So Jose Sandoval, a teammate, reminded me that the Wednesday Night World Championship MTB races started last week so I thought I might go give it a try... Now mind you I haven't participated in bicycle race since August 5th 2005 when I got hit during the Dead Baby Bike race and the last time I raced in a MTB race was for fun SS at South Seatac in July of 2005.
I decided to "throw down" tonight for fun to see where my (lack of) fitness sits. I showed up around 6:30 with my preggo wife and wild 'n crazy 3 yo daughter. I registered for the year as a Sport class age 19-34 (my race age this year is 34!!) and got the number 484 (close enough to my favorite numer 448). I got a chance to get on the course for about 15 or 20 minutes to give it a pre-ride. I felt good and thought I would do ok in the race. I was riding my 29er Black Sheep Ti hardtail with the Reba up front and setup as a singlespeed (SS) running 32x19. There where about 30 to 40 people both sport and expert combined lined up at the start. There were a handful of singlespeeders and a few other 29ers as well. We were all riding 5 laps plus the starter half lap. At 7:00 they started the expert riders first and when they were up and around the corner the sport riders got their start.
The race started with a nice long straight paved road with a left turn into the singletrack and immediately UPHILL!! This seperated the sport class into two groups and my 32x19 dictated I was in the latter group of riders. I powered up the singletrack even passing a few of the geared riders as the shifted and lost momentum having to stop. I realized that as soon as I got up to the top of the hill I was SPENT I went out too hard too fast and BLEW-UP!! I kinda battled it out with two other riders for about a lap I would spin out in the straights and ride their tires on the hills and the tight twist technical stuff. Eventually I ran out of steam and realized I was there just for fun so I backed off and just rode the trail! I started having fun after a few minute break on the side of the trail on that nasty uphill section on the second lap. Into my second to last lap I was passed by the top five or six expert (read Pro/semi Pro) riders I did the proper thing by pulling aside and let them pass. I was eventually "pulled" with what would have been my last lap to go but I was D-U-N done so I didn't mind. It was about 8:15 when I crossed the finish line. I don't think I was DFL but I was pretty close! All in all my leg felt great and did not hurt at all during the race and even afterwards it is only slightly sore what really hurts is my lower back, OUCH!!
Abigael rode her little tricycle around in the grass and dirt having a blast while Christie watched. She ran like a wild child all over the staging area cheering me on when ever I popped out of the woods where the trail skirted the staging area each lap yelling "Go daddy go!!"
All in all I think my first race back went well it was totally worth my $12 and it got preggers and wild child out of the house for an evening. I think I will race every Wednesday until track season starts and I will race masters at the track on Wednesdays.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
March was a crazy month....
Back to California...
This time to bury my grandfather. My grandfather was 87 years old and he passed on Feb 17th in his sleep. He lived a rough hard life and even though he was not as involved in our lives as we would have liked we (the family) and I still loved and respected the hell out of him.
So March started out with a trip down to see my best friend Julian Chocholak, mountain bike, and see the North American Handmade Bike show (see post below for details!!). When I got home I immediately had a major anatomy and phisology exam which I had orginally planned to have completed before my trip down to CA and due to some delays in the class it got pushed back to Monday the day I was getting back from CA. Mr Gong my instructor allowed me to take the test on tuesday and I kinda struggled through it as I was coming down with the crud and I hadn't had the time to study properly. I passed but the 71 I got brought down my overall class score sharply.
On the 10th of March I had my first oral board interview with Seattle fire Department in this latest round of testing and hiring. I felt like the interview went well I finished within the 20 minute time limit and didn't rush through the final few questions. UPDATE: I passed the first oral board and I have a second oral board interview on May 2nd to determine my placing on the hiring list! That night we dropped Abigael off at our old friends and neighbors, Kyle, Layla, and Alexx's house and Christie and I attended the Marymoor Velodrome Association's annual fundraising auction on Mercer Island. Frankie Andrau, a former pro cyclist and 9 time Tour de France rider, was the guest speaker and we ate heartily and enjoyed ourselves in the company of adults and friends!! Sunday the 11th was Abigael and I went to the annual Seattle Bike Expo and walked around taking in the sights.
The next week Christie, Abigael and myself all traveled down to CA to goto my grandfather, M.C.'s memorial. Despite the sad circumstances for the trip it was a joyous reunion of the Lockwood clan. In attendance were my uncle Wayne and aunt Mary, cousins Jeff and Chris, flying in from Japan!, their mom Berta, Jeff's daughter Lindzee, my mom and dad, my sister Gabbi and brother-in-law Dan Whittington, their two kids my niece Emma and nephew Matthew. We stayed in a hotel in Sacramento not far from Mary's mom, Elenor's, house. My dad and uncles second cousin Chris Tarkington and his wife also came up for the memorial it had been almost 20 years since I had last met them and it was a good reuninion. The memorial at the Veteran's home in Yountville was very dignified and honorable. Afterwards we had a short graveside service for family and a few friends. We all had lunch at the golf club house resturant and took lots of family photo's.
We got to spend lots of time visiting and the kids got to play and get to know each other again. On Saturday, St. Patty's day, our family went up to Chico to visit my grandmother (mom's) on her 93rd!! birthday. She is in a skilled nursing facility due to a serious fall and broken hip in December. The visit was pleseant and my uncle David (mom's brother) and his wife was also there so the visit was very good. Unfortunately over the weekend my dad came down with"THE sickness" and we weren't feeling great coughing ridiculously in the car as we travelled from place to place. Abigael came down with the sickness as we flew home and by Monday all three of us were very ill. Unfortunately this all happened in the last week of school and I got back in time to start my final exams. Christie ended up becoming really sick still vomiting from "morning" sickness and having problems with her breathing! In any case the baby is very healthy and all ultrasounds show the baby is doing great!! We had our 20 week ultra sound on Tuesday April 10th and the baby is alive a kick'n!!
I got my grades over the spring break. I ended up with a 3.9 in Mat 098 Intermediate Algebra, 3.7 in Chem 101 Inorganic Chemistry, and a sad 2.8 in ANP 214 Anatomy & Phisiology not doing very great on the final, 74, continued to bring down my overall grade. This quarter I am taking Bio 280 Microbiology and Psy 206 Develomental Psychology. I was going to re-take Human Nutrition online but decided I was busy enough with just two classes. I also found out the first day of class that I did not get any worker retraining funding due to them running out of funds, oh well!! I am doing pretty good in school right now but very busy with an 8am class every day during the week and working a few more hours at Fleetfoot Messengers as the "mechanic" on Wednesdays.
