No Corn Husker

Well with Nate not able to go to Nebraska that means that if the weather holds out and is not to crappy or cold that I my try to make it to Russell's for the ride at noon. It may not fit in or if Cece has my number first then I will try to be at the ride. If it is crappy or I have the Hamm's flu in the morning then I will just do a roller workout. Nate will go on the ride if we go or do his workout on the rollers also. Then Sunday it will be the computrainer for Nate. Later..

Few = Alot

There was another low turnout of riders to night which meant that you got gates till you dropped. Again it was open gates all night and there was hardly a full rack all night. You know you got enough gates when at the end of the night Ray looks over and says I'm ready to puke. The thing about Ray is that he kept going until the last gate dropped any way. Lenny was all sweaty and looked like he was ready to puke also. I know I had enough as I get 8 to 10 hard gates and then I go and work the gate drops to catch my breath. The good thing about working is that I go as hard as I can and then when I get tired I work and that keeps me from blowing myself up completely.

Nate and I get there early any how and get 30 to 40 minutes of gate practice before the gang gets there and that is the biggest help. Nate is just tearing it up out of the gates. He has got the timing and power perfect. He also has the skills down and Jacob one of the other experts that he races and beats now won't get in the gates with him. It is kind of funny as this past weekend Jacob raced cruiser only just not race against Nate. Well Nate wants to race cruiser as he likes his Kuwahara cruiser now that he has a few weeks on it. He also is sick of getting crashed in the age class races. He is a totally different rider then a few weeks ago. Moving up has just made him faster and way better. It is fun to watch Nate just get in the gate and these other kids that their parents are paying a former pro to train them get dropped by him. Hopefully it all transfers to the other bikes as well. Later..

Lance here in March

Armstrong to advocate for Wisconsin smoking ban

Lance Armstrong is keeping plenty busy in his retirement. On Tuesday, March 4, the seven-time former Tour de France winner will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to advocate for a ban on smoking. The trip supports his foundation's cancer advocacy effort, including highlighting the causal link between smoking and lung cancer.
"He's a great advocate, obviously a fabulous athlete, and we're honored to have him come speaking about this bill," said Allison Miller, on behalf of the American Cancer Society to the Badger Herald.
A cancer survivor himself, Armstrong is scheduled to meet with Wisconsin's Governor Jim Doyle in order to express support for legislation to ban smoking in all work settings, including eateries and bars.

I hope that with Lance coming here we some day get a smoking ban in all public places. I think a lot of people respect him and just maybe this will work in getting the butts and butt heads out of the bars and restaurants. I hope this works. Later..

Yearly checkup

Today I went to the Dr. for the yearly checkup. Everything so far is just dandy. Just waiting for the blood work to see if the cholesterol is in the normal range. In 05 it was a little high and then good in o6 good, but last year I forgot about the appointment so no record of what it was. As the Dr. said " Jay you are getting a little older so we need to watch these things now." The blood pressure was nice and low and the rest of the things they check were good to go. I just told him I may be getting older but I won't grow up. I know what a few of your are thinking, my 6 year old acts more mature then me. That's OK with me.

I still haven't heard from Mike Froh about the trip to Nebraska so if it is a go I will let Nate make the choice if he wants to go. I really don't care what happens and if he wants to go I will let him. Nothing like getting the chances to race against the best, so if he wants to go then I will let him go. Just hoping to hear from him today at he latest so I can get everything ready for him. Matter of fact Nate is doing his roller workout right now and Maddie just got done. Ah I'll just get Nate's race gear and bikes ready for the weekend just in case. Later..

More Snow?

Just sitting here waiting to see how much snow we get this round. I hope we get missed like the last time. Now we just need a few more days of warmer weather to melt more of the stuff still on the ground. Just keeping my fingers crossed.

Yesterday I was walking along the garage and with all the snow melting the sidewalk had a nice sheet of ice and of course I fell carrying my bmx bike in. Good thing is nothing happened to the bike and nothing to me either. I spent the next 30 minutes chopping the ice away and cleaning up the sidewalk. I have to say that I'm sick of falling this year with all the ice and snow. Man I wish I had 2 good legs when walking on ice and snow.

Nate said he felt good this morning after the crash yesterday at the races. I have to say the one of the first things Nate said on the way home after the race was "man I'm glad that I wear the chest protector when I race". He took a face first spill over the handle bars and landed on his chest and nothing happened. Well there are a few more holes in his jersey but he was OK so that was good. I have to say I hope Alan is OK as he went down in the cruiser class and it appeared that he broke his collarbone. Hope he heals fast and is back on his bike soon. Time to get the kids in bed. Later..

