What A Game!!!!! Way To Go Huskers!!!!

Last night was the big bowl game between Nebraska & Michigan. I had it all planed out. I have a friend who is from Michigan who was going to come over and a few other people. Chips, dip, beer, and pizza was ready for the eating and drinking until out of nowhere I got a fever of 100.5 about 2 hours before kick off. I had to call everyone and cancel the party, but I still managed to hang in there and watch the game. It was one of the best bowl games I’ve watch. Maybe the Huskers are back? I guess we will find out next year.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day brought a lot of excitement and seeing a lot of people in a very short period of time. We spent the morning here Asheville opening our gifts from Santa. Paige really had a lot of fun. At about 1:00pm we packed the car and headed to Johnson City, TN to be with Lyn’s family. We had a lot of fun and Paige got so many toys I thought we were going to have to rent a Ryder truck to get it all home. I hope everyone had a good Christmas.

Aunt V and PaigeAunt Carolina

Opening presents is exhausting when you are almost 5 months old.

Granddaddy Rick

All the critters on Paige's blankie.

Christmas Eve

When we moved here Lyn an myself started a Christmas Eve tradition. After church we head to the Grove Park Inn. This place is beautiful! People come from all over to spend Christmas at the resort. They have the national ginger bread house competition on display which is really amazing. When you look at some of the houses you cannot believe everything is eatable. We had a cocktail, looked at the ginger bread houses, took a few photos and headed home to prepare for Paige’s first Christmas.

We Think Paige Might Be Teething...What Do You Think?

Last Wednesday night early Thursday morning a big ice storm was heading for Asheville. Ice…I hate ice storms! Hummmm….no better time then now to head to the beach! Wednesday night after work Lyn and I packed the car, grabbed Paige, and headed for Hilton Head, SC. For those of you who are not familiar with Hilton Head it’s an island on the South Carolina coast about 30 miles up from Georgia. It’s a very quite and exclusive island. Not a lot goes on here but good food, if you like to shop it will knock your socks off, great golfing, and awesome quite beaches.

We were offered a condo for the week so we took it without any hesitation (thanks Ed). It’s about a 4 ½ hour drive from our house to the beach at Palmetto Dunes (that’s where we stayed). We got out of town before the storm hit and spent 4 days hanging on the beach, dining at some great restaurants, and spending some good quality family time together. This time of year is always a good time to head to the beach... because no one is there. Everyone has left their million dollar homes behind and retreated back to Florida for the winter. This was Paige’s first visit to the beach. She loved it…we think.

It was a great trip and we really enjoyed ourselves. Everyone needs some good family time with their family. Here are a few photos of the trip.

I have Mommy's finger!

Still hanging on!

Now I'm starting to develop some spit bubbles...cool!

Hilton Head Island

Paige get some sun. Yea...no ice!
Look Mommy and Daddy...I'm a big girl!
Daddy and Paige walking on the beach.
Who said Santa to busy to fish.

Bedsaul's At Hilton Head Island, SC

Lyn walking down to the water.

Paige and Mommy looking out at the ocean. Paige's first look at the ocean.
Walking around at the harbor
Lyn and Paige checking out all the big boats.

Mt. Shasta Back Country

If there is one thing I really miss about Redding...its Mt. Shasta. I found some old photos skiing in the backcountry. Nothing like skinning up to about 11,000ft, making some good turns, and being back to Redding by about 3:00 for an afternoon mountain bike ride. Now that's cool!!!! Not to may places where you can do that!

Getting Ready For The Nebraska vs. Michigan Game

Look At Her Shake That Rattle

Paige And Her Favorit Rattle

So a few months ago I was talking to my neighbor about riding in the back yard and he mentioned a trial called “Shut-In”. He said it’s and illegal trail in the summer and usually completely over grown. We talk a little more about it and he gave me some general direction on how to find it and where it goes. He said it can be about a 3 hour ride from the house. He also said there is a lot of hike a bike sections, steep climbs, rocky descents, etc.. A few months ago I put my geared bike together with the intension of going out and finding this trail.

I finally got my $?!@ together and took off in search of the famous "Shut-In" trail. I found the trail and it turned out to be a great ride and adventure. It was everything my neighbor said. The ice fell off the trees and coated the trails up high. It was pretty cool! It looked like someone flew over with an ice machine and dumped it on the trials. On some of the descents it felt like you were surfing. It was also the last day of dear hunting season. I did run across a few "good old boys" and I don't think they were happy with me. I'm sure to a deer this time of year a cyclist probably sounds like a fright train crashing thought the woods with all the sticks and leaves on the ground. It was a beautiful day to be on the trails. Here are a few photos of the ride.

12:15pm Here's the bridge we made to get over the creek.

1:00pm The back roads to the Parkway

1:45pm Finaly the top of the road. Now the fun will start.

1:15pm I can tell I'm gaining some elevation.

2:20pm Finaly the steeps I heard about. Start hike a biking!

$%& Cats!!!!

Cats….they do whatever they want. Fran took over my work bench, not that it’s real clean and functional right now, but that’s not the point!!!!

Getting Paiges First Tree

Mom's got some crazy hair today!
Finding the perfect Christmas tree
Paige is getting huge!!!

