Marianne and Bryant

Mariannes Trinad Tobago deployment with EMEDS

2011-04-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Tahoe Marathon and Yosemite with Mom

2010-11-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

2010-11-21T19:42:00.000-08:00

Marianne set up a great present for my Birthday. We stayed overnight in Occidental at a B&B. The next day we were going for a ride and there was Scott and Habi ready to go. We did a good loop along the coast and a big luch in town afterwards.

A Visit from Sondra July 2010

2010-11-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Sailing San Francisco Bay June 2010

2010-11-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

A visit from Tyson

2010-06-12T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here is Tyson preaching fire and brimstone in Sonoma

Tyson , Me and John Muir.

The day before we arrived home from Hawaii my son Tyson and his friend Christina had driven up from Albuquerque. They explored San Francisco their first day in town, so we got home late Wednesday and there they were!

We checked out all that Vacaville has to offer, ( took 3 hours) and also visited John Muir national forest and the town of Sonoma. Did some wine tasting, and found a bunch of wild, ripe plums up behind our place. It was so nice seeing him again. Here's some pics.

Honu 70.3, Big island, Hawaii

2010-06-12T16:30:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday we flew over to the Big island for the Honu Half Ironman. This is the 4th year I've done this race and was hoping to snag a Kona slot like last year. Well no joy there but Marianne and I had a blast seeing all our friends from the islands and swimming in the ocean again. Our friend Jenny stayed with us in a beautiful condo I stumbled across on the internet.

My Swim and bike went perfectly but my run was a few minutes slow so I missed a championship slot by 6 minutes. No worries. Now I get to try again next year!

We were invited to an after race party hosted by Pac-Velo were I of course ate and drank to much. ( I wasn't drunk! Really!) The next day we went to the coffee shack with John and his family. This place has the best vies of any restaurant I've ever been to. Then, we moved over to the Mauna Kea hotel which is my favorite. I got to do a little paddleboarding and we saw the biggest fish ball I had ever seen. All in all, just a wonderful experience.

Ironman, then vacation

2010-05-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I drove to St George, Utah for another Ironman race. Marianne flew to Las Vegas two days later for an ambulatory care Nurse's conference. After my less than stellar performance in St George, we met up in Las Vegas for the rest of the week. After living there for a few years in the early 90's the town was almost unrecognizable to me. North Las Vegas is still scummy, and Summerlin and the strip are still full of people with more money than taste, but red rock canyon and the town of Blue Diamond continue to be awesome.

Left town on Thursday and drove out through Death Valley, then headed North through Owens Valley skirting the Sierra Nevada's. We we're going to cross over into Yosemite, but all the passes were still closed for the winter. California State route 395 has got to be one of the most scenic roads in the US. We camped overnight outside Bishop California then turned right and headed West past Lake Tahoe. One of the best parts of the trip was running barefoot in the snow. We are going to do some serious camping trips through this area in the future.

Sunday ride, new kit, new bike

2010-03-06T16:05:00.000-08:00

Every Sunday we take an easy 3 hour ride with a group from the bike shop were I work part time. We ride to a town called Winters and stop for a cafe doppio at a great coffee shop called steady Eddys. After years of talking about it I finally sprung for a new tri bike. It fits like a glove and has a sweet ride. Here I'm wearing our new kit from the Precision race team.

Old and new. Which would you rather drive?

2010-03-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

Old war stories

2010-03-03T08:13:00.000-08:00

I talked to a guy I deployed to Saudi Arabia with in the early 90's last week. ( The miracle that is facebook) I told him I had lost all my pictures and souvenirs over the years so he sent me some from our time there. He put his thoughts on desert storm very well; "I hated every minute I was there but now I'm glad I went."

This is also photographic proof that cats can live on MRE's

Remodeling, Spring has Sprung

2010-02-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

We're wrapping up the remodeling projects on the house just in time to start in on the outside landscaping. The floors and fireplace came out real nice and Marianne got her butcher block table for the kitchen. With the weather starting to improve we took a walk up the hill behind our house and took some pictures of our neighborhood.

Sydney

2010-02-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

After the last day of the bike trip we flew to Sydney with Spence and Amy to explore the big city. The town just like the country was clean and neat and the people absurdly friendly. The first morning we went for a run out to the opera house and botanical gardens, then took the ferry across the harbor to the zoo. The next day before flying out we swam laps in a sweet pool right on the harbor. The whole trip was amazing and we're already talking about cycling in Canada in 2012

McClaren vale

2010-02-12T09:23:00.000-08:00

After a few days by the Southern ocean, we turned North towards McClaren vale and the Chapel hill winery and retreat. Another outstanding property in the middle of vineyards. Many of the Australian wines we buy in the states come from this region. One constant reminder that we were in a new environment was the big flocks of cockatoos screeching and flying around.

Hahndorf

2010-02-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Our next stop was a town named Hahndorf. We did a few good climbing days and ate like kings every night. Our guides Dave and Dianne had great spots picked out for lunch and dinner everyday and we always had social hour were we would taste the days finds at the winerys.

2010-02-12T08:55:00.000-08:00

Riding 50-55 miles a day and drinking wine every night became the routine and with temps in the 80's and lot's of sunshine it was a routine I could get used to.

2010-02-12T08:18:00.000-08:00

Just returned from 2 weeks of cycling and wine tasting (drinking) in South Australia. We started in Adelaide and I knew it was going to be a good trip when the Thai restaurant we tried the first night served kangaroo. Yes it was delicious. After a short shakedown ride we spent the next two days in Marananga at The Louise which is a beautiful hotel out in the middle of the Barossa vineyards

Land down under

2010-02-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

What's happening?