Oh my

Jess all dressed up with Cece's friend Chris looking on.

Look how scary I look.
These shoes are killing me.
I can't go to bed looking like this? I want to keep the make up on all day tomorrow.
Ok you win I will clean up before I go to bed.

Jessica was dressed up by her sister Maddie last night. We thought it was kind of quiet upstairs last night. Then the 2 of them came down stairs laughing. Now we know why. I can't wait as I think Maddie will be trying to do this to herself everyday soon. I hope she just wants to be a clean cut girl not some grunge freaky thing.

Today at the bmx races I took a 6th. In turn one I was moving up to try to take 3rd and the 2 guys in front of me tangled up a little and hit the brakes and I had to also. I lost all my momentum and had to settle for 6th. Nate took a 2nd in the open and was crashed out in the class main as he was running 3rd again. That is the last 3 out of 4 races that he has been right in the front and some WT just takes him out. He just needs to get that little better manual skill and I think he will have no problem keeping them all behind him. Mike is going to call me tonight about getting Nate to Nebraska or not. I hate just sitting here waiting as I always try to plan as much ahead as I can. Oh well. Later..

John's 40th

Here are a bunch of pictures from John's 40th Birthday. I'm to lazy to type so fill in your own captions for the pictures. All said it was a great time and we had a tad to much for the beer and other liquors.

Today after having the PBR flu in the morning I did manage to get over and help Russell move to a new shed. I thought he had to be a certain distance from a school but he must have gotten approval from the local authorities. He moved to a nice place and has a lot more room for his bikes and other odds and ends.

Tomorrow is bmx racing and relaxing. Later..

Levi kills it

Levi had a great TT and has taken a big lead in the Tour of California. I know some hate him but I was impressed with his ride and as it goes the Dude is fast. He killed a few former world champs today and that was cool. Now all the Astana team has to do is keep the break aways close and he will win it again. Always great to see a American win. I caught the end on the note book as I typed on the blog and watched Pimp My Ride on the tv with Nate.

Tonight I going to John's 40th Birthday party. He finally finished his rec room and we get to break it in. I'm sure Russell will try to break it in and knowing him he may even try to break something to make it official break in. Tomorrow it will be clearing some ice and then get a ride in. Later..

Gate night

Nate and I hit the gate practice early along with Josh, Hailey and Payton. Getting there early has really paid off for Nate. I think with the extra time before the practice he has gotten the edge and that has pulled him to his good finishes in the expert class. I talked to Mike and I will hear on Sunday if Nate is going to Nebraska. It looks like it will on and that maybe he will be going with Mike and Desire. He should do fine if he rides the way he is riding now. This Friday I'm going to John B's for his 40th birthday. Other then that nothing else other then racing bmx Sunday. Later..

Total Lunar Eclipse

Tonight there will be a Total Lunar Eclipse of the moon. We are lucky as there is not a cloud in the sky. The main event is to be from 9:01 till 9:51pm. So if you aren't doing anything try to catch the show. We aren't going to half another Total Lunar Eclipse until 2010.

There is gate practice tomorrow. Nate and I are going to head out a little early to get extra gates in. Bryan isn't going to be there but I will drop the gates for anyone who wants a few extras before pratice. Still waiting to hear from Mike about Nebraska. If we don't hear soon I think we will just so no as I can't just do things on that short of notice. Well see you at gate practice. Later..

Spring anyone?

Dam ice

With the rain yesterday and the cold today there is ice every where. For that fact when I was shoveling the snow after work I was lucky enough to fall on my ass twice. After the 2nd fall the snow in the alley has to wait till a later time. I got most of it cleared but the rest will just have to wait. I should have stopped after the first fall but I didn't, I went down for the 2nd time and then I hung it up not wanting to take it down for a 3rd time. With all the snow and ice this year I have gone down more then the past few years but luckly I haven't been hurt.

I tracked the Tour of California online and JJ Haedo won the first stage today. Now tonight I have to catch the recap on Versus at 10pm. Lucky Len gets to go out to California later this week to ride and catch few stages of the Tour. Oh yea Tony Stewart didn't win which was cool last night in the Daytona 500. Later..

