Laughing all the way to the playoffs!

I admit that I'm not the sports fan I once was, but I still follow the Kansas City Chiefs pretty closely. I didn't give them much of a prayer of making the playoffs today, but thanks to the *hated* Bronco's CHOKING against the 49ers in OT, the Chiefs beating the Jaguars, the Bengals losing to the Steelers, AND the Titans losing to the Patriots, the Chiefs are IN THE PLAYOFFS!!! Yeah, they probably won't get far, but I'm happy they will be playing next Sunday!

Cost per Mile of Operating a Vehicle

In the midst of "torturing" my children today by making them clean up their rooms, I decided to sit on the couch and look up something that has been weighing on my mind for quite some time: "How much DOES it cost per mile to drive?" Well, the answers were both interesting and thought provoking at the same time.

I will let you do your own research into this area to make your own conclusions, but for somebody who drives 10,000 miles or less per year in their vehicle actually pays more per mile than somebody who drives considerably more when you figure in the operating costs and the ownership costs.

One site broke it down this way:
Operating Costs
Gas per mile multiplied by total miles drive equals total gas. Add to that the cost of maintenance and tires and you have total operating costs.
Ownership Costs
Adding Depreciation, insurance, taxes, license and registration, and finance charges gives you total ownership costs.
Other Costs
Washes, accessories, etc.
Adding Total Operating Costs to Ownership costs along with other costs gives you total driving costs. NOW, divide that by total miles driven and you have costs per mile.

With the above formula, I guarantee you that my costs per mile driven are really high for as little as I drive. Why did I research this in the first place? As you might have guessed, it's a little self-esteem builder for the cyclist. If by bike I can do most of my commuting, going to the dome to work out, going to the store, going to the recycling center, I like to feel good about it. What could possibly make you feel better than knowing that you are probably saving 50-75 cents per mile WHILE getting a good workout on top of it all?

Another site brought up the points I was hoping to see monitarily but wasn't sure I'd find a definitive answer, and I probably still haven't: The social cost. What about the amount of pollution I don't put out, the cost of road maintenance and upgrades, and not needing a parking space. One site I found that I think aimed at a much more urban setting than ours (talking about the cost of congestion, etc) had the cost of driving as high as $1.19 (http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm).

It's not that I needed an excuse to ride my bike to work and for errands, I was just hoping to put an approximate dollar amount on it for me and for anybody else who is interested. Food for thought...eat well.

2007 Fitness Goals

1. Goal: Ride 7500 miles in 2007 – Stretch Goal: 10,000 miles. This includes ALL miles, commuting, stationary, spin class, and training. I teach a 40 minute spin class and I’m going to count that as 10 miles. I don’t think that anybody in my class would argue that it’s at LEAST that much.

2. Ride the SD Gut Check – Stretch Goal: FINISH. I’ve never completed 200 miles in one day let alone 412 in 48 hours, so I realize this will take a different approach to my normal training.

3. Weight: 190 lbs by June – Stretch Goal: 180. The stretch is definitely a stretch for somebody who has been 200+ for quite some time. At the height of my chubbiness I was 230 pounds but due to a much better diet and learning when to put the fork down, I’ve hovered around 210 for awhile.

4. Improve time on 14 mile Intramural Course to sub 36 – Stretch Goal: Win Intramural Race in the process! – My four year reign as individual champion came to an end last year and I’d like to regain the title at age 40. Cycling against “kids” under half my age can make that quite the challenge as I found out last year. 14 miles @ sub 36 would only take a 23.3 average speed, but there are rolls in this course that you will definitely feel towards the end.

5. Improve 10 mile TT time to Sub-25 minutes – Stretch Goal: Sub-24 minutes The average to break Sub-25 on the out and back time trial (turn around in the middle) is a healthy 24mph average—to break 24 would take 25mph average. To do this I see two things that have to happen: my weight has to drop and I have to have a fairly calm wind day.

6. Have 30 riders on Team Road Kill for the MS Bike Tour – Stretch Goal: 40 – Last year we had 23 riders and raised over $14,000 between the Sioux Falls and the Black Hills WRATH rides. I would love to see that climb to 30-40 riders and close to $20,000 raised to help find a cure for this dreadful disease. If you are reading this and would like to join our awesome team on this ride, let me know!

7. Ride Tour de Kota - Stretch goal: Ride from Watertown to Vermillion on Day 7 - Day seven doesn't currently exist on the TDK, but I have one person who will ride at least to Sioux Falls with me on Saturday (the 7th day). It would be a good test to see how my mind will handle the pain of the SD Gut Check ride.

8. Finish Masters Degree – I know, not exactly a fitness goal, but more of a “mental” goal. I’ve been done with coursework for about three years and now I just need to finish my Professional Report to graduate. If I fail at this task, I’ll start losing credits from courses taken due to time limitations so that is added motivation to finish.

How Many Goals Will I reach?
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	ALL 8 !!!
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Christmas Comes Early!!

My kind of Christmas happened today. My orders from Deep Discount DVD and from Amazon arrived! I got one of the cycling classics (believe it or not it was on back order!) from Deep Discount DVD: Breaking Away. Apparently there is currently a huge demand for $5.99 cycling movies from 1979.

My Amazon order is mainly book order was what I deem "books to help my body act like I'm about to turn 40". The Cyclists Training Bible, The American Physical Therapy Association Book of Body Maintenance and Repair, and The Sugar Solution. Trying to cover it all; training, body maintenance, and a decent diet (don't worry, I still have my Carmichael "Eat Right/Train Right" too!).

We (cyclists) all need some off season motivations, so here's hoping that "Merry Christmas to Me" present helps me have a great cycling season for the "40th" year of my life!

...and the streak ends....

Originally I meant to keep track of how many straight days I rode my bicycle to work but I lost track along the way (I'll try again starting tomorrow!). With that being said, I'm sure that you know that I didn't ride my bike today. I'm not a huge fan of riding to work in the rain and being a "speckled-back-mud-skipper" for the rest of the day, and I'm certainly not a fan of rain when it's a whopping 32 degrees out. The temperature is actually warm for this time of year, but not so much when it's raining. After watching "Who Killed the Electric Car?" last night I feel like a major hypocrite driving to work today.

Who Killed The Electric Car?

If you haven't watched this documentary...do. It is quite possible that I may ride my bike even more than I already do. One movie made my hatred of the following EVEN stronger than it already was:

1. Government
2. Oil Companies
3. Automobile Manufacturers (most of them anyway)

If you need to borrow it, get in touch with me. I'll be glad to get it your way.

The Brady Christmas Rhyme

I'm not exactly certian when I started to do a Christmas Letter as a rhyme, but I think it was actually pre-2K. It has been one of those traditions that people seem to like so here is this year's edition. **writers note - I've done better, but I'm tired!!***

2006 With the Brady’s – Now THIS is Living
(It’s the Christmas Rhyme that keeps on giving)

Fear not all you worriers; you’ll get your fix,
It’s the Brady Christmas letter of two thousand and six!
Only a few days until Christmas and Kevin’s behind in his quest,
To bring you a letter that’s one of the best!
No boring letters here, so sit back this time
And enjoy the Brady Family Christmas-time rhyme!
Let’s start at the top, with the boss of this clan,
Thanks to last Christmas, she’s had quite a plan.
Since our gift that keeps giving, a nice massage table,
She’s enrolled in massage therapy school and she’s really quite able!
Already licensed in South Dakota, her certificate up,
So let us all fill our glasses and raise up our cup.
When not working or with family, Kevin usually has a bicycle ride planned,
This summer the biking of our MS Team raised over fourteen grand!
We are so proud to be a part of this charity as we bike on with ease,
But life is not so easy for those who endure this disease.
Austin is now ten and his interests are vastly growing
His work at school is important to him, his maturity’s showing.
He dabbles in so many things it’s hard to mention them all at this time
It would take up the remaining space of our Brady Christmas Rhyme.
In a world that seems so caught up in hate
Enter our ray of sunshine, Marissa, now eight.
She loves to include others that are often left out on the side,
For this we are proud, a fact we won’t hide.
During this holiday season it helps keep this in mind too:
Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.
Carson is now three and is at such a cute stage,
But is more of a challenge than the two others at this age.
He pushes the limits, but usually knows when to stop,
What might push with Mum, he won’t push with Pop!
Church is busy for us, from the praise band to even preaching a time or two,
There’s almost nothing in our church that a family member doesn’t do.
That’s the abbreviated version of our life through this year,
But if you want more frequent updates don’t shed a tear.
Kevin keeps random thoughts about things on a blogging site,
Go to bikingbrady.blogspot.com when you can’t sleep at night.
I was told that I must stop when this rhyme hit the bottom of the page,
I tend to ramble on as I get “up there” in age.
So we bid you great things from our corner of Heaven,
We wish you the best for two thousand seven!

