LAJ

Good thing it was a Mopar. Had it been any other make, it likely would have taken the whole thing before stalling out.

Seriously, stop hurting yourself, and heal well!

Dalai

Fears confirmed - as mentioned cancer had relapsed in her liver, bones and now suspected spinal fluid. Had been having immunology treatment Keytruda as bedridden and too weak for both radiotherapy or chemo. Just had a CT scan done - unfortunately liver tumours have gotten larger rather than smaller, so the Oncologist is suggesting the Keytruda isn't working (been 6 weeks and 3 doses already) and recommending we should consider stopping the treatment and move to Palliative care...

Heathpack 

Sorry to hear this. Wish there was something better to say.

shovelhd

Hang in there.

LAJ

This. Positive thoughts, Dalai.

valygrl

Really sorry Dalai. Take care of yourself if you can.

Cleave

@Dalai, so very sorry to hear this. Peace.

Racer Ex 

And strength.

revchuck 

Same from me.

Cleave

Did someone say building a new house from the ground up was easy? If they did...

Back in Everett today which messes up any attempts to balance work, bicycle racing (and training) with getting this house built. Have drained various accounts of a wheelbarrow full of cash and there is still an empty dirt lot. I do have have large set of drawings and directions on how to build the house with stamps of approval from our fair city.

Heading to my hotel room to try to figure out how big a bank I need to rob to finish this thing. Oy.

Heathpack 

Texted this pic to a friend and within 34 seconds had my first ride set up. Heaven help me.

Hermes

@Heathpack I am behind or your post was one of those cryptic posts that only a few in the know will get. Is that a new mountain bike? I know you were considering one.

Hermes

We are moving to San Diego next month. We purchased a house approximately one mile from the beach and I am in SD with painters starting today to give the house a makeover. Previously, I had flooring and electrical work done. To reduce my carbon footprint, I am replacing 130 low voltage halogen lights with LEDs and installing home automation. The older halogen lights use a lot of power and produce heat. LEDs dramatically reduce power consumption and produce minimal heat. New LEDs have color temperature selection and can be dimmed. I am using the Lutron system and smart light switches. When I am finished, I can control my lighting, window shades, audio visual system, media content, thermostat / HVAC and security from my iPad or iPhone. Even 50 Shades did not have that.

We have the actual moving to look forward to. Last night, I slept on a blow up air mattress and that was the only blow up item I had for the evening. We are getting mostly new furniture, dishes, linens and etc so this house will have a complete new look and feel.

All and all, this is simple stuff but I am still bleeding money. It is coming out of everywhere. Of course, I could be yachtsmen in which case the bleeding never stops.

@Cleave You and I could get together, pool our cash and set fire to it on the beach. At least, we can roast a hotdog, drink beer and commiserate our limited genetic cycling ability with a lot less stress.

We lived in SD for 15 years and know the area. The primary training area will be the beach, Mission Bay and the coast. My new goal for the next decade is to do a reset back to being more of a decathlete style athlete - more mass and upper body strength plus more general athletic capability. That means more time in the gym focused on dedicating energy to strength training versus endurance and doing other sports. However, that fits with my cycling goal for the 500 meters at the track.

Saying goodbye to NorCal will be difficult but it has been a great 10 year stint. I will definitely miss the Canada TT course that I have ridden, conservatively, 1000 times and our friends. My new TT course will be loops around Fiesta Island. When we lived in SD before, we ran, cycled and in-line skated around Fiesta Island. I am looking forward to doing over 1000 sessions on Fiesta Island.

We live on the side of a mountain so all bike rides originating from home finish with a nasty short climb but I can coast done to the beach. However, that is okay and fits with my goals. And there is a velodrome in Balboa Park. Rumor has it that the velodrome will be refinished this year. That would be really nice to have a smoother track. Also, Velo Sports Center is drivable so we can more more 250 meter track time in prep for track worlds next year.

And we have a lot of friends in SD so the transition should be pretty easy once we get settled in to the house.

Heathpack 

Yep, that's the new bike.

I wasn't intending to be cryptic, I thought I had previously posted somewhere here in Masters Racing Forum that I'd post a pic when I got it. But I might not have, I've been in a bit of chaos of late, with the huge fire burning in town and crazy at work and my mother just arrived for a visit. So I'm not 100% sure of what I said.

Today I get the joy of attempting a spinal surgery in an elderly dog with so many concurrent medical conditions that I told the owners, "Heart to heart, the way this could go down is that I call you every 4 hours after surgery announcing a new complication right up until the point where your dog dies". Oy.

Hermes

Nice bike. I saw smoke from the fire from highway 5 as I drove down yesterday. It looked significant and the pics very scary. The problem with fires like that is that they can change so quickly and cannot be controlled.

Good luck with the surgery.

Cleave

@Hermes, I'd take up your offer for a beach barbecue but fire would produce too much soot for my green sensibilities. Still trying to figure out how many bank heists I need to perform. (BTW, this post and my previous post are a JOKE -- just in case someone from law enforcement monitors these posts.)
@Heathpack, looks like a fun bike. Have a lot of fun with it. So much tech in those bikes compared to when I had one (actually two). I gave up mountain biking because of where I live. Too much driving involved to get to places to ride it. I once thought that we might live closer to mountain bike terrain when we retired. Turns out we're just moving next door so mountain biking will likely remain a fond memory.

Hermes

Well at least our fuel would be green.

sarals 

Hermes, darn it! I'm going to miss seeing you and MEA at the TT's. I'm starting at Hellyer soon, as well, and I was expecting to see the both of you there often. You'll be missed! That said, do enjoy SD. The few times I've been down there left me with an impression of how different it is from Northern California. SoCal is different, too, but SD is like another country/culture all together. I hope I run across you and MEA at Carson or a TT down that way. I know I'll be doing a few.

sarals 

@Heathpack. OMG.... That thing looks SERIOUS. !!

Heathpack 

Whoops. Then maybe I got the wrong bike...

Hermes

We will definitely miss NorCal and our racing friends. Yes, we will definitely see you at Carson.

valygrl

I (finally!!!!) got one of them MTB thingies too.

Racer Ex 

Looks like we may have to have an MTB fall ride somewhere....

valygrl

My sister is in the middle of buying a place in Tahoe Donner .....

Racer Ex 

It's sooo on.

In my prior occupation of the Battle Born state every year I'd invite folks up for "the Chunder". Three days of MTB riding at altitude. Food was consumed, as were adult beverages.

Many rocks were surreptitiously put in Camelbacks and I actually loaded lead shot into a tire of climber guy.

I'm going to resurrect it this year.