2010-01-23T08:21:00.000-08:00

It's become a cliche to apologize for not posting for so long. What can I say? The magic's gone?

Life does go on however and we have been busy with moving in/remodeling the house and the holidays. For Thanksgiving we drove up to Lake Tahoe and celebrated with our friends Scott and Caroline and their family. We got treated to one of the first snowfalls of the season and were shocked how big the waves were on a small lake nearby as the storm rolled in.

Healdsburg Half Marathon and WIne tasting on Bikes

2009-11-03T14:06:00.001-08:00

California

2009-10-25T15:18:00.001-07:00

Well we've been here in California a month now and feel as though we made the right choice of assignments. The spectacular fall weather we've had since landing hasn't hurt our opinion of the place either. We did find a house in Vacaville and will be closing in a few more weeks. Still camped out in billeting trying not to beat the cats to much.
The cycling here is first rate with so many options on quiet country roads. Yesterday we drove down to Larkspur to go on a ride with two other transplants from Hawaii, Habi and Scott. We did a 40 mile loop up and over Mt Tampalis above San Francisco. I thought there was a lot of cycling up our way but that area is truly cycling nirvana.

Cycling and WIne

2009-10-25T15:10:00.001-07:00

New House/ My shed

2009-10-25T14:55:00.000-07:00

A visit from Tyson

2009-09-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

My son came out for a visit last week before we pull chocks here. Since he only had a few days we packed a lot in. We caught some ahi on a deep sea fishing trip, surfed our stand up paddleboards, and visited the Lyon arboretum in Manoa.

Vacaville, Visit with the Kimseys

2009-09-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

After the wedding we flew to California to do a little recon on the area we're going to be living in. We weren't successful in our efforts to buy a house while we were there but did get a good feel for the town and area we want to buy in. Before coming back to Oahu we stayed with our friends Scott and Debi outside San Francisco. It was nice seeing them again and we plan on getting together for some tri training when we get settled in Vacaville.

Angela and Ernest's Wedding

2009-08-27T21:09:00.000-07:00

2009-08-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Waimea a pod of spinner dolphins came by for an hour or so. I swam out to get a better look and was swimming with 20 or so. You can always hear them underwater long before you see them because their chirps and whistles carry so far underwater.

Our Niece Isabelle has been out visiting us the last week. Her and I have been exploring the ocean as much as possible. Starting to feel a little waterlogged.

My new hobby. Underwater rock sculpture

2009-07-09T18:36:00.000-07:00

Perfect activity for me. Very little thought involved and constant oxygen deprivation.

Busy July Fourth so far

2009-07-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday I met my buddy Elisa for our weekly dawn patrol of Hickam harbor. Conditions were perfect and we caught some nice waves for an hour or so.

Thursday was my last day of work at the HPARC. I decided to cut my time there short so I wouldn't have to hurry up and get off the water every morning before work. Now I can just stay out and surf until my arms fall off.
Friday Marianne and I bought some cheap fishing gear and went fishing out of the kayaks with Steve and Marie. It was fun and we both hooked up something big that we never got to the boat. Whatever Steve hooked into drug out all his line and smoked his reel before he lost it. I did land a baby hammerhead shark but I wanted to catch dinner.

Sunday I drove out to Kaena point for a ten mile HURT trail run. After eating popcorn and wine for dinner Friday I didn't expect much but I ran a great race and placed 6th or 7th. I like races that you can just walk up, pay ten bucks and are told that the finish line is to "touch this big rock right here" From there I drove directly over to Sunset beach for the Dahui paddleboard race at 11 oclock. Still haven't figured out how to go fast on my board but had a great experience. It looked like a floating circus when we got into Waimea. Marianne rode her bike down from the house and met me there. It was nice seeing all the different boards like this one made from old 2 liter soda bottles and this other wooden handmade beauty.

Life is good

2009-06-17T23:23:00.000-07:00

Big Island redeux

2009-06-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun on the big island we decided to go again last weekend. This time with no bikes, timetables or early mornings. We checked into the Mauna Kea
beach hotel on the Kohala coast. Probably the nicest place we've been in Hawaii. The bay was clean and clear with a riot of fish, turtles and even giant Manta rays. If your ever going there, this is the place to stay. We ate, drank and swam way to much and enjoyed every minute of it.

Honu Half Ironman

2009-06-09T22:26:00.000-07:00

So with little to no training under my belt we flew to the Big island for the Honu Half ironman two weeks ago. I didn't expect any great performance and was hoping it wasn't going to turn into a death march for me. Lo and behold I had a great race, going the same time as last year ( 4:49) with a slightly harder run course. The run was stinking hot like always, but I usually race well in heat while others just cook off. I had made the decision not to do Kona this year but I didn't think I'd REALLY have to make the decision. I stuck to my guns and turned down my slot which is gut wrenching for me. Part of it was just not feeling like having to train up for it this year. Laziness I suppose. It was nice seeing all our friends and training partners. Maybe come over from the mainland next year and do it again?

See all of Oahu in 36 hours

2009-06-03T22:10:00.001-07:00

Our friends Aaron and Danielle flew in for the Memorial day weekend. We were excited to do as much as we could while they were here so by the time they left I needed a day just to sleep and recover. Here's some shots of the highlights. And guys, I promise to check the surf report before kayaking and paddle boarding the North shore from now on!

Scenes from Hawaii

2009-05-17T14:27:00.000-07:00

Summer is here and the weather has been unbeatable. The ocean has calmed down and has been like a mirror the last few mornings. Just nice long rollers to surf before work. Lot's of cycling and paddleboarding these last few weeks. I'm getting pretty good at not getting slammed every time I catch a wave now which makes it more enjoyable.

