The Tour de Tucson

My top five from the Tour de Tucson:

5. The weather - it was fabulous: clear sky and in the 80's.

4. The bike - Southwest did a good job of charging me $50 and taking care of my bike on the plane. I saw them wheeling it down to the tarmac on a cart, all by itself. So I felt real comfortable on my bike for the ride. Nothing like my red Specialized.

3. The goal - by completing the TdeT, I met my goal of 8 centuries this year. The year started in Solvang with JD and the year ended in Tucson with JD - nice book ends to a season of cycling over 4K worth of miles with a few more to come before the end of the year.

2. The pain - after 97 miles I was done and started to suffer tremendously. After riding so many miles in beautiful weather and doing some bike carrying across two dry river beds, it was time to hang on and finish. That's when I need my #1 on this top ten list.

1. The Hogg - sitting behind, pulling, or beside JD, made the whole trip worth it. Nothing like just hanging and being comfortable with doing nothing.

JD - thanks to you and your family for the hospitality, the friendship, the fun, and everything to make our journey a good one for me and my family. So, what rides we doing in '08...

No riding but plenty of work

I spent the week in Simi Valley this week at an Operations Council Meeting. It was real nice to see all of my co-workers and friends in Simi. It was like coming home. It also is good to spend time with your mentor, trying to take the pea from his hand. Funny thing about returning to Simi, many of the plant workers asked where I'd been. They weren't even aware that I'd moved to Portland. I guess since I have been to the Simi plant several times this year any way that it would be hard to fathom that I was not still working there.

The downside of being there all week was no riding. I wanted to bring my bike and hit some of the old routes but their wasn't time to do it. The weather was nice as far as I could tell. I was indoors most of the days. On Saturday, Craig and I hiked 10 miles around, over, down, and through Washington Park. My legs were spent at the end and there wasn't any light left to hit the road so the two "C" and I hung out for a little while, just relaxing.

I am so excited about this week. I am going on vacation and will be gone from work for about 10 days. It has been a long time since I have stepped away from work and taken time off. I am ready to just hang and ride with my hommies and my family. Just a note, this could be the ride to do in 5. I'll let you know when I am done. The pain train is leaving the station. It's time to ride.