Pruning

I have gone most of my life avoiding participating in Special Musical Numbers at church. This all changed this last Sunday. My wife and the ward music director finally figured it out and asked me to do a "Music and the Spoken Word" number. I had to find the text and the C would play the piano. In essence, I'd get up and just talk - and I got real nervous before hand. I couldn't understand why since I talk in front of groups all the time. So I got up, introduced the special manner in which my wife and I would do the Special Musical Number. It was a big hit. The young men even gave me a thumbs up. Who knows, maybe I'll inspire others to explore their non-musical, musical talents. I really like the text. It is from the program "Music and the Spoken Word" as found at this website - http://www.musicandthespokenword.com. I read this while Christine played "I Need Thee Every Hour."

Pruning Season

Gardeners know that pruning is one of the best things you can do for your plants, if it’s done the right way. Plants and trees may need to be pruned to remove diseased or damaged branches or to ensure that nutrients from the roots go to producing fruit. Too much pruning, however, can harm or even kill a plant. The gardener must use care and caution to get it just right.

If trees could speak, perhaps they would wonder why it is necessary to prune their branches. They may even complain that pruning is painful or that it stunts their growth. Why not just leave them alone? But eventually it becomes clear that the pruning has made the plant stronger, healthier, and more productive.

In a way, people are like trees. We too can benefit from occasionally examining ourselves and pruning a few things from our lives. Are we holding on to a grudge or resentments that need to be taken out of our soul? Do we think some things about ourselves or others that are negative or limiting that could be removed? Do we harbor in our heart some habits or feelings that we would be better off pruning from our lives?

We resist pruning, at times, because it can be painful. It’s not always easy to look deeply at our lives and question who we really are and what our life is really about. But we begin to feel the benefits almost immediately. When we shed our burdens through appropriate pruning, we actually feel lighter and freer, and we allow life’s sunlight to shine on us more fully. Over time, we find we are more able to give and receive love, more compassionate toward ourselves and others, and we see for ourselves that this pruning, this refining, really is one of the best things we can do.

Craig's 1st 50

Today was an early day - I got up at 4:40 AM to go for a ride at 5:30 AM since I had a 7:30 AM meeting with the Bishop. While getting ready, I got to catch some of stage 20. The entire stage, 100+ miles of nothing but up. Granted, there was some descending but very little. The stage profile offered a bit of inspiration as Rob asked me, "So where we going today?" All I could think about was "up!". So we headed up to Bald Peak - 52 minutes later we were at the top. I felt the climb as I was paying for riding up Bell Road yesterday after work. I had never been up Bell Road from the 99. It was 2 miles of up, averaging probably 10% - pain, more pain, and well, pain. I got up the climb but paid for it this morning on the way to Bald Peak. I was able to stay with Rob but it was painful.

After the meeting with the Bishop, Craig and I got ready and headed out to ride his 50 miler to complete the cycling merit badge for him. We rolled out North Valley Road to Gaston, Cornelius, Forrest Grove to the Hagg Lake store. Craig was doing an excellent ride as we averaged 15 MPH. We got some lunch at the store and rested for a couple minutes, and then headed back to Newberg. Craig did his part pulling and keeping up. I thought he would start to ease up about mile 35. It never happened. On the rollers on North Valley as we were coming back in, he was pulling hard on the up. In fact, pulling so hard that I had to work to keep up with him. On one of them, I had to get out of the saddle and give it the gas or I would have been dropped. I could hear Phil Liggett in my head screaming, "And there goes Beecher! Beecher has cracked! He couldn't take the acceleration of Craigus and so he's off the back." I wasn't having any of that so I quickly jumped back on his wheel, wondering if he noticed that he was putting me into the red zone. No excuses but I was feeling Bell Road and Bald Peak. Just like a predator that smells weakness, Craigus was kicking it in. The mini-Pain Train was taking it's maiden voyage and I was it's first passenger! Wow! Doing this was not only rewarding but fun and made a dad proud. We hit 50 miles at 3 hours 20 minutes. I wonder how I did my first 50 that Christmas Day back in 2004. I rode out Bandera Road and suffered that day. I remember the suffering, just not the time. Anyway, Craig did well. I hope this has sparked his interest in cycling and we can continue to ride together. Well see. For now, Congrats to Craig for riding his first half century.

