Let's put this to rest

Not a doubt that's Bud wearing that stupid ass hat.

Extraction..... Finally!!!

August 9th @ 3pm my little Alien buddy gets removed from my shoulder. If all goes well I might be recovered in time for cyclocross season. Lets keep our toes crossed. If all goes bad the Doc will have to put the hardware back in. But only if the bone is completely not connected & floating around. I don't think we'll have to worry about that.

I'm in total shock

What the hell has happened to cycling? I've been watching/following the Tour De France since 1986. Never miss it. I could say till a few hours ago this has been by far the best Tour in all the years I've been following it. Two of the most bad ass climbers going at it. Attack, after attack that's the kind of racing I like.

Now this stupid shit. This years race will now have a cloud over it just like last years. What really kills me is my most favorite cyclist has to leave the tour in disgrace because his team mate & his team are a bunch of idiots. Now a cloud will hang over Salvodelli.

Plus to add insult to it Contador & Rasmussen both will have everyones fingers pointing at them. The ASO is already saying they should have refused to let Rasmussen start. Contador is already linked very weakly to Puerto. With Disco having signed Basso, then Basso admitting his guilt I bet Contador will now be in the hot seat. That would be a shame since he's a rising star in cycling.

I really expect a strike to take place tomorrow & the racing to be neutralized in protest by the riders. I hope this doesn't happen but remember after Festina got caught? Same thing happened. I'd hate to miss out on one last day in the mountains to watch the climbers go at it again. I just hope their spirit isn't broken. Mine all but is, I can't take another scandal.

race results

State TT was good & bad. Bad because I didn't win but I knew I wouldn't. I got 2nd by like 9 sec in Master's. Though if I would have raced 3's I would have won by over a min, go figure. That would have rocketed me up the MOBAR standings. Oh well I would have felt cheap with such a slow winning time in 3's. Oh yeah my time, that was kinda good. I rode a 57:25, which was an improvement from last years 58:17. I guess you can get in some sort of shape on 200k a week.

I stole this of Flicker

It's probably the first TT I've ever done where I stuck to a plan. I wanted to keep my average heart rate @ 166 (my lactate threshold) & I did for the first 20k which was into a headwind. Knowing I had a tailwind for the return I bumped it up to an average of 170 for the return. I went out in 29:39 & came back in 27:46. I told you it was a tailwind. I think I held back to much though because I rode the last kilometer @ 50 KPH, hitting the line @ 55KPH. If I would have realized how good I was going a 56 something was probably possible. Next year.

The coolest part of the day was shadowing my 10 year old teammate Conner Estes. The USCF requires someone to follow behind kids this young to ensure they are safe. So I followed him for his 20 K TT. He's pretty good. He has great handling skills, better than most adults. He also is fast. He got third in the 10-12 yo division. He was the 10 year old, everyone else was 12. He also had no aero bars, though he had shoe covers. I'm guessing they were meant for Skip & Jim. Remember this one because if he sticks with it he could be the SPR's next Pro.

Now for the rubbing it in part: I beat Greek by 2 seconds. But we both got beat by a chic so we both suck.

I'd have been 5th in the 1-2. Isn't it fun to play should a, would a, could a
Yes that's a 56:53!
I stole this off flicker too

State TT Preview

Tomorrow is State TT aka funny helmet day. I'm taking off in a few hours with Espencotter so we can pre ride the course. Why do we need to pre ride the course? Hell if I know but it sounds like a good idea.

Mia is not a fan of the funny helmet.

I'm thinking I might feel the same way tomorrow. Get it off me now!

Not liking my chances to get another one of these again this year. Who knows if Rasmussen can pull a good TT out of his ass maybe I can too. Though I think probably not since I'm shooting for around 61 min. Hey its my first race in 8 months cut me some slack.

Adventures with Mia

Mia & I hang out everyday after work while Amber goes off to massage. Its a lot of fun spending one on one time with her.Here she's demonstrating what Farasy would look like if he didn't get his uni's from Baby Gap.
14 months & we've started potty training. She's gotten pretty good at peeing in the potty. She's just like her Mom likes to read on the crapper.

Mia's has learned how to climb. If you turn your back for a second she's climbed something. She gets this devilish little grin right before she does it. Like she knows its wrong but she's going to do it anyway.
I guess I get what I deserve for giving Mia a Mountain for a middle name, McKinley. Here she is on top of our Kitchen table.




I had to resort to stacking the chairs to keep her off it. Never a dull moment in the Dunsmuir household.

What will these 3 things get you?

1. A Lighter

2. A Six Pack

3. A pile of debris left over from the icestorm.

That's right a pretty damn good bonfire in the back yard.

All that was left

Coming soon to a yard near you?

Will this be playing in a backyard theater this summer?I guess this is why Bryon didn't edit this weeks episode of Big Love. He was working on a side project with Mikey.

