Yes, yes, I know… I’ve been a bad little blogger as of late. I sincerely apologize for not providing my loyal reader’s with their proper daily dosage of Grade “A” certified verbal roughage relied upon to keep one’s colon of life healthy, wealthy and wise.

Write that down, quote it, and scribble my name after it because, boys and girls, the doctor is back in his office.

Consider this a little bit of “webmaster downtime”… or maybe we could even call it a sabbatical or something along those lines… like I’m on “pregnant leave” minus the whole pregnancy thing. I guess that would just make it a “leave”, so we can just roll with that.

I’ve been a bit busy with a few things; training, finishing school, spending time with Suzanne, and a few other side projects… Side projects? What side projects Austin?

How about this side project right here:

My 1979 International Scout II. 6300 factory issued pounds of pure American made sheet metal. This guy is solid… like a tank sans canon. When I shut the hood, people dive for cover fearing a round of 12 gauge buckshot has just been released upon the world. Notice I just referred to my car as “guy”… frankly, because referring to the Scout as “she” or “her” is not proper. When was the last time a “she” car weighed 6300 lbs? When was the last time a “she” car looked better after 3 cans of white primer lay spent on the ground?

Yes, he’s a he, thank you very much.

And with his solid 345 V8, he even peels out. Yes, you see, yesterday I was out on a bit of a drive, running a few errands, and I had to come back through Old Scottsdale and the Arcadia neighborhoods, which happen to be one of the more affluent areas of Phoenix. I rumbled up to a stop light a noticed a nice Range Rover behind me… and 2 gussied up women in a convertible Mercedes next to me…and Skynard was on the stereo telling me about a man named Curtis Lowe.

It all felt so natural… so a few seconds later Mr. Scout and I left a little BF Goodwrench skiddie for all their viewing pleasure.

Nice.

So I suppose that’s about it with my Scout. I’m still messing around with it trying to polish him up and return him to his glory days of wide open roads and rough 4-wheeling trails. Wish me luck and as always… watch for the skiddies. Coming to a town near you… well, that is if you live in my neighborhood or within, oh, maybe 30-40 minutes of me. Mr. Scout doesn’t really like driving much more than that right now… he’s got a bit of a weight problem, but don’t tell him I said that, he’s touchy.

Cheers.

Also, take a peek at my Thoughts From Janet page. In the latest posting, Janet talks about her training, hunting season and how the two of them just don’t mesh well.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
4 Comments »

Well… I pulled into the drive way a bit grumpy after a 5 hour spin today. You see, I’d been buzzed by one too many dump trucks. Really, what’s the deal with dump truck drivers?… and cement truck drivers?…. and garbage truck drivers?… and school bus drivers?… and city bus drivers?

Damnitt.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the day E-Bay begins selling RPG’s and Stinger Missiles, I’m going to snag one up and mount it to my handlebars. Then we’ll see how many of those bastards buzz me. It’s all fun and games untill I fire an RPG right into the glove box of some douch bag driving a behemoth vehicle halfway into my cozy, little, sand, rock and garbage covered bike lane.

Anyways, I had prepared a long and drawn out rant complaining about cement truck drivers and why I want to tar and feather them but I soon forgot all about it…

How did you forget about it?

Well, I was browsing my e-mail inbox and I came across an e-mail from my mom. In it was a link to a magic trick. Now, I normally find magic tricks kind of lame. Why? Well, don’t get me wrong they’re cool to watch, but I generally get annoyed at the fact that I can’t do them. I would love to make things disappear and then magically reappear as I blew on them. I think I would make my classroom disappear. That way I wouldn’t have to attend class. I would also like to stuff assistants into boxes and stick swords through the boxes and then make the box disappear and then magically reappear with my assitstant wearing a new outfit and not having any swords stuck through her. As for my outfit, it would be very similar to something Zorro would have worn. Moustache and all…

Way cool if you ask me.

Ok, back to my story… So there in my inbox was a link to a magic trick. I didn’t click on it… then my mom told me an Asian man throws a playing card that some girl wrote on, into a closed fish tank and then puts his hand through the glass to pull it out… and he didn’t even break the glass. So polite of him!

The only thing that would have made this better is if something was on fire… or maybe the addition of a pit of alligators. Or sting rays… you do know, they’re the alligators of the 21st century.

Click the link and see the magic trick yourself…

Cyril has a fishy card trick

See, we both forgot all about the evil that is cement trucks. Isn’t magic great!

Now click that link and marvel at all the magical wonders.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
4 Comments »

I was rolling back into my neighborhood, a bit tired after the Saturday morning group ride, and I was thinking to myself, “self… you’re going to need to prepare a little blog entry soon…. but self, what will you write about?”…..

and I thought, and thought and thought… and then it hit me.

Damn near literally.

It was a white styrofoam cup with a lid and straw, filled with ice and soda…

and it came from the hands of a young high school looking child as he and his buddy passed me in their sweet little Honda.

Ever since I graduated in 1999…I haven’t liked high schoolers.

