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Monday, May 8, 2017
Today I Can has moved!
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Thursday, April 21, 2016
Today I Can Say Yes
YES!
While it was really cool that my son Will said he wanted to start riding with me this spring, it struck me how awesome it was to be able to say yes. |
| Good times ... didn't always include good health |
It's going to be beautiful this weekend, maybe there is a mental road block you need to remove, perfect weather for it. Take it on and let us know about it, you'd be amazed how far just one like will take you.
#todayican #bikeride #exercise #weightloss
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Just Listen to Hipsters and Pete
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| Pacific Coast ride at Oregon State |
Sound Financial Advice from a Hipster
Call for a Little Sacrifice
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| Sacrificing a Cowboys Win for Pete's Packers |
About that same time, the North Dallas Tollroad Authority announced a 5 year construction project that was going to pretty much go through the heart of my commute. I was already spending over an hour each day driving back and forth to work so I put my house on the market and began working with my landlord on finding an office in North Dallas, near where we would buy our new home. We also wanted a place where my wife could be there for our grandkids like her mother was for Katie and Will.
In May we moved to a new office in Addison. In August we found our new old home in Farmers Branch, around the corner from where I grew up in Brookhaven. The great thing about the place was that it was only 1.44 miles by bike trail from my house to the office. Other than the distance required to ride 5 houses from my house, the whole ride is on a sidewalk and a bike trail.
I thought back to that kid in Portland and my failed attempt at giving up my brown chair and decided it wasn't too late to give something else up and I made the decision to try giving up my beloved Mini Cooper Paceman. I have driven a Mini since the second year they came back on the market, I love the Mini Cooper, as soon as one of the kids get old enough to drive or head off to school i would hand one off and pick up a new one.
Giving Up
Linda's lease ran out in October and we turned in her car and I took the leap and traded in my Paceman for a new Ford Explorer for Linda and started toying around with living auto free. It was a big change and before I spent any money on a commuter style bike I wanted to see if I could do it. I have had a car since I was 16 years old, a 32 year old habit is a hard one to break. Riding to work on a road bike with skinny tires, a stiff saddle, no fenders or a rack to carry things in isn't really practical but I wanted to see how it went before I went all in. I set up an account with Uber so I could get around town to visit clients etc and tried out commuting by road bike.
What I found out is that I can get to about half of the restaurants in Addison, almost all the way to 35 in Farmers Branch and to Walnut Hill heading South into Dallas and on many days I can get to Medical City and that means all the way downtown without riding on a busy street other than crossing them. The Medical City route includes time on Harvest Hill just south of the tollroad, it can get pretty crowded in rush hour so let's take that out of the mix and there is at least a 20 mile stretch that includes my house, my office, a Neighborhood Walmart, a full Walmart, a Sam's, a bike shop, two hardware stores, my dry cleaners, a Target, a Sprouts, 2 Tom Thumbs, 2 Krogers and at least 50 different restaurants. It isn't terribly difficult to get to Whole Foods, my favorite stop for just about anything but it's definitely got a busy street mixed in to the trip. However, none of the other places mentioned that I frequent are more than 5 miles away from my house and Rosser is as busy a street as I ride on and it just added a bike lane that I could utilize on my way to Sprouts.
The funny thing is that when I moved in I didn't think I lived in a terribly bike friendly area and by just trying to find some alternatives and investigating all the bike trails I could find I can do all that without riding on one busy street. It's all residential side streets, wide sidewalks, and bike trails.
Additionally our daughter went back to teaching so our son-in-law drops the AshMan off on the way to his office every morning. Linda watches "the Nugget" while Katie teaches art in Frisco so she gets to pour into our grandson the way her mom did with Katie and Will and more importantly like she did with Katie and Will. He just lights up when he sees Gram every morning, and so does she. That alone would make all the sacrificing worth it so we decided we were ...
All In
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| Merry Birthday! My New Commuter. |
The bike is a lot heavier and not as easy to ride as my road bike but I'm riding a bike and when have you ever been on a bike ride that was worse than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for up to an hour? Plus it's like swinging two bats in the on-deck circle all week before I ride my road bike and train on the weekends. I get to do it every day or better yet, I get to skip that driving around in traffic every day and when I do go somewhere, someone else is driving, I can sit back, relax, and let an Uber driver mess with long lights and all the other idiots on the road.
