A week out west

I just got back from spending a week out west in Spokane. Sandy and I flew out to see our new granddaughter born on December 7th. She is about the same age as our grandson Oliver when we first got to see him. It was a great trip but too short, at least Sandy gets to stay out for another week and a half.

While out there we mostly stayed around the house to maximize our time with the kids and family but Sandy and I did go XC skiing up at Mt. Spokane. The groomed trails were great, although a little icy. The trails were fun and offered a lot more elevation change than you get around here. Plus the scenery was outstanding. Sandy was a little concerned about the possible challenges of the hills but she surprised herself with the way she skied.

We also got to see Jason play a rec league hockey game and his team won in a shoot out. Jason played well for someone new to the game. We weren't surprised though when got to sent to the penalty box. He refused to be bullied by the other team and stood his ground. At least the other guy got a penalty as well.

In addition to the great meals cooked by both of the wives we also went out to dinner with the family. Oliver was a hit in the restaurant and played to the other tables, especially if the tables had women at it.

Jason and I played basketball against one of his gym classes and we old guys schooled the younger kids, even as we played five on three to give them more of an advantage. But the kids probably weren't hurting like we were the next few days. Jason managed to twist his ankle and one of the kids came down on my foot, causing it to swell up and turn purple in spots. It almost prevented me from going skiing.

The family seems to be doing well and the priests and nuns have taken a liking to them as well. They would often stop by for a short visit or we invited them over for desert.

So now it's back to a strangely quiet house and work tomorrow. The video chats will help to ease the separation but it definitely won't take the place of being there.

You can see more photos of the visit here.

Great day to be outside

Sandy and Oliver - the hat is made of wool and very warm.

Riding outside was not in the picture today due to the 5" of snow we received overnight. Nice and fluffy but more than I wanted to deal with, especially since the back roads have not been plowed yet. We were lucky? to not get as much as those south of us.

The early morning fog and cold temps lefts a coating of frost on everything that didn't have snow on it so I convinced Sandy to accompany me on a hike around the local trails this morning. We took our most energetic dog that loves to be outside and stays close by while off the leash. The dog is a bundle of energy and usually aggravates the other two so I'm sure they are glad for some peace and quiet.

Later today I'll get on the trainer to ride off some of the ribs I cooked on the grill. We barely put a dent in the slabs so it's probably leftovers for the next day or two.

Oliver in his normal "happy dog" pose and in his professional look.

Even the roadies do it

An article on the Cannondale web site talks about Ivan Basso getting in some training time in the snow. Of course after the pictures were taken he was jetting off to someplace warmer to continue training.

http://www.cannondalecommunity.com/utility/tb/?id=331387

Back at work or, "Life on the sinking USS Chrysler"

I borrowed the title of today's blog header from an article that appeared in today's Freep. It seemed a pretty realistic view of what we are facing, and I imagine to some extent the employees at GM as well. But probably not to the degree of Chrysler.

We are trying to stay positive about the future of the company. I am involved with our two new engine plants that will be producing engines later this year. But a lot of other new development has been halted and one of the system projects I have been working on has gotten slowed down when funding for our contractors working on it got pulled at the end of last year.

I think half of our time is spent scanning the news for updates of what is happening. But there are so many theories, opinions, etc., that there is probably an "expert" opinion to support whatever you want. And a lot of the predictions made for last year never came to pass. So we move on, each worker hoping for the best but half expecting the worst.

Out west Jason and Emily have had record snowfall last month and now the warm temperatures and rain are causing flooding problems for the area. They don't seem to have the problems that folks farther west in the state are experiencing. The have had some minor water coming in from melting snow but that is it.

The web cam is working great and Oliver gets excited whenever he sees us on the screen. He loves to wave and have us wave back. If I can capture some of the calls on video I will post them.

In the meantime I have been riding outside a lot as the limited snowfall since Christmas has kept the trails in good shape to ride. A predicted snow storm for tomorrow may change that as they are saying 5-8" of snow by Saturday afternoon.

Happy New Year!

