Being Patient

Isn't really that easy for me. Last night Amie and I had our first trial run to Norman Regional. At about 10 PM Amie woke me up having contractions. So, I got out of bed and hurried (still not fast enough) to get the remaining items we wanted to take in my bag. We had to wake Addi up and we all loaded in the car and headed out. I was a little impressed, it only took 14 minutes from the time Amie woke me up to the time we were pulling out of the driveway. That's not too bad if you ask me. It took a total of 16 minutes from the time we left the house to the time we walked into the triage room at the hospital. I didn't think that was too shabby either. So a total of exactly 30 minutes. Her contractions were about 3 minutes apart but after an hour and a half they sent us home and told us to come back when the contractions were stronger and about five minutes apart. So, now we wait. Waiting is the hard part and after last night it will be harder on us all, especially Amie. She is so ready.

My boys are heading to Lago Vista, Texas this weekend for a little action at The Primavera. It's a huge weekend of racing in Texas. This is the first race for a lot of people and the turnout is usually pretty good. There will be road races both Saturday and Sunday and I believe both days run the same course except that the Sunday loop is shortened by 1 mile making it a four mile loop instead of five. Each race is approximately 50 miles. I wish I was able to go, but there is no way I could leave right now with us being so close to having Emily. They are gonna kick some ass I'm sure. Something I learned last season, never go to a race to train or expect anything less than your best. You/I go to win EVERY race! You can't go to a race just hoping for a top 10 or top 20 placement because then you race for a top 10 place. Will you win every race? Probably not, but you gotta shoot for that top spot every time. Expecting less than that out of yourself is selling yourself short. I don't race for 2nd, 5th, 10th, 25th place...I race for first. I don't get up and train at 3 AM hoping for 2nd place. This season Bicycle Alley Racing will be racing for 1st place every race. Expect to see us in the mix and stepping on the podium. I can't wait for my first race, to race side by side with my new teammates, to have the opportunity to work for them and get this season kicked off. Good luck Zach and Ryan, you don't need it. I'll be thinking about you guys and you better call me with race reports!

Mark has some good workouts scheduled for me this weekend. So, at least, I won't just be feeling like a slacker. I should log somewhere between 90-95 miles, in my garage on the Rock 'N Roll. I better pick out my movies for Sunday now before everyone snags them. Maybe I should pin an old race number on my jersey....

Life Changes

"Life Changes" that is something that I know of course, but those are the two words I took with me from yesterday's church service. An hour and fifteen minutes of church and I take away two words. Maybe it's because I can relate to those two words or maybe it's because I know how strong that statement is. Maybe it's because I know my life is going to be changing again, very soon, as my family welcomes Emily our newest addition into the world. To me, change is exciting and scary, depending on the situation I guess. I am a person who likes routine, I like things to be somewhat predictable, I like my jeans folded a certain way and my shirts hung up just right. I'm not like some OCD freak or anything just old habits die hard I guess. Within the next two weeks, two weeks from 12:45 AM tonight to be exact if not sooner, I will be holding Emily in my arms. This will be my second time to be a father, so I kind of know what to expect and I would say there is no more amazing feeling in the world than holding your newborn baby. The moment the doctor places that child in your arms is LIFE CHANGING. To be honest I'm very excited for her to finally get here and I'm also a little nervous, not so much in a good or bad way just nervous because this is uncharted territory. This is not only going to change my life, it's going to change my families life and my family life. I'm excited to see Addi interact with her, she will be such a wonderful big sister. She talks (yells) to Amie's belly now, the conversation usually goes something like, "Get out here baby sister!", "We're gonna play dress up and have tea parties." I'm guessing between my two girls we will have accumulated somewhere around 200 pairs of shoes within the next couple of years, if Emily is anything like Addi.

