lots of work, a nice ride, and great weather

Even with having a really busy week and skipping both rides this weekend to get all of my work done I was able to get to a good point today and get out for a 2 hour ride. Not super long but just enough to get the legs moving again. I was able to get out and ride with a friend which made it even better.

For the first 5 miles of my ride I was sure that I had forgotten something at the house. I went through my usual checklist: helmet, yes, keys, yes, phone and cash, yes, inhaler, yes, tools, yes, water and gel, yes. So what am I missing? Then it finally dawned on me, my jacket, arm warmers, hat, knee warmers. It was such a nice day (minus the wind). It was in the mid 70's and sunny. One big plus to living in Texas, nice warm weather at the end of February. One minus, 15-20 mph wind. I guess you can't get it all.

Now back to work. I should be done collecting data on another study by Friday and I am really hoping that this one will work out! I am getting really tired of non-significant results and little to publish.

So much to drink

Getting ready to leave for campus this morning I heard on the news that new research has shown that drinking green and black tea (hot tea) has important health benefits. Specifically, if I remember what I heard prior to my morning coffee, it may help in the prevention of strokes or reducing the damage from them (like I said I heard it prior to my morning coffee). I do remember that the recommended daily intake was three cups.

So adding up the beverages that I should drink on a daily basis I now have:
-lots of water
-3 cups of tea
- glass of red or white wine (good for heart and lungs respectively)
- a little coffee (I am sure that I remember it being good for something).

I have to pee just thinking about all of that.

Tour of California/ Rock Racing

My wife and I were watching the Tour of California this last week and listening to the commentary as Rock Racing was working on the front of the field to save Mancebo's leader's jersey. Good ole Phil Ligget made a very sound comment about all of the duty being on Rock Racing's shoulders. My wife looked up to watch the race and her reaction was priceless.

"They sure do, they have a doodie all over that kit"

I would agree with her:
Great Job Tyler in doing some good work on the front but Micheal Ball needs to realize that cycling kits need to look nice not crappy like modern tattoo fashion.

What a crazy last month and a half

The last month and a half have been abusolutly crazy and busy. The weather has gone from nice in the 70's with little wind to mid-40's with rain and wind and back and forth every few days. Atleast it seems that way lately. In the last 6 weeks I have gone from having a good amount of time to train and get some work done to being back in school and having no time what so ever. I made a trip down to Austin for the first time in about 15 years and had a great time at a conference down there, had some good BBQ at Stubb's and made it to Mellow Johnny's bike shop (Lance's shop).

Mellow Johnny's is a really sweet shop with several very nice bikes on display from Lance, Popovich, and Hincapie. The folks were really nice and while I did not get a chance to try any coffee it smelled great!

Now that I am back in school I am taking three stats/reseach methods classes one of which has a lab and I have several studies going on. I am really looking forward to having a few studies finished and if all goes as planned several more papers to work on! The training is coming along and my legs are begining to feel a little better. I was able to put in some good efforts on my own this last week and I was able to stay with the Saturday group a lot longer last Saturday than I have been lately. With all of the work that I had to do this weekend I ended up not riding at all this weekend but I have done enough work in advance now so I should be able to get some real training in this week.

So what I am training for? Well I am not doing any more road races or crits until I can get a used bike that I don't worry about crashing and not having a bike to ride until I get my PhD. So the alternative is finding a free bike to race or...the Time Trial! Fortunatly with all of the racing that goes on in the state there are several TT's that I can do within a short drive. The first TT of the year is the Horse Country Time Trial Series on March 7th. We will see how it goes. Fortunatly it is only 20K and still early in the season so when the 2nd and 3rd race of the series come around in May and July I should be much faster and able to really do well.

So hopefully I can make sure to schedule everything a little better so that I can do well in school, train so that I am flying on the bike, and find time to do a better job posting on here.

Things to look forward to.....my new team kit. Hopefully it will be here soon.