End of '06 Entry

Straight from April to December. Piping up now to close the year. All about me. Nothing approaching the exotic stuff of B's recent jaunt criss-crossing France, and Ed's quick hop over to the UK.

I've moved. A few beltway exits west, about 20mins from Mom & Dad in G'burg. Thanks to Dad for helping, I would no doubt have mucked up the refrigerator aspect for sure. Rock Creek Park and Metro stops are nearby. I continue with contract work downtown.

Having enough fun on the bike and running to keep me sane and balance the posture-punishing hrs spent seated at a desk. Plan for the new year is back into the water, consistent swimming. Looking forward to the usual tri's and du's in '07. Have registered for the Cherry Blossom 10 mile run, the annual knock-the-winter-rust-off rite of Spring.

Finished '06 competition on a high note, placed 3rd overall at a small local duathlon in Oct. May make a go of qualifying for Duathlon champs being held in the U.S., in Richmond, 10/07.

Actually got out to a movie theatre recently. Apocalypto. Bloody violent. Or, violent, bloody.

Note - There is no longer a need to ever view adverts on TV. PBS, Netflix, On Demand and the occassional vcr taping have me commercial free. Marketers beware.

Random holiday memories:
On the floor of the living room in Grampa C's Elkdale house playing games with uncle Jerry and the Marsh cousins, making repeated trips to the kitchen for ginger cookies, never getting turned away. And, Santa delivering a Minn. Vikings helmet. Must have been my 8th or 9th Christmas. Fran Tarkenton ruled! Once I spied the team helmets in the catalog (Sears?) I suspect I made my desire known, often and obvious. Had to have it. Never played a down of organized football, of course.

Excuse for a pic now. Not fresh, but this will have to do.

While out in Cal. in March I met Ironman triathlon champ Normann Stadler. Normann won for the second time this October. Dominated. Me and the Norminnator in a bike shop North of San Diego last March.


Oh, gas has crept up to about $2.40 for the cheap stuff. Happy holidays to all.

Walk in the Park

April 15 - 18, 2006

Trip up to Boston to watch Dad take on the holy grail of marathoning.
He made it look easy.

Great weather luck, a good time gathering with the extended fam, and an amazing race day in every way.

This was the 110th running of the Boston Marathon, held on a Monday each April. A point-to-point race, it starts in Hopkinton, MA, goes through Framingham and Wellsley and ends at Copley Square in Boston near the park downtown.

Roughly 22,000 runners total. About 20,000 slots for runners who satisfy the designated qualifying time (age-based) in a prior marathon, and about 2,000 corporate or charity slots. The qualifying times are far from easily satisfied. Many runners try but never make it to Boston. Others pull it off more than once.

From start to finish...

B flew in to DC from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA on Wednesday. The whole gang of four drove up Fri. Arrived at the Wyndham downtown in the financial district before dark and walked over to the North End which is full of Italian restaurants. And, Italian people of every strata. If not speaking Italian, they were oozing the genuine vibe in spades.

Fine weather, the holiday, 22K runners and their pit crews hitting town.. all added up to lotsa people. Tough work finding a place to eat without a wait for a table. Ended up at a nice rest/bar on Hanover. Table at the street/sidewalk level with an open air window. As happy hour picked up and the sidewalk reached capacity it was a rather noisy scene.

Sat. was the day to pick up the race packet and check out the huge expo. Walked a few blocks and came upon some buses shuttling folks to the packet/expo site. For us this was perfect means to navigate a nasty swath of construction that foiled our expert map analysis and route planning. Much construction going on all around the area.

Dozens of booths for all kinds of running related items at the expo. Lots of free samples. And, of course, thousands of runners. Dead center of the ailes of booths is the wall of runner numbers. Not sure if this is an old tradition or one that is developing as a marketing move. The idea is to find your number square on the wall (roughly 3x5) and sign it or fill it in with your reason for runnning. Dad found his. We were early, so not too many other profound entries to peruse.



Back to the hotel and walk a few blocks for lunch at the Fanueil Hall market area a few blocks from the hotel.

