I love summer holidays!

Here's the scoop, I get Friday off work and half a day on Thursday. I also took the rest of Thursday and Wednesday off as well! :) Here the rundown of my vacation:

Tuesday: started the evening off right with a nice long bike ride. Had to try out the fixed bike which ran like a dream! :) As well as the new HR monitor/cyclecomputer.

Ride stats: Duration 1:56:04, max heart rate 209bpm, avg. heart rate 151bpm, 1321 calories burned, 27.9 miles, 14.5 mph avg., 45mph max speed

Wednesday: Drive to Buffalo, NY to visit with Grandparents and Uncles

Thursday: Big picnic/4th party and my Uncle's house in NY. We party and cookout all day and watch the fireworks so close you have to look straight up to see them!

Friday: Drive from Grandparents in NY to Aunt's house in Amherst, OH for another picnic and to see my cousin who is in from Chicago. Pick Lexi up from parents place (Thanks Kevin for watching my Lexi pie this week, YOU ROCK!) and head home. Depending on what time I get home maybe go out for a ride.

Saturday and Sunday: Ride my ass off! A minimum of 75 miles combined those days. I have to prep for my metric century next weekend for the ABC ride. 62 miles of bliss next Sunday.

Everyone, have a great and safe holiday weekend!!!!

The Good With The Bad

Well this weekend turned out to be 90% incredible! It started off not so great when I had to take my bike into the shop, what appeared to be, a loose or worn out bottom bracket. Ok, fair enough, I'll leave it to the professionals. I have plenty of specialized tools but that can be a mess to get to. This was Thursday, the bad news was they couldn't get my bike back before Tuesday. :(

Friday I was worn out so I rented Rambo, watched and went to bed.

Saturday my parents and brother came out for a cookout and swimming. My brother got out of the hospital after one over night with chemo! Awesome! He's an old pro at this by now, he's my hero and we are going to kick this cancers ass! We are well on our way. :) Saturday evening I went to a cookout at a friends house and had a great time laughing and enjoying the evening with great company.

Sunday I went to my parents to help out with the yard work as I usually do on the weekend when I got "the call" not only was my bike ready for me to pick up but the bottom bracket cup had worked itself loose! A $20 fix was it! So I tipped the boys at the shop $5 since I was so happy! Now, this evening, I installed my new heart rate monitor/cycle computer and I'm going to rock out some crazy rides over the next few days!!! :)

WOW!

Sorry everyone! I have been an incredibly lazy blogger the past few weeks. Let me give you a quick update on life.

My brother is doing well. I saw him on Saturday and he was out and about with us. He was supposed to come out swimming on Sunday but couldn't because he was under the weather and running a fever. No worries though the weather was incredibly horrible all day anyway. Everyone, please wish him luck as he goes into round 3 of chemo tomorrow! My personal opinion is that he will knock this out sooner and better than predicted. I think he'll shock the Dr.'s.

My brother and my dog!

Work has been busy with budget crunches and everything. It's funny how the first thing people cut is the advertising budget in times of adversity. HELLLLOOOO! How do you expect people to know about your product if you don't tell them?!?!?! It's like stopping your watch to save time! WTF!

Personal life, eh, no update as usual.

Cycling, well the weather hasn't felt much like cooperating these days. Everyday I don't have something going on it rains. I've cancelled all plans indefinitely until I get more time on my bike. I am becoming crabby, not getting out on the bike. Here is my plan of rides for the rest of the summer:

7/13 33rd ABC: Absolutely Beautiful Country Ride 62 miles

7/26 Century Cycles Night Ride on the Towpath 15-22 miles

7/27 Eddy's Bike Shop Sweet Corn Challenge 62 miles

8/3 Roast Your Buns Tour 70 miles

8/29 Century Cycles Night Ride on the Towpath 15-22 miles

8/30 STOMP Bicycle Adventure 62 miles

9/21 NEOC: North-East Ohio Century 100 miles

I know it seems pretty ambitious but it gives me something to work towards.

I also purchased a Polar CS300 heart rate monitor and cyclecomputer combined:

http://www.polarusa.com/Products/cs/cs300.asp?cat=consumer

That's all for now, I'll try to do a better job of updates.

Tour de Cure, 2008!