Stupid Ice...

My dislike of rain this time of year is for obvious reasons. It nearly instantly turns to ice. It had misted/lightly rained Monday afternoon as it was above freezing. It didn't *seem* bad as I left work to go home. I turned from a stop sign and got a few good pedal strokes in before BAM! down goes Kevin. Not just down mind you, skating on an icy surface at about 15 mph. Oh well, I shook it off and rode VERY CAREFULLY home.

The next morning I told Laura that the kids better not ride their bike to school and that she better give them a ride. I should have taken my own advice. I looked out and seen that the streets had been graveled so I would have some traction on the street. Well, unfortunately, the driveway was no so forgiving. As I coasted down the driveway to the street…you guessed it….BAM! It happened so fast this time that it was nearly funny, just not to my butt.

I am toying with the idea of getting out the studded tires, but with 50 degree weather in the forecast, that seems a little silly at this point. I am happy to report that it’s not nearly as icy now so I’m “up to speed” biking around town again.

Tour de Vermillion with my Garmin 301

I had an hour to kill before going to the USD Women's Basketball game so I decided to do a "tour de Vermillion" on my mountain bike. I also wanted to try to put my Garmin to the test by not constantly going in a straight line. Well, it did "okay" but I wouldn't say it did a great job. There are a couple points where it looks like I drove over a church and a couple houses. I still love it as it seems to be real accurate with total mileage ridden, but I wish that it was more accurate on the mapping side of life!

Buddy is Getting Old

Our dog of 10 years is starting to show his age. He had been really whiny as of late so Laura took him to the vet yesterday. Poor Buddy has arthritis. He seems a little better, but it's tough to coming to the realization that your pet is getting old.

OFFICIALLY a Massage Therapist

Okay, a short, but important post: My wife is now a licensed Massage Therapist in the State of South Dakota. Not only is she licensed, but due to the fact that licensing in the State of South Dakota is new, she is one of the first! WAY TO GO LAURA!

Eventually you will be able to visit her on the web as we get time to get a page up at http://www.body-in-balance-massage.com or by click on "The Best Massage" link on the side of my blog :-)

USD Theatre Department - Urinetown

I'm by no means an aficionado when it comes to plays and/or musicals, so it wasn't surprising when I had never heard of the musical "Urinetown". It seems that nobody else had heard of it either though. A graduate student from the Student Christian Community was in charge of the set, our church organist/pianist was playing piano for it, and the musical director recently sang at our church, so I had to check it out.

Sunday afternoon Laura and I sat FRONT AND CENTER (QUITE figuratively might I add)for the musical. I have to tell you, not only was I impressed with the play, but it was one of the best plays that I've ever seen here at USD. They always do a great job, but this one was just plain fantastic. Kudos on such a great presentation! For those who didn't get to see it, if you ever get the chance, see Urinetown!

Baker's (Popliteal) Cyst

Yesterday (Dec 4th) about 2:00 in the afternoon I got one of those heart stopping phone calls from one of my Mother's friends: "Your Mom was in the Doctor's office and she passed out so they took her by ambulance to the hospital. You should come as soon as you can, but drive carefully."

Wow, talk about putting a guy into a panic. I finished up the last update on a call I was working on, let everybody know I was leaving and I was on my bike to home, grabbed the car, and was on my way to Yankton. So many thoughts were racing through my brain on the way over: Did something happen with the mechanical valve in her heart? Is she having trouble with her meds?

When I got there, Mom was getting X-rays and some other tests done. She had been having some severe leg pain (second time now) and she was getting that checked when she passed out. When she got back to the room she was her usual happy self and acted like nothing major was going on. The doctor was supposed to be in by 5:00 to give us some kind of word but he wasn't and I had to get back to the USD Women's and Men's Basketball games (they won both by the way!). I called back during the games and Mom said that he had never come in, but that she was resting comfortably. When I checked in today she told me that the doctor had informed her she has a Baker's Cyst. I had to look that one up as I admit I hadn't heard of that, but it's not as serious as it may sound. I let you read about it from the link provided as I'm far too lazy to type all that.

At any rate, Mom is doing fine and will be back to her normal ornery self in no time I'm sure. Sure puts a scare in you when you get a phone call like that though.

Hey Nebraska, Please Define "Minimum Maintenance Road"

After a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner, Charlie and I decided to take advantage of the mid 50’s weather and loaded up the mountain bikes and headed over to Maskell, Nebraska to take off on the back roads. Now understand the route that I wanted to and was trying to do was the reverse of that we had just driven last week. That should set you up for yet another misadventure in mountain biking!

We headed south out of Maskell and I simply couldn’t remember how far that I had to go before turning, but I did remember it was a dirt road. We probably weren’t even a mile out of town when I seen a sign that said “Minimum Maintenance Road”: “Hey Charlie, we need to turn here!” Well, a perfectly quiet road turned interesting quickly. First we had to chase three cows back into their field. The humor of that quickly faded as our dirt road became a dirt path with grass in the middle. Shortly thereafter it became a grass path that farmers use, then basically "grass". We wound around to the point of not seeing much in the way of a path at all. “Minimum Maintenance Road” suddenly became “wandering across the open range”. The fear of not being totally sure that I could backtrack where we just came from kept us driving forward.

Finally I looked into the distance and seen a gravel road. Come hell or high water I was going to get to that road. Climbing to the top of the grassy hill I saw Highway 12 at the bottom which was a very welcome site. We had to throw our bikes over the barbed wire fence to get to the road but that seemed like a simple task after what we just rode. We took the highway to Obert and hopped on the gravel road that we were supposed to come in on. A couple good climbs later we were on our way down the correct dirt road. After chasing yet another cow back into the field (a rather large cow who made an impressive leap over the fence back into the field) we looped back into Maskell and loaded up the bikes to go home.

Although it was only a little over ten miles and a little less than an hour, it was still a great adventure. Our “out and back” ride ended up being a loop by accident, but loads of fun. I dare any of you to try to reproduce this ride exactly. Oh, and Nebraska: How about a sign that says "END of Minimum Maintenance Road"?!?!?!?!

Route:


Elevation:

Mountain Biking Around Obert, NE

I should have known this day and ride was going to be intersting when, as I was putting the bike on my van to prepare to leave, all decked out in my biking gear, my 10 year old looked at me and asked: "Going biking Dad?"....Here's your sign.

It definitely wasn't the longest ride of my biking life, but it was interesting and I look forward to the next excursion to the land time forgot...Obert, Nebraska. Tim C. drove Joe P., Cindy L., and myself over to the "village" of Obert. Obert is a quaint, quiet little place that was about to be invaded by four mountain bikers.

The instant we left going south out of Obert, we were climbing...and climbing...and climbing. I like at least a little warmup (I'm sure this is shocking to Joe), but there was none to be had on this ride. About four miles in, we were ready to go from gravel to dirt. That's right, dirt. Joe P., realized that his tire was going flat. A flat always stinks, but especially on your birthday (Happy Birthday Joe!). We stopped, pumped it back up, made it a mile on a STEEP dirt road, and pumped it up again. It was here I noticed something to add to "land that time forgot" stigma: A "SCHLITZ" can. Do they REALLY still make Schlitz? Plugging forward we abandoned Joe with a lowly little pump and our best wishes on his survival. We all went another mile south before circling around to get the pickup and to backtrack Joe's slow progress and pick him up. Sadly enough, Joe's birthday woes didn't stop there. As he went to get into the truck, he slammed his head (still in helmet) into the top of the truck. Joe may have to reconsider biking on his birthday from now on.

At any rate, it's amazing to see how different this land is and it's still so close to Vermillion. It also looks like some good hill training for next year as well.

Tim decided to take us on the "north" loop from Obert to Maskell (via truck). After a fairly good climb leaving Obert followed by a fast descent, we turned on to another minimum maintenance dirt road. After being on this narrow road for a little while I jokingly said, "Now watch another mountain biker come screaming down the hill at us". Shortly thereafter we actually seen another mountain biker that was broke down. As we got closer we realized that we knew him! What are the odds! We gave Charles a lift back to his wife who backtracked to get their vehicle. So, all in all, it was an interesting day of mountain biking and bizarre coincidences on a cool November day.

