Dad

Hard to believe it's been 24 years. As I look I the mirror, it's because of the man you were which has made me the man I am today.

You taught me to laugh.

You taught me to love.

You taught me to measure twice & cut once.

You taught me that after a long day, nothing is better than a cold beer.

You taught me that success only comes before work in the dictionary.

You taught me that the right tool for the job makes all the difference.

You taught me thatbit's ok to make a mistake as long I learn from it.

You taught me that sharing popcorn is overrated.

If I have any regrets, there would be 2. 1, that my wife & kids never got the chance to meet you. 2. That I didn't tell you I loved you enough. I know you're here with us occasionally & I'm fine with that. You're welcome to visit anytime.

I miss you.

2012 Goals & a Look Back

At the beginning of 2011, these were my goals:

1. Continue to lengthen my fuse with my kids
2. Be an even better husband to my wife
3. Get our office in the top 5 agencies in the country (currently we're at the bottom)
3. Better my time in the Tour de Scottsdale (4:26 in 2010)
4. Compete in a sprint triathlon
5. Compete in 1 running event (Warrior Dash - already scheduled 4-30-11)
6. Better my 2008 mileage number (2064miles)
7. Try to help people understand Autism and share our story more
8. Get rid of some clutter
9. Improve my overall well being through meditation and relaxation
10. Expand our home garden to grow more of our own food.
11. Have fun!

Here is the list of the ones I feel that I've accomplished: 1,2,5,7,8,9,10, & 11. I didn't even come close to my cycling goals. Part of that is due to our move to Flagstaff. The process started in the summer and really cranked up during fall break. What a crazy time. Didn't leave much time to ride :-(. Moving did, however, help me get rid of some clutter! It has also set the stage to expand our home garden. In Gilbert, we had about 60 square feet to garden. Up here, we have 4.25 acres! Once we get our home set up, we hope to grow most of our food. We will have a great garden. I plan to build a makeshift green house since we will be on our property late in the growing season.

The cycling miles will come. Nothing as ambitious as the 2000 miles as I've done in years past, but they will come. I just want to enjoy riding instead of focusing on only miles. From our property, I can leave the back gate and I'm in the forest. I plan to build some elevated tracks on or near our place to add some excitement. I think I might use some old pallets and raise them up a bit to go over certain obstacles I may encounter. I'll write about it once I build some. I'm sure there will be successes & failures. I'll write about them all.

One cool note about last year is that I started the year at 181lbs and cholesterol at 299. I started 2012 at 173lbs and the cholesterol was 249 last time I checked (mid January). Not bad. I look forward to seeing what these numbers are at the end of this year with the healthier lifestyle and riding.

I guess I need some goals for 2012. So here they are:

1. Ride at least 1500 miles

2. Continue to be the best husband I can to my wife

3. Continue to be the the best father I can to my kids

4. Spread the word about Autism & continue to share our story

5. Make our garden as productive as possible

6. Help Flagstaff establish a Ride of Silence

7. Continue to meditate & relax

8. Get our office out of the bottom % group

9. Explore the Northern Arizona area with the family

10. Have fun.

The Purple Pig

When I moved to Flagstaff, I discovered that there are TONS of trails to be ridden around here. I can literally leave my house and be on a kick-ass trail in 2 minutes! I found a guy on Craigslist who was looking to trade his mountain bike for an acoustic guitar. Perfect! I can only play 3 chords on the guitar (and rarely do) and I have a cycling dependency. The MTB is a GT something or other and is a lovely light purple. The frame is aluminum but heavy. Since this is such a heavy bike (a pig), it has earned the name The Purple Pig.

Cyclists are, by nature, very weight conscious. How many grams do my tubes weigh? If I use this seat post rather than that one, I can shave valuable seconds. My attitude is "who cares". At least for this bike. My road bike & fixit are light. I can haul ass on them (at least I used to). My thought process behind the pig is that if I push a heavier bike on the trails, the road riding when it warms up, should be a breeze. I'm notout to win any races on The Pig, just have some fun.