I started the year off right with a great ride outside. I rode a couple of the local trails as well as the back roads. The snow covered roads softened the potholes while providing traction over the remaining ice spots. But it could still be slippery in spots as I discovered when my front end slid out while making a turn onto a road. The snow simply slid out. It was sort of a low speed event but I felt like one of those guys playing football that they show in slow motion as his leg gets twisted at an odd angle.

Today's ride was on my SS and other than it already had the bigger tires mounted I really didn't have a particular reason to choose it. But while riding I thought that it was an appropriate bike as it represents a simpler, less complex riding style. As the new year starts out I think we, as well as a lot of folks, will also be trying to simplify and cut back on some of the things we do. I may even take on one of the 100's on a SS, just from a personal challenge and to do something different.

The photo below is from today's dinner. Sandy surprised us with a package of crabs the other day. We are all fans of the Discovery show, Deadliest Catch. These crabs are from one of the boats that has appeared on the show. If you get a chance to watch the show sometime it is amazing the conditions these guys work in. I think we will appreciate the crab even more after having seen the shows.

My picture is on a t-shirt!

My son Greg gave me this t-shirt yesterday as a late Christmas gift. No doubt that he knows me pretty well.

Back on the grid

Our power came back on this afternoon after being off for almost exactly 34 hours. I think we may be lucky compared to others who are expected to be without power for a longer period. But with the high winds again this evening we are keeping our fingers crossed.

This morning I was able to get out for a couple of hours. With the almost clear roads it felt like I was flying compared to the last couple of rides. But you still had to watch for ice in the shaded areas. I hope to get out again tomorrow before the snow comes.

When the power output goes to zero

As in electrical power. We woke up at a little after 5:00 am this morning when the power went out. The carbon monoxide detector lets out a beep when the power goes out or back on. At that point there wasn't much to do but get back under the covers and try to sleep.

We got up a little later to go to church, hoping the power would be restored by the time we got home but no luck. I brought in our kerosene heater and fired it up. It puts out a lot of heat and the living room stayed relatively warm. Thankfully the temps were in the low 30's so it was not as difficult to keep things warm.

The record for the longest time without power since we moved here was 12 hours but as we approached that milestone Sandy and I went out to dinner. After we got back and still did not have power it was dark so I dragged out the generator and fired it up to provide some lights in the house. We also plugged in the upstairs refrigerator since it had been off so long it was starting to warm up inside.

With the fireplace blazing and the generator and heater going, it was quite cozy. I decided to plug in the cable modem and router so I could access the Internet via the laptop. We did not want to risk damaging the computer or TV by plugging them into the generator since it doesn't provide clean power. I felt bad for my son who picked up a Wii Fit overnight and hasn't ahs a chance to use it.

So here I sit, with the power out for almost 17 hours. They say it may be a few days before everyone has power restored. But with the fireplace, heater, a plate of cheese and crackers and a beer, plus Internet access, it doesn't get much better during a power failure.

Merry Christmas

I guess I have fallen behind in posting since I usually do it at least once a week. But with Christmas now behind us it's a good time to do an update.

Work has been kind of crazy the last few weeks as we are coping with the loss of a lot of talent all at once. It is taking a while to figure out who is now the person to go to in certain areas. I have picked up additional responsibilities as the ITM contact for two new engine plants we are launching next year. The person I am taking over was kept over for a month but now he is gone too. Many other employees were given an extension for a month or two.

Of course the other big concern at work is much broader in scope, will we even be around in six months. A few weeks ago we were wondering if we would survive much past the end of this year as we waited to see what happened in congress. The roller coaster ride isn't over but there is at least a little breathing room, however temporary it may be. After watching the senate proceedings I have to admit that I am reluctant to travel to the south and spend any money on races down there. Especially in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

All the snow we got last week allowed me to get in some snowshoeing and xc skiing while waiting for the snowmobiles to pack the trails back down to ride. I rode on the back roads on Saturday but much of the ride was spent trying to find traction on the roads that hadn't had a plow or much traffic. Often I would be riding in the tire tracks only to have to stop and get off to the side to let a vehicle pass as the tracks were the only spot to drive (or ride). I decided most of my riding this week would be on the trainer. They didn't even plow our sub until Wednesday, five days after the storm.

