panicky, that's fine. I've been hit by cars before, and it hasn't been that bad, but I'm not trying to get hit again. It's been a few years, and I'd like for it to be a few more.

Folks on bridge, please take it somewhere else. I do realize that is a good spot for your visibility, but it isn't the safest.

Background: One time I was protesting outside of a fur store in Milwaukee with an animal rights group, and some cars stopped paying attention to the road, for who knows how long...Some driver just started slowing down, and the driver behind her rear ended her pretty hard. Not what we had intended to happen at all, and it sucked. Especially when the drivers were accusing us as the cause.

Not fun. Keep it safe out there folks!

It's the French Open, if you didn't know.

I'll spare you the results mostly, but I have to say that I really appreciate when tennis players are able to control their grunts when they hit the ball. Now, i understand and appreciate that they're hitting the ball RIDICULOUSLY hard, but tennis is still more or less a gentlemans sport. I see often opponents hugging after a match, or saying quite wonderful things about their opponents in post match interviews, it's great. I love that aspect. I just can't get into the "AAAUUGGGHHH!" when the whack the ball.

That said, I'm psyched that Soderling is into the Final. It looks like Federer is stressed at the moment, but it also looks like Del Potro is about to choke. We'll see. I think that Soderling has a better shot of beating Fed than DP. Federer is amazing, no doubt, but I think that everyone knows Fed is in a rough patch and not playing super well (for being Roger Federer. He's still amazing)

So, I'd like to see Federer make it to the final, but i'd REALLY like to see Soderling take it.

Ever since I heard about Soderling imitating Nadals wedgie picking habit a few years ago, I can't not appreciate that guy.

High Five wheels.

(pardon the blackberry photo)

They came in. I've ridden on them a few times and raced on them once. They're great. 58mm deep. Pretty light. Stiff. Exactly what I wanted. Very glad I got a set.

So that's super cool and I'm excited about that.

The race I used them for was the East Union Circuit Race. (Great race, by the way, Verve Ladies! and thanks to Hanna for the animal crackers!)

My job for the race was to keep it together for a bunch sprint for the Little Guy. I gave it my best shot. Kept things together, rode anchor position in a break. Sat in a bit after it came back and then focused on making sure no one got away.

A LOT of attack/counterattack coming from the gigantic sprinter types on GP. They raced a really smart race. Brandon (speedfix) launched an attack before the last turn, and then it was countered by a 4 person group (GP mostly...) They caught and passed Brandon shortly before the line, and the Mark Byrnes/Dispencer lead out train for LG couldn't quite close it up. They were able to launch LG for a fairly easy field sprint victory, and Spencer held for 8th overall (3rd in field sprint). I was tired and finished 14th or 15th.

It was a great race, a lot of fun, very well ran, AND I got to eat a veggie burger. Which always adds to the incentive to show up.

Good job team LGR= Fil, Rookie, LG, Dis, Byrnes, me!

Today marks the 2nd year.

As of this morning at about 6:30, Margaret and I have been married for two whole years. Time has flown. In these last two short years we've been through a lot. Moved to a new city, a graduation, 2 new school enrollments, a house fire, a marijuana forest, new and lost jobs, new apartments, new friends, life threatening ailments, holidays at the pool, bike rides, dinner parties, therapy...but life goes on.

It certainly hasn't been the easiest two years of my life, but it has been the most fulfilling, and it has held some of the fondest memories I'll take away from this life.

Marriage. We certainly didn't know what we were getting into, and there have been a lot of times when we didn't think it was worth it. Well, so far, it's been worth it.

Margaret, I know you read this, perhaps not often, but you'll see this someday. I love you. Thank you for being there for me when I need you, and still there when I think I don't. I love you and the life that we have together. I am looking forward to the next two years.

my wife is amazing.

She went to Opus on Tuesday and gave me the play by play in the 1/2/3 race while I was at work by text...

AND, later that evening, when I asked if she saw Cleary, she said that she didn't know what cleary looked like...

I asked if she saw any leprechauns.

She said that Yes, she saw one, but it was Pete Hannah.

-

yep. that's pretty amazing.