I have refallen in love with mountain biking riding this thing. Being out on the trails reminds me of when one of my best friends & I used to ride the canyons in Southern California. The riding up here is different than So. Cal, not so much brush to ride through, but lots of trees and hills to climb. I haven't explored all of the trails around here; but when the weather warms a little, I will be out there riding like I used to. I can't wait to explore all of the trails that Flagstaff has to offer.

Top 10 Reasons to Support Your Local Bike Shop

10. Classes

Many shops offer classes at night an on weekends. These classes can range from basic maintenance to entering your first race. The knowledge base at many shops can be extremely helpful and most are more than willing to share!

9. Lifetime adjustments
Many shops offer lifetime adjustments on the miles they sell. This can offset the possible initial higher cost of the bike over a "big box" retailer. Besides they have better bikes.

8. Local events
Many shops will sponsor local events. Usually you can find them offering simple repairs, tire inflation, special deals, and sometimes samples (I have lots of shop tire levers in my tool kit). I have even been given the occasional beer!

7. Free advice
Most of the shop guys & gals are cyclists themselves. The one thing we cyclists love to do is talk about cycling. Ask a question and you will get TONS of good information.

6. They support their community
The owners of most bike shops work, live, & play in their community. They usually want their community to thrive which will in turn help their shop. That doesn't mean that they are all selfish and only want more business, that happens to be a perk. With a thriving community, all businesses and residents win!

5. They're as passionate as you are
As I mentioned before, most shop owners & employees are cyclists and love to ride too. They love cycling and everything about it - just like you! Why not be with "your people"?

4. Local shop rides
Lots of shops sponsor local rides. These rides can be a lot of fun. Some of them have fees and others are free. Look for a shop sponsored ride near you!

3. Sponsorship
If you race, some shops will sponsor you. This can range from providing a kit (they get the advertising) to equipment, to paying your entry fees. You may be asked to perform id you get sponsored ie. make it on the podium.

2. You keep your dollars in your community
Shopping at your local shop keeps your dollars local. They typically aren't huge corporations, they are small businesses that depend on your dollars to survive. Sure their prices may be a little higher, but that's because they don't have the buying power that the huge national stores have. The service you get at your local shop cannot be measured monetarily.

1. These are your people.
Why wouldn't you want to support "like hearted" people? If you call one of the national shops to order something, chances are the person on the other end of the phone could care less. Your LBS does care and wants you to continue to ride.

By supporting your LBS, you are not only helping a small business grow, but you are helping our sport.

Cycling / Life Update

It's been a while since I've written anything. It has been a whirlwind couple of months. I'll do my best to try to catch you up.

When we last left our hero, he was feeling his age on the bike. Since then, he has moved to Flagstaff, gotten a mountain bike (again), and fallen back in love with riding the trails. I told you; whirlwind.

Let's start with the move. There are 2 schools in the state of Arizona that use a teaching style that suits my son best. One is in Phoenix, the other in Flagstaff. They are Waldorf schools which, in a nutshell, focus on the child's brain development rather than test scores. We had been on waiting lists for both schools for the better part of the year (longer for the Phoenix school). We bout some property right next to some of our best friends over the summer in Flagstaff with the thought of building a home and eventually moving up. During the kids' fall break (mid October), the school in Flagstaff called with news of openings for both kids! This was certainly a sign that we needed to be at this school. So, in 2 short weeks, we packed up the house, rented a couple trucks, and headed north. The kids love their new school and have already made friends. In fact, Matthew's "girlfriend" as he calls her, is in his class and will be our neighbor once we build our home onthe our property. We got up to Flagstaff just in time for the first snow of the season too. I wasn't sure how this crew would do in the snow & cold, but they're handling it well! We are learning to dress in layers and have enjoyed the benefits of heated seats in the van (never really needed them before).