Christmas was a lot quieter than usual as there were just the three of us. Sandy's sister could not make it up. We also had cut down on the gift buying this year as Sandy and I decided to donate to a few charities instead of buying much for each other.

Sandy had cooked a great dinner of Cornish hens and afterward we had a video call from Jason. He had recently gotten a computer with a built in camera and more importantly, high speed Internet service. The last few days we have been able to connect and see each other while we talk. We were able to hook up our laptop to the 50" plasma TV to get a big screen experience. It's not quite the same as being there but it helps ease the separation. In the afternoon some of the nuns came down from the Mount and gave a concert while we watched.

Not sure what is in store for the rest of the time off. I rode outside today but the rains coming will force me back inside for a while. Sandy and I will be doing some indoor rock climbing and hopefully get up north next week to do some xc skiing.

Watching the live concert via the Internet.


Greg playing his Rockband 2 game.

Lost Weekend

This past weekend was not very productive. Thursday night I started coming down with a cold and if got progressively worse on Friday. Saturday morning I woke up with intense sinus pressure along the cheek line, something I hadn't experienced before. I stayed in bed most of the morning and tried to sleep it away.

I felt a little better in the afternoon and also guilty for not riding. I went out for a ride and the back roads were almost perfect, as long as you had studded tires. The roads did not have many pot holes yet and were free of heavy snow. They were pretty icy in a lot of spots and you had to be careful not to get caught in the grooves left by the snow plow. I didn't have a lot of power so parts of the ride seemed more of a struggle than it should have been normally.

Sunday I took one of the dogs to the bark park to let him run and then the rest of the day I pretty much vegetated. I had planned on putting up Christmas decorations but that didn't happen. We also had made the decision the day before to stay home from Sandy's work party due to the way I was feeling. Probably a good choice.

Although feeling better yesterday, I skipped the weight room training to give my body one more day off. We did a little shopping after dinner and we thought we may end up in a crowd of other shoppers. I was surprised to find the parking lot only partially filled and the store itself not crowded.

I don't recall ever shopping this late into the season where you didn't have to hunt for a parking spot or fight your way through the shoppers rummaging through the items on sale. It is definitely a sign of the economic times in the Detroit area. People are either delaying purchases or not buying as much, and not spending as much time in the stores. But if you have the money to spend the deals out there right now are tremendous.

I hope to ease back into training today and be ready to ride (and ski) through the holidays.

Vintage MX Racing

My early facination of two wheel racing was with all things motorcycles. Like a lot of kids in the late 60's and early 70's I started out on a mini-bike and later graduated to a regular motorcycle dirt bike. We were fortunate to live out in the country on enough property that I could build my own MX track.

I did some racing, mainly hare scrambles, on such great bikes as the Hodaka Super Rat and later a Can-Am 175. I moved on to Pentons and other bikes that were great in their time but sadly the brands are no longer with us.

I ran across a web article about vintage MX and it had some pictures of racers I remember idolizing and watching race when they came to town for the Trans AMA races.

In the article was a link to the video below that honors many of the racers no longer around. I think I knew who 90% of those featured were. Sad that they are gone but it's nice to see them remembered.

Cannondale Factory Racing

I got a call this afternoon from Matt Jewett, the team manager for the Cannondale mountain bike racing team. I had heard that Sobe was not renewing their sponsorship for 2009 and that Cannondale was shrinking their team but combining it with the international team under the Cannondale Factory Racing banner.

I had been waiting for the call to say that I would not be selected for the new team. With today's economic conditions I would have been surprised if they had a team at all. In fact other bike manufacturer's had recently announced they would not be having their teams again in 2009. I was totally floored when Matt asked me if I would be interesting in racing again for Cannondale and the new team! So now it's back to the grindstone and getting ready for 2009. I'm just not sure which races I'm going to do.

Here is a press release recently posted on the Cannondale web site about the CFR team.