At any rate, here is some info from the area we did mountain bike. I look forward to going back and biking the area again. Oh yeah, and if there are any people from that area reading my blog, I apologize for the "land that time forgot" comments! Please don't run me over when I come back.

Profile:


Map:

Turkey Creek Road

This is a great mountain bike ride once you get over the bridge into Nebraska. Turkey Creek Road is a windy, hilly, scenic trip over to Newcastle, NE. This particular day was with Joe and Cindy on a beautiful November day. We bagged work at 2:00 to get a ride in.

Profile:


The Route:

Spondylolisthesis

I haven’t blogged in awhile and I apologize to the faithful few who seem to get all cranky with me when I don’t blog much. Here is a thought for you whiners:Leave comments on the blog! Most of the time I feel like I’m just writing it to let off steam or to look back when I’m old and senile and say..”Hey, I remember that!”

At any rate, I’ve been in research mode as of late. Some of you know and some of you don’t know that I suffer from various levels of back pain. Three or four years ago after an MRI was done, I was diagnosed with a Grade 1 spondylolisthesis. They told me what it was, that I could get through it with Physical Therapy at this point, and sent me on my way. I figured it was a combination of many miles of distance running and a car accident that I was in back in 1992 but it’s awful hard to determine what caused it.

Cycling never seemed to bother my back much; actually if I DIDN’T cycle my back would tighten up and hurt so I tend to make sure that I exercise regularly. As I managed to get in better and better shape I decided to take a crack at running again. Well, long story short, I did fine until I started pushing mileage higher and higher. Then….well….not so good. There went the other dream of doing a triathlon again….maybe…stupid stubborn Kevin….

Why can’t I let this die? Maybe it’s the whole upcoming event of turning 40 and wanting to get back into my *former* shape and do something that pushes my body a little further again. Yeah, I know, like riding 100+ miles on a bike isn’t pushing it enough. I just don’t think it’s meant to be. I have the Physical Therapy department at USD monitoring me and giving me suggestions. I even learned that swimming isn’t good for “spondy” which was really shocking. I thought swimming was good for EVERYTHING.

For now, I am training extra hard on the bike/stationary bike/spin bikes. If nothing else, I’m going to try to have one heck of a 40 year old time trial on the bike. Lose a little more weight and go FAST. Wish me luck!

Cell Phones and iPods

I'm going crazy and maybe feeling a little old at the same time. I happened to be walking across campus when students were between classes. Simply amazed at the number of people on cell phones or listening to iPods I took an informal count.

I used the next 17 people I seen as I walked across campus in my "study". It was actually 19, but I removed two girls who were talking to each other. 17 people, by themselves, and here are the results:

14 of 17 were either talking on their cell phone or had their iPod jammed in their ears. They can't even walk across campus or between class without one or the other. The three "odd balls" that was "technologically impaired" probably feel left out or maybe they were non traditional students that are older like me!

Someday maybe they will enjoy periods of uninterrupted silence instead of constant chaos and noise.

Three Minutes?

So, I woke up early on a Saturday. Something I would rather NOT do as I prefer to sleep in a little to make up for my lack of sleep during the week. It just wasn't meant to be as I heard my wife up getting ready to go to work. I got up, had too many thoughts racing through my mind and so I was up.

Then one of those moments that leave you speechless happened. My oldest son got up, came out where I was standing at the computer reading the news, and said "7:15? I thought it was like 7:18". With a puzzled look on my face I asked him "...and the difference would be?" Without even thinking he said "3 minutes!" and he walked on downstairs to his video games.

I've tried to figure it out if was just a semi sleep state or what, but I STILL have no idea where his thought process was. It was a whole different world that he was in though. Either that or Dad is just getting old.

Too Young to Die

41 years old. It’s too young to die, especially of cancer. Especially when you are leaving three children still in school behind with no father.

The family went to our church after they moved to Vermillion. Big, strong guy…ex-college football player, somewhat of a typical jock, but still a wonderful guy. His demise from cancer was brutal. Every bad thing that cancer could take from you was taken from him and it was one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.

When he passed away last week, it didn’t come as a shock as we knew that he was in hospice care, but as always is the case, it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. Part of the “hard to swallow” part comes from the fact that I myself am nearly 40 years old. This could be me. My own mortality doesn’t scare me mind you, but what it would do to my wife and kids right now would be devastating. I can’t begin to fathom my wife having to be a single Mom of three.

I came home from the funeral and my youngest met me in the kitchen with a big hug. He let go after a couple seconds, but I didn’t. I wanted to hold him a long time, and fortunately he let me. When the time comes Lord, if it be Your will, let my kids be in a position where they don’t need me as much as they need me now.

Cycling in the Rain

Okay, so I've been lazy about posting as of late. Sunday we went on our "Fall Colors Ride" that has become an annual outing to enjoy some nice mountain biking on the Nebraska side of the river. We had responses from about 10-12 people excited to ride, which excited me too, because usually there are 4-5 of us on this ride is all.

Then it happened...as I walked out of church, it was sprinkling. We still had an hour and a half before the ride so it had plenty of time to quit. Well, on the contrary, it had plenty of time to POUR DOWN. When the THREE of us left on our ride, it was cold, raining a decent amount, and I think we all wondered how crazy we really were. Once we got going, it wasn't that bad and we had a really good time. As a means of sassing those who didn't ride, I emailed the following account to the rest of the Lanehogs Listserv.

It was a dark, dreary, rainy afternoon which made it the perfect afternoon to plan out attack into enemy territory (Nebraska). Craig DeVelder, Cindy Lavin and I met at the latest safehouse (Latte Da) to formulate an attack plan. We decided to attack at 1334 hours on a Sunday afternoon. The rain cover made it easy for us to hide on our way to meet the enemy. Once across the bridge we knew we were closer to the enemy so we took a path less traveled (Turkey Creek Road). A north wind helped us make time to our rendevoux point (Newcastle). Once there, we found our safehouse behind enemy lines (Marron's Service) and we refueled quickly. After a short break half our mission was over and we headed back to the home base, this time via the main convoy route (Highway 12). That's when it happened, we came under enemy attack! It was only a couple miles outside of Newcastle when I heard a noise and it got louder and louder. A bullet (apparently my brakes) had ripped the sidewall of my tire and into my tube. I had to call recon (Laura) to come and get me. Being the brave soul she is, she too came across enemy lines to save this soldiers life. I am happy to report that Craig and Cindy made it back to home base without further incident however.

Doesn't this make for better reading than saying that the three of us REALLY had a blast riding on a wet, cool day? Yeah, we were a bit wet and cold, but it was a lot of fun and something none of us will forget anytime soon! You all missed a great ride!

Kevin

Weekly Time Trials - August 23

Temp: 89.3 Ave 91.4 Max
Winds: SW 15.4 Ave 18.4 Max

Total Time: 26:28
Ave Speed: 22.5
Max Speed: 25.9
Ave Pace: 2:40/mile

Dist.	Time	A Speed	Max	A HR
1	2:17	23.2	25.0	155
2	2:52	21.5	22.8	170
3	2:46	21.4	22.9	166
4	2:45	21.5	24.1	170
5	2:57	21.0	23.8	170
6	2:36	22.5	23.7	165
7	2:42	22.5	24.3	165
8	2:27	23.8	24.3	164
9	2:33	24.2	25.0	165
10	2:16	24.2	25.9	165

Weekly Cycling Log: August 13-19

13-Aug	30.64	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop
13-Aug	7.84	Training/Recreation	Around Town w/Laura
14-Aug	3.54	Commuting/Errands
15-Aug	5.40	Commuting/Errands
16-Aug	4.12	Commuting/Errands
16-Aug	22.84	Training/Recreation	Time Trials + extra
17-Aug	3.68	Communtig/Errands
18-Aug	3.64	Communtig/Errands
19-Aug	72.52	Training/Recreation	Big Friend/Little Friend Ride

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 133.84
Commuting/Errands: 20.38
Total Miles: 154.22

SI Article - Strongest Dad In The World

You know, I'm an emotional guy...but at the same time, it takes a lot to move me to tears. A co-worker/friend from work sent me this email/article that I'm about to share. I don't receive Sports Illustrated and had never heard this story. Being a "supposed" athlete and "supposed" father, this article makes me feel highly inferior in both regards. What a story and what a father and son combo.

From Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly

"Strongest Dad in the World"

I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay
for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots.

But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.

Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in
marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a
wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars -- all in the same day.

Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back
mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?

And what has Rick done for his father? Not much -- except save his life.

This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick
was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him
brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.

"He'll be a vegetable the rest of his life," Dick says doctors told
him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. "Put him in an institution."

But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. "No way," Dick says he was told. "There's nothing going on in his brain."

"Tell him a joke," Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.

Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? "Go Bruins!" And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, "Dad, I want to do that."

Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described "porker" who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. "Then it was me who was handicapped," Dick says. "I was sore for two weeks."

That day changed Rick's life. "Dad," he typed, "when we were running, it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!"

And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.

"No way," Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.

Then somebody said, "Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?"

How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.

Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you think?

Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? "No way," he says. Dick does it purely for "the awesome feeling" he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.

This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 -- only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.

"No question about it," Rick types. "My dad is the Father of the Century."

And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. "If you hadn't been in such great shape," one doctor told him, "you probably would've died 15 years ago."

So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.

Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's Day.

That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.

"The thing I'd most like," Rick types, "is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once."

Check out http://www.teamhoyt.com for more info.

Still not in tears? Check the video by clicking here.

Enjoy and God Bless,

Kevin

Weekly Time Trials - August 16

Well, I had a brain-dead moment at the start of time trials. I was talking with the timer and when he started counting me down I forgot to start my Garmin. It wasn't until around a mile in that I remembered so I do not have the cool chart like weeks past. The abbreviated report is this:

Conditions: Windy and humid - Winds SSE 16.8 Gusting to 21.9 (thank you weather.com!)
Time: a respectable 26:16 considering the conditions
Temp: Changed considerably for a short ride - High 80.6 - Average 77.9
Footnote: Kept heart rate at a higher level than any other ride this year - Ave 163-64

Weekly Cycling Log: August 6 - August 11

Yeah, pretty weenie week, but it was a busy one in the Brady household. More details of the fun during the MS150 to follow soon!

6-Aug	78.05	Training/Recreation	MS150 Day 2
7-Aug	2.53	Commuting/Errands
8-Aug	1.80	Commuting/Errands
9-Aug	5.54	Commuting/Errands
10-Aug	5.58	Commuting/Errands
11-Aug	4.85	Commuting/Errands
11-Aug	31.51	Training/Recreation	Burbank Hill Repeats

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 109.56
Commuting/Errands: 20.30
Total Miles: 129.86

Weekly Cycling Log: July 30 - August 5

30-Jul	20.31	Training/Recreation	Hwy. 12
31-Jul	5.91	Commuting/Errands
1-Aug	5.51	Commuting/Errands
2-Aug	3.48	Commuting/Errands
2-Aug	31.14	Training/Recreation	Time Trials + warmup / cooldown
3-Aug	2.02	Commuting/Errands
4-Aug	1.81	Commuting/Errands
5-Aug	101.42	Training/Recreation	MS150 Day 1

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 152.87
Commuting/Errands: 18.73
Total Miles: 171.60

Carson's Birthday

A week ago today (okay okay, I'm a bad blogger and need to be in a certain mood to blog) Carson turned three and I took a day off from work to just "be Dad" which was a blast. Let's recap the days events shall we? What? No? Too bad...my blog...

When Carson woke up and I finished my morning Latte (NOTHING happens before the morning Latte!) we hooked up the bike trailer and biked out to Hy-Vee for a killer breakfast of French Toast and a big iced cinnamon roll. Carson was a sticky mess, but he was having the time of his life. We came back and opened up one present which was a t-ball set. He was in heaven for the next hour swinging away. Then we went downtown with Austin and Marissa to Vermillion's Crazy Day's which never really materialized. It basically ended up being the Vermillion Theatre having a sale of old movies and games. Austin got a game and then we went for lunch at McDonalds with all four of us. Happy meals all the way around! After a long, relaxing lunch, it was off to the park and the new playground equipment. By now, the temperature was getting pretty balmy and the swimming pool was looking like a MUCH better idea than the playground equipment, but this was Carson's day and HE wanted the PLAYGROUND. We played and played until it was quite obvious that Carson was beyond need of a nap, so we went home.

While Carson got a nap, I got a quick 30 mile bike ride in with some of the club riders. When we got back, we all went out to Dairy Queen to top off Carson's big day with some ice cream. Then, after playing until well after dark, it was off to bed for Carson. I must say, there was no argument from Carson and he was asleep in no time. Below are some pictures of the day!

Weekly Time Trials - August 2

Temp: 82 Ave 82.4 Max
Winds: ENE 7.8 Ave 10.4 Max

Total Time: 25:13
Ave Speed: 23.5
Max Speed: 28.7
Ave Pace: 2:33/mile

Dist.	Time	A Speed	Max	A HR
1	2:27	24.4	28.7	157
2	2:22	24.8	25.3	165
3	2:31	23.7	25.1	156
4	2:35	23.3	24.5	166
5	2:40	22.1	23.7	160
6	2:48	22.2	25.0	157
7	2:26	24.6	25.7	165
8	2:35	23.4	25.3	164
9	2:34	23.3	25.0	164
10	2:17	25.0	25.8	156

My Near Brush With Manslaughter Charges

Okay, this was BY FAR the most bizarre thing that has happened to me in my 9 plus years on the job. I had a very nice sweet lady who has been having troubles with her mouse. I had cleaned it a few different times, but it was simply giving up the ghost so I brought her a new one.

This is where the story takes a BIZARRE turn....They had received nice new office furniture last year and it is heavy, high quality stuff. Well, this is a "section" off a much bigger desk and doesn't have a hole for all the computer cords to go through so I had to put the cords behind and run them underneath the desk. PROBLEM: The desk goes all the way to the ground so you have to "lift" it ever so slightly to get the PS/2 cord of the mouse under the desk.

As mentioned, this is a HEAVY desk WITH a book case on top that isn't fastened on. Yeah, you are beginning to get the picture. I lifted, she got underneath the desk to grab the cord and lift slightly as well. All of a sudden I heard a movement and realized that the bookcase was about to come crashing to the ground. I grabbed with all my might and all I could see was her legs sticking out. I yelled, and instinctively stuck my leg out to "buffer" the blow that was about to happen. NOT TO MENTION, there was somebody else in the direct path of this falling monstrosity.

Apparently between me grabbing what I could and pushing it out of the way, it hitting my leg instead of crushing hers, and some awesome quick movement from her office mate, we ALL SURVIVED with no injuries. Let's just say that HE was looking out for all of us yesterday as there is no feasible way that all of us simply walked away from that uninjured. I thank my friends for their great sense of humor/relief and I thank God for watching out for us!

July Cycling Mileage

Good month with all things considered. It was hot and busy for me, but still found SOME time to ride!

July	Commuting/ Errand	Training/ Recreation	Total Miles	% Commuting/ Errand	% Training
	73.17	716.17	789.34	9.27%	90.73%

Weekly Cycling Log: July 23 - July 29

Had a tight hammy so I didn't time trial or ride very hard until Friday. Not a bad week, VERY hot week outside.

24-Jul	6.22	Commuting/Errands
25-Jul	3.66	Commuting/Errands
26-Jul	15.72	Training/Recreation	Airport Loop +
27-Jul	7.99	Commuting/Errands
27-Jul	31.59	Training/Recreation	Elk Point
28-Jul	2.51	Commuting/Errands
29-Jul	62.06	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop/Elk Point

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 109.37
Commuting/Errands: 20.38
Total Miles: 129.75

Weekly Cycling Log: July 16 - July 22

17-Jul	32.64	Training/Recreation	Rice Hill Loop
17-Jul	2.83	Commuting/Errands
18-Jul	2.78	Commuting/Errands
19-Jul	4.77	Commuting/Errands
20-Jul	21.89	Training/Recreation	Hwy.12
21-Jul	30.72	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop
21-Jul	1.88	Commuting/Errands
22-Jul	71.74	Training/Recreation	Yankton Loop

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 156.99
Commuting/Errands: 15.49
Total Miles: 172.48

Weekly Cycling Log: July 9 - July 15

After a great week comes a "swallow your pride" week. It was hot, I was busy, and I didn't even break 100 miles. Know what? I'm okay with that!

