I have to kind of back track a little and give a few thanks here. I have hundreds, if not thousands of people to thank, but these first two are "A-Listers" and I simply have to give them their own post...
First and foremost, I have to swing the doors of my heart way open and give thanks to my very best friend in this world- Jim Becher, aka Blue Squirrel. Jim got the news out about my crash nearly immediately and I don't really even know how he got the news so quickly to even begin spreading it. But he did and he turned that news into action. Jim's updates fed the blogosphere the news and stoked a flame of support that I never, ever dreamed I would receive. Jim's support and friendship over the years has carried me through many hard times as well as helped me to further enjoy the good times... but he's always been there. Not only did he provide an endless stream of updates on my condition and status at the hospital, but he also set up (on his own and without my knowledge) a Get Well Fund to help with my expenses related to this crash and my recovery. Needless to say, I love the guy like the brother he truly is and my life and world are better thanks to his friendship.
(OK, go grab your Kleenex and blow now...)
Next, I really have to thank my very dear friend Kathleen King (KK). Like Jim, Kathleen spearheaded getting the news of my crash out and helping to provide updates on my condition. Along with Jim, the two of them were an awesome conduit of news and information to those who were looking for information about me and my condition. What touches me the most about Kathleen is that we have really only become friends over the past 6-8 months, but that hasn't stopped her from being an amazing friend and supporter during that time. Again, proving that blessings come in all forms and without timelines we really understand sometimes.
So please, help me thank these two great and different friends. Both of them have been a big part in my spiritual recovery and I doubt I'll ever be able to fully thank them enough.
More thanks will be coming- believe me... so stay tuned.
Tim
Showing posts with label Racer Blue Squirrel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Racer Blue Squirrel. Show all posts
Friday, May 09, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
That's a wrap!
So the weekend is done now. Came and went without much sound or fury, but it was a good one just the same.
Went for a nice ride both Saturday and Sunday with Masibestfriend. Both days the pace was nice and painless. Since neither of us have had the chance to ride a whole lot the past couple weeks, it was nice to get out and just log some miles and talk. Due to my schedule and my geography, relative to my teammates, I spend the bulk of my training time alone... so riding with my "brother from another mother" is always something of a special occasion.
Both days were ridden at a nice, mellow pace but we did hit a few hills along the way and also rode a little "tempo" in a few spots... just because. As is always the case too, when we get together to ride, we do poke each other a little... but just a little. I have to say that it is nice to see him getting stronger all the time. He's getting closer to being officially ready to be my leadout man. The next phase is going to be working on the 2-man team time trial. Then he'll be a Flying Squirrel!
The Masidaughter had a great weekend with her mother and played all day at the beach today... which is her favorite place on earth. She LOVES the beach and the water and is a true child of the sun. I picked her up today and she was glowing from her day at the beach. She got a little pink from the sun, so a little Aloe lotion should do the trick. She's sleeping now... snoring loudly from her exhaustion. Her brother, Masison, is looking like a shaggy almost-sixteen-year-old... which totally freaks me out. I mean... 16? 16! I'm just not ready... NOT READY. But he's a great young man and I know I have little to worry about... but I do anyway. Ugh...
If all goes well and I can get organized enough to manage my time and prepare in advance (which is always a bit suspect), I'm going to try to get to the track and race again this week. Masidaughter loves going to the track and has been asking when we can go again (another reason why I love her so much). Squirrel is my Team Director and dropped off a new long sleeve skinsuit this weekend, so I have a little added motivation to get out and race.
I'm not sure if it is a good or bad thing that we have a new weight bench at work now. My boss, Joe Hawk, has allowed us to create a little fitness center in the warehouse- "Average Joe's"... straight out of Dodge Ball. It currently consists of just a very nice weight bench, a bunch of weights and several dumbbells and curl bars. But... the bench also includes a very simple leg extension apparatus... which spells trouble for me. Given the chance, if I could, I'd move my desk down to the fitness area now. I am totally addicted to leg extensions. I am powerless to resist the allure of sitting down and popping off a couple quick sets of extensions any time I am down in the warehouse... or have a free moment. A guy I used to have some serious sprint races against, and who once rode for the National team, told me that "old sprinters never die, they just lift more weights". I thought it was kinda stupid at the time, but now I identify with it far more than I'd like to. I'm either going to have some massive quads soon, or I'm going to shoot my knee caps across the warehouse and have to use a walker. Not sure which is in my future yet. Thank God we don't have an incline leg press!