-jason

it's official

I got 20th out of 29 starters in my field at durand. Spencer got 5th, so he held it down for the team. LGR at the back of the field, minus Taylor mixing it in with us!

First update in months. Durand happened.

some other things have happened as well. I took up tennis. That's been treating me well. Been doing that more than bike riding lately. I've been enjoying it a lot.

Just got back from breakfast at the Seward co-op with Margaret and her dad. Margaret's treat. It was pretty great. It's been a good (couple) week(s).

Went to Oshkosh over Easter weekend. That was a nice getaway. Rode bikes outside and it got WAY colder than expected, and did an 1:08 on the computrainer at a pretty good clip. Not bad considering I had meant to load the 17 miler that takes about 45 minutes. Didn't figure that out until it was almost too late.

Durand was yesterday. It was WAY harder and faster than I remember it being last year. Again I worked too hard, but I made it pretty clear that I wasn't going to be the guy on our team that was gonna place high. So I marked a guy and made sure nothing got away that didn't have at least one LGR in it. LG and Byrnes kept things interested and each attacked a couple times. I got away once for a little bit. I kept things slow an awful lot, too. Got dropped just after the turn that marked the end of the 3rd lap (out of 4) and rode the last 12 miles by myself.

Before I got dropped the avg watts of my race was 240. That's pretty hard. At least for me. Including the last 12 miles riding at my "I got dropped, lets just finish this damn race" pace my avg dropped to 199. Super OK with that. Normally when things aren't going well for me I just throw in the towel and quit. It was have been WAY faster for me to quit than it would have been to ride the last 12 miles, but I did it. First time for everything. I mark that a check in the maturity box. I was happy to finish.

I also realized something. Whereas last year I could ride at the front of the race and then finish in the top 10 (more often than not) in the shorter races, this year is going to be different in that there is just more damn power in the field and I can't ride at the front the whole race and still contest the finish. That's good to know. Glad I got that out of the way early.

All in all it was fun. It was hard. Racing with a team is super rad, and I look forward to doing it more.

That's about it for me. Might have more to say soon. Here's hoping!

More Powertap info.

Something I noticed yesterday at the Fix.

When I'm actually working, the Tacx unit is SUPER closer to the Powertap, if not a bit behind it. I DO need to set it to not read every second. That makes things SUPER hard to hold. I think a 3 second reading would be the way to go.

SO, at 60rpms and at threshold or just above, the Tacx would read about 320 (my supposed threshold) and the Powertap would read between 310 and 350 depending on fluidity of pedal stroke. If I slow the reading down I think I'd get a good average. Couple that with my earlier realization (that at 120% the powertap catches up and sometimes passes the Tacx) I think that the powertap is more accurate when you're working harder.

I'll continue to report my findings, even if no one else cares, it'll be handy to have this recorded later.

training, cookies and rest.

Today was a good workout. I thought I wasn't going to make it through my intervals. I did. Could've gone a little more smoothly, though.

Rode in the cold with TC on Wednesday. It was cold and wet and windy. Rode outside with Aaron on Friday. It was cold, but not wet or windy. Dropped into Coldsprints adn said hi to the usual suspects. Rode indoors easy at the Fix for an hour and a half while watching Super Troopers.

Today was hard though. After the first interval I didn't think I was going to make all 5. I did. It was a struggle, though. 2 min @ 100% (320 watts) at 90rpm. 4 minutes @ 110% (352w)at 70rpm then 2 min @ 120% (384w) for 2 minutes at 90rpm. 3 minutes rest. Repeat x 5. That 110% @ 70rpms is a damn killer. To be honest, if I try to ride them at 70 on the nose I stall out. I don't think I can push that wattage that slowly. I tend to do them more to the tune of 72-74rpm. Makes it MUCH more manageable. Possible, even.

Got my Powertap the other day. WAY harder than the Tacx Flow trainers to hold your watts. The reading interval must be way shorter. That said, the readings are a lot different, too.

To elaborate on what Timmer said ( http://timmercentral.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/power-power-power/ ) The Tacx trainers read a lot higher. I don't know what the circumstances were for his readings, but I find that the powercurve is a lot different.

