Best interview of the month.
I am in the process of switching my jtoka.com domain to link directly to my blog, but it is going to take about 2 days for it to take place, so sit tight.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
What a day
I just got back from eating at Wahoo's Fish Tacos with Logan and I am really glad to have gone there because I haven't been there since last semester. While walking back to the car we walked past Huts' Hamburger joint and there were 3 police bikes just sitting out there not locked up and further on we came to discover how the Austin P.D. locks up their bikes...
Today has been a pretty fun day as you are about to find out after watching this short documentary if you choose... It's kind of long but it is all 100% true...
So today I rolled out of the apartment with Kyle and we did a very good 2.5 hour ride out west. For those of ya'll that do not know the topography of Austin, the east is flat and the west is mountainous. Ever since I started hitting it hard last week all my rides have been out west, and I can already feel myself getting stronger day by day. My goal is to be able to attain a pack finish in one of the Pro 1,2 races by the time the tan lines on my legs are completely there, which is lining up to be around the time of the Annual Fayetteville stage race in mid-March wrapping up my Spring Break.
Here is a picture of Kyle riding through a water crossing that was on our ride.
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A little while after the water crossing we arrived to this road called Courtyard, and it was the gateway to Heaven. Whenever I am of age, and of status, I am moving out there. Next time I ride out there I will snap some photos to show everyone, but this place is beautiful. Well back to the ride... We turned right onto the street off of Highway 360 and there is a sign that says 10% grade and I got all excited because that means a pretty steep hill, and I hear Kyle say "This is my least favorite hill in Austin!" I didn't take his comment to seriously and I charged up it thinking it was nothing. Then we get closer up and it goes up hill again, and I thought to myself "ok I will just keep going hard and the finish is right there." I thought the top was in sight since the hill we were climbing looked as though it was curving over to a downhill... but I was WRONG!!! It went up again and this third section was even harder than the first two. When I was climbing in the saddle my front wheel started to bob up and down and when I would stand up my back wheel would slide. Wow that was quite a hill and can't wait until next Wednesday when I do three laps of it.
Well after the monster was over there was a swell downhill. I think in total I hit sub 50 mph three or four times that ride, and that is something new to me being from good ol' Houston.
Then we turn left on this road called City Park and it was yet another steep climb that had to be conquered, but not quite as bad as the previous one, but there is something I have never experienced before, as well as the burning lungs, and that was the sound of God's Symphony. I'll just say that there was cars I have never seen before.
Even though the BMW X6 isn't the most aesthetically pleasing or the most practical SUV, the 400 horse power twin turbo they drop in it is something you can't mess around with. This was the first car to pass us on this hill and when it's pushing second gear that car sounds astonishing, and I was put into a state of awe, but lets not get too caught up on that.
A few seconds after that I heard the best sounding Italian engine of my life, and I thought it was a Ducati or a Moto Guzzi high revving, and not to say the least I got turned on a bit. Unofortunately it was more than I had bargained for... the Audi R8, and after I saw it I...
We were pressed for time so we had to turn back after a few miles, and I will keep exploring out west because that is where I want to have my house built when I am a hard working man.
On a more practical note I stopped by Mellow Johnny's and picked up some racing gloves since everyone has been harping on my case for them recently...
Hopefully something of interest happens on the Critical Mass ride tomorrow night so I can post some pictures up.
Thank You for reading...
Today has been a pretty fun day as you are about to find out after watching this short documentary if you choose... It's kind of long but it is all 100% true...
So today I rolled out of the apartment with Kyle and we did a very good 2.5 hour ride out west. For those of ya'll that do not know the topography of Austin, the east is flat and the west is mountainous. Ever since I started hitting it hard last week all my rides have been out west, and I can already feel myself getting stronger day by day. My goal is to be able to attain a pack finish in one of the Pro 1,2 races by the time the tan lines on my legs are completely there, which is lining up to be around the time of the Annual Fayetteville stage race in mid-March wrapping up my Spring Break.
Here is a picture of Kyle riding through a water crossing that was on our ride.
