What exactly happened?

Everything was going so well...

In preparation for my first appearance at the 24 Mountain Bike Race in the Old Pueblo, I was riding regularly, including a couple of times a week at night (with lights).

On Saturday, December 29th, 2012 Mark, Brian, and I went for an easy ride in Fantasy Island. About half way through the Bunny Trail, we realized that we were going to run out of daylight if we tried to ride the entire loop. I turned around on the trail, rode backwards for a minute to check on a point in which we could cut the loop in half. As I did this, a rider was coming in the other direction so I went off the trail slightly since he had the right of way. I rode over a giant piece of cactus. (I actually fell over at this point, because I was looking at where we could cut the trail, got distracted by the cactus that was in my tire, and stopped without un-clipping  - but I was fine). Here is where I made my first mistake: I pulled the cactus out thinking that the Stan's tire sealant would plug the hole. Instead, I should have cut the cactus off and left the thorns in. As soon as it started hissing as it let air out, I quickly rode to move sealant to the hole. I thought it was good at that point.

Apparently 15 minutes later when we finished our ride, my tire was still slightly leaking air (I didn't realize this). We exited Fantasy Island through the gate at Irvington and Harrison, and both Brian and I turned off our GoPro cameras (Stupid! - record everything/all the time). I then had a burst of energy, and quickly rode to the hill leading out of the desert and jumped it. The combination of my low front tire and the slippery ground caused me to fly through the air sideways and land on my right side: I hit my head, cracked my helmet and put rock indentations on either side of it, broke my GoPro helmet mount, got a concussion, broke my right collar bone in two places, broke a couple of ribs, bruised my hip, and scraped my leg (had to get a tetanus shot at the ER). Painful and expensive!

Six weeks later, I'm mostly healed up - and riding again. My first time back was ironically on the weekend of the 24 Hour race I was supposed to be in. However, the important thing is that I'm back - this time with new tires, the correct amount of Stan's, and a lot more experience & wisdom.

 

It never gets easier, you just go faster. ~ Greg LeMond.

What exactly is a hobby? I found this definition: "An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure." It's safe to say I have one main hobby, and that is riding my bicycle. In fact, that's basically been my hobby my entire life; from my different BMX bikes, to getting my first mountain bike in 1992 (wow, 20 years ago!). I've had several different bikes, and I recently bought a new one... which couldn't have been at a more perfect time.

I have completely stepped up my game when it comes to riding; with the new bike, I also bought new pedals, new shoes, new lights to ride at night, I'm riding several times a week, and I recently joined a team to race in the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo Mountain Bike Race!

So, this activity that I do regularly in my leisure time is providing me with a ton of pleasure. It always has, and hopefully it always will. It's my hobby.

Purpose

September of 2005 is when I started this new thing called Social Networking. I created a MySpace account simply to have a place to blog. It seemed like the best option, because I would write my random thoughts down (or recap what I had been up to, because status updates weren't around yet), and people would have the opportunity to read and comment on them. However, I never really intended on them being read on a regular basis. It's not like I am some kind of awesome-entertaining writer. Instead, I thought of my blog entries as a place that I could simply spill my thoughts out, and then someday I could go back and read them - or someone else, like my kids, could read them maybe after I'm long gone.

With that said, it seems like the thoughts I write about on a regular basis are somewhat negative. I'm a happy person and have an awesome life, so maybe this is my one place I can release any negativity that somehow gets into my head. ...Or maybe I should just focus on how awesome everything is for me instead. Hmmm. Ah who cares, nobody is supposed to actually be reading any of this anyway; I should just write whatever comes to mind.

Pain is what comes to mind right now. Just over a week ago, I crashed on my mt. bike and did some damage to my left shoulder. My range of motion has been getting better, but there's a large lump on the top of my shoulder. I did some research and quickly found out what it probably is: AC Separation (or shoulder separation). It's bad, but not very bad. From what I read, I don't need surgery. Hopefully.

A Ty Fact: I prefer a hot coffee on a cold winter day, and I prefer country music on a hot summer day. I have no idea why those two things just came to mind.

Where is his mind?

