The Snow and the Move

Its been a while since I've posted, there hasn't been a lot to report on the bike front.
The week of the Jan. 14 - 20, was dominated by sleet and snow....



I stuck to training in the gym so I wouldn't be gliding around on my bike like Zoe...


In the middle of "Winter Storm 07", we had to move out of the apartment and into another house. That weekend I set off on the Turk Tour by Civic and visited Houston and College Station (link to Gallery of pics). Last weekend was Dallas with J. Price, no pics, boo.

It turns out that the house we moved into is in an area called Tarrytown, which happens to be 2 miles from Lake Austin. Now my riding has gone shore side....



The down side to this area are the hills and short stretches, Scenic Dr. in Austin has killer steep hills and many a stop sign. I actually didn't make it up one hill and had to stop and turn around, this has never happened before nor since.
I also did my coldest and wettest run here, 40 degrees farenheit in rain, the toes and fingers went completly numb, but the spirit was warm, and I hammered out an hour of hills.
Things are starting to come to an end here in Austin, I have my interview with Thunderbird University here on the 31st, then my Mexcian buddy Robin is coming up on the 4rth of Feb., after that I'm hoping to do my first overnight trip to visit Cody (other brother) in Sonora, 200 miles. No stats to report, my bike averages have stayed the same, which I consider an improvement since the environment is harsher and I stop a lot more for traffic lights and beautiful people jogging Lake Austin.

Fallen comrad

No sun, this was good, 60 degrees, bearable, 10mph southern wind, killer. I was still a little sore from the butt whipping 2 days ago, so it was a very slow start, avg 9 mph. Prolly about 6 miles into it, the wind dies, thank you lord. At about the same time my legs went numb, muscle pain didn't effect me, I just went. The first house with a dog let me pass without a chase, at first I was happy then I saw a vulture fly from the corner of the road, it was feasting on a dog, I mentally turned a 180 and missed those chases. A good dog chase is like Johnny Fear on my shoulder, when I'm down he says "Get up you son of a bitch, cause Mickey loves you". Lets go to the trip stats.
Distance: 19.95
Max: 29
time: 1 hour , 46 min
avg: 11.1

The advent of the R2 unit

A quick summary of the last couple of days.
Friday.
Dropped Mark off for his 2 day FW/Dallas road trip and flew back home in his jetty Civic (its so jetty the side view mirror has to be duct taped on for reinforcement during the sonic booms). I pull out the bike and hit the trail, it was a warm day so I tried out my yellow jersey, tour de France yellow, and the only real bicycle jersey I'll be taking (they are a little pricey). I had a normal day on the roads, 4 or 5 dog chases and open pavement.
Road stats:
Milage: 20
Avg mph: 11
Max Speed: 32

Saturday
This was spent mostly struggling with college application stuff and a wee bit of partying. My good Alice High buddy Ryan lives right down the road from Mark and I went over to his house to hang. Since this is a bike log I'll just say, I ate fajitas and smores while drinking around a fire and playing guitar hero until 6 in the morn.

Sunday was a day of rest, just like my man JC.

Monday
After wrangling with getting up, I got on the bike. It was fantastic.
Road Stats:
Mileage: 25
Avg mph: 14
Max Speed: 38
I felt strong the whole time. I'm not going to lie, I was contemplating an early Mexico departure all day. To reward myself, I went to the REI in N. Austin and bought the BOB Ibex trailer. It's beautiful, a marvel to engineering. I met some cool bike guys there, this dood named Wade gave me some good ideas and recommendations from his tours across the US. As cool as they were they didn't not install the trailer, which is basically replacing the back skewer with an elongated one to hook up the trailer, a trailer hitch I guess.
Bike Surgery.
While I watched the Gators romp on Ohio state, I realized I hadn't done bike maintenance in over 5 years. So I tore into it, first with the bike right side up, balance was an issue so I turned it around, aaa that looks familiar. Quick release tire, almost forgot to unhook the brakes, then struggled with the chain (I did put it on its lowest gear before that step). Un screwed the axle, pulled out the skewer, and threw the other one in, by the grace of God it fit perfect. Putting the tire back of course got tricky with the gears, I couldn't remember what it looked like before, a mental fart of about 5 mins (I'm also distracted by the BCS Championship game).