Cycling - No more stomach bug, aside from not being able to handle the smell of chicken, I am 100% over the stomach bug. I'm looking forward to getting all my rides in this week and being back on top of things. I hate missing a ride. Saturday I was able to get my workout in as prescribed which was a good thing because I had problems with it the day after being sick and couldn't quite get my numbers where I wanted them. It was because of being sick and dehydrated but not hitting my numbers is something else I don't like. I don't really like emailing Mark excuses as to why I couldn't do the workout as prescribed. This was the first time I've ever voluntary took time off my bike because I was sick and I hated it. I didn't get the TSS number I was hoping to have for the week, nor the mileage...those things bug me and stick in my head.

Sunday's ride was spent on the Rock 'N Roll also. With Amie so close to having Emily, I'm a little gun shy to get too far from the house so I'm just going to spend my days on the trainer and grin and bare it. I'm going to try to catch up on my movies I guess. I started my ride at 4:30 Sunday morning and kicked it off with "Death Race." I wasn't too sure about this movie but I thought, it's about guns and cars so it might be good to watch while riding. I was right. I actually thought it was worth watching and I'd like to watch it again but this time with the volume up instead of reading subtitles. I'd imagine it probably has a pretty good soundtrack to it. Once that ended, I jumped off and started "Pride & Glory." Again, this was another good movie. It's about corrupt cops and I'd watch this one again if I could hear it. Edward Norton plays a the good cop in Pride & Glory and does a great job. I've been a fan of his since American History X. If you haven't seen these movies they are definitely worth the rental fee. I've got another double feature ride scheduled for this weekend, I need to start thinking of movies. Any suggestions?

I'm ready to get a race in for the season. I've still got a little while before I'm able to hit my first race but I'm getting ancy. This time of the season gets me pumped. I love reading race reports/results and checking out race pics. I'm ready to test my legs against everyone else's and see how I stack up. I'm ready to get those starting line jitters and some pre-race pancakes. I'm ready to load up in the car at 3 AM so we can make a 7:30 start time in Arkansas. I'm ready to see all my racing buddies that I haven't seen since September. I'm just ready! Bicycle, Bicycle, I want to race my bicycle!

Krispy Kreme

How in the world does Addison Lynlee eat a pink iced Krispy Kreme doughnut? I know you have asked yourself that many times, so I've decided to shed a little light on the subject.

Step 1: Pick up the doughnut and push it as forcefully as possible into your mouth. The goal here is not to actually eat the whole thing in one bite but to flatten the donut as much as possible so that it can be consumed in only a couple more bites. This technique is not encouraged when it comes to consuming cream filled doughnuts unless proper safety measures are put in tact.

* Here is a close up of Step 1. Notice how focused she appears. This is not to be attempted by the faint of heart. Almost three years of practice have went into perfecting this skill.


Step 2: See the satisfaction in her face. That smile says, "yes, I can eat a donut in just three bites." That doughnut never stood a chance. I remember when I could eat a donut and not feel guilty about it. Actually, what sounds good to me is a plain glazed donut, like from wal-mart or something, put some butter on it and heat it up in the microwave just long enough for the butter to melt. If you haven't ever tried your glazed donut that way, you gotta do it...you won't regret it.

Now, on to more cycling related topics. For the most part my morning workout went okay. I got half way through my sprint reps when my body said, I wouldn't do anymore or you are seriously going to regret it. So, needless to say I am not 100% over this stomach bug. It is like the freakin plague or something. My stomach has been jacked all day long. It sucks.

I guess Lance's one of kind TT bike was finally recovered. That's good I guess. I wish my TT bike would be located. It went from a December delivery date, to February and now to April. Come on now, Tyler Hamilton was riding one in the prologue so I know there out there. Hook a brotha' up.

