Two Wheeled Wonders

It has been pretty quiet since Rocky. I have been traveling and the weather hasn't allowed many outdoor activities. Earlier in the month was Sam's birthday. I got her a cake from the local bakery and we had an interesting night out listening to Al at the cigar box.

I finally broke down and bought a new bike to replace my 15 year old mountain bike. With how much snow we have this year it might be may before I get it outside.
The CT 70 motor blew up the day I left Ames a couple years ago. I am getting around to replacing it. I picked up a brand new Honda motor for it, should run like a top.

2010 Rocky Raccoon 50 Miler

Last weekend Sam and I traveled to Huntsville, TX so I could run the Rocky Raccoon 50 mile trail race. There were 5 or so Trail Nerds running the 100 mile race and a couple of us on the short course. Sam was planning on pacing a friend from 60-80 in the 100 miler. Due to some unfortunate circumstances only a couple of our runners finished the 100 mile race. Bad Ben had several shelters reserved and made home base for everyone.

The 50 mile race was three 16.67 mile loops. The sun was out and the 58 degree weather was a welcome change of pace. My original goal was to set the 28 yr old age group record at 8:32 (that's 8 hours). I went out really fast and ended up doing the first lap at sub 9:00 miles and 10 minutes faster than I hoped. I was on pace during my second lap until I got a bottle full of banana flavored HEED, which is really sweet. That pretty much shut my system down. I had trouble eating or drinking for about 30 miles and my pace really fell off the last 20 miles or so.

Huntsville State Park is sandy soil and lots of pine trees. With pine trees come roots and since I don't pick up my feet, I ended up eating some dirt on the last lap. My toes all had bruises on the top from stubbing them. My knees were pretty banged up too.

Pulling into the finish. I ended up finishing in 8:45, not too far from my goal for a 27 minute PR.

I am a salty sweater and with the stomach problems ended up eating salt caps like they were candy. It took me a day or so before I got rehydrated. Sam had run and picked up a mushroom and swiss roast beef sandwich for after the race. It is probably in my top 3 best foods ever, I was so hungry.

What's the difference between a smoking room and a non-smoking room?

Smoking

Oh, non-smoking.

Overall it was a successful outing. This weekend the Trail Nerds have our 50k Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run so stop out if you want to see how all the Rocky people are doing.

More Organization

In an attempt to make the garage more sane, the organizing process continues. Last weekend I used the rubbermaid fasttrack to hang the bikes. This is the same system I used to organize the garden tools. Bikes take up lots of floor space so it is good to get those up.

I just got the best new, dishrack?

Ok, I never thought I would say this, but our new dishrack is awesome. During the coldsnap our dishwashers was frozen and I was doing lots of dishes by hand. Our dish rack was pitifully small and drained all over the counter. I tracked down a great one at William-Sonoma. It is big, tall, and has an adjustable drain spout. No more wet counters.

See, tons of room.

A Few Updates

Other than some planning, we haven't done much around the house lately. It has been kind of nice just living there without any on-going projects. That being said, here is the list for the upcoming year in no particular order:

1. Turn the furnace room into a true half bath

2. Replace the tile/stairs in the entryway

3. Finish epoxy-coating the garage floor

4. Finish organizing the garage

5. Build a raised garden

6. Build breakfast bar for kitchen

6. Continue concrete projects: tulip table for patio, countertop for kitchen ledge, patio lights, planter for bathroom

See we did have lots of snow.

All the snow has melted except for a little from this pile.

Careful kids, these can kill.

Spring is around the corner. Sam's bonsai has new growth.

Warmer Weather

Well we made it through the cold snap the past couple weeks with only a few small leaks. I thought the dishwasher was toast after it froze and the heater turned it into an oven. Luckily with some warmer weather it just turned back on, good because I didn't want to buy a new one. We ran on solid ground last weekend which was a nice change after a month or so running on snow.

With the warmer weather I have started thinking about the garden. It isn't that far off. I am planning on building a series of raised beds to help access everything. I got the itch and yesterday ordered some seeds. Right now it looks like we will have tomatoes (heirlooms and romas), sweet peppers, hot peppers (jalapeno, chili, and kung pow), broccoli, couple types of lettuce, spinach, radish, and couple types of bush beans. I also ordered some sunflowers for the other beds. The herb garden is getting moved from next to the house up along the back wall.

Warmer wishes.

Frozen Pipes

Cold weather and this Revere Home don't mix. Our shower froze last year. Last weekend we froze everything. On Friday the main line into the house froze, it is even inside. So I spent the day insulating that. Then on Saturday the shower, dishwater, and kitchen sink lines froze. Actually everything under the sink froze including the dish soap and olive oil. So we thawed out everything, but I had to cut some drywall to get at the freeze. Thank goodness we didn't split any pipes, yet.

Anyway, this is a more relaxing picture than the next. Yep, the best way to inspect your tiling job is from the backside. Luckily this is in a closet so I can install an access panel without too much trouble. See that little blue cold water line run on the outside of the house, it's the problem.
This is why the tub freezes up, nothing below! While a very cool design feature, very hard to properly insulate. I did my best, but next summer this section gets redone.
Onto something else. Last weekend I did some mid-century cooking. At Christmas I picked up my grandmother's old rotisserie. It got rubbed in orange zest, garlic, and Italian spices. This was pretty much all afternoon, Portland was mesmerized.

Golden brown and delicious.

Sam packed up the Christmas stuff and managed to get the little tree skirt on Portland, so he had to go outside. I think he looks quite regal.