Tomorrow morning is the beginning of yet another week of much business. I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as I tried to. Here's to Monday delivering a mercifully easy week!
Tim
Went for a nice ride both Saturday and Sunday with Masibestfriend. Both days the pace was nice and painless. Since neither of us have had the chance to ride a whole lot the past couple weeks, it was nice to get out and just log some miles and talk. Due to my schedule and my geography, relative to my teammates, I spend the bulk of my training time alone... so riding with my "brother from another mother" is always something of a special occasion.
Both days were ridden at a nice, mellow pace but we did hit a few hills along the way and also rode a little "tempo" in a few spots... just because. As is always the case too, when we get together to ride, we do poke each other a little... but just a little. I have to say that it is nice to see him getting stronger all the time. He's getting closer to being officially ready to be my leadout man. The next phase is going to be working on the 2-man team time trial. Then he'll be a Flying Squirrel!
The Masidaughter had a great weekend with her mother and played all day at the beach today... which is her favorite place on earth. She LOVES the beach and the water and is a true child of the sun. I picked her up today and she was glowing from her day at the beach. She got a little pink from the sun, so a little Aloe lotion should do the trick. She's sleeping now... snoring loudly from her exhaustion. Her brother, Masison, is looking like a shaggy almost-sixteen-year-old... which totally freaks me out. I mean... 16? 16! I'm just not ready... NOT READY. But he's a great young man and I know I have little to worry about... but I do anyway. Ugh...
If all goes well and I can get organized enough to manage my time and prepare in advance (which is always a bit suspect), I'm going to try to get to the track and race again this week. Masidaughter loves going to the track and has been asking when we can go again (another reason why I love her so much). Squirrel is my Team Director and dropped off a new long sleeve skinsuit this weekend, so I have a little added motivation to get out and race.
I'm not sure if it is a good or bad thing that we have a new weight bench at work now. My boss, Joe Hawk, has allowed us to create a little fitness center in the warehouse- "Average Joe's"... straight out of Dodge Ball. It currently consists of just a very nice weight bench, a bunch of weights and several dumbbells and curl bars. But... the bench also includes a very simple leg extension apparatus... which spells trouble for me. Given the chance, if I could, I'd move my desk down to the fitness area now. I am totally addicted to leg extensions. I am powerless to resist the allure of sitting down and popping off a couple quick sets of extensions any time I am down in the warehouse... or have a free moment. A guy I used to have some serious sprint races against, and who once rode for the National team, told me that "old sprinters never die, they just lift more weights". I thought it was kinda stupid at the time, but now I identify with it far more than I'd like to. I'm either going to have some massive quads soon, or I'm going to shoot my knee caps across the warehouse and have to use a walker. Not sure which is in my future yet. Thank God we don't have an incline leg press!
Tomorrow morning is the beginning of yet another week of much business. I hope you all enjoyed your weekends as much as I tried to. Here's to Monday delivering a mercifully easy week!
Tim
Monday, December 17, 2007
Quick update...
The Boy's Weekend went really well, with hardly a hitch the whole time.
The ride on Saturday was very hilly- over 5,000' of climbing, with the biggest climbs being up Big Tujunga and Angeles Crest over the 55 miles of the ride. As I've said for some time now, at more than 6' tall and over 200lbs, I'm hardly the stereotypical climber. But man can I descend! The descent down Angeles Crest was insanely fun! I never once got out of the 53x11 and was going well over 50mph on a few of the straightaways.
Me, at the top of Big Tujunga... man, what a climb!
The Squirrel at the top of Tujunga- with miles to go to the top of Angeles Crest.
The two of us, preparing to finish the climb... and no, I'm not barfing.
There were really only two glitches;
1) I worked on my bike before leaving the office and driving north to LA... which of course meant that my shifting was terribly sporadic and I had chatter from the drivetrain the entire time.
2) Saturday night we went out to one of our favorite little punk rock bars, called the Burgundy Room. We were there long enough to close the place down... and were subsequently hungover enough to not want to ride on Sunday.
Outside of that, the Squirrel was a great host- as always. Thanks again buddy.