Seems like the Powertap shows lower numbers at lower watts, and then catches up the tacx at my upper limit. I've never gone more than 120% for any length of time with the Powertap, but when I'm at 100%, it's about 40 watts low. 60 watts at 90%...I suppose that's a big difference, but when I'm really working it's about +/- 10 either way. I can handle that. I wonder if I really gave it if the powertap would read out higher than the Tacx.

Also noticed that the Tacx is way more solid. It seems like the Tacx reads the watt spike first and displays that, and then works back down into the target, whereas the Powertap will read the target, the spike over, the dip back down below the goal, and then inch back up to the goal wattage. OR, It could be that I just need to be better about hitting the watts and not spiking/dipping. I'll get there. Practice!

That's about all. I made cookies today, and they're great.

By the way. The Tour of California radio broadcast is bringing me back to my days listening to the Cubs and Brewers games on the radio in my youth days...

High Five.

Wheels ordered. See a couple new fancy wheels about town in around 2.5 months. So, that's pretty neat. Thank you, to those of you that ordered things, I am as excited as you are.

On a bigger and better note...Guess who got onto plusonelap's lightweight bike gallery? I DID! well, I didn't. Shawn Small of Ruckus Components did. BUT, It was his High Five bike that make the cut.

http://plusonelap.blogspot.com/
http://plusonelap.blogspot.com/2009/02/lightweight-cyclocross-shawns-high-five.html
Right on the top of the first page! sweet jams. This has me happy. Keep riding Shawn, and thanks for helping get the good word out there!

OH, and that's sitting on a pair of High Five wheels, as well. Good man!

Worked.

It's been a common theme this week. At the Fix, we've started doing some muscle endurance training. Basically, high watts @ low cadences for 3-5 minute invervals and 1 or 2 minutes rest between. They get hard in a hurry. Especially for people (me) who like to spin faster and not mash on pedals. BUT, I imagine it will help me come springtime. The issue is, when pedal mashing, I tend to get side stitches. I got a REAL bad one today... Had to cut an interval short and then get off and try not to black out after the last one. Didn't cool down at all. I couldn't stay hunched over a bike anymore. It was awful. BUT, I did ok. Wasn't a total fail. Margaret BREEZED through it. I don't even get it. I wish I could have paid more attention to her than me. It was probably pretty inspiring to watch her ease through this hard of a workout. Darn it. Someday I'll have one of those days. You know. Those good days. Good enough to make you forget about a ton of the bad ones. I'm almost due. Maybe not. Just a rough week.

Bike swap on sunday. Besides that, increasing temperatures should get me out on my bike a bit. I'm super excited about that. First LGR team ride is on Saturday. A full MONTH later than last years early season rides. Time to get started. Season starts soon.

It's been a while...

But, I might be back at this thing again soon. I've been busy, what with school now and training and work.

Still at The Fix. I can't enough good about these folks over there. If you'd like some smart interval workouts or some advice I suggest coming down to the Fix and talking to Larry and Sophie. They're seriously some of the best people I've met in this city. Bike fits, lactic and threshold testing, massage, yoga classes, training classes. It's all here and it's all good. Seriously. Come to ONE session. Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday. Very much worth the price of admission. Just honest no cheating workouts. And Coach Troy isn't half as charismatic. (or effective, but I'm biased...) besides, he's boring! Here, you can suffer WITH other people!

So yeah, that's been going fantastically. Sure, they're hard, and sometimes I can't do what I'm supposed to do in the class, but, it's all making me better. And THAT is what I'm after. I'm feeling good one the bike, and I'm ready to start racing.

On that note, I've got my calendar marked with the races and where I'd like to peak. Pretty exciting stuff. I've got my goals. I think that I can get them. Hard, but not impossible. Just how I like it.

What else? SCHOOL! I started in January. Machining degree. So far so good. I remember quite a bit of what I learned in High School, and pick new things up pretty quick. It's working for me.

Other than that, life is good. 09 is WAY the hell better than 08. I never want to go back there again! (funny thing about time, even if I did want to go back, I couldn't)

High Five order is being placed this week. Look for more fast wheels and fast riders going around the local racecourses. EXCITING!

That's it for now. Better to keep it short.

Thanks for bearing with me during my blog hiatus. Twitter had me occupied for a bit.

See you at the bike swap.