Tuesday
Time to take the BOB trailer out, but before I did, I named it (it's easier to curse things with names)..... the R2 unit. Now that I have my R2 unit the attack on the Mexican empire is moving ever closer, "I will crush them"-Borat. I loaded R2 with about 3/5 of its burden, then it was to the road. I did a couple of safety turns in the parking lot and then I was out. First impressions, it was heavy. After about 10 miles I forgot it was there, and then at about 15 miles every hill was a penance. I was going slower than ever, down to 5 miles an hour, balance is an issue at that speed.
Road Stats:
Mileage: 24
Avg mph: 10.5
Max Speed: 26
I was suffering on the last 5 miles. I also had my first road repair, the chain fell off moving to the lower front cog, simple fix. It lead to my first wound, I slight cut on the knee from the dog repelent in the Bento Box. Another first, sucked down the 3 liters in the Camelbak before making it home. Times like these makes me glad I decided to train, I can end my ride and have a hot shower and a meal right away, next month this time, It will be very different (hot bath and a cold margarita with a senorita).

Rest, celular, new seat, riding 10 miles

I'll start from where we last left off on the 4rth. We woke up early to make the matinee (5.25, cheapest in town) at Tinseltown for Mel Gibson's Apocalipto. An incredible film that i feel accurately captures the time and environment. It plays out like the historical fiction Azteca, the scenery and backdrop are the biggest characters. The rest of that day was dedicated to writing essays (3) for my Thunderbird application. It took me the whole day to do this. 1 on my cross-cultural experiences, another on my work experience, and a third about an international social topic that interests me. It was draining. I finished the night with 2 movies, the Wilco documentary of their Yankee Foxtrot album (a must for Jeff Tweedy or Wilco fans) and a documentary called "An American Movie". Its a film of a guy whose life dream is to make movies, the doc takes place over 2 years as he finishes his 35 minute short film. The best part of the flick is his life in Wisconsin, a first hand look at the lower white middle class cheeseheads of the region, it's hilarious and accurate, this is national archive material.
Next Day.
I wake to the FedEx dood delivering my cell phone. It took me about 3 hours for the whole activation process, I had a migraine at the end of it, but the cell phone is activated with 15 bones of credit. A miracle happened as well, my eBay bike seat came in yesterday to Alice, and UPS had it here by lunch today. I took the bike out around 4, to test out the seat and the GPS device. I did the same rout as Tuesday but this time I crossed 183 until I hit 10 miles. Then I came right back. First the seat, it saved my ass, literally I rode twice as long as Tuesday and had less pain in the taint region. The middle of the seat is concave and the taint spot is gel padded, the former Bontrager seat is convex, the design superiority is obvious. The GPS tracked my whole ride, when I stopped I told it to lead me back and it gave me bearings and mileage for the rest of the trip. I've needed this GPS thing my whole life, now if it could only locate my wallet and keys my life would be perfect.
An insight on the road. People dump a lot of trash on the Farm Roads. I'm pondering a project to build a car just using spare parts from the side of the road.Insight on bike riding. Changing gears, depending on the incline of the road, will earn you miles. Try to take momentum into a hill and not just cruise into it. Look up more often, enjoy the scenery, and don't be afraid to stop and enjoy it.
Finished this night with a movie as well, called "Proposition". A modern Western in the Australian outback. Another beautiful movie that captivates you with the landscape and sunset shots, it makes you feel more at ease during the scenes of physical torture, is Guy Pierce awesome in all movies?
A unique encounter. As I was returning from my bike ride, I saw an elderly man walking in the parking lot. He had one of those pancake hats, a colorful scarf, turtleneck and overly pressed pants. I was just going to ride by him, then he stopped me. The guy was older than I thought when I saw his face up close, maybe 70. In an Don Corleone accent he asked me where he could get a bike like mine. I did what I could to give him directions to the Bicycle Sports Shop but I've only been here 3 weeks, he has only 2 weeks here. Then he goes into a story that goes something like this, now imagine a small man dressed as described with an accent.
"I'm not from here. I'm from Italy, my name is Leno, what is your name?"
"Kyle""Kil, ummm, that is a hard name."
"Ya the Mexicans just call me 'man'."
"Ha, that is easier, I was raised in Italy, I came to America to work on nuclear research, I put engines in submarines. I worked in Corpus for many years, do you know it?"
"I was born there"
"OK, so my wife she is from Denmark, we love it here, our kids and grandchildren love it here, but I do miss my bike. I had a beautiful French bike, I could pick it up with a finger. I like your bike, I want one like it, but I'm old, I need high handle bars."
"I'm sure they have one with high handle bars there, let me get back you on the directions to that place"
Then he told me where his place is and that I could drop by anytime. I went over at 9, nobody answered so I left the directions wedged in his door. The point of the story boys and girls, is that I would of never known this interesting human being if I hadn't been on my bike, this is my argument over a motorcycle trip, the bike is a more personal connection to the surroundings and you are more approachable by others. I just hope those 'others' aren't wielding machetes.