Mike showed up @ the Wednesday night ride last night to use & abuse me like a defective sex toy. F'er rode away from me @ will. 200k a week just won't let you keep up with him.

Earlier this week Amber, Mia, & I made an attempt @ the Guiness book of records with the MacAnutt's & the Greeks @ the Cardinals Game. They had 4000 people all wear groucho glasses @ once. Not sure if it was a record or not but was amusing.

Motivation to work update

As I was saying this AM I had no motivation to work. Well I forced myself to shower & go to work. I was greeted with the news that server was down. An irritantance for most but a major problem for me. My company uses an intraweb based program. No intraweb, nothing for me to do. I loaded up the laptop, blackberry, & some files & headed out. I'm working from home today. At least this "office" has a window.

No motivation

That's is no motivation to get ready for work. A day off in the middle of the week sucks, kills all desire to go back to work. I'm sitting here killing time so I'll answer my on going pedal quiz. I gave TM the answer Tuesday night @ the Greeks's backyard theater so I'll share with all now. 1992 03 93 Sampson Stratics.
A complete description is here:

A cool time line of clipless pedals here:

Wednesday turned into a big day for me. I got up & met the Hammer & the Coach for a long ride. My first 100K+ ride since the first of the year. Not to bad but was tired after; lots of climbing. Then we loaded up & went to Amber's Grand Parents for a BBQ. Good food which I ate WAY too much. The diet went straight out the window. When we got home @ 6:30 laid down for a nap & woke up @ 5 AM. That's not entirely true. Mia woke up about 50X last night crying, not sure why but she sure was grumpy. She's got her 2 top teeth coming in so I imagine that's it.

I guess I'd better get around & go earn a pay check.

The weed whacker diaries

OK I gave into peer pressure from Amber & went & bought a new Weed Whacker. She threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't get a weed whacker she could start. I told her working on it was half the fun, but she didn't buy that, so I bought a Stihl.

Here she is already green from use.

Ms. Hilton?

Get away you damn paparazzi

Friday night we went to Nakato's to celebrate Amber's cousin's BDay. Here we are with the In-Law's, Rick & Dammit Debbie.

AWWWW

Mia's been having a rough week. She'll run a temp, be fine, run a temp, be fine, now she is steadily running a temp so back to the Dr. She's going as soon as the Ped's clinic opens. That's the good thing about Cox. A Ped's urgent care & Pediatrician's with Sunday Hours.

If it will ever quit raining my next back yard project is sitting in waiting. A path from the deck to the gate to fill in the spot where no grass will grow. I'm beginning to think I should have built an Ark. I'd go boating today but my shoulder has been doing some strange things this week that have me a little worried. Lots of noise coming from it.

TM got close but no cigar. Here's a closer look see. Greg was right they still work, I've won a State TT title on them & took a third as well.

Amber thinks it's annoying when I don't update

So I'll update in pictures:
Mia hasn't been feeling good this week. Strep, not strep, maybe strep, maybe viral. Medicine it is an exact science.

I rode this bad boy. It hurt.

Quick quiz: Name those pedals, bonus if you can name the year they were made. I have brand new set of cleats for them.
Amber got a free hair do by trading a massage with the hair lady where she works. Me likey!

I've entered the 9th layer of cooperate hell.

Pickin on the Dead

I should have turned around as soon as I rode into the parking lot of McBride last night. Always a bad sign when Farasy & Hogan are already there. It gets worse, up rolls Cale, followed by Metrz (3 hrs into a 6 hour day), then the icing on the cake Huff. Being way out of shape I should have realized I was in over my head & went home but nope I took off with them. I then spent the next 1:30 chasing & staring @ what ever wheel I could grab. Just before Z I cracked, one hill too many. I limped home listening to the Grateful Dead's Pickin on the Dead. I got a pretty good laugh @ its irony. What a difference a year makes.

I'm sitting here this AM drinking my coffee rethinking any illusions I might have had about racing anytime soon. They all went up the road last night. I got my ass handed to me in a big way. Its starting to grow old that Hogan is in on the handing.

This pic is for Skippy, who was noticeably absent last night. This is the dungeon I work in . That picture on the wall is the closet thing to a window I have. Fluorescent hell. But I do have 2 monitors.

Another week in review

It seems lately all anyone has time for are weeks in review in the blog world. Once again I too am stuck doing a quickie recap.

Monday nothing interesting.

Tuesday was a bad day for Mia. She got bit 3X! at daycare. When Amber picked her up she got a note explaining why kids bite & lots of apologizes. The bite marks looked like dental impressions they were so perfectly shaped. What got me pissed was after the first bite they let the kid get near her not once but twice more to bite her.

Wednesday was may regularly scheduled XRay day. Not good. Not much healing if any. The Dr. dropped a bomb shell on me by telling me he'd like to leave the plate in till next February!!! The kicker being the plate is causing scar tissue so the popping I'm getting will get worse though its nothing to worry about. But I might need rotator cuff surgery because of it. So I'm drawing a line in the sand. When I go back in six weeks we're setting a date to get this out since I don't want the cure to cause more damage.

