as you can see by you can see by post on Christmas morning.. santa was up a little late : ) but it was all well worth it. just the look on little ella's face as she walked in the room was priceless.. she told us several times it was the greatest day of her life. 6o2 santa prefers a nice franciscan to the ordinary vitamin d after the gift opening madness, we headed over to my father-in-laws for a little dinner. i use the term "little" verrry loosely. he had everything.. including some homemade spicy tamales that where unbelievable.. i think i ate 18 of them.. seriously. that 9lbs i had lost is back : ( i didn't do any riding on Christmas day (i'm not a complete idiot).. but i did have big plans to ride with tbi the day after.. my alarm didn't go off so i missed it. instead i ran a few errands in the morning and waited the the wind to really pick up. i thought about bagging the ride after watching all the trashcans on midway blow down the street but, as i was dropping off a few packages at the ups terminal in the airport, i passed by gs tenzing's own david hassan and troy owens giving it hell on airport road.. that stoked the fire a bit so the ride was back on. i decided to make it a solo trek out to weatherford.. it's about a 65mi ride. i took off like gangbusters.. my average wattage for the first 1:10 was 319 - including all the stoplights. but after 1:45, i was starting to fade quick.. at one point i was riding up a hill into the headwind @ 527w and 7mph.. it was pure torture.. 33 - 40mph head/cross winda the ENTIRE way. as the saying goes.. what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. i feel like sheit today. -out surFy

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all and to all a good night! Santa.. errr.. surFy

ChristMas eve.. and we still haven't sent our ChristMas cards.. they're more like new year's cards now. the girls are getting really excited.. we've been tracking santa all day. santa came a little early for me.. a must for any cyclist who has an iphone. trust me.. i'm somewhat of an earphone junkie and these are some great <$100 earphones AND they have a remote for your music. i had plans to ride with bRet this morning but, as usual, plans changed last minute. so.. then the plan was to ride to weatherford and meet the girls there to open presents at my mother-in-laws. as i was heading out the door.. emry started throwing up so, once again, plans went out the window. it's a pretty helpless feeling sitting there watching your baby girl get sick.. it makes my heart hurt every time.. and NEVER gets easier. she's doing better now so it looks like i might get a little ride in after all : ) although it'll be an indoor ride.. but luckily my best buddy donman hooked me up with his rollers. i haven't ridden rollers for years so it could be pretty interesting. i'll let you know how it all works out.. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! surFy

in spirit of the weekend.. i found this. i typically don't get too hungover.. although i definitely feel the shiTTy side effects of irresponsible consumption. the only people who i know are immune to the dreadful "day after" are bret and el-dawg.. it must be in their genetic makeup. hangover aside.. it was a great show and i had a great time. i tried to keep my post morning embarrassment at a minimum.. i nearly succeeded : ) t-pain on stage i would have taken a couple shots of lil wayne but i was too busy dancing like an absolute idioT. and since i over rev'd it a bit on friday.. no saturday ride for me. that's probably what i was most pissed at myself for. i had it all planned out and was really looking forward to it. instead i was relegated, once again, to my trainer. these days i don't even bother taking my bike off it.. it's a permanent fixture in my office. and since i'm not out riding i've also decided to finish a few projects around the house. one that's long overdue, besides tiling the shower, is my antique cabinet that i started refinishing. it was a BEAST of a project but i can finally see the finish line. i started it back in may and had to basically totally rebuild the frame.. which took lots of time, money, technique, and special woodworking tools. i hope to finish the sanding today as well as the finish trim. all the finishing trim is going to be made out of the original 85 year old oak that i planned and refinished.. i was able to save and reuse 90% of it. working hard in the frigid temperatures.. ella's having a baking party tonight with a few of her friends so i better run and get this house cleaned up a bit. -out surFy

