blah

Well yesterday was a really fun day. Sam and i hung out with andrew and alyssa again, had some chili's, which is always amazing, but earlier that morning i went on a ride with andrews team, 540.

those are some pretty chill guys, and i like all of their attitudes. i really want to race with him, but this tiger still doesnt know which strips he is gonna wear next year. anyways, yea, its gonna be a huge season next year, and i plan on doing really really well, but its where, when, and how that is the question.

This week isnt gonna be so bad. i worked today, off at 5; work tomorrow, probably the same thing; i have a neurology appointment on wednesday afternoon, but am doing CQ wednesday night, then i go on a recovery day thursday, straight into a 4 day weekend. so i am off thursday through monday. pretty amazing. that gives me a lot of time to work for and train up for the turkey day race on the 13th, being that the tues-saturday prior i may get to ride once or twice.

but as for now, im gonna lay on the couch and watch stage 3 of the Vuelta. peace and love.

the ER

So thursday night I had a relapse of my brain injury from iraq and Sam took me to the ER. they did some test and decided that i need to go see a neurologist. i guess these things DONT go away on their on. in an odd occurrence, my sister had a relapse of her stroke as well. she is actually still in the hospital, so all my thoughts and prayers are with her.

other than that, andrew and alyssa came over last night and hung out. Sam and i are looking for a new apartment today, and my PlayStation 3 has died.

jello

Finally had a day where i got off work before the 14 hour mark. in a way it is funny cause i was gonna do the last greenbelt race tonight, but this morning i thought to myself that it would be a late day, and i shouldnt bother riding my bike, so i didnt take it, and to my dismay, i get off at 445... suck

so i decided to head over to CL and work out and see Sam, i change and realize that all i have is my crocs.. but then re-realized... that all i have is my crocs... so i forgave them for under estimating their true potential; if you are curious, yes you can do leg work outs, to include spin bikes with crocs on in slipper mode..... pretty much the best shoes ever!

well, i did about an hours work of squats, lunges, presses, more lunges, and a bunch of other stuff, then finished it up with 10 minutes all out on the bike, average 436 watts, and then 5 mins on a climbing machine.

end result: my legs wont move them selves, and im tired but feel great. tomorrows commute to work is gonna be a nice recovery spin, then ill do about 2 hours after work.

andrew got in a fight with a semi truck tonight. sadly, but expectedly, he lost, as the truck put him on his back at 30+mph. sorry andrew... you live to fight another day... (he is okay).

off to bed...

lata

things the world should know

i feel like i should update everyone on what has been happening lately. with photos. i dont feel much like typing right now, and im kinda making dinner, thus typing this means im leaving the stove un attended and increasing the likely hood of burning down the house. so ya... just mostly pictures...

first off... check out the new team Samantha is riding for!!! heck ya!! so awesome.. and check out that sexy booty!!!! WOAHH baby!

she is number one

NOW, that im done bragging.. just some random stuff.

Me and Sam about to go for a ride... loving the nice weather that we having since the humidity has left

Me and, wait who is that in the R1V kit? ANDREW BRIDGES!!!?? Wow, he is really showing his true colors!

Me and Sam at the Washington Nationals game last Saturday. it was raining, hints the ponchos.

thats really about it... if you were wondering, yea, my beard is crazy, and its itchy. um i worked 13 hours today... talk about mondays...only its like that every day. sooo.. yea loving the old guard.... NOT. um... other than that... andrew and are are planning on going to see a movie soon, samantha and i are looking at apartments this weekend.

peace and love

dc

my week

this past week has been crazy. im glad i took it easy as far as training goes, ive hardly had time to breathe much less train. typically sam and i have both been getting home around 730 or 8 and eating really quickly then going to bed. its been needed, going to bed at 830 or 9 every night, we feel rested, but still only get an hour together every day. sucks. i hate my job, i never see why anyone wants to STAY in the army... its the worst. i guess if you hate your life at home its not a bad deal, but for those like me who actually enjoy their time with their wives and like their personal life, it really really sucks.

