Just a quick note, while I was in Tacoma a few weeks ago, an early Saturday morning TV show came to our plant and filmed a spot about energy efficiency windows. I missed out being on TV since I was out of the office but Glenn, my boss, got to be on camera. I'd like to say he did an excellent job. Here is the link - http://www.fusionnw.com/thisweek.htm - check it out and see all the plant all stars that make the best vinyl window on the market.
On a cycling note, Levi takes the Tour de Gila with Team Mellow Johnny. It was fun reading and watching the videos from the event. The availability of information really makes you feel connected to the event. Cool stuff! This week starts the first of the Grand Tours - the 100th racing of the Giro de Italia starts on Saturday. Lance, Levi, Chris, , George, Dave, Christian, and other American cyclists will be there to ride. It should be a fun race to watch and with all the web access, it will be fun to be a part of.
The ride on Saturday was a tough one - a few hours of all out pushing after a week of riding hills. This is all part of the plan for the STP - to ride the hills during the week, gaining leg strength, and then riding rollers or flat on Saturday at near max effort for an extended period of time to get the speed I need. This Saturday was the near max effort over rollers. On the way out to Gaston, I was hitting 22 to 25 MPH. There was some wind pushing me so I thought, given the speed, that it would be a painful ride back into the wind. As I turned back South, trying to beat the downpour, the wind hit me in the face. I just got in the drops and kept the pedals turning over. I was amazed at the speed I was able to maintain coming back in - between 17 and 19 MPH. This is the benefit for riding hills for an extended period of time. The suffering lasts for a long time or at least till you get to the top of the hill. Some of the climbs are 30 to 45 minutes long so riding into the wind for that period of time was much the same. This was the good news from the ride. The bad was riding out in decent weather, sweating a bunch, and then the skies let loose and the temperature dropped quickly. I got real cold as I didn't have the right gear with me. I don't think I have been that cold before. After I got home, I sat in the hot shower for an extended period just trying to get my core temperature up. Luckily, I didn't get sick and will ride another day. All in all, a good week of riding. April was a good month, averaging 8 hours a week. The hours jump up to 10 this month. A little harder task but doable.
Until we meet on the road...
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