Tom Hokanson

Rain and cold doesn't stop Tom and Rachel

2011-12-06T05:13:00.000-08:00

Tom and Rachel battled the rain and cold yesterday to complete their Dallas White Rock races yesterday. Rachel ran her first marathon in 4:12:48 (results here), finishing 91st out of 700 first-time female marathoners. She was 35th in her age group out of 135.

Tom ran his the half marathon in 1:56:38 (results here) to finish 41st out of 197 in his age group, an 8:54/mile pace.

The steady rain made the race a struggle for both of us. It seemed I never got into the usual relaxed pace that we enjoyed during our training runs together. Rachel and I ran the first 7 miles together, running the first 5K in 27:06 and the 10K in 54:50. Rachel ran the half marathon in 2:01:23 but was battling tears of misery throughout the 2nd half, especially the run around White Rock Lake which was completely open to the wind. She felt discouraged because so many runners were passing her by but what she didn't realize was many of those runners were relay runners who were only running 5+ miles. In fact, at the half way point Rachel was ranked 413th out of all 1686 first-timers. By the 20-mile point she was ranked 400th and by the end she was 377th! At the finish, her lips were blue but she was now a marathoner (9:39/mile pace). Great race, Rachel!

For me, I enjoyed running with Rachel for the first part, even with the ran. I was soaked through and through but didn't feel really cold until the 10th mile. The last 2 miles seemed really slow but that was new territory for me. When I passed the 25 mile marker (12 mile for me) down the stretch, I was worried about Rachel because of the elements and, based on how I felt, was not sure how Rachel could do it.

As for as the Dallas White Rock venue is concerned, it was not that geat and definitely isn't the "Best Running Event in Texas" as their web site claims. It's just too big with 28,000 runners starting the three races (marathon, half, and relay) at the same time. I had a favorable corral start (A-3 so the third corral) based on my projected time of 1:55. But Rachel's corral was C-2 which didn't make sense based on her 4 hour goal - especially as we were dodging walkers through the first 4 miles. But since I wanted to run with her, that's where we started. The parking is far from the start and the post race meeting areas are confusing. It was difficult to find food at the finish without standing in long lines. I was lucky as 20 minutes in the pancake line scored me some great cakes. Rachel, not so lucky. She got a banana but, pancakes gone, she stood in line for 15 minutes for half a bagel. Neither of us got post-race water.

But the course is fine. There is one long hill in the half and a 2nd in the full. But compared to Austin, these were easy. The volunteers were wonderful, and when we were running through the neighborhoods, the people were great. There were plenty of water and gatorade stops. The pre-race Expo was pretty good but crowded. The swag you got mainly came from the vendors at the Expo, if you cared to stop by their booths. The medals were nice and will be a proud memory for us. You also got a long sleeve participant cotton t-shirt and a finisher tech shirt (long sleve for full, short sleeve for half). All that is good. But for us, the 3M Half Marathon in Austin that Rachel ran earlier this year was a lot cooler. But then that's only 6000 runners.

But no more complaining. They raised $106,000 for a good cause. And we did it! I can now say that I've run the half marathon faster than any person has EVER run the full marathon :) And Rachel has done her marathon. There you go.

Vintage guitars

2011-11-25T15:31:00.000-08:00

I was poking around the Internet today and notice an advertisement for Silvertone guitars. Back when I was 14 years old, inspired by the Beatles, my older brother and I got the itch to get electric guitars and form a band. Jim was older, had more money, and bought a used hollow-body electric with two pickups plus an amp. I had limited funds but I thought the turquoise $40 Silvertone guitar at Sears looked really cool. Then, with some neighborhood friends who played guitar and drums, we formed a band. And the rest is history!

1960s vintage Silvertone guitar

So the ad for Silvertone guitars took me way back and I did a search for "turquoise silvertone guitar" and sure enough, I found this vintage 1960s Silvertone guitar for sale on eBay for $340. That was it! My guitar! Not going to buy it but have the picture memory is nice.

Kauai Friday Nov 11

2011-11-11T22:56:00.000-08:00

Waiting for sun

Our last day in Kauai would be a full one because our flight out did not leave until 11pm. So in the morning we let the clouds and rain move out and, by 8:30 or so, Joan and I were snorkeling at Poipu Beach. We rented gear right at the beach and were quickly in the cool water watching hundreds of fish of many kinds and vivid colors it was beautiful, clear waters. It was a lot of fun. Oh, and we saw our daily rainbow, too.
More pictures here

After that we said goodbye to Poipu Palm #103 and headed north to Lihue. There we drove around, shopping down near the port of Nawiliwili, visiting the overlook of Wailua Falls, sitting by the beach at Lydgate Beach where we ate the lunch we had prepared.

Lastly, we went to JJs Broiler on Kalapaki Bay and sat outside on the deck watching the surfers. We sat with another couple after they got briefly rained upon and we offered them cover at our table. So that made for some good conversation.

On to the airport for the long flight home (layover in Phoenix) on US Airways. Everything was on time, just really far. We got to Austin around 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday, full of stories about our Hawaiian vacation.

Kauai Thursday Nov 10

2011-11-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

Thursday in Poipu started by relaxing around the condo and enjoying the ocean view. I wanted to see more spinner dolphins like we saw from the boat yesterday, but never did. Others before us have seen schools of them from our condo patio. Oh, well.

Then we headed out to drive through Waimea Canyon via the Waimea Canyon Drive. The drive is winding and slow with glimpses of the canyon. We stopped at three nice overlook areas: the Waimea Canyon Lookout, the Puu Hina Hina Lookout and the Kalalau Lookout. The first two overlook the 12 mile long canyon, coined the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" by Samuel Clemens, while the last overlooks the ocean.

On the way back to Poipu, we stopped in Waimea at Jo Jo's for some shaved ice - yum! Then we went Poipu Beach and played in the water a little and watched the paddle surfers (see video) and enjoyed the swaying palm trees and beautiful cover (see video). And we also enjoyed another of the many rainbows we saw all over the island of Kauai. more pictures

Kauai Wednesday Nov 9

2011-11-09T22:32:00.000-08:00

Our first full day at Poipu Palms was our boat ride day. We rose early to make sure we got over to Port Allen by our check-in time of 7:30. We had no problem finding the port side parking lot for Catamaran Kahanu. We then waited a few minutes for our First Mate, Christian, who walked us down to the boat. Catamaran Kahanu is a 40-foot power boat and there were 19 passengers on our ride. Christian was very conscious of every one's safety, carefully explaining the process of getting on the boat. Captain Lani is a native Hawaiian, fisherman by trade. His thick accent was fun to listen to as we heard the native way of pronouncing some of the places we saw.

The boat headed out to sea and the weather was great. We headed west, hugging the coast, as Christian explained some of the coastal sites we were passing like the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility and private beach, Salt Pond, and the forbidden island of Nihau. He also gave us a history lesson on Captain James Cook. The end of Polihale State Beach Park, at 17 miles the longest stretch of beach in Kauai, marked the beginning of our true destination - the Ne Pali Coast. The cliffs grew taller and the canyons deeper as we headed north where the coast is accessed only by boat or difficult hiking. At times, the ride was rough because the captain wanted to stay close to the coastline to get the best views. At one point, we slowed down where some other charters were tied up in calm waters for some snorkeling, but we soon moved on. We saw some caves and waterfalls and, always, beautiful blue waters.

The turnaround point was a reef and Captain Lani maneuvered the boat inside the reef and we tied up. Here, we had the opportunity to get into the water for some snorkeling. Suddenly, right beside our boat, a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle about 3 feet in diameter appeared as if on cue. Then, one by one, the captain fitted the passengers who wished to snorkel with a pair of fins. I got my fins, went to the bow, got a mask and a short explaination of how to get in the water, and soon I was in the cool water looking at some tropical fish. Christian had thrown out some pretzels so there were hundreds of fish. I guess I only saw three varieties but it was a lot of fun and the water was very clear. We only had 30 minutes in the water and once back in the boat, they prepared a nice lunch of sandwiches, pasta salad, fresh fruit, cookies and drinks. While we were eating, Captain Lani began talking about the fresh fish of Hawaii, joking about our bass fishing and how he landed his 1100 pound Marlin.

The return trip was a lot faster as we sped through the ocean. But on the way we slowed suddenly as a school of Spinner dolphins appeared (not as good a view as this video but still very cool!). Twice, a dolphin leapt clear out of the water. After a few minutes, we continued on our way back to port. All in all, I figured that we covered 60 miles and it was a great trip. See lots of pictures here!

One our way back to Poipu, we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Plantation Museum where they have a nice walking tour and free samples of their many flavors (see pictures). Then we went by Spouting Horn, a spot where the water shoots out of the rocks every time a wave comes in. They also have some vendors there and we enjoyed looking at their wares. From there, we stopped by Poipu Beach to check it out for the first time and discovered a fast way to get the beach from our condo.

After a while spent relaxing at our condo, we walked back down to Poipu Beach and waded in the water. Very beautiful there and the people were enjoying a safe place to try out snorkeling, wakeboarding and paddle surfing. Another lovely day in paradise. Joan posted more pictures here.

Kauai Tuesday Nov 8

2011-11-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was our day for moving from the North Shore of Kauai to the South Shore. But before we did, we had to have one more walk around Hanalei Bay. It was a nice morning for a walk on the beach. After that, we packed up and said goodbye to the Gardenia Suite at Hanalei Villa. We had a helicopter to catch!

On our way down to Lihue, we stopped at the Mana Oka'aina beach just south of Kapa'a and enjoyed watching surfers. Then, after searching for awhile, we found Safari Helicopters and checked in for our "Deluxe Waterfall Safari."

These guys seem to have a lot of fun but still emphasize safety. Our pilot/tour guide kept the six passengers informed and laughing and made to show the best sites from both sides of the chopper. Joan, usually afraid of heights, really enjoyed the flight. The sights were incredible as we crossed the island, over Waimea Canyon over to the Ne Pali Coast. Waterfalls were everywhere and the brilliant colors of the canyons and coastline was truly awesome. We also got a great view of the place we just left - Hanalei Bay. Anyway, we bought the video of our ride which we are looking forward to watching and re-living. more pics here

Poipu Palms

After the helicopter tour, we stopped at Hilo Hattie's, sort of the Walmart of Hawaiian gifts, before driving down to Poipu Beach. Our new home for the remainder of our Hawaiian vacation is Poipu Palms #103. The condo sits right on a rocky stretch of coastline just a short walk to Poipu Beach. We watched a nice sunset that first evening. Poipu looked a lot different tan Hanalei and we were excited about exploring it.

Kauai Monday Nov 7

2011-11-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

As planned for Monday, we left early in the morning and drove west to where the highway ends at Ke'e Beach. There we began the hike on the Kalalau Trail. This trail along the incredible Nepali Coast offers several rigorous choices. You can hike 2 miles to Hanakapiai Beach, 4 miles to the Kalalau Lookout, or 11 miles to Kalalau Beach (overnight camping required). We wisely opted for the 2 mile trek. To give you an idea of the degree of difficulty, the 4 mile round trip took us about 4 hours with lots of stops at overlooks along the way plus about 20 minutes at the destination beach. The trail is slippery, muddy, narrow, rocky and exhilarating! Joan was a trooper even though she is somewhat afraid of heights. more pictures

We experienced rain, sunshine, waterfalls and rainbows. We crossed streams, saw all kinds of trees, listened to birds and stepped aside for other hikers. And we had magnificent views of the ocean far below us. At the end of our hike our feet were a muddy red and our legs were sore. We waded at Ke'e Beach then rewarded ourselves with ice cold coconut milk from a vendor who chopped the top off the cocnut inserted a straw and charged us $3. Some suggestions:

Start early. Limited parking at trailhead.
Don't bother with tennis shoes. My chaco sandals worked well. Hiking boots would too.
Don't ever swim at Hanakapiai Beach! The homemade sign with tick marks for some 86 drownings is apparently true.
Take your time to enjoy the vistas. Most people raced by us in order to complete the hike quickly. But they missed some incredible sights.