(12/4/2008)
From: www.cannondalesports.com

Cannondale unveiled today a plan to support an all-new Cannondale Factory Race (CFR) Team this year. The revamped role is combined with a fresh new look, designed to maximize Cannondale’s position as a global leader in cycling. The team’s roster includes superstars on the World Cup circuit, but also expands into the North American racing scene for a truly worldwide presence.

The new team will field an impressive roster of riders. In Europe, World Cup veterans Roel Paulissen, Martin Gujan, and Marco Aurelio Fontana lead the team. In America, CFR is merging with the former SoBe-Cannondale team, which means that racing legends like Gunnar Shogren and Matthew Lee along with several dozen more riders will round out the roster, racing in regional events.

"An opportunity presented itself to combine the efforts of the best athletes racing on both sides of the Atlantic," said Rory Mason, director of sports marketing for Cannondale. "It really gives us a voice at a wide variety of races, from local fat tire festivals to UCI podiums."

Changes in the existing team structures made the merger possible. SoBe notified Cannondale earlier this month that it would not continue as a Cannondale team sponsor.

"We’ve had an excellent working relationship with SoBe and enjoyed many successes after their return to the team this past year, " says Matt Jewett, Inside Sales Director and Promotions Manager for Cannondale. "The upside is that all the best traditions of the team can live on. These riders have continuously been the best ambassadors for the sport of cycling and active lifestyles as a whole. Now they have a global platform on which to carry this 10-year heritage."
Although the teams combine forces, most of the racing operations for Cannondale will remain largely unchanged, including the teams’ co-sponsors.

The BEST Day One

Isabel Grace Kinley was born this morning and both she and Emily are doing fine. The story of the birth is remarkable and we are truly blessed.

Jason and Emily had planned to have the birth take place in a birthing tub, similar to how Oliver was born. But this time it would take place at their house using a midwife instead of using a birthing center. To be honest, I was somewhat concerned but they were excited and well prepared. Two of their friends from Montana were staying with them to help out.

Emily had been having contractions earlier in the week but they stopped. Early this morning they started again and this time she could tell the baby was on the way. Jason began to make preparations for the arrival but it became evident the baby was coming rather quickly.

Jason began to get things ready but there was no time to fill the birthing tub. The midwife was on her way when things began to really speed up. Emily lay on the floor where she was most comfortable. With the midwife about two minutes from the house and Jason on the phone talking to her, the baby was born using the most natural method there is. Emily simply reached down as the baby emerged to help bring Isabel into the world. The cord was cut later after the midwife arrived.

In talking with Emily you would have thought it was the most natural thing to give birth basically on your own. She sounded in better shape than after she had given birth to Oliver. I'm not so sure about Jason.

We plan on visiting them in January and look forward to seeing all of them. This is the first great grand-daughter so I'm sure she will be extra spoiled.

We celebrated the news with our first cross country ski outing of the season today. We were going to head up north yesterday but the snow coming down made us refrain from getting out on the roads. Instead I rode for two hours in the snow. The trails are getting too deep to ride so I also went out on the back roads where the ice under the snow plus low visibility made the riding a little tricky. I got out for an hour again today before going skiing. This time I used studded tires and the riding was much better.

Another Day One

I forgot to write in my last update that Monday also was day one for the off season training. Since I am going to skip the last cyclocross race of the season I started back with my weight training and fairly structured ride schedule.

While I have been in the gym two days a week during most of the year, ever since March the gym workouts have been mostly to maintain upper body fitness. From December through March I add the legs into the routine. I can feel the effects from the first legs workout; it takes a little time to get the muscles working in that fashion again.

The bike workouts will be based on using wattage and now that I have a used a PowerMeter for a year I can estimate total workout efforts when I'm on a different bike. That will help when looking at total effort expended and recovery over a period of time.

The one thing I'm not sure of is what my race schedule will be for 2009. Just like Christmas, I have a wish list of races I would like to do. But I think I will be cutting back on the out of state and most expensive races given the current economic conditions. It does make it harder to plan a training schedule though.

Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to post another day one story. This time for the announcement of the birth of our second grandchild. Emily was due yesterday so it should be anytime now. We are thinking of them all the time and offering up our hopes and prayers that all goes well.

