Scott and I made it to Fort Smith, Arkansas last night and am getting ready to race the Mercy Cycling Classic which consists of two crits…….one today and one tomorrow.  It is a bit of a relief to be in Arkansas since it was a rather stressful few days of packing and taking care of loose ends since I will not be back in Boulder until sometime in November.

The airplane ride of Denver to Fort Smith was awesome……it was the first time in three flights that I did not get sick and I did not even take a dramamine.  I don’t know what is worth puking on the plane or taking a dramamine and be worthless for the rest of the afternoon?

We landed in Fayetteville, Ark and had to take a van south to Fort Smith which Hector (race promoter for the Mercy Cycling classic and awesome guy) arranged.  I was unaware that the drive from Fayetteville to Fort Smith is actually sort of long and I almost pissed myself in the van.  I know they have pills for motion sickness which work really well…….they should also develop one to prevent me from having the urge to urinate when I am in vehicles……that would be handy!

Scott  and I are hanging out in our hotel room waiting for the race this afternoon.  We even have a great view of Fort Smith from our window  which I am really enjoying!

Have a great weekend.

later,g.

Last week Frank, Hartman, Megan, and I went for a hike in the mountains and I wore my new hiking boots which ended up giving me a few pretty big blisters which were a touch uncomfortable for a few days but nothing terrible.

Hartman, however, borrow these same boots of mine when he went hiking a few days ago and his feet hurt so bad from the hike he had to go to the doctor.  The doctor ended up diagnosing Wes with a severe case of “KANKLES!”  Shit, I could have told Hartman that for free but I guess he wanted an expert opinion.

To treat his “KANKLES” the doctor gave Wes some bandages to wrap his feet in really tightly .  After a few hours of wearing the compression bandages Wes is able to take them off for ten minutes and remain “KANKLE” free but the “KANKLES” eventually return.  Thus, he has to do the cycle again. 

The compression bandages are only a temporary solution until Hartman has the resolve to stop eating ice cream, HO-HO’s, Funyuns, and stop playing X-Box!  Actually, I think the compression bandages are going to be a permanent solution!

Okay, sorry Wes…..I am joking……a bit!  Hartman has some bad blisters on his feet from my boots.  Keep in mind these are the same boots I wore while hiking and I did not have to go to the doctor for my blisters!  Wes our prayers go out to you.

Aside from that I went for a nice ride in the mountains the other day and it was cold but there were some good views of snow capped peaks  and changing leaves .

Yesterday also marked the end of an era……..my sleeping shorts got the axe!  I have had these shorts for many years and they served as my lounge/sleeping shorts.  I loved my shorts!  They were great for sleeping because the elastic was soo worn out that when I would roll over in bed I would turn but the shorts reamain stationary.  This is also the same reason why they had to go. I did not bother me but I think my roomates and houseguests got sick of seeing my ass crack .  I think it looks kind of good.

 Here is me in my sleeping shorts on the computer.

 Here is me in my sleeping shorts showing off my man purse that I bought in the airport.  It is not a man purse it is a credit card/passport holder that Frank is really jealous of so he calls it a man purse.  It is called class Frank…..not a man purse!

 Lastly, here is a look of the sleeping short all by themselves.  I think I am actually tearing up a bit……hold on let me grab a tissue!

 There was a small gathering to say good bye to the sleeping shorts as Frank, Wes, and Steph all stopped by to show their regards!

I will miss you sleeping shorts.  It has been a great run and I know they will be going to a better place.

Until I am able to find a replacement I am going to have to resort to sleeping in the nude.  Frank might get a little surprise if our piss schedules coincide during the evening since we share an upstairs bathroom!

later,g.

For the past few weeks I have been pumping some iron at the gym and I really feel like I am getting HUGE!  This afternoon I had to cut the sleeves off my shirt and legs off my blues jeans (which I now call shpants) so they did not cut off circulation!  I even set a new personal dead lift record and here is a picture of me doing it.   I think my massive gains in strength are really going to help me next year however I might struggle a bit at the early season hilly races.

Okay, I can’t lie that picture is actually not me and I did not have to cut the legs off my pants or sleeves off my shirt but I have been lifting and I love it.  My personal goal for lifting is still to make the cover of Men’s Health and I think I could do it……….but only if they ran a special pudding titt/custard gut edition

Seriously though tonight is my last night in Michigan before flying back to Boulder.  It has been awesome hanging out with Coach Olson, Cheryl, and a Professional Hockey Player named Jon who Coach Olson…..well coaches…….. and also lives with Mark.  I learned some new lifting techniques and I even got a few gifts from Mark to keep me warm back in Colorado.  Sorry I cannot reveal the nature of these gifts because I would not want to make anyone jealous!

