Then and Now

May 1985

Today

Chris was cleaning out some old pics and I ran across this one that was taken the day I Graduated HS. I thought it might be kind of neat to take a similar pose just to see the changes. The Hair is much shorter thanks to the AF. I have also taken to adding gray highlights. The face has a few more lines due to years of playing in the sun. I think I could probably fit in to the same shirt although the pants would probably be a little tight. Back then I could run a 2 minute half mile, today I can't but could still do a 6 minute mile if I had too. I guess the past 22 years haven't been too bad to this old boy.

Kailua Beach Ride

Last summer Heather and I joined the HACC for a long ride. The longest ride Heather had done before was about 30 miles. We ended up riding 80 and she did great. One of the first things she mentioned doing while home for her Christmas break was to do another long ride. Since today was a family day and late in her break we chose to do the ride. I sent out an invite to the HACC and had a great response. I got up at 0600 happy to hear silence from outside meaning that it wasn't raining. After getting dressed and having a cup of coffee, I woke up Heather. She was less than thrilled with getting up that early but she got up and got dressed. I opened the door and looked out at a grey sky and wet pavement but at least it wasn't raining. We headed to the gym to meet the rest of the gang, actually making it there right at 0700. As we headed out the gate the rain started and the rooster tails of water rising up from everyone's tires really made me wish I had brought my fendered bike. Nimitz provided the worst of the rain and traffic and once we got to Waikiki it had pretty much stopped. Luckily the traffic through Honolulu was pretty light and we made pretty good time. Everyone stayed together pretty well even up the hill past Hanauma Bay. We stopped at Makapuu for some pictures and to fix the first flat of the day.

The group got a little broken up on the Wiamanalo bypass but we got back together as we entered Kailua. We stopped at the Green Market coffee shop to down some nutrition and java before heading back. On the way back due to flats and folks needing to get home, the group broke into 3 groups. Heather and I stopped at Makapuu so I could ride up to the lighthouse. John helped Jeff fix two flats so they were a little behind us and the rest of the group headed back to base. Heather was doing great and talked about trying to extend the ride to 100 miles. We decided to stop at Momentum so I could pick up some chain lube. John and Jeff apparently passed us as they were already at Momentum picking up tubes for Jeff. The four of us rode back to base together. Heather and I did a couple of laps around the block so we could finish with 80 miles. Heather has ridden over 200 miles since she arrived earlier in December. The pic of her computer was taken at Makapuu with over 30 miles left in the ride. Due to it being late, we decided to forgo the extra miles happy with our 80 mile ride. Even though the weather and conditions were less than perfect, we still had a great ride.

After we got back, we went to Pearl Ridge for some shopping with Courtney and Chris and took in the new movie Marley and Me. It was a great story that every dog owner will love.

Hello 2009

It is hard to believe we are bringing in another year. As we get older time sure seams to fly. Last year was great. We celebrated Stephanie's Bachelors Degree and my Masters Degree as well as Courtney's 8th grade graduation and Confirmation. 2009 will see us celebrating Heathers graduation and her entering her graduate Physical Therapy Program. Before we know it we will be referring to her as Dr. Steele.

This year we brought in the new year at a neighborhood block party. Think I found the perfect bike. It is small enough to pack and take about any where and it gives a hell of a workout. I am not sure though if I would be able to do any around the Island rides. Riding it 100 feet was tough enough. I planned on doing a early morning ride to kick of the New Year but the rain put the kabosh on those plans. Heather, Jim and I did set out on a nice easy paced 2 hr ride covering Hickam, Pearl and Ford Island. On Pearl we stopped to see a memorial that described all the ships that were involved in the Dec 7 1941 attack and what damage they sustained. It is hard to believe that some of the ships that sank were actually put back into service a few months after the attack. I took an neat picture of one of the discriptions capturing Jim riding behind it as well as one of the ships in port. After we got back, Chris joined us for a ride around the neighbor hood. GOALS FOR 2009

I don't do New Years Resolutions because they tend to be short lived. Instead I have a list of goals that I hope to achieve. The list is fairly long so that hopefully I have some goals that I can achieve to make up for the ones I don't.

