A glimpse of what happened in 2008
I dunno what to say, 2008 has come and gone and I did some cool things, cycling in Tour de Cures, half marathons, triathlons. I wrote about most of it, there were some good posts this past year, and then there were months that I can only describe as “bleh”…
As I look back upon the last year, all I can say is, I can’t wait for 2009.
In any case, here’s 2008 in twelve sentences.
January
You can tell that when my blog is suffering (lacking new entries) that life in general is most likely suffering.
February
I was thinking the other night, of the 5 w’s, why is the hardest to answer.
March
You’re probably familiar with the story, “The Little Engine That Could”, there were some freight cars that needed to go over a hill and all the big engines declined because they said it was too much for them to pull.
April
5am came early Saturday morning, and even though I’m not usually a happy camper in the morning, I’m at a minimum able to put a fake smile on my face and go about the things that have to be done.
May
There’s not much that I remember about the day I got diabetes.
June
A few years ago in one of those mailer magazines you get every now and then about the city and area around you was an article about a beautiful bike ride.
July When the alarm went off at 3AM yesterday morning I wasn’t in a foul mood about it like I normally would be.
August
Last night, I got to experience something new.
September
So, if you’ve been following along with my blog or at a minimum my Tour de Cure Colorado updates, you know that I made a promise to Molly back in March to ride with her in the 20k ride.
October
I’ve not seen the light of day since the 5k Skirt Chaser she ran back in September with Lolo.
November
I’ve been sitting on a thought for a few days now.
December
MY FIRST MARATHON!!!
Wherein I’m asked about my dream job
Dream jobs. The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear those two words together is that it’s almost an oxymoron. To me the dream job in theory can’t be the dream job in reality because it becomes a living. And, it’s been my experience that once money became an aspect of those things I had deep interests in, there wasn’t so much love/liking/enjoying of them anymore because of the general pressure of it being a job and the expectedness of having to have to do them. And the fact that at anytime it could all end and your means of living would go with it.
All that being said, and I did tell my friend that when he asked, I told him that my current dream job would be to do nothing but ride in Tour de Cure’s. It’s all I would do if I could afford to. There’s over 80 each year (there was 84 in 2008 and there are continually new ones being added to the list) and I figure that if I did one every week there was one or even if I could get to 2 a weekend in some cases I could do over 20 rides a year. That’d be completely awesome.
Ride a ride, hope in a plane or car and go to the next one, from February to October. Get to the location of the ride, get accustomed to the altitude/humidity/weather all that good stuff and just ride.
Ride, ride, ride.
Christmas 2008 In Review
There’s not much to report out for Christmas…Dad and I were sick so there was no kids table like there is every other holiday, instead there was the sickie bar…Because I was sick I mostly stayed in my room except for opening presents and eating.
Dad, who was Member X, aka the person who drew my name for Christmas got me the running shirt I wanted.
I guess my Christmas countdown did work after all 
Also, he and mom got me a starbucks giftcard and a Life is Good shirt that has a bike on it that says “This is how I roll”…
I think that’s my most favorite Christmas gift of all this year.
Also, we drew names for who we’d have to “make” our gifts for next year, I’m quite excited for next year already because I know what I’m going to make my person and I think he’ll love it
XShot - 21st day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Ok, I fibbed, there is one more small item, but it’s not exactly related to the athlete, but I’m going to post it anyways because I resisted the temptation to put the R2D2 fish tank on my list (yes, i am that much of a geek that it appealed to me.)
There’s this thing called the XShot, and basically, it’s an extension to your arm to help take self portraits. Drew has one. He packs it virtually everywhere (I’m sure of it), I saw it in use with my very own eyes when I went to FL last year for the Orlando Tour de Cure. He took our picture with it, our picture being the whole group of us.
Mary, Trevor, Alli
Courtney and Drew
For as much as I take self portraits when I’m out on my rides, I’d enjoy one of this handy dandy little photography tools.
I’d get so much more of my surroundings in the pictures and it’d be awesome to have. No more asking peeps to take pictures of me when I can take them myself. And, I bet I could mount it to my bike, I’d probably crash from the distraction of filming myself, well, ha, I could point it the other way and take you guys for a ride with me, that’d be cool too…
X, Drew had a promo code for the XShot on his site a few months back, maybe it still works, it’s SPARK0907
Ultimate Sport Mechanic Repair Stand - 20th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Ok, I’ve gone through all the small stuff I can think of that I want, and there is one big item, and so, after this big item, I’m done with my countdown I think simply because after this post, there’s only 4 more days of shopping left…Well, ok, I take it back, there’s a few larger items that I want…maybe I’ll write about them in hopes that you’ll remember when my birthday comes around in 5 months 
I’d like a repair stand for my bike, right now, as in the olden days, with Papa, I just turn my bike upside down for most things, but that’s not exactly the best treatment of my bike. And for the most part, my bike treats me well, as far as I know it’s never abused me, any abuse I’ve sustained at the hands of my bike was actually because of me myself and I, I’m sure of it…
So, REI has this Ultimate Sport Mechanic Repair Stand. There’s other’s out there, but this one looks nice and sturdy, but if you go to a bike shop and the mechanics tell you something different, listen to them, they know what they’re talking about…me, well, I’m not fully qualified in this department.
