Jamppy and I are good friends now!

Jamppy seems to be getting impatient. He sent this to me and I didn't reply.

Sorry for the late response, i will like to inform you that the payment has been made now and i'm sure you will have receive the payment notification from paypal .And the shipping company needs $1,100.00 USD for the pick up and delivery.So i made a total payment of $3,699.00 USD, $2,499.00 USD for (Blue RC8 54 cm), $1,100.00 USD for the shipping company, and $100.00 USD for whatever Western Union will be charging you to send the money to them. Please let me know as soon as you send them the money, Bellow is the shipping company agent information who will come for the Pick Up and where to send the $1,100 USD.hope to hearing back from you Asap.

Name: Mayowa Fadare
Address: 7430 New Technology Way,
City : Frederick,
State: Maryland,
Zip Code: 21703,
Country: United State.

Thanks and hope to hearing back from you Asap.
Then a day or two later I received another long sentence from him.

Good morning to you over there what's going on over there since i have made the payment and your money has been deducted from my account and i wonder why you don't get back to me since i have made the payment and i have been worried since then can you pls get back to me to know what's going on over there with you maybe you have send the $1,100 to the shipping company via western union money transfer cos pay pal is still waiting for the western union details in order to activate the full funds into your account so kindly reply me back now to know what's going on with you over there so i can know what to do next.hope to hearing back from you Asap.

Thanks


As usual, I am thrilled with my response:

Jamppy,

And also a good morning to you as well over there in the internet land wherever it is that you reside inside my computer where you spent a lot of money on this shipping company for this bicycle it seems that you are paying over a thousand dollars to ship a bike and i could fly it to you on an airplane (don't know when I'll be back again) for some cost similar to what you paid but at least I would get a good vacation out of it and vacations are important but when one returns from vacations they feel like they need another vacation i am going on vacation on friday and it is supposed to rain but i wont let that bring me down (nothin is gonna break my stride) perhaps i can drop the bike out of the plane to you and we wont have to pay the eleven hundred dollars for shipping

I am glad that we have become friends and than you for understanding why i havent sent you the bike yet but as soon as the rain forecast changes for my vacation i will be able to function more properly and send you money even though my ad clearly stated that you should pay me for the bike.

Last cyclocross race.

I just signed up to participate in the 2010 State Cyclocross Championships.

Schoolyard Cross.

Car/bike update.

My bike is back from the shop just looking at me. I had X-Rays on my wrist, back, ankle, and elbow and nothing appears broken. Although, my physical therapist would like a second opinion so we are going to take care of that tomorrow. I am going to the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine and so far I have had a great experience with them. Until I am better there is a lot of wishing I was racing cyclocross, eating, planning a marathon, watching Heroes, and eating some more. Although the good news is that it is fueling the fire to compete again!

It can always be worse.

We went to Boulder Cycle Sport's cyclocross training Wednesday and it was a great time. We practiced mounting and dismounting and a bit of jumping over barriers. It was the first time that I had ridden my brand new Blue Norcross EX and I loved it. The second time I rode my new bike, I went to a meeting for the newly rescheduled Boulder Marathon. I was on my way home when I was hit by a car. I was in the bike lane, clipped in, helmet on, and a guy failed to yield during a left hand turn. That means he drove into my side. He stopped to see if I was ok. The police came and gave him a court date. I sprained my wrist and ankle. Contusions on my back and elbow and some whiplash. I am glad that I have health insurance and he has car insurance.
I took my bike to the bike shop and I am waiting to see what they say is wrong with it. Until then, I will be recovering and waiting to feel better. Things can always be worse...

Boulder Peak

Last weekend was the Boulder Peak Olympic distance triathlon.
Swim: 25 minutes
Bike: 1:18:22
Run 43:17

My bike still needs lots of work and I feel like it always will. The most exciting thing was that I hit a fox going about 35 mph down the back side of Olde Stage Rd. He jumped out right in front of me and I clipped his back end. My front wheel wobbled and I screamed as I wondered which side of my body was going to get the worst road rash. Things worked out and I didn't crash. I looked back and saw the fox lope across the road. Looks like we both made it! I was probably a bit more cautious after that than I would have liked to be.
Nearly at T2 three guys were riding side by side and a car was trying to pull out perpendicular to them. I passed them as the car nearly took us all out. One of the guys crashed into my rear wheel. We both stayed upright and almost doesn't count.
So a couple of close calls and I was happy to be out on the run. I ran hard and passed more people than passed me. My run kept me just under 7 minutes per mile and I am very happy with that. Today I rode my bike and I look forward to the 70.3 next month!

