What a week... ugh...

This first week back in the office was great, but also very taxing/ tiring. I don't really fear that I did too much too soon, but 6 weeks of doing nothing really weakens you to doing anything. Yesterday, with the frequent trips up and down the stairs really took a lot out of me. I slept really well and didn't wake up until around 10:00 today... and it was only because of the crazy heat we're having here now.

The week was good for me though- it was great to be back in the office among my other family. But at the same time, after 6 weeks of being out of the office, I felt a lot more like a stranger in my own home. Being unable to "be me" still, things just feel incredibly foreign and different. I know it has a lot to do with just being physically out of the office for so long and I know it'll get better soon enough... but it still felt weird. That said, I'm still happy to be back.

My main goal for the week was to finish writing all of my catalog copy... and I didn't... and I'm still struggling with it now. It has to be finished before Monday though, so I've got some writing still to do. The bike photo shoot yesterday was a great though- it felt great to get to see all the work we have done come together. A bike lives in your head for a long time before you get to see it as an actual bike. That day that all the parts go together correctly and the bike is built is a really great day. Seeing the paint shine and the graphics sparkling under the clearcoat... really hard to describe how great that feels.

Well... I really just wanted to check in and say hello before throwing myself back into trying to finish the catalog copy. So... hello... and now, good bye.

Tim

Ramblin, ramblin man...

Yesterday was Father's Day and I only realized that Saturday at my nephew's birthday, as I still though this was May... because I've been trapped in a timewarp for the past 7 weeks.

Masidaughter and I spent the afternoon together at my mom's place, where she splashed in the pool and was generally very happy. It made for a very mellow and relaxing day. Nothing big, nothing stressful... just time in the water for her and a little time in the shade outside for me.

Back at my desk- finally!

Today was my first day back in the office since the crash. Tomorrow (6/17) will mark 7 weeks since the crash. Wow. WOW! I got up and tried to get out the door matching my normal schedule, but it was hard... but I managed to get to the office only about 5 minutes late (which is early for me). I hate driving, but I admit that it felt good to get my mobility and freedom back.

I managed to make it through an entire day too- I only had to go lie down on the couch in the art department twice and elevate my leg to get the swelling to go down. I only got one headache that required ibuprofen and I didn't have the sudden critical need to nap. In other words... I MADE IT!

Aside from the joy of making it back to work, I also had the great pleasure of looking at those new sample bikes finally. Oh man... these are some really gorgeous bikes. I almost pity the other bike companies out there... almost... (wink). I gotta say, the new Dura Ace 7900 group is growing on me more and more all the time. I wasn't crazy about the cranks at first, but...

And yes, as always, I'll leak a few spy shots to you later... promise.

I got a all from Brad Pitt's people... they wanna talk...

On the way home, I stopped in the neighborhood and got my first haircut in 3 months... and now feel a little less grotesque. Between all the leg and facial hair AND a truly unkempt head, I've been losing my mind. So today marks a nice milestone; first day back in the office and a new haircut! It was a good day...

(I'll talk about the cool goodies that were waiting for me next post...)

Tim
PS- I wore the SockGuy Dummy socks today too... thanks to my great friends there.

HI!

Sales Meeting is done! I'm still here. Lots to talk about... when I catch my breath again.

I'll be back tomorrow with a meatier post, complete with pictures, so just hang on a little longer.

You KNOW I love you all and will be back. Promise.

Tim

Leaving again soon...

Saturday morning, before the sun comes up, I'll be driving to the airport for my 4th trip to Taiwan in the past 12 months. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all because I enjoy Taiwan. It's just amazing to think about the amount of traveling that I have been doing lately. I'll be back in Taiwan again in March too and probably again after that during this calendar year. Honestly, I could easily see being over there for a week every other month. Scary.

I'm going to try and get some good video while I am over in Taichung and try to do a few podcasts as well. The internet service at the hotel is sometimes a bit sketchy, so I may or may not be able to get the podcasts or videos to upload- it can sometimes take several minutes to just upload a single photo to the blog. Still, I'm going to give it a try and see what happens. Float your requests to me now and I will try to cover them. I'll try to get some video of some of the factory stuff, if they'll let me- not everybody wants you filming their factory operations. That said, I'll still try... anything for you, my faithful readers/ listeners/ viewers.

We're flying in to Taipei, as always, but we are skipping the usual 2 hour drive to Taichung in favor of taking the recently completed high speed train. The drive is normally 2 hours, but the train ride is less than an hour! I'm very excited, as I've never ridden a high speed train before. Should be cool- I'll try to get video and maybe even record some audio for the podcast. We'll have to see...

On an unrelated topic, my legs felt much better today than I thought they would. After the climbing I did yesterday, I assumed my legs would feel like wood today. However, they did not! I did my customary ride at lunch today and my legs felt far better than I expected. They didn't feel great, but they didn't feel like I had ridden as hard as I did yesterday either. That hopefully means good things for this new race season. I want to win some races this year!

That's all I've got for today... but I'll have more tomorrow and maybe even another episode of the podcast too. So stay tuned...

Tim

Another weekend down.

Wow, folks, thanks for the support of the podcast and all the videos I've done over the past few days... especially the "wrap-up" with 5 videos. Man, that was painful to watch- I watched all of them for the first time just a moment ago. Ugh. I'll try to do better next time and keep it shorter.

Anyway, now that the novelty of the video is wearing off and I now know a little better what I'm doing, I'll be returning to more regular blogging. My goal is to do regular written blog posts, along with a couple videos per week and 1-3 podcasts per week as well. If I can do all of that, I'll be pretty happy. We'll see how long I can maintain that momentum.

Had a great ride yesterday- as I mentioned in one of the many videos- and had an even better ride today. Rode a couple hours on the fixed gear today and just felt awesome. My legs were sluggish and tired when I first rolled out, but as they warmed up, I felt really great. I didn't have a bunch of power, but once I got rolling the legs just felt so smooth on the pedals and the bike just felt perfect. It was one of those rare days where the riding felt magical. Man and machine were in harmony... it was awesome.

Tomorrow will likely be a short day in the office- I believe we'll be getting out a little early. Then on Tuesday, we're closed for the day and I intend to go out and ride my ass off. I'm going to try to do a ride that goes up a local mountain- Mount Palomar-and start my year off right... whining and complaining about how fat and outta shape I am. Just the same, it should be great fun.

So here's to hoping you all had great weekends and got to ride your favorite bike/s. I know I did.

Tim