Cycling in Western Connecticut

I am logging a lot of miles on my road bike this year. My goal was to race this year, I just forgot to tell my body that was my goal. Getting in shape at age 41 is a lot different than at 29, but I am riding about 100-150 miles a week and now that my base mileage is established I am actually getting in some great training rides. I worked on my sprinting ability tonight, as you get older the fast twitch muscles in your body start to deteriorate, but I felt good and my speed is improving for a 41 year old, I know I'm not 21 anymore. I probably won't compete in a mass start bicycling event this year, but I may race a time trial or two if there are any around and I am planning on riding some of the centuries (100 mile) bike rides throughout New England during the Fall Folliage. I am also thinking of entering the Josh Billings Memorial Triathalon in Lenox, MA next month. I would kayak instead of swim, but otherwise the event host a traditional run and bike just like any other triathalon. I plan on swimming this winter to maintain the fitness I've gained this year, and then maybe enter a few real triathalons next year and as many bicycle races I can. I haven't been training with a group so I have no measure of my progress so far this year, but if my average speeds are any indication, I am progressing nicely.

I almost got run off the road tonight by a large box truck, the next time you pass a cyclist please give them as much room as possible, even if they are being an idot and riding side-by-side or in the middle of the road. Not that I was riding in the middle of the road, I was actually to the right of the white line, this idiot just didn't feel like moving over as he passed even though there was no oncoming traffic coming. Thanks!!!

Millbrook Horse Trials

This weekend Jennifer and her horse Emma otherwise known as "Imagine That" competed in a 3-day event, Millbrook Horse Trials, in Millbrook, New York. On Friday, in a light drizzle she completed the Dressage portion tied for 4th with a score of 34.5. Saturday started late because of all the mud from Friday's rainfall, but she eventually finished a clean round of the Cross Country course but failed to meet the timeframe and received 8.1 points in time penalties, but even so she still moved into sole ownership of 3rd place. This morning she completed the Stadium Jumping portion and dropped two rails adding 8 penalty points to her score and dropping her to 5th overall. She competed in the Preliminary division, a level she has only competed at a couple of times previously. The winner is the person with the lowest accumulatice score at the end of the three events. The images are from left-to-right, Jen with Emma in her make shift stall, Jen and Emma jumping a log jump just before a difficult water section, and Emma relaxing in her stall after a 4 minute sprint over 21 jumps on the Cross Country course.

David Pendergrace's Party on July 1, 2007

Aunt Carol, with David on her right and Debbie's daughter Felicia on her left at the Chinese buffet restaurant where family and friends saw David off as he prepared for yet another deployment to Iraq! David spent the month of July at Fort Dix, in New Jersey and has since deployed to Iraq for at least 12 months and most likely 15 months for his second tour of duty in this combat zone! Note the small piece of cake in front of Aunt Carol!!!

To blog or not to blog - that is the question...

I have seen the younger generation take to this media like a fish to water and I had to ask myself why? But as I have seen, it is a viable way to keep family and friends informed about things in our everyday humdrum lives that might otherwise go unnoticed.

I've been using computers since my senior year in high school, when we had to use a rotary dial telephone to connect to a mainframe computer, and then once connected we then had to place the transceiver handset onto the modem thus finally connecting our remote "dumb" terminal to a mainframe computer system located god knows where. We then had to log on and type formal syntax script to answer complex math problems that we had already solved through long math using a pen and paper. I remember thinking to myself back then that these computers are just another fad, here today gone tomorrow, and at least my pet rock still served a purpose, it was a great paperweight! I guess now that I think about it some of my first computers made good paperweights too, if you could overlook their bulkiness.

I hope to update whenever something of note happens, to include some snapshots and a quick note explaining the whole thing. I hope you all enjoy!!!