First Flight

So there I was at 41,000 feet....

....versus playing around on my bike at Vance Creek (where I'd rather be any day).

This pic is actually shot while on landing - not my landing (and not of me in the winning break as shot by Amara) - and is a pretty cool closeup of the jet I now fly. Though I'd rather be riding my bike, flying jets for a living ain't too bad a gig if I must work; but it's still work.

This first trip was a 2-day starting with my first leg SEA - SNA (Orange County). and it was a blast. Orange County is a short runway with lots of light plane traffic (Indian country) and demands precision flying. I got 2 passes into there, once Saturday on a sunny afternoon and then again the next morning when it was overcast. The other airports on this trip (OAK & PDX) are fairly routine by nature (long runways with mostly only airliner traffic). I'm happy to report that the actual airplane flies much better than simulator. It was a fun trip. Next up will be a couple of trips through SE Alaska.

Torture Chamber

As of the end of this evening I'm all done with the flight simulator - finally; thus ending 2 months in the school house learning the 737. Tonight I cranked up the in the -700 sim. and received differences training. Which basically means there's lots more gee whiz crap to keep a pilot occupied. As you can imagine simulator training includes many abnormal & emergency situations that replicate real life scenarios that a pilot hopes to never actually see in a career, as well as normal maneuvers & procedures (i.e. very low visibility takeoffs & landings) that are best suited for practice (trail & error) until highly proficient. And while these machines are very close to actual conditions (realistic snow, turbulence, ramp personnel, etc.), there is obviously no danger involved except deflating one's fragile ego. And while initial costs are high for the airline to purchase a flight simulator, the costs pale in comparison to what it would take to go do this type of training in an actual airplane.

The end result being that I await the training scheduler to assign me a actual flying schedule, which'll probably happen tomorrow - screwing up my racing plans for Sunday (though hopefully not) and taking it to the unsuspecting WA Cup leaders (or at the very least getting a good pic from Amara - which is all that really matters).

Cold & Wet

Not two terms I usually associate with any fun - especially when it comes to bike racing. But after being sidelined for the last 2 months (for various reasons - mostly because of my flight training to keep employed, and my wife about to give birth to twins), I ventured out to Pacific Raceways for the weekly Tuesday Night racing series.

A showery evening with temps in the low 50's would normally deter me from even showing up and plunking down my hard earned $$, but tonight, well tonight I needed to get out there no matter what. I had no expectations and no worries. OK, that's not quite true; I did have one worry - am I going to get dropped on the first lap up the backside roller?

Turns out no on lap 1, no on lap 2, and no throughout the entire evening. In fact, I felt pretty darn spunky to tell the truth. Maybe that's proof to counter the typical high mileage/hourly weekly workouts that many try to emulate. Pro racers are full time on their bikes with 400-500 miles/week not considered abnormal. In my prime racing focus I'd be lucky to get half that. And these days, halve that again.

A 4-man break developed midway & with PruDog barking orders to chase - chase I did, as best I could muster. At the end of the race the 4 leaders stayed away and I faded in the final bunch sprint. But crossing the line with a certain personal satisfaction that at least, for the short 45 minutes that tonight provided, a glimpse of racing muscle memory is still there. Borderline hypothermia with teeth chattering I was quietly happy not too have embarrassed myself too badly.

Hopefully I'll be able to get away for Sunday's race at Vance Creek - a race I won as a CAT3 to test the system on a little longer and harder course. Again no expectations, except to help one of my teammates come away with the win.

Contractions

Don't, won't, can't etc. are not what I'm talking about here.

Last Sunday morning, my better half (more like three-quarters really) woke up with some premature contractions and we spent most of the day in the triage center at Swedish (ya, sure, you betcha!) sorting it all out. They gave her nifedipine which canceled the contractions she shouldn't have had in the first place, but then she had an allergic reaction to it. Once she's back on track & taken care of, we went to have a NST ultrasound on her. After all was said & done we finally got home a little past 6PM - and we're exhausted.

