Shut It Down

MRI shows herniated disc and some other questionable disc issues. Doctor says shut it down. No skiing, swimming or biking, didn't tell him about the Taekwondo.
Rehab for now and a steroid shot to reduce swelling at the point of injury.
Oh well will have to behave for now and hope to be back at it in the spring.
,

Neck Breaker

Seriously now, The doctor told me I had a broken neck.
Suffice to say I am off the bike and curtailing the ski season for now. At least till I get things sorted out.
Thanksgiving I started to have neck, shoulder and arm pains. Two months with limited activity I decided to see a doctor. Past history shows a broken neck at some point and subsequent deterioration.
I am seeing rehab with a script from a spine doc and receiving chiro care and hoping to rebound.
Swimming and Karate will have to do for now, hopefully ready to go in the spring. MRI at our team sponsoring Butler Health Systems is scheduled and that will confirm what the course of action will be.
That's all folks.

CX season in full swing

This coming weekend is the Murrysville CX race. Team Ag3r-ButlerHealthSystem is a co sponsor of the event. We plan on having a near full turn out of team members ( ten are registered) in support of Freddie Fu and UPMC. This event is one of the favorites that we will participate, featuring an off camber section, muddy run up and jump the shark barriers. Last two years we had plenty of wind and rain.
Last weekend Kirk, Steve, Mike and myself went to Marilla Park in Morgantown. This race featured a very steep and long run up that thank God was not too wet. True to fashion the fans lugged into the park their front porch couches and reclined while spectating. I should have known we were only miles away from the WVU campus. Beer and donuts were featured at the top of the run up and none of it was found to be actually consumed as intended for. Do not do this at home.
While there is plenty of CX racing left we have early leaders in several categories.

Dirty Mike; PT Barnum award for self promotion bringing to life the "Double Cross" series.
Steve "Hacksaw" Brewer; Steely McBeam award for twisting the most metal and leaving the largest debris field since the Evil Knievel ditched his bike over the Grand Canyon.
Brian "Mario" Hopkins; Gets the Al Gore award for using up his lifetime of Green credits in one weekend in search of the perfect race in Cincinnati. He didn't bring home any Skyline Chili. Thats code for missing the podium.
Steve "Squeaky" Marlette; The only racer in a complete season never to shower as he has yet to get dirty in a single race. Hey let someone pass you and see how it feels to eat mud for a diet.
HD "tube tied"; still experimenting with "Optimo Air" pressure and only finding out their will be a new class for the most pinch flats in a season. Oh yeah a record he already owns from last year.

For the rest of us we will keep on trying to get to the podium one step at a time. Come on down and watch.

Roadies change with the season

Road season to date I have posted 3,000 miles with another month to go. I have covered most of the tri county area with a generous amount of group rides, ridden in Maryland last month and climbed Wisp on my Birthday. The Butler County Stage race was a huge success with the promoter Ed Johnson and Henry Dimmick Team AG3r Director putting many hours of effort making sure this race was the best in the State. I am proud to be associated with these guys and pleased they let me play with them. Fred Gohh started off his inaugural year as Director of Team Citius. Very noteworthy as Team Citius is dedicated with the development of junior racers. My thanks to them for letting me join their group rides and giving the rabbits someone to jump out on.

I entered 10 time trials this summer posting personal records in 8 of the 10 races. The boys at Pro Bikes hooked me up with a set of HED 3's, therefore I reached out to technology for a boost.

This season I had the misfortune of busting two sets of wheels, one of which I have not seen back from Mavic. Trek of Pittsburgh has helped with quick repairs so I would not loose any road time.

Now we turn to Cyclocross for racing. Again learning my lesson from earlier this year I am turning to technology for help. I acquired a Specialized tri cross (thanks HD) and attended a clinic with a real coach. Yes we learned how to mount a bike. And then we learned how to dismount. That took 55 years to learn.

It is fall and football season but I feel like we are just starting.

This has nothing to do with a bike

I know your sick of hearing bike stories. So I will tell another side to this strange summer.
We went whitewater rafting. Top of Wisp Mountain in Maryland there is a man made rafting center. A world class facility that brings in young kayakers training for the Olympics. Sarah says they are cute too, but I can only attest to some of the female paddlers.
Sarah and Matt with Uncle David joined me on a cool sprinkly day on the lazy river. Well not so lazy, we were all thrown out multiple times. We started off with trepidation and ended up surfing and jumping off rocks into the hydraulics. Diane and Riley took photos of the action. Diane still in pain from last years trip, oh well she'll heal.
Try it, a short drive from Pittsburgh and a sure good time.

Arlington National Cemetary Honors our Brave

Matt and I travelled to Arlington National Cemetery to bear witness to the internment of Jenna Wilcox ASAF AC. Jenna was a very important member of our family and we loved her and love her parents very much. While in Afghanistan Jenna went out of her way to help the people she was there to serve. She was performing architectural duties in the rebuilding of the country's schools and infrastructure. Jenna called out for assistance in the form of donations from friends here stateside. Diane collected school supplies and sent a box over to a school in the building. we were very happy to help, more importantly we were proud that Jenna was over there doing good things.

Arlington NC handled the military proceeding remarkably respectful and made us proud to be Americans.

When Matt and Sarah were very young we went with Peter and Jenna to the ski slopes. I remember to this day the three of them zipping up and down with reckless abandon.

Take a trip to Washington DC and spend four hours at Arington National Cemetery.

Heat Wave

Best way to beat the heat is a boat ride with a swim or two. This weekend we found ourselves out in the soak zone twice at Shenango PA. The best entertainment is in the parking lot and launch ramp. I arrive to see an Escalade cut off 3 people trying to launch. In his hurry boxed in a fellow boater locking him out from launching. Continuing to watch this 3 character team we see them bouncing and dragging the boat along off the bottom. Well he blocks my way from launching and I finally see the rig get pulled out and noticed they launched without a plug in the bottom.

The next lady is parking a pick-up and trailer, she jackknifes and gets trapped. Instead of getting help rams in in reverse and pushes the wheels 90 degrees and into the truck bed leaving a scar. She continues to find another spot and gets stuck doing the same thing. I saw the owner in his boat and told him he better get up to the lot and save us all a little in collision repairs.

I could have made decent pay with a pair of jumpers and a jug of spare gas.

The best part is the go fast boat getting towed in after running out of fuel.

This picture is the Pirate ship with a neat Figurehead.

Yes I can still get up on one ski.