Three Busy Weekends

Things didn't slow down for us after we returned from the Big Island. Courtney's school hosted the last practice for the Honor band on Friday and hosted the honor band concert on Saturday. As president of the booster club, I was pretty busy helping out. The Sunday after I returned, I competed in the Momentum Crit. This time I decided to try my luck with the big boys and race in the expert class. Luckily a couple of the strongest riders were not racing. I managed to stay with the front group and was in pretty good shape for the final sprint. I finished 7th.

The next weekend I competed in the State Championship Team Time Trial with Bryant, Steve C. and Shannon. I knew we would have a pretty strong team. The race went very well, we worked together and came across the line fast enough to win the overall Mixed title and were the 6th fastest team.

There weren't any races the next weekend so I was able to spend some quality time with Chris. Friday night we went to JR Rockers and listened to the band. The band was very good and played a nice mix of classic rock and more modern stuff.

Saturday morning we ran some errands and decided to stop and test drive a couple of cars. I have been getting the hankering for a sports car. I have always loved Corvettes and told myself that if I make chief next fall I am going to get one. However, a couple of other cars have caught my eye since, the saturn sky and nissan 350z, so we decided to check them out. Both were fun to drive. The z had more power but the sky was a convertable. Chris had me stop so she could take my pic.

What do you think?

Saturday night we decided to check out the Country Bar on Pearl Harbor. Stephanie decided to join us. It was nice not being the oldest or the youngest people in the club. It had been a long time since Chris and I attempted to 2 step and attempt we did. We still haven't mastered it but I was able to do the electric slide with Stephanie. My only complaint about the club was the lack of Draft beer. I thought it was kind of silly since they brewed their own beer on the other side of the building. I guess they figured folks at a country bar would prefer longnecks of Bud Light or MDG not a tall glass of a micro brew.

Sunday was very relaxing. We took Ginger out to the Beach by the old Kam housing and let her run on the sand bar. She seemed to have a good time and got some much needed exercise. However, she ended up hurting one of her front paws and was limping for the next couple of days. She is fine now but we were quite concerned for awhile.

Publish Post

More Pics from the Big Island

The Offutt Seven takes on the Big Island

After 6 years of talk and 2 years of planning the day arrived when 5 of my friends arrived for our Offutt AFB Nutritional Medicine Reunion. The cast of characters included Ron, Tony, Rose, Zamy and Zamy's wife Avi. Ron and I were in brother flights in Basic Training. Rose and Tony were in our tech school class and we all were assigned to Offutt AFB Nebraska together were Zamy was stationed. We were all stationed together starting in 1986 until1993 when Rose and Tony moved to Mississippi, 1995 when i moved to CA and 1998 when Ron and Zamy moved to Florida where Zamy met the newest member to our group, his wife, Avi. Ron, Zamy and I got together in 2002 when I was at the SNCO academy and we started talking about a reunion. When Rose found out we were moving to Hawaii, she arranged to trade a couple of her timeshares for 2 units on the Big Island. I suggested that everyone fly into Honolulu and spend a few days at our house before we all flew to Kona.

Every one arrived 3 March. We got up early on the 4th (my 42nd BDay) and went to the Arizona Memorial, the USS Missouri battleship and toured Hickam. That night Ben came over and we cooked out for my birthday.



The next day we went to Punchbowl Cemetery, drove around the south eastern corner of the island and went to a Luau. Everyone enjoyed the Luau and Ron found himself a Hawaiian Girl.

The next day we got up and flew to Kona. I couldn't believe the stark contrast between the Big Island and Oahu. The big Island had wide open spaces and beautiful roads. We saw over 50 whales breaching along the North Kona Coast, visited Hilo, the volcano national park, Parker Ranch and many other sights around the Island. We ended up putting over 600 miles on the rental. I took my bike and did a couple of rides including a 75 miler. The best part of the trip was the time we spent with our friends. Even though it had been over 15 years since we were all together, it was like we had seen each other every day. We had a great time. Here are some pics of the big Island

Back to the Races

After my little vacation in Alabama, I went back to Hawaii. Wow that sounds weird, most people would think the opposite. Back to where I was going. After doing the Aloha run I jumped back on the bike the next day for the normal Tuesday ride of terror. I was able to hang with the front group although Steve C was riding much stronger than before I left. We used to mix it up pretty much but now i was struggling just to hang on his wheel. I know he is a strong rider but to comeback from almost having his leg cut in two during knee surgery to where he is now is pretty amazing.