So my first thought was to flip a U-turn and head after them. So I did just that. Never think twice… never. Write that down. I had just rolled through a small residential stop light a few streets back and I knew they would get stopped at that light…

and they did.

As I accelerated after them, they noticed and tried to go left… and got boxed in by another car. So the young lads then quickly went for the right lane. At that point, it was a race between my increasing speed and itchy water bottle throwing arm…

and his gas pedal and odds of making a right turn in thick traffic.

I’m sorry to say that his gas pedal prevailed although his odds did not as he cut off a ton of cars to avoid a 145lb scronny pale cyclist covered in bright orange lycra.

You know… if you’re going to have the nerve to hurl an object at a scronny little cyclist, at least have the testicular fortitude to not floor it and run like a little girl. Who’s the sissy now?

On the bright side, this happened in my neighborhood where I ride daily and I do remember the car… I’ve got an itchy throwing arm and a full bottle of sports drink.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
7 Comments »

Well it’s that time of year again.

The time where a rider sets out the door with two bottles of drink mix, three back jersey pockets stuffed full of ride food and a long day in the saddle ahead of them.

Several hours later the rider returns with no water, sore legs, a sore butt and now their pockets are filled with articles of clothing they’ve taken off during the long ride.

For those that have a 3 hour trainer ride planned for later this morning, keep in mind: I hail from the sunny streets of Phoenix, Arizona… I spent my entire summer walking out the door to train at 5:00 a.m. each morning, so winter is Phoenix’s time of year that makes it worth living here. I don’t plan on seeing much rain for the next few months either…

Currently I find myself working through the second week of a three week build. Right now my training’s looking something like this:

MON.- 1 hour in the a.m. light tempo, no breakfast (The Belgians got me doing this, great for weight managament). 3 hours in the p.m. with a big gear workout.
TUE.- 5 hours, very easy endurance pace.
WED.- Same as Monday, 4 hours.
THUR.- REST DAY
FRI.- 3 hours, basically all I can fit in after school.
SAT.- 5 hours, local Group Ride.
SUN.- REST DAY

I’ll take a down week after Thanksgiving and then ramp it back up for another 3 week build in December. The three weeks will probably look something like this: 25 hours, 30 hours, 32 hours with plenty of big gear work and some light tempo workouts. I’ll plan out the exact details when I get a little closer.

A few years back in Tucson, I did a 38 hour week in December… and I managed not to hurt myself, so that was an added bonus.

I talked to my teammate Neil Shirley a few weeks ago and he was telling me about his first 3 hour training ride and how he completely came unglued at the end of it and went hunger flat. I chuckled and told him it was probably because he was a big wuss… A few days later, I went out for my first 3 hour ride and basically did the same thing… Jeez. My butt was pretty much over sitting on a tiny bike saddle and my legs were basically zapped. I put it in a big gear and stood up most of the way home. As I creeped back into the neighborhood, I found myself thinking of how just about a month ago I was super fit and finishing up the racing season. How could this happen in only a month? I mean… I’m getting older and all… and I didn’t really do as many 12 ounce curls as I had done in past years… Needless to say, when I next talked to Neil I told him that I finished up my first 3 hour ride feeling super strong and that he’d probably be working for me this season.

So if anybody knows Neil… please, let’s just forget to mention this to him. I dunno, maybe I’ll send some coffee your way.

Thanks.

-Austin

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
4 Comments »

The air seems fresher…

breath it in.

That’s nice, huh?

The breeze seems cooler…

feel it on your skin.

That’s nice, huh?

The smell has gone away and so has my headache…

and I can now walk around the corner without tripping over all these damn signs…

and I can now watch t.v. without seeing this goober every 3 to 4 minutes…

or this guy..

spewing verbal garbage all over the airwaves by not only bashing someone’s campaign, but also their character. Was it just me or did it seem like quite a negative and trashy election year? I don’t know what it was like in other States, but in Arizona I felt it was rather poor. My favorite (and by that I mean most annoying) was when JD Hayworth’s commercials, aimed at his rival, ended with a rather sarcastic, “Harry Mitchell, what a guy!”. Jeez…

I don’t remember it being this negative last election. Image what it could be like next time? Holy cow, MTV will have to get the viewing rights…..

……3 candidates, picked to live in a house, work together and have their lives taped, to find out what happens, when people stop being polite, and start getting real. The Political Real World.

On the bright side, by giving MTV the viewing rights it will help to get more young voters out to the polls come election day. Unfortunately, the woman with the largest breasts will win.

By the way, Arizona’s Governor Janet Napolitano, was the only politician that didn’t run a negative campaign. I thought that was rather admirable…

and she won… by a landslide.

Cheers.

63%… Percentage of votes won by Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano over that other guy she was running against.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
No Comments »

Most of the cycling community will thankfully never know what it’s like to get hit by a car while out riding their bike. I’m part of that group as I’ve been blessed with 12 safe years of cycling. Game off…

Please take a minute to do one of the following: 1.) knock on wood 2.) pray… or 3.) whatever it is you do to not allow a statement to get jinxed. Thanks…

Game on… But for a small group of cyclists, in the blink of an eye, they’ll find themselves on the wrong end of a car’s bumper and in the middle of a life altering experience.