This last Sunday the weather finally decided to be nice. We felt it was a great opportunity for us to do our annual tradition. Go to a Christmas tree farm and find our perfect little tree. We bundled Paige up for her first outing on the farm. So many trees to choose from…which one do we get? Well…if you ever have this problem the price tag will usually help dictate what you get. I need to start a Christmas tree farm…trees are expensive these days!!!! Lyn found this great little (8ft) tree. All you have to do is flag down a guy out driving the farm on 4-wheelers and he’ll fire up his chain saw, cut your tree, take it to the tent where they are serving hot cider, tie up the tree, and load it on top your car. Wow…now that I'm think about it, how lazy is that? Anyways…we got a great little tree for Paige’s first Christmas.

A Few UCI Photos

Here are a few photos of myself at the UCI race. I'm heading to Winston-Salem this weekend for the last NC race before natioanls. They are calling for 40 degress and rain...should be a lot of fun...ha, ha, ha!

Action Shot On The Dirt

Looks like I'm going like 50mph or something.

Getting A Ride In Before Dark

The rain held off and I got a few hours in today on the bike before dark. The trails are still in really good shape. I need to enjoy it before the rains start coming.

Smile For Mommy

Paige Playing With Her New Toy

Self Photo

Paige and Daddy Sunday Morning

Paige and I got a few minutes to catch up after the big Thanksgiving weekend.

I Love Thanksgiving and Go Huskers!!!

Courtesy: Scott Bruhn/NU Media RelationsCory Ross, a Denver native, caught a career-high nine passes for 129 yards and one touchdown in Nebraska's 30-3 victory.

Eat like a pig! That’s a good sign of a great Thanksgiving! We went to Johnson City, TN (that’s where Lyn’s family lives) and had one hell of a feast. All I did on Thursday was eat and sleep. We ate at Lyn’s aunt’s house around 2:00pm with something like 48 other people (huge family) and ate again with her Grandparents at about 8:00pm that night. We also managed to rally and meet some people out at a bar called Café One Eleven for a few cocktails late Thursday night.

Friday morning I managed to get a ride in. It was 25 degrees with a slight wind. COLD!!!!! Road map in my back pocket and a few hours to burn, out into the hills of Eastern Tennessee I went. I found some great one lane back roads snaking along rivers, double-wides, rusted cars stacked on top of each other, crazy dogs (thank God they were all chained to their dog houses), and a few “Good Old Boys” coming home from hunting. There were a few areas I was praying I would not get a flat in or near. The “Good Old Boys” in the hills are usually pretty nice unless you step on their property, and I have no idea how they would react to a grown man in spandex. I was also hoping Lance had been in the news enough that they might laugh at me and say “hey there’s Lance” because I was on a bike wearing funny clothes. Needless to say I had a great ride and no problems.

We left for home Friday night during half time of the CU vs. NU game. I wanted to make sure we made it home for the 4th quarter. What a great game!!!!! Cord feed what…that’s right what a %^& whooping NU put on the Buffs. So I drank beer and saluted the Huskers last night with pride. GO HUSKERS!!!!!!!!

North Carolina UCI Cross Race

Temp. a few hours before the first race.
It was a great weekend for cross racing. Frank and Ann arrived at about 8:00am Saturday morning. We did a good breakfast and headed to the race. My race was at 11:00am so I got about an hour warm up and I was off. It’s been really dry around here for the last month so the course was very fast. The only problem was the wind. The wind made it really difficult to put together any kind of good aggressive attack. Saturday was “use and abuse day”. Find a group, ride their wheels and push them until they blew and move on. I think I finished in the top ten but not for sure. I wasn’t feeling to strong so I was just glad to be done and heading to the car for some warm clothes.

Sunday was a better day for me. The wind died down but the temperature stayed in the mid 30’s low 40’s. They changed the course for the 2nd day which I think made it even faster. The start of the race was extremely fast and a lot of people were really hamming down. As for myself, I’m not a real fast person at the start so I did what I normal do. I gave myself one lap and then started reeling in people. There was a strong lead group and I found myself in the second group trying to chase them down. When it was all said and done the leaders were extremely fast and we couldn’t catch them. I placed somewhere in the top ten.

Frank Jones was once again the man in the pits. For you who don’t know Frank he is one of the best mechanic’s out there and a really great guy. I watched people come up to him all weekend long and ask him to look at their bikes and make sure everything was working. Racers who even had their team mechanic with them would find Frank to work on their bikes. While Frank is working on peoples bikes, or sitting in the pits cleaning and doing bike exchanges his wife Ann is out on the course taking some great photos (watch out Velo News). Hopefully I can get a few photos from Ann and I'll post them here on my blog. Ann and Frank are one hell of a team when it comes to cycling and racing. If you’re ever at a national event or racing cross in NC I guarantee you’ll hear their names among the racers. Frank also has a great shop in Raleigh, NC so if you’re ever in the area and need something give him a call at (919) 293-0200.

The racing was done and everyone was on the way home by about 4:30pm last night. What a great turn out for the first UCI cross race in the Southeast. They have already started talking about have two UCI races in NC next year. The cross racing here just keeps getting more competitive and serious every year. It's good to see it becasue cross is really a great sport that several people can enjoy. When you can watch about 70% of a race from one spot...that's pretty cool.

Well it’s Friday and another week has flown by. Here are a few photos of Paige and myself. I went out for a little spin and Lyn and Paige went on a walk. We arrived at the house at the same time. Crazy!!!!! It’s going to be a big weekend around here. Frank & Ann Jones are coming over for the weekend and staying with us. Frank has a shop in Raleigh and is probably one of the best machines out there. This weekend is the UCI Cyclocross race in Hendersonville, NC. I’m going to be race on both Saturday and Sunday so it’s going to be a long weekend. I’ll try to get some good photos for the blog. I believe there is going to be a good showing of our team BTD.