Tim
The ride on Saturday was very hilly- over 5,000' of climbing, with the biggest climbs being up Big Tujunga and Angeles Crest over the 55 miles of the ride. As I've said for some time now, at more than 6' tall and over 200lbs, I'm hardly the stereotypical climber. But man can I descend! The descent down Angeles Crest was insanely fun! I never once got out of the 53x11 and was going well over 50mph on a few of the straightaways.
Me, at the top of Big Tujunga... man, what a climb!
The Squirrel at the top of Tujunga- with miles to go to the top of Angeles Crest.
The two of us, preparing to finish the climb... and no, I'm not barfing.There were really only two glitches;
1) I worked on my bike before leaving the office and driving north to LA... which of course meant that my shifting was terribly sporadic and I had chatter from the drivetrain the entire time.
2) Saturday night we went out to one of our favorite little punk rock bars, called the Burgundy Room. We were there long enough to close the place down... and were subsequently hungover enough to not want to ride on Sunday.
Outside of that, the Squirrel was a great host- as always. Thanks again buddy.
Tim
Friday, November 30, 2007
Riding through the pain...
Last Saturday, while the Princess was out being a Princess with my sister, I was out for a ride with my bestest friend.
For the record, since his version of the story differs slightly from reality, here's what happened;
We left from my place and got about 5 miles out and were riding on a fairly crappy section of road with a bad lighted intersection. The asphalt is really bumpy from all the buses and large delivery trucks that pass through. Squirrel was riding behind me and keeping an eye on the ground, avoiding the nasty potholes/ asphalt mounds, when the light at the intersection turned red. Since that particular intersection is one you do NOT want to run at the light, I applied the stoppers... while Squirrel was still avoiding potholes. He looked up just in time to see my largeness becoming rapidly larger in front of him. But it was a bit too late and he ran right in to me- essentially taking the bike out from under me. We both hit the deck pretty good- I skid across the ground on the heel of my carbon soled shoes (burned a hole through the heel) before landing right on my tail bone. He ate up his ankle and knuckles pretty good too. But both of us got up and we rode an additional 48+ miles, for about 53 miles on the day. Since he was coming off of recovering from shoulder surgery, the crash was a little bit spooky for us both, but he was just a little bruised and we were both laughing as we rode away. The fallout for me is that my tail bone is still super sore. Almost as sore as when I cracked it in a crash on the track during a race 4 years ago. I feel better on my bike saddle than I do in a chair, but I can't get too much power generated. Standing to climb or sprint is a little painful and applying 100% power while seated is nearly impossible. BUT... nothing seems to be really messed up and I think I can continue riding as things heal.
It's been dumping rain here all day, but it will hopefully stop and dry out so that I can ride tomorrow morning. If the rear end can handle the ride without too much problem and the weather cooperates, then I'll try racing at the track on Sunday morning. During the winter this year, there will be races on the first Sunday of each month. I'm hoping to get out and put some punishment on my legs and see just where they really are. Maybe, if I'm still too sore, I'll just sandbag and ride the B or C group races, instead of the A races. I'd rather get some laps than not get any laps. Plus, it's always good to hang at the track with all my fellow racers. So we'll see what happens Sunday- I'll try to remember the camera too.
Enjoy your weekend, whether you walk, ride, run, swim or simply read a good book. Enjoy it.
Tim
For the record, since his version of the story differs slightly from reality, here's what happened;We left from my place and got about 5 miles out and were riding on a fairly crappy section of road with a bad lighted intersection. The asphalt is really bumpy from all the buses and large delivery trucks that pass through. Squirrel was riding behind me and keeping an eye on the ground, avoiding the nasty potholes/ asphalt mounds, when the light at the intersection turned red. Since that particular intersection is one you do NOT want to run at the light, I applied the stoppers... while Squirrel was still avoiding potholes. He looked up just in time to see my largeness becoming rapidly larger in front of him. But it was a bit too late and he ran right in to me- essentially taking the bike out from under me. We both hit the deck pretty good- I skid across the ground on the heel of my carbon soled shoes (burned a hole through the heel) before landing right on my tail bone. He ate up his ankle and knuckles pretty good too. But both of us got up and we rode an additional 48+ miles, for about 53 miles on the day. Since he was coming off of recovering from shoulder surgery, the crash was a little bit spooky for us both, but he was just a little bruised and we were both laughing as we rode away. The fallout for me is that my tail bone is still super sore. Almost as sore as when I cracked it in a crash on the track during a race 4 years ago. I feel better on my bike saddle than I do in a chair, but I can't get too much power generated. Standing to climb or sprint is a little painful and applying 100% power while seated is nearly impossible. BUT... nothing seems to be really messed up and I think I can continue riding as things heal.