Not Much of a Sacrifice
So in the long run I gave up something I loved, my Paceman, and by doing so I also gave up something I hated, driving around Dallas in traffic. Have you ever noticed how the auto industry really sells us a bag of goods in their commercials? Seriously, where did Matthew McConaughey find a completely empty road to drive his Buick on? It's dark outside in the commercial and Matthew is uttering absolute nonsense so it must be 2:00 in the morning because when else is there nobody else on the road? Let's face it, the majority of the time we spend on the road EVERYONE else is right there with us, going slower than I do on my bike. When have you actually felt exhilarated or whatever that is that McConaughey is feeling? Usually you feel trapped, banging your head on the steering wheel because you're late for work or missing a meeting somewhere. Unless your returning from some naked bongo party with McConaughey, alright alright alright is never how you feel.
So I gave up a lot of complication and frustration to put time in my day and money in my pocket. I purchased a brand new bike and rigged it out for about the cost of two car payments on my Mini. I live closer to my office, I don't have a car payment, toll tag, insurance and gas for one car. Last week I spent $0 on Uber, in December I spent $36 plus tips in Dallas on Uber, less than the cost of two tanks of gas. I have a client I visit once a week and I catch an Uber out there at noon, on that particular night Linda and I have planned on running errands, going Christmas shopping or just going out for dinner so Linda drives out and picks me up at the end of the day, so I guess we've had to become a little more efficient as well.
This listening to my pastor and taking financial advice from a hipster in Portland thing turned out okay. Turns out sacrificing something you don't need isn't that much of a sacrifice and there may even find a reward in all that "sacrificing". Tomorrow Pete starts a series on Daniel, going to be there for the first service because I'm kind of hoping Daniel rode a Harley, if not there probably will be something worth hearing, there usually is if I just listen.
Monday, November 16, 2015
Father Son Football Weekend Venue Recap
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| TOUCHDOWN JESUS! |
Father Son Football Weekend ranking
This doesn't have anything to do with riding a bike but it's my blog and I felt like doing a fun little recap / college football venue ranking. For the past 12 years Will and I have been all over the place and have seen 15 of the best college football venues on just about anyone's list. I thought I'd give an unbiased opinion on those venues. We obviously have seen a lot of games at aTm and OU so I won't include those at 1 and 2, even though that's where they belong.
We have been to, East to West by conference, UNC, Clemson, Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama, Ole Miss, LSU, USC, UCLA and Oregon. In reverse order, here is how I would rank those venues, based on the experience we had. I can say unequivocally that these are simply awesome venues. You should see a game at most every one.
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| Great seats, really loud crowd |
15 | Alabama
We saw the Iron Bowl there and they destroyed Auburn but their fans were awful. The guy behind us actually peed in the stands. They were rowdy, drunk, generally without any class. It was really disappointing. Candidly, only Texas and Houston's old Astrodome are lower on my list.
From here on, the list is just tough, every ranking is with a wince because they were all fun.
14 | The Swamp
It was our first weekend and they played Arkansas. I had heard so much about the place and it was great, just not quite up to expectations. Not sure if it was a bad day but the fans were of the "we should have won by more" variety. We also got our camera stolen and this was back before cell phones had cameras so we lost every picture. That stunk, we would have had a great picture doing the Gator Chomp with a group of Hare Krishnas. |
| Way above the Hedges at Georgia |
13 | Between the Hedges
Probably unfair because we hadn't learned how important getting close was. We were way up high and I still don't have any idea what the atmosphere was like. The town was awesome, hanging around before the game was fun, probably prettiest campus but we missed that college game day atmosphere. |
| Very enthusiastic Gig 'em from Michigan Cheerleader |
12 | The Big House
Really cool venue, great tailgate but the big house wasn't really that big. Great place to see a game, we were right by the Michigan tunnel and I literally put my hand on a players helmet as they came out. Seats were just painted close together, so 100k plus just barely squeezed into to see Michigan beat Penn State.
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| USC v Oregon |
USC lost to Oregon in the highest scoring game we had seen on Father Son but the history was incredible and Phil from Modern Family was on the sideline. It comes in lower on my list just because of the neighborhood and amount of empty seats but the history was incredible, just seeing all the Olympic fanfare was amazing.
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| Howard's Rock and me in need of a hat |
10 | Death Valley
Howard's Rock, players running down that hill, two top ten teams, Jameis Winston, Gameday. It was one of the best weekends until the first play of the game when Clemson fumbled, Winston threw a TD pass a play or two later and the blowout ensued. It became more of a game where we watched angry drunk Clemson fans get arrested for trying to pick a fight with FSU fans. It was so painful to watch. I'm going back because potentially that was a number one venue but a terrible game for the home team. |
| Pregame Party with the Duck |
9 | The Duck Pond
Loads of fun in one of the smaller venues, certainly wasn't near as loud as others but for a smaller venue, it was hopping. Duck rolled out on a motorcycle, lots of things happening. It was Mariotta's last game at Oregon, they whipped Colorado pretty good. Great fun in a DisneyWorld type atmosphere. Also, it does rain, very much so, at Autzen, don't let the PA guy fool ya.