Busy busy.

I have been busy working and moving. Along the way, we picked up our first worm bin. Our new house has a yard (the dogs seem stoked), a greenhouse, and no crackhead neighbors, well at least not as many as the last apartment, and an Argentinean landlord. Things are great.

The worm bin is a Triformis Can O Worms. I have stared putting bedding (shredded paper and cardboard) in the bottom and soon I hope to buy some worms.

One of our neighbors got a dog in Washington and it seems to be a wolf. At least part wolf.

I finally got out and caught a trout on a river. It has been a while. I guess things will go on as normal. Until 2012.

A few more leg smashing workouts form the coach let me see baby deer that had to be less than 2 weeks old. I was smiling as I flew down the hills until I hit the swarms of bugs that left me looking like I ate handfuls of poppy seeds. To the guy on the Cervelo trying to keep up with me on the incline, thanks for lighting the fire on the last repeat, I needed that.

Red fox at night, cyclists delight.

I just got back from a leg smashing ride. Coach Mark prescribes just the right amount of hurt each time. Anyone that wants to be faster, have someone to hold them accountable, or not think about what their training should check him out here.

Riding out to the hurt zone, there were deer walking beside the road. On "what excuse can I come up with to be finished now" hill repeat number one there was an adult magpie feeding a juvenile magpie something rotting on the side of the road. It was cute. At the end of the workout, there was a fox trying to get in on the rotten carcass action. The birds were circling overhead squawking trying to get the  fox to leave their meal alone.
It was a great ride and I look forward to the rest of the weeks workouts!

1st triathlon of the season.

After a week of injury and a week of illness, I am happy with my results from yesterday's Summer Open sprint triathlon.
I swam a 10:53 750 meter swim. I love wetsuits. I never got on anybody's feet. That was frustrating. I had a few strokes behind somebody, but then they would start breaststroking. Being out in no man's land feels inefficient.
After a quick (:52) T1, I was onto the bike. There were a ton of Triads and even one Triad SL. My 12.4 mile bike was completed in 32:32 for an average speed of 22.9 mph. For me that is pretty good, but compared to the rest of the field, it sucks. We are going to work on the bike for the upcoming season.
T2 (:41) went well and I took off quickly on the heels of some guy hauling ass for the first half mile. Realizing that pace was unsustainable, I settled into my own rhythm and tried to pick people off. The run felt good and I was happy with a 19:58 (6:27 pace) 5k.

I ended up 3rd in my age group out of 33 and 28th of the 353 total.
I am still not feeling 100% and it was difficult to pick up the pace at some points in the race. I had a blast none the less and got to play with the dogs in the lake after the race. Time for a busy day off now.

USAT Hall of Fame!

Last weekend, in the middle of the Denver Golf Expo, we were invited to the Hall of Fame dinner for USA Triathlon. Thanks, Rudy Project. It was impressive to see the original race directors and athletes like Barb Lindquist and Pauly Newby-Fraser. I was surprised by the amount of religious rhetoric at the dinner (by the speakers) and I was surprised that the athletes weren't competing for themselves. They claimed to be doing it for God, because that is what He wants them to do. That seems like a good way to get out of feeling selfish. Too many families suffer when you have to train 40 hours a week. Either way, I felt very lucky to be there. It isn't too often that we get to have dinner at a place as fancy as the Broadmoor Hotel.

We have been swimming twice a week at the YMCA. They finally approved out financial assistance so we can afford to work out there. There is a masters class that they call something else. Tonight I was the only person to show up. I swam about 3,000 yards (meters?) tonight with the main set being 20X50's. The first 5 on 1 minute, the middle 10 on 50 seconds, and the last 5 on 1 a minute. It was hard, but made the laps pass by quickly.
I have also been watching the Endurance Films while riding my bike. It is a fun, sweaty, hour long workout that is always entertaining when it is snowing outside. Friday, we have our first lesson with Sit Means Sit dog training. They came to our house to show us a free demonstration and it was very impressive. We spent a few days with them previously and they have been wonderful. They even have payment plans! I will try to post updates as we progress.