After returning to our villa for a snack and some relaxing, Joan put on here new sarong and I put on my new Hawaiian shirt and we drove down to Smith's Tropical Paradise for a luau! There we took a tram around the 30-acre gardens, ate some traditional Hawaiian food, and watched an exciting show of dancers and music. The food wasn't the best but about what is expected when you try to feed 500 people. The gardens were beautiful though and the dancing and music was great. We really enjoyed the show which included dances from each of the cultures of people who settled Hawaii. more pictures here

Kuaui Sunday Nov 6

2011-11-06T20:50:00.000-08:00

Much better weather today. Went for a jog down the beach early while Joan walked and snapped pictures. I ran for only a mile but it felt like 4 because of the soft sand. At one point the water breached the beach to form a small lagoon. I waded across and it was up to my mid-chest. On the way back I somehow picked a different spot to cross and actually had to swim ten feet or so to get across.

To and Joan at Lookout #2

Since the weather was good we decided it was time for a road trip so we headed east across the one lane bridge just outside of Hanalei and up to the first lookout over Hanalei Bay. Then we went half a mile further east to the second overlook with a beautiful view of the Taro Plantations and mountains. While there we met Jim from Eugene who took our picture. He is staying in Kauai for a month, hoping to stay permanently to work on his craft - photography. Jim is like the busboy we met at the Hanalei Gourmet yesterday who came to Kauai for a week, liked it, and never went home to Boise! more pics

From the lookout, we drove another 6 miles or so to the Kilauea Lighthouse and Kilauea Point National Wildlife Preserve. We got there 30 minutes before the opening time of 10am and enjoyed the lighthouse overlook and reading about the endangered species that live there. When the gates opened, we drove in and walked the grounds. Spectacular views of the cliffs, the aquamarine ocean and the white surf.

We then returned to Hanalei for lunch but didn't stay long. We headed west toward Haena hoping to go to the Limahuli botanical gardens near there. Alas they were closed so we continued on the narrow road, crossing six or seven one lane bridges with many beautiful glimpses of mountains and sea. We got to the end at Ke'e Beach but no parking was to be found. So we headed back and stopped at Waikanaloa Wet Cave. From there we headed back down to a park we noticed that seemed to be popular but had lots of parking. This turned out to be Tunnels Beach and the jewel of our vacation so far. The water was incredibly blue and the sky cleared and it got hot and I called our daughters to tell them this is what I hoped Hawaii would be like! Tunnels is famous for snorkeling and I can see why.

After our wading along the shore, we headed back to Hanalei and went to the beach near our house. Well, actually, we got thirty feet out our door and it started pouring so we back ran inside, waiting 20 minutes before going back out with the sun shining again. We strolled the beach, walked out the on the pier then played in the surf enough to feel the power of the big waves.

Later we cleaned up and browsed several shops in town and then went to dinner at Postcards Cafe. It's a cool, fancy restaurant but more expensive and less health-food like than we both expected. I had Mahi Mahi and a glass of white wine while Joan had a shrimp and pasta dish. To be honest, we preferred Hanalei Gourmet from last night but it was still a lovely evening. And a beautiful Hawaiian Sunday!

Hawaiian Adventure Begins!

2011-11-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

We flew from Austin to Lihue, Kauai yesterday and the flight went smooth. Arrived 30 minutes early but had to wait over an hour for the rental car. We drove north toward our Hanalei destination, stopping in Kapa'a for lunch (at 3:30pm). Traffic from Lihue to Kapa'a was slow but after that it thinned out and the views became pretty incredible.

Our Balcony

In Hanalei, we are staying at a home that's been divided into 3 suites. We have the Gardenia Suite. Joan said it best when she commented "it looks just like the pictures." Very nice with large bedroom, kitchen, living room, loft (if you have more people), and a very nice porch with table and hammock and view of the Bay.

After settling in, we drove to Big Save Grocery to get some food. And that was it for our first day in Hawaii.

It rained off and on all night long and the time change was a bit getting used to. So by 5:17am I was out of bed and outside in the hammock, looking at the stars and listening to the tide. The surf here is incredible as it breaks at one point with a loud boom. (Think Typhoon Lagoon when the big wave let loose, girls) Once the sun came up and as soon as the weather turned nice, Joan and I went for a long walk on the beach. The roosters are all over the place as we heard they would be. And when we walked out on this fishing pier we could see dozens of surfers already far out in an area where the surf broke.

As we walked we enjoyed the beautiful, verdant mountains with long waterfalls cascading down. Simply incredible! Our walk ended after about 45 minutes because it started to rain. We walked back to our villa via the street, getting a little wet but enjoying the lush gardens and nice homes.

Now we are just relaxing as it is raining hard. That's ok its still only 9:40am!

A Trip to the Padre Island

2011-07-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

My sister, Jenny, wants to take her young boys to the coast when she visits Texas next month. That takes me back to a trip our family took to Padre Island when I was young.

Dad rented a camper trailer, similar to this one, to pull behind the car. I don't remember for sure but I'm thinking there were four of us kids at that time as I was probably 7 or 8 years old. Sure must have been crowded in that camper at night! We drove down to Lake Corpus Christi near Mathis to spend the first night. I don't remember much about our stay there except we tried to fish, without much sucess, and the mosquitoes were thicker bees in a hive.

Then we headed on down to Padre Island and parked our camper right on the beach. Recently transplanted from New Mexico, we had no beach experience. I remember my Dad explaining how the high tide can cause the waves come much farther up the beach than where we stood. That must have made an big impression on me because that night I had a bad dream. In my dream, I woke up, looked out the camper window and we were totally surrounded by ocean!

The next morning my Dad told us that in the middle of the night, he woke up and decided the surf was getting much too close, And so he pulled the car and camper farther up into the dunes,

I guess the entire beach experience was sort of frightening to this young boy as the other memories of that trip include being stung by a Portuguese Man o' War, hearing about the dangers of undertows, and seeing a shark carcass while we were beachcombing.

Don't worry, Jenny. A trip to the beach can be a thrilling experience of discovering sea shells and sand dollars, emulating the sandpipers by scurrying away from the incoming waves, and feeding the seagulls.

Skateboards

2011-01-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

Overhearing Rachel explain how Perry (phallphoto.com) caught skateboarding aerials on camera reminded me of my own skateboard long ago. I asked for a skateboard for Christmas and my Dad, as he often did, made me a skateboard to save money. He bought some real nice skateboard wheels and connected them to a board that he had cut. It was varnished and lacquered to a super shine and I was very excited when I opened the present.

I was never an accomplished skateboarder. Remember, skateboarding was a new art form back when I was young. I would ride around the neighborhood sidewalks some, but I guess my favorite place was our large patio on the back of our house. I must have drove my Mom crazy as I sped around in large ovals on the concrete surface for hours on end. One day I tried to do my wheelee trick and the skateboard flew out from under me and crashed into one of my Mom's large clay pots. Oops! That was the end of my skateboarding on the patio. Fortunately, I didn't send the board through the sliding glass door that was just feet away from that pot.

Perry, if you had been around way back then, the best photo would probably have been the shattered clay pot, with an impaled skateboard sticking out of the soil.

Tom Hokanson Legends: The Great New Years Eve Party!

2010-11-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

December 31, 1972

I think we all long for great New Years Eve parties, where we can reminisce with friends about the great year just past and the hope for the new year coming in. Well, in 1972, after my first semester of college at Southwest Texas State in San Marcos, I traveled "home" to El Paso where my parents moved about the same time I left for college. Outside of my immediate family, I knew no one. In other words, there would be no New Years Eve party for me.

Furthermore, my Mom and Dad went out to a party which left me, Greg, Terese, Shawn and Jenny at home. Early on, only Greg and I remained awake, watching the New Years show on TV. We soon grew bored with that and went to bed around 11pm.

Loud Firecrackers right in our front yard awoke me just after midnight. I peeked out the window and there was Greg, all alone, blasting a string of Black Cats. I watched Greg as he watched his firecrackers quickly go off. Then he trudged back in the house and to his bed and I soon fell back asleep. At that was the extent of our New Years Eve party.

Tom Hokanson Legends: Breckenridge Park Paddle Boat Escapade

2010-11-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I guess we spent a lot of time at Breckinridge Park when we were young. There is the story of riding horses at the stables. There is the time I left my grey sweater behind at a picnic. It was gone when we went back to look for it. That was my Grandfather's sweater and was given to me my Grandma Burt after my Grandfather died. There were trips to the zoo and the Chinese Sunken Gardens.

Another tale that comes to mind is the time Jim and I rented a paddle boat. We paddled around the waterways of the park and it was a lot more work than we figured. Somehow at some point we got our boat up against the limestone retaining wall and, because of the curve of the wall, no matter how we steered or how hard we paddled, the boat would not go anywhere. I was volunteered to climb out on the boat and give it a shove away from the wall. "Push a little more," said Jim. The boat started to move away from the wall and, wouldn't you know it, I was soon stretched out to my fullest with nowhere to go but... down into the water.

I can imagine my mother's chagrin when she saw my wet from head to toe after our Paddle Boat Escapade.

Tom Hokanson Legends: The Pig's Piece and Other Hokanson Food Tales

2010-11-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Around the Hokanson household, the three major food groups were eating, cooking, and razzing each other about eating habits. It started early when I dumped a bowl of popcorn over my head at my first birthday party. And the legends grew from there.

When we were young, my parents would stretch a meal for their large family in any way possible. Hamburgers were a mix of ground beef and bread pieces. A gallon of milk was converted to two gallons by mixing it with a gallon of Carnation Instant. Boy, did we hate it when this half and half mix ran out and we had to drink straight Carnation Instant!

One day we went to Beefland in San Antonio where you could order a half a side of beef prepared into different cuts - ground beef, steak, etc. While we waited for our order, we found the coffee machine and us kids thought the mix of coffee, cream and sugar was delicious. So delicious that I drank 4 or 5 cups, which is probably more than an 11-year old should have. I got so jittery and sick to my stomach that I never again drank a cup of coffee!

But the all-time highlight of Hokanson food tales involves my brother, Jim. Around the dinner table of 5 growing kids, you did not hesitate in grabbing food for yourself. One evening at dinner, Jim was determined to get the biggest piece of some dish that was already sliced up. He meant to holler, "I get the biggest piece!" but what came out of his mouth was "I got the Pig's Piece!" He has never lived that one down! In fact, soon thereafter it was my chore to set the evening table and I conspired with my younger siblings to set a very special place for Jim "Pig's Piece" Hokanson. When we sat down to eat, Jim found a large serving platter, a bread knife, and a serving spoon and fork at his place. Oh, and a Kool-Aid pitcher for his glass!

Speaking of pitchers of Kool-Aid, when I would come home late from football practice, that is exactly what I would make myself - a pitcher of strawberry Kool-Aid. And I was so thirsty I would invariably drink the whole thing! Bless her heart, my Mom would always tell me "I made a plate for you and it's in the oven" and there always was. Of course, she would also say "if that is not enough, fill up on bread and gravy."

After my parents moved to El Paso, Greg took over the Pig's Piece eating tradition and his manners left something to be desired, in my opinion. While I was home from college, I got "fed up" with his eating habits when I watched him fold up a slice of bread and stuff the entire thing in his mouth. I said "I can do that too!" and proceeded to do just that. It worked better for Greg because his mouth is bigger!

Jim's son Stephen kept up the family legacy. When Betsy and Stephen were little, probably 6 and 3, they stayed at our house in Austin while Jim and Debbie went on a trip. Trying to be the good Aunt and Uncle, Joan and I insisting that the kids finish their plates of spaghetti and raw carrots. Stephen refused but we were adamant and so after much coddling, Stephen finally cleaned his plate. The problem was, he never swallowed any of it! How could he get so much spaghetti and carrots into that little mouth?! Needless to say, it wasn't a pretty sight.

To this day, the Pig's Piece tradition continues in Hokanson households all around the nation!

RAGBRAI 2010 Adventure: Its a Wrap

2010-08-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

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The final leg of our journey from Ottawa, Kansas to Austin went off without a hitch. At breakfast in the motel some folks noticed our t-shirts and asked if we did RAGBRAI. Yep, we did.

