New Year - New Start

So it clearly has been a while since I last posted something here. The last seven months or so have been pretty crazy. Getting into a balance with family, work, and riding it seems that I can usually manage two of the three but not all three. Especially with trying to finish school and apply for a ton of faculty positions.

The last few weeks have been wonderful. A trip back to NC to see our family and travel with Connor for the first time was amazing. The only thing that did not go smoothly was the snow storm the day after Christmas. We had arranged to have Connor baptized the day after Christmas and the snow ended up closing everything in town. I guess it just gives us another reason to get back to NC soon!

I have been working on figuring out a way to get the balance in my life so that I can get my work done, graduate, find a faculty position, spend tons of time with my family, ride, and maybe even race. My plans are coming together in my head and once I put them down on paper then I will share them here!

BBQ and the 4th

First....Happy 4th of July!

Since we did not go back to NC for the 4th we decided to bring a little NC here. Since I can not get either of my favorite NC beers (Duck Rabbit or Highland) we decided to try and make some pulled pork. Anyone who knows my BBQ preferences is probably shocked right now but yes we did a pulled pork today. All I can say is WOW!

The first attempt at brisket did not go so well but my first attempt at pulled pork was a huge success. I smoked a 5 lbs pork shoulder for 6 hours and it stayed moist and was falling off the bone.

Here it is before I shredded it:

Here it is after...read to eat:

My pictures do not do it justice. It was amazing. Since it is just my wife and I here tonight we have enough left for sandwiches in a day or two and some to share with folks on campus.
While it is not up to Wilbers status (http://www.wilbersbarbecue.com/) it was amazing and just what I needed after a 67 mile day on the bike.


To top it all off my wife made some amazing hush puppies and home made peach ice cream. I am letting dinner settle and getting ready for a big bowl of ice cream!


Now back to watching the Star Wars Marathon on TV and waiting to try and see some fireworks from our house while Connor is asleep.

July 4th (When I became a cyclist)

Happy 4th of July (a day early) to everyone out there.

This 4th of July is a little different for my wife and I (and Connor) because it is the 1st one that we have not spent with our family in North Carolina. Since Connor arrived in May we realized that our typical drive from TX to NC was going to be too much for us this year. So we are going to try and make the best of it and make some NC BBQ tomorrow and try and find some fireworks. But today I wanted to take a minute and write about our 4th of July traditions.

The 4th of July for us always has two important parts. 1. Spin Cycle -CCC- 4th of July ride in Cary NC. 2. Spending time with family grilling, hanging out, and watching fireworks from either Regency Park in Cary or more recently Shallotte NC.

The Spin Cycle 4th of July ride was my first group road ride and when I became a true cyclist. I rode this for the 1st time on 7/4/2003. I had been mountain biking for a year and a half and had some hard rides but nothing that compared to my first experience on this ride. I had ridden a total distance of 25 miles at one time and then decide that I could jump into a 100K ride and do well. Big mistake. Not only did I not use any sunscreen (DUMB), but I did not drink enough water at the start, rode too hard starting out, and basically made every mistake possible. I had to get  off my bike and sit down on the side of the road following up the "climb" up High House road a mere 3 miles from the finish. Following several minutes of recovering a friend came back for me and we limped in (including a stop a gas station 2 miles from the finish for more water).

I finished the ride, drove home, and collapsed at the foot of the stairs for 45 minutes in my riding cloths. I bonked and it hurt! Many folks may experience this and never go back for more or at least never that much but I knew I wanted more. Yes it hurt and yes I was off the bike for a few days but I realized that  I loved it! I became a CYCLIST!

I have not missed that ride since then. Even moving to TX did not keep me from making it to that  ride. Well this year will be my first time to not do that since that crazy first year. So if you are in NC and looking for something to do go out and ride the Capital Cycling Club (Spin Cycle) 4th of July Ride and pedal a mile for me. http://www.capcycling.org/events-fireCracker.php

I will be out on the road tomorrow morning thinking about all of my NC friends riding those beautiful roads.

Just as important as the 4th of July ride is the time with my family is even more important. I have been very lucky that they have been able to come out and visit us here in TX this summer. I will be thinking about them tomorrow and would love to be sitting back in Shallotte tomorrow relaxing after the ride, grilling, playing corn hole, drinking a Duck Rabbit or Highland Brewing beer, and heading to the beach to watch fire works.

Well until later, enjoy the tour and have a happy (and safe) 4th of July

Father's Day

Yes it has been two days since Father's Day. I just wanted to quickly say happy belated father's day to all of the father's out there. It is an odd feeling to go from celebrating father's day for your father to other people doing nice things for you as well. It has only been a month and a half since Connor was born so I am just getting a taste of fatherhood. What I have experienced has made me even more greatful for having such a great father. Hopefully I can be as good a father as he is!