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| Nice Gig 'em Aubbie |
8 | Toomer's Corner
Beautiful campus, saw another Iron Bowl and another Alabama stomping. Fans were awesome, cool pregame, Toomer's Corner post the tree killing incident. Really cool, like to have seen that place when Cam was there. |
| From the Coach's Box with Christy Fedora |
7 | UNC Chapel Hill
Okay this one gets a bump because I went to high school with Larry Fedora's wife and we sat in the coach's box. So very very cool. It was fall break and students were gone on a Thursday night. Great game, UNC lost a nail biter to Miami. Really cool stadium, night game but since it was during fall break we didn't get to see it packed out. |
| Coldest game yet! |
6 | Happy Valley
Night game rematch against Michigan. Place. Was. Hopping. White out on Halloween, so much fun and just crazy crazy loud. Fans were into it, dressed up, tailgated all day long and then brought it as Penn State beat Michigan before Sandusky. Lots and lots of fun. We also got a behind the scene tour of the ESPN set thanks to a friend that works there, watched them film their NFL Show, that was absolutely amazizing. |
| Grand Daddy of them all |
5 | The Rose Bowl
It was such a bucket list game, parking on the golf course, seeing the GrandDaddy of them all. It wasn't perfect though 1) UCLA tricked up their classic uniform, that killed me. I hate that dark blue thing. 2) It was a night game, that's a Saturday afternoon venue. 3) Empty seats, always a bummer. It was still such an incredible place to see a game, we mingled with the mascots and yell leaders. UCLA and Arizona broke the USC v Oregon scoring record from earlier that day, we had raced across Los Angeles to see that game after the game at the Coliseum finished. |
| Getting our Grove on. Nice Gig 'em. |
4 | The Grove
The fans tailgated, set down their plate (but not their drink) walked over to the game, watched ole Miss shut out Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl then returned to their plate and finished their tailgate. I don't think anyone locked anything, just headed over the game. Great fans, great time, felt like one big family. All time great place to see a game. |
| Nice Gig 'em from the Leprechaun |
3 | The Golden Dome
Touchdown Jesus, fans doing hail Mary's in an overtime loss to Michigan State, such an epic place to see a game. I will return when the Aggies play there in a couple of years. I can't say enough, the history, the atmosphere, it was simply awesome and I am not a Notre Dame fan. You just have to do this once. |
| The songs alone made LSU one of the best |
2 | Death Valley (ext dance mix)
What a place, 250,000 fans tailgated just to be there. The songs and cheers were the best. The place was rowdy, LSU beat Arkansas to go 12-0 before losing national championship to Alabama. The fact that the SEC team I dislike this much as an Aggie should set aside any perceived bias on the part of the list maker. The fans were fun drunk, not nasty drunk. Well, they did work blue but they were just Cajuns having fun. Now I can go back to rooting against them. Oh yeah, all time great uniform as well. |
| 50 Yard Line Seats! |
1 | The Shoe
Closest thing I've seen to Aggie fan loyalty at any game. Fans stood in the rain for a 38-0 blowout to watch the band dot the I after the game. Great band. Great fun. Lots of noise. You have to go see a game there. Fans couldn't believe we hated Barbie Carpenter so much. It would have helped if he didn't suck so much.It's funny, the two places I was warned would be the worst was number 1 and 2 which just goes to show it has a lot to do with the folks around you, how well they treat visitors and introduce you to the traditions and stories. Also, man was I fat.
I've been to a lot of places in addition to this, my son said I should have ranked them all so I will drop in some insertions here and let you know where I'd put them on the list. The following venues aren't so memorable, I would call them unranked. Jones Stadium at Texas Tech, not a good but Tech was our nemesis back in the day so I am as biased against them as I am against texas. T Boone Pickens at Oklahoma State was a place I visited a long time ago, the renovations may make it better, but I remember thinking they have to cheat to get kids to come play here over just about any other venue. Rice Stadium, just so big for such a small crowd, they barely filled up a couple of rows in a place that hosted a Super Bowl. Memorial Stadium, University of Texas, just so big for such a small crowd. Whenever they announce attendance I assume they count by 2s, maybe 3s. The Disastrodome when the University of Houston played there, it was a horrible place to see a football game but at least it was a dreadful baseball venue. What a mistake that place was.