I had an Ortho Dr.s appt on Wed. April 11th with good results. The x-rays continue to show bone calcification although there is one area where the bone continues to regenerate slower than the rest of the grafting area. The doc and I decided to maintain status quo and I will see her in three months again. She says that one of my options to help jump start the regrowth process is to replace the "nail" or rod in my tibia, but that is kind of a last resort invasive step. So we'll see where we sit in three more months that will put my ONE year from my last surgery (July 6th 2006).
This time to bury my grandfather. My grandfather was 87 years old and he passed on Feb 17th in his sleep. He lived a rough hard life and even though he was not as involved in our lives as we would have liked we (the family) and I still loved and respected the hell out of him.
So March started out with a trip down to see my best friend Julian Chocholak, mountain bike, and see the North American Handmade Bike show (see post below for details!!). When I got home I immediately had a major anatomy and phisology exam which I had orginally planned to have completed before my trip down to CA and due to some delays in the class it got pushed back to Monday the day I was getting back from CA. Mr Gong my instructor allowed me to take the test on tuesday and I kinda struggled through it as I was coming down with the crud and I hadn't had the time to study properly. I passed but the 71 I got brought down my overall class score sharply.
On the 10th of March I had my first oral board interview with Seattle fire Department in this latest round of testing and hiring. I felt like the interview went well I finished within the 20 minute time limit and didn't rush through the final few questions. UPDATE: I passed the first oral board and I have a second oral board interview on May 2nd to determine my placing on the hiring list! That night we dropped Abigael off at our old friends and neighbors, Kyle, Layla, and Alexx's house and Christie and I attended the Marymoor Velodrome Association's annual fundraising auction on Mercer Island. Frankie Andrau, a former pro cyclist and 9 time Tour de France rider, was the guest speaker and we ate heartily and enjoyed ourselves in the company of adults and friends!! Sunday the 11th was Abigael and I went to the annual Seattle Bike Expo and walked around taking in the sights.
The next week Christie, Abigael and myself all traveled down to CA to goto my grandfather, M.C.'s memorial. Despite the sad circumstances for the trip it was a joyous reunion of the Lockwood clan. In attendance were my uncle Wayne and aunt Mary, cousins Jeff and Chris, flying in from Japan!, their mom Berta, Jeff's daughter Lindzee, my mom and dad, my sister Gabbi and brother-in-law Dan Whittington, their two kids my niece Emma and nephew Matthew. We stayed in a hotel in Sacramento not far from Mary's mom, Elenor's, house. My dad and uncles second cousin Chris Tarkington and his wife also came up for the memorial it had been almost 20 years since I had last met them and it was a good reuninion. The memorial at the Veteran's home in Yountville was very dignified and honorable. Afterwards we had a short graveside service for family and a few friends. We all had lunch at the golf club house resturant and took lots of family photo's.
We got to spend lots of time visiting and the kids got to play and get to know each other again. On Saturday, St. Patty's day, our family went up to Chico to visit my grandmother (mom's) on her 93rd!! birthday. She is in a skilled nursing facility due to a serious fall and broken hip in December. The visit was pleseant and my uncle David (mom's brother) and his wife was also there so the visit was very good. Unfortunately over the weekend my dad came down with"THE sickness" and we weren't feeling great coughing ridiculously in the car as we travelled from place to place. Abigael came down with the sickness as we flew home and by Monday all three of us were very ill. Unfortunately this all happened in the last week of school and I got back in time to start my final exams. Christie ended up becoming really sick still vomiting from "morning" sickness and having problems with her breathing! In any case the baby is very healthy and all ultrasounds show the baby is doing great!! We had our 20 week ultra sound on Tuesday April 10th and the baby is alive a kick'n!!
I got my grades over the spring break. I ended up with a 3.9 in Mat 098 Intermediate Algebra, 3.7 in Chem 101 Inorganic Chemistry, and a sad 2.8 in ANP 214 Anatomy & Phisiology not doing very great on the final, 74, continued to bring down my overall grade. This quarter I am taking Bio 280 Microbiology and Psy 206 Develomental Psychology. I was going to re-take Human Nutrition online but decided I was busy enough with just two classes. I also found out the first day of class that I did not get any worker retraining funding due to them running out of funds, oh well!! I am doing pretty good in school right now but very busy with an 8am class every day during the week and working a few more hours at Fleetfoot Messengers as the "mechanic" on Wednesdays.
I had an Ortho Dr.s appt on Wed. April 11th with good results. The x-rays continue to show bone calcification although there is one area where the bone continues to regenerate slower than the rest of the grafting area. The doc and I decided to maintain status quo and I will see her in three months again. She says that one of my options to help jump start the regrowth process is to replace the "nail" or rod in my tibia, but that is kind of a last resort invasive step. So we'll see where we sit in three more months that will put my ONE year from my last surgery (July 6th 2006).
Thursday, March 08, 2007
My weekend away in San Jose (and the North American Handmade Bicycle Show)
So last weekend I went down to San Jose/Sunnyvale to visit my best friend Julian Chocholak and his girlfriend Jen. I also went down to goto the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and take in a few beautifully built hand crafted bicycles. The show was bicycle overload!! I had a great time and I posted tons of pictures on my flickr account!
I also got to go mountain biking with my best friend Julian. On friday after I got in we went up to the Skyline Highway and rode in the Russian Ridge openspace! The weather was amazing and we got about two solid hours of riding in that late afternoon. And then during the show on Saturday I bumped into a couple guys from the SoCal area that reconized my bike from MTBR.com and they said that a bunch of MTBR.com guys were getting together on Sunday to go ride down in the UC Santa Cruz area.
On Sunday about ten of us met at 9am and rode some SWEET singletrack in the Santa Cruz mountains for a total of about 18 miles and 4 plus hours at a very physical yet social pace. Most of the attendees were riding 29er's with the exception of Julian on his Santa Cruz Blur LT and two other guys on 26er singlespeeds. I had a few mechanicals like a flat tire and a broken chain and then proceeded to crash about three quarters of the way into the ride and taco my front wheel. MY LEG WAS SAFE THE ENTIRE TIME (MOM). Banged up my right shoulder though, sore as hell now!! I bent the wheel back to sort of round and rode it out, singletrack and all no prob. I just need to replace the rim (Stan's ZTR Flow rims?) and she's good as new! The guys (Jeff) at Industry Nine have been SUPER helpful!!
