257 The diet took a major hit last weekend

The diet took a major hit last week. Thursday and Friday were all day conferences with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I held out until lunch and then I could not take it anymore. The weekend was a big tailgate party that started early Saturday morning. Food, food, beer and food. Not exactly diet food either. We made spicy sausage sandwiches. They are one of the best things in this world. Colosimo's spicy sausages cooked in marinara sauce all day placed on a hard roll with provolone cheese and then covered in sauce. Man those things are good. Like scary good. There is something about the sausages cooked all day in the sauce that makes them even better. They are incredibly tender and the spicy flavor with the cheese. Well lets just say they are awesome. Anyhow I gained about 7 lbs in 3 days. I am back down to 257 and there are no tailgate parties until Vegas. Luckily that is not for 3 weeks. I should feel weak for breaking the diet but somehow it was worth it.

256 The one that got away.

Putting the basement back together I found a photo from my days at the U of Arizona. That was one sweet bike. A Faggin. I kid you not that was the name of the frame maker. It was the sweetest steel frame ever. In those days Italian frames were the Sh*t. They were the best riding frames . The frames built here at home rode harsh. Aluminum was just starting to come into play and it was either really harsh or just dangerous. Lots of broken aluminum frames. The bike was all Campy Record with wheels I built for the bike. It had tubular tires and sweet fade bar tape. I sold the bike to a buddy of mine 13 years ago. When I sold the bike the wheels had a bit of a wobble and it did not shift very well. But I still miss the bike. It is the one bike I wish I had kept. I put a ton of miles on that frame. Thousands of miles. The year I spent at the U of A I probably put 4 or 5 thousand miles on that frame. Sadly is gone. He sold it. I wish I had known. I would have bought it back in a second.

257. Bonk

Yesterday I spent several hours working on Jamie's new trail. Have I have mentioned before that it is cool? Well it is. The trail will be a lot of fun. A down hill XC trail. Down hill may be a bit misleading. The trail does drop significantly but it moves up and down and across Corner Canyon. Think of a trail like Johns in Park City but without all the annoying roots. That is the idea of the trail.

So yesterday Erich and I showed up and put in 4 hours working on the trail. The machine had been through and carved out path and we were filling in holes, digging out roots, putting in drains and raking out the trail. About 3 hours in I bonked. I know my diet is ridiculous and the minimal amount of calories (600) is probably just stupid but I did not expect to bonk. At about 11:00 I grabbed an apple out of my camel back and tried stop the bonk but it did not work. I walked off and found Erich and told him we had to go. I was in a world of hurt. Thought I was going to puke and was suffering as bad or worse than any bonk I have had on the bike. I hate that feeling you get just before you puke and I had it walking back up the 1.5 miles of trail to the top of Clark's.

Luckily I did not embarrass myself by tossing my cookies all over the new trail. I will save that for next year when it is finished. Erich an I headed home and I went to bed. I had Susan make me a bottle of Carbo Rocket. Which I was barely able to drink. This stuff has to be the easiest thing on your stomach that you can drink and I was having trouble. About an hour or so later I was good to go. Then I watched the Utah game and I wanted to puke all over again.

260 Basement is getting closer

I am down a bunch of weight in less than a week. I think all the cycling I have done has boosted my metabolism. The diet will fix that. The last time I did this I lost 20 or so lbs. The first time I lost 35. There was some gain back in there but to date I am down more than 50lbs from my high. I need to find a photo of me from my days at the U of Arizona. I think I have a picture of me finishing the Tour De Tucson in about 1987 where I weigh all of about 160lbs. That is still the guy I see in my head. My goal is to get down to 200 lbs by about the end of February. This may be too optimistic. I want to ride in March and dieting and riding do not go together very well.

We are getting closer to finishing the basement. We bought a new couch, pool table and TV. I really like movies and I am going to finish this out as a home theater. We need to buy some window coverings and some sound equipment for the TV but otherwise it is just touch up work and it is done. I plan on putting in a bar with a sink and fridge as well but funds are running a bit low so for now we will have to walk up stairs to get drinks and snacks. With a little luck this should keep the kids at our house. I just like the idea of knowing what is going on and having them here makes Susan and I feel better.

263 Down 6 pounds so far

Diet is going well I have not broken down and eaten anything that does not fit in the narrow parameters. Last night was tough though. Kids were eating ice cream. That stuff is like Kryptonite. I really dig the stuff. Especially Costco vanilla with ginger snaps under and crushed over the top. Man that is good. It is like heaven in a bowl.

So what is the over and under on my first break down?

269 Crushing the scale

Poor Mookie. He had a gnarly growth on his ear and had to have it removed. He is very unhappy wearing the Cone. The growth was big and the Vet does not know what it was. They wanted to send it off to the lab and have it tested but I declined. I know it could be cancer or something but if it is I am not willing to do chemo on a dog. The results are ugly and the survival rate is horrible. Hopefully it was just one of those growths that dogs sometimes get as they age. Mookie goes back to the Vet today and we will see if she takes the Cone off. Mook's has tried everything he can think of to remove it himself . He has rubbed it on the fence, the house, the inside of his kennel and my favorite the railing on the deck. The Cone is smashed but it is holding up.

So I have been slowly gaining weight. My lack of chamois time has been catching up with me. Since the end of the Solitude series I have gained 7 lbs. I have decided to go back on my suffer fest known as the mother of all diet's. About 600 calories per day. Today's lunch will include 1/2 of a chicken breast an orange, and some steamed broccoli. The first couple of days usually make me a bit nutz. If you see me eating be sure to keep your distance I may get emotional.

265 BYU? Are you kidding me?

So BYU is 1-0 on the season and already I have to suffer through the discussions of a National championship run. Can you say delusional? Some days I hate my office. Unbelievable. The arrogance is incredible. It is almost as if the Y's fans believe that teams will just roll over. "Ooh we are playing BYU we should just give them the ball and walk off the field". I predict you will see this "Quest for Perfection" spiral down the toilet much like last season. I would really like to see Tulane beat them but that is unlikely. Florida State, TCU and Utah will be tough games even if they are played in Provo(gawd I already know too much about their season). I predict that BYU loses 2 or even 3 of these games. Hopefully Florida State will take care of business and the arrogant horde will crawl back into their holes.

The NC talk would not be so bad if I were not completely out numbered. It is about 10 to 1 and feels like about 100 to 1.

Here is a hint. Maybe win a few more games.. Like maybe 10 before you start talking National Championship. Then you will not seem like you have been sniffing glue?

While I am at it I predict Utah finishes the season 9 and 3 and wins their bowl game.

PS. you can get the lovely tee shirt on Ebay.

265 I need one of these.

The perfect Tail Gate rig... Well if it were Red.