away

Dang I will get the hang of this sooner or latter
Well life as a dad is going to change a bit since I started. I don't want to just write about being a dad of two girls I will add some other stuff as well
Well next weekend Jan 29th is the ice bike race and I am looking forward to trying that bike race. I am hoping its not going to be too cold, I am a whimp when it comes to riding my bike in the cold. I have been training all winter long so I am hoping I am not going to burn out in the spring time when racing really starts. My wife and I ahve been attending some spin classes at Woodcock cycle and we been having fun. It's been pushing us and Jane is working hard to get in shape for the racing season. I think she will start racing this year, well at least I hope so. She is enjoying her bike so that is good.
I purchased some shoes on ebay and feel preatty good about the purchase, except that I am sad that I am not buying them from my local store but if I can save 50 bucks so be it.
The girls are doing well and they are having fun. We have joined a jack rabbit club so that they can learn how to X-country ski properly. They seem to be enjoying it and it gets them out in the winter.
It has been a great winter for weather this year so far we have not been bellow the 40 c mark yet so all is good. Winter is almost over. Well not really but it's half way there.
that is all for now.
Ciao

Friday

Well its raining again and I am suppose to take off for a men's weekend of golf and food. I am looking forward to it but only if it stops raining.
Our 16th wedding aniversery is coming up and have to figure out something to do with my wife. I guess I will go to Gimili and just have a good time. Our anniversery is on the 17th of June and we can only go for the night since she has to be back on sat to get ready for the marathon.

Sunday's road race

Well the road race was fun and was very hilly. It went from Falcon Lake to Ingolf and back again, there were some sever climbs for our flat area but was good. The road was okay some potholes but not bad. We had a controlled start or a neutral start for the first little while because of all the drive ways in the area and the RCMP wanted us to do it so we did. However one guy from FOG decided the pace we were doing was too slow we were doing about 30 k's so he picked it up a bit. I wanted everyone to have fun in the race but I guess he wanted to drop some folks. Well the group held up pretty good for the first half some people went sprinting out and so some times I would chase them down just to get the pack going so no one would get away. Then the little hills started coming and the speed picked up not sure what it was too busy looking ahead. The leader of the race took off and no one followed however the guy I wanted to help said we should drop him and make him work to get back, so I took off to see who would chase but no one did. Oh well he got back on. Thinking back this was not a good idea I should have been nicer to him. Next time maybe do this. Well we reached the top of the climb and we had to do a 180 back on the same road and I was on the outside and the person on the inside did not turn soon enough and I was dropped. I had to fight to get my way back up to the pack of 6-7 of us which was hard since it was hilly.
Once I rejoined the group it was okay I took a breather at the back of the pack. It was fun we reached speeds of up to 60+ k's per hours. If I would have peddled instead of gliding I could have got it up even higher. I took the lead for a while since I was rested but when I tried to give it up no one wanted to lead. I also tried to slow down since I could see a few riders back trying to catch up, they never did. We were just getting back to the main road with about 12 or13 k's to go and going up hill when these two guys took off. I was working with some one and I thought he might tag them and stay with them but he didn't. This fellow rider and I were going to go for it too after the turn but we were now struggling to get them back in the pack. I urged everyone to work as a team and pick them up but no one did. SO I took the lead and bridged the gap for all of us, I told my partner to let them lead since they were tired but he didn't also thinking back that would have been a good time for us to go for it since they were tired. Not sure if it would have worked but it would have been worth to try. Next time. I was spent at that time. I tried to remain at the back so I could coast a little but I had little luck with that. I did try to go with my partner once but we did not make it. Near the end 4 guys took off and I was on the wrong wheel and the guy I was behind did not bridge the gap, so I then sprinted at the end just to beat him. I finished the road portion in 5th. I finished 4th overall, not bad for a 43-year-old guy going up against much younger ones in my opinion. I am hoping I can do better in my next race, which won't happen till some time in July. There is the leg burner race in June on fathers day but Jane is running the marathon, the next one after that is on the July long weekend and we will be camping as a family so I will miss that one. So sooner or later I will attend one.
I was not sore after this race either so I am wondering if I am not trying hard enough!!
Any way I am hoping to update you all more often.

