Updates on many things

I'm not sure what I weigh today....



I'm home today from work because the townhouse that we rent is getting new windows and doors. So I have been sitting around reading and uploading while the workers tear things apart.

Schedule updates. As you can see, I have taken a few races off of the schedule for this summer. Levi Trow is off for sure due to lack of fitness and not enough funds to make a go of it. The 24 Hour Nationals is being taken down because I don't think I have the fitness for it. That might change over the next month or so, but I can't count on it because of my busy schedule at a work. I have also removed the Iceman race because I did not get in on the lottery and if the funds are not there, I won't be able to afford the ebay entry anyway. So, where does that leave me. Good question. I have sponsorship things that I will need to tend to so that my end of the deal is kept. I will probably be helping out at events to promote Hammer and their products. Not sure where yet, but you never can tell. Maybe Ironman Wisconsin or possibly the 24 Hour Nationals. Just because my fitness isn't where I think it should be, doesn't mean I don't enjoy going to the events. The financial and work sides of my life are going to be big factors on what happens where.

So, let's talk about what has been happening over the past few weeks.

Did you hear someone singing in the early morning hours? That probably was me while I was out riding in the dark with my iPod shuffle cranking.



Needless to say, I have only been able to get my butt up super early once. Which is too bad, because there is no one out at that time of the day. Otherwise I have been doing some riding after work.



Or in the StankMent like Jason would say.

I thought that I had trained pretty well for the Horribly Hilly Hundreds and had done a nice Graeme Street Race Week preparation. But only to find that when I hit the first hard climb that I had left my legs at home.



Hey, it's 50% downhill, right? If you listened to all the Utterz stuff from last Saturday you'll understand. It was quite a challenge just getting to the event. Not enough sleep didn't help either. Even though my legs sucked, my fueling and supplementation was spot on. I didn't get any nasty cramps until the last mile. And I have a feeling that was partially because I walked way too much in my bike shoes. The cramp was on the inner thigh on my right leg and it was a good one. I could feel it coming and pounding a bunch more Endurolytes to fight it off, but it still showed up pretty strong for a bit. It didn't kick in again until after I got home, about 3 hours later. Took some more Endurolytes and it went away. Then it came back again another 3 hours later. More Endurolytes and it hasn't come back since. Surprisingly, I didn't feel to bad on Sunday.

So it was time to take the family out and fly some kites. We had bought kites for the girls to keep them busy during Trans Iowa. Needless to say, the girls didn't get to use them then. We attempted to use them a few weeks back, but the wind wasn't there so we had to abort. But this past Sunday, the wind was cranking, so out we went. One kite flies great. The other sucks. I have a feeling it might have a structural problem, so I'll be taking it back to be replaced. While they flew though, the girls loved them. Even Barb was flying one for bit while Mary and Sami took breaks.

Barb and I will be going to Augusta, Maine in the middle of July. So that should be interesting. I will be out there for 4 days of training and then a couple of days of vacation. Then Ed and Richard are coming up in August for the Harley 105th Anniversary Celebration. We have tickets for the Foo Fighters and Bruce Springsteen.

What else? The girls are on summer vacation. Junior finally wins a NASCAR race for his new owner. BMW wins the F1 race in Canada. That is so cool. Ford uses strategy to beat Citroen in the last World Rally Championship race. Ben Spies will be racing MotoGP this coming weekend. The Trucks and Nationwide guys are at Milwaukee this weekend. And it's lunchtime. So off I go.

Later...