I also got to go mountain biking with my best friend Julian. On friday after I got in we went up to the Skyline Highway and rode in the Russian Ridge openspace! The weather was amazing and we got about two solid hours of riding in that late afternoon. And then during the show on Saturday I bumped into a couple guys from the SoCal area that reconized my bike from MTBR.com and they said that a bunch of MTBR.com guys were getting together on Sunday to go ride down in the UC Santa Cruz area.On Sunday about ten of us met at 9am and rode some SWEET singletrack in the Santa Cruz mountains for a total of about 18 miles and 4 plus hours at a very physical yet social pace. Most of the attendees were riding 29er's with the exception of Julian on his Santa Cruz Blur LT and two other guys on 26er singlespeeds. I had a few mechanicals like a flat tire and a broken chain and then proceeded to crash about three quarters of the way into the ride and taco my front wheel. MY LEG WAS SAFE THE ENTIRE TIME (MOM). Banged up my right shoulder though, sore as hell now!! I bent the wheel back to sort of round and rode it out, singletrack and all no prob. I just need to replace the rim (Stan's ZTR Flow rims?) and she's good as new! The guys (Jeff) at Industry Nine have been SUPER helpful!!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
New Post
My mountain bike builder James Bleakley is "THE MAN"!! I noticed that after my last mountain bike ride my fat ass bent my seat post. I pulled it out and sure enough it was bent and how! It bent right at the seat post collar close to the frame. So I took a picture or two and emailed it off to James at Black Sheep Bicycles knowing that James does not frequently check his email.
I just wanted to let him know it had happened fully not expecting anything to happen. About week later I received an email from James stating that the post was ok to ride bent, but he would have a new seat post in the mail the next day! How cool is that!! No extra charge he just fully backed up his work 100%!!! Made in America still has a backbone! I talked with James the next day and he said that he had not only gotten a great deal, $$, on some 0.30 gauge Ti tubing but that he is continuously trying new types of materials to improve his products!! He said that I should be riding a 0.39 or 0.40 gauge seat post and that not only would he have a new one on the way, but he would include a new pair of Black Sheep Bikes logo socks!!! Stylin'!!! Thanks James you have a customer for life!!!
Next weekend I am going down to San Jose to visit with my best friend Julian Chocholak
and attend the North American Handmade Bicycle show. We are going to go mountain biking for the first time together in a long time!! I am taking my Black Sheep with me (the whole reason I went for the $1000 S&S coupler up charge) so we can ride. It is truly a handmade work of art!! I wish that James and Black Sheep was going to be attending the show, oh well next year!!
I just wanted to let him know it had happened fully not expecting anything to happen. About week later I received an email from James stating that the post was ok to ride bent, but he would have a new seat post in the mail the next day! How cool is that!! No extra charge he just fully backed up his work 100%!!! Made in America still has a backbone! I talked with James the next day and he said that he had not only gotten a great deal, $$, on some 0.30 gauge Ti tubing but that he is continuously trying new types of materials to improve his products!! He said that I should be riding a 0.39 or 0.40 gauge seat post and that not only would he have a new one on the way, but he would include a new pair of Black Sheep Bikes logo socks!!! Stylin'!!! Thanks James you have a customer for life!!!
Next weekend I am going down to San Jose to visit with my best friend Julian Chocholak
and attend the North American Handmade Bicycle show. We are going to go mountain biking for the first time together in a long time!! I am taking my Black Sheep with me (the whole reason I went for the $1000 S&S coupler up charge) so we can ride. It is truly a handmade work of art!! I wish that James and Black Sheep was going to be attending the show, oh well next year!!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
This quarters grades and a tribute to my Grandpa...
So far we are about half way through the quarter and I am some how pulling low A's in all three of my classes! I recieved a 92.76% on my last anatomy exam, a 92.5% on my last Math exam, and a 92.4% on my last Chemistry exam. As long as I don't totally take a crap on anyone of my classes I should be able to pull this quarter off with a 3. 5 to 3.7ish!!!! I have two major exams left in A&P the next of which is solely dedicated to the Brain and the nervous system, it is a major piece of work!!
On a sad note I found out that my Grandfather passed away Friday morning in CA. We were not as close as I would have liked to have been, but in the past few years M.C. (as he was known) did make some great strides towards being a grandpa. He was alway concerned about my my leg and how I was healing. I would get random out-of-the-blue phone calls from him just checking to see if I was doing alright. My one and only regret is not having talked to him lately... I wanted to tell him that we are expecting another baby and regardless of the baby's sex we are going to give the baby the middle name Campbell which was his mother's maiden name. My grandpa's middle name was Campbell, my dad's middle name is Campbell, and my middle name is Campbell. My dad grew up a Jr. tortured with the first name Merdith (note only one "E"). Hence he goes by Cam from Campbell and my Grandpa went by M.C. from his initials. One of the names Christie and I have talked about if we have a girl is to name her MerEdith Campbell Lockwood after her Great Grandfather... Right now it's just a thought but it seems fitting. Grandpa M.C. put more effort into being a grandpa to his great grand kids than he did his grand kids or his own boys. I guess old dogs do start to learn new tricks... God bless his soul, he is now getting ALL of his questions and doubts answer by the Almighty!
The single most thing I am so utterly proud of my grandfather for was his service and dedication to the Military. My grandpa join the Air Force when it was just the Army Air Corp. and was in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Grandpa acheived the top rank of Senior Master Sergeant in the Air Force retiring after almost thirty years in-service. In our family of all the people that have served in the military grandpa and I are the only two enlisted guys so I really take pride in that!
RIP Clyde 1919-2007
On a sad note I found out that my Grandfather passed away Friday morning in CA. We were not as close as I would have liked to have been, but in the past few years M.C. (as he was known) did make some great strides towards being a grandpa. He was alway concerned about my my leg and how I was healing. I would get random out-of-the-blue phone calls from him just checking to see if I was doing alright. My one and only regret is not having talked to him lately... I wanted to tell him that we are expecting another baby and regardless of the baby's sex we are going to give the baby the middle name Campbell which was his mother's maiden name. My grandpa's middle name was Campbell, my dad's middle name is Campbell, and my middle name is Campbell. My dad grew up a Jr. tortured with the first name Merdith (note only one "E"). Hence he goes by Cam from Campbell and my Grandpa went by M.C. from his initials. One of the names Christie and I have talked about if we have a girl is to name her MerEdith Campbell Lockwood after her Great Grandfather... Right now it's just a thought but it seems fitting. Grandpa M.C. put more effort into being a grandpa to his great grand kids than he did his grand kids or his own boys. I guess old dogs do start to learn new tricks... God bless his soul, he is now getting ALL of his questions and doubts answer by the Almighty!