I'd put SMU, TCU and Floyd Casey above Alabama. Great little venues that share a common trait, not a bad seat in the house and I have always found the faithful to be friendly, plus nobody peed around me, that's always a plus.
Arkansas was a blast, probably fits in at #10. Passionate fans, rowdy and they have a million mascots. Really good time there. Gets a minus for the giant statue of Jerry though. Florida State was my first road trip, almost 30 years ago. I'd say it hits in that spot right behind the Big House on my list, I know how to go to these games now so I probably revisit that campus again and see another game to get a better feel.
How about bowl venues? Shreveport is a hole, nobody wants to go or play there, somehow it keeps on surviving. So was Astrodome when it housed the Bluebonnet Bowl, it died off though, as will the Texas Bowl I'm sure. Jerry World is too much, don't like it, especially for a college game. It's got big TVs and it isn't cold, so that's a plus. The Sugar Bowl was fun, but not a great stadium, even before Katrina. They need to figure something out and get that game outdoors. Alamo Bowl is probably the best indoor game, locals support it well, just a weird shape, you can sit in about 8 different corners. Cotton Bowl was magic in fair park, Will and I saw every one for 8 or 9 years until it moved to Jerry World. Great place to see a game. The OU Texas game there is one of the best traditions in football. Half the field red, half orange unless Texas is losing then half the field is color of empty seats.
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| ESPN Set from our trip to Penn State and the Meadowlands |
That's all I got, love to hear your thoughts.
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Roller Coasters and Corny Dogs
Not Fair Day
Any parent knows the dreaded phrase “Not Fair” – every kid learns it and once they do they treat it as if it was the ultimate trump card in some high stakes game they are playing on the cereal aisle … over Fruity Pebbles … even though they never eat them. "Read 'em and weep Daddy, I have deemed this Not Fair and there isn't much you can do about it."
I came up with a counter argument to the Not Fair trump card, one both my kids hated which made it very effective because eventually they quit saying Not Fair. I just told them this, “you know ... life is not fair. In fact it's so unfair that they made a special day called Fair Day where they close school and you get to go downtown and ride roller coasters and eat corny dogs but today is not Fair Day. There is nothing I can do about it. My hands are tied.” It's complete nonsense but was effective, for a small fee you can use it.
Yesterday was my very own Not Fair Day, I had set out to ride with the Pace Group at the Hotter than Hell Hundred. I was going to ride 100 miles in less than 5 hours. For the past couple of months I've been up before dawn attempting to meet or exceed the things I needed to do to be able to do it. I had seen so many obstacles but the doors seemed to open despite the challenges. I could do this.
The Pace Group
Saturday morning came and despite some challenges in getting to the starting line I got there and the ride started. I took off and roared along the course trying to stay the pace. I had been fortunate at the start to get a spot toward the front but in an early uphill quite a few riders sprinted past me and I found myself in the back half of the peloton. The back half is not where you want to be. When the front half crests a hill, they accelerate while you still are climbing and you have to catch up, quickly. When they hit the bottom of a hill you run up their back wheels as they slow down, they separate again, you catch up. Instead of a smooth line, it's like riding an accordion, back and forth. Sprint, brake, spin. It takes a toll on your legs so I decided to work my way to the front and avoid that. During another climb I slipped up the side of the peloton and tried to find a hole to jump in. Not a popular move and I quickly found that many of the riders I passed were taking any opportunity to regain their position in fact, that is what the ride became, all of us jockeying for position.
I found myself in the back half again but this time I found myself separated from the pace group by riders that jumped into the peloton but weren't part of our group. It turns out that a lot of people start the Hotter than Hell early to beat the heat and the massive crowd at the start. As we passed them they jumped into our pace line and created a bigger gap between the back half and the front half and accordingly, we had a more exaggerated accordion ride. At around mile 53 I worked my way around the guys outside the group and rejoined the front half of the Pace Group, no longer a clean two lines but a mass of jersey's and sweat attempting to stick together. It was chaotic in some ways, not what I expected and during that melee I felt an all too familiar twinge in my left quadriceps, my muscles were starting to cramp. My heart sank. I had hydrated enough I thought, I was on my third water bottle but in that confusion and pressure maybe I didn't drink enough. I prayed they would pass but they didn't. I shifted to the little gear and kept spinning, it's called soft pedaling. Pressure brings the cramps on so if I just kept spinning maybe they would work themselves out. The pace group leaders were awesome, they encouraged me and time and time again helped me hang on but the twinges turned to spasms and at mile 60 a sharper pain than I could ride through shot through my leg. I told the ride leader who commended me for my fight and then took off to join the group leaving me alone under a giant inflatable Pyro Pete, the guardian of Hell’s Gate. A Disappointing Finish
I briefly took consolation in the fastest 60 miles I had ever ridden, 2 hours and 49 minutes and knew I could slow down now and easily have a really good time. I would just soft pedal. I thought through the plan and there wasn't part of it that involved catching up with the Pace Group so I was disappointed, but would press on. I thought about quitting but I didn't want to quit with that kind of time under my belt. I would still finish in 5 and a half hours, a personal best time for me.