.jpg)
A little while after the water crossing we arrived to this road called Courtyard, and it was the gateway to Heaven. Whenever I am of age, and of status, I am moving out there. Next time I ride out there I will snap some photos to show everyone, but this place is beautiful. Well back to the ride... We turned right onto the street off of Highway 360 and there is a sign that says 10% grade and I got all excited because that means a pretty steep hill, and I hear Kyle say "This is my least favorite hill in Austin!" I didn't take his comment to seriously and I charged up it thinking it was nothing. Then we get closer up and it goes up hill again, and I thought to myself "ok I will just keep going hard and the finish is right there." I thought the top was in sight since the hill we were climbing looked as though it was curving over to a downhill... but I was WRONG!!! It went up again and this third section was even harder than the first two. When I was climbing in the saddle my front wheel started to bob up and down and when I would stand up my back wheel would slide. Wow that was quite a hill and can't wait until next Wednesday when I do three laps of it.
Well after the monster was over there was a swell downhill. I think in total I hit sub 50 mph three or four times that ride, and that is something new to me being from good ol' Houston.
Then we turn left on this road called City Park and it was yet another steep climb that had to be conquered, but not quite as bad as the previous one, but there is something I have never experienced before, as well as the burning lungs, and that was the sound of God's Symphony. I'll just say that there was cars I have never seen before.
Even though the BMW X6 isn't the most aesthetically pleasing or the most practical SUV, the 400 horse power twin turbo they drop in it is something you can't mess around with. This was the first car to pass us on this hill and when it's pushing second gear that car sounds astonishing, and I was put into a state of awe, but lets not get too caught up on that.
A few seconds after that I heard the best sounding Italian engine of my life, and I thought it was a Ducati or a Moto Guzzi high revving, and not to say the least I got turned on a bit. Unofortunately it was more than I had bargained for... the Audi R8, and after I saw it I...
We were pressed for time so we had to turn back after a few miles, and I will keep exploring out west because that is where I want to have my house built when I am a hard working man.
On a more practical note I stopped by Mellow Johnny's and picked up some racing gloves since everyone has been harping on my case for them recently...
Hopefully something of interest happens on the Critical Mass ride tomorrow night so I can post some pictures up.
Thank You for reading...
Here is a photo from last month's Critical Mass ride at the gathering spot right at The Union on the University of Texas-Austin campus. This ride promotes a more bike friendly atmosphere around Austin and is a pretty fun ride to go on. The ride takes place on the last Friday of every month so I hope to see you out there!
I uploaded this photo via Picasa and I will have to say this is by far the best photo application for organizing as well as viewing pictures on your computer out there right now, and recommend it to everyone. Now that it takes less time to upload photos to my blog using it I will be uploading many more in the future...
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Hot Water
Today I got woken up by the maintenance man trying to get in and fix some phony stopped up drain in a bath tub in my apartment and this is probably the 4th work order that has been sent without there even being a problem, so I don't know who the wise guy is that is playing these pranks.
While he was here he did something productive and that was turning up the water heater. Now the doors on my shower actually accumulate steam like never before.
Since I have been so busy lately I have riding on the trainer the past two days, even though the weather is so nice here in Austin.
I finally finished up my midterms for this early part of the semester and it feels good to finally be able to relax for a few more weeks.
I'm already getting excited to race at Lago Vista this weekend, and hoping to do better than Pace Bend.
While he was here he did something productive and that was turning up the water heater. Now the doors on my shower actually accumulate steam like never before.
Since I have been so busy lately I have riding on the trainer the past two days, even though the weather is so nice here in Austin.
I finally finished up my midterms for this early part of the semester and it feels good to finally be able to relax for a few more weeks.
I'm already getting excited to race at Lago Vista this weekend, and hoping to do better than Pace Bend.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Pace Bend Road Race
This weekend went better than planned and I cannot help but thank Charlie Tames, Todd Reed, Barry Lee, as well as the rest of the Team Hotel San Jose crew for standing behind me on my journey to come back to the sport fully fledged, like democracy taking its second wind in a third world country- coming back stronger.
I am planning on being stronger than I was before I “hung the bikes up” back in 2007 and have had plenty of time to find myself and mature a little bit, after having some fun here in college- I mean what else is it for…
I haven’t had much time to prepare for this race because I have been getting situated with my course work, tests recently, as well as balancing the rest of my life out, and I have finally set forth enough time to train so I can build myself back up to full potential. So before any rumors start to brew up I will report on this previous weekend’s Pace Bend Road Race.