The single most thing I am so utterly proud of my grandfather for was his service and dedication to the Military. My grandpa join the Air Force when it was just the Army Air Corp. and was in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Grandpa acheived the top rank of Senior Master Sergeant in the Air Force retiring after almost thirty years in-service. In our family of all the people that have served in the military grandpa and I are the only two enlisted guys so I really take pride in that!
RIP Clyde 1919-2007
Sunday, February 18, 2007
It's been awhile huh...
So it was brought to my attention that it has been quite awhile since I have blogged. I have been up past my eyeballs since the new year!! Let me see if I can give you all a small taste of what I have been up to.... School consists of classes 5 days a week from 10 am till almost 3pm to include the second half of Anatomy & Physiology 214, Intermediate College Algebra 098, and Inorganic Chemistry 101 two of which are lab sciences!!! I have returned to King County Fire District 20 Skyway Vol. Fire Dept., but in doing so I have to go back through the ENTIRE 6 month recruit training academy all over again the meet every Thursday night 7-10pm and every Saturday from 8am till 5pm. I take Abigael, my wonderfully crazy 2 1/2 year old, to her "school" with me everyday. On Sundays I try to take a few hours for my sanity and participate in the Sunday morning Soul Session mountain bike ride, but that is only if the physical exertion from the day before in recruit school has not totally kicked my ass!! I also try to get some homework done on Sundays???
About the second week into this quarter one of my very close friends called me from jail at 5:30am on Monday morning. He had gotten into a scuffle with some of his roommates "friends" and he paid the legal price. So he had no where to go and Christie told me before I asked that he could stay with us as long as he needed. He just started a great new job as a customer service rep for a very big international bicycle manufacturer. So PJ has been crashing on our couch for a about two months. His mental state of mind is fragile and he takes alot of counseling, his wife divorced him and he is not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping that he will be able to get his own place come the first of March! He has his big court date on Tuesday....
Christie is pregnant again, YEAH!!! But in turn she has been sick as a sick dog for the past 5 or 6 weeks. Nauseous, viral respiratory infection (walking pneumonia), always tired, and very busy with work. I have been trying to take on as much as I can so she just has to worry about work and stabilizing her stomach... We have had two ultrasounds so far and everything looks GREAT so far!! We have talked about a few names and we definitely have our boy name, it's what Abigael was going to be named before we found out she was a girl. As far as a girl name we have one really good name thought of so far and I am very happy with it but we'll see... Oh we don't find out the sex of our babies till they pop their little rumps outta mommy!! So you all can take up a pool, we thought Abigael was going to be a boy for sure?!
I am also still working at Fleet Foot Messenger service but only on a VERY part time basis... I basically only order parts for the riders and then prepare the billing for ordered parts. Most of the boys have figured out how to wrench on their own bikes and since I am so busy I just don't have the time to "hang out" at Flatty and clean up after the kids... I am also still managing the apartment building as well. only on a part time as needed basis but when things need to be done it is usually very time intensive...
Let's see what else... I am sure there is something else but it seems like I don't have a minute anymore. I ache and hurt all of the time. I had an Ortho Dr.'s appointment a few weeks ago and the X-Rays looked about the same, maybe a little bit more density but pretty much the same. Dr. Taitsman has discussed with her colleagues about adjusting the healing time period for an open Tib-Fib non-union fracture from a year to TWO AND A HALF YEARS OR MORE!!!! There was one other guy that came into Harborview with a injury very similar to my break and he is having a long rough healing process as well. Between the two of us she is convinced that a non-union such as ours takes a stink'n long time to heal!!
I went to the annual Bike Swap here in Seattle today and I only bought one small part for $10 and exercised a great amount of self control. Mainly I did not see anything that I needed or wanted. I did get the chance to bump into a bunch of friend from the bicycling community and catch up. I hung out at Jonny Sundt's booth with Matt Bianchi and Matt Case and drank Guinness and heckled the hipsters trying to build up their "totally stylin' fixies".
About the second week into this quarter one of my very close friends called me from jail at 5:30am on Monday morning. He had gotten into a scuffle with some of his roommates "friends" and he paid the legal price. So he had no where to go and Christie told me before I asked that he could stay with us as long as he needed. He just started a great new job as a customer service rep for a very big international bicycle manufacturer. So PJ has been crashing on our couch for a about two months. His mental state of mind is fragile and he takes alot of counseling, his wife divorced him and he is not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I am hoping that he will be able to get his own place come the first of March! He has his big court date on Tuesday....
Christie is pregnant again, YEAH!!! But in turn she has been sick as a sick dog for the past 5 or 6 weeks. Nauseous, viral respiratory infection (walking pneumonia), always tired, and very busy with work. I have been trying to take on as much as I can so she just has to worry about work and stabilizing her stomach... We have had two ultrasounds so far and everything looks GREAT so far!! We have talked about a few names and we definitely have our boy name, it's what Abigael was going to be named before we found out she was a girl. As far as a girl name we have one really good name thought of so far and I am very happy with it but we'll see... Oh we don't find out the sex of our babies till they pop their little rumps outta mommy!! So you all can take up a pool, we thought Abigael was going to be a boy for sure?!
I am also still working at Fleet Foot Messenger service but only on a VERY part time basis... I basically only order parts for the riders and then prepare the billing for ordered parts. Most of the boys have figured out how to wrench on their own bikes and since I am so busy I just don't have the time to "hang out" at Flatty and clean up after the kids... I am also still managing the apartment building as well. only on a part time as needed basis but when things need to be done it is usually very time intensive...
Let's see what else... I am sure there is something else but it seems like I don't have a minute anymore. I ache and hurt all of the time. I had an Ortho Dr.'s appointment a few weeks ago and the X-Rays looked about the same, maybe a little bit more density but pretty much the same. Dr. Taitsman has discussed with her colleagues about adjusting the healing time period for an open Tib-Fib non-union fracture from a year to TWO AND A HALF YEARS OR MORE!!!! There was one other guy that came into Harborview with a injury very similar to my break and he is having a long rough healing process as well. Between the two of us she is convinced that a non-union such as ours takes a stink'n long time to heal!!
I went to the annual Bike Swap here in Seattle today and I only bought one small part for $10 and exercised a great amount of self control. Mainly I did not see anything that I needed or wanted. I did get the chance to bump into a bunch of friend from the bicycling community and catch up. I hung out at Jonny Sundt's booth with Matt Bianchi and Matt Case and drank Guinness and heckled the hipsters trying to build up their "totally stylin' fixies".
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Taking the Sheep out to pasture....
Riding in the snow is one of my favorite types of riding! It was one of the funnest rides I have done in years!!
Jose riding his new Kona Blast in the snow!