The Crit

Here is the continuation from the previous post
The second race was the crit and it was held in the town of falcon lake, the race was 25 min plus 3 laps. The course was 2 tight turns and one gradual one. It was not very long, not even sure how long one lap took us. Forgot to look. We were the first ones to go and that was good, I will tell you later why, there were 10 guys and 5 girls in this race. At the start I wanted to go out first since I was not taken corners that fast before and I did not want to be behind some goof and crash. So I was leading the first couple of laps, no one wanted to take the lead. Well then we started to fly, the course was rough and there were a couple of good pot holes which I took once or twice, man that hurts the boys. Well there was about 6 of us that broke away from the rest of the group and we started to go fast and then slower we lapped a few people and that caused some problems. Not sure how fast we were going to scared to look anywhere else besides the guys wheel in front of me. It was going well and I kept up with the group and tried to stay at the front so as not to get dropped. Did pretty good in that regard. There were some preims, which is a prize for the one who wins a sprint during one of the laps. I had no sprinting legs and it cost me a few seconds and prizes. I have to remember that this is my first race so I have to be happy right.
Well I came in 5th here is the link, you will have to cut and past to get it, sorry about that. Http://www.cycling.mb.ca/roadresults/may29.pdf but over all I was still in 4th place. My legs felt good and had no problems. Had to rush home so I could meet my wife for supper and movie thing. Tim from Woodcocks sold me some stuff to put in the water to help save your legs and this stuff works. I will get the name and publish it later.
Well as I was driving home during the second crit there was a major accident sending 3 guys to the hospital one guy had a broken thumb. There was a lot of guys with road rash. The accident was caused by a guy who tried to bunny hop a pot hole and landed funny and caused the guy beside him to go down, which then caused the chain reaction. Saw my buddy Chris the next day and he was okay and so was everyone else. But this accident cause the cancellation of the cat 4 and 3 crits so they only had the road race left.

Saturday's Time trial

Well here is the continuation from Saturday night post
The first race was a time trial at hunt lake it was 6km's long or so and it was up and down some small hills which felt bigger than what they were. The road was less than desirable but hey you work with what you have. I passed one guy and I felt I did okay. Going up the hill I was tired and had a sore throat but my legs felt good. Probably could have gone a little harder. At one point looked at the heart rate monitor and it was over 160 yikes.
My time was 11min 18 sec's. Good for 4th place, third place was just 4 seconds quicker than I was. Second was only a few seconds ahead of the 3rd place guy. I sure wanted a burger after that but the next race was only a couple of hours away so I had to hold off.
Which you will read next.

Saturday night

Sorry for not updating this page for a while but hey who knows who reads it, besides myself.
We are still having soccer three times a week can't wait till it's over. Last two practices we had 3 kids out and one of them was mine. So still can not work on some basic concepts. Oh well.
We had a good week, my youngest was having problems waking up and getting ready first thing in the morning's but this last week she has been really good and Jane gave her a present for that. Trying to reinforce the idea that getting up is necessary and that since time is short in the morning she has to get a move on it quickly.
Jane has 15 more days of teaching and she is quite happy with that. The principle told her that she gets to teach all the same classes next year. Bio 11 and 12's and Marine science. So less prepping to do for her, which means I will see her more, yea.
I just want to tell the world that I love her and that no one could take her place in my life.
This weekend we went to see the new star wars and we thought that it was great we went out for supper first to Moxie's and the food was good, but not great.
This last weekend was my real first bike race and I was scared sh..t less to actually go into it. After 17 years of absence from the scene I thought I would die out there. The race was at the falcon lake area, there were three races held in two days.

Another day goes by

We had our last dance class on Tuesday night and of course I forgot to bring something and I felt bad. Oh well. Last night I spent an hour sewing on a hair net on to my daughters costume's hat. Boy was that fun!
Had a nice hour reading the paper last night while kids were dancing, boy that was nice. Too bad it has to end.
Watched the amazing race and my team is winning yea, 100 dollars are in it for me if I win.
Then went on line and did some surfing. Darn dial up.
Also the van is acting up hopefully it is nothing, can't afford a repair job.
Tonight we were suppose to have a friend over for supper but they canceled last night so we invited my B- inlaw over. He is a very nice guy.
The day at work well what can I say it's over for another day.
Tonight I am going to ride my bike inside since there was that darn white stuff on the ground and -2 outside at 6am. Tomorrow is not going to be any better, and I have a race sunday morning. MM wonder how well I will do. The race is 40 ks or so and I am sure the race is going to be fast since these young kids want to blow the doors off us old guys. Well I will let you all know what happens.
Till tomorrow.
On a political note I hope the liberals lose if there is a election called! They are a bunch of crooks and we are suppose to trust them. Never again. Martin is like Nixion where he say's he has done no wrong and he has important work to do yet. Well one of the important things his party wants to do is pass a law saying it is against the law to charge more for hair cuts for woman than men. Or how about this one womans shirts are harder to clean then mens but they should be the same price according to the liberals. did i mention that I hate them...
Ciao all

Monday April 25th 2005

Monday April 25, 2005
Well yesterday I held my first soccer practice and it was cold and miserable. The kids we good but I need to teach them to kick the ball correctly, pass. They are having fun.
Next practice on Thursday at 7 pm the other 8 year olds will be there as well.
Found out my time for the ITT and I was in 7th place at 42 min. 17 seconds. Not bad for the first T.T.. At least in my mind. The older gent that passed me won it at 37 min 34 seconds. I have my work cut out for me.
You can find the race results at http://www.cycling.mb.ca/roadresults/April_24_itt.pdf.
You can find pictures at http://www.wpgcycle.tk/. I am in picture # 53.
Stayed up too late looking at the pictures, we have dial up.
Tuesday night is the last dance practice yea. The drive out to Selkirk is shorter than the ride. The best thing about going is that I get to spend a hour at Tim's drinking coffee by myself.