Paddleboarding , Tandem riding, unexpected cetacean

2009-04-27T23:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday night we went to John's 40th B day party which was held as a "funeral" with his last will and testament and eulogy read. Everyone wore black mourning clothes and had a good time ripping on John. Sunday we woke up early AGAIN, and rode down to the North Shore for the Haleiwa metric century ride. We had borrowed our good friends Russ and Shannon's super high speed tandem. This is not your grandfathers bicycle built for two. After a few practice rides we felt we were ready for it. They say it can be a marriage maker or breaker. I'm happy to report we did fine. Marianne had total trust in my bike handling, (poor girl) and was always manning the engine room when I called back for " more power Scotty!" We were able to maintain 25-26 miles an hour on the flats with a few 30mph bursts for the first 30 miles. We decided to take it easy on the way back but still ended up hammering most of the way. This may be our next bike purchase.

So one more thing to report. I get to work this morning and notice it's just a gorgeous day. Sunny and totally calm. So I took the morning off and went paddleboarding once again. I'm about a mile and a half offshore and it's dead quiet when I look out in the main channel about fifty yards away and a WHALE breaches. After checking my pants for shit I watch it dive back under not to be seen again. Unbelievable.

Kahala Challenge

2009-04-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Another weekend in Paradise and we made the most of it. With my latest hobby of paddleboarding going so well I decided to do a race with it. I entered the Kahala challenge put on by the Lanikai canoe club. It was an 800 meter swim, 5K run and 2 mile paddleboard or stand up paddleboard (SUP) I was doing well until the paddleboard portion were my inexperience was glaring. I came in 12th place, it was a fun time and I learned a lot. Can't wait till next time. Right afterwards we drove over to Hickam Harbor and I took Marianne out with me on a rental.

Lanikai Triathlon, Cruise around Diamond head

2009-04-22T07:57:00.001-07:00

Pictures of our kids!!

2009-04-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

Marianne here!!

Bryant keeps on posting all these race pictures and has not put any pictures of our growing Cali, and the love of our life, Kitty. Kitty likes to make us believe she hates Cali with lots of theatrics of hissing and batting at her; however, we always find them together. Cali has turned into a beautiful Calico. Both cats add so much humor and love to our lives.

2009-04-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was the Tantalus bicycle hill climb. One of the steeper hills on the island through some awesome rain forest with great views of Honolulu. Really wasn't feeling it once again although I pulled almost the exact time as last year. The road has just been paved so all the times were faster then in the past. I ended up 14 in my category and 28th overall. Sunday afternoon was the final criterium race in a series of 4 at Kaneohea Marine Corps base. These races have been so much fun I'm sorry to see them end. I lucked into a breakaway group of 3 riders in the 1-2-3 catagory race and ended up 5th overall which is my best showing. I even got to test ride a new lightweight bike I'm thinking of buying. So, one weekend, 3 races, and I'm still living in Hawaii. Life is good.

Full Weekend

2009-04-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning was the Ford Island bridge run. This bridge crosses Pearl Harbor over to the old Navy airfield that got plastered in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I parked on Hickam and jogged about three miles over to the start. My legs felt pretty busted up from a hard training week but when I was pushing my way up to the starting line I saw a lot of friends and training partners and had fun shooting the bull with everyone so I forgot all about it. The race went well. Not my best time but I gave it all I had. I placed 22 out of 2200. I'm no math genius but I think that's top 1%. ha! I was second in my age group but left before the awards. I heard I won a nice koa wood bowl. I have to see if I can pick it up this week. That afternoon I bought a new paddle for my newest obsession, stand up paddle boarding. I bought one a few weeks ago and love it.

I found a race at the end of April that's a 800 meter swim, 5K run and 2 mile paddle. I'm in!

Race Race Race

2009-03-29T23:40:00.000-07:00

So it seems that this year instead of training all the time I'm just going to race every weekend. You would be proud Jesse. I'm actually signing up for all these race's in time. Three weeks ago I ran the Great Aloha run with a good finish. Two weeks ago I was 10th in the 1-2-3's at the Kaneohe crit. Last week our HACC co-ed team won the Hawaii state Team TT. Today I placed 5th against an admittedly weak field at the first triathlon of the season. So far so good.... Next weekend is a killer. Ford island bridge 10K on Saturday, Tantalus hill climb Sunday AM, then the 4th and last criterium in the series at Kaneohe in the afternoon. Check out this Andy Warhol version of my Crit race

Momentum Kaneohe Criterium

2009-01-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

First race of the season on one of the nicest weather days in the last year. The HACC controlled the Senior race with 5 of us mixing it up at the front. From the gun we shook all the dead wood off the back in the first 5 laps. After an awsome leadout by John Larion, Steve Steele won the bunch sprint with yours truly getting 5th. Kelly even won her first race for the women!

Honolulu lights ride

2008-12-28T11:33:00.000-08:00

Honolulu Marathon

2008-12-26T20:29:00.001-08:00

Marianne and I volunteered to ride as bicycle escorts for the wheelchair racers in the Honolulu Marathon again this year. Since they start and usually finish in the dark the race organizers have a phalanx of well lit bicycles with each wheelchair racer. Marianne and I rode mountain bikes this year because the roads are so poor, and it's dark. I rode with the first place finisher Masazumi Soejima from Japan. It's amazing how fast these guys go. I had to bear down a couple times just to stay with him. He finished in 1:32. Just like last year it rained all morning which made me feel even better about not running it.

