Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
2 1/2 @ 35-off
My best ski effort this summer. Not bad for me, as I waterski slightly less than I ride. If you don't know what this means, I'll have to explain it over beers some time.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Life Easing Up?
Well, the kid's off to college :( , the new hospital is built and open after years of effort, and there is small light beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel. Does this mean a return to the saddle for more than the occasional recreatonal ride? Stay tuned...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Still Alive
Just checking in. I've ridden a little, including 2 sessions on the "spin bike" at the hotel I was at Monday and Tuesday. Got in an hour each session...which for me is a LOT. I learned that the secret to a spinning is to keep the flywheel, well, spinning. Not going to build power doing this but a great way to accustom the legs to turning over fast and smoothly.
I forgot my ipod and the only tunes they had in the spin studio which I played LOUD through the overhead speakers was an 80s mix...some of it was really good and some of it was so cheesy I was laughing while riding. Reminded me of hittin on babes in college.
I forgot my ipod and the only tunes they had in the spin studio which I played LOUD through the overhead speakers was an 80s mix...some of it was really good and some of it was so cheesy I was laughing while riding. Reminded me of hittin on babes in college.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The good & the bad
The good: I've spent the past year planning & building a new house. It has a great area for a bike shop in the basement. Moving commenced 2 days ago.
The bad: No riding because I've spent the past year planning & building a new house.
The bad: No riding because I've spent the past year planning & building a new house.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Here We Go Again
Multiply this times 6 and that's what I need to drop from my ass to be in race shape. What a drag.
Monday, February 15, 2010
CHAMPS!!!
Well I did it. 3 days of intense hockey: warm up, stretch, ice time, eat, rest, recover. This was the seemingly unending cycle for 72 hours. It was a blast. Definitely a "checkbox checked" on the list of cool life experiences.
Friday was drills, practice, chalk talk, practice, scrimmage games. Saturday was a round robin tournament to seed teams for Sunday's championship tourney. We finished out 2-0-1 Saturday for No. 1 seed. I (as well as everybody) was cooked both Friday and Saturday night.
To Mellon Arena Sunday. Body says "no!", brain says "go!".We watched 2 v. 3 in the first game. 2 dominates; clearly the team to beat. On they go to the championship game. But first things first - we have our own 1 v. 4 semi-final to get through. We handle this team again fairly easily with a 6-1 win. A memory from this game that I'll never forget (remember this is full-on Mellon Arena hockey - jumbotron, replays, announcers, music, the works): The booming announcement of the game's first goal went like this: "The Chinstrap's goal! scored by the Ol' 2-9er! PHILLLLL BOURRRRRRRRRQE!!! Assisted by number 16, KEN DE-FURYYYYYY-O! Time of the goal 6:19 - DeFurio to Bourque!" Awesome.
Brief recovery while the consolation game is played. Championship game starts at 9:30pm. A battle royale, start to finish. I had the fortune of scoring the first goal of the game on a great pass from the blue line from one of our young defensemen. Another indelible memory - scoring a goal in a championship game on Mellon Arena ice. So we fought hard the rest of the way. So did they. If you've never played hockey it's hard to describe the intensity, speed, and emotion through the game's ebbs and flows. Just surreal. We win 5-4 on a Bourqie game-winning goal with 3:00 minutes to go. Held off our opponent's empty-net assault in the final 2 minutes for the win.
So yes there is a cool cup/trophy on which all the winners' names are engraved. They presented the trophy followed by guys hoisting the cup, team photos, equipment everywhere, guys getting pictures with their wives and kids, etc. The guys were just, well, stoked. But through most of the revelry I quietly skated a few laps around the Igloo, soaking it all in and thinking about the likely hundreds of events I've been to in this soon to be memory of a facility. Learning to skate and to play this game as an adult made it all the more unlikely that I should find myself here. Plus I got to share it all with my hockey buddy Bret who just lit it up the entire weekend.
The folks from work who gave me this gift - and attended the semi-final game as huge fans - have no idea what a gift this was.
Friday was drills, practice, chalk talk, practice, scrimmage games. Saturday was a round robin tournament to seed teams for Sunday's championship tourney. We finished out 2-0-1 Saturday for No. 1 seed. I (as well as everybody) was cooked both Friday and Saturday night.
To Mellon Arena Sunday. Body says "no!", brain says "go!".We watched 2 v. 3 in the first game. 2 dominates; clearly the team to beat. On they go to the championship game. But first things first - we have our own 1 v. 4 semi-final to get through. We handle this team again fairly easily with a 6-1 win. A memory from this game that I'll never forget (remember this is full-on Mellon Arena hockey - jumbotron, replays, announcers, music, the works): The booming announcement of the game's first goal went like this: "The Chinstrap's goal! scored by the Ol' 2-9er! PHILLLLL BOURRRRRRRRRQE!!! Assisted by number 16, KEN DE-FURYYYYYY-O! Time of the goal 6:19 - DeFurio to Bourque!" Awesome.
Brief recovery while the consolation game is played. Championship game starts at 9:30pm. A battle royale, start to finish. I had the fortune of scoring the first goal of the game on a great pass from the blue line from one of our young defensemen. Another indelible memory - scoring a goal in a championship game on Mellon Arena ice. So we fought hard the rest of the way. So did they. If you've never played hockey it's hard to describe the intensity, speed, and emotion through the game's ebbs and flows. Just surreal. We win 5-4 on a Bourqie game-winning goal with 3:00 minutes to go. Held off our opponent's empty-net assault in the final 2 minutes for the win.
So yes there is a cool cup/trophy on which all the winners' names are engraved. They presented the trophy followed by guys hoisting the cup, team photos, equipment everywhere, guys getting pictures with their wives and kids, etc. The guys were just, well, stoked. But through most of the revelry I quietly skated a few laps around the Igloo, soaking it all in and thinking about the likely hundreds of events I've been to in this soon to be memory of a facility. Learning to skate and to play this game as an adult made it all the more unlikely that I should find myself here. Plus I got to share it all with my hockey buddy Bret who just lit it up the entire weekend.
The folks from work who gave me this gift - and attended the semi-final game as huge fans - have no idea what a gift this was.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The Day of Reckoning is Nigh
Well, if I'm not ready now, I won't be. Start Friday with 3 days of INTENSE hockey. 4 teams, each captained by a former Pen (my captain is the Ol' 2-9er...cool!!!). Finish up on Sunday on Mellon Arena ice. Hopefully in the championship game.
My team is the Chinstraps. German national team jersey colors (black/red trim). Bust out the ice and ibuprofen...this silliness is gonna hurt.
My team is the Chinstraps. German national team jersey colors (black/red trim). Bust out the ice and ibuprofen...this silliness is gonna hurt.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Update
Been on the ice 7 times (including 3 games), ran 2x, RODE 2x! (indoors), some light lifting...feeling ok....so far, so good...maybe some XC skiing is in my near future with this sweet snow...
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