There are some simple things I do on a daily basis that results in common courtesy for others. Usually it's good driving habits, such as not driving in the right lane so that people can pull onto the street from side streets or businesses, etc. Or throwing my gum in the trash, so that someone else doesn't step on it. Or putting my shopping cart in the return area, instead of leaving it sit in a perfectly good empty parking spot - or rolling away into someone else's car. Some of these things are so simple, but end up being a big deal to someone else. Too bad more people don't practice these simple things, or even put their head in the game to realize what they're doing.

I walked into the bathroom at work to drop a deuce (I know, TMI). There are two toilets and two urinals. There was already a guy in the bathroom... pissing in the toilet and all over the seat - instead of simply using a urinal. He then walked out of the bathroom without flushing or washing his hands. So now the one toilet I wanted to use, that I had to wait for, has piss all over it and in it. At that point, I would've gone outside and shit on the guy's car if I knew what he was driving. Where was his mind?

The "Less Fortunate"

We are once again entering the holiday season. It's such an awesome time of year. I have always enjoyed it, but I enjoy it even more since I have a wife that absolutely loves it, and two kids to share all the joy with. I wouldn't change a thing.

However, the holidays seem to always bring more talk about the "less fortunate". What exactly is the less fortunate? Someone answered that once by saying, "People who aren't lucky enough to have money, food, clothes and shelter." My guess is, most people would agree with that answer. But I look at it differently. The word that sticks out to me in that answer is "lucky." When people work hard and budget correctly, money, food, clothes, and shelter isn't generated from luck. It's something that is earned.

I know there are exceptions. I totally understand that.

Two things concern me about donating and giving to the lazy less fortunate: 1.) Corruption. For example, how do you know that the money you put in that basket outside the department store with the shady guy ringing the bell is actually being given to or used on someone that truly needs and/or deserves it? and 2.) Who? Should the money that I worked so hard for be given to someone that is short on money? ...short on money, because they don't have any left after they didn't work hard enough to get a decent paying job, and then they blew the little amount they had on cigarettes, fast food, and the latest DVD that they are playing on their big flat screen TV?

I've come to the conclusion that (generally speaking) it's human nature to take the path of least resistance. There are a lot of people that will simply take every inch that's given to them. This is from a 2010 New York Times article: "One in eight Americans rely on food stamps; one in four children in the United States rely on food stamps; one in 50 Americans live on nothing but food stamps."

What's crazy is that I hesitate to donate my money, food, or anything else because of these things. But I'm not a stingy person. In fact, if I know a person is truly in need of help, I will be the fist one to offer assistance; Oh you fell down, let me help you up. Oh you dropped something, let me pick it up for you. Oh you're lazy, fuck you.

Merry Christmas.

We have a pool!

It's crazy to think of how our backyard used to be. I mean it was like that for the entire time we've lived in this house (9 years, I guess?). But this summer, the Summer of 2011 we decided to change everything (a recap video on youtube to come soon). We've been wanting to at least re-do the pathetic patio and patio cover that we had. But once we started to move on that (getting quotes, thinking it through, etc), we realized that if we ever wanted a pool, we would have to put the pool in first - because a new patio would be in the way of any construction. We got a quote on a pool, and it was much cheaper than we thought it was going to be (at least it seemed like that at first). At that point, it was on! 2 to 3 months later, and now we're swimming! Our backyard is completly different, and we love it. Plus, it allows us to hang out together as a family and totally enjoy our backyard like we never enjoyed it before.

We still have to cover the patio (hopefully we can get that done this winter / before next summer), but it hasn't stopped us from making the most of the new setup. Ah, twelve thousand gallons of cool, refreshing water. It's awesome.

It's OK, I'm a limo driver!

I am now in my fifth year of driving limousines as my part time job. I enjoy it for three main reasons: 1. it's a good change of pace compared to my desk job during the week, 2. it's an excellent source for extra cash, and 3. I... see... a... lot! I've had many people say I should write memoirs of my experiences, and I totally agree. Or maybe I should have simply kept a blog that I updated with each "run." Better yet, if I could have a camera crew ride along with me, like that show COPS. It's crazy to think of everything I've seen - and so much of it would have made excellent reality TV.

Well, I'm tired and off to bed, so maybe someday I'll go into detail... or maybe not. :-)