yesterday was really fun. we went a a ride, super easy, with matt and sams friend Cara. it was her very first ride, but is already keen with the idea of racing with sam next year. then it stormed like crazy on us, so dinner was next, then we sat in the rain at the Washington Nationals baseball game. it got delayed for over an hour, but they finally played. we had front row seats in the center field. like 30 feet from the center fielder. perfect for me, being that we can shout at the opposing teams players. which was awesome. convinced him to give us a ball for the little kid behind us...made his life.

now that we are up and around, i think im gonna have a bike cleaning party and go get some miles in with sam. i love that she is training, cause she is getting super strong and able to ride a hard tempo and do back to back rides of 50 plus. this girl is fast, all should be aware of her next year!!

Back at it

This week has already been long. not really stressful, but just long days with the reheasals for SOA and sweating in the armory. Havent decided if i am gonna ride tonight, guess it depends on what time i get off work, and if my buddy matt wants to go or not. its nice not having to worry about races and just taking time off. I may just take this whole week off of the bike and start working out next week.
Ive been trying to go to bed earlier than i have been every night. it has been nice so far.
peace and love
dc

Tour De Millersburg

just got back from tour de millersburg.

first off, the weekend as a whole wasnt bad. it was out in the middle of now where, and our hotel didnt allow dogs, so zoey was in ninja mode, and did relatively well compared to the last time she was in that situation. there was nice scenery and lots of fog every morning. sam and i got to chill out all evening after saturdays races, which was nice, but anyhow, to the race itself.

it was a very well community supported even. people sat on there porches and came out to watch. even all the local businesses closed down and came to watch. so on that aspect it was nice. lots of racers, but i only have 2 complaints. 1st of all... all the parking provided was inside the crit course. and they wouldnt let anyone out of them. so we had to sit and watch like 4 more races after we were ready to go. secondly, dont say the crit course is fast and flat when the entire backside is a huge long climb. it really should have been circuit race.

saturdays morning time trial was nice. i woke up sick and completely sleep deprived. i puked during my warm up, and just felt plain awful. i rode the TT pretty well for being on a road bike. i think my time in that aspect was respectable. but i can defiantly see the benefits of having a TT bike. i really think that i would have shaved a decent amount of time off.

the crit was brutal. i think i got shed off the back the 3rd trip up that insane climb. i just dont have the power at this late in the season to be attacking hills that hard. i chased off and on for a few laps with others that got blown up. but when it came to the end we were relegated with 6 laps to go. fine by me, i was hurting bad. only 16 people out of the 60 or so that started actually finished.

todays road race was more my flare, i felt strong and even bridged up to a break away and worked in it for a bit. we were off the front with a 40 or so gap for a while, but got caught eventually. the course was really fun. super fast with big rollers. the finishing straight was picture perfect with wide lanes and lots of fans. i came around the 2nd to last turn in about 16th wheel. felt strong but it was already too strung out for anything to happen, so i just grabbed a wheel and rode into the finish in the bunch. ending up placing 35th in the overall GC. which isnt anything special, but being that i road and road bike in the TT, got relegated in the Crit, and did some work as a solo represented team rider, and that it was my first real experience in a 3-4 category race, ill take it with pride and learn from what mistakes i made.

as of now im done racing. im burnt out from this summer. i dont feel like i have the energy to keep competing. we'll see about turkey hill.

im off to rest and get ready for another "exciting" week of work.

peace and love

dc

recovery...not really, or is it?

I just came off of CQ. for those of you who dont know what that is, it is Charge of Quarters...meaning, an NCO (sergeant), has to stay in the barracks for 24 hour shifts to manage the building, monitor who is where, and be there in case anything happens. well i have to do these shifts every now and again, typically 2-3 times a month. and they suck. bad.

i had it thursday morning, and got home about 630 friday morning. today i guess that is. i slept all day, and now i am just finishing cleaning the house and waiting for sam to get home.

in reality... i need a break. i need to sit on my butt, watch tv, start to ween myself onto a new smaller diet, and rest before i start working out in the off season. its been such a long summer with work and racing, and traveling, and just life... i need to recover...