All told for the week, over 130 miles. I have my eye on the Tour de Tucson in November and making sure I can get in the miles. The intensity of the training has been ratched back a few notches as I try to get in some good base miles again.

Twitter vs. Facebook

I have been tweeting for a while now. Actually since I learned that Lance and other professional cyclist use it to communicate with their fans, I signed up and have been following them ever since. At the same time, the rest of my family had been doing facebook. So I decided to try it out.

So what have I learned - Twitter is easier than Facebook and easier to control content. The ability to post content is the same for both applications. If you can get over all of the Twitter lingo and the slightly less social nature of Twitter, you'd find that it is a fun application.

On Twitter, you tweet. On facebook, you share - advantage Twitter.
On Twitter, easy to post pictures and through various means. Same on FB - Wash

Okay, enough. I just like Twitter better but will do both since most of my friends are on FB.

Until all have been converted, happy Facebooking.

STP 2009 Recap

I am struggling on where to start. This year's edition of the STP was so satifying on many levels. Several things were different that made the ride sweeter than usual - the day before with Christine, the extreme knee pain the few days before the ride, the many miles before the ride in preparation, almost hitting my total time goal, and reaching a goal that I had set long ago and never achieved - only a pull by JD could have made it better. Let me explain.

On Monday, I woke up barely able to walk. My left knee was extremely tender and tight. I had trouble walking down stairs and putting any weight on my knee. Being a typical male, I convinced myself it was better not to go see a doctor so I spit on my hands, grabbed a handful of dirt, and rubbed it on my knee and decided it was good enough first aid. All I needed was time. Tuesday was only marginally better but at least I started to ice the knee and take some motrin. Wednesday was better and I even got in a short ride that seemed to help. Thursday was almost back to normal and I felt good on the bike Thursday night. I was able to get both my body and my mind back and all it took was a bit of spit, dirt, and time.

Friday was a nice slow day. I got up early (4:30 AM) to take Cassie to the pool for a swim meet trip to Moses Lake, WA. I got home by 5 AM to see the start of stage 7, up the Arcalis. It was so exciting I feel asleep until the decisive climb as was able to see all of the excitement and attacks. We left around 10 AM, just the C and I heading towards Seattle. About Vancouver, I realized that I had left my registration packet with numbers at home. Luckily the C thinks fast and reminded me that friends were coming up and to give them a call. Bingo, Craig was able to walk the packet down the street and we saved two hours of driving and a potentially day changing event. We stopped for lunch just South of Tacoma, got to the hotel in Seattle, and unloaded. We hung out in the room for a little bit, deciding what the rest of the day was going to look like. We got our bearings and a list of places to go within walking distance of the hotel. We spent the next few hours just wandering around the U district. We found this great little Italian restaurant and said a nice dinner. We got back to the hotel and relaxed. I got in bed around 8 PM - a record for the night before the STP for me. To spend a day just hanging out with the one you love the most - priceless.

The morning of the ride started about 3:45 AM with the usual bagel, yogurt, and banana. At a little bit before the ride start, I met up with Mark and Ben and we headed out with the first group. The first ten miles was the usual - tense, avoiding crashes, rough roads, but the beautiful view of Lake Washington as the sun comes up. The first 100 miles was fast. We got on a few pacelines, led out a few pacelines, and rolled into Centralia in less than 5 hours (4 hrs 51 minutes was the actual time). In looking at the GPS data, all the ten mile splits after the first 10 miles were above 20 MPH. I have talked about doing a century in less than 5 hours and I finally did it with the help of quite a few other people.