Diving

2008-12-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago a friend of ours invited me out on his new (to him) boat for some scuba diving. I promised myself to get out on the water more this year so I skipped a trail race I had signed up for and rented some tanks Saturday evening. The dive was fun. I sort of forget how much I enjoy it until I do it again. We had some dolphins following the boat for a few minutes on the way out and saw a big reef shark settled into a hole getting his teeth cleaned by some wrasse. After the second tank we fired up the motor for the trip back. It ran for about 10 seconds, then died. No amount of tinkering seemed to help so I volunteered to crawl down in the bilge with the motor and check fuel lines. It has a big old Cummings marine diesel motor and crawling around in the hot hold, covered in fuel and oil and stale water, with the boat rocking, I was soon more disgustingly filthy than I ever remember being. I was having a blast really. No joy on getting it started though. And to top it off, we burned up the starter cranking it to much. Luckily we had motored out to the site with another small boat and they volunteered to pull us back in. That next Monday and Tuesday I helped Mark pull the starter, suss out the fuel problem, and install the rebuilt starter. We had it ticking over nicely by Tuesday but I did mention how much his boat looks like the SS Minnow for you Gilligans Island fans?

What have we been up to?

2008-12-26T19:46:00.000-08:00

So the pictures have been building up and with some time off for the holidays I can post a bunch.

The first bit of news is we had a new ragtop installed on the mustang. The old one was 10 years old, yellow and brown, and leaked like a sieve. I always wanted a vintage mustang and I figure if we hang onto this bucket for 20 more years I'll have one.

Rainbow ride

2008-12-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

The Saturday ride had a small turnout but some great scenery. We rode a couple different routes through Wahiwa and had a rainbow following us all morning. Winter is hitting us hard right now, dipping into the low 70's. It was so cold John G had to wear his arm warmers which we gave him a hard time about.

North Shore big wave day

2008-11-29T15:08:00.001-08:00

Todays HACC ride had the bonus of watching some of the enormous waves that the North shore is famous for. Surf report said 15-25 foot wave face through this evening. I can't imagine surfing in these conditions but there were 10-12 brave souls out there at sunset beach.

Maui Xterra

2008-11-01T15:22:00.001-07:00

Above are some pictures leading up to the Xterra. Kitty in the new shock box, Bryant tearing down his mtn bike, truck inside the ferry and some other ferry pictures.

Xterra Maui

2008-11-01T14:30:00.001-07:00

So my big adventure to do "the double" is over. I got it in my head this past year to do Ironman world championships and the Maui Xterra , which is the World Championships for off road triathlon. This year was probably the only chance I would have to do both in my life so I made it a priority. The races are held two weeks apart. One on the Big island and the other on Maui.

With little to no mountain biking under my belt for the last few years I pulled out my old Specialized S Works one more time and took it on a couple rides before Xterra. I was less than impressed with it's performance, the thing is old and I always disliked the Manitou shock since the day I installed it way back in the mists of time. At the last minute, I went on a tour of the island bike shops looking to spend some $$ on a new machine but the selection was poor and I couldn't bring myself to spend 5 grand on something I wasn't thrilled with. So once again I ordered a bunch of new parts including a new suspension fork and gave the old girl a makeover.

Friday afternoon Marianne and I left work early and drove onto the Hawaiian Superferry for the trip to Maui. What a great way to visit the other islands. So nice to avoid the TSA, long lines, rental car hassle , etc of that comes with flying. There was and still is a big controversy over the ferry here in Hawaii. The opponents give all sorts of reasons why they are against it but it's partly the warrior mentality that pervades Hawaii. "If it's something new, we're against it", and "I've got mine, everyone else stay home" Morons.

Anyway the trip went fine and we rolled into Kihei on the South Coast around 8 pm.

Sunday morning the race started at 9am. The swim went well for me and I posted a good time for once. The bike starts at the Maui Prince resort on the coast, all green and beautifully landscaped. But as soon as you begin climbing up the side of Haliakala it becomes desert terrain. Rocks, dust and more rocks. Makes me homesick for Tucson. It's about 1.5 hours of climbing followed by 30 minutes of insane downhill. I flatted once and lost a bunch of time fixing i,t but felt great all morning despite the oppressive heat. Some of my old MTB ski ls from New Mexico and Tucson showed themselves and I was really enjoyed the bike section. The run is about 7 miles through the worst terrain they can come up with including about a mile of beach before the finish which is tough. I didn't place as high as last year with the time I lost on fixing my tire but my age group place was higher (9th) since I'm older, ha!

So now it's time for a break from racing and training. It's been a great year but I feel like a weight is off my shoulders.

Post race fun

2008-10-19T22:56:00.001-07:00

After I finished we went back to the condo to shower and grab a bite. Then for the first time ever we went back to the finish line for the action between 8 and midnight. It really is an emotional experience watching people who have been out there for 15,16,17 hours come running in out of the darkness, into the glare of the spotlights and the screaming of the crowds. The joy really shows on their face. Sunday we did a little snorkeling then went to the awards banquet that evening. Unfortunatly it started raining and just wouldn't quit so we left after a few hours.

Tuesday we went deep sea fishing. I was hoping to hook a giant marlin but no luck there. I did catch a nice mahi mahi which took me about 10-15 minutes to land on some light tackle so at least I didn't get skunked. The boat captains father owns a mexican restaurant on Alii drive so he dropped my fish off that day and we went and ate it as fish tacos that evening. It always amazes me how long I point my whole life in the direction of getting to this race and how quickly it's over. But as always it was totally worth the sacrifice's and I'll have many wonderful memories of Kona '08 the rest of my life.

