Home Ownership

Owning a home has it's ups and downs. Right now with the chiminey and bathroom ceiling both leaking, it's a down. I'm not really that handy around the house so when there's a problem I have to call a pro in to take care of it. It's starting to get expensive. Maybe I should watch more 'This Old House' on PBS so I can learn to do some things by myself.

Lots Going On

Where to begin...On the Marcroft Cycles front, all is going well. Just when I start getting frustrated that my efforts are not paying off I get a few more pieces to the puzzle. I recieved a bunch of frame specific tools (1500 bucks worth!) from the guys at UBT in Ashland. My welder finally came in. My dad dialed me in on a contact at Industrial Source here in Salem. They treated me good on the price, so it looks like I have a source for all my welding needs now. Maybe if I drop enough $ there I can talk 'em into title sponsoring the Marcroft Cycles Elite Cyclocross Team in 2006...hmmm.

Starting a frame shop from the ground up is tough. Most frame builders get their start by moonlighting at the shop they're working at. Unfortunatly I don't have that luxury. I have to get everything together before I can make any bikes to sell. That means negative cash flow for a while. That will all change soon after going live. Hell my mother found someone that's interested in a frame. There are cyclists everwhere in this town, it always suprises my where the pop up.

My quest for road racing stardom is progressing nicely. I had an update meeting with my coach this week and we determined that we're on track for next season. He was able to put things in percpective, specifically my weight issue. I only need to lose 2 pounds per month to get to my ideal weight before the 'climbing races'. That seems doable.

I've been iPodded. Damn, those things are cool. Every cyclist that logs tons of miles needs one. They make time in the saddle rip by.

U2 Concert

Monday I attended the best concert ever. U2 was in Portland for their final show of their US tour. Quite a show.

Getting Caught Up

A lot has been going on lately. First off, it's been cold. Damn cold. Too cold to ride cold. In fact I'm so sick of riding in the afternoon/evening that I blew off work today and went riding. It was so nice. I tried to get McGee to come out with me but he's up to his armpits in baby duties. He did dial me in on a sweet jacket to use until my thermal Broardmark kits get here. Of course they'll be arriving just in time for the spring, when I don't need 'em. Typical.

As far as the prep goes for racing next year everything is progressing as planned. I've been getting to the gym 3 days/week and getting 18+ hours/week on the bike. All nice and easy miles. Hell, I should get an upgrade based on pre-season training alone. Of course the Christmas stars are out in force on the group rides in town. They're up there pushing the pace and feeling good about themselves. I just need to remember their 2006 is going to be much different from mine.

I got my body fat checked last week...not where I need to be. My wife thinks I have an eating disorder and a poor self image, but that's just because she fell in love with me at 175 pounds. I'm chill'n at 138 pound and 15% body fat. She thinks I'm too thin, I think I can lose 8-10 pounds and get my body mass down to where and elite road racer should be. It's tough, I've made so many changes to my diet over the years to get to where I'm at now, I don't know what to do to lose the last few pounds. That's what I get for being a fatty my whole life.

Marcroft Cycles is progressing quite nicely. I recieved my fixture this week. It looks good. I've got most of my beta riders bikes designed. My web site is in the works. I'm having some boss t-shirts done up. I'm placing machine tool orders. I'm placing bike part orders. It's all very exciting. I'm looking at going live some time in February. I'm toying with the idea of doing a press release to make the announcement that I'm up and running. Is that a little too much? I don't know. I know that I'll at least post to the OBRA list. That get's out to everyone.

Cycling Play on Words

Canada Dave sent this link to me. Pretty funny.

Funny

Tele-Marketers

I just have to vent. I'm sitting here hacking away on my PC and the phone rings. I pick up and the dude on the line says "Hey Brian, blah, blah, blah" like he's my friend, when in reality he's selling mortgages. That just pisses me off when these dirt bags talk to you on a first name basis. So I said take me off your list, and he procceeds to get lippy with me. I just told him to remove me from his call list again, and as I'm hanging up the phone I can hear him giving me attitude. Damn I wish I could remember the company he was representing. Whatever, he's sitting in a cube making phone calls for minumum wage, his life must really suck. If it makes him feel better to give me a hard time after I tell him to remove me from the call list, so be it.

Back to business. The final components are on the way to get my shop up and running, wahoo! I've been lifting wieghts on a regular basis and I'm logging the miles on the bike. Only 2 months until the first race of the season. I can't wait.

Racing in December??

I know I've been into my base miles for a month and a half, but it's a cross race 3 blocks from my house. I have to do it based on princible alone. It should be fun. I think I'll go out and practice my Huffy skids and wheelies for the crowd. Maybe I'll throw in a bike toss for old times sake.