However the cramps didn't see it that way, by mile 86 a sag wagon was on the scene. Sag wagons are part of every ride and they pick up the riders that can't finish due to injuries, the heat or typically a battle with severe cramps. If I was cramping where I had to stop in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road, that was bad and that's why they were there. They were trained to get me and my bike off the road and into the truck, for my own good but I convinced them I would be fine, that I just needed to finish the race at 14 mph to finish under 6 hours. I would take it easy. 6 hours is still a really good time and I would be okay with that.
I had to stop again three more times on the side of the road before the 90 mile break where I spent what seemed like forever in the first aid station with my legs iced down trying to stop the spasms. That six hour mark passed with me on a cot and I got back on the bike with two fresh ice packs and slowly spun in, moving ice around my quads and massaging each cramp until I crossed the line in 7 hours and 10 minutes. At the finish, I couldn't unclip from my bike and the volunteers handing out medals had to catch me to keep me from falling while I worked out the latest cramps which now prevented me from twisting either foot to unclip from the pedal.
Reflections on the ride and me
Linda and Will had driven up from Dallas to see me finish and, I thought, to celebrate my five hour achievement. Instead she just gave me a big hug as I held back the tears. I had worked so hard, I even downloaded the checklist app and checked off everything. I hydrated. It wasn't that hot. How did this happen?
My friend Doug had his best ride ever but instead of being happy for him it just made it hurt more. Why couldn't I get to do that? It was not fair. How come every single prayer I had on that ride was answered with a no? Please help me get up this tiny hill without another cramp! No. Please send this water and electrolytes to my quads! No. Please help me just keep up this pace! No. Please give me Steve Austin’s bionic legs. No. I was being the kid in the cereal aisle. The more I plead, the more I asked why, the more I slowed down. Why? Slower. Why? Slower. Why? Slower.
The only thing that answered that "why" question was me. It was just me. I think He really blessed my efforts early on in my weight loss adventure because back then Today I Can was about looking to Him and helping others, somewhere in my quest for the five hour ride I turned it into Today Ford Can, I'd lost contact with Him and the goal I had to help others. I rode alone, trained alone, even on Sunday mornings, and just set out to ride fast. I never updated my blog or encouraged another person, there wasn't time and that wasn't my goal. My goal was to post a great time and get a picture of that time on my Garmin posted to Facebook so everyone would think I was awesome. It was pride. It had nothing to do with Him and everything to do with me. It had nothing to do with others it was all about me. If He wasn't part of the plan, why did I think He'd solve the cramp thing? He did give me enough strength to finish, I'm thankful for that but it was not a finish that involved pride, it involved what got me here. Humility and perseverance.
It would have been much easier to get in a sag wagon, meet Linda at the first aid station and just skip the whole finish line thing. Nobody would see me, nobody would blame me either. Nobody else had two ice packs on their legs, nobody else would do this. I had finished this ride before, I didn't need to prove that. The lesson He wanted to teach me was out there in that heat, with those cramps, in 7 hours and 10 minutes. You need to persevere, just ride to the finish and complete what you started. This is not about you and your great time, this is about humility. I will be there, I will carry you across that line but it will not be on your terms. Perseverance and humility are the terms that got you here and that is where I want you: in this and fighting with me.
Today I Can - Reboot
So first of all, I am sorry I lost site of the goal. There were a couple of things over the past couple of days that have shown me that. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought if I did this it would encourage others but it was in the back of my mind. I did learn something. I actually was reminded of something, it is really fundamental to what Today I Can is supposed to be about and that is that sometimes you don't want to do what you need to do or what God wants you to do. The big guy or girl jogging or walking or riding a bike isn't glamorous. Finishing a ride in a Pace Group jersey two hours after the Pace Group isn't going to get a lot of coverage on SportsCenter. It is just what we have to do to fulfill whatever plan He has for us. I know it hurts sometimes because I have been there, I was there yesterday and you think you are alone but you're not, He's there. So just get out there and give it a try, ask God to help you make good decisions and be safe in your venture and if that works out, try it again tomorrow.
Also, drink a lot of water if it's hot and humid because cramps suck.
#TodayYouCan
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