Thank you to my parents, sister and brother in-law, and especially my wife and Connor for an amazing 1st Father's Day! I am a very very lucky man.

Late starts, trains, and junk miles

For the second Saturday in a row I got to do the Mad Duck ride. Thanks to my wonderful wife I got to go out for a few hours and enjoy riding. Not only was she ok with me riding while she took care of Connor but she is the only reason I woke up in time to make it. I had set my alarm for 6am but apparently turned it off with out actually waking up. She woke me up at 6:30 and ask me if I was skipping the ride due to being up longer last night with Connor. Once I woke up enough to realize that I could still make it to the ride if I hurried I got up had breakfast, espresso, and was out the door.

I had a great ride but given my lack of fitness got dropped from the group twice (It is always nice to find short cuts). When I was trying to chase back on to a group I got caught by a train. Sure a train is nice when it stops the group you are trying to chase but not so nice when the group gets through and you don't. While I was sitting and waiting for the train to pass I started thinking about how I had been riding between times I was with the group.

When I am with the group I don't mind riding as hard or easy as the group is riding and so I don't really pay much attention to staying within a certain heart rate zone. At least that is true with my Saturday ride. Other rides I do a better job staying where I need to be for training. However, when I was taking short cuts to get back with the group I was riding hard but not super hard. I was in a "comfortable" zone 3. Standard junk miles. It worked to let me get back to the group but I started wondering about the impact/ effectiveness of the ride on my overall fitness. Now I am not racing now but I do want to make some progress regarding my form and being able to stay with the groups. I rationalized that I was doing what I needed to so that I could get back to the group and stay with them a little longer. However I did ride like that for 45 minutes or so before I was with them again.

So I guess I want some advice/opinions/critiques. Once you are dropped from a group like that is it better to do what you need to so you can rejoin the group OR is it better to go to either base ride mode or do intervals? Granted I am just trying to regain some fitness but if I can get into racing shape I would be very happy.

So if anyone has any thoughts let me know.

Connor William Banks

Connor was born about 4 weeks ago. After 16 hours of labor and a c-section Connor made his entry into the world. Nici and I are both very happy to have him here and we are slowly figuring things out. I think that he wishes that we would figure things out a little faster.

My parents were able to come out for a week after Connor was born to help us take care of him and get a little more sleep than we would otherwise. We are so glad that they came and were able to give us a hand. It was a huge help! Thanks Mom and Dad!
My sister and brother-n-law were able to make it out here over the memorial day weekend to meet Connor. My sister was worried that she would break him but she and David did a very good job. Naturals!


Connor is healthy and doing very well. He is growing nicely and taking it pretty easy on us. We are only getting up twice a night on average to feed him and he gets back to sleep pretty quickly. He is already starting to grow out of some of his newborn cloths (scary!) but fortunately we have more 0-3 months items of clothing that newborn cloths.

Thanks to my wonderful wife I did get 2 rides in last weekend and I am pretty sure I will get at least one in this weekend. I need to get my trainer out and spend some time on it inside when Connor is sleeping during the afternoon (Thanks for the tip Donald!). Hopefully I can get back to some passable form by July.


Unfortunately, the three of us will not be making our usual trip to North Carolina this summer but we all have our fingers crossed that we will be moving back to NC in December. Until then we are enjoying NC folks coming to see us. It has been great seeing my family over the last few weeks and we are looking forward to my parents coming back in August for a conference!

Well I can not have this post without including a good picture of Connor

Here are my sister and brother in-law doing a great job with Connor:

Well I will be updating this much more frequently with school, cycling and Connor news!

I am back!

So I have not posted anything for a very long time. I did not mean to be gone so long but this spring has been a little crazy. I have been doing a lot of writing (just not here). This spring I wrote a grant to fund a post-doc position at a university in North Carolina with a researcher I greatly respect. I have also spent a lot of time writing several papers and sending them off to journals. So while I have not written anything here I really have been busy.

I should find out about the scores on my grant proposal in about a month. Both my wife and I are really excited about the possibility of getting back to NC so we can be closer to friends, family, and the area of the country that we love.

I have been able to get some time in on my bike. I am not in the form that I want to be right now but hopefully I can get there soon. I have been slowly working on building up the bike that I mentioned in my last post. Unfortunately it is a very slow build but I may have some one willing to sell a 9spd ultegra groupo to me. If that is the case then I will just need wheels. If not then I am still looking for a cheap groupo.

Then there is the really big news. For anyone who has not already heard.....my wife and I now are parents. I do think that is worth a separate post (with pictures) so that will be up very soon.


So I will be doing a better job keeping this updated....as long as Connor lets us get some sleep!