The second century was little more difficult. We picked up a head wind the last 85 miles or so that made the going touch. I probably overexerted myself the first 100 and paid for it on the second. We had a SAG that was a big help. We'd call and say what we needed, a few miles up the road there they were waiting for us. No big rest stop to go into and wade through the other riders. We'd eat, refill, and go - wasting little time getting back onto the road. The Brady's were a big help on the road and I appreciated it greatly. The coke at mile 152 was huge. The last 30 miles into Portland was tough. Ben had rode on. He has a will like few people I know. Mark and I slugged it out together the final 30, taking turns at the front, pulling each other home. As we went over the 200 mile mark, I thanked him for the help. I could not have done it alone. We hit the line 12 hours and 5 minutes after we started, missing the mark by 5 minutes. It's all good. It was 75 minutes better than last year and my best STP finishing time yet - awesome and incredible. We had a plan and worked the plan - the prep, the SAG, the ride. Granted, there are always ways to improve and we will but this was the best for me yet.

Thanks to all who helped with this year's STP - it was memorable. Put it on your calendar's for next year's edition - July 10, 2010 (I believe).

STP Picture - 1

Crossing the finish line for the 4th time as a one day rider!

STP Picture - 2

Mark and I right after crossing the finish line.

STP Picture - 3

Just me and my dad after he finished his one day ride.

STP Picture - 4

The light saber boys - really just reflective pieces with a flash on the camera.

STP Pictures - 5

Picture with my dad, mom, Craig, and Colin.

Stage 7 Thoughts

The cycling press is hyping up stage 7 as the end all of stages to answer the Armstrong/Contador debate. After all, the answers will be found in the mountains. I feel that the answer will be found in the mountains, yes, but just not these mountains. With most of the more difficult miles still to come, it makes no sense that Astana would risk its overall position and the possibility of having one of its riders win the tour on stage 7. The pressure is on the other contenders to make the moves. All Astana, meaning Lance, Alberto, Levi, and Andreas, needs to do is mark the other contenders. Follow when needed and only work when it is clear that work needs to be done would be my war cry if I was Johann.

It is ridiculous to believe that there will be a show down tomorrow on the Arcalis climb between the two Astana riders when they are in the top three of the GC. If tomorrow was Stage 20 on the Ventoux, then the rhetoric would all be valid and worthwhile. Since it is not, it is merely words and what is the word velonews.com has been using lately, ah yes, polemics.

Stage 3 Thoughts

I read quite often about the Tour de France. Many journalists are all caught up in the Armstrong/Contador alleged controversy. I'd like to add a different perspective. For as much as I'd like to see Lance win the Tour for an 8th time, I believe that there are stronger cyclists on the Tour and this will play out in the mountains - the wheat will be sifted from the chaff if you will. Lance is a great champion but he doesn't have the legs of the 26 year olds. I feel that the break that happened today was allowed to happen by Alberto Contador. He was right there when the split happened. It happened right in front of him and he supposedly couldn't get back on the wheels of Columbia-HTC team. The plan for Astana is to confuse the peleton and the other team directors. It is a big Elle Fitzgerald. They will seem to be split or splitting, allowing the opponents to relax or over extended themselves. The goal of the team is to get Lance into yellow in the first half of the race. In the second half, Johann will unleash Alberto and surprise the rest of the teams. If Lance really is strong enough, then the tactics might change but I don't see this as being the case. Johann is a masterful tactician and he has a lot of experience on the team. Look for Astana to win the TTT tomorrow and put Lance in yellow for the 84th time.

It all is so fun to watch! Let's go Lance, Levi, and Alberto...

Loose ends

The TdF has started this weekend. It is inspiring to watch these guys ride. Incredible speed and bike handling abilities. I just wish the announcers would stop focusing on the Contador/Armstrong potential conflict. This type of talk just leads me to believe that they really don't understand stage racing or they do and are only doing what the show producers are pushing. One time I'd like Paul Sherwin or Phil Liggett say something to the effect that the producers are morons and then offer their real thoughts on the matter. Can you see it happening? Some English cliche and then the bomb drops. Anyway, what I feel is that the teams decide when the time arises who is the best and strongest rider to be the team leader. The team then gets behind that rider and does what is necessary to help them win. The real GC contenders don't come out and play until later in the race. They will all watch each other and the strongest rider will put his stamp on the race when the time is right. Much like Armstrong has done in his 7 victories, or as Sastre did last year on the Alpe, or as Contador did in 2007 by riding away from Rassmussen. As you can tell, I am excited for this tour. Armstrong is back and all the best riders in the world are on the stage. It will be a great tour!