10-Jul	6.41	Commuting/Errands
11-Jul	1.89	Commuting/Errands
12-Jul	19.99	Training/Recreation	Time Trails
13-Jul	4.71	Commuting/Errands
14-Jul	1.83	Commuting/Errands
15-Jul	55.93	Training/Recreation	Centerville / Viborg / Irene / Wakonda

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 75.92
Commuting/Errands: 14.84
Total Miles: 90.76

Things that make you go....DUH

Okay, I don't talk about work, and officially I'm not talking about my main job with this post. I will tell you that I do some contract work on the side from time to time. Well, this is where my story begins.

I was asked to do some consulting, and step one already has me scratching my head. I can't (read: don't want to) get in to details, but the Reader's Digest version of my first day of consulting was this: Drove 235 miles, attended a 1/2 hour meeting, drove 235 miles back. Makes perfect sense to me, how about you?

Oh, you want to know what the meeting was about? Here was my portion of the meeting: "Do you have 6 people who are qualified to run this particular computer/program?" "Yes." "Great, we will order them for you!" If you think I'm full of crap, I'd love to tell you that you are right, but that is exactly what I drove 470 miles for. Something that could have happened in TWO emails tops. So, I scratch my head, get the computers ordered, and collect my consulting fee. God Bless America...

Weekly Time Trials - 7/12/06

Little slower this week, but still a decent effort. According to my weather info for my Garmin it was 86 degrees and the wind was ESE at 11.5 so the conditions were not as favorable as last week.

Overall Time: 26:12

Dist.	Time	A Speed	Max	A HR
1	2:15	25.6	28.0	153
2	2:18	25.8	26.7	160
3	2:17	25.9	27.1	164
4	2:23	25.3	28.5	161
5	2:45	23.1	25.7	160
6	2:53	20.7	22.3	162
7	3:00	20.0	20.6	160
8	2:48	20.6	21.4	159
9	2:55	20.6	21.2	161
10	2:39	22.0	23.7	163

Weekly Cycling Log: July 2 - July 8

This will probably be one of my more stellar weeks for mileage this year and it felt wonderful to be able to get out this much.

2-Jul	20.49	Training/Recreation	Hwy. 12
3-Jul	76.40	Training/Recreation	Wakonda / Irene / Viborg / Centerville
4-Jul	36.33	Training/Recreation	Westerville / Meckling
5-Jul	20.02	Training/Recreation	Time Trials
5-Jul	3.81	Commuting/Errands
6-Jul	4.83	Commuting/Errands
7-Jul	3.91	Commuting/Errands
7-Jul	50.42	Training/Recreation	Elk Point / Jefferson Loop
8-Jul	86.84	Training/Recreation	MS150 Training Ride (+extra)

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 290.30
Commuting/Errands: 12.55
Total Miles: 302.85

Weekly Time Trials

After a slow, nobody-seems-to-care, start to the biking year, the club started time trials last Wednesday due to high demand. I have trouble making it due to ball games with the kids, but I did manage to make it out tonight. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately with some stomach-type issues, but it sure didn't seem to matter as I ran one of my top times ever covering the 10 mile out-and-back course in 25:26. I was quite pleased for my first effort. Maybe it was the Sobe No Fear that I drank prior to the trial. At any rate, I think I will retire for the year as I set the standard pretty high!

June Cycling Mileage

A little better pickup over May, but still not the mileage I'd like to put in. Family obligations will always come first though!

June	Commuting/ Errand	Training/ Recreation	Total Miles	% Commuting/ Errand	% Training
	100.12	577.97	678.09	14.77%	85.23%

Weekly Cycling Log: June 25 - July 1

Another busy week, so I'll continue to settle for a little over 100 a week.

25-Jun	30.71	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop
26-Jun	30.89	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop
26-Jun	4.04	Commuting/Errands
27-Jun	5.05	Commuting/Errands
28-Jun	3.89	Commuting/Errands
29-Jun	3.69	Commuting/Errands
30-Jun	1.88	Commuting/Errands
1-Jul	63.28	Training/Recreation	Gayville / Volin / Wakonda

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 124.88
Commuting/Errands: 18.55
Total Miles: 143.43

Weekly Cycling Log: June 18 - June 24

A depressing training week, but a great family week so I can't complain :-)

19-Jun	22.55	Training/Recreation	Hwy. 12
19-Jun	7.83	Commuting/Errands
21-Jun	7.59	Commuting/Errands
22-Jun	1.79	Commuting/Errands
22-Jun	20.56	Training/Recreation	Hwy. 12 w/ Angie W.
23-Jun	78.20	Training/Recreation	Alcester / Akron / Elk Point

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 121.31
Commuting/Errands: 17.20
Total Miles: 138.51

Weekly Cycling Log: June 11 - June 17

Have you ever felt like Mother Nature hates you? As stated earlier, Monday - Thursday is tough sledding for me with baseball, softball, and Laura's schooling. So, what happens on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday? Oh but of course...it rains in all my prime biking opportunities. I guess I was blessed with some biking, so I shouldn't complain. Without the Tour de Kota last Sunday, this week would have had terrible mileage, but I DID have it, so WOO HOO for me!

11-Jun	102.74	Training/Recreation	Tour de Kota
12-Jun	4.53	Commuting/Errands
12-Jun	36.62	Training/Recreation	Elk Point Loop
13-Jun	4.96	Commuting/Errands
13-Jun	8.96	Training/Recreation	Mtn Bike w/ Cart & 2 Kids w/Austin
14-Jun	5.48	Commuting/Errands
15-Jun	6.51	Commuting/Errands
15-Jun	7.40	Training/Recreation	Mtn Bike w/Cart & 2 Kids w/Marissa Town
16-Jun	3.81	Commuting/Errands

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 155.72
Commuting/Errands: 25.29
Total Miles: 181.01

Marissa's First Road Bike Ride

Last night during my bi-weekly pull of the son and niece in the kid cart, Marissa asked if she could ride with. I told her that she sure could. Then I thought to myself: "I wonder if she is tall enough to ride the road bike now." What do you know...SHE WAS! She was a little wobbly, but she loved it. She rode nearly 8 miles with me and she thought it was great! She now wants her turn in the rotation on the road bike. I'm sure I will be spending considerable time riding with Marissa as she is much more demanding about things like that. Don't you hate it when your kids grow up and act just like you?

BANDITS!!!!!!!

I did something today I thought I'd never do: I rode bandit on day zero(?) of the Tour De Kota. For those of you who don't know cycling terms, it simply means some of us followed the same roads as everybody else, but we didn't pay to ride. I seriously would have, but I truly didn't know until about 3:00 in the afternoon if I could arrange for my three children to be watched while I rode. Thanks to a wonderful mother in law and sister in law, they covered for me.

My punishment: It was cold, mist/slight rain, mild winds 6-12 mph, and I loved every minute of it. It was a nice ride amongst familiar terrain in the Yankton/Vermillion area. The one downer was that I forgot my Garmin 301 so I had to stick to the cyclocomputer for this trip. Total mileage of the day is almost that of my training for all of last week (insert sad face here)! The computer showed a grand total of 102.74 at days end.

Weekly Cycling Log: June 4th - 10th

Monday through Thursday are going to be tough with kids ball games, but getting up at 5 am on Tue/Thur will give me a few miles from here on out. Without further ado, thy weekly miles:

4-Jun	26.25	Training/Recreation	Maskell, NE
5-Jun	5.54	Commuting/Errands
5-Jun	30.49	Training/Recreation	Elk Point
6-Jun	5.27	Commuting/Errands
6-Jun	8.38	Training/Recreation	Mtn Bike w/ Cart & 2 Kids
7-Jun	17.65	Training/Recreation	Bridge
7-Jun	7.29	Commuting/Errands
8-Jun	20.18	Training/Recreation	Bridge & Around Town
8-Jun	3.27	Commuting/Errands
9-Jun	5.13	Commuting/Errands

Miles for Week:
Training/Recreation: 102.95
Commuting/Errands: 26.50
Total Miles: 129.45

A new habit??

Since I knew my daughter has a softball game at 6:00 tonight, I figured that if I was going to be sure to get a decent bike ride in that I'd go this morning. The alarm went off at 5:00 am and much to my surprise I got out of bed without much of a second thought. I was out on the road before 5:30 and after a brief loop around town, I headed out to the bridge.