It's been dumping rain here all day, but it will hopefully stop and dry out so that I can ride tomorrow morning. If the rear end can handle the ride without too much problem and the weather cooperates, then I'll try racing at the track on Sunday morning. During the winter this year, there will be races on the first Sunday of each month. I'm hoping to get out and put some punishment on my legs and see just where they really are. Maybe, if I'm still too sore, I'll just sandbag and ride the B or C group races, instead of the A races. I'd rather get some laps than not get any laps. Plus, it's always good to hang at the track with all my fellow racers. So we'll see what happens Sunday- I'll try to remember the camera too.
Enjoy your weekend, whether you walk, ride, run, swim or simply read a good book. Enjoy it.
Tim
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tour de France- Stage 7
Baby faced youngster Linus Gerdemann, the anti-doping cheerleader, took an impressive win today. After being involved in a breakaway for much of the day, Lovely Linus attacked his group and soloed over the last kilometers of the Colombiere and battled bravely on for the solo win in his first ever Tour. At a mere 24 years old, he slips into the yellow jersey of race leader and also holds the white jersey of the best young rider.
The Banged-up Boys, Kloden and Vinokourov, soldiered on bravely through the obvious pain. Both finished safely in the pack with the main GC contenders. All in all, almost all of the GC contenders seemed to be biding their time and riding very conservatively. Though it was Bastille Day, none of the French riders seemed to be up for the fight today. National champion Moreau rode safely in the GC pack and kept out of trouble, rather than going for the win or flying the tri-color jersey for the French fans along the route. He's obviously planning to be in the fight when it really matters.
Tomorrow is a day where it really matters. The stage rolls through many painful climbs, concluding with three category 1 climbs in succession. The stage finishes on the tough slopes of the Monte de Tignes... and should prove to be a very decisive day for the GC contenders. Either a group of non-contenders will be allowed to spend the day out front, or the GC contedners feeling good will try to shatter the other riders. My prediction? Dang, I really don't know... but I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say that Leipheimer might take a stab at things- whether for the win or just to get time on the other GC riders. Outside of Levi, I'm gonna go with Haimar Zubeldia. Levi may want to show he's the same rider who won the Tour of California and Zubeldia could be the only hope that Euskaltel-Euskadi has of getting a stage win.
We'll see what the Squirrel and BK have to say about things...
The Tour said au revoir to Oscar Freire. The fragile Spanish sprinter had been very close to getting a stage win this year, but his butt was not in the mood... his subcutaneous cyst has returned and got him... in the end.
Tomorrow could be a very big day; we'll see what happens on the slopes of the Alps. (Maybe even Rasmussen will take a shot at things.)
Tim
The Banged-up Boys, Kloden and Vinokourov, soldiered on bravely through the obvious pain. Both finished safely in the pack with the main GC contenders. All in all, almost all of the GC contenders seemed to be biding their time and riding very conservatively. Though it was Bastille Day, none of the French riders seemed to be up for the fight today. National champion Moreau rode safely in the GC pack and kept out of trouble, rather than going for the win or flying the tri-color jersey for the French fans along the route. He's obviously planning to be in the fight when it really matters.
Tomorrow is a day where it really matters. The stage rolls through many painful climbs, concluding with three category 1 climbs in succession. The stage finishes on the tough slopes of the Monte de Tignes... and should prove to be a very decisive day for the GC contenders. Either a group of non-contenders will be allowed to spend the day out front, or the GC contedners feeling good will try to shatter the other riders. My prediction? Dang, I really don't know... but I'm gonna go way out on a limb and say that Leipheimer might take a stab at things- whether for the win or just to get time on the other GC riders. Outside of Levi, I'm gonna go with Haimar Zubeldia. Levi may want to show he's the same rider who won the Tour of California and Zubeldia could be the only hope that Euskaltel-Euskadi has of getting a stage win.
We'll see what the Squirrel and BK have to say about things...
The Tour said au revoir to Oscar Freire. The fragile Spanish sprinter had been very close to getting a stage win this year, but his butt was not in the mood... his subcutaneous cyst has returned and got him... in the end.
Tomorrow could be a very big day; we'll see what happens on the slopes of the Alps. (Maybe even Rasmussen will take a shot at things.)
Tim
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