Sick & Tired

Since about 10:30 PM on Saturday I've been on a crash diet. It was at about that time I found out that I had the stomach virus. I've managed to lose 6 pounds in three days and that's not a good thing. I'm all about losing some weight but not like that. I thought I was going to die and at about 3 in the morning Sunday I was kind of wishing I would. I don't think I have ever in my life been that sick and I know I have never thrown up that much while being sober. By about 4 in the morning I was so dehydrated my legs cramped up so bad I couldn't move them and even by the next day once I could hold some fluids down they still ached from cramping. I ended up calling in sick to work yesterday, which I hate, and spending the day lying on the couch. I hate calling in. The way I think of it is if I'm going to miss a day of work I want it to be doing something fun, not lying on the couch sick but I really didn't have much choice my body hurt to the touch. Today however, I feel almost back to normal. My back is still a little achy but other than that I'm ready to go. Tomorrow morning it's back on the trainer! It's kind of sad to say, but I can't wait.

I did get to watch most of the Tour of California yesterday or whatever was able to be broadcast due to the rain. I guess that was the one perk of being sick. How about Levi? At around 4 hours in attacking on the Bonny Doon climb just outside the finish. It was a brilliant attack. He blew by everyone in the ten man break that had been up the road since almost the start of the race. After seeing him with such ferocity and determination to put on the yellow jersey I hope he does win the ToC for the third straight year. If I have the legs to pull something like that even just once this season I'd be happy. It was amazing to watch.

Happy Valentine's Day

My Valentine's day began at 3 o'clock this morning as my cell alarm buzzed me out of bed. Today was our team photo shoot and I wanted to make sure I got my prescribed workout in and took as little time away from my family today as possible. I actually got nearly three hours in on the trainer and it wasn't nearly as bad as it sounds. My movie choice for this morning was "Deja Vu" with Denzel. It's an okay movie and it's almost two hours long. As soon as that was over I rolled the second tape (yes VHS) of the 1999 Tour to wrap it up. My music selections were a little random, Gin Blossoms, Bassnectar, Linkin Park, and a metal playlist I've put together. The workout went well and everything is feeling good. I've been a little surprised with my recovery over the last few days, it's been very good. I had a killer work out on Thursday that I thought would leave my legs trashed for the rest of the week or at least for Friday. They weren't, it was the exact opposite. My legs felt good, probably the strongest they have felt in a while. I've got to give Mark props, he's got my training schedule tweaked perfectly.

Like I said before, today was our team photo shoot. It went great. Local photographer, Andrew Chasteen, came up to Bicycle Alley to spend the morning with us. Is was great working with Andy. It is obvious to see that he is passionate about his photography and willing to go that extra mile to capture the perfect image. He spent most of the morning setting his flashes up just out of reach of oncoming traffic and straddling the center yellow line framing the images he had envisioned. If you're in need of a photographer, whether it be for family portraits, a wedding, or something adventurous, Andy is your man. Check out his website and then call him and book a session. I'm stoked to see our proofs and rest assured I'll have some posted on here for everyone to see. Thanks for an excellent time Andy.

Tonight is date night with my sweetie...I think she's craving a big chicken fried steak. Cattlemen's here we come! Mark, I promise I'll ride 30 extra minutes to burn off the chicken fried steak.

8 Is Enough

I just want to know what Nadya Suleman was thinking when she decided to take fertility treatments. A mother of six children already and now she has 8 more. It's insane. Here's a quote from Nadya taken from an article I was reading.

"I'm providing myself to my children," Nadya Suleman told NBC in her first interview. "I'm loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally, everything I do. I'll stop my life for them and be present with them and hold them and be with them. And how many parents do that? I'm sure there are many that do, but many don't. And that's unfortunate. And that is selfish."