Since this was my first race in over a year and a half I didn’t know what to expect, besides that it was going to be fast, hard, and not to mention- fast and hard, so my plan was to help out the team in the beginning and hang in there as long as I could, which was probably 2 laps at most.
Well the first lap rolls around and I am still hanging in there having a blast. Pace Bend is one of my favorite Texas race courses and ranks up there with Lago Vista, which is coming up this weekend. So the race was pretty much a speedy rollercoaster, and it was very exhilarating.
The race was 15 laps which equaled out to be 80 miles, so I wasn’t really expecting to finish it, with my longest ride of the whole year being around 60 miles back in January.
Everything was working out fine during the race, and since the course is so fast there wasn’t really any threatening breaks getting up the road so I just sat in and tried to hang on as long as I could by playing it smart.
My legs started feeling it in the hills around 6 laps to go. Then around 4 laps to go the hammer got dropped and it was pure chaos and animosity. There was no way I would be able to hang with that speed in my current shape so I got shelled off the back instantaneously. I had planned prior for this and if it were to happen I would just keep riding to get extra miles in for training. I ended up rolling around for two more laps by myself until I got pulled with the pack’s 1 lap to go. All in all I got roughly 70 miles in, so it was pretty good for my first race back on the bike.
People may start to think that I am not thinking too positively about my early results, but trust me I am. I am very glad with my results and would like to thank all of my supporters out there. There are a quite few antagonists, but I won’t get into that, because they push me harder.
I am planning on being stronger than I was before I “hung the bikes up” back in 2007 and have had plenty of time to find myself and mature a little bit, after having some fun here in college- I mean what else is it for…
I haven’t had much time to prepare for this race because I have been getting situated with my course work, tests recently, as well as balancing the rest of my life out, and I have finally set forth enough time to train so I can build myself back up to full potential. So before any rumors start to brew up I will report on this previous weekend’s Pace Bend Road Race.
Since this was my first race in over a year and a half I didn’t know what to expect, besides that it was going to be fast, hard, and not to mention- fast and hard, so my plan was to help out the team in the beginning and hang in there as long as I could, which was probably 2 laps at most.
Well the first lap rolls around and I am still hanging in there having a blast. Pace Bend is one of my favorite Texas race courses and ranks up there with Lago Vista, which is coming up this weekend. So the race was pretty much a speedy rollercoaster, and it was very exhilarating.
The race was 15 laps which equaled out to be 80 miles, so I wasn’t really expecting to finish it, with my longest ride of the whole year being around 60 miles back in January.
Everything was working out fine during the race, and since the course is so fast there wasn’t really any threatening breaks getting up the road so I just sat in and tried to hang on as long as I could by playing it smart.
My legs started feeling it in the hills around 6 laps to go. Then around 4 laps to go the hammer got dropped and it was pure chaos and animosity. There was no way I would be able to hang with that speed in my current shape so I got shelled off the back instantaneously. I had planned prior for this and if it were to happen I would just keep riding to get extra miles in for training. I ended up rolling around for two more laps by myself until I got pulled with the pack’s 1 lap to go. All in all I got roughly 70 miles in, so it was pretty good for my first race back on the bike.
People may start to think that I am not thinking too positively about my early results, but trust me I am. I am very glad with my results and would like to thank all of my supporters out there. There are a quite few antagonists, but I won’t get into that, because they push me harder.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
I decided against the early weekend-warrior race and slept in late.
I rolled out of bed around 1 pm and did my morning ritual of flipping up my computer lid and checking facebook, email, twitter, etc... And I get a message from a long time cycling buddy of mine Austin Potter telling me to call him up to go ride.
I rolled out of my apartment and went onto campus to meet him and we went riding around ATX and all I can say is it was WINDY!!! Since I needed to ride easy for tomorrow we rode around town and went to Mellow Johnny's.
Right now I am sippin' on some coconut water that came in our race packets and I must say it is quite delicious.
I rolled out of bed around 1 pm and did my morning ritual of flipping up my computer lid and checking facebook, email, twitter, etc... And I get a message from a long time cycling buddy of mine Austin Potter telling me to call him up to go ride.