For lunch, we split a 12-inch Veggie Delight from Subway and I bought a tall "Arnold Palmer" - half lemonade and half tea. We listened to the IPod and sang along together. Beach Boys, Beatles, songs popular when I was in high school, bands that Rachel likes... Rachel drove some when I got tired.

As we neared our neighborhood, Rachel selected "Me and Bobby McGee" and said "because it's our theme song" and as we heard Janis scratch out "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose," I think we were both thankful not only for each other and our time together, but also for our home and family.

People have asked if I would do RAGBRAI again and I tell them that if a friend asked me to ride with them, I certainly would. I told Doug Sorensen just that and he asked if he could ride his lawnmower. But for now I thank God for a safe return from our RAGBRAI adventure. See Youtube Pictures

RAGBRAI Adventure: Manchester to Dubuque

2010-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

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Day 7 Route | Dubuque

The final ride of RAGBRAI 2010 was a short 48 mile ride to Dubuque. It was a beautiful day but I am sure the one thing on most people's minds was the well advertised Potter Hill only 12 or so miles from the finish. There were several interesting things about the ride before we tackled the hill though. First, I think every pass through town had live music and it all sounded good. Secondly, we took a half mile detour to visit the "Field of Dreams" movie site.We watched as some riders took their turn at bat on the baseball diamond surrounded by corn fields.

As we headed east the Iowa landscape gradually changed from rolling cornfields to steeper hills with pretty vistas. The total climb for the day was 2,591 feet and, like the first day, for every climb there was an equal downhill run. Before Potter Hill, there was a couple of long steep downhills were I got up to around 37 mph, applying the brakes often. I left Rachel behind because, with my weight, I just coast alot faster than her. At the bottom of the hill, someone was holding a sign that said 19% grade as they hollered "it's really only 17%!" As I began to grind up the mile long hill, many were getting off their bikes and walking (read more here). I made it to the top and pulled over to wait for Rachel. But she never showed up! Turns out that she also made it all the way up and she was not 50 feet away, waiting on me! After a long wait, I decided to ride on, up a second steep hill nicknamed "Killer Hill," and continued over hill after hill all the way to Dubuque. I heard a few complaints about the route but overall this was supposed to be one of the flattest RAGBRAI's ever so I wasn't complaining.

Once I reached the Port of Dubuque (Theme: "Pedal to the Port") lots of people were cheering us on. Within sight of the finish, I stopped and borrowed a phone to call Rachel but she was out of service. I left a voice mail and sat and waited. In the meantime, she was basically doing the same thing - stopping or slowing to look for me. She finally got phone service and heard my message and we found each other (yea!!) and headed for the Mississippi River "dip site."

We got our picture taken together by some guys from College Station of all places, then headed out to find our charter truck. Everything worked out well and soon we were on the highway heading south towards Texas. Along the way, we stopped at our friends, the Sorensen's, house for a final visit. We made it as far as Ottawa, Kansas that evening and drove the rest of the way on Sunday.

RAGBRAI Adventure - Waterloo to Manchester

2010-07-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

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Day 6 Route | Manchester

The weather forecast for Friday was for lots of rain and, if you were a duck, you were not disappointed! My bike computer registered 64 miles for the day and I calculated that 57 of those were in the rain. We stopped early for breakfast at Chris Cakes and they had everything set up in a barn so that was nice. One of the cooks leaned out the door and started flipping pancakes to people in line 30 feet away and yelling, "appetizer!" Later we stopped at Rowley to check to make sure the phone and IPod were dry. We got pretty cold there and so we just rode the rest of the way to Manchester without stopping. The 5 pancakes and sausage were enough fuel to get us through.

At the end of the ride, the sun came out and it turned out to be a nice day. I was thankful for that and for the spirit of the people of Manchester (theme: "Team Manchester: Ride hard, Play Hard") because just a week before much of the town was flooded. We set up camp and finished off the last of the tortillas with peanut butter, a staple for us throughout the week. Rested in a shady grassy spot before heading to town were we had a drink to toast the day before eating a bag sandwich lunch from a local coffee shop.

We found some grass and I let Rachel whip me in a couple of hands of Gin Rummy while listening to local favorite Ali Beck and her good C & W band. We said goodbye to our new Saluki friends from camp Wayne and Jenna and got disinterested in the Large Midgets and so headed back to camp. Our last RAGBRAI campout!

RAGBRAI Adventure - Charles City to Waterloo

2010-07-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

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Day 5 Route | Waterloo

This was our longest ride, covering about 84 miles, my new longest ride ever. But the weather was cool so though we managed the 2,632 feet of climb without any major issues. We enjoyed the pass through towns again including Parkersburg where most of these pictures were taken. Rachel held the cute yellow lab puppies while the owner scrambled around counting them to be sure they were all there.

Once we arrived at Waterloo (Theme: "Happy Trails through Waterloo") and Hawkeye Community College, we called our friends Doug and Deb Sorensen and planned to go out to dinner after we showered. These are old friends from our Koinonia Group at our church in Austin who moved away many years ago. We ate pizza and salads and enjoyed catching up with each other's families. Their daughter Emily joined us and after dinner we went over to Emily's apartment near her school, the University of Northern Iowa, to eat some cookies and watermelon. We had a great time!

Back at our camp site on nice grass next to a pine tree, Rachel and I played Gin Rummy and listened to the Fab Four cover Beatles tunes. When they finished and the Kiss knock off band cranked it up, we continued palying Beatles tunes on our IPod.

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RAGBRAI Adventure - Clear Lake to Charles City

2010-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

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Day 4 Route | Charles City

While yesterday wasn't as easy as it seemed on paper, this day's ride lived up to its promise as we cycled 51.8 miles on a nice, cool day. Rachel wore her Bike and Build Jersey today so she got the opportunity to explain her ride across America for affordable housing to a few people. Along the road, we ate breakfast at Chris Cakes (see video) which is quite an operation. The line moves incredibly fast as they have made an art out of making pancakes. They have two large griddles and a device which drops rows of perfectly formed pancakes onto the large griddle as you slide it across. Probably makes about 35 or so pancakes with one swipe. And the cooks have fun, flipping pancakes to the riders who try to catch them with the plate.

Along the way we stopped at the Fossil and Prairie Preserve near Rockford and Rachel found some fossils in their dig and took pictures of the flowers and prairie before going into the center for an educational experience.

We got to Charles City (Theme: "Chuck Rides Again") around noon and headed for the local waterpark for a swim, nice and cool! Then ate lasagna at the high school before going downtown and relaxing by the river with a homemade root beer float - bought a can of root beer and half a pint of ice cream at the local Hy-Vee.

RAGBRAI Adventure - Algona to Clear Lake

2010-07-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

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Day 3 Route | Clear Lake

The Day 3 ride from Algona to Clear Lake promised to be the easiest of the week with only 59.9 miles to cover and a climb of only 1,068 feet. It didn't turn out that way as hot weather and high headwinds took their toll on us. We also had lots of wait time on this ride - Rachel waiting for a smoothie for 50 minutes in one of the pass through towns and, later, at dinner, an hour plus wait for a table at a restaurant in Clear Lake. Clear Lake (Theme: "Surfs Up") is a nice resort town and we saw some of Typhoon Tommy's Jet Ski Show.

While waiting on our table, we drank a beer (Tom) and a margarita (Rach) to celebrate making it through the ride. At dinner we invited a young couple from U.P. Michigan to join us so they would not have to wait so long and enjoyed some good conversation. They go to college at Marquette.

Here, we also enjoyed the treat of the week - a ice cream/cookie sandwich. Yum! We rested on the lawn near the lake and enjoyed the view, skipping the music venue for the evening.

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RAGBRAI Adventure - Storm Lake to Algona

2010-07-26T22:33:00.000-07:00

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Day 2 Route | Algona

The second ride day was a 79 mile ride to Algona. With only 1,083 feet of climb, this was a pretty flat ride. The ducks were all gathered together out on the lake to shield themselves against the cool morning. The sunny weather made for great riding. Rachel loved the wildflowers, often stopping to take pictures. Everything was real green with mostly large fields of corn along with interspersed soybean fields. The corn stood about 9 foot tall.

Throughout each day's ride, local farmers set up small stands to sell us drinks and food. Additionally, vendors would rent a farmer's land to set up larger booths, selling everything from pankcakes to ice cream. On this day we stopped at a farmers stand where they sold us a 32 oz. Powerade for $2 and gave us a free icee pop to boot.

The roads along the varied in quality. Nothing really very bad but you had to keep a look out for cracks and bumps. And when you approached a stop sign, invariably there were "rumble strips" and people would holler "rumble!" You really wanted to missed the 3 sets of rumble strips on either side of the stop sign road to save your tires.

Also along the route the "pass through" towns went all out to greet the RAGBRAI rides and sell them something. One of our favorite pass through towns was Pocahontas where we stopped for pie at Hope United Methodist Church. For $5, you got pie ala mode, a drink, and a bracelet that said "Praying for your ride." That was quite touching and we wore those the rest of the way.

Some towns we went through without stopping but that was rare. We would fill up our water bottles, grab a snack, or listen to a local band that was playing.

Total mileage on this day was 84 miles, my longest ride ever. Our campsite was on a grassy field next to a cornfield. We showered then shuttled to Algona downtown (theme: "That 70s Town: We're Cycle-delic") where I ate beef and noodles at the Knights of Columbus and Rachel had a rice and chicken bowl from a vendor. We listened to a little music by the Vic Ferrari Band and then returned to camp.

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RAGBRAI Adventure - Sioux City to Storm Lake

2010-07-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

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Day 1 Route | Storm Lake
First off, it is amazing how early people get up to ride RAGBRAI. I heard someone yell, checked my watch and it was 2:30am! Soon after that, I heard some people rustling around but it wasn't until about 5am that the tents around us were coming down. We held out until 5:45 or so, then got ourselves up and packed up the tent. Each day, you dropped your luggage off at the Riverbend truck, which would transport it to the next site.

We cycled over to the "dip point" on the Missouri River where the ride would start. There is no "official" start to the RAGBRAI ride - you just get on your bike when you are ready and hope the very first guy knows the route because every one else is following him!

We were on our way! It was 68.5 miles to Storm Lake with 3,687 feet of climb. Lots of rolling hills but not too difficult because for every climb there was an equal downhill. Thousands of people of all ages riding their bikes. The one bad event for my day was falling down when I was squeezed between Rachel and another rider. I had to bail out to avoid hitting Rachel's rear tire. Fortunately, just lots of scrapes on shoulder, elbow, and knee. Bike was ok so, bruised and bloodied, I was back on my bike in a couple of minutes.

We reached Storm Lake (Theme: "Catch a Tailwind") and rode an extra 5 miles to the best campsite of the week, right on the lake. We set up our tent with a great view of the lake, grabbed a couple of chairs from our charter and enjoyed the view. Then I went to the shower trailer while Rachel bathed in the lake. Rachel read some while I worked the crossword puzzle before we shuttled to town and found a pizza joint with an $8 RAGBRAI deal - salad bar, drink and a huge pizza slice. We listened to two really good bands - locals Chrome Union and R&B High and Mighty out of the Twin Cities. Day One was done.

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RAGBRAI Adventure Travel Day 3 - bus to Sioux City

2010-07-24T21:00:00.000-07:00

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Sioux City
That 6:30am bus deadline? No problem! We got up at 4:15am before the alarm rang and arrived at the parking lot just before it opened at 5am. Good fortune here... Last night they were parking people on grass which was now mud because of the all night rain. This morning we parked in a nice paved lot. We carried our luggage to the shuttle and arrived a little before 6am and waited for the bus. Our charter company, Riverbend Bicycle Club, had three buses - about 150 people. Many were already waiting as all the charters were meeting at the same place. A guy drove up on a motorcycle with his bike and luggage on the back.
On the bus ride over we notice how swollen all the streams and rivers were. There was flooding in several places so I began to worry about the bike ride coming back. I texted Joan a 33rd Anniversary Wish and listened to music and my fellow bikers tell each other how many RAGBRAI's they had done.