I would like to call BS on that quote. First of all, I am a parent of one...soon to be two and it doesn't matter how many children you have you are providing yourself to your children. If you are any kind of parent at all, if you even have thoughts of having children, then you better be ready to love them unconditionally and accept them for who they are. Your life does not stop when you have a child, your life changes, you have no choice but to accept that and embrace it. Amie and I both work, we are fortunate enough that we both have jobs and are able to take care of our family. But that is what it takes for us to just take care of our small family of three, soon to be four. We couldn't make it on much less then we currently take home and we sure couldn't make it if we had a family of 16. Nadya here speaks down on people who don't stay home with their children and be "present with them." Well Nadya, the reason they don't is because those people accept their responsibility and work to take care of their family as opposed to sitting on their ass all day long letting me and my wife (taxpayers) pay for you to sit at home and attempt to take care of your 14 children.

The cost to raise a child is not cheap. Addi was born in 2006, according to this calculator it will cost approximately $340,552.00 to take care of her until she graduates from college (she'll get a scholarship though for being a genius or cycling). Now take that number and times it by 14. What did you get? I came up with $4,767,728.00. Yeah Nadya, you're really going to be able to offer your children a quality life. Oh yeah, and Nadya wants to go back to school to study counseling so tack that expense on.

I know this is America, land of the free & home of the brave. I know that we have the freedom of speech and expression. I know that I can have as many kids as I want, but doesn't common sense come into play here? Forget finances for a second and think of the children. Do you actually think that each child will be loved, treated and cared for the same? I don't. Like I said, I'm getting ready to be a father a second time and to me that is one of my biggest fears, that I'll show favoritism to one of my daughters. I hope that I never overlook one for the other or tell one I love her more than the other. A child isn't a toy, it shouldn't be something you bring into this world just so you can feel good about yourself.

I've gotta get back to work now so I can help pay Nadya's doctor bills.

If You Build It, They Will Come

It's Monday already. Man the weekends go by so fast. We had a pretty eventful weekend. On Saturday we took Addi up to the Build A Bear place at Penn Square Mall. If you haven't ever been there, call before you go and see if they are having a party. It is crazy. It's like race day registration only with a bunch of toddlers. We had a great time though. Addi built a kitty cat, it's appropriatly name "Kitty." Whoever came up with the Build A Bear idea is a genius and a rich one at that. You can't leave that place without spending a small fortune. I thought we'd go up there, put some stuffing in an animal and leave. No, you have to pick your animal, stuff your animal, fluff your animal, and then dress your animal. Kitty is wearing a princess dress of course.

Sunday we had church and then I hit the road. Grahmm Smith, rides for Team Power Train, came up from Pauls Valley to ride. The weather was crazy while we were out. The wind was gusting and it kept raining off and on. We couldn't decide if we were going to get poured on or if the sun was going to come out. We were able to get Grahmm's prescribed ride in and then I finished mine on the trainer. My legs were pretty much toast by the time I got off the trainer. Between last weeks workouts and then spending all day in the wind I was definitely feeling it. It's a good feeling though. There's nothing better than getting your ride in and knowing that you worked your butt off. I'll take one of those days over a recovery day anytime.

Once I got home, I found Amie and Addi painting Valentine's cookies. Addi loves to paint right now. She's actually set a personal best for entertaining herself. A couple of weeks ago she spent a good hour sitting all by herself at the table painting while Amie and got a few things done around the house. We were both kind of shock.

Last but not least, here is the blog debut picture of Amie, my beautiful and oh so pregnant wife. I'm not sure how long this picture will stay on here because she's pretty picky about me posting pictures of her on here. But this one is AH approved so hopefully it lasts. This weekend we (Amie) will be 36 weeks pregnant. Addi only lasted a few days longer than that so we're expecting Emily anytime now. We meet with our Doctor tomorrow and every week from here on out. I think this has been the fastest nine months of my life. It's amazing how fast time goes once you have children.