What a beautiful morning. The wind, according to weather.com, was CALM! Let me tell you NON South Dakotans, the wind is SO VERY RARELY calm in this state that I wasn't sure how to handle it. I wasn't biking with my head buried from the wind, or biking at a 45 degree angle from the crosswind, I was actually in an UPRIGHT position. Crazy stuff to say the least!

I think I can get used to getting up at 5:00 am once in awhile to do an easy 15-20 miler before the wind turns unbearable. Not everyday mind you, as I'm a bit of a night owl and I'm sure that I will not always be as eager to get out of bed as this morning, but beautiful mornings like this will certainly help!

My First Sermon

Well, it has officially happened. I gave my first sermon at the Gayville United Methodist Chuch today. We took Gayville under our wing a little over a year ago and they are looking for more lay speakers to speak there so this was my first go at it. It seemed to be well received and I'm glad that I now have my "first time" out of the way. Now it is time to go to official Lay Speaker training in three weeks to learn how to do this the RIGHT way!

Weekly Cycling Log: May 28 - June 3

Weekly miles looked a little better and I'm going to try to post these regularly now.

28-May	0.00
29-May	32.08	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop w/JohnF
30-May	6.36	Commuting/Errands
31-May	6.83	Commuting/Errands
1-Jun	62.87	Training/Recreation	Meckling Loop 2X's-Solo and then w/John, Joe & Craig
1-Jun	6.19	Commuting/Errands
2-Jun	21.27	Training/Recreation	Hwy.12w/JoeP.&EricM.
2-Jun	4.68	Commuting/Errands
3-Jun	1.81	Commuting/Errands
3-Jun	52.25	Training/Recreation	EP/Jefferson Loop w/JohnF. & CraigD.

Totals for the week:
Training/Recreation - 168.47
Commuting/Errands - 25.87
Total Miles - 194.34

KITTENS! 1-2-3-4-5!

Yes, our less-than-1-year old cat decided to drop a little surprise on us. This picture is actually from May 20th. What can I say...I'm a little behind here! Anybody going to be in need of a kitten soon? Let me know!

May Cycling Mileage

Okay, it was an off month for me. Busy working on the basement (which still isn't complete), busy with the kids, etc. etc. etc. In the end, they are all excuses, albeit good ones, as to why I didn't get out much in May. Without further ado, my monthly miles were:

May	Commuting/ Errand	Training/ Recreation	Total Miles	% Commuting/ Errand	% Training
	153.32	309.86	463.18	33.10%	66.90%

Catching Up...

Wow, people really do read my crazy ramblings once in awhile. People have actually asked me what is happening because I haven't posted lately. Well, it's call "home improvement". Slowly, very slowly, the family room in the basement is seeing it's way to completion. Sheetrock is up and let the finishing work begin (oh joy).

So, let me lay out this challenge to those who say they read my blog. First one who posts a comment gets a lunch date with me :-).

I will post more shortly on the last couple weeks happenings which include: 5 new baby kittens born, USD Winning the NCC Men's and Women's track titles, and school is out for the summer (much to my wife's chagrin).

Kerry Hacecky's "Going Away" Article

Kerry Hacecky wrote a going away piece for the Volante in which she made reference to the plethora (yes, I know what a plethora is for you Three Amigos! fans) of emails received from cyclists across the nation so kudos to all of you who wrote in!

 

"In fact, professors have started encouraging me to consider law school.  No teacher has ever thought I was smart before, so I can only attribute this change to them picturing me in a job interview and laughing heartily.

   

But, that degree would be another four years away and I've got bicyclists who want to run me over.  Sticking around could be dangerous to my health."

 

Personally I would rather see her get on the bike and become one of us. Then I may be in a little more forgiving mood.

Amaze Your Friends!

Most of my friends over the past few years probably wouldn't be all that surprised about what I'm about to write, but those who have known me since childhood would probably fall over and clutch their chest: I'm going to Lay Speaker training for our church. Yes, that's right, I'm going to be in charge of giving a sermon from time to time.

On June 23-24th I'll be going to training sponsored by The Dakotas Conference Board of Laity. It's a big step in my faith journey, but I've been thinking about this for some time, and it's time to stop thinking and start doing.

I'm sure most people are not surprised by this move, but there may be a few "old" friends who may need the paddles to restart their heart!

Book Review: The Gutter: Where Life is Meant To Be Lived

People have callings for all sorts of things.  Imagine having a calling to go "into the gutter" that is Porn?  Although the book is about much more than porn, these two pastors definitely are taking a chance going to porn shows, driving the "porn mobile" around town, and taking a very fresh approach at ministry.  Pat Robertson wouldn't put them on the 700 Club (they ended up on when Pat was off for the night) so that right there endears them to me.

Overall a good book and worthy read.  If you want a preview, go to http://www.xxxchurch.com - #1 Christian Porn Site!

Book Review: Under the Overpass

This book was one of the best spiritual reads that I've had in quite some time.  Those who go to church regularly, myself included, often hear the sermon about taking care of all God's people and putting our faith in action.  Now imagine hearing that sermon and doing something about it.  I mean REALLY doing something about it. 

The author of this book and another young man went homeless in five different cities for five months.  Living as they live, eating as they eat, and sleeping as they sleep.  It is a great read and a great website to check in on once in awhile ( www.undertheoverpass.com).  I could go on and on about this book but don't want to spoil it.  Just go get it.  You won't regret adding it to your library.

They All Sound Like Excuses To Me!

The Volante didn't print a paper last week due to Easter break.  This gave them extra time to receive at least five known Letters to the Editor about their abhorrent article about cyclists.  Of course, they printed none.  Some of our members are pushing further to see why none were printed and the answer was "they ran out of space".  Well, that may be since we tried our best to push them over their USD email quota.  I personally think they were hoping that things would blow over.  Little did they know that they have now incited the cycling community even further although I'm beginning to question if they really care.  Eric definitely has the best arguement when he says that this was not written as an editorial, but as part of the Verve section of the paper.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out and I'm sure I'll blog more about it later.  I need to catch up on some other blogging as well, but this has consumed my life as of late.

As I was looking up things for my Letter to the Editor, I ran across the quote below that seems to say many of my own thoughts about this article.  It is now my tagline on my email :-)

--
"It should be the judgment of each cyclist as to which road to use or not use.  If appropriate and useful alternatives are available, then cyclists will use them.  However, these attempts to restrict cyclists without providing a free choice are simply attempts to deny our right to free travel based on the bigoted notion that people who drive automobiles have superior rights.  Our society needs to get past prejudice, recognize the healthy lifestyle that cycling offers, and make the improvements to our roads and highways that are necessary." -  Ken Kifer ( www.kenkifer.com)

One More Response to the Editor - Eric Mosterd

Thanks to Eric for allowing me to post this!

Over the past few years of reading the Volante, I have grown accustom to the more salacious—Mr. Fischer's writings spring to mind—and even downright fallacious publications in the editorial section, but I realize that at least on some level, this is a means to an end: to get the students to debate and take action. At least from this perspective, I commend these people, even though I do not necessarily agree with them.

What concerns me is when opinion spills out to other sections of the paper—opinions that must have been condoned by the editors in order to appear outside the editorial section—then I grow concerned. When such opinions encourage violence against others, then I grow outraged and such is the case with Kerry Hacecky's "Reasons We Have Sidewalks" article in the Verve section of the April 12th edition of the Volante.

The Volante editors have, on occasion, published some bad things in the past, but they should be ashamed of this article. Ms. Hacecky's article was misinformed, under-researched, uneducated, and even worse, incites intolerance of, and even outright violence toward, a group of people. Would an article have been published that proposed such acts against a religious group or ethnicity? I think not.

As the secretary and ride coordinator of the local cycling club as well as and an avid cyclist, who puts in around 2,000 miles per season, I have to deal with too many drivers like Ms. Hacecky, who think they own the road and that nothing should stand in their way in getting from point A to point B. I have had both insults and objects hurled at me as well as other cyclists, have been run off the road on occasion, have watched aggressive drivers run oncoming traffic off the road while trying to pass a pace line, and have even been grazed by traffic not moving over to pass me. Encouraging such dangerous and even deadly behavior as this article does simply cannot be tolerated.

