We're In!

When normal people were buying last minute Christmas gifts, fighting holiday road rage and baking, Mike and I were loading a moving truck on X-mas Eve. I'm not going to sugar coat it--it SUCKED!!! I have never been so sore in my entire life. Now it's over and we're living out of boxes. That I can deal with. Just please no more heavy lifting because I don't think I could handle it.


Mike in all of his wood chopping glory

The first night I had trouble sleeping because it is so quiet. No people on the sidewalk, no downstairs neighbor snoring, no cars screeching up the road, no screaming neighborhood kids...Quiet.

Christmas Morning
Ike enjoying the Appalachian trail outside his back door
Why walk when you can swim?

I had planned on writing much more. However, I am spent. There will be more. I think I just need a nap first...and I have to figure out where all of my work clothes are...

NECS/DHBX '09

The best non-race of the year. Thanks to the mind of Wurster the 1st Annual Dark Horse Beer Cross became reality this past Sunday. Non-competition was fierce. The course favored those who were well-versed in dodging snow people, had the power to get through the snow ball gauntlet unscathed and possessed the mental fortitude to dodge a guy named Rossi in his man Uggs.

The UCI regulation snow people...

Stiff arming the non-competition

Mike and the dreaded "Dizzy Stick" that made you wish you were drinking

Cold PBR
Land Shark showing good form over the triple

Ike's nemesis-The Chicken (or Big Pecker, whichever you prefer)

Where is that chicken?
Ike being detained after too many run-ins with the chicken

Don't get too near those flames. I'm not sure if felt is flame resistant.

There are some things you can never un-see. I thought I would share with the rest of you...

The Chick Plate

Days like this make all the frustration and pain of this stoopid sport worth it. This is what it's all about!

Already

I Picked a Bad Time to Start Taking My Meds...

I've been a bad patient for the past few months. I haven't wanted to start taking methotrexate again even though my doctor prescribed and recommended it. So I waited and waited and did more research. Two weeks ago I started. Yes, I had the usual pain in the ass side effects--hot, barfy and yucky the day after I take it. This will get better if I remember correctly from my first bout with the drug years ago. I'm mostly just really PISSED because this weekend is Dark Horse Beer Cross and I CAN'T drink!!! It's a BIG no-no with methotrexate.

Now I have to do the stupid dizzy baseball shtick and make a total ass of myself (like that wouldn't have happened with the drinking). I see barfing in the future. If I could have only procrastinated another couple of weeks. I can't even get procrastination right!

Scattered, Smothered and Covered

Not only have I been craving Waffle House as of late but I feel my life has been much like the great hashbrowns--take your pick: Scattered, Smothered, Covered.

Just last week I was feeling like Rocky. I had a moment. There's this bridge by our house and I actually ran to the bridge and back. Seriously, I felt like Rocky when I got back home. Until of course my moment of greatness was shattered when Mike asked me how long it took. So I run like Quasimodo. I didn't say it was pretty or fast people. I always tell people I have to run in the cover of night because I'm afraid people will point and laugh or think I have a bad prosthetic. Let's just say I have a little hitch in my giddy-up. The point is I did it. Geez. What a buzz kill.

That brings me to this past week. I had to go to FLA for work for a few days. I was really excited to get back in the groove when I got home. Unfortunately, the body had very different plans. If I change a few parts of my daily routine it takes me a few days to recover. I'm not talking about from exercise either. I'm talking about a different bed, climate, food, etc. I should be in a bubble. I've been like that my whole life. Most people can go with it. Not me. I have to take a few "rest days" if I have a break in routine. Maybe this is why I don't take real vacation. I always have to pay the piper when I get back. So enough with that. Basically, my Rocky moment had ended and I was back at feeling it was going to be a very long road to get any sort of normalcy back either in body and spirit.

So my 35th birthday was spent on the couch propped with pillows because my c-spine decided to give me hell . Searing pain brought me to my knees in an aisle of Petsmart when I went to pick up a bag of dog food. I wasn't going to let a weak right arm and numb fingers stop me. Last year when I first hurt my neck and couldn't turn my head I got really good at driving and turning my whole body instead of my head. It's an art form. My passengers are hesitant but I get the job done.

Carl (my hardtail Vicious and I) went for a Little ride yesterday at Wayway. We're in the process of buying a house (Mike and I. Not Carl and I. Bikes can't buy houses silly. I'm not that crazy) and Wayway will be a part of the new hood (if all goes well) so I decided to venture up there. I've really tried be realistic as of late because the body has not been cooperating. I'm not going in with the mind frame that I have to be able to race. I've let that go. If it happens. It happens. I just want to be able to ride and be active on a regular basis. This couple of times a month thing is starting to piss me off!

Scattered, Smothered and Covered: It may look like a mess, but it's still pretty good!!!

Oh ya-

WHY IS THERE CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING ALREADY!!?? This upsets me. Sorry, had to get that out of the way.

Team Darkhorse Bibshort Order

It could go VERY wrong.

I'm hoping next season's team bibs aren't red. Hopefully, the Powers That Be have a smart color choice option in mind. Let's pray for black or it's going to be a very long season. ICK.

TRICK OR TREAT

"Nobody makes me bleed my own blood. NOBODY."