I rolled out of my apartment and went onto campus to meet him and we went riding around ATX and all I can say is it was WINDY!!! Since I needed to ride easy for tomorrow we rode around town and went to Mellow Johnny's.
Right now I am sippin' on some coconut water that came in our race packets and I must say it is quite delicious.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Daily Double
I can get two in today...
I was at the library and I got a tad creeped out by something, well someone there so I got up and left... I just don't understand library fetishes...
The weather is looking really nice for this weekend...
I was at the library and I got a tad creeped out by something, well someone there so I got up and left... I just don't understand library fetishes...
The weather is looking really nice for this weekend...
From here on out will be quite stressful until next Wednesday with all my studies.
I think this will be my last update until Sunday after my race at Pace Bend. Tomorrow I have a history test and I am feeling pretty confident about it, just need to review back through my readings and lecture notes all night and prepare as much as possible.
Since I have had two pretty short hard rides these past couple of days I am taking today off so I can study and am doing a nice little easy ride tomorrow with Stefan Rothe if all goes as planned.
Saturday I am going to wake up bright and early and go on the ATC ride and come home and spend ALL day studying for Communications, English and Math.
A few of my classes I end up sitting in the wrong place right next to some d-bag and it gets really annoying, so I think I can do a further classification of this here subject...
(1) wears an excessive amount of gel to make a faux hawk
(2) wears cargo shorts
(3) over excessive amount of axe
(4) thinks abercrombie is the college boy look
(5) laughs at everything the professor says after repeating the last two words of his sentence:
Professor: "I think it is funny when the class laughs at my jokes"
D-Bag: "Laughs at my jokes, huh-huh-huh"
(6) looks over at my notebook once I am done writing to steal my notes and answers just in case they get called on because all they only pick up on the "funny" stuff
I digress...
I think this will be my last update until Sunday after my race at Pace Bend. Tomorrow I have a history test and I am feeling pretty confident about it, just need to review back through my readings and lecture notes all night and prepare as much as possible.
Since I have had two pretty short hard rides these past couple of days I am taking today off so I can study and am doing a nice little easy ride tomorrow with Stefan Rothe if all goes as planned.
Saturday I am going to wake up bright and early and go on the ATC ride and come home and spend ALL day studying for Communications, English and Math.
A few of my classes I end up sitting in the wrong place right next to some d-bag and it gets really annoying, so I think I can do a further classification of this here subject...
(1) wears an excessive amount of gel to make a faux hawk
(2) wears cargo shorts
(3) over excessive amount of axe
(4) thinks abercrombie is the college boy look
(5) laughs at everything the professor says after repeating the last two words of his sentence:
Professor: "I think it is funny when the class laughs at my jokes"
D-Bag: "Laughs at my jokes, huh-huh-huh"
(6) looks over at my notebook once I am done writing to steal my notes and answers just in case they get called on because all they only pick up on the "funny" stuff
I digress...
Monday I went and picked up my Trek Madone thanks to Mellow Johnny’s and Team Hotel San Jose and I must admit that it is the best bike I have ever ridden.
I can now say that I am a Trek believer, and understand why Lance rides them so religiously. This is also my first carbon fiber road bike as well, I was riding titanium prior to this and I thought the ride of that was the best. One thing I do recall from the ti was its lack in stiffness which carbon fiber makes up for giving me the suppleness of the titanium and the stiffness of aluminum- aluminum being stiff and not supple at all.
Yesterday the conditions were pretty nasty all day- rainy, foggy, and well… nasty. I rode with Kyle and we went out west of Austin and hit many big climbs.
Today was a very nice day being completely clear and sunny in the mid 80’s. I went riding with Kyle again… out west again… but a different route. On the way out I did notice something that I have only dreamed of and probably will only be found in Austin.
That is the shoulder being smoother than the road!
This weekend I am planning on racing Pace Bend, and it will be my first race in a little over 1.5 years, with the start of my comeback from winter break. I’m not really planning anything spectacular from this race except mainly to get a feel of how fast I need to be to be back in Cat 2 shape as well as know what it is like to ride in a large field.
Friday marks a major test for me in History, so a lot of my time has been spent preparing for that and this weekend is going to be even harder with 3 tests early on next week.