Then out to Mary & George's in Framingham to visit M, G, Ellen, Amelia, Ed, Theresa, John, Christine, and Ryan.

Tasty chili dinner was waiting for us, both veggie and with meat.

Celebrity level support for the running man abounded - a chalked "good luck!" message on the front sidewalk, everyone was in race spirit. A leg tester of a race was held courtesy of Race Director and Official Starter Ellen and Amelia. Many heats were held, and many winners declared.

The ultimate champ never lost. She gave the geezers a fighting chance, speeding down the course in flip-flops, but nary a misstep.

Word is that J&C have narrowed down to two the name possibilities for the pending arrival, due any day now. Word is also that we will never know any name considerations other than the final choice. Smart couple.

Sun. was another sunny day. Morning was filled driving out to the start at Hopkinton and following the marathon course back downtown to the finish on Boylston.

Spent the afternoon doing some walking, but using the T to keep Dad off his feet to some extent. Made it over to Beacon Hill and the Commons. Stopped in at the local running store, chatted BM history and running with storekeep Mike who was in the side car of the motorbike leading the runners in 1983 when a US runner set the course record. He shouted time splits, thereby playing a bit role in the record that day.

Back to the North End (I think we stopped calling it "little Italy" eventually, not toooo many odd looks) for a very nice Italian meal Sunday night at Bacco. Runners all over. Apparently we weren't the only ones eschewing the official pasta dinner.

Monday 4-17-06. Race day. Partly cloudy and mid 50's with little wind predicted. Perfect conditions.

Wheelchair athletes scheduled to start first along with the Elite Women, a few dozen total, at 11:30. Then 2 waves of the rest of the runners: the Elite Men leading out wave #1 at 12noon, then wave #2 at 12:30. This wave start system was brand new this year, an attempt to spread the runners out a bit and minimize the bottleneck start. Dad started in wave 2.

We dropped him off at the designated location in a (Hopkinton state?) park about 1.5miles from the actual start area. He then hopped on one of the shuttle (school) buses to the start area and had about 2 hrs to hang out in the "athlete's village" before starting. The Powerbars had been vacuumed up by earlier arriving runners. Two bagels would have to do for Dad. They worked out fine.

While D tried to stay warm in the village, the sherpa/support crew did the same a few miles into the course. We drove a short distance from the drop off in Hopkinton to Ashland, MA which sits roughly on miles 2-4 of the course. At 10a.m. people were already out and staking out spots along the road. We parked about half a mile off the course, walked over and got some prime ground in front of the Shell/food mart which, in addition to having bathrooms, turned out to be a Dunkin Dounts seller along with the usual coffee and aisles of standard food mart fare.

The spectators here, and at every spot we hit along the way, were very enthusiastic and much more participatory than any race I've ever seen. Lots of youngsters with their own suppply of water and daisy cups to hold out for any runner who needed some hydration. Runners could probably get plenty of water, gatorade, bananas, orange slices, etc. without ever resorting to the official stations set up at the mile markers.

It was inspiring to watch the wheelchair athletes go cruising past ahead of the runners. The elite women and men absolutely flew by when they came through. They were in a few clumps followed by lone runners getting strung out behind the leaders.

We found Dad amidst the throng as he came by with wave 2 around 1pm. Looking pretty good after the early downhill (read: quad-pounding) sections.

Team sherpa then grabbed a quick bite at the Sunnyside Cafe in Ashland before driving to the halfway point in the Wellsley area, a spot between the College and Wellsley Hills.

Meanwhile, Dad found the local family support experts out in fine form when he got to Framingham. The whole gang was there, Ellen, Amelia and all of the older folks cheering, waving a sign, and high fiving him at about the 6mile point.

Down at the halfway mark, parking charma was plentiful. We got a spot with only about 100yd walk to the runners. The crowd was 3-5 deep all along the course and boisterous.

With a little help from technology we could keep tabs on Dad. He called in via his cell occassionally, and Bridget's blackberrry was set up to receive automatic updates along the way, telling us when Dad had crossed the 10K (6.2mi), 20K, 30K and 40K points. He stayed right on his goal pace throughout, running smart early and - as a result- strong late.