Are they ok? What went wrong? How did it happen?… We all have our questions as you first hear the news.

I’ve never really had anybody I’ve known fairly well get seriously injured untill a few weeks ago when Jon Parrish, a young Arizonan, got hit while riding in the Tour of Scottsdale. Yeah, right in the middle of a race…

I had my questions and concerns so once I heard that Jon would fully recover from his broken back and collarbone, I figured I’d send him a brief interview to hear the thoughts and feelings straight from his heart and head to his typing finger tips. He graciously agreed and below is a brief interview with Jon Parrish as he tells us how the recovery is coming along and how he fills his new found free time.

AK- What do you remember happening the day of your accident?

JP- I was riding in the Tour of Scottsdale charity ride and doing pretty good. Then I had a flat. Being that it was the start of my training season, I decided not to try and catch back up with the group so that was the reason I was by myself. I was riding up Shea Road in the car-width bike lane just hanging out and all the sudden I was hit from behind. But I don’t remember any of it as I was knocked out the second it happen so I did not know what happen. I woke up later - not exactly sure how long - just in time to be put onto the stretcher and put into the ambulance. Other cyclists who came up on me said that I was talking and trying to get up and on my bike but I don’t remember any of that. I was then taken to the hospital. I was there for 4 days.

AK- What’s happening with the driver of the automobile? Is he cooperating with you?

JP- My parents actually went to look at the car and the driver was there. They said he was very genuinely sorry and really doesn’t know what happened. It really shook him up as he has a son my age. He told them he tried to find out which hospital I was in but because I was a “John Doe” he could not find me. He could not drive home because he was so upset. I think he is really sorry and is being very cooperative.

AK- Tell us how your day is different since the accident? What fills your time?

JP- Well I have been in bed about 85% of the time just watching movies, returning emails to people who are checking up on me seeing how I’m doing and buying stuff online like movies and other stuff. And every week or so I’m going to different doctors to check up on my progress. Someone has to help me initially get out of bed because I have a body brace that I like to take off when I am lying down - that’s the ONLY time I can take it off (dr says it’s okay) and someone has to put it back on me and then help me up. Other than that, I can walk around and sit up, etc. I have not gone out in the car too much - just as necessary to go to the dr.

AK- How long will your recovery take?

JP- My collarbone should be healed up within six weeks from the crash. I have not seen the neurosurgeon yet, but in the hospital, he told me that if everything goes as he expects with my back, I could be out of the body brace in 8 to 10 weeks and 12 weeks at the latest before I’m back on the road. He also told me if I do really well, I can probably be on the trainer in 4-5 weeks plus doing some water exercise.

AK- Do you plan to continue riding once you recover?

JP- I plan on being back on my bike as soon as possible. I’m itching so bad just to ride the trainer but I can’t yet until I talk to my doctor next week and see what he says about riding the trainer… but for sure I can’t ride on the road for 10-12 weeks.

AK- How do you think you’ll react once you get back out on the bike and back out in traffic?

JP- I don’t know yet. I know I will be so happy just to ride the bike again! You don’t know how much you miss something until its gone. About the traffic… I don’t know…. I think I will be a little more cautious about riding….maybe look over my back a little more.

AK- This is the second time in recent months that you’ve had to fight back from a serious injury? How does the recovery differ the second time around?

JP- Well I have had three crashes since June. The first one was 10 days before Nationals. In that one I broke my right scapula and two ribs but I didn’t know it. Guess that was good since I was headed to Nationals and did pretty good even with the injury (Jon placed 2nd in the U23 National Criterium Championships- editor). The second one in August, I broke my left scapula, three ribs, my left collarbone and I had a collapsed lung this time. To be totaly honest, pain-wise, this injury does not hurt as bad as the one in August. Dont’ get me wrong - it still hurts pretty bad. The recovery is just frustrating because I have to lay in bed most of the time and not move my back. This collarbone is not too bad though as it was a straight through break.

Basically, the most upsetting thing of all is that I have to be off the bike for a while. I am not angry with the man who hit me because I know it was not intentional. I really appreciate all the support that has been given to me by the cycling community, my team, and my friends. So many people came to see me in the hospital or sent their wishes to me. And I can’t forget all the medical personnel who have helped me - they have been awesome! It’s also been hard that I have not been able to work - no income is not good! But, look for me back on the bike as soon as possible and ready to race in the spring!

Well, that’s the latest word from Jon Parrish on his long road to recovery… and you know what? I don’t doubt for one minute that I’ll see Jon back on the bike and fighting for results come Spring time. That’s the nature of his character. He’s a fighter.

“You don’t know how much you miss something until its gone.” Something to think about.

Take care.

Categories: Daily Jibber Jabber.
3 Comments »