I leave Michigan tomorrow morning and will get back to Colorado in the afternoon.  It will be a short stay at home since I am flying out again on Friday to do a race in Fort Smith, Arkansas with the Moninger.

Directly from Fort Smith I am flying to LA to visit a friend for a few days, which I am really excited about, before heading off to Oz for the Sun Tour and eventually New Zealand for Southland.

That is my schedule for the next few months.  See mom who says I don’t tell you what I am doing!  I am really looking forward to my upcoming tirps and I should have some good pictures to post.

later,g.

PS. I would like to wish my friend Jon in Boulder a happy birthday today!

Okay that was sort of lame but it is the truth.  Next year I will be officially riding for the Priority Health Professional Cycling team.  I am definitely looking forward to the upcoming year and and happy to be reunited for Coach Olson  (my coach and owner of Priority Health along with his wife Cheryl) whom was part of my first professional team Advantage Benefits Endeavour. I am ready to win some frickin’ bike races!

On that note I am actually in Michigan at Coach Olson’s house.  It is a bit different being here now compared to when I was here last fall with a broken back.  Instead of a  broken back I only have a broken scaphoid. Maybe next fall when I come back I will only have a broken baby toe?  This weekend Mark is going to show me his top secret weight lifting program so I can get huge and look really good next season…… thus being one step closer to making that elusive cover of Men’s Health.  I think it might make me fast also?

The flight to Grand Rapids, Michigan this morning was a rough one for me.  To start with I had to get up at 4:30AM and leave the house by 5:00 AM,  Thanks Frank for bringing me to the airport at such a ridiculous hour!

Not only did I have to get up early but before flying I always take Dramamine becuase I am soft and get motion sickness.  However, today I dropped my only dramamine in the urinal while I was urinating.  Then I went to buy some more but the credit card machine was down at the airport store and I had no cash.  Needless to say I broke out in sweats and got pukey on the plane but I did not have to use the little white bag.  It was a small victory but I did have to regroup for about a half an hour after getting off the plane.

Time for some green beans and a movie with coach Olson and one of his Professional Hockey Players and girlfriend .

later,g.

Yesterday Frank, Megan, Wes, and myself went for a little walk in the hills west of Boulder.  We ended up hiking to the top of a peak called the “Twin Sisters.”  It was fun except fo the fact that I was drowning in my own mucus for most of the hike and ended up with some massive blisters on my feet.

 The start of the hike before Megan started to push the pace and any sort of conversation ceased.

 Me with “Longs Peak”, “Mt. Meeker”, and “Mt. Lady Washington” in the background.

 The hike was actually pretty technical and Frank froze up on one of the harder sections on trail.  Wes, Megan, and I had to talk him down from the massive four foot ledge!

 One of my more artistic shots which I will call “up a tree.” If you would like to order a high quality print just email me…….I might have to replace the ribbon in my printer first though.

 Getting near the top with Megan still drilling it at the front. 

 Mr. “sweaty back” Hartman was “on the rivet” the entire day but could not get dropped by a girl!  Actually I was probably more sweaty but there is nothing to prove it. 

 Frank “on top” of one of the “Twin Sisters”……don’t worry he was “safe”!

 All three of us on the “Twin Sister”!

 The hike back down after eating a little of “aunt Ruby’s” chocolate chip pumpkin bread and Wheat Thins at the top.

 It was nice to make it back to the car mainly because my feet were killing me.

 I love hiking……..

……it is great!

 On the way back to Boulder we ran into some Elk just outside Estes Park which was really cool.  We were actually the tourists taking pictures causing traffic problems.

 Hartman decided to run into the field because he did not want to get back into the car……….or wait is that Frank?

Overall it was an awesome day of hiking and I think that everyone had fun or at least I did and that is all that really matters right?

That brings me to today which was a sad day in the house…….Hollywood flew back home.

 I had to drop Hollywood off at the airport and I was holding back my tears the entire time!  Then I realized I will see him in two weeks when I got to Australia for the Sun Tour so it really was not that sad at all……in fact I was actualy happy to see him go!  Seriously though I hope Karl has a safe trip home.

 With Karl gone and Bryan in Colorado Springs the house was sort of boring and quiet this evening.  So much so that I resorted to watching Frank eat a sandwhich for entertainment.

later,g.