We spotted Dad at the halfway point not more than 10minutes after arriving. Even got him to stop for a pic.

He ran on and we headed back downtown to drop the car at the hotel. We made good time and chilled out for 20mins before hoofing it about a mile and a half to the finish area, which was chaos for blocks around.

B and Mom settled in at the designated meeting spot in front of Arlington Church at the corner of Boylston and Arlington, across the street from the Commons park area and at the end of the fenced off 3-block long finishers chute the runners go through after crossing the finish line.

I spent 15mins elbowing my way to the actual finish line area but somehow missed Dad. He called just after crossing the line. Seconds later Bridget called to say he had called her and that her blackberry was also buzzzing that he had indeeed finished. A minute or two later Ed called to say they had tracked him online and saw he had just finished in 4hrs 22mins, well under his 4:30-5hr hopes. This all transpired before Dad was anywhere near getting out of the finishers chute.

Before too long we connected with him. He had picked up his medal and the popular silver warming blanket along with some snacks. We headed to roomier territory in the park for some stretching and post race assessment, then strolled back to the hotel, 10-12 blocks. No cab needed for D, walking felt good.

Later on we enjoyed a celebratory outing to Tiernan's near the hotel (liver, brocoli and mashed potatoes for the runner, to go with 1 or 2 Sam Adams Ales), and then a final round at the hotel bar. This lightweight was feeling it by the time we headed for the elevator.

It wasn't caught on film, but for the record, yes, I consumed more beer and fried food in 2 hrs than in the past 3-4 years... hmmmm... hey, it was warranted, very much occassion-appropriate food and bev. Beer was even a motivator for some.



Next time:

• for the runner: wear throw away ("dollar store") type sweat pants and sweat shirt for staying warm during the long wait for the start, and, take personal supply of favorite pre race snacks
  
• support crew should wear (bright colored goofy hat or garment) or hold (flag?) something that really stands out for easy spotting

$2.79 for the cheap stuff in both MA & MD for the trip. A few days later it's now up to $2.95.

It's that time of year - Boston

Tomorrow the nuke-you-lur (dubya speak, hah) fam gets in the car and heads for bean town.

I've checked out 4 audio books for the ride. That was tough selecting. Tough. Each is 8-10hrs. One fiction (J. Patterson), a bio (John Adams, McCullough) and two other nonfiction.

I should, I hope, only need to succeed with one out of the four. I figure we might actually talk (or sleep) for a good chunk of the time each way.

The race goes down on Mon. 4-17. I believe it's an 11a.m. start. Outdoor Life Network (OLN) will broadcast live, something like 11-2, then replay at 5p (all EST I think, OLN is just a few keystrokes away if you're interested). OLN will of course stick primarily to the leading men and women.

Dad put in his last run today, an easy 5miler. Three days to freshen the legs and then see what the day gives him Mon. This a race he should try to savor and enjoy, not worry about time.

Follow his progress on line if you like.
You may log on to either bostonmarathon.org or baa.org and check out the Hewlett-Packard Athlete Search where every 5k split will be posted by either entering name or bib number.

Cali Trip Review (part 3)

Along the coastal highway just south of Encinitas.
Lots of surfers here.

Fri. 3-24
Another beautiful day.

Load up and ride south. B has the p.m. off and we decide she will meet me at a well known triathlon leaning bike shop in Encintas. Nytro is run by Steve Larsen. Raised in the Davis, CA area, he's a Tour de France finisher. He rode on Lance's early TdF teams I believe. He went off road and chalked up national (and world?) mtn bike champ for a few years. Recently, he's had some success racing Ironman triathlons, winning his first ever such race - Ironman Lake Placid (2002?). He is about my age, still races for fun, qualifies for the world champs in Hawaii annually. Steve was not at the shop when I got there, but I did meet another tri pro.

After 12-15miles working my way to toward the water, I picked up the Pacific Coast Hwy and chased the wind south. Not long before I picked up a closed road and paved path through San Onofre. What a bike friendly place this is.




