Long holiday weekend

I like long weekends. Having Thurs and Fri off from work was most fun, as well as my family coming to visit for TDay. Dad and Danette and Alane and Dick all came to visit for a few days, but Tonia and Trent couldn't make it due to some horrible highway conditions. Now they owe us a visit. :) We had a good time, went to a Sir Hobos (pretty much the only restaurant in town open on TDay) and ate a good meal, then took them all to Trek to give them a tour yesterday. The time passed by too quickly. I will see them all again in less than a month for Xmas though, so all is good.

Not much else is new. I got some new race cross wheels. That's most exciting. They are red Mavic Heliums with Hutchinson Pro Series cross tires (sorry Brooks, they are clinchers). They came with those bad-ass Mavic skewers and some wheel bags. So now I have an all-red and an all-gold wheelset. So much bling.

Here's some pics of the Mavic wheels/tires, the gold wheels with their new Michelin tires, and a pic of Heather and Vontoux relaxing on the couch. He's a tired puppy.

Back at home/work

Got back from DC on Sun afternoon, feels good to be back home. And now we have the short work week for Thanksgiving, so that's fun. I didn't get a chance to sightsee at all while in DC, just work. It went like this: airport-hotel-bike shop-hotel-bike shop-hotel-bar-hotel-bike shop-movie-hotel-airport. Or something like that. I spent $2 while I was there (on two Mt Dews), which made it the cheapest trip that I've ever taken (topping the $5 that I spent going to Chicago for Brooks and Mary's wedding). Corporate credit cards are fun. ;)

Looks like we will have quite the crew coming to our house for TDay, so that will be a good time. Lots of dogs running around like freaks.

We also have a new addition to our little family. Here is a pic of Vontoux playing with Cat Stevens.

Hella hours

Hello from DC. Quick post while I am counting out inventory on the computer here at Revolution Cycles in Georgetown, just a stone's throw away from Georgetown University.

It is Thurs, and as of right now I have almost 60 hours in this week. And we haven't even finished for the day yet. We're hoping to get out of here before midnight, but that might not happen... So, after the rest of tonight, tomorrow, Sat, and Sun before my flight home, I'm looking at around 90 hours in one week of work. That's crazy. I'll like that paycheck though!

Still haven't gotten a chance to sightsee at all, maybe on Sat morning/early afternoon.

Talk to you all later.

Bring out the brooms

Just got back from Duluth. It was a good weekend, made even better because the Sioux managed to sweep the Bulldogs on the road. They were two good games (5-3, 7-4) and now my voice is all hoarse from cheering/yelling so much. The Sioux football team also beat the UMD Bulldogs on Sat to advance in the NCAA DII playoffs. Good weekend all around for Sioux athletics...

Also got to see a bunch of people that I hadn't seen in awhile, so that was fun. Nice to see you Simmons, even if it was only for a few minutes at the hotel. Remember to give Yearwood his spokes!

Long day though today. Didn't get to bed until about 3am (bars close at 2am in Duluth), got up at 6:30 to drive home so that I can make my flight at 3pm. By around 8pm tonight, I will be in our nation's capital for the week. Should be fun!

Sundown

Nov 10, 1975. We all remember what happened on that day. If you need a refresher, go to this website. So tomorrow, on the 30 year anniversary of that tragic day, lift a frosty one in remembrance of those 29 courageous men.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconson
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

God Gordon Lightfoot is cool.

Relaxation...

Hello all. Today has been a very lazy day. It's almost 3pm, and both Heather and I are still in robes/pajamas. Vontoux is sleeping. Just a day for relaxation. Feels good, pretty much the first day like that since moving here.

We were going to go to Milwaukee for another cross race today, but decided against it last night. Being that I will be gone this upcoming weekend in Duluth for the hockey games, gone all next week in DC, then the following two weekends after that our parents/family are coming to visit, we decided just to sit around and do nothing.

Sold the Kona Jake cross frame on eBay (you missed out Simmons!), sorry to see it go. We've been through so much; such good memories...[tear]. ;)

Maybe we'll go out for pizza tonight, there is a really good pizza place downtown that we have gone to a couple times now. Talk to you all later!

Cross Race and Trip de France

Last Sun was my first ever cross race, held in Milwaukee. I wasn't expecting much being that I had only ridden once in the last month since moving here. It was a cool course; some cool pavement sections, two barrier sections, some good little singletrack, and one hill runup. I wasn't sure how my legs and lungs would feel, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good my legs felt. My lungs, on the other hand, were burning from the start. The start was a madhouse, about 60 riders all racing for the first corner. I got caught behind quite a few riders (I didn't have the best starting position, as you can see from the pic), and there were a few bottlenecks. My lungs finally started to feel better right before the start of the last lap, so during the final lap I was flying and passed about 8 or 9 riders. Ended up finishing 24th, which is alright I guess.

Since I won't be able to race the State Champs in SP, I decided to go to a different cross race (also in Milwaukee) this upcoming Sun. I'm hoping to do alot better to make up for my last race ;) . I've ridden a few times already this week, so hopefully that helps. I also hope to warm up a bit more before the race and to get a better starting position. We'll see how it goes....

On to some big news. Last week Trek was offering a 2 for 1 employee Trek Travel trip incentive program. And being that Heather and I were already thinking about going on one, we decided that we couldn't pass up that offer (as a Trek employee, we get 30-40% off TT trips, plus the 2 for 1 deal made it A LOT cheaper). So we officially booked our trip! Next Aug 13-19, we will be in France! Riding our bikes over some of the classic climbs of the Tour, such as the Glandon, Madelaine, Telegraph, Galibier, and, of course, Alpe d'Huez. Here is a pdf file with more info about the trip for those interested: Classic Climbs of the Tour Itinerary
Check out Day 3 and 5. Those are some doozies!

That's about all I know for now, talk with you all soon!