Expert win today

This morning I got up at 6 and heard the rain and was just thinking do I want to drive to the bmx races? I turned on the news and they kept saying stay home and don't drive any where as there is ice under the rain water. That meant I must go as I couldn't just listen to the weathermen trying to scare everyone. I got Nate up and asked him do you want to drive to the bmx races or stay home and hit the computrainer with the jr team? He said that he wanted to hit the bmx as he is still leaning towards going to the Nebraska Nationals. He said he wanted more time on the bmx bike. So we loaded the gear into the truck which took twice as long as we skated back and forth loading it in. I was thinking the entire time are we nuts for doing this? We got on the road and it took 45 minutes to get there which was only 10 minutes longer. When we got to the races there was only about 10 racers there. Over the time more showed up but not many as there was only 24 motos.

I had a total point race and took a 2nd in the end. I was fun and I had a few chances to take it to Rich but it would had been a stupid move so I just rolled in second and was very satisfied with the result.

Nate had to race with the 15-16 open today as he was the only 13 year old. He just missed making it in the main. In his age class it was a total point race also. He had to race Alan who won the Grands and Brandon. In the first moto hit got in line behind Alan and took him with a sprint at the line. Alan was surprised at Nate's speed and that he took the win in the 1st moto from him. In the 2nd motot Nate just plain old beat them both with a fast gate and just a fast and smooth run. In the 3rd moto he just slid in behind Alan and rolled in 2nd and the overall win. He could have taken Alan and won all 3 but he just played it safe. Nate has just moved into expert and he has not missed a beat. He is getting faster and the kids in expert are just going to see the backside in many races. It was cool to watch him get his first expert win as he just walked back and had that look on his face as like I knew that I would win, just a small smile. It didn't take long for the first win of many to come.

We are just sittig here watching the Tour of California and the Daytona 500 in the picture in picture. I hope that any one but Tony Stewart wins the Daytona 500 as I think that he is the biggest goof in NASCAR. In the Tour of California I think Levi has a chance to repeat or Jens Voight might take it away. I also hope we don't get any snow tonight. Later..

Good Bye to Donny

Hey everybody, if you haven't heard we are moving to Colorado on February 21st and we would like to get a chance to say Goodbye to everyone. We are going to Romines on South 27th Street around 7:00 p.m. on Saturday February 16th. Would love to see all of you guys.

Hope to see you soon,
Donny Kay a.k.a. Rockstar

P.S. I don't have everyone's e-mail so please spread the word. Thanks.

Here is a message from Donny Kay. If you aren't too busy come on out and say good bye to a good friend. See you there if you can make it.

Got some errands to run today, like get to Ben's to get a free wheel off a old cruiser wheel to get it on new set for the Boy. Get a hair cut as it is getting a little to long. I have to actually comb it and that means it is too long for me. I already rode so that is done with. I rode the rollers and Cece rode the spin bike next to me. It was a nice ride as I didn't get dropped by her today. Nate still has to get his training ride in and then get the bmx stuff ready for the races tomoorow. Still waiting to hear from Mike about the Nebraska Nationals. Still on the fence about that one. See you tonight at Donny's going away if you can make it. Later..

Bowling again

I bought a new bowling game for the Wii and it is more like real bowling. The people look real in this one and the alleys and all are way better. The way you bowl is more like bowling as the sports game is different and you curve the ball the way you would as if you were bowling the real way. It is a lot more fun. I won the first game but I think that will end soon as Nate is picking up the way you bowl in this game. I had a 145 in the first game and in this game I'm behind Nate by a few pins. I think I can pull it off again.

Tonight Cece went to a Opera thing and the Punks and I went for a fish fry at St Stephens. The fish was real good and the fries were perfect. I didn't feel like cooking or anything so I just took the Punks for a fish fry. I always run into someone I know when I go to a fish fry. I ran into Pete Karpfinger and his family as they were celebrating hos fathers Birthday. I haven't seen him in like 6 years. Always fun to run into some one you haven't seen for years. I hope that Cece enjoyed her thing to. Time to go and kick some butt in the bowling. Later..

Snow and Gates

Gate practice tonight was more of the same as there was a lower turn out with the snow. If there was 50 that would be giving a heavy estimate. You could take gates till you fell over. Nate and I headed out to the gate practice early to work on his gate starts with Bryan Dickerson some more. Nate is pulling out of the gates faster each week and now is just pulling it fast and smooth down the front straight. We are still kind of on the fence about Nebraska as I have tried to get ahold of Mike to finalize the plans and see what is going on. Nate said he doesn't care either way but he would like to go and try another National event. Just have to wait and maybe make the plans after Sunday.