Then back on the Coastal Hwy and through Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base. Shortly after 9-11-01 they closed it to bikers but have recently reopened it, allowing bikers to avoid some high traffic areas or even a few miles on I-5. I showed ID and passed muster at the gate and followed the cycling route signs through the base. About 40mins later, exit the grounds and picked up the coastal hwy again.

This is North of Encinitas. Did not see that guy in green coming.
Closer to Encinitas and SD = more riders.

Downtown Encinitas.

B got to Nytro about 10mins before me, not bad coordination. It's a small town, or at least seemed so where we were. The shop is right on the coastal hwy, amidst some small shops. Starbucks, subway and more shops across the street. I changed in the spacious bathroom of the smallest 'bucks I've ever seen. Then we ventured across the street to Nytro before hitting Subway and checking out the local beach where we saw surfers but no waves.

I should have had food before shopping at Nytro.
Indulge an extension of my extended digression here...

The ride down was a fun and not very tough 60miles, and even well stocked with calories on board for the ride, I was a tad short on brain juice immed after the ride. Not a lot, but enough to give me an excuse for totally choking and locking up mentally when my fave pro triathlete walked into Nytro. I managed to shove the camera in B's hand and manufactured an introduction and photo opp with Normann Stadler.

Normann Stadler, 2004 Ironman World Champ
(hint - he's the tan one)
The San Diego area is a training mecca for triathletes and cyclists, so is Boulder, CO.
Normann is German, as is the 2005 World Champ, Faris Al Sultan.

Imagine you're an avid amateur B&W photographer visiting a photo art gallery or museum on a weekday, pretty much empty. You're doing the art thing and you turn a corner and come face to face with Ansel Adams. You'd be just a bit startled, wouldn't you?

I was speechless, but was doing my best to stick both feet in my mouth.

Rather than offer to buy him lunch with B and I, or bring up some nifty tri topic, I opted to avoid swallowing my feet whole and beat a pretty quick retreat, heart pounding faster than it had at any time on the ride down. Perhaps it was better that I did not veer into the ugly american tourist persona. I could have at least asked him what local rides he favored. I suppose I'll take playing the brain dead stupid American over ugly annoying tourist. Hmmmm, fine line there...

A bit of background to beef up my Normann story.

I've rooted for Normann for quite a few years, admiring his aggressive racing style. Tri is largely about going it on your own as a racer. Drafting behind another racer during the bike portion is prohibited, grounds for DQ. Riding behind another rider allows one to stay with that rider at about 30% less effort. Huge. (Hence, drafting is a big part of draft-legal racing such the Tour de France.)

So, I like the non-drafting aspect of tri. Win it by yourself, not by sucking someone else's wheel and exploiting their effort. Own your speed I like to say.

Normann's style builds on this. He is a world class cyclist and an excellent runner. Among the elite pros I suppose he is an average swimmer. Most of the pros come out of the water and ride conservatively, finding the leaders and then just hanging around at a moderate (for them) pace. The "race" then occurs at some point during the subsequent marathon.

Rather than ride behind someone just out of the illegal draft zone, Normann surges ahead, typically getting off the bike and heading into the run leg with a gap of 10-20mins on everyone else. Perhaps he feels he must do this to win, that others will out run him otherwise.

His approach forces other racers to decide whether to try to match his pace on the bike - if they think can - but risks shredding his legs or burning more cals than he can replace such that he blows up somewhere on the 26.2mi marathon course and loses the lead. In 2004 his gutsy ways finally paid off, he had a huge win in the annual world championship race in Hawaii. Not one but two flat tires knocked Normann out of the '05 champs race.

The latest issue of Triathlete Mag asks Normann and some other pros what is his favorite bike workout. His answer: “My main workout every week during the season is a 112-mile ride. During the ride thee is no talking, just hard riding. The average is about 22-23mph on a not-easy course. It’s like the group ride in San Diego every Wdnesday. I only stop for quickly for a drink, and that’s it. The main reason I am good on the bie is that I love pushing hard and feeling the pain (and seing other guys suffering)!”

Go Normann in '06!

