I Officially Accept the Dumbass of the Year Award

Well the story starts in the GEAR column. I bought the perfect City bike. I won't get too into it here but there is a difference between a Townie and a City bike (also covered in GEAR )Anyway the perfect city bike for me was a Lemond Poprad Disc 2006. Really very hard to find. It took me a few weeks of intensive searching nationwide to find the proper size and bike at the right price. I finally found it just in time to tool around the neighborhood and fall inlove with my purchase. Of course I had to do a few modifications and recable the whole thing, finally the night before our trip up north the bike was ready for serious service and I had to show her off.
In tangled with this overhaul was another project that would lead to catastrophe. I was trying to set up the garden for automated watering a mere 36 hours before our departure. NOT a good idea. As a triathlete I know not to try anything new on race day, but I ignored every bad feeling and pressed on with my project. Several trips to both the Homedepot and Lowes later I had the gardens ready for watering. Along the way I had to replace outdoor spigots, piping, and had to return at least two timer. More bad signs. The darkness loomed and I thought I had claimed victory. I even disassembled the whole bike on an overhaul that night and got it back together before dawn. That bike fought me the whole way. A simple recable took me three hours - another bad sign.
I had left the addition of an additional bike rack until the morning... halfway through mounting the rack I was distracted by checking on my watering greatness. There was no watering - the timer was a dud. Another trip to Homedepot and more agricultural purgatory, and I was left with what I had started with in the beginning.
Now we were late and still had errands to run. I threw the bikes on top of the car, locked down the expensive ones but had no lock for the new bike and no time to find one.
An hour and a half later after detours we were finally on 696, a busy four lane highway, we were free doing 70mph in the center lane, then the wheels came off - literally.
The wheels of the Poprad came off the roof of the car. There was a loud thud and clunk. Profanity was abundant and then a wheel of the bike was visable in the rear view mirror. A second later the bike was spinning across traffic in the center lane. I pulled the car over to the shoulder, got out and ran.
There it was, orange and intact in the center lane. I ran thinking it might be OK. I could fix it. As I got closer, it got clipped on the wheel - the wheel exploded. I thought - I can fix that too. Then it happened. 70mph Bike vs Cadillac the whole bike exploded. I thought - Sh!# - what's left. Then it was hit again and again. I wanted to cry. A grown man, on the side of the road, wanting to cry over his bike. If you don't understand, you never will.
I was able to haul the mangled wreckage off the highway - there was nothing to be salvaged - nothing.
After collecting my bike off the highway I was escorted by the Police to the motorist that had dealt the fatal blow to the bike - they had a flat tire - thank God nobody was hurt. Charles was the Coolest Cat ever. No hard feelings, no anger, just sorry he ran over the bike. The cops were great, they just wanted to see the wreckage which was stuffed in the trunk.
The toll: One (new to me) 2006 Poprad Disc obtained from Colorado and modified with all the good parts in my basement over about 20hrs, and one 22" tire. Off a Cadillac.

Is this a homeowners claim or a Drivers? Either way, I'm a Dumbass because in trying to get my sprinklers to work I forgot to reattach the wheel strap and at 70mph the bike took flight.
Anybody got a 55cm 2006 Poprad for sale? I'm looking.

It 'Aint Easy Being Green

OK, OK,

I know it has been a while since I've posted. I know it has been even longer since I've had a recipie to share. I'm sorry, really I am. The thing is, I've not been busy, I've not had other things to do, I've not been out living the big life. Truthfully, I've been lazy.
There have been fabulous meals, and funny stories. We've had good stuff, and bad stuff, and I've just not checked in. My bad.
So there is the apology, and here is the the funny and the eats :-)

I recently made a resolution to be GREEN. Really I made a resolution to not fill up my $75 gas tank as much, but it still counts. So Beck and I have resolved to bike to as many things as we can, but as you might guess, the first step is the hardest.
I've been looking for another new bike (I'll tell you about my first new bike in the GEAR section soon) but it seems that I'm unwilling to pay for the bike that I want at this time. The plan was to build a city bike that I could ride everywhere and be good enough to hook a trailer to, and hopefully race some 'Cross in the fall with. Well, I had te perfect bike all planned out, but it was $4K. Needless to say, that was not in the budget. This fact prompts my story.