The race

2008-10-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning started with an 0430 wake up call. I had my standard egg sandwich and coffee at the condo, then off to race central for body marking. The start of the swim is always one of the coolest parts of the race. Your treading water for 15 minutes with 1800 other athletes who have been busting their ass to get ready just like you. The hawaiian drums are beating, lot's of tension in the air, then the cannon fires, and your off. Lots of kicking, bumping, and shoving.
I was hoping for a slightly improved swim time since I wore a speedsuit for the first time but at the 1.2 mile mark I was at 35 minutes so I knew I was on pace for my standard non wetsuit time of an hour and ten minutes. Transition onto the bike went smooth, first 20 miles fairly fast with a slight tailwind, then side gusts and hot, humid headwinds for the next 90 miles. Again I wasn't thrilled with my bike split but once I started running I knew it was going to be a good day. I passed hundreds of people including most that I had seen blow by me on the bike which felt good. I finished in 10:24 with a 3:26 marathon for 496 overall, which is the highest I've ever placed there. It's always nice when a plan comes together. Here are all the split times and details

Manta rays

2008-10-19T20:30:00.000-07:00

Our friend Amy asked if we wanted to go with her on a night snorkaling excursion to see Manta rays on Thursday. They shine bright lights down into the water from the boat. This attracts plankton which the Manta Rays feed on. Over the years the local rays have learned that lights = food. So they glide all up and down the water colum were the lights are. These things get huge, up to 5000 lbs. The ones we were swimming with were probably in the 300-700 lbs range but still big when they're 6'' away from you. The only picture I was able to get is pretty poor but here it is.

Ironman Kona

2008-10-19T20:13:00.001-07:00

One of my favorite experiences in Kona before race day is the early morning swim in Kailua bay, followed by hanging out at the corner of Palani and Alii drives people watching. This year there was a boat moored out in the bay that was serving coffee and espressos. So Marianne and I swam out where I was served a coffee by Scott Molina. Drinking espresso while treading water in the middle of beautiful Kailua bay, with warm sun, palm trees lining the shore, and a smile on my face. Life is good!

Ironman WC

2008-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well the big day finally rolled around after 10 weeks of totally unbalancing my life in favor of training. We flew into Kona on Wednesday, registered, shopped at the IM store, then walked around the race village were all the manufactures had their bling bikes on display. Looking at all the high-dollar rigs started to give me some idea's since I vowed that this would be the last IM for my old litespeed.

Long overdue post

2008-10-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

Between IM training and work I really haven't been getting on to post lately. Every weekend for the last 10 weeks has followed more or less this routine;

Saturday, meet Spence, Mike, Sandi, Erin and the usual cast of uber athletes on Oahu over on the windward side at 0700 for a 90-120 mile hammerfest bike ride followed by a 3-9 mile run. Drag my dead ass home about 3pm, eat a great meal that Marianne has been making to keep me alive, then bed. Sunday, get on the bike with Marianne around noon for a 1-3 hour "easy" ride, immediately followed by a 30 mile run at a 7:30-8:00 minute pace. Add in about 10K worth of swimming during the week plus some bike and run speed work and you start to see my dilema. Getting to the blog becomes a low priority.

However,.....I'm glad to say that all the work is now done and I'm tapering nicely for the race next weekend. My legs feel so fresh the last few days it's scary.

I did break my training routine last weekend to ride with the HACC because it was our friend Scott's last ride on the island. Scott and his wife Debbbie are moving to California. We will miss them greatly and hope to impose on their hospitality the first chance we get. Here are some pictures from the ride. Someone had the good sense to get a flat tire right in front of the most beautiful beach on the island, (Waimea) so I snapped a couple shots.

The good with the bad

2008-09-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

We got a nice surprise a few weeks ago when my Daughter Angela's boyfriend Ernest called and asked if he could marry her. They've been living and working in Tucson for a few years now since graduating college and I sometimes would tease them about tying the knot, so this was a happy moment for me. A week or so later Angela got a new job offer with a 40% pay increase so she gave her two weeks notice. Then they bought a new dog. Talk about changing a bunch of stuff in your life all at once! Anyway, we're both so happy for them and hope to get by for a visit in '09.

To balance out all that good karma the bicycle gods decided this week it had been too many years since I've gotten a close up look at the asphalt. On Thursday I was coasting into a corner and slipped on a wet piece of crosswalk paint. Not much damage besides a few strawberries and a sore hip. Then yesterday about 60 miles into our North shore ride I rode over a rough stretch of road in front of sunset beach and heard a loud crack, followed by my handlebars separating from my bike. I crashed pretty spectacularly according to my friend who was behind me and busted myself up pretty good. The carbon fiber fork tube just sheared off after taking 7 years of abuse. So I'm taking a couple days off from the IM training. Everything is still on track for October 11th though. I heard a good quote once but I don't remember the author. "It's not whether you will have adversity in your life, because you will. It's how you deal with it that counts." I dealt with it by ordering a bunch of new parts to get the old Litespeed up and running again.

On a totally unrelated note. Marianne wanted all to know that our orphan kitty "Cali" is becoming really tame and fitting in well around here.

Xterra off road triathlon

2008-08-21T21:58:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago I broke training for Kona long enough to do the Mountain man Xterra triathlon out at Kualoa ranch. I got it in my head that this might be the only time in my life that it was convienient to do the Ironman and Xterra championships back to back. So I dusted off the old mountain bike and gave it a shot. Qualifying at the race here on Oahu is much easier than on the mainland because of the large number of slots they give away here and the small field size. I attribute the small turnout to 2 reasons. One, triathletes (we have a ton here) don't mountain bike. There's just not many places to ride. Two, the few hard core mountain bikers here don't swim. Whatever the case I placed second in my age group behind my training partner Mark, and 11th overall. All those great New Mexico and Arizona MTB skills came in handy and I got my ticket punched for the Maui Xterra championships which is a few weeks after Kona this year. The valley that we raced in has bus and ATV tours but is normally closed to the general public.It is used to film movies and TV such as Jurrasic park and "Lost" They have signs up in different area's to denote were certain scenes were shot. Hence the "Lost" sign I'm running by in the photo. Sort of struck a chord with me when I ran by it though as I had just been passed by two people.