We arrived in Sioux City where the city was taken over by RAGBRAIers and the theme was "Rock, Ride, Go!". Our campsite was along the Missouri River. We selected a site for the tent and set up shop. Took the shuttle to the Bike Expo downtown and browsed thru the vendor booths. It was hot and sunny so I bought a RAGBRAI cap so I wouldn't be sunburn before the ride even started.

After hiking back to camp and relaxed for a bit in the shade then headed over to Immanuel Lutheran Church for a roasted pork loin dinner. From there we hiked back to the Expo and found a patch of grass and listened to the Sioux City Rockestra and watched the people. We waited for Smash Mouth to set up but they were way too slow and it was getting late so we headed back to camp. Tomorrow was the first day of RAGBRAI!

RAGBRAI Adventure Travel Day 2 - on to Dubuque

2010-07-23T20:30:00.000-07:00

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With that 9pm deadline looming and about 850 miles to travel, we got up early and headed out of Oklahoma City. The scenery slowly changed from Oklahoma Plains to Kansas Prairie as the miles ticked away. On the road, I told Rachel about Janice Joplin and we listened to "Me and Bobby McGee" which became the trip's theme song. After 1140 total miles, we made it to the bike drop off point near the Port of Dubuque, got the bikes loaded up, and went to scout out the long term parking to make sure we knew where to go in the morning.

We then found our hotel where the green bathroom tile, the roof over our heads and the location were the only redeeming factors. We found a small coffee cafe in downtown Dubuque where I had the Appaloosa Sandwich and Rachel got a quiche.

The weather forecast called for strong thunderstorms and, sure enough, it stormed all night long. We were centainly happy that we didn't opt for the camp site in Dubuque. Alarm set for 4:30am because the "bus for Sioux City leaves at 6:30am no matter what!"

RAGBRAI 2010 Adventure Begins

2010-07-22T23:49:00.000-07:00

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After months of training and planning, it is finally time to leave for RAGBRAI - Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. The logistics are almost overwhelming with so much to pack and a deadline to arrive in Dubuque. But we crammed it all in the back of my Prius - 2 bikes, two large duffel bags, tent, sleeping bags, ice chest for the road and more.

Here's was our timeline... I would pick up Rachel at 5 pm on Thursday and we would drive to Oklahoma City. The next morning, we would drive to Dubuque and drop our bikes off at the trailer before the 9pm deadline. We would then spend the night in a Dubuque Hotel and catch the 6:30am shuttle across Iowa to the RAGBRAI start point in Sioux City.

The drive to Ok City went fine except for the traffic getting out of Austin. Of course, we had to stop in West at the Little Czech Bakery for kolaches.

Then we headed straight up I35. We got there a little after 11pm, found a hotel along the highway. Day One of our RAGBRAI adventure in the bag!

For you future RAGBRAI Adventurers, here is our packing list:

Tent

Sleeping Bags

Bikes (turn handlebars and remove pedals)

Cash (whatever you decide, it won't be enough)

Bike Shorts (2)

Bike Jerseys (3)

Socks

Bike Shoes

Jogging Shoes

Sandals

Camelback

Flashlights

Tubes

Pumps and CO2

Water Bottles

Snacks/Clif Bars

Shorts

Tee Shirts

Sunglasses

Swim suits

Gatorade Powder

Spare Clips

Suntan lotion

Ibuprofin

Bike Gloves

RAGBRAI Packets, Parking Passes and Wristbands

IPODs / Earphone / Chargers

Phones / Chargers

Toiletries

Bandanas

Towels

Small Pillow

Antiseptic Ointment

Bandaids

Ice Chest

The Creepies!

2010-07-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

Rachel and Tom teamed up to finish 4th in the Father-Daughter Division of the Couples Tri at Decker Lake in Austin on July 11th. Together, the "Creepies," a reference to Rachel's Ultimate Frisbee nickname, finished the challenging Sprint Tri course in 3:07:44.

The course begins with an 800 meter swim. While we were waiting for the start, I told Rachel, "See that guy? He's an Olympic Gold medalist." Sure enough, Brendan Hansen was also getting ready for the swim, the Olympic rings tatoo clearly visible on his shoulder. He did well, too, exiting the swim portion of his wave 1st in about 10:45. As for Rachel and me, we were in the final swim wave and had to wait an hour until 8:50.

We started the swim together, thrashing and bumping with the other competitor's. But I stayed very relaxed and was never really bothered. However, I was very surprised to see Rachel still beside me after about 100 yards. She should have been leaving me in her wake by then! She misplaced her goggles so we had gone to Wal-mart at 11pm the night before and found a replacement pair, which weren't working as she struggled to try to get them to fit properly. Of course, through all that she was still swimming beside me at my speed. As we approached the first pylon marking the 1/3 point, I glanced over and she was gone. She finally gave up, pull the googles down around her neck, and took off! And she built a lead on me that I would never close.

The remainder of the swim went fine for me. I was slow as usual but there were plenty of swimmers behind me so I did not feel to bad.

The bike portion was a surprisingly hilly 11.3 miles around the lake. I have newfound respect for my daughters, Jill and Rachel, who had done the same course in recent years at the Danskin Tri. I rode as fast as I dared, knowing I had a 5K run ahead. A few young speedos passed me by but then I remembered, "hey I beat them on the swim!"

The run is also hilly and a little uneven, being on grass or dirt trails for the most part. At about a mile I was running up a hill toward the first water stop and I passed Rachel coming down the same hill on the loop back portion of the course. She was about 300 yards ahead of me and I felt certain that I would not catch up with her. She looked pretty fresh and I called out "Is that Creepy?" and got a wave and a smile in return. In the final mile we ran up a long, gradual hill and I could see Rachel up ahead about 75 yards. There were about 10 runners between us and I don't think any of them were running - but we both ran on! Rachel finished in 1:33:44, about 10 minutes faster than her time 2 years ealier. I finished in 1:34:00 and I finally caught up with her just out of the finishing chute, telling her how proud I was of her. Race results here - just search for "creepies"...

We enjoyed the warm, sunny day and the triathlon was a nice break from the cycling training for our next challenge, RAGBRAI!

RAGBRAI Update

2010-05-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

We were selected in the RAGBRAI Lottery! Woo woo! No turning back now.

I've had some nice rides recently. Rode the "Pedal Power Wild Flower" ride starting at the LBJ National Park near Stonewall for 3rd straight, this time with friends Jan & Willie (left). It was a beautiful day in the Hill Country for our 36-miler.

Then last week, Rachel and I rode out to the Veloway. Our 2nd lap, POW!! Rachel flatted. She replaced the tube and I used the CO2 cartridge to full it up and POW!! Drat - blew it out again. Once more, with a little aggravation since Dad was the operator of the CO2 dealie, she replaced the tube. Filled it up successfully this time and we headed on home. The next day, Rachel said, "That was a great ride yesterday." That made me feel pretty good.

This evening I did a 24-miler - what I call the Tour-de-Veloway - from our Church out to the Veloway in a meandering route, round the Veloway 3 times then back. Another beautiful day.

RAGBRAI

2010-03-20T15:19:00.000-07:00

What do you say when your daughter comes to you and says, "Wanna ride our bikes across Iowa this summer?" Well, you sign up! And so we are in the lottery for RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa).

Its a lottery so we will find out if we are selected to be two of 10,000 cyclists on May 1st. The ride is at the end of July. For, now I need to gear up with more cycling miles. Rachel rode across the USA a couple of summers ago so she understands (see Rachel's Ride). So, I will try to prepare myself for the 7-day, 442 mile ride. I will keep you informed on my progress.

Tom Hokanson Legends: "Good Afternoon, Mrs. Mittank!"

2010-01-02T14:11:00.000-08:00

I would off take a break from work to spend the lunch hour with my children at Oak Hill Elementary. We would quickly eat lunch in the school cafeteria, then head out to the playground for 20 minutes of fun before the bell rang and the children returned to their classroom. On the playground I would watch Jill or Rachel play on the monkey bars, shoot the basketball or kick the kickball. The classes alternated activities so everyone got a chance at each activity. Sometime, I would join in the fun and become a little kid once more. The children liked that!
One day I was very involved with most of the children in Rachel's 1st grade class. I don't remember what the activity was that we were all together but I do remember that when the bell rang, they were all there and so I told them, "Let's hurry back and line up nice and straight and surprise Mrs. Mittank!" The children really got into this and rushed to the appointed spot and formed two lines - girls on the left, boys on the right. I stood at the end of the boys line.

When their teacher came out to lead them to back to class, they all cried in unison, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Mittank!" You should have seen the look of joy on that 2nd grade teacher's face to see her class enjoy being orderly and polite for a change!
The children were full of joy too!

A New Song: An Advent Devotion

2009-12-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

A New Song!

“May joyful hymns and carols come forth as we wait for the coming of the Lord.”

Verse: Psalm 33:2-12; 20-21

It should have been a joyful and exciting moment. After all, the role of St. Michael, the archangel, was perhaps the most important part of the 5th grade play, after Jesus, Mary and Joseph. It was my responsibility to begin the entire play! And I looked the part with bright white robe, golden halo and silver, tinfoil wings. But instead of excitement and joy, all I felt was worry and anxiety.

You see, the way I was to start the production was to go out to the center of the stage, all alone, and blow the trumpet like a real angel. The only problem was, I had never before tried to play a trumpet. During our one rehearsal, the trumpet was a no-show. So, about 5 minutes before the start of the big event, a trumpet was thrust into my hands and I was told, “Just press your lips tight together and blow – hard!”

Looking back, the reason for my anxiety is obvious. I was not PREPARED!

Advent is a time when we “wait in hope for the Lord.” We try to get our hearts and minds in the proper frame to welcome our Savior into the world. Part of our preparation includes special hymns and songs that are only sung at this time of the year and remind us to get ready. Often, the song selections are more reflective than joyful, like “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” But, because we have taken time to prepare, when Christmas finally comes, our “joyful hymns and carols” are all the more sweeter and heartfelt.

So, prepare for the coming of the Lord! Reduce your worry and anxiety that may come with the season by focusing on the true meaning of Christmas. Sings songs and listen to the beautiful music that helps you consider the gift of Jesus.

Oh, you may wonder how that ill-prepared 5th grader’s first effort at the trumpet came off. On the third try, I was able to coax a shrill squeak from the instrument before I hurried off the stage. But the play continued and we celebrated the birth of Jesus with joy and excitement!

“Sound the trumpet from the sky
Ring the bells from heaven high
Tell the story, Angels sing
Of Christ, the Lord, the newborn King”

South Dakota - State 48

2009-11-13T18:14:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to visit every one of this great country's 50 states. Until this week, I had never been to South Dakota but my work took me there and I was able to spend one day to check it out.

View the Slide Show

I flew into Rapid City on Monday via Frontier Airlines. Reasonable rates and a good airline but a long day that included a layover in Denver. The next morning I woke up early and drove down to Mount Rushmore, the most famous South Dakota site. I was impressed by all the tourist opportunites for families - caves and Western Supper Shows and reptile gardens and wildlife parks and more. Keystone, SD looked like a great town to vacation.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is very impressive and beautiful. There is a grand amphitheatre and a nice trail with different vantage points and, as you can see from my slide show, photo opportunities. It doesn't take much more than an hour visit this memorial although you may enjoy the gift shop or the restaurant and stay longer.

One the way out of the park, I drove right past a large and beautiful mountain goat lumbering up the road. His coat was full and white and ready for winter. I also saw a few small deer.

From Rushmore I drove over to the Crazy Horse Monument, a private venture to honor the great Sioux Indian chief. The ambitious project was started in 1948 and it would appear that it will not be completed for another century. The grounds of the park are far away from the actual monument but have some impressive buildings including a museum with a nice 20 minute movie about the project, a Native American Cultural Center, a restaurant and more. I spent about an hour there.

I then headed over toward Badlands National Park. This is a long drive and took me a couple of hours. I drove into the park at Wall, SD and took the scenic route over about 40 miles, often stopping to photograph the strange scenery that looked more like Mars than Earth. I stopped to watch some wild goats and saw a small deer as well. But this park is quite desolate and the landscape goes on and on and, I must admit, got a little monotonous.