This past Sunday I rode in the Tour de Cure to support the American Diabetes Association! It was a last minute decision, however, I was able to still raise $795 in a week for the ride. The day was perfect! A little on the hot side at 92 degrees but the route was perfect, sun felt good and I had a blistering pace! I finished the 33 mile run in 2 hours flat which means I had a 16.3 mph average for a solid 2 hours. We stopped to cross a lot of streets so to think without interruption I could have potentially been faster!!! A big thank you to everyone who donated in support of my efforts and to the ADA for setting up the event! Finally, thank you to my little brother Kevin who is courageously battling cancer and is an inspiration and driving force for me to be the best brother, son, friend, diabetic, human being that I can be! Love ya!

Here is a pic of me before the start!

Cycling Fun

Well, since everything has settled down in my life except the weather. I spent the last two evenings overhauling my bike. If you saw my hands right now you would see the excess grease that orange peels and a scrub brush could not remove. I've attached some pictures of my girlfriend here. It's been a solid 8-9 years since we've had an overhaul and she is looking good!

In other news I have a new helmet sponsor but I'm not sure if it will fly...er...work! lol

Life is good!

Hi everyone, sorry for the blog slacking. You know, they should invent a word for that because it happens to everyone. :)


First and update about my brother. He was released Saturday morning after his final IV bag of chemo on Friday. He walked out ON HIS OWN! No wheelchair needed. The treatment seemed to barely phase him, he wasn't the throw-up patients the Dr. cautioned us about. I know things change but so far so good! I saw my brother this past weekend and we went to a family bday party. He was looking really good with little problem from his hip. Hopefully we can knock this out sooner than expected. I got my brother a surprise as well for this weekend but since he reads my blog I'll have to wait to share! lol Hang in there Kevin, many, many people here in Akron are thinking about you and thinking positive thoughts for you!


Since my brother is in a state of flux my parents cancelled the Maumee trip this weekend. Since I didn't want to sit on my ass and be worthless for the weekend I signed up for the Tour de Cure bike ride on Sunday. Here I am worrying about getting the minimum $150 donations to ride and I'm now up to $645! All going to help find a cure for diabetes. So it will be interesting to see how I do since the incredible Ohio weather has kept me indoors for the past 2 days. In other news my A1C as tested from my Dr. appt. was down to 7.1 from 8.6 just 3 months ago. This is actually incredibly hard to do especially in such a short time frame. Now with my brother and all I make sure that I'm where I need to be and fly right. Like I tell everyone I'm no good to anyone if I don't keep up my own health. T-minus 3 months until I get my insulin pump! :) Last Saturday I chaperoned a ride for kids from the diabetes camp that I went to as a kid. We rode about 25 miles, it was great catching up with some fellow diabetics I had not seen in awhile.


So that's all for now, I'll keep you posted on how the training goes for this weekend. I'll leave you with a pic of my brother and I goofing around!

Beautiful Weekend!

Yeah, I finally got out on my bike quite a bit this weekend! Both Sunday and Monday were great with my blood sugar as well. On Saturday I hit up the family party back at my parents place. I helped my family out by cutting the grass and doing some other odds and ends to get things in order for my brother to get started on his treatment next week. He's losing way too much weight but in good spirits, check out his blog at: mycancerexperience.blogspot.com he is going to do his best to keep a journal going of all the experiences he will be going through. Right on little bro!!!

So the riding was great on Sunday. I went 30 miles and got some great sun burn/tan lines. It felt good to get out and pour on the miles. My starting BS was 60 and some carbs, rode and ate carbs while out and finished at 70. I can't complain, I think it worked out pretty well.

I also got a new Camelback after not taking my meter with me on Sunday. I decided that I need to figure out a way to get everything around with me. I used to have an original camel back in the mid 90's back when they first came out. They have sure come a long way. Here is a picture of the one I picked up. 70 oz. of water and space for my stupid blackberry (I don't use but need it in case of emergency), my meter and some extras like an insulin pump soon!

My ride today took me down through the Valley where I ran into a nice little Memorial Day parade. I stopped to watch, i couldn't pass it up. They are honoring the people who defend the very freedom I was celebrating by riding my bike where I want when I want as long as I want. It's a good thing I had my patriotic socks on! Today was a 25 mile day. My BS was 87 starting off where I had a small snack and continued to snack through the ride and came home to a BS of 70 again. What a great day. See my socks below.