Busy Weekend

This was one of the most fun weekends I have had in quite a while, which is saying alot since I usually have pretty fun weekends. I took a day off Friday to spend with my sister and to start celebrating Chris's Birthday. We went to the north shore and spent some time hiking at the Audubon park at Wiamea Bay. We took the easy paved path to the falls and spent some time enjoying the view. On the way back we decided to try a little more difficult hike on the way back which was a single track that went up and down some steep hills with a few loose rocks to make it interesting. I stayed back to help Chris navagate a tricky section when we heard Gina, Heather and Courtney Scream. Apparently a wild bore ran out in front of them. Needless to say, we headed back to the paved path. We headed over to the ocean for a swim. Unfortunately we forgot our snorkeling gear but I was able to work on my swimming using the book Full Immersion Swimming. I think i need to work on it in the pool as I swallowed a bunch of salt water.

After Swimming we went Cholo's Mexican Restaurant in Halewa for some great Mexican Food. We have been wanting to go there for several months and were not disappointed.

Chris's Birthday was Saturday. We went to Waikiki to the outdoor Mass at the Hale Koa. It is a beautiful Mass but a bit hard to concentrate with the great views and the people walking by.

Afterwards we went to our favorite Italian place Auntie Pastas for another great meal.


Sunday I got up early and headed to the Race. It was a perfect race. Check out Dev's Blog for a complete run down and great pictures: http://devsfitnessjourney.blogspot.com/

I rushed to my graduation at the O Club. It was a nice ceremony that Ben, Chris, the girls Gina and My boss Linda and her Husband attended. It was great having a cheering section as I walked across the stage.

Afterwards, I was treated to a nice surprise thanks to Mom and Dad with some help from the rest of the family, including Ben.

One Year Later

Yesterday marked the 1 year anniversary of my brothers death. It is hard to believe it has been a year since the army staff car arrived at my parents farm to deliver the news that Josh was killed in Afghanistan. We all miss him so much.

Heather's Home and Courney is in High School

Monday afternoon Heather flew in from Illinois for her summer break. This year she is just staying with us until the 2nd week of July so she can try to get a job for the school year. I am trying to convince her to race in the Hickam Crit but she doesn't seem to think it would be much fun. Hopefully I can get her to do a couple of weekday HACC rides. She enjoys riding but my bike doesn't fit her the best and she is not used to road gearing and shifting.

Courtney's 8th grade promotion party was Tuesday. I can't believe she is going to be in High School. It seams like yesterday when she was 11 months old and we were PCSing from Offutt to California.

Friday night, Ben and Casey came over for supper. We got out the poker chips and played some high stakes poker. I was making Margarita's until I ran out of tequila and had to make them with rum and whiskey. They didn't taste the best but they had a bit of a punch.

Taken a Break from the Bike

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Today is my 23rd anniversary. Two of the last 3 anniversaries have been over shadowed by PCS moves so we decided to do something special and stay at the Hale Koa in Waikiki Saturday night. I was still planning on riding Saturday morning but when I woke up after 6 am I figured I would just get some more sleep as both of the rides had already started. We checked in around 3 pm before going to Mass at the Fort DeRusey Chapel. We were a little disappointed in our room as it was one of the children rooms with a pretty uncomfortable full size bed and thin walls. But still it was nice to be down in Wiakiki so we couldn't complain too much. After mass we headed to our favorite Italian place on the Island: Anti Pasta's. Getting there before 6 was great as we got right in. I had the chicken cachatorie and Chris had the Egg Plant Parmesan. After dinner we walked along the beach and the stores. There was a Pan Pacific Islander Festival going on with a great band. We set and listened until they completed their set. We walked back to the hotel doing some window shoping along the way. When we finally got back to the room we were bushed but the people in the next room were talking so loud that we had a heck of a time sleeping. This morning we had breakfast then headed out to the beach. It was a great day for sitting on the beach. I tired to swim but my shoulder still is bothering me. We had to check out at noon so we headed back to the base. We stopped at McCully bicycle store just to check it out since I didn't have much time the last time I was there. They have pretty decent prices but I couldn't find anything that I couldn't live with out. After we got home and had some lunch, we decided to take a drive to the Windward side and do some hiking. Chris wanted to see if she could make it all the way to the Light house which se did sucessfully. We could tell the exercise was really helping her get in shape as last time she had a hard time getting half way up.

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was one of those rare weekends when I got 4 days off in a row. I tried to squeeze as much as possible into it to make the most of it. I started Friday by sleeping until 11am, something I haven't done in forever. When we finally got up, we decided to go to Best Buy to look at TVs. I picked out a couple of Sharp TVs but wanted to wait until I shopped around. Chris really like the Samsung but the one in our price range was too wide for our wall unit. Later Friday we went to the NEX to look at their selection. They had the same TV as one of the Sharps I saw at Best Buy. It was $100.00 more than Best Buy but I thought if I could price match, I would save the sales tax. Unfortunately, when they called Best Buy the sales clerk said that they didn't have any in stock, even though I knew they had two when we were there earlier.
Later Friday, Courtney had an end of year ceremony for her Girl Scout Troop. The girls had fun showing off their accomplishments for the year.