That was the end of my sight seeing other than crossing the wide Missouri River at Chamberlain where I was working. My regret is that I did not take an hour or two to hike a trail in the Black Hills National Forest as it was quite beautiful. That will have to wait until next time.

I am now two states short of fifty - Hawaii and South Carolina!

It Takes Two Rides to get my 150 Mile Total

2009-10-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

It is incredibly ironic that in a year where we have been experiencing one of the worst droughts in history, that my two MS-150 bike rides turned out as they did.

An earlier post described how the first day of the BP MS150 from Houston to Austin back in April was rained out (see ms 150 er.. MS75). So my friend, Jeff Anderson and I signed up for the Valero MS-150 Ride from San Antonio to New Braunfels and back in October. We joined the Burton Construction team.

No problem with training. Nearly every day this summer was hot and dry and over 100 degrees (see Happy July 4th post). But I began to wonder as we got into September and the weathermen talked about El Nino.

I drove down to San Antonio from Austin on the Friday before the ride to pick up my packet. There was some rain showers already and more to come. Spent a nice evening at my brother Jim's and got up early to drive back down to the Alamodome for the start. More rain still. In fact, we rode the first 25 or 40 miles in a steady rain. But it wasn't too bad and we kept up a pretty a good pace east to Seguin. In Seguin, the rain had stopped and we enjoyed lunch with my friends the Karley's.

After lunch we headed toward New Braunfels and that's when some serious rain showers began. Fortunately, I was wearing a rain jacket which helped alot. We began to get a little tired slogging through the rain but we made it safely to Schlitterbahn, the end of Day 1. We were among the fortunate. A lightning storm hit about 45 minutes after we arrived with many riders caught in a scary situation.

That night in our warm and dry Schlitterbahn motel, we watched the weather reports and listened to the pouring rain. At around 7am, Day 2 was cancelled and our ride was over. We had the best situation possible as Jeff's wife came up from San Antonio and picked us up. Others were less fortunate and probably have some stories to tell about riding one the charter buses that were provided.

I am thankful for the rain. I appreciate the kind donations of my friends to this worthy cause. I also appreciate the organizers who really did the best they could. But the irony of these rain outs still has me shaking my head.

Happy July 4th

2009-07-06T17:23:00.001-07:00

This past week was one of those up and down kinds of weeks that happen...

Rachel and I decided that we "might" do a September triathlon and so that got me going! Ran 3.1 miles Tuesday morning with my friend Tom and then another 4 miles Thursday morning. Swam only one lap of Barton Springs on Wednesday morning cuz I'm out of swim shape and then swam 1000 meters with Jill Thursday evening at the neighborhood pool (boring swim but great company!)

Throughout the week I pondered the many blessings I have in this country of ours, even during these troubled times. I also was saddened by the death of our friend Marilyn Segner after a long battle with luekemia. You may remember that I mentioned her spirit and grace briefly in an earlier blog.

On Saturday Rachel and I rode with some Bicycle Sports Shop people from Austin to Gruene Texas... 48.8 miles. I was proud of Rachel who was very patient when I fell behind. The group leader was great as well. Very tired at the end but the waters of the Guadalupe sure felt good. Joan and Jill met us down there and we had a nice lunch at the Gruene River Inn. The 4th festivities culminated with a view of Austin Auditorium Shores fireworks from the 20th floor of the San Jacinto Center. It was quite spectacular!

MS-150 er... MS-75

2009-04-20T12:39:00.001-07:00

After all the fundraising and training, the first day of the 2009 MS-150 was wiped out by a deluge that fell over the Houston to La Grange first day route. While it was disappointing to not have completed the full 150+ miles, the 2nd day proved to be an exhilarating and challenging experience for me and the other 11,000+ riders. Be sure to read the end of this report as I recognize some special people.

On Friday, Joan and I drove to Houston. It was pouring and I had a lot of apprehension about what Saturday would turn out like. The fields between La Grange and Sealy on Hwy 71 were flooding. The draining ditches and tanks were overflowing and we had to drive slow because of low visibility and hard rain. We arrived at the Anderson's house in Sugar Land and that evening heard the news - for the first time in its 25-year history, the MS-150 was rained out (see video report). But Sunday was still on for the La Grange to Austin route.

Lots of thought then went into logistics by the MS-150 organizers as well as each and every rider. How would I get to La Grange? Finally, we decided to drive back to Austin Saturday afternoon and drive to La Grange early Sunday morning. Our friends the Anderson's meanwhile, would drive that evening to stay in a cabin near Smithville where some friends were staying. As we left Sugar Land, the same storm was still raging, dropping buckets of water on East Texas. But as we approached La Grange, the skies lightened and the rain diminished. In fact, we even saw some cyclists out on 71 between La Grange and Bastrop.

Sunday morning the alarm went off at 5:15 and we were out of the house by six. Most of the cars on Hwy 71 held bicycles. As we got past Bastrop, we saw some enthusiastic cyclists riding both east and west. Like me, after months of prep work, they just couldn't wait to get on the road.

We were to start at the Courthouse in La Grange - one of the logistical changes made by the organizers. Cyclist of all shapes and size with jerseys of every color surrounded the courthouse, eager to start. Many groups couldn't wait and headed on out toward Bastrop. I met up with the Anderson's - Jeff and his kids, Katy and Chris. At 8am the Star Spangled Banner was sung and the cyclists went off in managed groups. At around 9am, we were finally off down the highway with 75 miles to go. Chris and I decided to ride together via the "Challenge Route" on FM 152 and through Buescher State Park and Bastrop State Park, while Jeff and Katy would stay on Hwy 71 using the "Express Route."

My biggest apprehensions were the park hills and the wind. The first few miles were nice country roads leading up to the park. A stong headwind, about 15 mph, hindered us but all was good. There is a juncture on this road when you reach the park entrance where you can return to Hwy 71 if you are unsure. No way! Around mile 24, Chris and I turned right to find the Park Rangers were cheering us on! The Bastrop State Park web site calls the route a "roller coaster ride." And they are right! The hills in Buescher/Bastrop parks are steep and short. Roads are winding and smooth. You have to stay alert and expend some energy. My legs were quite tired as we left the park after about 15 miles. But Bastrop was there in front of us where lunch was waiting.

After Bastrop, we thought it would be smooth riding with few hills. How wrong we were. The headwinds grew stronger as the FM-969 route was more wide open. The Montgomery County Courier called it "grueling." We bypassed the first rest stop at 4.5 miles but were pretty exhausted at the next stop 11 miles later. However, only 2 more rest stops and 17 miles we would be in Austin! Just thinking about that kicked in an adrenaline rush that had me feeling good. When we turned onto Manor Road in Austin and caught a brief glimpse of the Capitol, all the riders were excited. I zoomed under I-35, turned left onto Red River and heard "Dad!" and turned to catch a glimpse of my daughter Jill over my right shoulder. Cool! Lots of people were lining the streets and the cyclists forgot their weariness and picked up the pace. Right on MLK and left Congress and under the long-awaited Finish Line banner. I slowed down and heard "Tom!" and found my wife Joan and friend Bill Hatcher among the crowd of well-wishers. (Watch KVUE report) After 8 hours of riding, I was home!

I would like to thank the following people for their support, encouragement and inspiration.

To Amber, who is dealing with MS and thus became my inpiration to ride. I have a turquoise "Champion" bandana for you!!

To my wife Joan who drove to Houston to Austin to La Grange to Austin this weekend without complaint and who never grumbled when I left for a 2-hour training ride. Thanks for being there at the finish.

To my daughters, Jill and Rachel, who checked up on me many times.

To all who generously supported my efforts and the fight against MS. You are making a big difference and are listed on my MS-150 web site. So far I raised $1190; my team, Team Newland, raised over $21,000; and the event raised over $12 million!

To the Anderson's from Sugar Land, for hosting us Friday night. And to Chris, who rode with me, often switching to the lead position to face the wind.

To Team Newland, who generously supported my ride with two jerseys and lots of encouragement.

To Bill Hatcher who has ridden the MS-150 before - for being their at the finish with enthusiasm for my accomplishment.

To all the thousands of volunteers! (watch the video)

To all the enthusiastic people along the route who encouraged the riders,

To those of you who have ridden or ran with me during these months of preparation.

Some of you may ask if I plan to ride again. Yes, for sure! But my dream would be to develop a "Forward in Faith" Cycling Team from my church, Abiding Love Lutheran, who would participate in this event or the MS-150 in San Antonio. Peace and Love.

Pedal Power Wildflower ride - 2009

2009-04-05T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had a great ride Saturday - 62 miles out in the hill country called Pedal Power Wildflower, benefitting the Hill Country Children's Advocacy Center. This is a great training ride for the MS-150 in two weeks. I rode the 36 miler last year and knew that they had a well-organized ride out there near Stonewall and so looked forward to a warm and sunny Saturday ride. I rode most of the time with my friend Travis and that made for great company.
The ride starts at the LBJ National Park and heads north. The part that I did not ride last year, called the Willow City Loop, has some pretty amazing hills. We got onto Hwy 16 which includes a thrilling downhill that last several minutes. I was breaking like crazy and still going 38.5 mph. I overhead a young lady telling her friends that she was going 44 and passed some motorcycles, yelling "on your left!" Not sure if that was true or not but you get the idea.
All the way down, I kept reminding myself that at some point we will have to go back up. We got off Hwy 16 and onto some true country roads. Around mile 40 that serious hill loomed ahead. Turns out to be a 2-mile constant climb of varying degrees. Sad to say, but this 55-year old could not stay on the bike... but I wasn't alone. I got off and walked the steepest grade (24%) for about 100 yards then returned to the saddle to finish the remaining climb. I was gassed at the top and took a long break, enjoying an incredible view.
The remainder of the ride was great. Plenty of hills to challenge my tired legs including one particularly steep one at mile 50. But once you get close to the finish you are cruising on a gradual downgrade. (Don't let that really steep hill around mile 58 worry you - you already did that on the way out and you turn left right before it on the way back in!)
A big plate of spaghetti awaited the riders at the end of the ride. Throughout there are plenty of friendly volunteers which makes this ride the best - even with a total elevation gain of over 3600 feet.

Morning Has Broken!

2009-02-04T18:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a beautiful, sunny morning! I planned all week to go for a bike ride and so, after gobbling up the pancakes I prepared for Joan and me, I pulled on the leggings (45 degrees outside), put the bike rack on the back of the Prius, loaded up the bike and all the stuff and headed out for my "Tour de Veloway"!

Once in the car, I plugged in the Itouch, put it on shuffle and first song out of the box, I kid you not, was "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens.

Morning Has Broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

Parked in our Church parking lot and headed off on the bike through Western Oaks, to Beckett, through the neighborhoods to Escarpment, out Escarpment to 45, to Spruce Canyon, back around to La Crosse and over to the Veloway.

On the first Veloway lap, I began to get a little tired. But I am spurred on by my friend Marilyn who , after endless treatments, after a bone marrow transplant, after a short period of remission, and, finally, after learning the disease is back - asks if she could borrow our stationary bike to get some exercise. Her husband Gerald picked it up this morning before I left. What spirit! I pedal on!

On the second Veloway lap, I'm all alone. I pass noone and noone passes me. I am a Rock, I am an I-I-Island. But I'm feeling the pain. 18 miles on my odometer.

But then I start to think about all my friends who have shown an interest in my training for the MS-150, some of whom have even donated to the cause. Just check out the Honor Roll on my MS-150 personal page and you'll see what I mean!! I am encouraged and pedal on!
On the third Veloway lap, I'm still all alone. Everyone seems to be bunched at the entrance or perhaps we are like the planets orbiting the sun at opposite ends of the solar system.

Ah the sun! Warming up things now. Right before I get off the Veloway to head back to Church I pull up my sleeves. Must be 60 degrees now and the breeze has picked up. I arrive back at church - 23.7 miles. Praise for the morning!! Let's do it again next weekend. Pedal On!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-23T08:20:00.000-08:00

Almost year end and I just turned the "double nickel" a couple of days ago so its time to reflect and look forward...

What a year its been! The economy is a mess and there seems to be lots to complain about in our world but I have much to be thankful for and therefore its been a wonderful year! I think Joan, Jill and Rachel would join me in this sentiment. Here are a few reasons why.