Let me address Ms. Hacecky's points one by one, as she obviously did not take the time to research her arguments. First, when she tells cyclists to use the sidewalks, she did not bother to check the fact that in many cities—Vermillion included—it is illegal for cyclists to ride on sidewalks. Perhaps the next time she is downtown she should take a moment to notice the big signs stating this above her beloved sidewalk. And just in case she is interested, the reason for such a law is that, according to the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission, it is nearly three times more dangerous to ride on the sidewalk than it is to ride on the road. Sorry if that is just a "grand old excuse," but I am sure every pedestrian, or "two-footed fool" as she so kindly referred to them, appreciates it.

In terms of taxes, it should be no surprise that cyclists pay taxes too, so we have just as much right to use the roads, as do drivers. Furthermore, even though the bicycle is not a motorized vehicle, it is a vehicle as defined in SDCL 32-14-1 and in the eyes of the South Dakota Highway Patrol, it is a vehicle just like a car so all the rules of the road pertain to bicycles as well; ergo, they must be treated like any other vehicle, motorized or not.

Grouping her next few statements together, like "following too closely," her admittance to not understanding official hand signals—something she would have learned in driver's education—and her implied talking on the cell phone while driving, according to the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center & the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the majority of automobile-bicycle collisions are caused by drivers and most of these accidents are caused by not obeying the rules of the road (e.g. following too closely and hitting the cyclist from behind), being distracted (e.g. talking on the cell phone), occupying the same lane as a cyclist instead of waiting until it is safe to pass, or the driver not understanding signals given to them by the cyclist at intersections.

As for the cyclist in her story, just like there are bad drivers, there are bad cyclists as well. I cannot condone such actions as the cyclist in the article was purported to have done; however, this does not warrant such action as to "follow them and run them over," nor does it justify an outright attack on cyclists. Even the ones too slow for Ms. Hacecky's taste.

What strikes me are the many similarities this article has with an incident a few years ago in Ohio when a DJ at Cleveland radio station WMJI stated many of the same inciting remarks on air—encouraging people to run cyclists off the road, run them over, take out a whole pace line, etc.—after being stuck in traffic behind a cyclist. In that case the station fired the producer, disciplined the DJs and donated to local cycling organizations. In that vein, I believe such action should be taken against Ms. Hacecky. Furthermore, both she and the editors of Volante should publicly apologize to all cyclists for publishing such an abhorrent article.

--
Eric

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Eric Mosterd
Coordinator of eLearning &
Manager of TechFellows Program, Center for Teaching & Learning
Instructor, Music History, Department of Music
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Volante Letter from Brian Forney

I admit it, I'm a little nicer than most people. When I sent my email in the previous post, it was tamed down from my real feelings. However, Brian's letter to Kerry Hacecky below is priceless. It is used by his permission. Thanks Brian!

I honestly can not believe that you wrote "Reasons why we have sidewalks" in April 12ths issue of The Volante. I wish my life was going so well that all I had to complain about was cyclists on the road, which is where they are supposed to be by law. It is pretty obvious that you haven't taken drivers education, because if you did maybe you would have known that it is against the law for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. Bicycles are deemed a vehicle and have just as much right to be on the road as you do in your "Monte Carlo". Sidewalks are not "paved for my own safety" they are for pedestrians, and cyclists are not pedestrians. As much as you may not like that fact that the way it is. Your whole article was based on something that is illegal. People ride on the sidewalks all the time, I will admit that I am one of them, I often cut across campus on the sidewalk, but try that in a city. I have been given a ticket for riding on the sidewalk before. You complain about cyclists on the road and that we should be on the sidewalk, but you are wrong and maybe you should have bothered to find that out before you wrote an article in the paper that made you look like a stupid ignorant hick.

As for your hatred of cyclists I am not really sure where it comes from. How often and for how long are you stuck behind a cyclist on Clark street? I bet that most of the time it may take five to ten extra seconds at the most for you to pass the "fellow on the bike" in front of you. Maybe you should just plan on not driving your lazy ass to school so late and in such a hurry. Those stupid hand signals that you made fun of are real and maybe if you would have gotten with the program and been educated about how to drive that "Monte Carlo" of yours you would have found out what they mean, and how cars use them as well, when they don't have working blinkers.

It seemed pretty callous to say that you want to give cyclists a love tap on the road and that is what helmets are for. To the question: "Am I cruel?" YES! I have personally have been hit by cars when riding and have been pretty messed up. All because you were lazy, had to drive to school, and were annoyed that you were late. I can't tell you how many times I have been out for a ride and will have a car speed past me hardly getting over at all. I was clipped by a car several years ago just like that. I was out on a long ride and one of you stupid people that shouldn't even be allowed to drive didn't move over on the empty county road at all and clipped my handlebars at 55-60 miles an hour throwing me and my bike into the ditch and knocking me out cold. The asshole didn't even stop. I was found by a farmer over an hour later and he rushed me to the hospital. Do I deserve that, just because I'm a cyclist riding on the road? I don't think so, but according to you that is what helmets are for? Right? Stupid bitch. I have just as much right to the road as anyone else and I am going to be there. I don't care if you think I am making you a little late for class or that you have to exert that little bit of extra effort to shift your hands and arms to the left to pass me. I don't think cyclists are the problem on the road, I think it is stupid people like you behind the wheel that are the problem. Maybe we should write an article complaining about you.

I admit that several times cyclists will do things that may make you upset, like rolling through a stop sign, but I am willing to bet that you have done the same thing in your car. If a cyclist does not stop at a stop sign he can get a ticket for it just like you can if you ran it in your car. Other than that though, you have not given any reason why cyclists should get off the road, except that you do not understand them. Which is your own fault, because those stupid hand signals that confuse you so much are common knowledge to everyone else. Maybe you should hang up your keys and walk to school. I promise I won't run you over.

I hope that in the future you will take the time to actually think about what you want to write and possibly do a little bit of research about it before you go off making an ass out of yourself, your paper, and your department. I used to hold the Mass Communication majors in a decent light, but if this is what is coming out of that department, then maybe I have re-evaluate how well they are preparing you for the real world.


Sincerely,
Brian Forney
One cyclist that isn't getting off the road for you

My Letter to the Editor of the Volante

The USD Student Newspaper recently released an article from a student saying the bicycles should stay on the sidewalk. Needless to say, she picked the wrong group to go after. Here is the article (Reasons why we have sidewalks) followed by my reponse below.

Dear Volante Editor and Ms. Hacecky:

As the President of the local bicycle club in Vermillion, I have a few comments on my own behalf, not those of the club, to Ms. Hacecky’s article “Reasons why we have sidewalks.” However, don’t be surprised if you have enough “filler” for your newspaper for quite some time as cyclists are a very passionate group that believes strongly in a simple credo: “Same Roads, Same Rights, Same Rules.”

I will say one positive thing about Ms. Hacecky’s article: Bicycles should NOT blow through stop signs. That being said, we have all done it, cars and bicycles. Every chance I get to pay attention to cars at stop signs, with nobody coming, rarely will a car come to complete stop. This is the point where we no longer see eye to eye however. Your comment about following the biker through the stop sign and running them over is absolutely juvenile. YOU can write whatever you want in the paper, however YOU also have a responsibility to your potential readers. Had you made a disclaimer that this article was for “entertainment only” I wouldn’t even be writing this, but you seemed fairly serious in your comments.

Maybe you should have taken Drivers Education. Then you would know what proper hand signals are all about. Here is a quick recap for you: Left turn--left arm straight out pointing left. Right turn--left arm pointed straight up or right arm straight out pointing right. Stop or slowing--left arm pointed straight down.

Now that you have had your opinions about bicycles on the road, let’s talk about how cars treat bicycles. There have been at least two bike/car accidents in Vermillion recently that disprove your “bicycles are safer on the sidewalk” theory. IF (big IF intentional) cars were to stop before the white line at a stop sign (yes, this is part of Drivers Ed) both accidents would not have occurred as bikes coming off the sidewalk ran into the car.

How about your precious cell phone that you HAVE to have glued to your ear while driving? Just a couple of months ago at the intersection of Dakota and Cherry I was heading north at a decent clip of speed. A clueless and quite oblivious young lady turned East on Cherry right in front of me and I had no choice but to lay my bike on its side or else she would have hit me. Then she realized to her “surprise” what almost happened and when I raised my arms in a “why” motion her mood turned sour and she chose to point a “happy finger” at me. My bad, obviously this was my fault.