I guess I seem to be rambling on, but its 12:00 and I am kind of delirious after taking a nap at 8:00 and doing some history reading.
And one last note before I go…
I can now say that I am a Trek believer, and understand why Lance rides them so religiously. This is also my first carbon fiber road bike as well, I was riding titanium prior to this and I thought the ride of that was the best. One thing I do recall from the ti was its lack in stiffness which carbon fiber makes up for giving me the suppleness of the titanium and the stiffness of aluminum- aluminum being stiff and not supple at all.
Yesterday the conditions were pretty nasty all day- rainy, foggy, and well… nasty. I rode with Kyle and we went out west of Austin and hit many big climbs.
Today was a very nice day being completely clear and sunny in the mid 80’s. I went riding with Kyle again… out west again… but a different route. On the way out I did notice something that I have only dreamed of and probably will only be found in Austin.
That is the shoulder being smoother than the road!
This weekend I am planning on racing Pace Bend, and it will be my first race in a little over 1.5 years, with the start of my comeback from winter break. I’m not really planning anything spectacular from this race except mainly to get a feel of how fast I need to be to be back in Cat 2 shape as well as know what it is like to ride in a large field.
Friday marks a major test for me in History, so a lot of my time has been spent preparing for that and this weekend is going to be even harder with 3 tests early on next week.
I guess I seem to be rambling on, but its 12:00 and I am kind of delirious after taking a nap at 8:00 and doing some history reading.
And one last note before I go…
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday Evening
...seems to be about the only time no one is on their computers...
Today I slept in again so I could catch up and be prepared for this upcoming week, sleep-wise.
Sofia and I went to Whole Foods today and wandered around there and then we went to the bike shop to browse around, since her bike got stolen a week ago. So if anyone sees a red Specialized Rockhopper with a pink bottle cage... please return it.
After eating BBQ there we came back and went for a little run, which is part of Operation Get Back in Shape (OGBS). I figured running is just as athletic as riding and is a lot easier to do here, always being pressed for time.
Well now I am going to get back to studying for the rest of the night...
I also was able to set up an RSS feed from my Twitter on the side bar of this page...
Today I slept in again so I could catch up and be prepared for this upcoming week, sleep-wise.
Sofia and I went to Whole Foods today and wandered around there and then we went to the bike shop to browse around, since her bike got stolen a week ago. So if anyone sees a red Specialized Rockhopper with a pink bottle cage... please return it.
After eating BBQ there we came back and went for a little run, which is part of Operation Get Back in Shape (OGBS). I figured running is just as athletic as riding and is a lot easier to do here, always being pressed for time.
Well now I am going to get back to studying for the rest of the night...
I also was able to set up an RSS feed from my Twitter on the side bar of this page...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentines Day
It's been a few weeks since my last update and that is for two reason... (1) Lots and lots of homework and (2) the internet is too slow to pull up my blog at my apartment.
This next week and a half is going to be quite hectic test wise. I had my first test the day before yesterday on Thursday in Astronomy and it went pretty well. Then this Friday I have History and then the next Tuesday I have Communications, English, and Math. I already have a feeling next weekend is going to be rough.
Last night I set up a twitter account so I guess it can be seen as a more updated blog, or more like a cooler version of the facebook statuses. The link for my twitter page is HERE. I am currently trying to set up an RSS feed to my blog page as well as making it look nicer on my website.
I also saw Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. Nothing bad really happened yesterday so I guess we'll have to see what happens with that in March when it roles around again. I really enjoyed the movie and it was a good sequel to the last one made in 1980.
This next week and a half is going to be quite hectic test wise. I had my first test the day before yesterday on Thursday in Astronomy and it went pretty well. Then this Friday I have History and then the next Tuesday I have Communications, English, and Math. I already have a feeling next weekend is going to be rough.
Last night I set up a twitter account so I guess it can be seen as a more updated blog, or more like a cooler version of the facebook statuses. The link for my twitter page is HERE. I am currently trying to set up an RSS feed to my blog page as well as making it look nicer on my website.
I also saw Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th. Nothing bad really happened yesterday so I guess we'll have to see what happens with that in March when it roles around again. I really enjoyed the movie and it was a good sequel to the last one made in 1980.
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