Joan continues to work at Abiding Love Lutheran Church as the business assistant. In June, for her birthday, she received a puppy from a dear friend. "Lottie" joins Mocha as part of the family. Fun and energy rolled into a little black ball. Joan does a lot of good beyond her work including Bible Study, working with Christian Education and Sunday School, singing with Mixed Blessings. She also takes care of me!

Rachel continues at University of Texas, searching for her career path. She makes great grades and plays for the UT Ultimate Frisbee team who finished 9th in the nation last year! We also enjoy her boyfriend, Perry. Rachel lives in a neat little house with two fo her Ultimate friends and works as a babysitter for a cute little boy and for the Comacho Rec Center as a counselor. She is often seen running with her dad around Lady Bird Lake. Rachel also did a fantastic job in her first Sprint Tri - the Danskin. So she now joins Jill in that accomplishment who did the Danskin in 2007.

Jill completed her year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps in Washington DC in August where she worked for the Alliance for Global Justice. Upon her return to Austin, she began seminary at the Lutheran Seminary of the Southwest. Now she is reassessing her goals because the school, a branch of a Chicago Seminary, will be shutting down in June. Jill lives in a cute apartment near the seminary and UT and enoyed fixing it up with paint and furniture.

We spent some great times together as a family this year, including a trip to Padre Island right after Thanksgiving. It was nice having dinners and going for walks together from time to time. Joan and I were also able to go to Boulder with Rachel for the Callegiate Ultimate Frisbeen Championships and make a short return visit the Rocky Mountain national Park to see the elk.

As for me, I had a great year at work in spite of the economy. In my spare time I volunteered as Director of Christian Service for my church, trying to figure out ways to encourange people to be involved in our community. I also sang with Mixed Blessings.

As far as my passion for exercise, it was also a very good year. No real injuries to report which is good news for a man my age! I set a number of goals for 2008 and actually reached them all. First, I wanted to run three Sprint Triathlons and I did - Aquarena Springs, CapTexTri and Burnet Tri-Hard at Inks Lake. I had little problems with each but that is what makes it fun and challenging. Secondly, I wanted to break 22 minutes for a 5K and I finally did it with a 21:53 at the Run for the Water 5k in November. Finally, I wanted to win an age group competition and after a couple of 2nd places, I was first in my age group at the Run for the Water race.

This year I ran about 360 miles, biked about 825 miles, swam nearly 32 miles and walked another 160 miles or so. That means I spent a lot of time out in this beautiful world. While much was spent alone which can be good therapy, much of it was also spent with family and friends.

In additional to the sprint triathlons mentions above, I ran two 10Ks, five 5Ks and, one of my favorites, the Turkey Trot 5-miler on Thanksgiving Day. Jill ran the Run for the Water 5K with me and Rachel and I ran the Capital 10K, the Nike Human Race 10K, and Trail of Lights 5K.

So maybe you can see why I think 2008 was a very good year. I have great hopes for 2009 and all the challengesa and opportunities that lie ahead. Happy New Year!

Triathlon Keystone Cops

2008-06-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Keystone Cops: "a series of silent film comedies featuring a totally incompetent group of policemen..." (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_Kops).

The CapTex Tri 2008 on May 25th had some humorous happenings that sometimes made me and, I am sure, my two nephews who also ran the race, feel as Wikipedia suggests, "totally incompetent." A triathlon is pretty complex to begin with. So much gear to organize, many rules to obey and directions to follow. And when there are over 2700 athletes participating in multiple events (First Tri, Sprint, Oilympic, Relay) and starting at different times well, it can be quite confusing.

I was entered in the Sprint Triathlon which included a 750 meter swim in Lady Bird Lake, a 20K bike ride through downtown Austin and a 5K run. I dropped off my bike the night before as required and showed up in plenty of time to prepare for my race and watch some of the elite runners come out of the swim. I found my nephews, Father Brian Eliers and his twin, Bradley Eilers, and talked with them a bit. I was in the very first swim wave for the Sprint (based on age) and so I had few minutes before the start, confident that I had it all under control. I strolled to the dock where you would jump in the water and there the fun began.

Everyone in my swim wave had flourescent green swim caps. Everyone that is except me. Mine was black and very conspicuous. In a sort of panic I found an official and explained that my cap wasn't the right color. Fortunately, she directed me to a table next to the dock designed to resolve these kids of issues. Why did I get the feeling that someone off to the side was laughing at me, having stuffed a black cap into the packet of race #2482 just for fun?

So, no problem there. I swapped caps, pulled it on top of my head and seconds later jumped into the water to begin the five minute treading before the starting horn. Soon, I was off with the other swimmers, staying closer to the shore than most to avoid being in the midst of all those thrashing arms and legs. The swim goes well although I kept rising to check my bearing only to learn I am a zig-zagging bit off course. Seems I list to my left just a bit.

25 minutes later, Brian and Bradley are out on the dock for their start. Now, they have the right color caps plus the bright idea of not jumping in the water with everyone else but rather staying on the dock until the actual start in order to avoid treading water. Good idea - in theory. However, when Bradley jumps in the water his heart monitor falls off and it's panic city. He struggles to gets it re-situated, doing a bunch more water-treading than anybody else this day. He also swallows plenty of lake water. Still, he gets himself headed in the right direction, heart monitor properly attached. I told you there was a lot to think about...

Bradley's great adventure continues when he gets out of the water and grabs his bike. Now I've read about this sort of thing but this is the first I've heard about it happening in one of my Triathlons. For some reason when he set up his gear, Bradley placed his running cap on top of his bike helmet. In triathlon, you always try to arrange the gear in the order you will be needing it. Bike Shoes and socks, sunglasses, bike helmet, race number belt first... Running hat and shoes later. You guessed it. Bradley, in a rush to get a good transition time, grabbed his Bike Shoes, socks, sunglasses and... running hat! Then he grabbed his bike and dashed out of the transition area, jumped on at the starting point and actually got away with riding 6 miles without a bike helmet before an official told him to "get a helmet or get off the course."

If only I had known what Bradley was up to, I would have pulled my bike over to the side and waited for him to pass by!! Fortunately, when the official made his demand, Bradley was near the transition area (the Sprint Bike Course was 2 laps). He rode toward the transition and, realizing that it was going to take quite a long time to run and get his helmet, began yelling, "is anybody finishing the Sprint Bike that can lend me a helmet?!" And sure enough, someone did just that so Bradley was back on track.

Up ahead, I was nearing the finish. My bike was really fast for me (19.2 mph) and my run was steady but not particularly fast. As I approached the finish area I got disoriented and thought that the runners pealing off to the right were Olympic Event athletes. Olympic participants basically doubled the course of the Sprint athletes. So, in my mind, they were going right to somehow loop around and I was going straight to the finish. Wrong! As I ran straight I began thinking, "where's the finish line - it's gotta be around here pretty soon!" Of course, I had it backwards. Those turning right were the Sprint triathletes finishing up, those headed straight were the Olympic triathletes going for their 2nd loop. After a while, I began to ask around, "where's the Sprint finish?" Finally someone said, "back there" so I turned around, missed the now left turn, turned around again and found the finish. I also saw Joan who was rooting me on proudly, unaware of my exploits. She should be proud. I ran 3.4 miles instead of 3.1! Someone give me a medal!

For the record, here's my results:

Clock Time	1:38:38
Overall Place	340 / 785
Gender Place	242 / 446
Division Place	8 / 15
750M Swim Rank	451
750M Swim Time	20:55
750M Swim Pace	2:47/M
T1 Time	05:00
20K Bike Rank	193
20K Bike Time	38:39
20K Bike Pace	19.2MPH
T2 Time	03:59
5K Run Rank	321
5K Run Time	30:02
5K Run Pace	9:38/M

Brian and Bradley did well in the Clydesdales 30-34 age group. Brian finished 2nd at 1:28:52. And Bradley, depite all his foibles, finished 4th in 1:34:07.

A while, I'm at it - a shout out to my daughter Rachel who completed her first Triathlon on June 8th at the Danskins Triathlon at Decker Lake. She needs to teach me transition strategy (see below):

Clock Time	1:43:33
Overall Place	352 / 2592
Division Place	19 / 91
750M Swim Rank	545
1/2 mile Swim Time	22:19
T1 Time	03:38
20K Bike Rank	423
12 mile Bike Time	44:15
Bike Pace	16.2MPH
T2 Time	02:34
5K Run Rank	398
5K Run Time	30:25
5K Run Pace	9:48/M

I ran through the gauntlet and came out the other side!

2008-04-17T18:49:00.000-07:00

It was a very challenging 15 days, exercise-wise. Or maybe exercise-unwise is more suitable. I signed up for a gauntlet of activities and looking at the schedule I began to worry that I bit off more than I could chew. The events included:

March 30 - Capital 10K
April 5th - Pedal Power Wildflower 36 mile bike ride
April 10th - Abiding Love Golf Tournament
April 13th - Texas State Sprint Triathlon

It all started with the Capital 10K, the largest 10K in Texas, on March 30th. I signed up early and it looked like I would be running alone until the last when my daughter Rachel, and my friends Tom Fritz and Michael Sorensen asked to run with me. Oh, and there were 16,500 other friends running with us as well. The rain that began falling at the start of the race failed to dampen our spirits as the 4 of us dodged slower runners in route to an 8-minute first mile. Michael was chomping at the bit and soon took off in his high school cross-country runner exhuberance. Rachel and Tom and I plodded on around the Capital and through the course and over the hills.

At around 2 miles Rachel fell a bit behind and at 3 miles Tom stopped at a porta-potty. I ran through the turn at the Mopac and was soon caught by my nephew, Bradley Eilers. We discussed how we were both getting tired and ran together for about a mile until Bradley started to leave me behind.

Little did I know that Tom and Rachel met back up at that 3 mile marker and ran together the rest of the way, so that was good.

Once I turned onto Cesar Chavez at 4 1/2 miles, I really began to tire. I was running too fast a pace for me (). I knew my last mile was going to be slow and it was. For the record, I ran 2 minutes faster than two years ago so I felt good about that. Here's our results:

Me (51:52 63rd in age group)
Rachel (53:32 49th in age group)
Tom Fritz (53:24 46th in age group)
Michael (43:26 21st in age group)
Bradley (49:22 105th in age group)

My calves were very sore for 3 days afterwards. All my training was 4-5 miles on the Hike & Bike Trail. I had a Bike Ride to get ready for!!

The Pedal Power Wildflower Ride is a well organized that starts out at the LBJ National Park near Stonewall. We (Bill Hatcher, J.D. Bostick and myself) left Austin at around 7:15am on Saturday and I was surprised at how many bike-carrying cars were headed out in the same direction. It was around 45 degrees when we and about 400 other riders started out on our journey so I opted for a long sleeve jersey with my yellow bike jersey pulled over it. Many of the other riders were headed out on the 60-mile ride but that would have been truly unwise for my circumstances.

The ride is hilly but not too tough through beautiful hill country roads, over several cattle guards and low water crossings. There was one difficult climb, it followed a cattle guard, a low water crossing and a sharp 90 degree turn so you hit the hill with no speed at all. I made it to the top where a rest stop awaited you with snacks and drinks. I stuffed the long sleeve shirt into my short sleeve bike shirt as it had become a beautiful day!

I averaged about 14.5 mph for the ride and at the end we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner. This was a very well-organized ride and I look forward to repeating it in the future.

The following Thursday, was the Abiding Love "Chip in for Children" Golf Tournament at Grey Rock (Circle C). This is my annual adventure at the links. My team consisted of members of Mixed Blessings, our Church's Praise Band - Philip Drake, Craig Hohertz, and Brent Karley. Bless his heart, Craig could only putt because of recent heart surgery but that didn't keep us from finishing 2nd to last! It was a gorgeous afternoon after a rainy morning and we had a blast. I mean, what other team would wave their arms trying to distract their teammate as he stood over a 4-foot bogie putt!

Saturday, April 12th, was more fun in the sun as Joan and I enjoyed watching Rachel and her University of Texas Melee teammates demolish 4 opponents in an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.