Sunday morning marked my second race of the year. This time instead of a mass start crit, I competed in a 20 K Time Trial. I took off and was going about 29 right away. It didn't feel too bad so I kept it between 26 and 30 the entire way out. As I neared the turn around cones I was confused because there wasn't any signs stating to turn around. There were also some riders coming back from beyond the turn so I kept riding. Luckily I heard a policeman say to turn around so I only went about 50 meters beyond the turn around but still lost at least 10 seconds if not a few more. Unfortunately, I forgot to reset my computer so I didn't get a good time and had no idea how I finished until they announced the results. I placed 3rd but am still waiting for my actual time to compare it to the two guys ahead of me. Two races, two podium finishes is a pretty good way to start the racing season.

Seeing the Nieces and Nephew;Old Friends and the Aloha Run

One of the nice things about going TDY to the mainland is the opportunity to visit family without having to cough up the cost of a plane ticket. The first weekend I rented a car and headed to Atlanta to visit Chris's brother Craig's family. Craig has two children Conner 6 and Tori 3. It had been quite a while since I seen them and they had really grown. Tori is very talkative and was happy to see me when I woke up the first day. Conner is a little more shy but he enjoyed playing football outside. I had a very fun time visiting with them. On Sunday before the super bowl, Craig and I went for a run with a couple of his friends. I ended up running over 7 miles with them which was a great way to prepare to pig out for the super bowl. Craig had several of his Friends over for a party. I had a great time until the Steelers were down in the bottom of the 4th with time running out. Luckily they pulled it out and I ended up winning the pool to top it off.

On the next weekend I headed to southern Illinois to meet my mom, Lucy and the girls. Lucy's youngest Daisy was born in September and I hadn't seen her yet. She was an incredibly good baby. She let me hold her and just smiled and cooed on my lap. Abby still hasn't quite taken to her uncle Steve. She would give me an occasional hug and would tease me but she is definitely a Mommy's girl. I had a great time visiting with them.

After being in the AF for as long as I have, you tend to know someone everywhere you go TDY. This time was no different. My buddy John who was stationed with me in CA and Germany. I spent alot of time at his house while in Alabama. I also got to have lunch with my supervisor from when I cross-trained into manpower. He retired and is working in contracting. It was nice getting to see him.

I came home to a very busy weekend culminating with the Great Aloha run on Monday. I decided to run the race when we met up with Paul and Mel, Chris's cousins and they were running the race so I signed up. I talked to Ben and he said he would run with me as well.
I was surprised how easy of a time I had finding Mel and Paul in a crowd of 20000 but I found them right a way. Paul and I started out together but then he told me to run ahead after the first mile I felt pretty strong the second mile i ran a 645 minute mile. the third mile was right at 7 min so i decided to shoot for a sub hour time. Chris was surprised how soon I passed her. She didn't even have the camera ready. I kept my strong pace but when I crossed the finish time my watch read 1 hour 2 seconds. However, when the official times were posted based on the timing chip my time was 59:50 37th of 868 in my category. My pace was a 7.21 minute mile. Not bad considering I hadn't really trained.

Mtn Biking Alabama Style

Saturday morning John and I got up early and headed to the swayback trail on lake Jordan about 45 minutes from Montgomery. The lake had a nice network of trails providing a fun way to get some exercise. It was a bit colder than I was used to but luckily I brought my tights and long sleeve Jersey. I haven't ridden with John since we were stationed at Beale. He still has an aversion to everything spandex. We had a great time. I did manage to crash a couple of times. The second one I landed on a branch and thought I messed up my knee but it was fine after a it loosened back up. John warned me about a real steep section and was curious to see if I could ride it. I gave it 4 hard tries but gave up when I couldn't get over the apex of the steepest section. There was one section that had a nice jump. Since I love to Jump I had to give it a try. Luckily I managed to keep from killing myself.