Frequency 650

It looks like today’s ride will be the last one of 2006. It’s been a fun riding season, got a new road bike, found some new group rides and friends to train with.

Grand totals include:
2700 miles covered on the bike
9682 minutes or 161.37 hours in spandex (the boys aren’t happy but my sanity and waist line are)
25 pounds lost
Fastest ride: 21.8 avg, Covington Century 50 miles and Tucker ride 44.6 miles (which I got dropped at 22 miles and crashed in the rain)
Highest Heart Rate: 197 Pizza Ride
Longest ride: Serrano 4 hours 44 minutes, 83 miles
6 Paid events, 3 were mountain rides
100 total rides for the season.

Aidan is stubborn. The eating battle has been waged for several months now. Our problem is, he won’t even try the food we make for him. He just turns his head and pushes the plate away. Well over the past week, after an initial refusal to eat, he has given in a few times. Food conquered includes: Tamales, broccoli, brunswick stew, chicken tenders (again), baby corn and cream corn.

Reger, Dana and I decided we would check out the Athens winter bike league ride today since it wasn’t going to rain and it will tomorrow so the AP ride is out. The website says it’s a 3+ hour ride around 20 mph avg. Lots of rules, serious ride.

It started out well; I forgot my power bars, my water (to drink in the car) and a towel in case we do get wet. Reger was running behind so we got a late start heading to Athens. We followed Joe’s GPS which isn’t always the best route, the wrong way down one way streets, in the wrong lane on the freeway, but we made it in time for the ride. It was supposed to be cloudy… no it was raining. Not just a little, everything was wet and it rained about half the ride. A giant turn out of maybe 15 people. The site says, there is a sag vehicle in case someone gets a flat. We’ll somebody crashed (behind us somewhere, didn’t see or hear it) and we all stopped and waited for them. I didn’t see the car so I guess it stopped. We stopped for a nature break… they left us. A few minutes later, about the 40 minute mark, Reger gets a flat tire. Did the car stop after he was yelling, flat tire! No. What the hell. I chased down Dana and talked to the driver. They didn’t care. Something about a dollar in the tip jar? We went back and picked up Joe to find our way back. Joe got another flat tire (glass in the tire). Change #2 in front a house with a dog (a boxer) running around an open yard… we moved down the road. Between the 3 of use we had 2 GPS units though there are no streets marked on it so it’s great if there are roads to find and they happen to go in the direction you want. Made a few detours on the way back. Also picked up a couple of riders who got dropped somewhere on the way back in the rain. We looked like we had just finished mountain biking, with mud and road grime everywhere.

Almost 2 hours of riding, 30 miles… oh boy. Coach Chris was there. Said this was in his top 10 list of worst rides ever but this was not the norm for the ride. Dana had to have a burrito for lunch so we drove around for 15 minutes .3 miles from where we were at to find 3 parking places. Lunch was good, and cheap (college town). The drive back was also a joy. The lights are a mess and construction made the 20 to 30 min. addition to the drive a real joy. Though I am venting, it was better than not going riding.

Today was my fitness test day. 3 miles on the bike as fast as I can go. 10 min. recovery and do it again. 8:07, 180 avg HR, 22.3 avg mph. It seems like I should be able to go faster than that. I have before after 2 hours of riding, fighting in a group ride. Maybe that’s better motivation for me. It was cold out and I feel stronger after about an hour of riding, not a 20 min warm up. However, the conditions were similar the last time I did this, my avg HR was higher but I was faster this time, so that means I’m doing something right? I need read up on this some more. I do this at Columns Drive near 400 and Powers Ferry. The road is mostly flat, 2.5 miles long so I have to do a 180 to finish the 3 mile course.

Reger, Matthew and I made a trip up to Dahlonega for a stroll around the front 3 gaps this afternoon. We waited until after lunch for the temp to warm up, which was good because there was still snow at the top of each climb. Good thing I just got some booties for the feet. The goal was to keep the heart rate under 159. The Garmin beeped at me a dozen times or so to slow down. Ended up with a 143 avg. Not bad for 2:38 min of riding with 4011 feet of climbing. I’d like to head up there every couple of weeks. We’re doing the back 3 next time. Hogpen… your next. Of course we finished with a Taco Bell feast.

Aidan is now the master of tearing packages open. He’s gives us the torn pieces and goes back for more. Of course he got tons of toys, too many to list but a very happy day for the boy. Leslie cooked all day, frittatas for breakfast, guacamole and salsa snacks and for dinner… Beef tenderloin, roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli and fresh salad… mmmmmmm.

On X-Mas Eve, we took Aidan up to Stone Mountain to look at the lights. We did this on a fun bike ride earlier in the week however, Aidan wasn’t there and we missed the best part. The entire Village was lit up. What seemed like millions of lights decorated every building and tree at each turn. It was very cool. Aidan had a great time looking at the lights.