As for me, all my riding and time on the bike comes due on Saturday for the 30th STP. This will be my fourth time and the plan is straight through in less than 12 hours. I have over 3200 miles already this year. The legs feel good and the mind is strong. It is time to ride. I feel ready. I have some loose ends to clean up this week to be ready - clean up the bike, new tires, lube the chain, and spend a great day Friday in Seattle with Christine. It will be a good ride. I'll miss hanging with JD but we'll get our opportunity in Tucson in November to show off.

Chicago

It has been an eventful week of fun in Chicago. After a 220+ mile week, I got on a flight Sunday morning and headed to Chicago for a week of Kaizen. It was a fun but, as all Kaizen events are, stressful week. The excitement was getting rained out on Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. We were at Captain Morgan's, waiting for a few more friends to show up when the lights went out on the field and the game was postponed till a future date not known as of yet. We could smell the hot dogs and nachos, caught a glimpse of the field, but couldn't convince the ticket taker to let us walk through to check it all out for just a moment. Since our car was land locked at the "park for a quarter" place, we headed to get a bite to eat. Since the "Cubbie Bear" was full, we headed around the corner to the "Salt & Pepper" diner. A nice place with loud music and an old fashion diner feel. By the way, the burger was awesome! People are everywhere, music is playing, we are talking to this 72 year old lifelong Cubbie fan, sitting right across the street from this sign. Absolutely priceless!

About the cycling, I spent almost 6 hours on the stationary bike in Chi-town. It was good to sit and spin after a long day. It was all high cadence work-real good for the spinning. It paid dividends on Saturday's ride as I kept the cadence high through out the ride and felt real strong. The legs were in good form Saturday but the body was tired - something about an 8 hour flight delay at O'Hare and getting home at 1:30 AM had something to do about that. It is good to be home and back together with the family and my bike.

Only a few more weeks till the STP. In fact, packet pickup is this Saturday. I am ready to ride!

A Horse is a horse, of course...

A funny thing happened the other day on the ride up Haugen road to work. The reason I ride this road is to get off of the busy highway 99. The only problem is that the animals come out and play. I have been chased by several dogs, seen deer, scared cats, avoided squirrels, and eaten insects on the way up this 2 mile climb.

Last week the wierdest thing happened. On the way up, Rob and I are talking and we look up and see this large white horse standing on the side of the road. Funny thing, it is standing in the same exact location that the dog was at a few weeks ago. We ride cautiously by, wondering what is this horse going to do. It had the crazy eye so I kind of clicked by tongue a few times as we passed by. Next thing we know is the horse is moving. It starts to follow us. It begins to trot after us. I am worried. I don't want to be ran over or bitten by a horse. I don't know what to do. I have never been chased by a horse before. So, I turn around and yell "Stop!" Lucky for us, it does and we continue up the climb. Wow! I think how interesting was that - a horse chased us. Just wanted to share that riding a bike has some exciting moments other than just riding.

Making Lemonade

It was an interesting week - I flew to Chicago on Monday and had a whirlwind trip, visiting the plant and a few areas around the plant. I did manage to get in a ride - 1.5 hours on the stationary bike. It was a good interval workout and I sweated pools of toxic waste. I left Chicago Wednesday afternoon and got back late. Thursday was an early ride up Haugen and into work. I had planned on a longer ride home on Thursday night but the weather was not cooperating. We had some high winds and heavy rains. The theme continued on Friday with adverse weather and no riding.

I was excited to get a note from a friend, asking if I wanted to ride with a group at 5:30 AM Saturday. I was in. At 5:30 AM on Saturday, the roads were still wet and it was misty out. Yet, the lemons were mounting and begging to be turned into lemonade. So, I headed out and met the group. We rode Haag Lake, Yamhill, Carlton, Lafayette, and back home for 72 miles in a bit over 4 hours. It was a solid ride. I rode on my Trek. After all the changes I have made to my Specialized, the Trek is noticeably heavier and the geometry distinctly different. The bike is not as responsive and the handling a bit sluggish. This is the difference between a race bike and a touring bike. Yet, it served me well on a bad weather day. The legs felt it and the muscle confusion was well worth it. In a little over a month, all this will pay off for me at the STP.

