What Doesn't Kill You - Makes You Stronger

Well sorta! With Graduation and Birthday parties this weekend, riding times had to be carefully planned. After emails back and forth with people Friday, a time was finally agreed upon - 11:15 ride from G & N. Looked like Big Tim, TKO, Egg and Goose leading out the chain gang. My plans were to head out in the opposite direction 30 minutes after they left. Well, my plans changed and I really listened to the Dr (for once) and decided to just sit outside and read the Sunday paper actually on Sunday. Day off for me.

I wasn't home yet when they left the house but I knew the time schedule TKO was on. Decided just to stay outside and wait for them to return. First thing out of Egg's mouth was "Goose was OK and at least the car didn't run over him". All they years that I have known everybody that Goose has ridden with, nobody had ever made a joke about somebody almost got hit. Obviously first reaction was, well he rode in the Egg, so his bike must be mechanically OK. I looked at Goose, at first no visible signs of going down or getting hit. Egg quickly pointed out it was his elbow. Next thought was shit I hope it isn't the one he had staph infection in a couple of years ago. Once I saw his elbow, and it wasn't much -----
Goose said his butt/hip took a hit - OK you are walking so you didn't break your hip (you start worrying about broken hips when you reach our age!). Goose informed me that his bling didn't get messed up. I was ready to hear the story.

Guess it happened about 2-3 miles from home on 25A. Just a freak accident involving a tree branch that became wedged in TKO fork and abruptly stopped him Things happened quick and Goose went down. I happy that he didn't take TKO with him!

Now the good news - Goose got up, checked things out and got back on his bike. Egg chose a route that would be challenging - getting Goose ready to race next Sunday. Egg said everyone rode really well - he gave lots of kudos to everyone - what does Goose say? - and not because he went down - "That really wasn't a good ride for me, I had higher expectations of myself". I sure Egg will have fun with that comment!

TKO had leave right away, Egg and Big Tim stayed for a few minutes to share some laughs and shift by shift data of the ride. Sounds like everyone rode well and had a good time.

Thanks for taking care of Goose today! AND bringing back home alive!!!!

Oh and BTW for those who ride/ridden with Goose - NO HE WAS NOT IN HIS AEROBARS WHEN THIS HAPPENED!

Great Week of Training

Wow - Goose had a very productive/successful week of training. His running is almost where it should be at this time of the year. His cycling is ahead of last year. He was able to get good quality miles in (both bike and running) this week. He rode on Wed with his partner for Little Miami. Even he noticed that Goose is riding and climbing better this year. He had a "duck - duck - Goosed ride on Friday night with Egg and Big Time. Guess Goose had the calls going out that night.

I was able to get in almost 100 miles for the week (a little short of my goal) but had a few changes in when I got AJ this week which make some of the rides shorter than I had hoped. The most important things was I HAD FUN :)

Sunday will bring another grueling day on the bike with Lost My Chain Gang. People have things to do this afternoon so an earlier time was settled on from our house.

I had hoped to ride today, but after a trip to After Hours, couple of injections, Dr advised me not to ride or walk today. So I sit here waiting on everyone to return (and I promised myself not to pout today because I didn't get to ride).

Sunday CB Day

After a hard week of training for Goose - great Delight ride Wed - Joe W. worked his legs really hard running on Thur - fun Friday ride with trash talk - good run on Saturday - what to do on Sunday? Character Builder Day!!!!

Egg came up to take Goose out (after his trash talking). I asked where they were riding, just got a huge grin from Egg, I knew he was going to work Goose really hard today. They headed east and north over some of the old roads they have ridden in the past. The stopped at Mad Cow's house, but no answer :(. I think Egg would really like to see Keith, maybe one day when he is ready it will happen.

Egg made Goose work really hard today - pulling, standing, sprinting for signs, etc. I will only admit here, but at the end, you were cruel! Taking him through Springhill subdivision and heading him out onto Evanston right at the climb. Goose started to get out of the saddle, but the ride had done what it was suppose to do - fry his legs - no more standing! This will make him stronger for the up coming Triathlons. Good job guys.

I headed out after they left. Started on my old route trying to decide if I was going to add in Evanston at the end. Surprisingly enough, after Antioch and Neal Pearson climbs, I hit Peters and felt "decent". So instead of turning on Michaels I went on down to Evanston Rd. Got to the cross road of 25A and decided to go for it. Heading east wasn't that bad. Road up through town to give my legs a rest and then headed home west on Evanston. I prayed that Goose and Egg wouldn't blow past me. I did struggle up over the interstate but I didn't stop. Got home with a total of 30.68 miles for the day. That is a record for me.

