I told you...

Yes, it really has been a week from hell, just like I said it was gonna be. I'm glad it's Friday, though I'll be working a fair bit this weekend and getting packed for the week long trip that starts Monday morning.

Had two great nights of roller workouts on Wednesday and Thursday and a nice ride at lunch today. Legs should either be total crap for the ride in the morning or they'll be feeling really great... so we'll see if I defend my title.

I had all kinds of cool things I was gonna talk about, but since it is almost midnight, I'm cutting it short and leaving you with this...



Next time,

Tim

And so it goes...

Yes- for those keeping score, I fell asleep again last night before I could get on the rollers. There... I admit; I'm getting old. Time for dinner at 4:00, re-runs of Matlock and Murder She Wrote and bed by 9:00. I guess it's all down hill from here... well, until the baby is born.

So, umm, yeah... I was asleep by 9:00, but at least this time I managed to make it to my bedroom first. My neck was killing me, so I tried to lie on the bed with my head hanging to the side- turns out that was kinda comfortable. Oh well.

Today I took my daughter to her dance and guitar lessons- the punkin is too damned cute! Her mother is the one who has set up both the dance and guitar lessons, so I can not take any credit for being anything other than a chauffeur and bystander. Still, it's amazingly cute to watch a room full of 5-9yr old girls doing tap and jazz dance. How I don't get caught giggling is beyond me.

Ann went swimming before the classes, so after we got home from the lessons, I hopped on the bike for a 2hr-ish ride. The weather is starting to turn, since there are storms coming, so the wind was a little bit of a factor... though not that much. The skies were cool and grey, so the temp was beginning to drop as I headed out around 2:00. My legs felt ok- the power was there when I was trying to push the pedals, but I never felt very good overall. My heart rate was consistently too high and I always felt a bit short of breath. Just felt "off" the entire time. My neck and shoulders were unhappy, the cardio systems was wonky... but the legs didn't seem to mind the work. So, who knows... we'll see what happens tomorrow morning when I get out again. Stats; 1:56:32, 17.6av/33.9mx MPH, 34.33mi, 75av/128mx RPM- HR was somehow lost... but the numbers were not favorable anyway. It was nice that I didn't feel even worse after 2 days of not riding and the little bit of leg weights I did yesterday. Maybe I'll survive after all... maybe.

I began the day around 207lbs and was down to 203.8 after the ride. Still not close to my fighting weight... but closer than I was a few weeks ago!

Tim

Is it Friday yet?

This has been a nutty week- with the jetlag and the work I came back to, and fighting off a cold... and adjusting to a wonderful new life... it's been nuts. I think I've gotten rid of the cold, but the jetlag is kicking my butt for sure. I've only managed to ride twice this week and it has been hard to do that- simply because of the fatigue. All that whining aside, it's great to be home with my bride and with my daughter.

On a much better note, I had my first blood test this week since beginning my cholesterol medications. The tests came back and my cholesterol was super low! With the change of diet, return to frequent riding, the cholesterol medication and taking Omega-3's (fish oil) I have lowered my cholesterol so much that I am now already off the medications! I'm going back in for another blood test in 8 weeks and if the test results are similar I'm off the medications until I really need them again. It feels so good to be "drug free" and even more satisfying to know that simply returning to a better and healthier lifestyle has gotten me to this point. AND... I managed to only gain a few pounds while gone and am now back down to 199.2lbs... which is awesome for me!

Thank you again to everybody for the amazing anount of support and encouragement as I've recovered from the accident and also gotten back to my old, healthier habits.

Alright, it isn't all that late yet, but the jetlag is kicking my butt so I am giving up for tonight. Here's to hoping the weekend allows me a little time to recover further.

Tim

Bring it!

The past two days have seen marathon meetings (nearly 7 hrs yesterday and another 3-4 today). The meetings gave birth, in a big way, to the next, next line of Masi bikes. The bikes we just showed in Vegas haven't even arrived yet, but we have to wrap up out designs for the next year NOW to be able to get them to YOU at the right time next year. I swear, it seems like the development process gets crazier every year, but I am already very proud of the bikes we sat down and created. There will be more than a few surprises- trust me on this one- but you waon't see them for another year... and I'm not saying a thing until next year. BUT I will say this; we make the sexiest looking bikes around! I will proudly stack these bikes up against any other brand out there. They're going to be that good. I'm already proud of the bikes that haven't even arrived yet, but I've been living with them for several months now... and I've moved on.

I've said it once and I'm saying it again; we make great bikes and I love my job!

Tim

Montreal is a beautiful place.

The picture says it all- the view from my hotel window on the morning of my departure (when the rains finally cleared).


That's all for tonight; still feel like hell, so I'm making it an early night. I'll be back again later- I promise- and with more photos to share.

Tim

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

Made it!

Made it in after my 14 hour flight from San Francisco to Taipei. As usual, I didn't really sleep much. The plane was full of bike industry wankers like myself- my good friend Daniel Limburg from Shimano and nearly every body from SRAM, including my friend and "SRAM guy" Brian Billington. There were many other faces from other companies that I also recognized. Fortunately, we had a handful of Buddhist monks on the plane as well, virtually guaranteeing that the plane would not crash and wipe out half the US bike industry.

Since it is nearly 9:00PM here and my body thinks it is nearly 6:00AM... I think I'll go for a walk and find something to eat for dinner.

Pictures to follow soon.

Tim