The Big 4.

Lucas is turning 4 on Monday so we had him a Birthday party today. My wife has made his Birthday cake every year so far. This year would turn out to be the biggest challenge. We finished up the cake about a hour before the guest showed up.

Lucas was pretty excited today, all he has been talking about for the last couple of months was a DS. I couldn't tell you what I was wanting when I was turning 4 but I don't think it was anything electronic. He knew more about it than we did, The babysitters kid has had one for a while. He got Mario cart with it also. It was awesome watching him play it and how excited he was. The kid is growing up so fast.

Froze Toes.

For as long as I have known Jim he has bugged me to do a road race. I promised him last year I would do one but never did. I got to busy with all of the MTB races that I did. I did tell him that if he did a Mtb race then this year I would do a road race. Froze toes was probably the worst one I could do, I love hills its pancake flat. But there is a lot of Mtb races I want to do this year and figured if I didn't do this one then I wouldn't do one.

I really had no clue to how it would be, I did a road race once back in 2004 and didn't think to much of it. I was pretty nervous once the race got started, I think I was trying to hard to stay out of everybody way instead of just riding. Jim told me before the race to make sure not to get guttered. I think I know what that means now. My goal was to stick with the pack for a lap and I wasn't to far off. I stopped after the first lap to figure out if I should go out again. a small group came through some of us went back out for the other lap. I got to pull the whole lap that was fun. Never stayed seated for that long on a ride in my life and never kept a pace that fast before either. I am amazed at how different racing on the road is compared to the Mountain bike and how strong these guys are. I look forward to trying it again sometime. This race definitely got me excited for the Mtb season to start. Results. to prove to Jim I did a road race in case he went to deep in the red to remember that I was there. Great Job Jim on getting 9Th.

The usual.

Nick enjoying some good hills from last weekend. Old Lemay at its best or worst.

This intersection represents the usual, Me and Jim have come through here more times than I could count in the last couple of years. This is at the top of the first big hill coming from the covered bridge up Old Lemay. When we go out from the house we usually go up Rice Rd then detour off and go do Wette rd then come up the Old Lemay side going towards Covered bridge. So at this point were usually suffering pretty bad.

Last night was no exception, Me Nick, Doug, Jim and his friend from Chicago went out for some fun with the lights, I love night riding! I don't think Doug enjoyed Wette rd as much knowing what was coming, but one thing I will say is he made quick work of it. Between me Jim and his friend Brian we pretty much attacked on every hill, very good stuff. Look forward to riding with Brian again. Nick did great for one of the bigger rides (with a ton of hill climbs) he has done on the road.

I didn't have the garmin last night for the stats from the ride but cool thing was UPS dropped off my new one while we were out. I was having so many problems with it lately shutting off on road rides never any problems on the MTB. I sent them a email on the problem within a week they had me a new one, GREAT customer service. very stoked! I think we ended up getting in three good hours, great riding guys.

Back in the Day!

Back in High School my obsession was skateboarding. Me and my buddy Ron would go up to this skate park in Peoria, IL after School. It was usually about a 1 1/2 hour drive in Ron's beater of a ford escort. We would usually be skating here or heading downtown STL. I remember riding the Bi state bus from Collinsville to downtown STL when I was 14, I would skate the 4 miles or so up to the bus stop to meet my friends early on Saturdays, we would skate all day then catch the last bus home, I was never late for dinner so my parents never questioned were I had been. If they would of known I probably would still be grounded!! Lot of very memorable sessions from those days. One footed ollie across a little platform.
This one was way back in the day, maybe 1985. Just learning how to do handrails. Front side rail slide down a 3 step handrail at Venice High School in IL.

Just a little video clip, I would love to get all of the old stuff re-edited out. The quality is pretty rough, sorry we didnt have much to work with back then.

Fast week.

Lucas enjoying the snow board going up hill. He would do good going down until we got going to fast and then he would bail off of the side. good workout pulling him back up the hill.

The last week has been fun, we missed the Wed. ride last week because of the 6 inches of snow. I got in a good ride on Saturday then did the normal 90 mile road ride with Jim on Sunday. It was kind of a weird start, the roads were pretty icy in spots so it was a slow go for a little while. Things picked up as they usually do and were going good until Jim got one of his two flats for the day. While Jim fixed his flat I dug out all of the rock cinders buried in my tires. No complaints at least the roads were clear of snow. The ride was a good one we suffered bad as we always do..

Tonight's ride was a solo one, Jim and Doug had stuff going on. I got out a little bit earlier than normal so the goal was to get to the top of Rice rd. before the sunset. The pic is of just near the top.

Everybody has there own idea on recovery drinks. Mine is a mix of hammer recoverite, Edy's yogurt blend (any flavor I love them all) Chocolate Soy milk. sometimes I will put a banana in and some strawberry's peanut butter is always good. Stick it in the blender and Blow it up!! I can usually consume this masterpiece in about 30 seconds. good stuff.