After my appointment I went to lunch with Amber. She called the daycare to check on Mia & she'd been bitten again!!! They said the kid was being kicked out of the daycare & he was being given one on one supervision for the rest of the day. We said screw that & went & got her. Nothing like paying for full time day care & only having your kid go for 2 hours plus get assaulted.

I did make it out for the Wednesday night ride. I was greeted by Stokes who looked like he'd been mugged. He took a bad spill on the Greenway's the day before & was pretty beat up. You couldn't tell by how he was killing everyone. He did get a bit skittish whenever gravel was on the road. I managed to ride over & back & not die. That was my longest ride since January. Last week was also the first time since the first week of the year I've ridden more than 160K in a week. I'm on a roll because I've topped it twice now in a row.

Thursday was the monthly review meeting @ work. Nothing like a lot of stress to make your day. After two weeks of running spreadsheets I got to give the numbers to the man. That public speaking class in college sure comes in handy.

Friday Amber had a big night out on the town while I stayed home with Mia. Aren't I a good husband & father?

Saturday I took Mia for a ride in the trailer. Then we took her for her first haircut before heading to the lake for a Father's day dinner with my parents.



Sunday I got out for my fourth, that's right fourth, ride of the week. Later we headed down to Amber's grandparents for a Father's day B B Q.

Pretty big week. Hopefully this week I can update a little more regularly. I also need to get a pic of my work space since Skip is flaunting his. I have 2 monitors too. Doesn't everyone in this day & age?

Weed Whackers

Friday night Amber & I attended the MacAnutt's outdoor movie night. I was finally able to be in the same place as Skip so was able to get the weed whacker I was promised over @ his blog.

Saturday AM I got up bright & early a commenced to pulling on the starter cord. 1000 pulls later I weed whacked my yard with it. In the process I got a pretty good blister & the thing to run fairly descent. It now idles like a champ & runs for more than 5 min (told you I could do it Skip). It lacks a little on top end power but I think a lot of that has to do with my mix.

All it took was a hammer, a punch, a die grinder, & a screwdriver to make it work. Let me explain my process. The hammer & punch were to knock away the stupid guard around the adjustment screws for the carburetor. The die grinder was to cut screwdriver slots into the aforementioned screws to allow me to adjust the carburetor with a screwdriver. The screwdriver was to adjust the carburetor which needed some love, plus a good cleaning. Thanks Skip for providing me with some Saturday morning entertainment. Also thanks to Cale & Erin for having us over Friday night.

A day that will live in infamy

One year ago today was a day that has haunted me every day for the last year. Because of one stupid dog I've basically lost a year of my life. I've not been able to boat, climb, or ride like I have in the past. On the up side I've spent a lot of time with Mia. I've been doing things around the house that I probably wouldn't have: IE the deck, the paint, mow my yard. A lot of good has come out of it besides all the pain that I have to deal with on pretty much a regular basis. When will this end? Got me, but hopefully soon. If not they can add mental effects to my list of injuries. It's killing me every time it rains & I can't go boating!

When I show up to the Wednesday night ride tonight it will be with some trepidation since shortly after it starts will be when I hit the deck & turned down a different fork in the road.

Ryan I still want that weed eater.

a few odds & ends

A few odds & ends is all I like to have the deck done. Just need to put a guardrail on the stairs & fix a few minor things. For all intensive purposes its done though.

The seats are comfy for lounging & drinking a cold one.

The weather is killing me

The weather is really putting a crimp in the finishing of the deck. Every night this week that I've attempted to work on it its rained or I've had something else going on. I figured I'd get up this AM & knock it out in a few hours & spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the fruits of my labors. Instead I woke up to this:
Crap! On to plan B. Cut as much wood in the garage as I can & work on the weed eater. I'm sitting here now waiting for the compressor to fill up so I can use my air tools. Once again I'll strip the weed eater down & rebuild it. I've said it before I won't let it beat me. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I can have the deck finished.

This past week I've taken a small hiatus from my 3 day a week training plan. Got to rest up & all. When the deck is off my plate I'm going to try & get some miles in. Cross is only 4 months away.

More Deck Construction pics

Ashton helped lay out the joists. Notice the tape measure wrapped around her arm? She really did help though. I put a mark on her tape & she then "measured" the layout.

Cutting off the joist tails with a corded saw after the cordless saw had had a "good run". A "good run" to my dad is 2 boards.

I know how everyone likes to look @ my backside.

We're starting to grasp how big this thing is

Now the "fun" part. Laying the decking. 25lbs of screws later we'd be done.

Look closely & you'll notice I forgot to reapply sunscreen & my back is starting to get a little red. It ended up getting a lot red. Jus my back though since I spent 4 hours bent over.

My dad the day after. Mom said he spent most of the day sleeping on his deck.