Steady as she goes

Yesterday, despite a 1.5 hour delay, Amie and I finally got in to see our doctor. Our originally scheduled 4 o'clock appointment ended happening at 5:30 and we were the very last appointment. Anyway, Emily is doing great. She is 5 lbs 5 oz and growing as expected. Her HR was up in the Threshold range thanks to some M&M's Amie had eaten. She's also pretty animated. During the last few ultrasounds she has made it a point to stick her tongue out at us and her fingers are constantly in her mouth. Everyone is starting to get a little ancy now because her arrival is getting so close. Saturday marks week 35 and I'm guessing she's here sometime within the next couple weeks. I still need to get some cigars and finish packing my hospital bag.

After yesterdays w/o I had a nice Endurance/Tempo ride this morning. Nothing really special about it, just spinning, spinning, just keep spinning. My movie selection for this morning was "Street Racer." If you haven't seen it, don't waste the $1.08 to rent it. I'm a big fan of the Fast & the Furious and I thought this might be along the same lines. I was wrong. It's kind of like it in that it has some cool looking cars but it's more like the Fast & the Furious on my weekly budget. It's full of no name actors and most of their time is spent racing around a go-cart track. I think the RedBox owes me for this one.

One last thing, how in the hell can a company who is receiving federal bailout money even consider giving and exec a $500,000 bonus? We, the tax payers, are bailing them out of their poor financial situations/decisions and they have the nerve to hand out bonuses like it's pocket change. This is just my way of thinking and maybe it's way off. If you can afford to blow several millions of dollars on bonuses and frivolous spending maybe you could use some of that money to bail yourself out. Let's reward the people who have made poor decisions by taking money out of the pockets of the people who can barely keep their lights on. I don't see why my tax money has to be spent to make sure that Joe "the financial advisor", who sunk his company into millions of dollars of debt, is given a nice fat pat on the back. Crazy!

MAP my ride

So far this week has been pretty good for me. Work is going great, family life is wonderful and my workouts are feeling good. I do need to find some new music to listen to while on the trainer though. This mornings MAP interval was awesome and I've already seen improvements in just the two weeks I've been doing them. I love this type of interval. Just go and go hard. If my body could handle it, I'd like to do these everyday just because it leaves you with a sense of accomplishment after getting off the bike. It's a good start to my day. This mornings movie selection was Tommy Boy. I did come to this conclusion, it's probably not the best idea to watch a comedy while doing intervals. That movie is even funny when you're just watching it with sub-titles.

Something else kind of cycling related. My weight is crazy right now. I've been gaining weight for the last two weeks. Not a lot, just a little but it's starting to add up. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong or if I'm just weighing heavy on the days I weigh. My diet hasn't changed, cycling hasn't changed. It bugs me though. I had finally got it down to something I was comfortable with, not my goal but close, and now it's creeping back up. It's just something I'm anal about, not eating disorder anal but I could see how it could be a problem if I let it. I've talked to several people who have eating disorders and I have a lot in common with them but I lack the will power I guess to really force myself not to eat. I look at myself and see the same things they describe when they see themselves. Probably if it weren't for Amie, I would be one of those people you could classify as having an eating disorder. She really helps me in this area. Most of the time it's more of a good kick in the arse to help me see the light. Not wanting to gain weight for me wasn't brought on by cycling, it was a problem I had even before cycling. I guess my concern is just more apparent now. I try to just look at it now like watts/kg and try to find out what works best for me.

What else is going on? Amie had two doctors appointments today. The first was at our normal doctor at Norman Regional. They checked her out and said all looks well but they are going to start checking us (Amie) weekly now. We are at 34 weeks, Addi came at 36 weeks, so we are getting close. Our doctor told Amie she would like us to make it one week longer than Addi did. That would put us at 37 weeks and I'm not sure if Amie will make it to 37 weeks. She's...ummmm....pretty full. This afternoon, we have a doctors appointment at the OU Med Center. I'll get to go to that one and they always do an ultrasound so we'll get to see how Emily is doing. Two doctors you might ask? We were high risk late in our first trimester, early in our second. So, now we get to see two doctors. I can't really complain about the co-pays because at least we are fortunate enough to have insurance. Thank God for that.