1. Get more sleep
2. Drink more water and less soda and beer
3. Maintain and improve my fitness level
4. Achieve a sub 60 minute time in the 40k TT ( 1:03:10.0 last year)
5. Place in the top 20 in the Dick Evans Memorial Race (27th last year)
6. Run Hickam 1/2 marathon
7. Run Honolulu Marathon
8. Be more organized and productive at work
9. Make Chief
10. Save more money
11. Have alot of fun

Family Pics

Today we went to the beach to try out the new Camera. Here are some of the pics but in much lower resolution than the originals.














Today we went to the beach to try out the new Camera. Here are some of the pics but in much lower resolution than the originals.

Mtn Bike on the Windward Side

Friday Morning Heather and I got up early and headed to the east side of the island to go mtn biking with John, Jon, Jim, and Cory. We arrived about 10 minutes late and Heather had a mechanical right from the start. The Windward side of the island gets alot more rain than the Leaward side and the trails were pretty muddy. We started out on a pretty sketchy trail with some steep descents. After about 10 minutes we decided to cut our losses and head back to the Maunawillie Ditch trail. This trail is mostly double track that twists back and forth. When it is dry, you can really hammer but this day that wasn't the case. I started out trying to take pictures of Heather riding ahead of me. After a couple of near slips, I put the camera away to keep both hands on the bars. The trail is an out and back and on the way back, Heather and I fell back from the rest of the riders. We decided to turn right at the end of the trail and check out the views from above. Jon caught up with us and told us the rest of the riders were waiting at the car. I called John and let him know we were going to check out the top trail. He was going to join us after he fixed his tire. However, Jim ran into some bad luck and ripped the derailler off his bike. John gave him a ride back to Bellows. Jon L. had also had a flat. After he changed it, we kept riding up until we came to the trail head for the Maunawillie Demonstration trail. This trail had some sweet single track that ran along the ridge. We rode it quite a ways then turned around for a nice descent. When we were done, we were covered in mud. Heather and I took the long way home and stopped at Momentum where she test rode a nice bike which may make a good graduation present.

A very picture centered Christmas

This year Chris and I had kind of a unintentional themed Christmas. The Theme was pictures. I got her a Kodak Photo Printer and she got me a Panasonic Digital Camera. We also used some money and bought a new Pentax DSLR camera. One might wonder why we needed so many new camera's. The SLR takes outstanding pictures but it can be difficult to take on the bike or hiking. Our older digital camera was starting to show the effects of many rough rides on the bike and drops to the floor. Stephanie got a PS2 from Santa, Heather some new running shoes and a pair of Oakley's and Courtney an IPOD Nano and Ginger got a new chew toy. There were alos alot of other things for each of us under the tree.

TheEnd of a 10 yr Drought and the Steeles Were There

I have always been a Notre Dame Fan. I remember as a young boy watching the games with my Dad who is also a lifelong Irish Fan. I passed the love of Notre Dame down to my children. When Courtney was less than 2 she used to cheer "Go Notre Dame, Go Notre Dame" while we watched the games. This year we were thrilled to find out they were coming to Hawaii for the Sheritan Hawaii Bowl. Last year we were able to recieve free tickets to the game but this year the free tickets were gone in less than an hour and I had to pony up $200.00 for us to go. We arrived at the stadium a couple hours early prepared to do some tail gating. We ate our wraps, chips and had a few cold ones before making our way to the stadium. We were the only people with Notre Dame shirts on but all the Hawaii Fans were very friendly.

We headed to our seats around 230 stopping to pick up a couple of shirts for the girls. The tickets I ordered where supposed to be the best available but we were one row from the top of the stadium and there were a lot of open seats below us. It didn't bother me as it gave me an opportunity to try out the new digital SLR camera we bought with some Christmas Money from my Parents.I haven't figured out all the settings yet but i did manage to get some pretty good shots. I used the 300 mm lens from our film SLR and was able to get some great close ups of the players on the field. I did find out however that 10 MP pics are huge and take forever to download so I think i will keep it on a lower setting from now on. The game was pretty anti-climatic as Notre Dame managed to beat Hawaii pretty handily. It still was a great game and I am glad we got to watch it as a family. What a way to start off Christmas Eve. Tonight we are going to Midnight Mass as we always do. Courtney is Serving and Steph is ushering so it will just be Chris, Heather and I in the pews.