Leslie and I joined Reger, Vanessa, Anna, Matthew and Stewart for a Christmas Eve ride on the SCT. The ride was at a social pace with goodies to eat at the end. Yummy. It’s nice to find a group of people who like to celebrate a holiday with a bike ride.

Vanessa let me steal photos from her site, thanks!

Holly cr!@#$p this movie looks like it will be GREAT! Check out the trailer if you haven’t seen it. I’ve only read a few of Frank Miller’s graphic novels but I thought his first attempt at transitioning to the movie media with Sin City, with the help of Robert Rodriguez, was very successful. At least as far as the look and story were concerned. (someone should have helped with the dialogue). Spartans vs the Persian army. Action, Cinematography, Special Effects, Valor… I’m excited.

The work doors are shut (finally). We went to our usual Los Hermanos Friday lunch. My parents made it to town yesterday and my brother has come to visit (from East Atlanta). We fought our way through millions of people at the Dekalb Farmers Market today, got gifts for Max and Jojo (the dogs) as well as a 7 lb beef tenderloin from the butcher, so the meal is covered. I guess now were ready for Christmas. Aidan played with his last Hanukah present; a swing and slide. He LOVES the slide. The parents will be babysitting tomorrow while Leslie and I go for a Christmas Eve ride with the tri crew out at Silver Comet. I’m looking forward to it.

Frequency 650, as part of the 3 Amigos, just launched a 4 page portal website for Los Veneros. The site will continue to be developed through the beginning of 2007.

Prometheus V, LLC recently acquired 54 Taco Bell restaurants and 1 Pizza Hut Express restaurant from a group of five YUM! franchisees. This is the latest of several active investments.

More strength training tonight. This will continue through January. I really needed a ride tonight. Aidan is sick, teething and fussy all day, and work…. I’m surprised I have any hair left. Why is it everything needs to be done before Christmas? Nobody is going to be looking at it. Regardless, we HAD to build a website in 2 days along with site updates to 6 other clients websites today. The beginning of the week wasn’t much better.

Dana’s daughter Brit came over and watched Aidan, awesome – a new babysitter for us, while we joined 6 others (Reger, Dana, Vanessa, Anna, Andreas and Kim) for a few loops around Stone Mountain in the dark to look at the lights. This was the first time Leslie and I have gone for a ride together since before Aidan was born. It was nice to get out with the group together. Leslie got to try out her new helmet and gloves. She’ll break in the shoes and pedals on Sunday. Some of the lights were a little tough to see without my glasses and riding in the dark but still nice. A funny stat, we decided to do some muscle tension work tonight and left the bike in the hardest gear (53,12) including the climbs. My average cadence was 27 rpm! Crazy slow.

I stole a picture from Reger and Vanessa. (thanks) I guess the group shots didn’t make it.

We made it back from Florida last night. Went very well with the exception of trying to get out of long term parking. They have an automated system now for use with a credit card and it tried to rip us off. A 20 minute fiasco. I was up late trying to get work back in line. I had a dinner business meeting too. Aidan was already sick before we left but now he’s miserable. Eyes half closed, red and watering, running nose, coughing… he’s a mess. You wish there was something you could do but all you can really do is comfort him. We spent some quality time watching TV today.

1 Hour 25 Min. bike ride around the neighborhood with Reger and Dana. We started at 5:30 (dark) and got a nice bike ride in. Got to see lots of X-mas lights, well, after we went back and got lights for Joe and Dana… I know. It also gave me a chance to try out my new Garmin Edge 305. F’in Awesome, except for some reason it stopped recording after 10 miles. We only rode about 13 but still what the??? It gives me some interesting new stats such as we climbed 957 feet on our little route. It’s hilly back here. Dana’s driveway is a 12.5% grade (I think). It gives me stats based on heart rate zones so I know how far I rode, how fast, how much I climbed or descended and how much time I spent in 5 different heart rate zones. This will be good to know if I’m pushing it too hard during the winter base period. Plus it has GPS so know where we went in the dark. Because I was lost.

The local Stewart police and fire department put on a “parade”… of 5 vehicles. Afterward, Aidan got to sit in the fire truck, play in the park and frolic at the beach (for the first time). Loved it!

After 3 days of rain, the sun finally came out. Leslie and I went for a short run and I jumped on my father-in-law’s Cannondale hybrid cruiser bike. Lots of bridges with wide bike lanes to ride here.

Since we’ve gotten here, Aidan has decided not to eat much. Oatmeal, some waffles and Chex Mix is about it. The one thing he always eats are french fries. Steak and Shake was the lunch of choice today.

Frequency 650 just launched a new website for Mita Residential, the official Punta Mita property rental company. The site showcases high end villas, condos and haciendas for rent in Punta Mita, Mexico. The site was developed by The 3 Amigos team.