Punta Lobos!

I'm having a real hard time getting through this mid-life crisis. However,  I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing. Therefor, this is why you see the below photo of a longboard that I recently purchased.

As a kid, skateboarding was a big part of how I spent my summers, and I'm attempting to recapture the feeling that skateboarding gave me 30+ years ago. I no longer have my G&S Fibreflex board, but the Punta Lobos will help fill that void!

Heart Rate - 238. This Can't Be Good.

Finished a long day at the office and decided to go for an easy 20 mile ride on this breezy afternoon. Little did I know that the breeze I felt during the day turned into a 30 mph headwind for the first 10 miles! No worries - the second 10 miles it was a tailwind! Weeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Legs, lungs, etc. felt great. However, if you look at my heart rate (below) during the first part of my ride, you will see that I was apparently having some sort of 'event.'  I can assure you that my actual heart rate did not max out at 238. If it had, I'd be dead. I'll chalk this up to my Garmin needing a firmware update, or some shit.

Road ID - Don't Leave Home Without It!

Went on my first long ride today in cool temps. Legs felt great. Lungs felt great. Fingers and toes froze. Oh, and I managed to forget my heart rate monitor and my Road ID. 

Forgetting the HRM was not such a big deal, although I did feel a little lost not being able to check whether or not I was in or out of my target zone.  The Road ID, however, is an item I will never forget again. I never expect an accident to happen, but if it does, I want some ID around my wrist. Forgetting this was a BONEHEAD move on my part.

'You mean we're smokin' dog shit, man?'

I may or may not start experimenting with psychedelic drugs. Stay tuned.

The Arrival

Levitation. Just one of the iPhone 4 features.

Indoor Trainer = The Devil!

For anyone who likes to get out on their bike, the snows of North Dakota can throw a big-ass monkey wrench into one's plans. Thankfully, to get my miles in, I have the option of hopping on the trainer during the snowy season. Yay. Interval session below:

1,2,3,4s followed by 20 x .5s

To me, an hour on the trainer is like 3 on the road. My iPod helps bunches during these sessions. I will be doing a 3+ hour workout tomorrow. This makes me sad. Oh well, it won't be long before I can stop with the trainer nonsense and jump on my newest purchase...

Very much looking forward to hitting the trails on this!

Dad's Memorial Flag & Case

In May of '07 I was going through a tough time.  I won't go into details about why, but during this time I needed something to occupy my time in a constructive way, and building a case for my Dad's memorial flag helped me more than anyone can know.  My Dad was an amazing woodworker and an amazing man, and I'd like to think he would have liked the end result.

I built the below case using red oak and walnut for the splines.