Gotta love the Black Sheep Ti Highlight 29erI have ridden here before a few time on my 26" and done "ok", but nothing prepared me for the fun I was gonna have riding the Tape on my Black Sheep!! Rolling over things is an understatement! With the Rampage up front and the Nevegal in the rear I scoot scooted along the trail up and over root after root and the bike handled like a dream in the super tight twisty singletrack!! I rode with a few friends and beyond the fitness difference the bike just flat moved out. I even rode a few stunts to sucsess. Although riding teeter totters designed for a 26er wheelbase takes a little more momentum to find the fulcrum point on a 29er! I had a blast and I plan to make the Sunday morning ride a regular thing now that my leg is healing up nicely. It does my soul good to get out and ride like a scalded dog!
Jose on his new mountain bike
Sharon riding her old moutain bike dusting off her skillsSaturday, January 06, 2007
Bike Theives are ASSHOLES!!!
I should have made this post weeks ago but one of my best friends here in Seattle recently had his bicycle stolen. It was stolen downtown Seattle 2nd Ave and Lenora the Friday night before Christmas.P.J.'s Sycip track bike is VERY distinctive and cannot be disgiused. It's a very distinctive frame, compact geometry, fixed gear, and no matter what color they spray paint it, it will be recognized. Look for it. This is a photo from a few months ago...but that frame is not something you see everyday...look for it.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Back in the saddle...
I have finally been able to get back on a mountain bike and ride some true singletrack!! Riding around the neighborhood just was not cutting the mustard.
I took the Black Sheep out to a place in Fayetteville called Smith Lake and rode the mountain bike trails there. There were green beginner's trails as well as many blue and black trails. I rode every trail I could find even rolling over an elevated skinny bridge and stopping to take action pictures (kinda hard to do solo). The terrain was very sandy (duh it's not called "The Sandhills" for nothing) and full of fallen pine needles.
The trails were mostly flat and fast. The pine trees were very close together so the big challenge came in trying not to hit my handlebars on any of the trees in the narrow gaps on the trail. I was instantly impressed at the 29er wheels, they rolled over everything roots, rocks, dips, and bumps. The other thing that caught my attention was how well the front tire, a Panaracer Rampage, hooked up in the loose sand!! It had rained the day before so the sand was pretty hard and crusty but sand none the less! After taking some handlebar mounted video on trail I rolled back to the truck. I then proceeded to realize I had locked the keys in my mother-in-law's truck (I had keep the ignition key but forgot there was a seperate door lock key). I had to have the keys brought out to me and I called it a day. My leg felt solid and strong throughout the entire ride and was only slightly sore that evening. I do believe I will go back to Smith Lake on Tues or Wed depending on the rain....
On Sunday I got up at 5am and was on the road by 5:45am on the way to Charlotte, NC. I had arranged to meet up with Rich Dillen (Team Dicky) in Charlotte and ride some local trails. It too had rained on Friday complicating the decision as to where to ride. As luck would have it the rain disappeared and Sat was a nice balmy 70 deg and sunny helping to dry out the one local place that is more sand than NC red clay, Colonel Francis Beatty Park. I met Rich at his house and we readied to go ride. I actually got a chance to meet "The Pie", Rich's wife, and his son "The Boy". We took Rich's "dirty little box" to the park and started to ride with plans to meet one of Rich's friend, The Big Worm (Bill), on the trail. I fell in behind Rich and we hit the trail, FAST! The trail was very simular to the trails at Smith Lake but with less sand and more rocks, roots and ups-n-downs. We went relativly slow so Rich could show me the trail and we could chit chat along the way. We stoped every once in a while so I could catch my breath. There were a few sections that we could really rip it up and all-in-all the trail conditions were perfect. A few wet spots but nothing that was crazy muddy. Near the end of the first lap (each lap was about 6 miles long) we ran into Rich's friend, The Big Worm, who had started in the reverse direction and met us on the trail. We finished out the loop and took a short break. Back into the woods and the three of us really started ripping up the trails!! As the day went on we started to see more and more pedestrians and dog walkers out on the MOUNTIAN BIKE trails so we had to slow down or stopp when we passed them. We even witnessed to young kids riding the trails on MOTORCYCLES of all things. They not going crazy tearing up the trails just scootin through the woods, but obviously not suposed to be there. I could tell Rich was clearly aggrevated by their precense as his eye started to twitch and I could see the gears turning! We rode a full second lap stopping to talk and rest. When we rode we rode hard and fast. I was again amazed at how the 29er just rolled over the obsticals in it's path. I let out some of the air in the front tire (not really sure what the starting psi was probably around 30psi) to the point I could mash it between my fingers. That made a world of difference in how it not only rolled over thing but more hit the clawed it's way over roots and rocks. I only hit it hard once and that was coming off of a small deep dip into a rooty climb out, but the Ti fork/big volume tire/at speed 29 inch wheel combination took it like a man and kept me rollin' along! After the second lap I was pressed for time to go see other friends in N. Charlotte and the Big Worm had only done one lap so we started the full lap again completeing the black diamond loop and finishing it off early by coming back in the reverse direction on the green starting loop. After the ride I asked Bill to take a picture of Rich and I (so I had proof I went on a ride with the 24 hour SOLO Singlespeed World Champion) the picture came out great except that it makes me look like a giant and Rich look like a Christmas elf... Thanks Rich I had a blast and I hope to ride with you again soon!
I drove up to north Charlotte to visit with some old college friends Trey and Tara Adams. We talked and caught up and watched the Panthers just bearly hang on to win their first game in weeks. I got to meet Trey's folks again I had not seen them since Appalachian graduation in 2000. I then drove back to the in-laws and was home by 6:30pm and totally exhausted!
Two days of mountain biking and I am itching to get out and do more!! I have the bug again!! I may not travel very often but knowing that where ever I go I can now take a bike for free will help to push into traveling more often (I hope!)...
I took the Black Sheep out to a place in Fayetteville called Smith Lake and rode the mountain bike trails there. There were green beginner's trails as well as many blue and black trails. I rode every trail I could find even rolling over an elevated skinny bridge and stopping to take action pictures (kinda hard to do solo). The terrain was very sandy (duh it's not called "The Sandhills" for nothing) and full of fallen pine needles.