I was supposed to be in the flight simulator for my final 737 variant training about that time, but called in to let them know I wasn't able to make it. This delayed my flight schedule which was to go yesterday (if you recall my first leg was supposed to be into BUR), which they'll have to reschedule (probably into equally as challenging Orange County John Wayne - or SNA).

With everything with the wife back to normal (or as normal as it gets for the next few weeks), and my flight training schedule in shambles (because they book the simulator time so tightly that it'll take awhile to fit me in); it's going to be a few days which I might have a bit of free time to get some honey-do stuff done around the house.

Couldn't be better news then for tonight - if the rain subsides for this evening I'll be racing for the first time since I crashed out of the Ohop race in late FEB. Ain't that sweet!

Earth Day

Get off the computer, go to the bookstore & buy Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (amazon.com), go to the park and read it as you listen to the songbirds. Write me a book report.

Tyler Update

Per my post the other day wondering about why Tyler Hamilton is performing sub-par:

From velonews.com - "Tyler Hamilton received plenty of cheers going up Brasstown, but a tooth infection had him bogged down. 'I have to get a root canal,' he said after the finish, explaining that he intended to finish the race. 'My family is here, and it's my only chance to race back in the United States, so I'm trying to suffer through it. But it's hard. I feel [the tooth] more than my legs. My dad probably could have ridden up faster than me today. My team liked racing here. Hopefully we'll come back next year with a full team.'

By full team does that mean a complement of new "advisers"? Of course this is a warm up race for his participation in the Giro next month, so hopefully he'll be over his tooth troubles and prove the sceptics that he's worthy after all.

My athletic hero

This guy is my ultimate athletic hero. No, it's not Eddy Merckx. No, it's not an aging Greg Lemond. Nope, it's not 6-time Ironman Triathlon World Champion Mark Allen either. This guy is tops. He doesn't have any significant records for the mile, or the marathon, or wins up Alpe d'Huez. He can swim but he's not known as a swimmer. He owns a bike but now rides mostly on a trainer indoors. He is not a single sport athlete, nor can he be pigeonholed as multisport athlete. And although he has lifted more weights than can be fitted in all the Gold's Gym's worldwide, and has done more push ups, pull ups, sit ups, and star jumps (jumping jacks) than a peloton of Tour de France cyclists will ever do; he is best known for his 34 years on TV ('51 - '84) .

More than Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, Tony Little or any other Johnny-come-lately fitness personality - Jack LaLanne is an original, America's first true pure fitness fanatic.

He championed tights when tight shorts weren't fashionable (cyclist take note). He championed women's fitness before Title IX was even a glimmer in Patsy Mink's eye. Jack championed overall fitness to anyone and everyone when fitness wasn't yet fashionable. Jack made it fashionable and fun (and in black & white).

Not one to be shy about self-promotion he continues to sell the Jack LaLanne philosophy to anyone within earshot stating, "I cannot afford to die, it will ruin my image."

Other great LaLanne quotes to ponder:

"Life is survival of the fittest... How many healthy people do you know? How many happy people do you know? Think about it. People work at dying, they don't work at living. My workout is my obligation to life. It's my tranquilizer. It's part of the way I tell the truth--and telling the truth is what's kept me going all these years."

"If man makes it, I don't eat it. I practice what I preach. I eat 10 raw vegetables, 5 pieces of fruit, egg whites and fish for protein, and whole grains. Finally, if you can't have a sense of humor, you're dead."

"Thoughts are things. Negativity is what kills you... It's tough to do, but you've got to work at living, you know? Most people work at dying, but anybody can die; the easiest thing on this earth is to die. But to live takes guts; it takes energy, vitality, it takes thought. . . . We have so many negative influences out there that are pulling us down. . . . You've got to be strong to overcome these adversities . . . that's why I never stop."

Jack is 2 days shy of being 44 years my senior - and he could probably kick my ass in any physical routine he chose focused on. Be like Jack!