Is this my 15 minutes of fame?

I'm the guy just entering the photo on the left

If you look really closely – on the left side of the pick, that guy sneaking on the screen last … that’s me.  The overly happy man is a friend of mine, Dave McGlory (sp) – we just call him Trini!

I should have worn my chest protector

So yesterday, we were working in the backyard, minding our own business (as most of my stories begin).  I was cleaning up weeds, edging and such.  Nothing major.  We have a gas powered weed wacker that after several years, I can finally control REASONABLY well.  I don’t get worried about using the beast.  Well, I had a couple blades I saw … so I wanted to take care of them.  Sarah was in the backyard as well… I fired up the weed wacker and goofed.  Sometimes, the engine gets a little “stiff” so I pulled a little harder.  It fired right up but the next .3 seconds of my life were really quite painful! You see my hand slipped off the “T-Handle” and that T-handle did what, for lack of better things, I will call “boobie-whipped” me!  I grabbed my bousum and danced around the backyard.  Sarah looked at me as if I was insane and thought I was being overly dramatic – maybe I was, but it HURT!

Well… an hour later after a good shower I saw my chest in the mirror.  Below is a photo!  (Fear not, I have censored this for your protection!

Notice the "Handle"

Man … that hurt!  Still does and the mark is still there!  So remember – wear your chest protector when weed wacking!  The nipple you save may be your own!

Wind

So yesterday I commented that I was glad I went riding, regardless of the wind.  I had a good time, enjoyed my ride – it wasn’t so bad.  That would have been enough wind for me.  Today – it was just as windy and ugly.  It was wednesday – so it was track racing night.  I packed up my gear and off I went.  There was a high wind advisory in effect… lovely.  Got to the track, warmed up and felt like maybe I had a bit of form.  I was moving pretty well, good news.

First race was a squirrel fest.  One dude in particular took it upon himself to run into everybody in the field at least once.  Talk about a squirrel.  I launched a gutzy (stupid) headwind attack up the home straight.  I got spotted, got another big guy on my wheel and knew it wasn’t going down.  I was done.  OOPS!

Miss-n-out.  I hate this race.  It sucks.  Well – I rode it 1/2 way smart and pulled a 3rd.  I honestly thing it was 75% brain, 25% legs.  I really didnt do well – but I kept being in the right place.  I did some work, but just got it right.  The final 3 – up sprint – I had nothing   good race.

Tempo – got a 5th which I was happy with.  It was really hard – I did my best.  The madison – I rode it.  That’s all I will say.  Walk away with a 3rd, 4th, 5th… I’m happy with that.  Crappy weather, but good racing.

One year later – I lost a pound!

A year ago, I kept people updated on my weight loss.  I was proud of it – I was working quite hard.  I had a bad period and gained a bunch back.  I as not proud.  There were some circumstances that led to the weight gain, but simply put, I ate too much – the key to weight gain.

Well, a while back, I threw together something to help me stay a bit motivated – I started a contest called “VeloLosers” – a group of cyclist trying to lose some weight.  It’s been going pretty well.  You can check out http://www.velolosers.com for details.

Anyway – I have avoided looking at last years weight because I still feel a bit of a sting, a sadness for the work I did that I “threw away”.  Well, today I mustered up the courage and looked at last year (look at “Weight Loss” at he top of the page).  Funny thing is – I am 1 pound lighter than I was last year.  Not that it matters – not that it’s good that I gained that back, but it’s good that I’m back to the ‘same place’.  I just need to focus and keep it rolling.  Things are going well.

And now – the truth … here’s the graph.  Nothing to write home about, but better than not doing anything about it!

17 Month Weight Graph