Friday to Sunday

I am a few days behind in my entries. Oh were does the days go when your so busy.
Lets start on Friday.
I took the kids to MTYP to see a play called Russell's world. I have trouble sitting through a one hour production after spending 3 hours driving! I had to pick up the kids across the city at my parents place, then had to pick up a friends child who lives close to the other side of the city. Then I had to pick up my sister-in-laws child all for the privilege to see a one hour production. Well the good part about this is that the kids enjoyed it, RIGHT. At least I stopped for a Tim's on the way and that south the tensions a bit.
Then after I put the kids to bed I played on Yahoo chat for a while talking to some friends I have not seen in years. That was great. Went to bed too late.
Now lets move on to Saturday.
I went on the FOG ride as usual started at 10am. Was very cold did not know what to wear so I took all my warm clothing with me and finally put on what I thought would be the right combination of clothing. The only part that was cold on me was my head. However I did put on my hood after a hour into the ride. The wind was strong and we went north to Selkirk via river road with a strong north wind.
As we were going up river road we got close to skinners hot dog stand and then there was a sprint to it that caught me unaware of. I was at the front of the pack pulling when all of a sudden a group went past me. I did not go after them, maybe I should have but I don't think I had the energy. I forgot to buy some bars before the trip so I did not have much to eat on the trip.
So after leaving Skinners on our way to Selkirk there was another sprint and this time I was watching for it but I reacted to late to catch up to them. I came on the outside lane due to the nature of the pack. There was about 30-40 people ridding today. So I lost out again.
On the way to the bridge there was another sprint I was closer to the front this time but came on the outside again and I could not jump fast enough to make the transition but once at the top of the bridge I did come down fast. Too late.
Then on the way to 44 hwy there was another sprint this time I stuck behind my future brother in-law and pulled out front. Yea I finally won one. Then there was another sprint I was about 5th on that one. At 44 we split again and some of us went to Birds hill park via 44 and 206. Guess what another sprint up hill to the park and I did okay I think.
My b-in-law is very good at these sprints and wins most of them. I am so impressed.
We rode about 103 k's in about 3 hours. I had a very good ride.
After the ride I went to Josephine's soccer practice and hung out there for a few hours. Then went home and did nothing.
Sunday I had a individual time trial. It was cold and windy all morning. I started in 7th in Cat 5. I thought I was doing good till this old guy passed me. That deflated my sails a bit, but hey I am getting back into the sport right! I did pass two guys so I knew I was not last. After the race I went home and BBQ some good burgers my wife made and had some friends over for lunch. They stayed all afternoon had a wonderful time with them. They are one of the nicest family I know. That night we had BB study with our group from church, we sang and shared our praises and prayer requests.

A little about me

Well yesterday I started my blog page and I have added a few links to it. I will tell you a little about myself, if anyone cares! I have two girls, a great wife and a darn dog. We live out in the country and we have a few acres of land, which takes me about two hours to cut the grass with a ridding mower.
I enjoy playing, watching hockey except this year there is no NHL so to me there is no hockey. I love to play golf, and I am trying to get back into bicycle racing. Road ridding is my fav. I am trying to get back to my marriage weight of 165lbs and I am down to 180, from 190ish. On the right track for weight loss, yea.
I am a Christian and I believe in the bible as it stands. I attend a MB church and I am a children worship coordinator there. So that means every two weeks I get up in-front of a bunch of grade 1 to 6 kids singing songs and then lead them in worship.
I could go on and on but I won't. My wife is a teacher and this year we took a 12, 16 year old students down to the Florida keys to a sea camp. I have to admit I learned a lot bot of sea life and about teens, they were a great bunch of kids and I would take anyone of them to be my child.
For my oldest daughter I am her soccer coach and I know very little about it so I feel sorry for the kids. It's hard to be competitive when it is not suppose to be competitive.
We have our first practice on Monday and I also will have a parent's meeting then as well. I am looking forward to this year. This is my second year of coaching the same girls so we should have some fun and I am going to expect more from them.
Finally what do I do for a living, I am a purchaser for the largest Furniture Company in Canada and I love to spend other people's money. I buy everything from screws to glass and I get to talk to people all around North America.

April 20 first entry

This is my first post and Tony from Ilco wanted to see it.
Ciao