Sunday was a rude awakening when the alarm went off at 5am. I had everything ready for the Texas State Sprint Triathlon but the race began at 7:30am in San Marcos. Unfortunately, I had an upset stomach and didn't sleep well but physically I was fine. I picked up my friend Jan Haas and we headed down to Aquarena Springs. The temperature was around 42 degrees and the walk from the parking lot to the bike staging area is about a half mile. By the time I got there, my back was killing me. I set everything up and tried to stretch out and began to feel a bit better, although apprehensive about a few things like the weather, my stomach and my back. But I was determined to do this since last year I bonked 30 yards from the finish line!!

The course before me was a 500 meter swim, a 14 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. I was looking forward to the swim. Not only would I be swimming without much interference through the clear, deep spring-fed lake but also I would be able to warm up in the 72 degree water. It is a shotgun start, where athletes go one at a time about every 3-5 seconds, men first by age, the women. Pretty soon my number 143 came up and I tip-toed to the waters edged and jumped in. I kept my stroke as steady as I could and did fine, although swimming is not my forte. After 15 minutes or so, I striggle out of the water and began the 50 yard hobble over rough, gravely road to my bike.

This is my 2rd triathlon and my transitions are slow. I was being very deliverate, making sure I drank enough fluids, and striggling with my socks and bike shoes. It took me four whole minutes to get on my bike and head down the road. It was very cool and my legs didn't seem to be working very well but I figured I would get warm eventually. After about 2 miles, Jan caught up with me. She is a very strong swimmer and good cyclists. After she passed me, she spit and I called out to her, teasing her that her spit hit me in the face.

Anyway, I stayed conservative on the bike through the hilly course but sped up after the turnaround at the seven mile mark. I never did catch Jan although I was close behind and notice her in the transition area. I did better in the 2nd transition (no socks to put on) and headed out after 2 minutes or so for the run.

The run is always my strong event. I started out slow and conservative so I could judge by health and slowly increased the pace. It was a nice run through Sewell Park. Unfortunately for Jan, she got stopped by traffic police when crossing the road. I caught with about a mile to go and sped up a lot as I neared the finish and realized I still had a lot of gas in the tank.

What a difference a year makes! I finished about 6 minutes faster than last year and wasn't too tired. In fact, I returned to see Rachel's last tournament game and swam the following Tuesday and ran on Wednesday. For the record, I finished in 1:35:39, 6th out of 7 in my age group. I was faster in every event than the 5th placed finisher but he blazed through the transitions and I was poky. Here's my breakdown:

500 meter swim: 15:39
Transition 1: 4:00
14 mile bike: 49:41 (16.9 mph)
Transition 2: 2:26
3 mile run: 23:49 (7:56 per mile)

Oh and Jan? She won her age group in 1:30:10!

So, I faced the gauntlet, ran rigth through it, and came out the other side. Next up? The Captex Sprint Triathlon on May 25th.

I Swam 15 Miles in January and I'm sort of tired!

2008-02-04T19:01:00.000-08:00

They say you should try something different as you grow older. Change your routine. Get out of that rut. Sign up for a new class.

So, I signed up for the "Masters" Swim Class at the Austin Town Lake YMCA. I figured I could leave work in time to get to the class at 6pm, MWF. Only thing was, when I double checked the night before the first class, I discovered it was 6-7:30 AM! Now, I'm a morning person but that seemed a little out there.

But I set the alarm for 5:30 and I went to the first class. Lucky for me, the instructor was a no-show. I hadn't done any swimming since September so I took the opportunity to brush up with a bunch of laps. I was a little sore the next day and pretty tired out. But it was good preparation for the next class when we swam a lot further than I ever thought of swimming before - 2700 yards!

Now, last summer I thought swam alot as I trained for Sprint Triathlons but two laps of Barton Springs pool is only about 750-800 yards while 2700 yards is, well, a little out there. But I signed up for the entire month of January and so I stuck to it.

As the month progressed, the instructor varied the workouts and at times we concentrated on certain stokes - all of which I needed help with. He encouraged me to try flip turns. We used paddles and worked on pull. We used a kickboard and worked on kicking. I learned how to do the backstroke correctly and I actually got it right about half the time. I learned that doing the breast stroke kick for 600 yards will wear out my groin - I'm not flexible enough.

Of course, the killer of all strokes is the butterfly. Half way through that workout, I could hardly get my arms out of the water and my rotator cuff bugged me for a few days afterward. And I swallowed a lot of water as I gulped for air. It took me forever to complete the kick workout using the dolphin kick.

So anyway, after swimming 15 miles in January I now have a new appreciation for those Olympic swimmers. In fact, swimmers of all levels whose workouts are far beyond my hour and a half struggles are amazing. I can tell that I got much stronger as the month progressed. And although I did not continue the class because I needed to do some running and cycling training as well, I plan to double my Barton Springs Pool workouts.

I know that I can do it because I swam farther in one month than I had in my entire life!

Washington DC at Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T18:37:00.000-08:00

2007 marked a distinct departure from our usual Thanksgiving holiday. Joan, Rachel and Tom flew up to Washington DC to spend time with Jill who is there with Lutheran Volunteer Corps.

And what a holiday it was! We arrived Tuesday evening and took the Blue Line metro to McPherson Square then walked to Jill's house. Lugging a large suitcase with one wheel broken was tough but we made it.

Jill's house is quaint, roomy and nice.

Right of the bat, we got to know two of Jill's four housemates, Shana and David, as well as David's visiting friend Anna. This is Jill's house shown to the left where her space is on the top floor and the living room/kitchen is on the 2nd floor.

The colors in Washington DC were quite vivid. Everywhere we walked, you could enjoy Fall foliage. And we walked everywhere!

This picture of Joan was just down the street from Jill's house. Joan enjoyed the colors so much that she just had to stop for pictures over and over again.

On Wednesday we enjoyed a lot off walking to DC hotspots. We first picked up our Trot for Hunger race packets at the SOME headquarters. Then we proceeded down to the National Mall and took a tour of the Capitol. It was a little longer than necessary but still interesting.

Next we viewed the Nature's Best Photography: Windland Smith Rice International Awards wildlife photo exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. We then walked through some of the other museum rooms until we found the famous Hope diamond.

That evening we enjoyed a concert by the International Woodwind Quartet at the Kennedy Center. Then we returned to Jill's house for some more visiting.

Thanksgiving Day began with a shuttle ride over to the Tidal Pool area for the SOME (So Other Might Eat) Trot for Hunger 5K. Tom ran the race in 22:18, Rachel in 23:48, Jill in 35:00 and Joan walked. Us four comprised Team LVC. Temperatures we in the low 60's so it was a great morning for running along the Potomac River. We also got to meet the LVC (Lutheran Volunteer Corps) Coordinator, Charles. After the race we shuttled back to downtown and walked home. It was nearing Thanksgiving Feast time and we were excited to see how David's turkey was coming along. Thanksgiving Dinner was wonderful - all the fixings you can ever imagine and three pies! We also got to know Luke another housemate. Tom and Luke shared sports stories back and forth the entire stay!

Friday was our out of town travel day. We picked up a car at Enterprise and first headed down to the World War II Memorial. This was new since our last DC visit and well worth the trip. It especially holds meaning for Joan as her Dad, Ernst, served in France and Germany during the war. We even found his name on the registry.

Then we went over to the Lincoln Memorial. Since it is a great view of the Mall, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Reflecting Pool, Joan and Rachel were snapping pictures the whole time. The Lincoln Memorial was just as spectacular as last time around.

We next headed out of town, planning on going to Shenandoah National Park. We decided to go into Manassas Old Town for lunch and hit a big traffic jam. When we finally reached the old town, it was quaint and nice. We found a good restaurant and went into several little shops.

By then it was getting sort of late and we still had 40 miles to go to the park but we forged ahead. Even though we go there at 4pm and dusk was fast approaching, we decided to drive on in on Skyline Drive. We stopped at 5 overlook areas as we headed up the mountain, each with spectacular views of the Shenandoah River Valley. The fall colors were still showing with lots of red, orange and yellow leaves.

We enjoyed the sunset over the ridge and then headed back to Washington DC.

On Saturday, Rachel and I began the day with a jog to the White House and the Washington Monument and back.

Rachel enoyed taking some pictures of Tom while we both jogged.

Then it was back to the museums. We met our dear friend, Greta Rymal, at the Corchoran Museum where the special Ansel Adams Exhibit was showing. Greta then treated us to a nice lunch at one of her favorite restaurants before she gave us a lift over to the Air and Space Smithsonian.

The museum was packed but we all really enjoyed the Wright Brother's Room immensely.

After that we checked out the ice skating rink and enjoyed people-watching. That evening we got to meet Jill's other housemate, Carl. The meeting of the housemates was complete.

Sunday was time to go back home. But before we did, we rode the Metro over to First Trinity Lutheran Church for Sunday morning Worship Service. We walked back to Jill's and then over to Thai Tanic for lunch. Then we were off on the Metro to Reagan National for the flight home. After dropping our luggage, we drove over to our good friends, the Thonhoff's, to pick up Mocha. They had more stories to tell about Mocha's antics then we had about our trip to Washington DC!!

Conquering Dilloman

2007-09-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

The Dilloman Sprint Triathlon was held on September 9th at Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis. This is a well-organized event run by Austin Triathletes, especially considering the remote location. It includes an 800-meter swim, a 20K bike and a 5K run.

My nephew, Bradley Eilers, and I met at 6:10am and carpooled out there. We had a good time and, since Bradley competed in the Dilloman last year, he was able to impart some valuable course wisdom.
For the record, I finished 7th out of 10 in my age group and 89th out of 133 male participants overall (see results). Here's my results:

Swim: 19:46.7 (pace 2:28/100m) 8th out of 10
Transition #1: 3:02.7
Bike: 46:44.6 (pace 15.9 mph) 7th out of 10
Transition #2: 2:24.4
Run: 26:26.0 (pace 8:28/mile) 3rd out of 10
Overall: 1:38:24.5

Everything went very smoothly before and I was careful to avoid the dehydration I experienced my last time out. The swim was a wave start on Lake Travis and I swam to the outside the entire way where I avoided the thrashing bodies and was able to use the other swimmers as my bearing point. So, I rarely broke stride during the swim.

The bike was a hilly 2-lap course. One hill near the end was enough to bring some riders off their bikes. It wore on the legs but was a good challenge.

The run was on the dirt and rock roads that lead to picnic and camping areas. No speed race here - the fastest 5k was 19:20. I just kept a moderate and steady pace which left me with plenty left at the finish.

Bradley, by the way, did well too. He finished about 9 minutes ahead of me and 6th place in the Clydesdales (men over 200 pounds).

Overall it was a fun time on a nice warm day. The lake was full and beautiful. And I had a great time conquering Dilloman!