Drivers who speed to the corner ahead of me and turn right as I’m trying to go straight annoy me more than any other. If I have to slow down because you HAD to pass me and turn, then you are wrong, plain and simple.

Do I wear my helmet? Absolutely! With people like you making threats of running me over I would encourage all other cyclists to do the same. That helmet just might save my life and keep you from a charge of vehicular homicide.

I’ll leave you with a quote that you should print out and paste everywhere as it might help you make better future decisions in journalism. Abraham Lincoln was once quoted as saying "It is better to remain quiet and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt". By the way, we really are the “funnest” bunch of people you will ever meet.

Kevin Brady
Vermillion, SD

On the Road Again and Gutcheck Update

You wouldn't know it by the 45 degree, overcast, windy, rainy day we are currently having, but it's OFFICIALLY biking season! Wednesday night, Cindy L., Craig D., and I trekked to Elk Point and back for our first "LaneHogs" group ride of the season. It was a typical South Dakota wind of 15-20 mph, but it just felt wonderful to be out on the road again! Biking Season is upon us once again!!

Update on the Gut Check Ride. I did a little Excel Spreadsheet action and came up with the following chart for completion of the ride:



Breaking it down like this definitely makes it a more "doable" ride, but that is a lot of saddle time in 48 hours time!

Happy Birthday To Me....

...and my brother....and my brother's niece (and Jeremy Johnson from Yankton!)

39...one more year to the big Four-Oh! Which pales in comparison to the fact that my brother turned 50 today. Kim (brother's niece) turned 28 today: That's right we are all 11 years apart in some weird twist of fate.

My brother has to be one of the "youngest" fifty year olds you will ever meet. He knows the words to about ever rock song out there today and is still as active has his body will let him be. If I could only get him into cycling I think he would love it, but the hours in his day are a little more limited than mine with owning the Pub on top of being a mechanic all day. It would be awesome to get him out there though. So if you happen to read this big bro...think about it :-)

We are planning to head up to the Pub tonight with my other bother as well to the "World Famous" Irish Pub Friday Night Fish Fry. Of course, there is also that chance that we will be partaking our version of American Idol with the Pub's Karaoke system. If that doesn't scare everybody away, nothing will. At any rate, it will be fun to be together with the fam...eatin' fish!

The Jinx is on...

I finally did it. After a snow just a week ago, I have now officially removed the studded snow tires on my bike and put on my Hutchinson Spiders. Any takers on if it will snow soon???

The Coffee Button

Parents, you all have those "adorable" moments with your children, especially when they are small. My latest installment of a moment like this concerns "The Coffee Button". This has been going on for some time, but lately it has come to be a source of even greater excitement for Carson.

First, a step back as I explain what "the coffee button" is. I have a little grinder for my coffee and a seperate cappuccino maker. For the past few months, when he's avaialable, Carson comes running when I ask him to push "the coffee button" on my grinder. He will drop whatever he is doing and in any part of the house for this honor. It's his moment as a big boy to be able to help Dad. Well, a couple days ago he was awake and I forgot to ask him to push the button. He was crushed when he came running to the sound of the grinder to say the least. I had to pick him up and hold him while I made the latte. He never cried, but the pout spoke volumes about how he felt. I put him on the stove while I steamed the milk and afterward I wiped off the thermometer and had Carson put it away.

It's amazing how something so simple is such a big moment for a 2.5 year old. Of course now he has a second "job" to do putting the thermometer away, but it will be a while before I forget the hurt I caused by forgetting the importance of "the coffee button".

EOM Story Hits www.usd.edu

Boast of the day: My Employee of the Month Story finally hit the USD Website. Who knows, one of these days I may even put my award on the wall!

There are Challenges and then there are CHALLENGES

I fathom myself as being in pretty good shape. Even as I approach 39 I still like to compete (within my limits) and like to push things to the limit on occasion. But, when does a challenge become more than just a challenge? I made the comment to my friend Joe that we really need to get a 200 mile bicycle ride in this summer. To make it easier, I even made the comment, we should pick a wind-aided 200 mile one way ride. Then, in came an email from my friend Melissa about a charity ride/race across South Dakota.

A charity RACE? Okay, I'll bite...how exciting could a charity race be? Well, it's a ride/race so you don't HAVE to race it. I know what you are thinking: Yeah right..ME NOT actually RACE given the opportunity. This time, I truly don't think I would race for the simple fact that I am not even sure how to train for something like this. I'm all about giving this a shot, but race, I don't think so. Oh yeah, I suppose I should give you details after all this mystery.

Website: Hwy 212 "Gut Check" - Endurance Race Across South Dakota

The reason for this race is to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. For information regarding these diseases please visit the “Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America” website: www.ccfa.org. The CCFA is a non-profit, volunteer driven organization.

Start: Hwy 212 @ SD/WY border Finish: Hwy 212 @ SD/MN border

Start time: Friday August 18th @ 4 p.m. MT Cut Off: Sunday Aug. 20th @ 5 p.m. CT

Distance: 412 miles Time Limit: 48 hours

Relay Information:

2 Person Relay: Exchange in Gettysburg

Rider 1: SD/WY Border to Gettysburg = 226 miles
Rider 2: Gettysburg to SD/MN Border 186 miles

4 Person Relay:
Exchange 1: Faith Rider 1: SD/WY Border to Faith = 113 miles
Exchange 2: Gettysburg Rider 2: Faith to Gettysburg = 112 miles
Exchange 3: Redfield Rider 3: Gettysburg to Redfield = 81 miles
Rider 4: Redfield to SD/MN Border = 106 miles

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about attempting this challenge. I'm not so fond about the fact that it is completely unsupported except for personal SAGs. I would really love to support an effort for a ride/race like this, but then there is the whole "personal safety" issue.

I don't often ask for comments on my posts, but I need to know if Joe and I (sorry Joe, had to include you on this one) are sane for thinking about doing 412 miles in 48 hours.

Is a Garage REALLY for a vehicle?

Tonight I spent much of the evening attempting to rearrange stuff so I can better fit my biking entourage in the garage. Understand, for those of you who don't know, I have a SINGLE car garage. Here is what I'm currently attempting to fit into it:

Kevin's Mountain Bike
Kevin's Road Bike #1
Kevin's Road Bike #2
Laura's Hybrid
Austin's Kid-sized bike
Austin's Road Bike
Marissa's Mountain Bike
Marissa's Kid-sized bike
Marrisa's older Kid-Sized Bike that we are going to give away
Carson's Tricycle
One Trail-a-bike
One Pull behind Trek kid trailer
One Pull behind Burley Flatbed trailer

Do you see any slight issue that I might have here? Not to mention that I still have to fit a Ford Windstar and the usual array of "garage attire" in there as well. At this point, it's still a work in progress, but everything is at least looking like it JUST MIGHT FIT. Of course, there is that issue about needing to get out of the van when we park it. Eh, Dukes of Hazzard window climbs!!!

Did I mention the very real possibility of getting a tandem?

Love/Hate Relationship with my Garmin 301

Okay, I admit that I've only had very few issues with my Garmin 301 which I love VERY much. However, the other night I went out for a EASY run as I wanted to do six miles without stopping. With the GPS features, I like to just run where ever I want and it tells me how far I go. If you look at the two pictures above, I was upset to see that it missed AT LEAST a half mile where it lost the satellites. I know I am slow at the moment, but I'm PRETTY DARN SURE that I can run .01 miles in under four minutes! I was quite disappointed with my Garmin indeed. I will attempt the same route again soon to give it a second chance to redeem itself!

Free Massages for Life!!

Ah...let's hope that it's true. Laura started Massage Therapy School last night. She did a good job with massages before, here is a toast to new and improved massages in the future!

USD March 2006 Employee of the Month

Today at work I was named University of South Dakota March 2006 Employee of the Month. A pretty neat honor if I do say so myself. The ladies at the Physicians Assistant program put me in for the honor which now endears me to them even more than the fact they make my coffee every morning! There was a great showing of fellow employees at the reception which was really cool. I'll update later with a link to the USD website story when they post it.

I also put my EOM Parking Spot up for sell on eBay since I REALLY don't need a parking spot for my bike (99% of the time). For as long as the link lasts, the EOM parking spot on eBay can be found by clicking here. I put it on eBay as a way to raise funds for the Welcome Table here in Vermillion.

UPDATE: The EOM parking permit went for $30. The Welcome Table will be most pleased with the donation! Thanks Wendy and Janet!