"C'mon. It's easy. Just stay to the left, jump the rock, lunge, stop and do 3 push-ups, trackstand, rub your tummy and pat your head, and you're up. That's easy. Even Jocelyn can do it."

Not so easy is it, toughguy?

"Picker" Bushes (No, I didn't misspell. Just another Gerryism). I've never seen "picker" bushes infuriate a man so much. Wow.

Cloudy With A Chance of...Mallowmars?

That's right. Fall is here and you know what that means....

A sink that DOESN'T look like this all of the time...




College football...




Getting reacquainted with old friends...



Doing different things....

Of course, NOTHING says fall like...

Wait for it...

Prophetic Iced Tea

Blue.

At about 10:00 P.M. on Saturday night I asked Mike if we were going to Blue. He still hadn't made up his mind. The off season is always filled with last minute decisions. Not a big deal for me. I'm not racing. I just brush my teeth and throw on some deodorant and I'm out. 8:00 A.M. "I think I would like to go." Okay then. Here we go...

Yes, I'm back on the evil bean and it is fantastic! Sweet, sweet, Starbucks.

After a week of nerves and contacting me about the course, will she be okay, this is a real mountain course conversation AAHHH, etc. Bossa wins the whole sport class.

"Jackass, that was a great course. I think it was the chocolate Pop-tarts. Seriously. I felt great."

You're so lucky I didn't snap this shot 4 seconds earlier, Jim.

Reminiscing about the nuisances of Blue on a S/S...

"Seriously, when are we going home so I can eat?"

I believe this is a post-back injury, pre-head injury Jane...

Next stop... Who knows?

Boys, Bridges, Kickball and 9W

While Mike was down at the Shen 100 I had a weekend of fun-filled shenanigans. Lets not get crazy and say I'm feeling "great" but I definitely got out and had some fun over the weekend...

The View from 9W

My bike time this summer has been limited to say the least. So this weekend it was so nice out I had to get on the bike. On Saturday I headed over to Cedar Grove. I ran into a gang of 7-9 year old boys. They were quite taken with my rigid S/S. The boys and I hit the bridges and other shaky looking bike stunts. Seriously, it was probably the best time I've had on a bike in a long time! They were hysterical. I tried to show them the Hilltop Loop. I do forget that 7-9 year olds really have no endurance or fitness base. That was rough, but still a good time.

One of our favorite bridges needs a little work...

After showing the boys where the heck they were I rode back to the truck. I knew riding back that I was running really late. I still had to go to Whole Foods to grab something for the BBQ. I could not show up empty handed. I was going to bake but I didn't know the crowd well enough to explain why there was yellow lab hair in their brownies. Beer and brownies. How could I possibly go wrong? Barbossa called me and asked me why the hell I wasn't at home getting ready for the BBQ. I told her I would be there when I got there. Not really what she wanted to hear. After a few expletives she explained that KICKBALL started ~4pm and I needed to get my ass into gear. I was on her team and "I'd better be good". Oh the pressure..

Wow. I don't think I've played kickball since the 6th grade. It actually was a blast. I "kicked" a home run. Put that in your pipe and smoke it ladies. Had I known I had so much skill at kickball I would have totally gone that direction in life. Farm team kickball to eventually pro. Now we'll never know. Another untapped talent. The pressure was intense. Bosa's made up on the fly rules caused some controversy. The place mat bases were a little dicey because they slid out from under you as you ran. You had to watch or you were going to shred an ACL. Because of my performance I may even be invited back.

I'm used to next day injuries and bruises from the bike. I was not prepared to see a bruise on my kicking leg. That's really sad. I wonder if the pros get a callous? Hmmm...

Well, after working up an appetite and thirst on the k-ball field there was one hell of a BBQ. It was a good time.

Sunday Lisa, Stacey and I decided to go for a road ride. Now, I haven't really spent any time with my road bike since Battenkill. I only agreed to go because Lisa wouldn't be the maniac that I knew Bosa would be. Bosa and I get a little competitive with each other and an easy ride to enjoy the day will usually turn into pushing each other into things we wouldn't normally do. Bosa decided to go early because she wanted to get 20 more miles in. In days of old I would have been with her. However, this isn't 5 months ago. I needed to be realistic here or I wouldn't be walking for a week. I'm now officially fat and out of shape.

Lisa and I showed up at the Ft. Lee park and were supposed to start riding until we saw Stacey (yes, we had orders). Well, as Lisa was putting air in her rear tire the valve stem broke. This was her very first flat on her brand new Madone. She said she had no clue what to do. After a little parking lot seminar (the host was sketchy) we were on our way and ran into Stacey. I looked at her computer and commented that she didn't get too far. The night of imbibing had caught up with her. We rode to Nyack, had a bite to eat, I wiped out in the bathroom (squatting on road cleats over a toilet on a wet floor just leads to disaster) and rode back.

I had these delusions of grandeur that I was going to wake up on Monday and be able to hop on the S/S and ride to the woods. I could hardly get out of bed. It took an ice bath and some serious NSAIDS but I finally ended up taking Ike for a little hike and a swim. It was a beautiful weekend. At least I got to get off the couch and enjoy it!

The Death of Higgy

It's a very sad day in NJ. Not sure what Ike is going to do without a huge stuffed animal to beat the crap out of! I'll keep searching for the next victim...