did you print the card for your desk?? cause that image looks a lot better than the actual prints we got.. : ( big day today.. going to see lil wayne tonight at the american airlines center. that dude is rAD! i can't wait.. it's going to be quite the show - people watching at it's finest.. i'm working from home today watching the girls.. that's always (side note.. i just fixed my wireless apple keyboard. the "y" key had been sticking thanks to some juice or something one of the rug rats had spilled on my desk. i got pissed and just ripped the key off and, voila!, it's fixed) a stressful day.. i probably take them to the park and let them run some energy out. because i'll be stuck inside all day.. looks like it's the trainer again. like i previously said.. i don't really like the trainer but if i take too many days off, it's just soo damn hard to get back on it. i limit my time to no more than 1hr.. if i find a good program or movie to watch, i might stretch it to 1-1/2 hours but that's it. i'm sure i'll fell a little rough tomorrow morning (after tonight's festivities) so i'll try and sneak a ride in after mama gets home from work. most all of my riding these days is solo anyway. i try and do one group ride a week just to keep my sanity and socialize a bit. over the previous several years, 90% of my riding was done in groups. it's a little easier to get out there with somebody else but i'm finding that i'm much more effective if i ride alone - nowhere to hide. i took a couple shots of the shelf i put up yesterday (fugg.. the "y" is sticking again..) it was a simple project that i made from some scrap wood that i found in the shop. i didn't want to buy brackets so i just ripped a white pine 1x4 and built a frame for the shelf to sit on. since i have a large assortment of woodworking tools, i use every opportunity (within reason) to utilize my less-used tools to "hone" my skills. the shelf is made of two different kinds of pine joined together with a biscuit joiner. like i said.. it was a super easy project but very satisfying and useful once finished. a little detail i'll get around to painting them one day.. it's just not at the top of the list yet. i built the pull-out drawers many years ago.. before i had any real tools. that project was done with a hand saw and a router. they [the drawers] are actually pretty damn cool.. they're mounted on heavy duty sliders that allow them to pull out all the way. perfect for storing parts and miscellaneous clothing items.. i.e. socks, gloves, arm warmers, etc. and now that i'm looking at the picture, i need to donate some clothing. i give it away here and there but i think it's time for a massive donation - i also have two full tubs of clothing in the attic. if you're in need of something, let me know. -out surFy

our 2oo8 christmas cards - designed by yours truly. i guess there's not really much design.. but i did take the picture and find the kick ass font. if you're not on lena's list.. go ahead and print this one off for your desk or the fridge or something. other than making christmas cards.. i've had all kinds of junk going on. i started with the christmas lights.. that's always a whip. but i did finally install an outdoor timer for them.. well worth it. i cleaned the shop and finished christmas shopping.. although mama did most of the shopping. and finally built a much needed storage shelf in my "bike room". it's not really in the bike room.. more like adjacent to the bike room. at any rate.. it turned out pretty sick and handy. and i did manage to sneak in some great training time.. since i was on vacation, i was determined not to let a little cold derail my fun.. so monday i ventured out with temp's in the 20's. it was pretty chilly but as long as you have the right clothing it's not too bad. thermometer when i finished.. a balmy 29 degrees and 20mph winds. with it being so wet out today it looks like it's going to be some trainer time. i don't particularly like riding indoors but if i get out of my routine.. i might not make it back on. -out surFy

this one is for all my hitched buddies out there.. especially one in particular ; ) i wish i could claim this genius.. but i can't. big thanks to my good friend dr. d for the laughs. in spirit of this post.. i also have to bring back this relic. -out surFy

i wish i could blame my lack of updates on the economy.. but i can't. although i was told this week my contract @ work is going out for bid.. that sux. but i guess that's the nature of the beast at this day in time. my life has been quite boring (from the outside) as of late.. i've been riding some but not as much as i had been.. but i plan on getting back in the saddle this week.. march is right around the corner. i found a little inspiration this morning via cyclingnews.com.. former tx resident and cyclo-cross maniac, nicholas weighall, won the u-23 title at us nationals today.. congrats nick results 1 Nicholas Weighall (Radracing NorthWest) 2 Nicholas Keough (Jittery Joes/Sonic Cyclocross) 3 Daniel Summerhill (TEAM CLIF BAR) 4 Alex Howes (CLIF BAR Development Cyclo-Cross) 5 Bjorn Selander (Ridley Factory Team) kind of odd that 1st and 2nd are nick. a little know fact about mr. weighall.. he's been vegetarian since birth so he's never had the pleasure of tasting a juicy steak or any other kind of meat. but i guess that's not affecting his performance in anyway. that's all i really have right now.. gotta go and clean the shop now.. followed by a little lt work : ) -out surFy