Day One

Instead of driving west to Washington, this morning I pointed the car south and made the nine mile trip in to Chrysler. Everyone was not sure quite what to expect today. Overall the day was uneventful as we pieced together who was left, who would be responsible for what over the next month or two, and how we would continue to function. It was also very quiet as there were a couple thousand less people walking around. But that will probably change as they consolidate employees from other locations.

It sort of reminded me of Y2K; everyone was worried that the company would collapse but as far as I know we still made cars today. The difference will be over the coming weeks and months as problems start to emerge that would have been easily solved in the past by those who have now left the company.

I'll admit that it was pretty tempting to turn in my papers (again) last Wednesday and walk out the door for the last time. But I feel I have made the right decision for as long as the company survives.

Over the holiday weekend I finally got back on the bike for the Turkey Roll ride at Pontiac Lake. There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground at the start but it pretty much got packed down by the 80 or so riders that showed up. I ended up doing another lap as most only did one.

Staying around means that I can continue to work on putting on races at Lake Orion High School. The winter race is scheduled for January 31. Hopefully this year there will not be quite as much snow.

I'm back!

OK, I never actually went anywhere but the point is I'm not going to Washington. After much personal reflection and discussion with family, friends and clergy, I have decided to remain at Chrysler for as long as the wild ride continues.

The decision was the hardest one I have ever made. From a purely financial standpoint it would have been a no brainer. But as the time drew closer I realized that there were many reasons to stay and that money was of the least importance.

While it would have been nice to be closer to the grandkids I still have a son living with us, as well as other family members close by. Not to mention a great network of friends as well as riding opportunities.

I know will have many things to be extra thankful for this Thursday.

What was I thinking?

That thought crossed my mind this morning as I was driving into work and the outside temperature read 19 degrees. Why are we moving to another state with snow and cold weather as a normal wintertime event? Why didn't I look for work down south?

But then I started to warm up as the heated seats took effect and I thought about all the additional opportunities for enjoying the outdoors in the snow. And actually, the weather out in Eastern Washington is warmer than it is here. But you don't have to go too far to get into snow already as the higher elevations have some on the ground. Not a lot, but the ski areas are reporting the depth of their bases.

It's been a busy week so far. Tuesday evening was a dinner with some people from Daimler Finance and I got to see some of my old colleagues from Germany. Wednesday was a going away dinner at Robin and Shari's. Sandy got to hear stories about my racing and race planning.

Yesterday afternoon we had a get together at a local eatery for all the ITM employees to see each other one more time before a majority of us retire or leave the company. The place was packed with current and former employees. The restaurant will be packed for the next few days as other Chrysler groups will also be meeting there after work. It will be the last time that most of us will be together as there may not be another big exodus unless the company falls apart or is sold. Unlike in the past, a lot of employees leaving this time will probably be moving out of the area.

Speaking of moving, the realtor was over last night and it may be possible for us to sell and not be too far in the hole. Maybe even break even. The house goes on the market on December 1, the day I am planning on leaving for Washington. I'll be sure to post the MLS listing in case anyone is looking for a house in this area that is within an hour's bike ride of six mountain bike trails and multiple rail trails.

Today my parents come to town for tomorrow's party for THE game. Although it will probably be much like the Lion's game on Thanksgiving. But at least there will be alcohol and good food to help dull the pain (for some).

Snow report - 2000 miles away

As we transition from mountain biking to winter sports I thought I would mention a few of the areas in Washington that will be close to us. This is a photo taken this morning at Red Mountain ski area in Rossland, BC. It will be about an hour or so from us, depending on where we will be living. In addition to downhill it also has a Nordic ski area. As does 49 Degrees North, another ski area that will probably be even closer.

I think 49 Degrees holds one mountain bike ride/race in the fall and is working to open up the trail system for general mountain bike use. It might be a possible location that I can work with to develop a race series. The venue is about 45 minutes north of Spokane so I should be able to get some people to come out. There are not many races in the area.