Boats and cakes.

It seems like it has been a busy week. I worked at The Denver Boat Show. Wakeboarding boats over $100,000! What recession? These people aren't donating that much to Haiti. But neither am I. I am closer to the food vs. rent dilemma. Luckily for me, even the YMCA has financial assistance. Speaking of which, I finally feel like I am learning how to swim again. I put in over 2k in the pool this afternoon. My legs are beat up from running, testing my new cycling kit (thanks Rudy Project!) on the trainer and then playing indoor soccer yesterday. It feels good.

I was having a discussion about negative people today and mentioned that I love my life. I wouldn't have it any other way. Why bother?
I made a cheesecake yesterday. I will try it tomorrow. I had too much batter and made little cheesecake bites in my muffin pan. This is so much better than living in a van. I even made the sour cream topping myself. This KitchenAid mixer is going to help negate my training.

Cold Blue.

A year ago I was complaining about sand flies at Nelson Lakes. It was an early New Years' Eve. This year, I am excited to have launched TropoDesignz.com and have a job. We headed up to Vail last weekend to work at a snowshoe race which was a lot of fun. We stayed in Silverthorne the night before. Thanks to my last job, we have accumulated some points to give us some free nights at the Quality Inn. We fished Saturday afternoon. I think that it was 8 degrees. It was amazing to see the fish active and rising in that freezing water.

I was surprised to actually catch something on a size 24 fly. (It is about the size of the tip of a pen.) Sunday, we got up early and worked at the race. They don't go fast, but apparently, they have fun snowshoeing.
I am not a fan of resolutions, but every time that I bike or run, I remember how much I like it. Getting paid soon may allow me to join the recreation center near our house. Then I can swim as well. Maybe it is time to pick races for 2010?!
It turns out that Santa is a Persian woman in New York! We got a check that is specifically to be used for the purchase of a KitchenAid. I am excited. One year ago while living out of my backpack, I never would have thought that I would have a KitchenAid!
And if you didn't receive a Christmas card, here is what they looked like:

Bike and Breck.

I made what I believe to be pretty tasty banana nut muffins. Then I rode my bike up Flagstaff Mountain.

Then the snow began falling last night, so a trip to the mountains was obviously in order today. We received awesome winter gear from Rudy Project and were eager to show it off. We grabbed our friend Ray, made Lando come with us, and headed to Breckenridge. It snowed on and off at the mountain and people were having difficulty driving back to town. It was a great day and now it's Christmas Eve. Life is good!

EverLater and the recession.

All I wanted for Christmas was a Nintendo Wii. And a Kitchen Aid. Today I received a frying pan and a cup. This recession sucks. We did Christmas today because Mojdeh wanted to use the blender that I got her so I told her that if she got her presents, I get mine.
On a happier note, I changed the lightbulb in the car's headlight, Moj found a chair that she has been wanting, but this one was free, and I made a delicious curried chicken salad. I also banged out a hard trainer session on the bike this evening. Although, I am not sure what I am training for.
We went to a party where I met one of the creators of EverLater.com. Having traveled a bit, this is a site that I can spend a lot of time playing with. I will leave you with a picture of Lando watching me on the trainer.

Possibilities.

Well the car still isn't working, but we have bikes and Boulder's public transportation is fantastic. Maybe tomorrow it will be fixed. Our apartment is great and allows pets. I have been home a lot and thinking that I should get a dog. We went to the humane society... just to look. We looked and there was cute lab/retriever puppy that was on hold. The people never showed up that were supposed to take him today. So I put my name on the waiting list. I hope that I get a phone call tomorrow.

Maybe...

