Lookin' Forward to Lookin' Back...

Found myself being a little reflective about this past year the other day. Thought I'd write a few thoughts down about it.

2006

The first quarter was taken up with Lindsay (#1) being sent to Ft. Myer, VA after completing basic training. Karen and I tried to get out there as much as we could. Being the leader of the local fife & drum corps took up a decent amount of time this quarter, mainly planning the upcoming season and annual tour to be held out east in August. At work, stress began to mount as the new housing market went into a severe tailspin (see quarter 2).

Quarter two was the one that really took it's toll. Mom went into the hospital April 20th, I lost my job on the 28th and she died two weeks later. Mostly, though, I look back on this three month period as a good one (surprisingly). I started my business and started biking and running (in earnest) again. We did manage to get out to Mercer, PA in May to catch Lindsay performing with her unit for the first time. This was the quarter that Jen (#2) graduated and got her license. June ended things up by being a very busy month for my fledgling enterprise (thankfully).

Last quarter was probably defined by the tour that I led out east in August with the corps. Got to see Lindsay again while we were out there (and fellow Apple, Yojimbo). The business continued to move forward (although taking the time off for tour didn't help) and I began to get a bit more confidence as a business owner. Another highlight was doing my first "Century Ride" (100 miles) on my 44th birthday in September.

This quarter, winter seems to be encroaching on the midwest a bit early (although today was in the mid 60's, it still "looked like" winter or, at least, late fall). Earlier this month I led my last caravan with the corps and officiated the annual year end banquet (complete with killer 1000 slide PowerPoint presentation). I'm looking forward to biking and running into the holidays and getting a solid week of hunting in during mid-November. Maybe even see me some Apples before the end of 2006.

Embracing the Masochist Within

What is it about a ridiculous challenge that is so captivating? I've been hearing about the bike tour called the Columbus Fall Challenge (in Ohio... duh). It's supposed to be two days of riding in the most challenging (hence the name) hills in the state. Some of these climbs (so I hear) are more than two miles in length at very high inclines.

So when do I get to go?

See? This has to be a genetic fault in me. I can't be happy/content with just riding a few days a week for my health. No... I've got to surf the internet and read up on the Native Planet Classic (a super century ride, complete with about 10000 total feet of climbing out in the Cascades).

Anyway... I've decided that I'm completely mentally intact. The rest of the world is nuts. Out.
J

Down Goes Natiw!!!

So... Al and I just returned from a nice 25 miler in the hills. We're sitting there (on our bikes) talking. I decide to ride around in circles for a minute to run Boomer a little. As I come to a complete stop, I unclip my LEFT shoe... and suddenly realize I'm leaning RIGHT. Not good. Needless to say (but I will anyway), I could not unclip the right shoe fast enough and hit the street hard. My helmet cracked really loudly when I went down (this is why we wear helmets kids!).

Anyway, besides a scraped hand (I had taken my cycling gloves off, of course), bruised behind and a cut knee I guess I'm none the worse for wear (except for my wounded pride, of course). My seat came off the bike though (not the entire seat, just the actual cushion part). Not sure how to go about fixing THAT. Sounds like another trip to see Dan.

So, yeah... I guess I'm an official cyclist now. Woo!
J

Time & Distance

So I re-named my blog. Not a big deal, I know. But I've been thinking about the whole "It's About Time" title. Seems to me that "Time & Distance" conveys more of what I was thinking of. Time is vitally important in life, to be sure. But so is distance. Covering ground is so important. Not necessarily "travelling" or whatnot. Just moving. Being productive. Getting from A to B. Could be a trip to the store for bread or walking the dog. Maybe it's visiting a relative in a far off country or biking the shoreline of a nearby lake.

Some people get a lot of time in this life. Others, not so much. So maybe the distance we cover is at least as important as the time we have been given. I read a quote some years ago that went something like this:

"I'm not so much interested in adding years to my life as I am in adding life to my years."

Time & Distance... indeed.
J

On the Road...

Haven't updated much this summer. Most of my time has been spent planning and executing events for the fife & drum corps. I did, however, manage to get a new bike back in July. It's a Lemond Tourmalet. At the moment, I've got around 650 miles on it. I recently rode in the Celebration of Cycling. I had planned to go 50 miles that day (it was my birthday and thought I'd try to ride my age - 44), but got caught up in things and ended up doing 100. I was pretty sore the next day.

Memo to Self...

Backup your template file.... frequently.

Thought I fried this blog last night, but managed to dig up a backup file from September 2005 this morning. Only thing I've lost now is some of the links on the right sidebar. I'll slowly replace those.

Think it's time to do a little updating here. It's funny to look to the right and see that photo of Lindsay. The date on the backup file was the day before she left for basic training last year.

It's been a year. Wow.