Trip to NC

Sitting in a car for 19 hours alternating driving and napping all the way from North Carolina to Texas makes you pretty stiff and tired. The trip out to NC was not too bad b/c we were excited to get back and see family, friends, and the weather was great. The trip back was not as much fun b/c the weather was not as nice and we were tired before the trip started. We got home to a very nice surprise. The two folks that we had taking care of our place while we were gone did an amazing job and when we walked in it was as if we had never left.

It was great to see our family and get to ride with my friends. I was quite happy not to get dropped on the hills and be able to put in some decent pulls. Getting dropped coming across the lake after the hills was not as much fun but then what did I expect after not riding as much as I should prior to the trip. Getting to see most everyone, either on a ride or over coffee, was wonderful. It is always good to be able to catch up with friends and be able to talk about what has gone on since we last talked and then fall back into our normal routine (John sneaking up on me for a sprint sign--You think that I would remember to watch for him).

Having gotten back to TX and getting things back to normal (catching up on sleep, getting back on the bike, reading the bike magazines that have stacked up in the last two months), I am looking forward to the new year and the time that I still have between now and the start of classes to get some stuff done around the house, get some really good base miles in, and prep for the next semester.

Hope that everyone has a happy and safe New Year's Eve.

Merry Christmas

I hope that everyone has a very Merry Christmas

Here are a few Christmas lights that I had to get a picture of and share. Besides what Texas Christmas display is any good without Santa's Sleigh being pulled by some longhorns.

back in the swing/over dressed

Hi I am .......and I am an overdresser.

No I am not talking about wearing a tux to dinner, or wearing a nice pair of Khaki's to play football in the mud but rather freaking out because it is 45 degrees and I have forgotten how to dress for riding in the winter.

So one of the side effects of not riding much over the last month as it has gotten a little colder is that I have not slowly added clothing to my ride attire as the temps have fallen. So yesterday when I left to ride it was about 47 and the temperature was rising but rather than being smart and putting on some knee warmers, arm warmers, and a vest, I had on thermal tights, wool socks, wind jacket and some other things. So as the temp started rising my legs started baking. Now I am more than happy to make sure to keep my knees covered as soon as the temps fall below 60 and maybe even sooner but full tights probably are not needed in the 50's. Some embrocation would probably do the trick and not bake my legs. At least I did not have a fleece jersey on so the arms warmers and short sleeve jersey did the trick.

Maybe I will figure out the proper winter attire before I go for a ride in NC with my friends there and show up wearing all of the riding cloths that I own and get laughed at.

At least I was able to get back on the bike yesterday and back in the swing on things.

When does winter end again? I miss the 106 degree days.

End of the Semester

So I have reached that time of the year again. Finished with exams, waiting to get the grades, now turning my attention to the fact that Christmas is coming up very soon and I have not shopped for many presents yet! My wife is happy that I am not totally focused on finals and end of the semester stuff and I can focus on Christmas and getting to see family that I have not seen since July.

I am looking forward to seeing my family and riding with some friends that I have not seen in a long time, both in NC and TX. I have been off my bike, except for Thanksgiving day, since the beginning of November so as you would expect I can't wait to get back on! I am hoping for 400 miles or so before classes start back again in January. This should not be too hard since classes don't start again until mid January.


Now after finishing my last exam yesterday my wife and I engaged in one of our favorite holiday traditions, driving around looking at lights. So back in NC the light displays always were nice. In North Texas the displays are crazy. So you have your standard light displays with some lights on the roof and maybe an inflatable Mickey Mouse Santa in the yard but then you have your professionally installed displays that border on a National Lampoon's Christmas style display. Looking at some of these displays I can almost see the power meter spinning in the back. While I would not want to be their neighbors I did appreciate being able to drive by and admire their work (and payment of the electric bill). The house with the red lighted arrow on the roof pointing to the chimney may take the top spot for creativity for the year, unless I see one that tops it soon!

Well since it is starting to warm up outside (37 degrees) I may see if I still have any warm riding cloths and go and get the first ride of the break in. I am probably going to freeze when I am back in NC riding.

Manuscript submitted

So today I submitted my first manuscript to a journal in which I am the first author! So now I play the waiting game and see if it gets accepted, revise and resubmit, or rejected. We will wait and see.

On other news I am trying to decide between a Selle Italia SLR and a Selle Italia SLR XP, or wait and get something else with some extra money that I earned this summer.

Do the 30grams of extra padding really make a difference??

Any opinions??