As Egg keeps reminding us, Asheville really isn't that far away. They plan on getting up up a climb before anybody gets there, which has been a goal for me. I know, you season riders, what is the big deal? OK, I am a "little" older than most of the male riders and I have only been riding for 2 good years. So I am a little skeptical. I know Goose and Egg wouldn't do anything to discourage me, so I am just leaving it up to them (God am I insane?)

This has been a good training week for Goose and Noose. Looking forward to this next week.

Saturday TT and Run

Goose had to work today so he couldn't ride the Cow TT #2. I had AJ for the day/night and cleared with Egg that it was OK to bring him. AJ was in heaven - bikes and guys - Egg played along with him with Star Wars (thanks!).
There was 8 total - 2 I have never met - Rocky and Scott. Shane pulled in on his bike, but opted not to race. Time to line up and everyone looked ready to roll.
And they off - T-Bolt had a slight malfunction with his bike, came back and we restarted him. As usual, everyone road hard/very well. Mthd was there to take pictures, guess he made himself at home in the fields.

Results are:

1) Vince " Rhino " Clune 9.1 miles 20:35 26.53 mph
2) Craig " Egg " Carroll 9.1 miles 21:01 25.98 mph
3) Todd " Wooley " Woehler 9.1 miles 21:15 25.6 mph
4) Bryan " Helldawg " Hellard 9.1 miles 21:27 25.45 mph
5) Tim " Big Tim " Williams 9.1 miles 23:07:08 23.62 mph
6) Howard " T-Bolt " Smith 9.1 miles 23.07:84 23.62 mph
7) Scott H. 9.1 miles 25:46 21.19 mph NON AEROBAR
8) Frank "Rocky " Parsons 9.1 miles 26:25 20.67mph NON AEROBAR

Impressive - can't wait to see how the speeds pick up as the year progresses.

Goose ran after work and said he had an excellent run. This has been a very intensive training week for him and he is really pleased with the results.

Friday Fun

Guess I am a few days behind - this has been a busy weekend!

I rode early to get it done - Friday seems to be my best day, and it held true for today. Fun ride - always lots to see!

Goose rode with Egg, Mthd and Rocky. Guess he did some trash talking along the way (hmm would they later get even with him for that?) Goose had a good/fun ride. Home for some pizza and lights out for him.

Wednesday Morning and Evening Delight

Well, since I rode this morning, I will start with me. Better than yesterday! Fun times.

Tonight it was the Goose, Egg, Big Tim, Mtdhd, T-bolt and Helldawg show. Beautiful skies, mild winds, warm weather. Goose and I were early and waited on others to get there. They headed out and I waited on Dog Leg Rd to get a few pictures. Early in the ride and everyone was all smiles. I had the route but on Karns I had to cut off and make a, well, pit stop. Since I know those roads I headed over to Rt 55 to wait on them. I get a call from Egg wanting to know if I was lost (which I do often!) - nope just pit stop for me. Since they were just heading my way I decided to just sit and wait. Behold - Big Tim and Goose were in the breakaway! First thought was hope Goose doesn't blow up - long way to ride by yourself! They flew to Rt 48 and then to Horseshoe Bend. Found my hiding place near the top and was shocked, Goose was still in the thick of things - up front. After a regroup on Greenlee it was game on again. My next stop was mid way on Iddings, Goose was STILL there! I headed over to Antioch and damn if he still wasn't near the front again. I was happy he was showing little signs of fatigue - don't confuse that with his geese calls - they were abundant at places. The next character builder was Meeker, he once again was on the front. My original plan was to head home after this, but I headed back to the start to meet this guy riding the Goose bike.

Needless to say, Goose had a good ride tonight - thanks to everyone cheering him on and pushing him past his points. Nice group tonight, everybody worked together, riders took their turn helping others to bridge back up to the group - TEAM WORK!

I think Geritol would be be pleased with the older guys tonight!

At Least I Rode

AND that is about all I can say. To back up a couple of days - I rode a second time Friday afternoon (after my excellent morning ride). I knew I couldn't ride Sat or Sun so I headed out. Well, to say the least, it sucked. I didn't look at my computer when I got home, and I didn't clear it (which now I which I had). Heading out this morning I looked at the numbers. Should have just cleared it and not looked! I don't know if I was aggravated at myself, but I had a crappy ride today. I got through it and time wise it wasn't that bad, not the best either. Oh well, tomorrow is another day and the weather looks great for the week. Sunny and warm.

Goose is running tonight with the plans on riding Wed.