2008-08-11T23:57:00.000-07:00

2008-08-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

Finishing up

2008-08-11T23:22:00.000-07:00

Have a few things in the works to write about but realized I still hadn't finished up with the Alaska trip.

The whole trip was perfect. We stayed very busy the whole week and saw a lot more then I thought we would get to. Thanks to all the coffee shacks in Anchorage and the obscene amount of daylight they have in the summer we never seemed to run out of time.

While visiting Mom's friend Janice, we visited Martin Busser's place in Palmer. Listening to his stories about the Iditarod Sled dog race made an Ironman seem like a Sunday stroll. This guy is a total hard core athlete but so is so humble and self deprecating you can't help but to like him. Janice also took us up to Hatcher pass in Wasilla were Mom saw her first moose.

We met Jesse at the airport on Saturday as he was arriving home from Combat Rescue indoc training. It was good seeing him again and his stories about their training was great motivation for my IM training. Monday we drove to Seward and got a close up look at a glacier. Tuesday we went fishing in Prince William sound. Mom showed a couple Halibut and a huge Ling Cod who was boss and then helped cut it up and package it for the plane ride back to PA. So here's all the pictures to tell the rest of the story.

Mom's trip to Alaska

2008-07-20T23:20:00.000-07:00

Fun in Alaska

2008-07-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

Kalaeloa criterium

2008-07-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Hawaii State Criterium at Kalaeloa. The HACC put it on this year and did a great job. There was some concern before the race about the shape the road was in but it seemed fine to me and we all had a blast carving corners all morning. Our team had some good results and we all raced from the front of the pack which always looks good. John "HACC Daddy G" put on a great show with his nemisis Ed, with the two of them dropping the golden masters field on the first lap, then battling it out for the rest of the race. Ed got the better of him this time, but it was edge of your seat racing. Speaking of which, check out the women's finish line photo above. One of our newest HACC riders Shannon Cutting tore it up in that race, edging out another rider in a dramatic sprint. Way to go Shannon. Now we need to get her in a HACC jersey for these photos! She also raced the 4/5 race and took a flyer off the front which looked like it was going to stick for a while, Wow!

Since fast cornering with large groups scares me I employed my "jumping off the front as hard as I can over and over" strategy for the first 5 or 6 laps everytime the pace slowed a bit. Making the pack accelerate repeatedly shakes loose all the dead wood and winnowed the field down to about 10 of the stronger/steadier riders. The finishing sprint was so chaotic and fun I kept wishing we could do that part over. I won 3rd place with my buddy Steve placing 5th.

So HACC took home a first in the womens race, second in the old dudes, and 3rd and 5th in the beginners. Another awesome showing if I do say so myself.

A big Mahalo to Bennie Peterson for all the great pictures.

Hill climbing fun

2008-07-09T23:37:00.001-07:00

Sunday a bunch of us met Gil at his place in Kaneohe for 3 super steep hill climbs. Even though John decided to take up smoking? he still enjoyed watching me rip my legs off trying to keep up with him. After the ride we had an icy beer courtesy of Gil and his kegerator.

Where's Scott?

2008-07-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was the Scott Kimsey around the island, 112 mile farewell ride which we've been planning for a few weeks. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Scott isn't leaving, and he couldn't do the ride either! What a dweeb! We did our best to simulate his presence but it just wasn't the same. We rolled out of Hickam at 6 am and rode to Kailua. After a bit of a crash, we caffinated up at a coffee shop and those who were going all the way around headed out. Some where outside of Kaneohea a familiar silver truck drove by. Scott had finished up his business and joined us to do the last half of the ride, thereby partially redeeming himself and limiting the amount of ridicule and scorn we could heap upon him. The ride itself was tough with high temperatures and humidity. I'd been beating my legs up since Sunday and was glad to finish around 1:30 pm.

Hawaii State Road Race

2008-07-03T20:25:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was the Hawaii state road race. It was held on a tough course over on the North Shore with lot's of climbing. The HACC had a great showing with John Girmsey winning the Golden Masters division, Shannon Cutting placing second in the Women's race, and yours truly winning a sprint (unheard of) for second place in the 4/5's. Steve Steele also had a great race, capturing eighth in the 4/5's.

Hickam Criterium

2008-06-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the Hickam /HACC Criterium race. "HACC Daddy" John Girmsey put a lot of time and effort into this and it went off without a hitch. Everyone talked about how this was the perfect venue and looked forward to next year. Not only did John ramrod this race, but he won the Golden masters race with a ballsey move on the last lap AND placed sixth in the 4/5 race which had a field of 37. Way to go John. I placed 5th in the 4/5's after a race that I was totally happy with. My legs came back after a week of soreness and lethergy. I don't know why I felt so rotten all week but I'm glad it's over. Here's a few more shots that John Laurion took. I notice that John, Steve and myself have our mouths wide open in every shot. I think we used up all the air in a two mile radius.

Post retirement

2008-06-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well my first week of work at the HPARC is over. The job promises to be really interesting and it looks like it will be the first time in my life that I will be able to say "I love my job." This week as part of my job I got to run a timed mile and a half on Wednesday, run 3+miles and take a spin class on Thursday. That's not counting all of my own training. That being said, having working full time again is a bit of an adjustment. The funny thing is, I'm not even sure how much GS-7 pay is. I know it's not chump change, and that's about it. I guess I should look it up.