Sat. 3-25
B scored some great comp tix to a 12:30 NBA game in LA - The Los Angeles Clippers v the Washington Wizards. I was a lonely Wizards fan. Not a bad drive up, about 75mins, good traffic. Game was downtown at the Staples Center, where the Lakers also play. The Wiz put forth one of their worst efforts all year. Lopsided Clippers victory.

Seats were dead center court, row one. Only the radio and TV guys were closer to the action.

Traffic after the game was ugly. Immigration bill protesters marched in LA earlier and had messed up driving in the city. The freeway was no better once we got on it. I made out well, nodding off while B drove.

I got in some more riding over the weekend and even finished with the assembly of the IKEA TV cabinet as well as assisting B with disassembling her dinner table and assembling a new one.


B had her 5K Sun. (see prior blog below for that story). I found the steepest hill yet, complete with switchbacks - Modjeska Canyon - on Sunday & Monday, then flew out Tue. Met at Dulles by Mom (Thanks!).

Cali Trip Review (part 2 of 3)

More on my trip out to CA.

Remember:
Rule 1 - Pics, if you don't have 'em it didn't happen.
Rule 2 - Have pics will blog. And, I have oodles of pics, narrowed to a handful here.

Wed. 3-22
The evening was a trip up to The Pond (arena) in Anaheim, 30-40mins, to see the Anaheim Ducks skate against the Colorado Avalanche. Excellent seats not far from mid-ice, and only about 12 rows up. The game went into overtime. In OT the teams take a man off the ice to go to 4-on-4, which opens up the ice for more scoring chances. With the OT winding down and a shoot out coming up, the Ducks scored to take the win.


Thur. 3-23
Met up with a group of riders from Felt Bicycles. Felt HQ is in Lake Forest, a few miles from B's place and 1 block from the gym where she had me swimming for free all week. They invited me for a tour and then to join in on their lunch hour ride.

Pre ride, tour wrapped up, getting tips for my ride toward San Diego the next day.

I saw some of their cutting edge stuff for the '07 & '08. Pics were limited to the warehouse area, away from proprietary, top secret design prototypes and all that. I'm not enough of a bike tech geek/engineer to have known where to aim my corporate spy cam.

Post ride.
Hurry up and take the pic so we can get out of the sweaty gear!

Word is the big boys (fast dudes) could not escape for the noon ride. These fellas were plenty strong tho. I think they took it easy on me. I never got dropped or left behind.

The weather was great, B was working, so I went out for another 2+ hrs of riding. Went to the north end of Santiago Canyon and back through some scenic neighborhoods, stumbled on Irvine Regional Park which contains some kind of zoo, an equestrian area and a train station.

Looking North from the Santiago Cyn Rd.
Santa Anna Mtns faintly in the distance.

Random neighborhood peak, and Irvine Regional Park.

I also stopped by another triathlete online connection later in the p.m. The owner of Ladera Cyclery, Jeff, gifted me with enough nutrition for my ride south the following day: 2 water bottles, some healthy vegan peanut/choc snack cookies (excellent!), and some sport drink mix and gel (E-Fuel). His shop is just a few miles down the main drag B lives on, "Antonio."

Note - the main intersection near B's: Antonio & Banderas. Easy to remember.

Battle of the Blossom Blogs

Blossoms in bloom. East Potomac Park, 7a.m.
Sunday 4-2-06.

Say that title 5 times fast.
We'll see who gets the Blossom blog up first. I've got the heathen slacker's advantage of no major committments this afternoon.

Dad & I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler this morning, with Mom there for support, cheering, pic duty, etc.

Gorgeous day. Perfect weather. 50-60F, sunny, light wind. The woman winner set a wordl record for outdoor 10 miles.

I rode my bike to the metro and metro'd down close to the start area. Was early so I stopped for a few pics out on the closed road area of East Potomac Park (above).

Locked the bike up and dropped gear at Mont Cnty Road Runners Club tent. Met Mom there, missed Dad as he had already reported to the start line for his primo invite coral (as in "the OK coral") spot near the front.

I was further back among the 10,000 runners lined up at the start. I must have slipped by him in the crowded miles early on, as I spied him later during the race just after the turn around near mile 7. Moving right along.