The trails were mostly flat and fast. The pine trees were very close together so the big challenge came in trying not to hit my handlebars on any of the trees in the narrow gaps on the trail. I was instantly impressed at the 29er wheels, they rolled over everything roots, rocks, dips, and bumps. The other thing that caught my attention was how well the front tire, a Panaracer Rampage, hooked up in the loose sand!! It had rained the day before so the sand was pretty hard and crusty but sand none the less! After taking some handlebar mounted video on trail I rolled back to the truck. I then proceeded to realize I had locked the keys in my mother-in-law's truck (I had keep the ignition key but forgot there was a seperate door lock key). I had to have the keys brought out to me and I called it a day. My leg felt solid and strong throughout the entire ride and was only slightly sore that evening. I do believe I will go back to Smith Lake on Tues or Wed depending on the rain....On Sunday I got up at 5am and was on the road by 5:45am on the way to Charlotte, NC. I had arranged to meet up with Rich Dillen (Team Dicky) in Charlotte and ride some local trails. It too had rained on Friday complicating the decision as to where to ride. As luck would have it the rain disappeared and Sat was a nice balmy 70 deg and sunny helping to dry out the one local place that is more sand than NC red clay, Colonel Francis Beatty Park. I met Rich at his house and we readied to go ride. I actually got a chance to meet "The Pie", Rich's wife, and his son "The Boy". We took Rich's "dirty little box" to the park and started to ride with plans to meet one of Rich's friend, The Big Worm (Bill), on the trail. I fell in behind Rich and we hit the trail, FAST! The trail was very simular to the trails at Smith Lake but with less sand and more rocks, roots and ups-n-downs. We went relativly slow so Rich could show me the trail and we could chit chat along the way. We stoped every once in a while so I could catch my breath. There were a few sections that we could really rip it up and all-in-all the trail conditions were perfect. A few wet spots but nothing that was crazy muddy. Near the end of the first lap (each lap was about 6 miles long) we ran into Rich's friend, The Big Worm, who had started in the reverse direction and met us on the trail. We finished out the loop and took a short break. Back into the woods and the three of us really started ripping up the trails!! As the day went on we started to see more and more pedestrians and dog walkers out on the MOUNTIAN BIKE trails so we had to slow down or stopp when we passed them. We even witnessed to young kids riding the trails on MOTORCYCLES of all things. They not going crazy tearing up the trails just scootin through the woods, but obviously not suposed to be there. I could tell Rich was clearly aggrevated by their precense as his eye started to twitch and I could see the gears turning! We rode a full second lap stopping to talk and rest. When we rode we rode hard and fast. I was again amazed at how the 29er just rolled over the obsticals in it's path. I let out some of the air in the front tire (not really sure what the starting psi was probably around 30psi) to the point I could mash it between my fingers. That made a world of difference in how it not only rolled over thing but more hit the clawed it's way over roots and rocks. I only hit it hard once and that was coming off of a small deep dip into a rooty climb out, but the Ti fork/big volume tire/at speed 29 inch wheel combination took it like a man and kept me rollin' along! After the second lap I was pressed for time to go see other friends in N. Charlotte and the Big Worm had only done one lap so we started the full lap again completeing the black diamond loop and finishing it off early by coming back in the reverse direction on the green starting loop. After the ride I asked Bill to take a picture of Rich and I (so I had proof I went on a ride with the 24 hour SOLO Singlespeed World Champion) the picture came out great except that it makes me look like a giant and Rich look like a Christmas elf... Thanks Rich I had a blast and I hope to ride with you again soon!
I drove up to north Charlotte to visit with some old college friends Trey and Tara Adams. We talked and caught up and watched the Panthers just bearly hang on to win their first game in weeks. I got to meet Trey's folks again I had not seen them since Appalachian graduation in 2000. I then drove back to the in-laws and was home by 6:30pm and totally exhausted! 
Two days of mountain biking and I am itching to get out and do more!! I have the bug again!! I may not travel very often but knowing that where ever I go I can now take a bike for free will help to push into traveling more often (I hope!)...
Friday, December 22, 2006
Sheep are awesome!!
I recieved my new Black Sheep 29er mountain bike this week and I posted a bunch of pics here on my Track Daddy Everything Bike blog along with a parts write up. I intend to go for a trail ride this coming weekend with Team Dicky in NC and I will also post a ride write up. I do believe this is the most awesome bike I have ever owned!! WOW!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
AWESOME news!!!
We are pregnant!!! We are due in August!! We are SOOOooo excited!! Christie is feeling great and I can't wait!! We are going to do the same thing we did with Abigael and opt to not find out the sex of the baby until he or she is born!
(This news was confirmed by our doctor with a blood test!!)
Oh yeah school is over yeah!!! I think I did ok, but we'll see...
(I checked my grades and it looks good!!!
COURSE ID ---------- TITLE ---------------- GRADE---CREDITS
ANP 213-------------ANATOMY & PHYSIO I-------3.4------- 5.0
MAT 085-------------ALGEBRA II------------------4.0--------5.0
NTR 150--------------HUMAN NUTRITION--------2.3--------5.0
Qtrly: Gpa Cr 15.0 Cr Earn 15.0 Grpts 48.5 GPA>>> 3.23 !!!)
My Black Sheep frame came on Sat and It is sweeter than I could have ever imagined!! I will post pics in the other blog here soon!!
Oh a more somber note, I found out from my mom that my 92 year old Grandmother fell last night possibly due to a stroke and broke her hip. They didn't find her until this morning at the home and she is critical at the hospital in Chico, CA. I wish I could go see her but it is never that simple. God bless her soul, I love you Grandma.
(Late edit: My mom went up and is with her mom. It looks like possibly a hip replacement surgery.)
(This news was confirmed by our doctor with a blood test!!)
Oh yeah school is over yeah!!! I think I did ok, but we'll see...
(I checked my grades and it looks good!!!
COURSE ID ---------- TITLE ---------------- GRADE---CREDITS
ANP 213-------------ANATOMY & PHYSIO I-------3.4------- 5.0
MAT 085-------------ALGEBRA II------------------4.0--------5.0
NTR 150--------------HUMAN NUTRITION--------2.3--------5.0
Qtrly: Gpa Cr 15.0 Cr Earn 15.0 Grpts 48.5 GPA>>> 3.23 !!!)
My Black Sheep frame came on Sat and It is sweeter than I could have ever imagined!! I will post pics in the other blog here soon!!
Oh a more somber note, I found out from my mom that my 92 year old Grandmother fell last night possibly due to a stroke and broke her hip. They didn't find her until this morning at the home and she is critical at the hospital in Chico, CA. I wish I could go see her but it is never that simple. God bless her soul, I love you Grandma.
(Late edit: My mom went up and is with her mom. It looks like possibly a hip replacement surgery.)
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Finals in a week!!!