Eating what you kill

2008-06-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday night after my workout we went to Steve and Marie's house for dinner. I had volunteered to clean our catch if Steve would use his culinary magic to turn it into something delicious which he did. He made fish cakes and asparagas on the grill. Marianne baked her famous Hawaiian oatmeal bars. Along with some good wine. Life is good.

New workout

2008-06-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

This morning I met Scott on the North shore for a long swim. We left a car at Waimea and drove to Pipeline, got in the water and headed back. The swells were pretty big right before sharks cove, but it flattened out after that and I was really enjoying the scenery. Saw lots of fish, turtles, and Scott saw a shark down deep. It's about a 2.3 mile swim but we were a lot farther out then I thought we'd be (scary) so I'll say it was 2.5. After a quick shower we dropped Scott at his truck and Marianne drove me into Halieva. There I put on my running shoes and headed South toward Mililani. It's pretty much all uphill for 13 miles and I was worked by the time I met Marianne in Mililani for a cooldown arond the block. All in all a great day.

Bottom Fishing in Hickam Harbor

2008-06-15T18:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday we met Steve and Marie for some fishing in Hickam Harbor. We had lots of action, catching mostly bonefish. I did hit something big that stripped my reel and swam off. I really wonder what that was? Not content with catching fish, Marie and Marianne caught a sea turtle and three baby Hammerhead sharks between them. We love being out on the water and it was another perfect day in paradise as far as weather. Next weekend Steve and I signed up for a spearfishing course to go catch the big one's

Bodyboarding at Bellows, Mango picking, Jumping at Waimea

2008-06-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Honu Half Ironman

2008-06-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Marianne, Tyler, Becky, Christian and I flew over to the big island for the Honu triathlon on the Kohala coast. This race got the better of me last year and I was ready for some payback. The race is held on the Mauna Lani resort, North of Kailua Kona. The place is expensive but so beautiful. I'd like to go back some time just to sit on the beach and drink foo foo drinks.

My race went great. The run felt so good I again (like New Zealand) wondered if I should have put a bit more into the bike. I placed 52 out of 1100 which I was satisfied with. Full results are here .

Recent happenings

2008-06-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

Marianne and I have been making the most of our nice Summer weather recently. A few weeks ago I did the State time trials in the morning, had a delicious dinner at Ed and Heidi's house overlooking Hawaii Kai that evening, then the next morning we went Mountain biking in Waimanalo with our our friends Roberto, Cindi, Ed, and Heidi. Ed showed us some great trails and also let me ride his Scott uber rig MTB. This full suspension bike weighs less then any of my road bikes and really opened my eyes to how far the technology has come. I wanted to get some pics on the trail but Ed, Roberto and I were hammering to much to pull out a camera. Sadly Roberto was flying out to Europe the next morning in preparation for his and Cindi's move to Belgium this summer. Roberto is a good friend and I will miss his wheel and amazing cooking skills.

The other big news is that I found someone crazy enough to hire me for a job. They expanded the scope of the Health and Wellness center on Hickam AFB and renamed it the Human Performance And Rehabilitation Center, or HPARC. Jason, the Exercise Physiologist who runs the place needed someone to lead group workouts for the physical training failures and perform other duties like using the gait analysis, and bod pod machines to set baselines and track progress. The idea is to get people who are injured or having problems passing PT healthy and in shape. I needed a job like a hole in the head, but Jason's pitch to me was " I'm hiring you because of your fitness knowledge and to provide a role model of how to stay in shape, so if you need longer lunches or whatever to work out that's cool." ...... How could I say no? I went to the grand opening last Monday and start work on the 16th.

2008-06-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

More North Shore sealife

2008-06-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

2008-05-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

A visit from the Shepperds

2008-05-28T15:02:00.000-07:00

Tyler, Becky and Christian came out for a visit on Monday. It's nice seeing them again and we scored the perfect day to go snorkaling at Waimea on Tuesday. Lot's of fish, turtles and sunshine.

Kayaking North Shore

2008-05-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Our kayaks have been getting a good workout this past week. Last week we hit Kaneohe bay and the sand bar, then yesterday we went over to the North shore with Tracy and Micky, some friends who are TDY here from Japan. I remembered to bring our new underwater camera (which Pentax was nice enough to replace for us after the last one stopped working) and snapped these pictures of another big turtle out by the Waialua bay channel buoys. There's a deep drop off into the channel there and I can always count on seeing a few of these big fellows. There's no scale in the photos but it was what I call a "refrigerator door size." Before we left we paddled up the river a ways and tried to decide which shack we'd like to live in.

Ironman fever

2008-05-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

Browsing around the Ironman World Championship website I found this today. The race has been auctioning off a charity slots for a few years now. I don't know what the record is for $$ but this must be close. I wonder if anyone buys a slot out of their own pocket? I think it's great to raise money for charity but wish there was another way to do it besides letting those with deep pockets simply write a check. Just goes to show that money can buy just about anything.

Aloha

2008-05-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

Part of being associated with the military is having to say goodbye to friends you make along the way. Last night was a going away dinner for Marianne's friend and coworker Denise Bradley and her husband Emeil. Marianne always told me she wished she had a strong, no nonsense NCO working with her and with Denise she got her wish. They are off to Anchorage for their next assignment and we wish them the best of luck.

2008-05-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

This past week Marianne was busier than normal at work because she was serving as the driver for the Assistant Air Force Surgeon General, Major General Melissa Rank. Although a little stressful, she enjoyed this opportunity and says she learned a lot. It wasn't all work though. One afternoon they went sailing in Kaneohae bay. Tough duty! I told Marianne if she hangs around long enough she'll be wearing a star one day.