All told, a bit over 112 miles and almost 7 hours on the bike - a good week off. This coming week should be 5 days on the bike and near or exceed 200 miles.

Haag

This was a good week on the bike and more fun at work. We all spent Monday at OB12OLD's place, eating and riding. Craigus took another ride with us as part of his cycling merit badge requirements. We hit 15 miles and I asked him if he wanted to take on the 25 mile piece. He kindly declined the offer, stating the terrain was much too hilly. He'd complete the 25 miler back in Newberg and through the flat Willamette River valley. Touche! At least he is riding.

We also spent time watching the Giro. What a race this year! Incredible speeds, awesome climbs, awefully competitive, and scenic views of the country. The race was all that and a bag of chips. By watching the Giro, talking about it with Craig, and his little bit of riding, we might have given birth to another cycling fanatic in the family. Time will tell if we have been successful. He has since been on several more 15 mile rides and has a few more planned this week. Time...

As for me, four rides this week with mileage over 170. It was a good week on the bike. Monday was riding in Washington with Craigus and OB12OLD. Tuesday and Wednesday, due to me working in Tacoma, I did not ride. This made Thursday a ride after some rest. I felt great on Thursday. Haugen road was less challenging than usual and the ride home was a new route up to the green house and over Gibb cementary. The legs were in great form. Maybe it was all the protein from the food at the my parents home or maybe it was just the rest. All in all, Thursday and Friday I pushed hard up and over various climbs. By Saturday, I was feeling it but had a great tempo ride on Saturday, hitting my STP speed target over the four hours of riding. The ride was out to Cornelius, around Haag Lake, out to Yamhill, and back through the valley. I felt all the work today as I sat through church. It was a good feeling. This next week will be challenging to get it all in as I will be traveling again.

As I have increased my crank arm length, changed from a compact to normal crank, and ride with an 11-23 cassette, on climbs I have changed to a high cadence climbing style. It really keeps my legs fresher in the long run. Saturday's ride confirmed this as there was plenty of rollers and a few climbs to get up and over. By spinning at the higher cadence, at the 60 and 70 mile marks, I felt good. As a point of reference, at last week's century, we averaged 16.78 MPH. This week, I hit 18.2 MPH average. The combination of the century work last week and the hills this week, I am starting to "sharpen" the fitness. I can feel it getting better. STP is only a few weeks away.

Finally, I just wanted to send a shout out to JD who is heading towards Deutschland this week. May the road rise up to meet you and safe travels.

As heard on the bike...

During my ride, several concerned citizens (as Mark put it), slowed down and let us know exactly what we were doing wrong. I just love these concerned and caring people. The only thing is that they are wrong.

The first occasion was between Gaston and Yamhill. Mark and I were riding two abreast, talking and on the shoulder. The driver slowed down and while other drivers behind him honked, he yelled at us "single file, you have to ride single file." We just said thank you and waved and he went on his way.

The second occasion was between Lafayette and Dayton. The road had a painted white line but no real shoulder. We were riding single file at the time. The driver slowed down and shouted to us, "Hey, you can't ride a bike unless there is a shoulder. No shoulder, no bike ride. You can't ride here." Again, we thanked him and waved as he went on his way.

Finally, my neighbor across the street got stopped while riding in our neighborhood and told that he was riding too fast and had to slow down. Cars drive 25 mph in the neighborhood but a bike is too fast riding at 18 mph. Wow!

I will say that second to Cali, Oregon has some of the most bike friendly drivers - although misinformed and willing to show their ignorance - yet friendly and kind to cyclists.

Century

It has been good to be in town all this week. There is nothing like home sweet home. It was a good week on the bike - 4 days of riding, almost 12 hours, and 190+ miles. Monday and Tuesday were climbing, Wednesday was time trial and tempo, Thursday and Friday were rest days, and Saturday was a century with "Time to Bleed" Mark. The weather has been nice and today did not disappoint either. The sun was out and their was only a slight, cool breeze. What was really spectacular was the red clover. It was in full bloom. There were fields and fields of red. Wow!