The first big ride?

Today was tufff, I could still feel the burn from the day before. We woke up at 9 today in our attempt to be daylight people, we were zombies till about 2 in the afternoon, good thing Van Helsing didn't show up at the apartment till 3. My purchases are further winding down, I bought some more socks and a space age air pump, I just lack the trailer, my R2 unit. We got back from that trip and I prepared for my first day on the road. I sported the FrogTogs, my rain suit, I look like an astronaut in them, thanks Travis for the recommendation, but they are extremely light and well fitted. I must confess, they are white and say UT on the breast, this breaks my heart as an Aggie, but its the brightest one they had, regular FrogTogs are army green, that will blend in uncomfortably too well with the jungle environment I'll be in. The ride: from I35 to 183 via William Canon, 14 miles round trip. On google maps it looks real easy and flat, but this thing is all hills, you are going up or down the suckers here. Downhill I'm going 30 miles an hour, uphill I was hitting a blazing speed of 7mph. It took me an hour, the uphill muscles were shot, the taint region numb, but I still had a little bit more in me. I learned a few things today, how to feel comfortable with car traffic, when to be in which gears, and why Lance Armstrong is the balls: THE HILLS.I received an email from my mentor hIrScH today. When I told him I was waiting a month for training he advised me to go ahead and hit the trail, even if the first day I only make 30 miles, you'll catch 40 the next, just get out there. Good mentor point, I'm going to stick with my 1 month though, I need to get these applications for MBAs out, I'm dragging butt on that, and I'm also looking forward to making some trips to Houston to see my buddies and to Sonora to see Cody. I'm getting antsy to get out on the road.
I'm in the middle of a cool book right now "Tales of 2 cities", a gift from my brother, a comparative study on why the US and South America grew up so differently. The study is performed by analyzing the day to day life of a slave boy in Baltimore and an indigenous girl in Ecuador.
That last paragraph made me feel so smart, oooo, got to go Sponge Bob is on.

New Years Update

2 days ago I took the bike out for its inauguration. It was interesting, I'm not used to this type of bike, the drop down handle bars, drop-down shifters, and the clip pedals are all things I've never used before. I ran it 5 miles up and down a hill in front of my bros apt. complex. It's a good training run, it has 2 hills, litter (glass included) and Mexicans walking to the HEB, a perfect mini sim. I had one near mishap as a looked back at the Mexican family to use my Spanish and my steering followed my head, this is how I wrecked my Sunfire the 2nd time, someone told a good joke in the back seat and I wanted to give props, hands followed head and we went into a ditch. Note to self, keep my head on a swivel. I finished the ride up with 20 minutes on the exercise bike, then put on my English teaching duds for a swanky New Years retreat. This was my last night of drinking, I was afraid that with the boos, the new year, and my dashing beard I would be swarmed by women. I successfully fought them back until 1:00 a.m., during my brother's and mine Swingers imitation of the chicks across the room, the scene with the red head smoking the cigar, the 2 chicks actually came up to us. They said, "Have you guys had your new year's kiss yet", without thinking we both replied, "Hell NO", and we had a mad make-out session right there. I hope this pattern doesn't keep up, we could have the female Mexican population migrating to Honduras.Next day, we went to bed at 5:30 a.m. and got up at 11 a.m., and then watched some excellent bowl games all day. I did train, at 9 at night, 40 minutes on the exercise bike up hill, I kicked its ass, then some light weights. I also made an HEB run and bought the Eddie Saenz (my training sense) recommended multi-V (Mexican Peace Corps issued), bananas, green tea, calcium, glucosamine, and some lean meats. Before signing off I just want to give it up to Boise State, they whipped the Sooners and had a 13-0 season, much respect.