One of the ladies that lives down stairs (a little person) has two big dogs that are about as tall as she is. One chases a laser pointer and chews on trees. I thought it was funny and was asking her about her dogs. She quickly replied with "I like to take them to the dog park, but I got a DUI and can't drive anymore." I tried to keep the awkward silence to a minimum and luckily my neighbor came out to say hello. Maybe I should mention that my alcoholic neighbor likes to come over earlier Sunday mornings to explain that he has been drinking manmosas. That would be a mimosa with a shot of vodka in it. He works at a restaurant and is proud that he doesn't do drugs. So am I. Our neighbor cooks in a restaurant that we like and has promised to cook for us one night. As long as we bring some wine.

Driving is not the only option in Boulder.

So that is the most exciting news that I have. I am shredding tires on my trainer. We have a tv, but no stand to put it on. I will start working soon. I am excited for winter. And puppies!

Staying busy!

Update.

This blog is usually about all the cool things that I do. I am still not sure why I keep writing things here. Maybe it is for my own records in the future. Maybe it is so my friends far away know what I am going through. I like reading other people's blogs so that I don't have to call them to see what they are doing. It feels like Facebook for adults. The egocentric part of me checks my Google Analytics to see if people actually read this.
This week has been pretty crazy. A couple of days fishing Cheesman Canyon with Ed resulted in  two huge rainbows for me. (But only one picture.) I rode my bike a couple of days and realized that I like riding my bike more than I thought. My mother went into the hospital with severe cramps and ended up having a hysterectomy and colostomy. She was released yesterday and things seem to be going well for the recovery.
In two days I will be finished with my contract with Endurance Sports Marketing. Then I can go out and find another job. I am really looking forward to next year. Actually I am really looking forward to today. Moj will be studying so I will have a Sunday to mess around. That is not unlike every other day. Yesterday, we looked at a car in Denver that we found form Craigslist. Piece of crap. It was good to see it because it seemed too good to be true. That search will continue.
The off season training plan is to swim twice a week, run twice a week, and ride my bike four times a week. The bike is my weakest so I want to spend more time in the saddle. Hopefully I will have a couple of trainers for the snowy days. I also need to get a membership somewhere with a pool.
Until next time my friends, life is good.

SOMA pictures.

Thanks to Red Rock Co. for putting on a great event! Thanks to Rudy Project for a great dinner this weekend. We bought our ski passes today. Now it is time for some winter activities! The resorts are opening and I am excited.

SOMA Half.

Swim 33:43
T1 1:06
Bike 2:38:10
T2 1:09
Run 1:47:12
Total 5:01:21

While I am happy with my overall result, I feel like I made a lot of mistakes.
The swim was the most brutal swim that I have ever been in. I was kicked, hit, punched, slapped, pushed, and everything else that could happen. That being said I think that I violated quite a few people as well. It was a swim start and all the guys under 30 were in the same wave. It was pretty aggressive. I made my way towards the front of the pack, but it did no good. I had to stop to fix my goggles a couple of time. That never happens. The women started a few minutes before us and we quickly caught them. Then I caught the group in front of them. A couple times I ran into some massive person that was sitting still treading water and trying not to panic. My wetsuit was rubbing on my neck. That also never happens, I must have put the strap in a funny position. Another rookie mistake. I am such an age grouper.
The first transition went well although I have still never tried the flying mount. Mounting my bike, I put my foot on top of my shoe and somehow pushed it off the pedal. I had to stop and put my shoe on like everyone else. Come on Rory, get it together! I took off pedaling and realized that I had no liquids. No water bottle, nothing. I knew that at mile 9 there was an aid station so I just hoped to make it there. The bike was 3 loops. I started pretty conservatively because I don't think that I have ridden 56 miles at one time this year. At the aid station, I grabbed a bottle of Gatorade. While trying to take a sip and thank the volunteers I somehow managed to squirt the Gatorade up my nose and into my eye. I guess I was squeezing the bottle really hard. I was very thirsty! The first bike loop was faster than I expected. The course was flat and we had a bit of cloud cover so the temperature was perfect. The second loop went well except for my penalty. The three lanes came together to one lane with no shoulders. A dozen people came together and as we tried to get in front of each other two guys in front started talking and going the same speed. There was no way to go forward, back, left or right. The ref pulled up and gave at least 8 of us either drafting or blocking penalties. We were all yelling at these two guys to move, but it was too late. Whatever. The bike ended well and I was excited for the run.
The run started well with the first mile a 7:04. Mile 2 was a 7:10. I was hoping to run 8 minute miles, so this was feeling good. I know that my last two half marathons that I ran were a 7:10 pace. Then it all slowly deteriorated. 8:00, 8:30, blah blah blah. The last four mile were hard. I was definitely shuffling. I think that people were cheering for me because I looked like I was hurting.
Overall, I am really stoked about the time though. 5:01 is almost 15 minutes better than my last half. Of course comparing Kona to Tempe isn't really fair. I will post pictures as I get them!

