Poor Diablo!

My poor dog really didn't have a good day today. First off, he had to have surgery on his knee. He had a 'doggie ACL' injury that Dr. Nixon was able to fix and we get to pick him up tomorrow. Unfortunately, he is going to be out of commission for a few weeks. We are hoping he will be good as new before the baby comes.

But probably even worse for the poor pooch is the imminent return of JonnyO. We got word from Pineapple Jonny that he will be coming to stay with us starting in mid-April. Melissa and I were happy to hear he is coming, but I am sure Diablo wont feel the same. Despite Jonny thinking that Diablo is 'his dog'.....our pooch hasn't warmed up to the friendly French Canadian. Maybe the third summer will finally be the one where they develop a bond.

I didn't tell Jonny we ran out of the green paint we have been using for most of the house and his new room is going to be the same pink we painted for our soon-to-be daughter's room....hope he doesn't read this blog.

Is it really March?

With weather forecasts predicting a low of somewhere near -21 this week it looks like the winter sports are going to be around for awhile longer. I have been wanting to get out on my bike, but I am trying to make the most of the last few weeks of playing in the snow. On my weekend I got in a great day of downhill skiing, a horrible attempt at classic skiing, and an epic snowshoe. I also managed to sneak a few beers in with the big deal boys....where we plotted out our Ski to Sea team. We didn't discuss uniforms but they sure aren't going to be blue speedos!!!!!

On Sunday I got out with the 'boys' for some turns. It was pretty sweet....the conditions were great and it was fun to get a few runs in with Chris, Robin, Gary, and Marcus. You may notice that Marcus is missing from the picture....Speedy was probably already halfway down the run.

Despite enjoying the winter sports, I would sure love to see spring come and have riding season start!

Taking it like a MAN!!!!

That is an X-ray of Ian's left hand taken after he shot a 3 inch spike into it on Sunday. He was over helping me build the indoor climbing wall at our new house. We were working on the framing and the nail gun slipped off the 2x4 Ian was nailing a piece of blocking into. All I saw was him flinch after he shot the gun and he turned to me and said "can I have some help". I looked at his hand to see the spike going through both sides of his hand. Ian remained calm and we quickly got him into a car and off to the hospital. He fortunately didn't nail his hand to a board or hit any bones so removing the nail was pretty easy for the Doc. It looks like it should heal quickly and he hopefully didn't do any permanent damage.

Through the whole ordeal he took it really well and even came back and helped us with installing the plywood. Major tough guy props to Ian for that one. I do have to say a big thanks to....Nic, Marcus, Ian, Paul, Shei, and Van for all their help with constructing the new indoor gym. It looks like it is going to be lots of fun to play on.

Gravity

Diablo likes to take my seat on the couch when I get up to refill my coffee in the morning.

On Saturday we saw the most customers come through the shop in a day this year. It was great to see so many people getting ready for the season. I am starting to get stoked to get out on my bike. I think will be able to achieve the goal of not riding indoors all winter. It should make the first couple of outdoor rides a bit hard, but I am motivated. I think I am gonna have to answer the bell that KBD seems to keep ringing.

197

I don't know how Melissa talked me into this one....but this morning I am on my to Oliver to give a couple of high school classes presentations on running a small business. I have no idea what I am going to say, or what I should say. To add to the experience, M claims she has the roughest bunch of characters in one of the classes that she has come up against yet. I am pretty sure today will reinforce my decision not to go into education. Having a father, sister, and wife who are all teachers I have a tremendous amount of respect for people who decide on that career. Hearing the 'horror' stories they have told over the years makes me admire someone who is willing to deal with negative aspects of that job. People who really belong in that career must have some amazing capacity to focus on the positive things they are able to accomplish everyday. No wonder Oprah likes them so much....I wouldn't know that except Geoff told me....back when we were roommates I seem to remember catching him watching the big O a couple times.

Tour of California

The "Comeback" is heading to North America! We are getting pretty excited about the race to start tomorrow. Ian organized The Bike Barn's T of C pool based on a points system. Points are awarded for overall GC Placing, Stage Finishes, Sprint Jersey, Climbing Jersey, and Team Classification. So the Barn crew is going to be following the race pretty closely. Lord knows how Jeff managed to get Leipheimer and Cancellara but I think he is the favorite to take the pot right now. No matter how you feel about Lance's comeback it is certain that there will be more attention directed towards professional bike racing in 2009.

Getting 100% out of me

I was thinking about ranting about drug use in sport, the media emphasis on the economy, or Veltec not being able to deliver two frames I have had on order since October. Fortunately I went for a ski with Dr. Big Deal yesterday and have something positive to focus on. It was a great day up at Nickel Plate, and we made the most of it. Tom wanted to classic ski in preparation for the Loppet this weekend. That worked great for me because then we could actually ski together....yeah I was skate skiing. And yes he is still a bit faster than me on his classic skis. Over the years Tommy and I have spent many hours training together. However, in the last couple years my focus has drifted away from elite level fitness limiting our training time together. Fortunately with us both having the day off from work, Tommy and I have been getting out on the xc skis on Mondays. Since I met Tom out on ride about 8 years ago there have been countless competitions between us, mostly initiated by Tom. Whether it is sprinting to the top of a climb, strength challenges at the gym, or Meadow Matches on the xc skis Tom always seems to think taking it to limit is the best way to have fun. Yesterday was no exception and we had a couple races around the upper meadow...which added some very high intensity intervals to my longest ski of the year. After the second Meadow Match (probably 90 seconds of skiing flat-out) I was shaky and exhausted and still had about 5km of skiing to finish the planned 30km. In those last kilometers I had one really hard crash because my legs couldn't handle a couple ruts at the bottom of a descent and I was also in survival mode on the last couple climbs. I eventually reached the cabin knowing I had worked hard and gotten the most out of myself on that day. That has been a success of Tom's that he probably never intended, but he makes me get the most out of myself when we train together. And for those keeping score I won one and lost one Meadow Match yesterday.