Well it's that time of the quarter!! We have one more week of instruction before finals start!! Actually my Anatomy & Phisiology 213 Lab final starts Thur the 7th from 5:30 till 7:30!! Then my Math final is Tuesday the 12th from 10:30 till 12:30, Nutrition final is Wednesday the 13th from 10:30 till 12:30, and the Lecture portion of my A&P final is also Tuesday the 12th from 5:30 till 7:30. I have talked with my algebra instructor and I may be able to take the final early so I can concentrate on my A&P exam on the 12th which would mean I would take it on Monday during one of her other classes final exams.... We'll see? And then freedom for a few weeks before School resumes on the 2nd of January! Next quarter Chem 101 from 10-10:50 am M-F with arranged lab on Mondays, Math 98 Intermediate Algebra from 11-11:50 M-F, and Anatomy & Phisology 214 from 1-1:50 TWF and 1-2:50 MTh!!!! Whew Mondays are gonna be busy!! Good news is that Abigael will be in "school" while I am in school and I can (if I don't have any studying to do, yeah right!) go have lunch or help out from 12 till 1! Good news, no night classes at SCCC! I will be going back to Skyway KCFD 20 fire dept which intails going back through their fire academy which is held every Thurs night from 7-10 and Saturdays from 8-5! I am hoping that since I have already graduated ONCE from this academy they will be forgiving if I have to study of put my real school first. I do want to come back to the Dept real bad!! I want to take and pass my Firefighter 1 certification ans become a sworn King county firefighter! I also hope that the physical demands put on me with start slowly as I will be healed by Jan but still not a full 100% (hopefully I will be 100% by mid year?)...
Thursday, November 30, 2006
TEN YEARS!!!!!
What have you done for TEN years straight?? Me?, nothing except stay married to a wonderful woman from North Carolina. Never thought I would have done anything for tens years in a row... I love Christie as she truely completes me, sounds corny but it's true. There isn't anybody else that truely knows me or understands me or would put up with me the way she does. Thank you babe! Ok enough of the sappy stuff, Christie made a nice post with some pictures from WAY BACK HERE. And since I had class tonight we went out to the travelling Banff Mountain Film Festival last night, woo hoo a evening without the kid/minion!
Monday, November 27, 2006
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!?!?!
That's right MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Seahawks crush the Packers!!! My good friend Bryce Weaver, season ticket holder, had an extra ticket and invited me to go tonight! It was colder than you know what but TOTALLY worth it!! Thanks Dream!! Here are a few pictures of the field at game time!! Can you believe it snow on the Seahawks playing field and the Packers lost?!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Doctor's appt...
Went to see my Ortho docs yesterday morning and all looks well! I had x-rays which according to the docs didn't show any significant change from my Oct 18th visit. The docs did say that there was a considerable amount of conective tissues in the area of the bone graph but it just has not calcifide yet. The good news is that the bone graph is still there! Some graphs of this type can just dissolve/wash away and they have to start all over again. It is just going to take time! They did seem impressed with my range of motion and activity level. I asked if I could start doing some gym workouts with my legs and I got the ok to start a weight traing program. I was told to start with low weight, of course, high reps but in regards to my left leg I need to start with "E"ccentric exercise. Eccentric is the controled lowering of weight vs. contracting and pulling the weights up. Erik Moen my PT has explained this to me also, as lift the weight with both legs, mostly with the right, and then slowly and controlled lower the weight with my left leg only. The ortho doc said to also include some strength training as well to include higher weight lower reps slowly building the weight up to the point that my left leg can handle the same amount of weight the right leg can. Other than that I am down to the next lowest level of pain meds, only when I need them, I will see them again in THREE (3) months, and continue with intensive Physical Therapy!!!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Long time no write...
So I have been busy as I am sure you can tell by my lack of writing/posting. Yes, I may have been alone last week with the girls outta town but I was VERY busy with school and family friends visiting. The Chocholak parents, John and Dianne, were up to visit with their daughter Wendi and soon (I hope!) to be son-in-law Sam and meet Sam's family. My best friend Julian, Wendi's brother, tagged along and we got to visit and hang out together. I built him his dream mountain bike, a Santa Cruz Blur LT with full Chris King and XTR build! Julian was able to take delivery of his bike with an ear to ear grin! We got a small chance to ride a little up at the park behind the house. We rode on a few bum trails in the overgrown section of the park (an area I have been thinking about doing some minor/small trail improvement...) and dropped the big ledge. We were having a great time until we realized we had rolled through some rouge dog poo and it was every where! So we went home to clean shoes and bikes. On Thursday of their visit I was able to arrange through George Westbrooke, a friend from Skyway fire recruit academy, a private tour of the Renton Boeing 737 assembly plant! John Chocholak was my high school shop tech teacher and he sits on the California Industrial and Technology Education Association
executive committee as the Advocacy liaison. We had the opportunity to not only see every step in the construction of the 737 but also walk through a few of the planes as they were being built. It was an awesome tour Thanks again George!!!
And of course the weather has not let up much so everyone is starting to get ill. We have tickets to NC leaving on the 20th and returning on the 28th of Dec! I'll try to keep up to date with my entries....
executive committee as the Advocacy liaison. We had the opportunity to not only see every step in the construction of the 737 but also walk through a few of the planes as they were being built. It was an awesome tour Thanks again George!!!
And of course the weather has not let up much so everyone is starting to get ill. We have tickets to NC leaving on the 20th and returning on the 28th of Dec! I'll try to keep up to date with my entries....
Thursday, November 09, 2006
A new link blog about my passion
So I have started to create a new blog (LINK) that I will link to often from here about my bikes and not bore the few of you that read Track Daddy with bike stuff all the time... I will soon have a link off to the side>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Black Sheep Ti Highlight 29er
So I just received my CAD rendering from James at Black Sheep Bikes last night. I am SOOOOooooo excited I need to call him and talk to him about it, but then he did make this CAD drawing based on a BUNCH of custom measurements taken from me. The only measurement I am concerned about is the 24" Effective Top Tube measurement. This bike will be suspension corrected so that if I want to throw a Reba on it I can. This would make the head angle steeper from 71.5 deg to 72-72.5 with fork sag, BUT James says that everyone that has ridden one of his Ti rigid forks and switches to a squishy front end always swaps back to the Ti. James will be making a Ti unicrown fork with a heavy duty steerer and thin walled legs to lighten it up and give it the suppleness that Ti forks are known for! I can't wait James also said he could deliver by Dec 1st!!!! As long as I can get it by the 20th so I can take it to NC for the holidays I will be stoked! It will be a great chance to test out the S&S couplers and not have to worry about which airlines we will fly on (We used to have to fly United because I could fly my bike for free through USCF).