The Sequential Vortex
I have been lusting for a Cyclocross bike since I bought my first road bike, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to add such a bike to the growing stable in the basement. As simple as it seems to procure one of these via ebay, the reality is 'not so much'. Anyway, me being me, I'm looking at townie beaters that are wayyyy out of the price range, so I decide to resurect my mountain bike that has been laying dorment for years. This seems like a good reponsible idea.
So I get the old Hoo Koo E Koo out of the rafters. I raid my parents garage to reposes my old fender rack and I make two trips to the local bike shop to get the two to meet.
I also have a reason to take a package to the post office that is about three miles away, so this is a SIGN. I pump up the tires on the old Hoo Koo, it takes me almost an hour to actually attach the rack to the bike (appatently this rack was designed for a different ride) and I'm off.
I'm GREEN baby! I'm feeling good, I even have my helmet on. I am Zen with the Earth and I'm smiling from ear to ear. Then I flat. It appears that my 15yr old tires were not up to the challange. I turn around and walk the bike about 7 blocks home. However, I am not detoured! Once home I get out the fancy bike and the shoes and begin to ride to the bike store to procure a new tube! Then I think better of it, i turn around (it is obviously not my day) and hop in the car to go to the bike shop.
Of course there are no matching tires for my 15yr old relics I need to buy two new tire and tubes. So $50 later I'm on my way home.
I'm pretty handy with the bike but, damnit, it took me 30 min to change both tires and tubes, and I still have not been to the post office!

Serves me right for having something to do with a bike out of the rafters.
The good part is that the bike got fixed and Beck and I rode to the post, (which is another story) dropped off the package, stopped by the burrito place, rode to our friends for beers. We rode home and had a great time! Gotta love the suburbs!

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Mothers Day Dinner
First course - Fume Blanc
Asian Salad
Romaine Hearts
Carrot Shreads
Orange Bell Peppers
Red Onion finely chopped
Dressing (Rice wine vineger, red wine vineger, honey, EVOO, Dried basil, S&P, Coriander)
Alaskan King Crab Claws steemed in Corona and half a lime an half a lemon

Main Course
Orzo Salad
Chilled Orzo
Cilantro
Coriander
Mix of Heirloom, yellow, red grape, and orange, tomatos.
Red wine vineger
EVOO
S&P
Pan Seared Scalops (sear them in EVOO and Butter with S&P and coriander)

Four biig claws and 12 big scallops later there were no leftovers.

MmmmMmm Good!

The Vacation is Over. Time to Get Focused

Well I'm now about 7 months post-op so I'm running out of excuses to not get back to business. Shoulder Update: This thing is still not right, but at least now I can do a couple of push ups, well seven actually. It is still pretty crunchy in there but at least now it is mostly just noise and not terribly painful. Weight Update: This is not good, as of yesterday I'm over 192lbs, yikes. i still have until mid March before I go to Florida for a little fun in the sun, so technically I stil have enough time to get back to fighting weight, but the question is if I still have the resolve.
One thing that will certainly keep me motivated though is the Navy SEAL fitness challange that both Becky and I have signed up for. It is the standardized test for BUDS school and it is coming to Dearborn so you can compare yourself against some of the best military operatos in the world.

I'm No Longer The Endurence Athlete of Note in the House

Well it was bound to happen sooner or later. My wife, Becky, who has through her life has achieved goal that I would only dare to dream, has done it again! While I was trying out for the JV LaCrosse team in highschool, she was winning a gold medal in the first ever female amature hockey tournament hosted in Russia. Well I was recovering from my crash she One-upped me again, she is now the first member of the house to hold a medal for the completion of a marathon.
Some may be jealous of this fact, but I could not be more proud! Even though I could never understand what would posses a person to go out and run 26.2 miles (unless you are finishing an Ironman) her efforts and stellar performance has inspired even me - the marathon cynic.
Although I'm sure that Becky will argue a couple of the finer points of this story, here are the details as best I can relate them.
Although I would like to say that my recent commitment to Ironman was the driving force behind her Herculean effort (she likes to joke that she got tired of coming to my races and not having a response for the "What are you training for?" question) the real truth is that she has wanted to run a marathon for as long s I have known her. In fact she thought that she had nipped it in the bud, but last yaer her cousin ran the Disney Marathon and the dim candle of desire began to burn brightly once again.
Much to her credit, and my dismay, she planned, researched, trained, and implemented what turned out to be a near flawless marathon plan pretty much all by herself.
Back to the race - The day at Disney was perfect. Early, but perfect. We rose at 2:30am and get tot the start just in time for a cup of java and a long wait it the line for the restroom. After that I said good-bye with eh promise that I would see her on the course as much as I could and the race was on!
I saw her at mile nine and it was all smiles. I was so excited that I didn't even get a picture. Then at mile 13 and still smiles as the pictures prove. I jumped on the Disney transit to mile 23 and she was still smiling, but rumors have it that she was really hurting by this point. I tried to beat her to the finish but the call from her parents at mile 26 reveled that I would only catch her in the recovery area.
Still all smiles and sporting a Mouse Ears Medal that would make Flava Falve she was officially a Marathoner and had such a great race that she is even thinking about doing another one - maybe in 2010.

As for me things are good. I've been moved and inspired by my wife once again and the good thing is that in all this marathon madness I was given the OK to start to train again.
Look out for more food, some gear projects and maybe even some how-to's.

Later