Haleiwa metric century

2008-05-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Haleiwa metric century. Marianne and I ride this route all the time but we don't usually start off with 700 other riders. We rode a good pace and I basically did two, 30 mile pulls at the front. Marianne's cycling is really improving this year which makes riding together more enjoyable for both of us.

Beijing Olympics

2008-04-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

And now, a shameless plug for our friend Ann's travel company http://www.ludustours.com/
http://www.ludustickets.com/
If anyone is thinking of attending the Summer games. She can set you up. Her husband Mark and her have been living and working in Beijing for some time now and provide first class service.

Unfortunately with our travel budget blown on New Zealand we won't make it over to see them this year. Maybe I should get a job? Ha!

Hawaii State Team Time Trials

2008-04-22T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning Spring and I drove over to the Windward side for the state TTT race. Spring graciously volunteered to ride on a mixed team with the HACC. We fielded 6 teams this year and brought home 4 podium spots. Our fast guys team took 1st in the 4/5 division, Spring and her team took 2nd, our women's team took 1st, and the old guys team (200+) with me on it rode to a second place finish in our category. Scott talked me into an hour run immediately afterwards and I'm glad I went. I felt good and that is one of the most scenic pieces of road in the world. That evening I took Spring to the airport and picked up Marianne at the same time. It was fun having Spring visit but even better having Marianne home again. Hopefully some day all 4 of us can hang out together.

2008-04-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

So after 5 hours we made it down in one piece. There is a guard at the bottom of the stairs because you are not allowed to climb up, but no one cares if you come down. It was a great experience and I'm glad I did it but I don't think I would attempt it again. I was pretty far out of my comfort zone a few times. One little slip on some mud and that would be all she wrote.

2008-04-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

Coming down the stairs above the H-3. This was cake compared to the hike up the so called "trail"

2008-04-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Spring looking cute and muddy at the top of the stairs

2008-04-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Do I look scared?

2008-04-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Talking to Marianne in Chicago. Okay, I'll try not to fall to my death!

Stairway to Heaven

2008-04-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Spring, Matt, Kevin and I hiked up and over the Pali, coming down the set of steps known as the stairway to Heaven. These are about 4000 steps built by the Coast Guard up an impossibly sheer cliff to reach a now defunct communications station. We started on the leeward side of the island in the Moanalua valley. The trail got progressively harder as we went up and by the time we reached the knife-edge ridge my self preservation alarms were going off. That's when Matt said, "this is were we crawl". With a stiff wind blowing over the ridge which was 12 inches wide at some points I tried to make myself as close to the ground as I could. We were basically straddling the ridge top with our left hand on the leeward side of the island and our right hands on the windward side, with 2-3000 feet of nothing on either side. Did I mention the mud? I've probably been more freaked out in my life but I can't remember when. It was a total adrenalin rush and by the time we hit the comm station my heart rate was way up. Coming down the stairs was great because the clouds parted on our way down giving us some incredible views.

A visitor from Tucson

2008-04-14T09:35:00.000-07:00

Our friend Spring arrived Friday from Tucson to check out her and her husband Kevins house here and also for a mini vacation. Spring has some big cycling races coming up so we promised her we'd do a lot of riding while she's here. Saturday we did the normal HACC ride over on the North shore. Sunday we drove over to windward to watch her race the Lanikai triathlon. She did great, placing 11th overall woman and 2nd in her age group. Pretty good for someone who hasn't swam in two years! My cycling bud Scott "fujito" Kimsey was also racing and kicked some butt winning the military category.

Last of New Zealand

2008-04-02T13:26:00.001-07:00

One of our last stops in New Zealand was the city of Christchurch on the South Island. New Zealand still very much identifies with it's British commonwealth heritage and Christchurch really reminded me of the UK. We stayed for 3 days but a week would have been better. I've never cared much for city's but the weather was perfect and there was so much to see and do there.

This was the longest vacation we've ever been on and I feel as though we made a good effort to see as much as we could but still take time to get the feel of each place we visited. If I did it again I would devote more time to the South island as it has the most dramatic scenery and the least people.

2008-04-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here are a few last shots from our New Zealand trip. The jet boat ride really got my heart rate up. They are totally overpowered and only need 4 inches of water to operate in, so your skimming along at 50 mph in water as deep as a small puddle. Here's a video I shot of a spin.

A Parade

2008-04-02T11:43:00.000-07:00

Marianne led a flight of Air Force personnel in the Honolulu Prince Kuhio Day parade last Saturday. She looked sharp in her blues and was definitely the cutest one in the bunch.

I have to say I am very proud of her.

2008-03-31T22:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations and best wishes to our friends Jesse and Kristy on the birth of their daughter Cadence last Thursday. Jesse made it back for the birth from his combat rescue course in Washington with 50 minutes to spare. No worries!

Also congrats on tearing up the selection course Jesse.

Good friends, good times

2008-03-31T19:13:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Buz, Kristine and Paul yesterday. They flew in from Alaska and Idaho for some nice Hawaiian weather and mother nature cooperated all week.

We did some great kayaking and snorkeling on the North shore along with all the other "must do" activities on the island. It was fun having them stay here and the week went by way too fast.

Skateboard

2008-03-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted all the new Zealand pictures yet but I wanted to get this up. My son Tyson who lives in Albuquerque sent it to me. He has skated since he was a tot and just keeps getting better. He is the one in the brown T-shirt and also the one jumping over the big blue rail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO5XdPlsrPc&feature=related

New Zealand West Coast scenery

2008-03-23T14:24:00.000-07:00