My schedule gets hectic for the next month or so with traveling to other window locations. It will be tough to get the time in on the bike but I will figure it out. What is nice is that my focus will be changing here a few weeks to getting the speed up so the hotel bikes will work fine for doing just that. The STP is less than eight weeks away.

The last week of watching the Giro has been great. The stage 12 TT was amazing. The scenery was incredible and the riders really pushed themselves. It was nice to see Levi and Lance do well. Let's hope that this last week Levi can get aggresive and pull off the win. He's got a great team to help him. Let's go Levi! If you have a moment, check out Lance's videos from the Giro at www.livestrong.com. There are a few hilarious ones.

Tacoma

I spent all last week in Tacoma facilitating a Kaizen event, working with the team there to increase capacity on our energy efficient, insulated glass unit production line. The events are always different and have their own challenges. This event was unique since we had people from our three plants in the region. Through the team's efforts, our initial estimates is a 20% improvement. I think there is more there but the line needs to get used to the changes and the leaders need to step up and be leaders.

Enough about work - on to the riding. Although I was in the hotel all week, I still got in 5.5 hours during the week and a 3.25 hour ride in on Saturday. This was difficult to do since I was gone all week and it was our 17th anniversary. I really appreciate the C letting me spend some time on the bike with my dad. All in all, this was the most miles in a week for the year. It was a fast week. I spent a lot of time at threshold for extended periods of time. On Saturday, I felt great riding up on the hills and around Newberg. I would say that I am close to be ready for my 12 hour goal of STP. The legs feel strong and are getting stronger. I can relate to Lance in that he is riding himself into Tour shape. I am riding myself into STP shape. The hills, the rollers, the miles, and the time will all pay dividends in July. I hope to reach my goal, much like I hope Lance reaches his in July.

This week summary - 5 rides for a total of 170+ miles at almost 9 hours on the bike.

We spent Saturday night watching Cassie swim, putting on a show for us and putting up some of her best times. I was so excited for her and proud of her. This meant that she had been working hard in practice, pushing to get better, and it paid off for her. In the picture, she is the one in the lower left of the pool hanging on to the side, looking at the camera.
While Cassie was swimming, Craig was at a camporee. Out of 28 troops that attended, our troop came in 3rd. Craig said he had a great time doing all of the scout tasks and camping. At tonight's court of honor, Craig received his Star scout rank. He is 6 months from being a Life, one step from Eagle.
I am so blessed to have two such incredible and dedicated children - my heroes.

Numbness

When I first started riding, my right hand would go numb. In talking with a bunch of people, I came to believe that I needed more padding to help with the numbing. So I bought some gel gloves in hope that my numbness would go away. It did work to the extent that my hands took much longer to go numb - but they still went numb. For several years, I just thought I had to live with it and I did. I'd pound my hand against my leg every so often, keep changing my hand position, and continually stretch. Not all bad ideas to do on a long ride but the numbness was still bothering.

What I have found out lately is that less is better in my case. I have some padless, fingered gloves I began using in cold weather. I have noticed that my hands don't go numb when I wear them. On my two hour ride home on Friday, I didn't wear any gloves and I had no problem. Cool! So, if you have a numbness issue and haven't tried to ride with less, give it a shot and see what happens. You might just learn that it does the trick.

Riding was good this week - a year best total time riding for the week. It was a lot of time but a lot of time on the hills so the mileage was not as much. My view is that it is all about time on the bike and it will pay off later. On Saturday, I headed out early to ride a loop I outlined online. The gravel road proved to be awefully difficult as the back wheel would slip as I stood up and pushed. The first hill wasn't too bad, but the subsequent series were a difficult on the legs but good for them. Later, I rode with a few triathletes and we pushed 40 miles in about 2 hours. We had the hammer down a few times, pushing 25 - 27 MPH. I will say this, the combination of the climbing and the speed work, my legs were toast when I was done. It is good to be relaxing today.

Next week is time in Tacoma and anniversary Saturday.