Rock in my Shoe?

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So the holiday season has come and gone. It seems like yesterday I had a girlfriend... Yeah I did it. Popped the big question on a MTB ride. Luckily she said yes. So it made for a pretty great time celebrating and celebrating and celebrating. Yeah, drank way to much champagne, beer, wine, etc.

So now the semester has started and there is no extra time. Its going to be a couple of hard months, but that's life. Fortunately and unfortunately getting back on the bike is going slower than I want it too. At least, I'm back on the bike and that's the good thing.

So I got a nice little ride for you today. We (Cody, TJ, and I) used to call it the Ghetto Loop back in the day. It used to have a sprint a la American Flyer (luckily that mean looking pit bull never caught us). Its a nice little 40 miler with a climb up the backside of Gates. Here's the map.

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Have fun!

Wish I was as lazy as my dog

Laying low and hitting it hard. Got a big 32 miles on the bike this weekend and despite having great aspirations, it wasn't as great as planned. I've been hitting the PT hard with John Woolf and its been going pretty well. Isolate an extreme muscle imbalance from one leg to the other and a lack of firing glutes. I've been riding back and forth to school which has been very liberating after slumming on the Sun Tran for the last couple of months. The Somec didn't go to well though and I felt all out of whack both rides along with some additional pain in the hip/groin area. Crap. Going to check it out today and see if we can make some changes to make things right.

Other than that, work has been slow on the new bus, but I just received some new fuel lines in the mail. I'm hoping to get them installed along with some vacuum lines and fire the old gal up. Nope, she doesn't have a name, yet.

From U of A Wildcat's Tailgating

I did start tearing the inside out, but hit a snag with a rusted bolt. The paint on the inside looks perfect. So that's a good sign. Just need to find some Vanagon front seats and put some new fabric on the inside to get rid of the smoky smell.

There are three new brews out there from Garden Brewing. Yeah, I gave myself a name, had to for the Christmas presents. There is Kurt's ESB (its his favorite), Pumpkin Ale, and Christmas Cheer!. <- I meant to do that, the name is Christmas Cheer!, not Christmas Cheer. I was going to go for the six pack, but I ran out of time and money for ingredients. Don't fear though, there is a full grain extraction setup in the works. I'm looking forward to making 5 gallons of beer for $20 and some relaxing brewing. And finally I wanted to start putting up some of my favorite rides in the Tucson area. So we will start with a old time favorite. This is the bare bones big square ride. Head out of town over Gates Pass, turn on Kinney and head through the park. Watch your turn onto Sandario and then down Manville. David has been known to hang round these parts. Turn the pedals over on the longest, windiest straightaway and hit up a killer brownie at the store. Then head back on Avra Valley (don't worry about the bump every 5 feet). Turn on Airline, then Lambert, beat Karew on the sprint over Rattlesnake pass, then head in Silverbell to Cortaro. Head down the frontage to Orange Grove. Then turn onto River and hit up the bike path whenever you want and head to Mountain Ave and the University. Of course, I like to spice it up a bit. Maybe I'll post my favorite route some other time, but this one will net you 65 miles and lots of flat windy riding along with one killer brownie. Enjoy (I can't get the map to cooperate, so you will need to zoom out.)
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Melting in Tucson (Hawaii)

Well, it hasn't really been that bad. The summer started out pretty slowly with some killer weather in May and early June. If you throw in a five day trip to Oahu that makes it even better.Doesn't hurt when you go with a great gal and hang out with your best friend. We saw all the sights, attended a military ball, and I even got attacked by the state fish, an Hummuhunna-acaquacky-eickyeicky or something to that extent.

Mel started off the trip working on her hula skills while a bronze sculptor carefully replicated her unique style.

This is the bay were I got bitten by the fish. Mel's shoulder was still out of commission from the Tuesday ride crash. So I towed her around while she held onto my suit. I felt like a harassed sea turtle or a dolphin. (And I'm pretty sure it's illegal to hold on while there swimming and I think that the law should be extended to boyfriends as well.)

I bet you can't spot the cyclist on this beach? I'll give you a hint, that's not a white shirt that I'm wearing and Mel isn't wearing a one piece. We had a "bbq" on the beach in Lanikai and I'd have to say the backdrop is pretty stunning.

Rhona drove us up Tantalus Dr. and I shot this video of the drive. Let me tell you those Mini's really go.

We ended the trip with a nice walk in the park and a killer sunset. It was a killer trip and a ton of fun to hang out with Rocky and Rhona.

I have to roll to the coffee shot and to meet everyone at the end of the shootout, so I have to end this one with the Hawaii trip. I'll work on getting an update on the trip out to Tahoe for Tour de Nez and the reasons why I'm not throwing down in the 53x16 in a post or two. I'll leave you with one of the nature shots that I took. We also got a new camera and it pumps out some good pics, don't you think?

Until then Aloha!

It May? Where did all that time go?

Well since you asked, here's a little list:
Teaching Lab
Training
Racing
Getting old
Hillsboro
Car time
Flagstaff
Car time
San Dimas
Car time
Teaching Lab
Car time
Redlands
car time (not again)
U of A Crit and Tuma (finally a win)
Weekend at Home!
Teaching Lab
State Crit
Teaching Lab
Mel's Bday!
Scholarship Dinner
Meet with lab sponsors
La Vuelta de Bisbee
AIAA conference
Collegiate Nationals
and
Grading

Dang its been a busy one, but I've had a great time the last couple of months. Now its time to buckle down. I have big plans that involve getting some big work done at home and in the lab. Throw in some good bike racing and the summer looks like a lot of fun.