but.. i cant. a few days ago i decided to race in PA this weekend. Its a stage race with a ITT, followed by a crit, then a RR on sunday. its 3 hours away, and our hotel is another hour from the race. so when i should be resting, ill be traveling and racing... weird.

i am actually really excited about it. PA is beautiful if you've never been there, and i get to go on a road trip with Sam. some guys hate this...but i actually like being in the car with my wife... where as some think they are stuck and forced to talk, or listen, for x amount of time, i am humbled and glad that we get to just share with each other and ...well, talk. it seems like with our schedules as they are we never really get to just be together. it will be nice to just spend time with her. despite that we are going to race, and i dont think she minds cause she get to practice her passion for photography and experience different places, i think that these events have actually brought us closer together.

with how much dedication and passion that goes into to training and racing, and how much patients and love she gives by supporting me emotionally and financially, we really have had to work together to make it through the year.

so i guess in a way i am thankful for our crazy schedules and our busy lifestyle... we have to fight a lot of obstacles to accomplish most of what we do... but at lease its worth fighting for, and im glad i can say that about my marriage and relationship with Sam... its worth the stress and frustration of our jobs and daily menial tasks... cause i like taking my recovery time, and investing it into something that i really truly care about... her, and that things that matter most to us.

peace and love

dc

the armory

Today was the first day we rehearsed for SOA on the big stage at the DC Armory. a huge air port like hanger, indoor stadium, with no AC. it was super muggy in there, not to mention that the directors decided to completely re-write all my lines. so i had to re memorize all of them. other than that it was such a boring day with nothing going on.

After i got off work at 530, i went on a group ride through arlington, and hit some hills. it was an awesome work out.

after i got home, sam made a nice chicken and rice dinner and we sat on the couch and enjoyed our time together. we are going to bed now tho.

peace and love

Hottest day ever

I had the day off today and after a few hour stint of laziness at home i decided to get on the bike and ride to cyclelife to work-out. it was about 97 degrees when i left the house at 3pm, and i swear you could literally bottle the moisture out of the air it was so thick. i have never felt humidity like that before, not even in Oklahoma...(andrew). it wouldn't have been so bad if i hadn't had a bad tube, and had to re-pump it over and over again the way out there. oh well.

i just decided that i am gonna race the Tour De Millsbrook in PA this weekend. its a 3-4 three stage race over two days. pretty typical, but the first ive seen run ITT then crit on day one, and the RR on day two. this will probably be my last race of the season and hopefully one more opportunity to get more points for my upgrade. it should be fun and a nice retreat for me and sam to see some country side.

Sam is officially teaching 2 indoor cycling sessions a week now. im so excited for her; it will be the first time she gets to use her certification, which helped her get this job. so that should be an exciting new adventure for her at work. im looking forward to the off season, not only will i get to improve some weaknesses and train for next year, but i get so see her so much more than i normally do because of work. exciting times.

tomorrow i have to go back to work. i really hate my job, but i guess it pays the bills, and it is only 3 more years. oh well.. i am still blessed, and im sure ill look back at some point and learn something out of all of this. peace and love

derek

back at it

This past weekend I hung out with andrew, commonly referred to as mark, a lot. His company inspired me to start writing and/or blogging again. So thanks mark.

On a tangent, he also now has a mullet. and its stellar.

Things have been going just dandy really. Work is work. Racing has been good, haven't gotten all the results i would have wanted, but I'm getting faster and looking forward to a lot of improvements this offseason. And things at home are swell with Sam and I. OH!, and Zoey looks like a scottish terrier now thanks to my artistic dog grooming abilities! thats really about it.

im just about to come off a 4 day weekend from work, where i am in a production called Spirit of America, in which i am playing the part of a crusty old civil war vet; and i get to grow my hair and beard for 2 months. that is exciting, so'll i;ll be mountain-ish for a while.

race season is pretty much wrapped up. i have nearly half my upgrade points needed to go to category 3, so with some work this winter i;ll come back strong in the spring and move up early and start working for some fast guys, maybe andrew.....who knows. some think i look good in black and red... im still partial to green myself, but sometimes tigers strips change...

i love ya'll and ill be updating this much more often now. peace and love. blessings