These are my Fitup Measurements:
1. Height______________180.6cm
2. Inseam______________86.2cm
3. Deltoid to hip_________42cm
4. Hip to ankle__________104.5cm
5. Hip to knee___________61.5cm
6. Knee to ankle_________45.5cm
7. Deltoid to wrist________66cm
8. Width of palm_________10cm
9. Foot Length__________28.6cm
10. Sternal notch to ground_147cm
These are the measurements of my current or former mountain and touring bikes.For the most part I ride with a 90 to 100mm 5 deg Thomson stem some times 110mm
My current Mountain Bike is an 18” 2004 Kona Explosif Maybe FOR SALE when I get my new 29er
HA 70 SA 73.1 TT 23.1” SO 28” 100mm fork; stem 90mm x 5 deg
The bike I ride a lot (and my touring rig) is a 56cm 2005 Kona Sutra FOR SALE $1200
HA 72 SA 73 TT 56cm SO 30.4” stem 100mm x 5 deg
I had a 19” 2004 Kona Unit which I felt was TOO BIG for me??
HA 70 SA 72.1 TT 23.6” SO 28.8” 100mm fork 100mm x 5 deg
My cross country race rig was a 19” 2003 Kona Kula Primo
HA 71 SA 73 TT 23.5” SO 30.2” 80mm fork stem 100mm x 5 deg
These are my Fitup Measurements:
1. Height______________180.6cm
2. Inseam______________86.2cm
3. Deltoid to hip_________42cm
4. Hip to ankle__________104.5cm
5. Hip to knee___________61.5cm
6. Knee to ankle_________45.5cm
7. Deltoid to wrist________66cm
8. Width of palm_________10cm
9. Foot Length__________28.6cm
10. Sternal notch to ground_147cm
These are the measurements of my current or former mountain and touring bikes.For the most part I ride with a 90 to 100mm 5 deg Thomson stem some times 110mm
My current Mountain Bike is an 18” 2004 Kona Explosif Maybe FOR SALE when I get my new 29er
HA 70 SA 73.1 TT 23.1” SO 28” 100mm fork; stem 90mm x 5 deg
The bike I ride a lot (and my touring rig) is a 56cm 2005 Kona Sutra FOR SALE $1200
HA 72 SA 73 TT 56cm SO 30.4” stem 100mm x 5 deg
I had a 19” 2004 Kona Unit which I felt was TOO BIG for me??
HA 70 SA 72.1 TT 23.6” SO 28.8” 100mm fork 100mm x 5 deg
My cross country race rig was a 19” 2003 Kona Kula Primo
HA 71 SA 73 TT 23.5” SO 30.2” 80mm fork stem 100mm x 5 deg
Sunday, November 05, 2006
New DeSalvo Team Cyclocross bike!!
I took delivery of my long awaited DeSalvo Team Cyclocross frame and fork on Friday the 27th. I quickly, with the help of Adam at the Counterbalance, built it up in time for the "Meet the Team" group ride the morning of the 28th. Man is this frame sleek and beautiful!! She turned out just as I had imagined her!! This is a frame I had asked Mike DeSalvo to build for me when Jeff, Todd, and I put in the FIRST team frame orders back in May of 2005! Mike built me a beautiful track frame instead which I am very greatful for!! But I still wanted and needed a cyclocross frame. I had race the previous season (2004) on my Surly Steamroller which is by design a track frame!!
And the I went and broke my leg and the cyclocross frame went to the back burner:( Even though I will not be able to race any 'cross races this year, still not strong enough and Erik my PT won't allow it, I still wanted to have Mike build this frame so I could ride it and get ready for Cyclocross season 2007!! The frame is made from Columbus Zona steel tubing and it is VERY light. The rear dropouts are horizontal with a derailleur hanger drive side and a bottle opener non-drive side so I can either ride it singlespeed, fixed (rear brake mounts are removeable for a cleaner look), or in it's current configuration Geared 1x8! The bike rides like a dream!!! It is painted Matte Black with Blood Red panels and lettering!Very stealth like, MMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmm......!
Mike built the fork with a 1 inch steerer tube even though the frame has an 1 1/8 inch head tube. He included some headtube reducers so I can use the 1 inch fork. The 1 inch steel fork is about a pound lighter than the 1 1/8 inch steel fork and Mike did not have any 1 1/8 inch available so it all worked out. It also afforded me the opportunity to use the 1 inch Ti Chris King headset I picked up at the Bike Swap for $40!!! In it's current build it has Salsa Bell Lap 46cm bars with interceptor levers, a left front Dura Ace brake lever and a right rear 8 spd Sora shifter/lever. Salsa 1 inch cro-mo stem black 1 inch CK Ti headset Paul cantilever brakes front and rear. Thomson post and Selle Italia Flight saddle. World Class Ti 113mm bottom bracket and Ti SRP bolts. White Industries ENO crank 170mm with a 38 tooth chainring and Time ATAC pedals. Rear XTR short cage derailleur, SRAM 8 spd cassette, and currently a cheap Bontrager rear wheel and my Dura-Ace hubbed front wheel off my road bike with Ritchey Tom Slick tires. I believe the weight comes in around 21 1/2 lbs without Race Blade fenders, saddle tool pouch and a black waterbottle cage. When in cyclocross singlespeed mode it will have my fixed/free Phil Wood rear wheel with a White Industries Dou freewheel 16/19 tooth and a Mavic fron hub tubular wheel both with cyclocross tires. Nice stainless steel head badge!! I do believe this bike might usurp my old school 1989 Specialized Sirrus road bike as my main all around bike for training and road riding!
I have also been working with James at Black Sheep Bikes on my new Ti 29er mountain bike. It's gonna have S&S couplers so I can take it on the airplane with me where ever I go!!! SOOOoo if you know of anyone that wants to buy an 18" Kona Explosif mountain bike totally tricked out to the nines and/or a sweet 56cm Kona Sutra road/touring bike also fully upgraded shoot me a line at brandon448 at yahoo dot com! I am slimming the stables down to the '89 Sirrus road bike (had it since high school and I'll ride it till it breaks!), DeSalvo Track (racer), DeSalvo 'Cross, and Black Sheep 29er Mnt Bike. Can you believe Brandon with only FOUR bikes!?!?!
Abigael was a scurvy pirate for halloween this year! She deffinately lived up to the part and would throw down an "AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!" at the drop of a hat. She went to school on the 31st in her costume and her class went trick or treating around the campus as well as that evening in the Magnolia Village. Check out the Lockwoods blog for more. I am doing VERY well in school aceing my math class, solid B+ (87%) in A&P, and doing ok in Nutrition....
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