AZ.

I drove a couple of days to make it to Phoenix. I actually drove past Phoenix to get past the utterly insane suburban sprawl that is Phoenix and all of it's incorporating towns. I am staying in Apache Junction. I thought this was interesting when learning about AJ on Wikipedia.
There are a total of 51 RV parks in Apache Junction. 1, the Lost Dutchman, is a state park. 9 offer wireless internet connection. Note that only two of these RV Parks have indoor plumbing, the rest rely on a network of outhouses scattered throughout the park.
I am glad that I chose one of the right places to stay! Thank you KOA. I rode my bike toward the Superstition Mountains thinking that it was a cool place. Turns out that the rumor is that there is a cursed gold mine that nobody can find. If you go looking you will probably die. Luckily, gold doesn't interest me that much.
With SOMA in a couple of days I am excited to get racing again. I am even more excited for the off season. We found an apartment in Boulder that seems to be perfect. It is across the street from an Indian restaurant and a fly fishing store. Could I be any happier? I just remembered that Silverman is 16 days away. I may have just told them that I want to enter. What am I getting myself into?!

Bakersfield. Don't ever go.

Leaving Kona, our first flight was delayed just long enough for us to miss our flight to LA. We would have made it if we weren’t checking three bikes! That being said, we didn’t get charged for bikes. The Aerus bike bags are amazing. 30 pounds with a bike, box, wheels, everything. They once asked if it was luggage and I said, “Yes”. That isn’t lying. I wasn’t going to offer information that it was a bike and I should be charged! Nguyen came and picked us up and let us sleep on his floor. What karma, just a few days ago, he came to Kona and slept on my floor. The following day, he took us to the North Shore for a surf. It reminded me that I haven’t surfed in a while. In fact, the last time that I surfed was with Nguyen on our way back from New Zealand. Eventually, I remembered what to do and had a lot of fun. From there, we overnighted to LA. Exhausted we had Denny’s and I shipped Moj off to Colorado. Don’t feel bad though she is in our awesome apartment while I am still slumming in the van. I can’t complain I have been “camping” (sleeping in the van without a shower) for the last few days. I rode bikes with Nguyen and I was feeling pretty bad about how out of shape I am in. He is a great cyclist, so it should have been no surprise that I couldn’t keep up with him.

 My view on the bike.

Back on my Triad, I have been having a great time riding in the mornings and fishing my brains out all afternoon. I am east of Bakersfield (a place that no one should ever go) north of the tiny town of Kernville. North of Kernville is the trailer park area called Johnsondale. I stayed near here in one of the many campgrounds. Every day I saw hunters walking down the road carrying rifles. I wore my red and white cycling outfit and tried not to look like a deer.

 At least they have a sense of humor!

I rode my bike to the Trail of 100 Giants. It was amazing. Giant Sequoias grow only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in California. I can't describe how big these trees are.

This is one tree.

Kernville might be the meth capital of California. I have been without phone, shower, internet, power, etc. for the last week. Who cares though because I have been fishing!

My favorite of the day.

Not the biggest fish, but I am getting good enough that I catch fish every time I go out. I saw a couple of monsters, but they weren’t eating what I had. The river is high (800 cfs) but down from what it has been (2800 cfs!) and not wuite where it should be (200 cfs), This place would be amazing with half of the water in it. I couldn’t quite get to all of the fish that I wanted to. It was frustrating seeing piles of fish hiding behind rocks on the other side of the river with no way to walk or cast to them. Now, I am on my way to Tempe to work and compete in the SOMA half iron distance triathlon. Hopefully I can shower and do some laundry as well!