Rossland is home to one of the IMBA epic ride locations. They have a great trail system and an active trail maintenance group. Check out some of these links to see video and pictures of the trails. There is a town just south of the border that would be about 50 minutes away from work. But I could ride my bike north and into these trails in about an hour or so.

Check out this video of some of the trails mentioned, and trails about an hour west.

Rossland Trails

Rossland Bike Newsgroup

As good as all this future riding and skiing may be, getting ready to move is starting to wear me out. Anyone got a job for me close by? :-)

8 Days left

Since tomorrow is a holiday for the auto industry that means there are only eight work days left in my Chrysler career. After the Thanksgiving holiday I plan on packing up the van with some clothes, tools, at least two bikes and one dog, and heading west. I hope to get to Jason's by December 4th, and then on to the Benny's Motel in Colville. That will be my home away from home for up to three months while I look for a place to live. At some point my wife and the other two dogs will join me.

I won't dwell much on the situation at Chrysler except that I know a lot of people are on the fence about taking the voluntary separation package. I think most of those who are eligible for an early pension are taking it. But come December 1st the company will look and operate a lot differently. A major concern is how they will operate if a majority of the people with the technical knowledge leave.

As you can imagine there is a lot to be done before I go and then my wife will be stuck with the rest. I think I am tied up every evening next week with various functions or dinners as our time in Michigan runs short.

I have gotten a few responses for houses for rent out west, they have generally been houses out in the country somewhere on 5-50 acres. One of the properties has sheep and alpacas and would leave them for the tenant to take care of if they wanted.

When I was growing up I was in 4-H and had lambs but I'm not sure if that's something I want to do now. The owner said he raised the sheep for meat and the alpacas were just pets. Sandy really likes lamb chops but I'm not sure how crazy she would be about them if she knew the donor.

I have been doing some research on shotguns because if we end up in the country we will want one at hand. In addition to coyotes they also have bears, cougars, and rattlesnakes. It will add a whole new dimension to mountain biking

6th to 14th in two clicks of the shifter

At the starting line of the Iceman today my mind was not really into racing. I was thinking of all the things I should have been doing getting ready to move. The last few weeks have been a little stressful as well so I wasn't sure what to expect when the gun went off.

But once we started the adrenaline kicked in and I found myself in 5th place after two miles in. The lead group started to put a gap on me so I jumped in with the next group of five that came up. We pretty much stayed together or didn't break apart too much.

We seemed to have little groups of two or three and sometimes one of us would be off the front for a while. My 29" wheel bike allowed me to take some aggressive lines through the sand and pass riders while those behind me had to wait and get a clear line.

I noticed on some of the steeper hills that I was having trouble with the chain skipping when in the three largest cogs. I think something must have happened to the derailleur early in the race when one rider's front wheel hit my rear in a corner. I was forced to use slightly bigger gearing than I would have liked for most of the hills.

Another guy was with me when we caught a guy from our class with about 8 miles to go. We ran together for the next few miles, passing racers in unison. With about 5.5 miles left there was a particularly steep hill that the others seemed to get stuck behind slower riders and I thought it might be a good time to go by them and try to get some breathing room.

I shifted down twice in the rear to begin an attack when the chain over shifted past the big cog and got stuck between the cassette and the wheel. No matter how hard I tried I could not get the chain free as other riders now started to catch up and pass me while I was working on the bike on the side of the trail.

Just when I thought I would have to abandon the race I managed to work the chain free and ran up the hill and jumped on the bike. Knowing that my top ten spot was gone my goal now was to finish under two hours.

My legs were really hurting after standing around for seven minutes but I tried to put the power down and pass as many racers as I could. Of course none of them were in my class, they were already way up in front of me.

I came around the last corner and sprinted to the finish in 1:59:08 so I did meet that goal. Looking at the results and seeing who I was running with I saw that I had a possible 6th place out of 55 finishers. Instead I ended up 14th. But that's racing.

The bike handled beautifully, the weather cooperated, and I got to see a lot of people I know one more time before we move to Washington. Maybe I will come back just for this race since just about all the racers in Michigan show up.