My right achilles/calf has been an issue with me since February. I had a great January & February, but then only got in 4-6 runs in all of March. Having paid for this race, I went out to just make it a training run, a very crowded, large group training run. Go eays, and be prepared to pull out at any point. It was a bit bothersome the first 4 miles, but wasn't getting worse, so I just kept running comfortably and it loosened up for the last 5 miles.

No trouble finding Mom after and regrouping. She finally did not have to suffer through a 35F windy, cloudy/rainy race day.


Back through the Park on my ride back to the metro. Could not resist another pic or two.

East Potomac Park, ~10:30a.m.
Blossoms looking fluffier?

Sis breaks 30!

"So, what do you think of the whole 5K thing?"
"Uh, am I supposed to feel like I'm gonna throw up?"

Prerace entertainment.
These kids were pumping out the classic rock.

Sunday March 26.
I played sherpa for B at her first road race, a 5K run in Newport, CA.

Nice weather, warmed to ~60F by end of the race.

Met B's run group coach and some of her run group there to do the race. I got some pics but totally blew the key one - catching her during the race. I was strategically positioned ~150yds before the finish. She was just moving too fast and I choked, juggling the camera under pressure.

29:19. Well under the designated optimistic target of breaking 30mins.

Anyway, I can sorta make up for my poor shutterbuggin somewhat by sheer volume. Here are some pre and post race shots.

Walking around pre:

Yep.
Could anyone love a cat this much?
I couldn't think of a witty caption,
so there's my standard dogs-are-better-than-cats jab.

Soon to be unpinned as the move was made to cooler clothes.

Post race:

B and her evil ("hills!")coach.

How is it she looks better than me even after her all out 5K?
(uh, she's good lookin', I'm not and it really shows here)

After the race it was off to Brueger's (?) bagel shop/cafe for B's celebratory snack - her fave indulgence of ham, egg and cheese bagel. Hope I got that right. Should've got a pic, eh B?

We managed to catch some of the B-ball during the week, including parts of the GMU and G'town games.

Go Mason!

Checking in from Southern Orange Cnty (long)

View from Santiago Canyon Road

Northwest of Rancho Santa Margarita

Looking South toward Laguna Beach from just off the PCH

Great cycling, luxury accomodations, B. rules and I'm going to assemble a cabinet.

Now, the long, travel diary version of the trip so far...

Landed late Sat. night at a small airport, Long Beach. B was waiting. Short wait for the bags. All in good shape.

30mins to B's incredibly clean abode. I've since imposed all kinds of disorder and messiness.
In bed by 3a.m. ET.

Sun. we slept in a bit and watched bits and pieces of the LA Mary which was broadcast live start to finish. Pretty cool. The women had a head start (16mins?) and held onto the lead, got some extra prize $ I imagine. A "nasty" day according to the locals - 50's and cloudy.

Then it was out and about to stock the frig, and similar errands. Stopped by her gym to nab a free pass for me while I am here. I hit the pool for 25mins and B found a treadmill. Not an easy endeavor, a few dozen mills but they seem consistently full. Picked up a map, stopped by a bike shop and started to plan some riding in the area.

B has a cough thing she's fighting, and I was wiped out, from travel I guess. Early bed Sun. night.
Mon. I dropped B at work. She's letting me drive the LandRover. Can you believe that? Nice ride. Plenty of room.

I went directly to the gym (which is nearby) for 30mins in the pool. After lunch it was off on the bike for a little over 50miles, windy, but periods of sun, ~55F. Big fat bike lanes galore out here. If that wasn't enough, lots of super wide paved paths that parallel the roads but go under cross streets and intersections - no stoplights or cars.

Flatted 2miles into the ride. First flat in quite a while. Oh well, I was due. No prob, pulled out the spare tube. Ffffft. $#!*^%! One spare tube, dead. Walking back to the car, bike on shoulder, tire-less wheel in one hand, a good samaritan drove me the last mile. I knew where the bike shop was, not far. Hop in the Rover and 60mins later, new tube in and back on the road.