Saturday morning I got up early and headed to Schofield to ride. My goal was to keep both wheels on the ground and avoid any accidents or mechanicals. Something I hadn't been too successful at during the last few rides. We had a nice easy ride, saving energy for Sunday's State Championship 40 K Time Trial. My shoulder felt pretty good for the entire ride so I knew I would be ready for the TT. We finished early so I stopped at the other Best Buy to look at TVs. I thought they had a Samsung in our price range that would fit so I grabbed it. Unfortunately, I looked at the wrong tag for the dimensions and when I got it home, I figured out it was too big for our cabinet. Luckily, I was able to slide the doors all the way forward and get it to fit. Unfortunately we aren't able to push them back like we used to but it looks pretty good.

After we got the TV set up we headed to Kaneohe to my friend Robert's for a pool party. I over ate and drank a few too many which was probably not the smartest thing to do before the race on Sunday. We had a great time and decided to get together with them again on Monday.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 0400 not feeling the best from the night before. I filled up the jeep (not much fun with $4.00 gas and a 20 gal tank) and headed up to the northern most tip of the island. Most of the HACCers were already warming up when I got there. I got my number and free socks and started warming up on the trainer. I wasn't feeling too bad by the time I was at the starting line. The first half (12miles) of the race was into a pretty stiff wind. I was able to keep it at about 22 mph telling myself I would pick it up on the way back. When I was about 2/3rds of the way to the turn around, I started passing racers. I figured it was a pretty good sign. When I turned around, I kicked it up to 26 mph and kept passing more riders. I miscalculated where the finish line was and picked it up a little too early. I still finished pretty strong. I had to leave early so I missed the awards ceremony. John called me after church and let me know that I finished 2nd in my category. Now I have a 1st place state championship medal from the team time trial and a 2nd place from the individual tt. Ben finished first in our category beating me by a little under a minute. Casey finished 1st in his category, John 2nd in his. I invited Ben and Casey over for supper Sunday night and we celebrated with Beer and Steaks.

Monday started as a lazy day. We slept in until 10 then headed back to Roberts in the afternoon. This time Courtney and Ginger joined us. Ginger loved the pool. She swam all over. Marty had a kids inflatable vest that we put on Ginger so she wouldn't have to work so hard. She looked ridiculous but that didn't seem to bother her. She also enjoyed sitting on the floaties.


On a somber note, this is the first memorial day since my brother was killed in Afghanistan. My sister and Mom went to DC for a ceremony for the families of the fallen. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year. I still expect to see him driving his truck up to my house.

Crash

My riding luck hasn't been going too well. Saturday I suffered a major mechanical which disrupted my weekend riding. I was really looking forward to a good Tuesday ride. I managed to leave the office pretty early so I could start with the group. We had a record 26 riders. Ben and Casey took off during the housing warm-up. I stayed back with the peleton until Scott passed me and picked up the pace to about 26. A couple of the new guys also came around so I picked up the pace to stay with them. We slowed as we rode through the traffic circle then we picked it up to try to catch Ben and Casey. Unfortunately I forgot about the big bump in the road and I hit it square on making me lose control. The next thing I knewI was sliding across the pavement. My head hit the curb but luckily the helmet absorbed the impact. It felt like my head was hitting a pillow. I slowly got up and felt around for the typical injuries: broken collar bone, bleeding, concussion. Everything checked out except my shoulder was a little sore. I check the bike which surprisingly suffered very little damage except for the rear dérailleur cable stretching which I didn't notice until I started to ride. I got back on the bike and proceeded with the ride. Everything seemed fine until I tried to lift my left arm to signal a turn. I felt a sharp shooting pain and wasn't able to lift the arm. I went back to work and called Chris. She told me she was coming to take me to the ER. 3 hours later I found out that I strained my rotator cuff. Not a real serious injury, just a painful one. Luckily I should be able to ride in the 40 K TT. My Helmet didn't make out so well. Hopefully Rudy Project will be sympathetic and send me a new one.

Bike to Work, Mechanicals and a Computer Virus

I started Friday morning off with a nice bike ride to downtown Honolulu to the Bike to Work rally. Friday was the official Bike to Work day and the Hawaiian Bicycle League held a rally to kick it off. There were about 10 of us from the base that rode down Nimitz with rush hour traffic for a free cup of coffee and to meet with other riders from accross the island. Lt Governor "Duke" Aiona (green shirt below) rode his vintage "old" fuji from Makakilo to the ralley and spoke to the crowd. He took time to talk to alot of us and took a picture with the HACC.

I finished the workday off Friday with a round of golf at the Par 3. I putted pretty well but could not get any good shots off the tee.

Saturday morning I woke early and headed to Schofield for the north shore ride. I was really looking forward to a nice ride with some hard efforts to prepare for next weeks State TT. We were just starting to climb Koli Koli pass when I shifted into the small ring. Some how I threw the chain off and the torque pulled my derailleur hanger off the frame ending my ride prematurely. Luckily we weren't far from the car and Jon L who wasn't planning a hard ride to save his legs for Sunday's tri rode back got his Exterraand gave me a ride back to the jeep. I spent the better part of the morning cannibalizing old parts and was able to get the bike back running with out spending any money. I still need to tap out a some threads for one screw but I think I will be ok for Sunday's TT.

Saturday evening we picked up a virus on the computer. I tried to download a spyware program but found out it did more harm than good. Luckily with patients I was able to get the computer back up on Sunday.