pst…X…that’s it…but maybe it’s more like porky the pig…”Th-th-th-thaaaat’s all, folks!”…or is it? I guess time will tell
Bender Ball - 19th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Crunches, I’m not a fan of them, in fact, I’d much rather do a plank than crunches, but I’ll do them. (they’re more enjoyable though when I know that Lolo is at the other end of the phone suffering along with me)
She says I should get one of those large exercise balls, I put a foam-baggish chair in my room instead…so there’s no room for a large exercise ball, but there is room for a bender ball. (that and I’ve been allured by the abs that these peeps have that use the bender ball)
Yes, I know, I actually have to use it if I want the abs…You know, looking at the picture, I think those crunches may be harder simply because you end up extended and so then there’s more of yourself to pull back up…sounds painful, but then again, ab workouts in general are painful…I can feel them for days…The result, I have hard abs under all my belly fat…
X, I’ll have a better nick name for you on Christmas day when I actually know who you are, chances I already have a nickname for you…ok, I’ll admit it, I’m cutting it close now by putting up a product that can only be bought online, but I don’t know where else to get it, there’s probably some store out there that has the “as seen on tv” section.
On the 18th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown - we revisit
Today, I don’t have something I want, we’re just going to revisit 13 of the ones I’ve listed and put them in some kind of order based on how much I want them.
2) Adidas Response Long Sleeve Half-Zip Tee
3) Complete Guide To Bicycle Maintenance and Repair
4) Topeak Road Morph G Bike Pump with Gauge
9) Craftsman 3-Drawer Tool Box
10) Microflate Nano
11) StarbucksCard
12) Fig Newtons
13) Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009
Fam-mem, X, whomever you are, a click on any of the items will open them up for you to see
Master Chain Tool - 17th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Ok, yes, I’m heading back to my chain, if for no other reason than I’m unable to remove it from my bike and that frustrates me. I need enough knowledge to be dangerous, and with knowledge comes tools, because some knowledge needs tools to be exercised to it’s greatest extent.
My bike chain is filthy, and yes, I realize that there are chain cleaning kits, but I have one and I’m not impressed with it. I want to be able to take my chain off my bike and clean it.
The master chain tool is the key to getting my chain off my bike.
misc family member, different tool, same shop, High Desert Bicycles is the place to go.
3 Way Hex Wrench - 16th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Every time I go ride in a Tour de Cure, I always have one of the bike boys give my bike a once over just to make sure I won’t have any mechanical errors while riding (you know, that once over I should be doing myself).
Almost always, they have to tweak something on my rear derailleur (that thing that changes my gears, the rear gears). And they always have this sweet little tool that has 3 hex wrenches on it in 3 different sizes.
I figure that since it’s the most used tool when the bike boys (I should probably be a little nicer), bike mechanics check out my bike that I’m in need of it.
It’s a 3 way hex wrench.
X, I can call you X right? We had that discussion in the entry from yesterday…Okay, maybe not, but seriously, I don’t know who you are, so you are “X” for all intensive purposes. Fam-mem, hrm, too close to famine…ok, moving along now, remember Turtle Mountain, and the bike store right next to it, High Desert Bicycles, you should be able to get the 3 way hex wrench there.
Chain Wear Indicator - 15th day of the Athlete’s Christmas Countdown
Ok, there was the toolbox, and now, we begin to fill it with lots of useful tools.
As discussed sometime last week, I don’t know much of anything when it comes to fixing my bike, or keeping it in good repair, however, I am slightly smart enough to know that I want to be able to keep the simple stuff in good order so that I don’t have to replace the more expensive parts…it’s like getting an oil change for your car…or actually, with this tool I’m about to mention, it’s more like getting the belts examined.
The one thing on my bike that’s comparable to a belt on a car is my chain. If the chain wears down, it will wear down the sprockets (you know, those not really pointy pointy things that the chain sits on) and I really am in no rush to replace any sprockets (it’s more work and more money, we’ll take care of the lesser expensive stuff first )
That’s why I’m in need of the Chain Wear Indicator. It will tell me when my chain is in need of replacement.
Family member, can I just start referring to you as X, because you’re the unknown variable in my equation for Christmas joy? The Chain Wear Indicator can be bought right near us in our very own city of Rio Rancho at High Desert Bicycles. (It’s over there by Turtle Mountain; so if you go at dinner time, you can kill two birds with almost one stone…*shrugs* you’ll be in the right place at least…)