Anytime one moves, he discovers that he has a lot of unused "stuff". We were no different. Many yard sales were had and before the move, most of the big stuff was sold. However, there was still lots of "other stuff". Many moons ago, I took guitar lessons. Enjoyed trying to play along with my brother (who is pretty good) when we lived closer. I sold my electric guitar a few years ago as it was sitting in the the closet and not getting played. Hardly fair to the guitar. My acoustic has sat for years on it's stand in the corner ready to be played at any time. I think over the 7 years we lived in Gilbert, I played for maybe 2 hours total. Knowing that buying another bike was out of the question, I decided to trade the guitar for a mountain bike on Craigslist. I found a guy who was willing to trade trade straight up. The bike is decent. Needs some loving, but for not having to shell out any cash - perfect. I immediately swapped out the saddle. It had one of those HUGE seats that could fit a couple kids at once. After my first little ride, I need tobe change out the pedals to clipless ones, get a computer, some lights, and possibly a mud fender for the rear. Definitely need to get a tool bag for under the seat and change the chain. The bike was stored outside and the non-aluminum parts are starting to rust. Overall, the bike isn't bad. It's a GT mountain bike with Rock Shox on the front. I'm not used to suspension so it may take some getting used to.

The other day I decided to take the new MTB out on the trail. Flagstaff has an "urban trail" system (FUTS), which is scheduled to be 130 miles of trails around the area. These trails are either paved or hard aggregate and abour 10 feet wide. Like any good rural area, there are plenty of hiking/MTB trails that branch off of the main trail. So the number of places to ride the new MTB are limitless! Besides all the great trails, Flagstaff is a college town and cycling is a very common mode of transportation. Back to my ride. I ventured out to the FUTS right near our current house. It felt really good to ride on dirt again! The first part of the the trail I took was slightly downhill so I was cruising pretty good. It gave me a good opportunity to get a feel for the bike and how it handled. I found a nice little single track branch that had some good climbing. Luckily, the bike has a triple chain ring, because I needed the little gears. I got to the top of my first climb and was dying. My lungs were burning and it was everything I could do to catch my breath. I quickly realized "this is why athletes train at altitude". I only rode about 3 miles, but the terrain and altitude made it a great ride! I can't wait for my next ride to explore more of these awesome trails!

Internal Battle

Since it's the 19th of the month, I figured I'd go for a ride before work. The plan was to do 30 miles or so.
I started out with an empty tank as it was. No big deal, I can push through that. Done it before, can do it again! Legs weren't quite feeling it, but I told them to shut up and keep going. They quickly fell in line. My lungs, however, were a different story. They decided that we were going to not ride as far as the rest of the body & mind wanted.
At 6 miles or so they started to squeeze. Since my ride today (and in the future) are somewhat contingent on them working, and even though they were out numbered, they won the battle. We didn't do the 30ish miles that the brain had in mind (lol), but we squeezed out 12. Not too bad, but better than nothing I suppose.
That's not the end of the story though. The brain and legs decided that since the lungs were being wimpy, the should be punished. After every other corner, the legs decided to do some interval sprints. After the first few, the lungs were burning. We kept on riding and made it home without having to use emergency services! That'll teach them.
It was still a great way to start the day and the week! Thank you lungs for allowing the rest of me to finish the ride today and ride again another day.

Riding Like a Bus

While on a ride recently, I was passed by a VW Bus (probably the only thing he passed that day). I got to thinking on just how similar the bus and I are. Here's a short list of how we're similar:

1-We both are "air cooled".

2-We both get passed by most traffic.

3-Neither one of us will win a race.

4-We both keep to the right on the road.

5-When loaded down with cargo, we go even slower.

6-The bus' engine is called a pancake, and my engine runs better on pancakes!

I'm sure there is more, but this is what came to mind. When I had my 1975 VW bus it wasn't very fast which is probably the biggest similarity. Hopefully from the back, we don't look similar!