Map in jersey pocket, I pedalled my way down to the Pacific Coast Hwy via a mix of path and bike lanes. Got on the PCH at Laguna Beach and rode N to Newport Beach then back inland and home. Stopped for a pic of the coast at Vista point, just before Newport. Looking south, north, and at the vantage point, then one more further north on PCH before it hits Newport.

No shortage of hills anywhere. Quite a few long hills, some steep hills and some that were both. No such terrain can be found less than an hr or two drive from the DC beltway. Hence, something I've never done. Shendandoah (Skyline Drive) or maybe WVa. rides are on my list, someday, or weekend.

So, I was looking forward to the chance for some real hills out here, dare I say mountains. They're here for the me, I plan to keep hitting 'em, soak it up while I have the chance.

The evening excitement was moving B's stove to it's proper position, a good 2 inches closer to the wall, and, at her instruction standing far away and watching as B lit her gas fireplace for the first time. I was to call 911 if things went kabloouey. Bed early again.

If Mon. was hills, Tue. brought something closer to mtns. Another morning swim, an attempt at some house cleaning by way of dishes, garbage and such. OK, yeah, I'm begging for points here. I fear painting will not happen and I'm trying to offset that now! Altho, I suspect it's a project of such magnitude (the whole house almost) that B may not be quite revved up for it just now herself.

The ride today (upper 50's, breezy, but near zero clouds) was Live Oak Canyon to Santiago Canyon, then turn around and do the roller coaster backwards. These canyons lie along the west side of the Santa Anna Mtns.

Great stuff! And turns out it's not more than 5 or 6 miles from B's front door to where the nice low traffic, winding, scenic, heart thumping, leg burning hills kick in. One minute it's nice modern strip malls (as they go), and then suddenly when you turn into Live Oak Canyon it's zero development save for some discreet driveway entrances leading no doubt to pricey hillside homes.

Live Oak Canyon Rd starts off with some nice twisting shady stretches with a canopy of low hanging trees over the road. Georgeous. I actually considered stopping for pics but feared I'd never get going again as it was all uphill at that point.

Then Santiago Canyon opened up more with higher climbs to less forested terrain, winds were more significant as were the ups and downs. I stopped at the top of one climb where there was a view and snapped more pics. I turned around at the top of another climb. Savored a banana and clif bar as I looked down on Yorba Linda then headed back.

Picked B up from work and got the tour of the Y&R bldg. A pretty snazzy set up. 2 floors. The whole bldg. 200+ employees. Lots of cubes but not the typical cube farm - no Office Space (I speak of the movie, not having watched the TV series) set this. Met B's close co-workers Becky and Ashley. Seemed like cool gals. Attractive, fit, on the ball, like B, of course.

Went by Ikea and picked up a nice dark wood TV cabinet piece. I can't paint, but I can try to assemble this puppy (not ass-emble, I hope) over the remaining 6 days. If I don't do the job, and do it well, B may kick my butt across the county lne. And she's wearing just the boots, er slippers, to do it.

The early over/under on cabinet completion time is 4 days. Hmmmm. We picked up some Indian food on the way home from Ikea.

Zooey (has this become the official spelling? I haven't examined her collar tag yet.) seems not bothered by me. She is, perhaps, more amusing than E&H of Devereaux fame, in kind of a spectator sport way. She's got a little 180 hop that is just goofy, and she goes nuts for no apparent reason just often enough that I keep an eye out for it. She can really zoom around. Pure gray blur. Pretty talkative too. No way will B get away with walking in the door and then disappearing in the bathroom, not without some real meow complaining at the bathroom door.

Looking ahead- B works Wed. but the night will be a trip to Anaheim for a hocky game. Becky and her husband Dan will be along. Former triathletes, they're already cool in my book of course. Guess what? I may spend Wed. exercising and putting together a cabinet.

B is looking at a half day Thur. Not sure how we'll fill the p.m. yet.

Fri. plan is for me to ride down to San Diego along the coast in the a.m. B will sleep in or not, and drive down to meet me before we hit the Museums in Balboa. That's the plan.
Maybe LA one day.