It is snowing here again and but it is not as much as they are getting to the north of us. It liiks like it maybe only about 2-3 inches this time. I'm just glad that it is not like the 10 plus they got to the north. I had to use the roof rake yesterday to pull a bunch of snow off to prevent the ice dams from forming. It is a great investment and I don't have any roof problems but I don't want any either. Time to watch the Gatorade 150's. Later..

Just a little snow here

The blue bins are 2 feet high and under the swing set.
Walking to the alley the side with snow is now chest high.
Tossing the snow here across the alley here is head high now. Makes a good workout when I'm shoveling.
The snow here in front of the house is now over 3 feet high between the sidewalk and street.
Here is the side walk along the house and the snow is mid thigh now.

It has been a fun winter so far as the snow keeps on coming. There is gate practice tomorrow and again there is supposed to be snow. If you want to get gates to you drop tomorrow will be a day to do that. The turn out is always low when there is snow or cold. I'm hoping that the turnout is low enough that we don't have to break up the practice into age groups as then we get gates all night. Just have to watch out for a few of the little ones here and there while on the track.

The kids are doing a yoga workout tonight as it is a night off the bike. On the nights that Nate isn't on the bike for a training workout we have been adding yoga to his training. It appears that he has gotten a lot more flexible and his concentration is getting better. We have the cyclo-core workouts and they have great workouts for the off season. They have yoga and biking incorporated in the workouts to make them a little tougher. Check them out if you get a chance. They cost a little more but they are good training programs. See you at the gate practice. Later..

Round 3

I'm just sitting here watching the losers trying to sing waiting for the snow to stop so I can go and shovel it for the 3rd time. I got it done this morning before I left for work and then again after work. There was about 3 to 4 inches this morning and then another 3 to 4 after work. Now there is another 2 to 3 again. The airport says we got 5 to 6 but the amount I have in my side walk and alley say more then that like it always does. I think they have the snow and rain measuring thingy under a tent at the airport as when ever it snows or rains it sure looks like alot more then what they ever say. All I know is that the snow is more then knee deep every where in my yard and the drifts are at least chest high or higher. Well if is going to be cold it may well snow at the same time in my book. These are the winters I remember growing up and I like it for a change. Not every year but every now and then never hurts. Looks like it may have stopped snowing. Time to get it done 1 more time. Later..

Just pile it on

Sitting here watching the American Gladiators and waiting for the snow to come. I was glad to see that the snow was staying to the south of us this afternoon. I don't really want to get up early and move another 4-6 inches of snow in the morning. I see out the back window that a few flurries are falling right now. Just hoping that there is only a inch or 2. The luck we have it will be about 5 inches when it is done. Oh well just having a snowy winter for once.

It was nice to go back to work as it is a time that I get to just relax and work. I have to say that the job is physical but not that mind bending hurt that normal office jobs cause. It is just nice to put in a hard 8 hours and come home and then do the normal family stuff. It seems that all I do every weekend is run run run. I do enjoy it but it is nice to just work and not be running here and there. It just goes with the hobby that we choose to do. It is just going to get busier as the road season and mtn bike season is just around the corner now. We still have about 7 weeks of bmx'n to finish first. Time to get a big bowl of ice cream. Later..

Sufferfest

The 4 kids lined up in the front row.
Zoe by herself but putting in a great first time on the trainer.
Nate and Gage on the right side.
Theo and Mitch lined up to the left side.

The kids did a nice afternoon on the Comp U trainers. I think that they will have another fun season on the bikes. I hope that they take it to the road and mtn bikes like they did last year. A few new team mates this year will only make them stronger and tougher to beat. No bmx today as we did the indoor training and then it is back to the bmx as Nate is going to go and do the Nebraska Nationals at the end of the month. We may do a few bmx Nationals this year as Nate is racing for a Sun Ringle factory team. So that Nate can be on this team we need to race in a few Nationals this summer. So Nebraska, Rockford, and Minnesota along with the Grands again are the for sure for now. Plus toss in a few bmx races at the Milwaukee track and the Rockford track. We will still do a bunch of the WORS, but not as many as the past, track, road and the 24 hour Nationals are on. I still have to sit down with all the schedules and get it all sorted out and then make the plans.