An emotional roller coaster of a week

2007-08-19T07:49:00.001-07:00

What a week this has been!
On Monday, we took our daughter Jill to the airport for her move to Washington D.C. All of us were excited yet apprehensive. Traveling is complicated enough but when you are moving to live in downtown D.C, then there are another set of worries alltogether. Jill had two layovers where she called to tell us about her progress. Fortunately, she had a friend meet her at the airport in D.C. which helped immensely. She arrived and had a great week of orientation with Lutheran Volunteer Corps in preparation for her beginning work at the Alliance for Global Justice.
But that was just the start of the week! On Tuesday, my wife Joan and I flew to San Francisco to pick up our other daughter, Rachel, who was completing her cycling trip across America with Bike and Build. Rachel was to arrive on Thursday, so Tuesday and Wednesday was a little 30-year anniversary celebration for us. We had a good flight to Oakland, caught the shuttle to the train station and the train to San Francisco and walked up Powell Street to the Chancellor Hotel where we would be staying.
The Chancellor Hotel is an old hotel just off Union Square. A super location and a nice hotel that I would recommend it strongly.
After unpacking, we walked to the corner above our hotel and ate at Lori's diner where the food is pretty good and you sit next to an old Ford Edsel. Then we walked down to Market Street to purchase 7-day Muni passes - a great deal for $24. We could now ride the cable cars and buses for the rest of our stay. I have been to San Francisco three times: once on business, once about 17 years ago when our family spent a couple of vacation days there on our way to Spokane, and then about 18 months ago when Rachel and I went there following her senior year of high school. On this trip we discovered the crowds were larger and the street people pushier. I suspect August is the height of the tourist season. But still, San Francisco is one of America's unique cities, attracting people from all over the world, and I enjoyed trying to figure out the difference languages that I heard.
So, once we got our passes, we were ready to go but the cable car line was too long for my patience. We walked up Powell Street all the way to where the Powell and Hyde lines split off and then jumped on a cable car to ride to the top of Lombard Street, the crookedest street in the world. The flowers were beautiful along the twisted street and the people were goofy. Lots of cars packed the street to experience the drive down, many recording the event on video out their window (normally from the passenger side, at least!). We walked down and up Lombard and took pictures so I guess we were sort of goofy too.
From the top of Lombard Street we walked down to Ghirardelli Square, the chocolate center of the world. We just checked it out but were not yet ready to partake. Then we walked on down along the Wharf, enjoyed the views and looked in the shops. We caught the Powell line back up to our hotel. After resting a bit, we walked around the Union Square area looking for a restaurant and settled on Max's where we enjoyed a nice dinner and conversation with a Rabbi and his wife who were seated next to us.
On Wednesday, we decided to tackle Golden Gate Park. We rode bus #71 to 9th street and walked throughout the east side of the park. Strolling through the botanical gardens and later the Conservatory of Flowers made for an enjoyable day. We then headed over to Stow Lake where we enjoyed hot dogs and ice cream sandwiches. On the bus trip back, a pickpocket was caught trying to steal a lady's wallet. What excitement.
Back downtown, we bought a poster board at Walgreen's so Joan could make a sign for Rachel who was to arrive the next day. That evening, we ate at a nice Mediteranean Restaurant - Santorini.
Thursday was our big day - well, actually it was Rachel's big day. She would be riding in from San Rafael - only 18 miles away and a far cry from those 90 and 100 mile days in her recent past. We knew she would be thrilled to be completing her cycle across America and we were thrilled for her. We got up early and picked up a rent car at 7:30. Joan navigated and I drove out across the Golden Gate Bridge and parked in the overlook on the Sausalito side of the bridge since Rachel would be arriving from the north. This day brought back some good memories because one of the things Rachel and I did 18 months ago was to ride rental bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito. Then we took the ferry back to San Franscisco.
Our plan for today was to walk onto the bridge and greet her there but after seeing another Bike and Build group arrive from Jacksonville and celebrate for at least a half hour in the overlook area, we changed plans. Instead, we would greet the team as they rode into the overlook area.
It seemed forever but finally around 11 o'clock we saw a large group of riders come up the hill from Sausalito and we knew it had to be them. Rachel was a "sweeper" - one of two final riders who made sure that everyone was accounted for - so we knew she would be at the back of the pack. The team gathered down the hill from the overlook, about a quarter mile away for a few minutes before riding on towards us. I got the sign ready while Joan began video taping. The sign read "You Did It!" and the smiles on the cyclist faces were joyful. At last, we spotted Rachel and fellow-sweeper Alex. They all rode into the overlook area, dropped there bikes, and began celebrating and taking pictures. The day had cleared and the view of the city and bridge was wonderful. When they were ready for group pictures, they lines about 15 cameras up on a ledge and I took their picture - camera by camera of every make and model imagineable. This group had travelled from Providence, RI to San Franscisco - own schedule and in one piece! What an accomplishment!
When the team was ready to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, Joan and I walked out about 100 feet onto the Bridge so we could do some more videotaping. Then we hopped in the car to head to the beach spot where a celebration picnic was planned. Of course, I got lost in Sausalito back roads but that was sort of a neat experience in itself. By the time we got to the Beach, Rachel and her friends had already jumped in San Francisco Bay and held a ceremonious dipping of their front wheels in the water, signifying the completion of their adventure. (They had dipped their rear wheels in the Atlantic way back when).
After a great picnic, we loaded Rachel's bike and gear in the car and drove out to Muir Woods where we hiked up to where we could see the Pacific Ocean (barely). The trails are really nice there and it was warm and sunny.
We then returned to the hotel where Rachel got to check out our accomodations before we all headed to a Bike and Build dinner to Buca di Peppo, an Italian restaurant where the food is more plentiful than good. They kept bringing dish after dish and the parent's table where Joan and I sat kept redirecting the dishes to the main table where the cyclists dined.
On Friday, we strolled around Union Square where an art show was going on and then hiked to Chinatown where we went through the shops. We ate at a little sandwich shop near our hotel and then walked Rachel over to 3rd and Market where she met her friends who had planned a trip to the Haight-Ashbury district - the "hippie" flowers in your hair area.
Joan and I went on to do some more exploring. We ended up walking all the way to Ghirardelli Square because trolley line was long and then on the Hyde line, they were not running very often. So, we rewarded ourselves at Ghirardelli Square with ice cream cones. Then we sat along the bay and watched the swimmers for awhile. It was a beautiful evening. When Rachel called we caught the trolley back to the hotel. After a short rest, we caught the trolley to Fisherman's Wharf and enjoyed nice dinner at Cioppino's. Also on Friday, we solved the bike shipping problem. We found a cycling shop that would pack it and ship it back to Austin.

Saturday was travel day. After a great breakfast at Sear's, a restaurant next door to the Chancellor, we walked down Powell to the train station, bought the tickets, figured out which train to catch and were soon on our way to Oakland. On the train, I figured out that I bought too little fare but once in the Oakland station, Rachel found a machine where you could add fare. Then we shuttled to the airport and boarded our plane back to Austin through San Diego.

Rachel's friends Perry, Carter and Liz were waiting for us at the airport - the end of a great adventure and a roller coaster of a week.

You Might Run Past the Mayor

2007-08-02T15:48:00.000-07:00

You might run past the mayor, a star cyclist, an inspirational “gazelle,” or the statue of a legend. Usually you will enjoy fresh air and stunning sights. And most certainly you’ll see a wide spectrum of people - families, friends, loners, wanderers, and visitors; all sharing in what I believe is best about Austin.

I travel around the country and usually take my jogging shoes but nothing I have found compares with Austin’s Town Lake Trail. Thousands of people have their own stories to tell about this long stretch of comfortable cinders and natural beauty. Their experiences is sure to include some of the following:

Laughing at the antics of a myriad of dogs on the loose at Auditorium Shores, across from the statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan, especially when one dashes over to jump in the river.
Greeting the lone guitarist strumming near Lou Neff Point.
Marveling at the stately view of expensive homes overlooking the river when you cross the bridge near Austin High, or the modern Austin skyline rising above the graffiti on the Railroad Bridge. How and when did they crawl up there to do that anyway?
Stopping to gaze at the grace of rowers and swans sharing the water.
Encouraging a group of volunteers planting new trees and bushes.

The cyclists whiz by fast and the strollers roll by slowly. The walkers are in deep conversation with friends and the joggers of all sizes and shapes are breathing hard. Some rest on the benches or stretch or gather around the water jugs. And all of that is great and good and wonderful.

But for me the best part is a phone call and “Dad, you wanna go to the trail?” And so off I go to pick up my daughter and we go jogging and she’ll tell me stuff she never would on the phone, or even over dinner. And at the end I will tell her “Good job” and she’ll reply “thanks Dad” and we’ll make a plan to do it again next week or maybe sooner. And on the way back to the car, another stroller passes by, a mother or father pushing a daughter or son towards the Town Lake trail, and I’ll think, “a good start and it will only get better.”

Bike & Build E-mail to Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly

2007-07-19T18:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Rick,
I eagerly look forward to your SI articles each week about courageous and inspirational people. You’re the best.
My daughter Rachel is in the midst of her own courageous and inspirational journey, cycling across America to raise awareness of poverty housing in this country. As part of a 32-member Bike and Build team, she is cycling from Providence to San Francisco. Every 8 or 9 days, the team stops to work for a day on a Habitat for Humanity House or similar project. They also present their cause to civic groups and churches at their stops along the way. There are five other Bike and Build teams which started their rides at different Atlantic seaboard towns and are ending up at other Pacific Coast destinations. When Rachel’s team dipped their rear wheels in the Atlantic Ocean on June 11th, I do not think they were aware of the adventure that loomed ahead.
These are not elite cyclists – just ordinary kids with determination and guts. Today they arrive at Paris, Illinois after a 73-mile ride. Tomorrow, on Independence Day, when many of us are kicking back by the barbeque pit, they will be pedaling 96 miles. That will take them through 1181 miles of their 3583-mile journey, not counting the miles riding back to figure out which turn they missed that caused them to get lost.
So far they’ve battled heat rash, sore muscles, cuts and scrapes, strep throat, flat tires, rain, cold, and more. Cooper’s second crash resulted in an emergency helicopter ride because the community hospital wasn’t MRI-enabled. His concussion confined him to the support van for a week where he slept for the better part of three days, but he was back on the road a couple of days ago. Eric went over a 20-foot cliff at the end of a treacherous descent. Two others crashed at the exact same spot including Alex who bent his derailleur hanger so bad that he had to remove it so he could continue his ride in a single, fixed gear. He still had 62 hilly miles to go before dark. A couple of days later a car clipped a girl’s rear wheel and she injured her back in the fall. The car never stopped.
On 90/90 days the team gets to eat TWO lunches. Those are days they ride more than 90 miles in temperatures exceeding 90 degrees. My daughter reports her own struggles “Yesterday was a tough day for me, as I had a screaming pain in my lower back for the 13 miles before lunch (so from mile 27 to mile 40), and then for the next 18 miles afterward until I finally stopped and one of my trip leaders massaged me. By that time I was in major pain, but it helped. Then we had a terrific climb.”
But the cyclists are on schedule and in good spirits. I’m sure their parent are just like me, scouring the web site journals that these brave young folks take turns writing. What they find there is quite inspirational. Early on, the journal entries were about the trip ahead or the bike or the scenery. But recently the tone has changed into an appreciation of the efforts of their teammates. Katie writes “I would just like to once again emphasize how insane it is that I have known these incredible people for only 3 weeks. It is amazing how quickly the biggest challenge of our lives can pull us all together. I can not imagine a better group of 32 people to do this with – I love you guys!”
And after all the grit and dirt and pain, they remain committed to the cause of poverty housing solutions. In fact, many of them feel that cycling across America is just not enough. Dave Miller blogs “In our presentations, we rattle of some figures and show a rather self-congratulatory video. Yes it's bad that 96 million (i.e. 1 in 3) people in the US spend more than 30% of their income on housing. It’s a travesty. It's an indictment of the government that spent more than my entire tax burden last year on a single depleted uranium APFSDS tank round. We're supposed to be pedaling to end poverty housing. We are building some houses, but we're not really raising awareness of the issue- we're not saying ‘vote LBJ for president’ or ‘boycott Wal-Mart’ … and I think we have a responsibility to do so. Biking across the country is guerilla theater--we are making a statement. almost every night we give a presentation, and I personally have been intervewed for a TV newscast and two newspaper articles. But we aren't pushing the agenda- mostly because the agenda isn't there to be pushed.”
On July 11th, Rachel's mom, sister and I are driving from Austin to Lawrence, KS to encourage Rachel. Her boyfriend is coming along. An 11-hour drive is the least we can do for a daughter who has already worn out the brake pads of her brand new Trek 1000. The team will be working on a build for 3 days in Lawrence which should be a nice stopover before tackling the Rockies. These Bike and Build guys, they don’t skip anything! Not doing enough, huh? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Tom Hokanson
Team Journals
Rachel’s blog

Tom--Thanks so much for your note. Stuff like that gets to me.

Best,Rick Reilly

Dehydration Delirium and Lost Equilibrium - but I finished my first triathlon!

2007-07-02T18:02:00.001-07:00

Let's start at the end... About 30 feet from the finish line I began to experience some serious loss of equilibrium accompanied by a dash of dehydration delirium. Someone grabbed me but I fought them off and stumbled nearer the finish. At the very end, I wavered, wobbled and was somehow or other directed to the side. I am not sure which because I don't remember.

My next recollection was of people asking me "are you ok?" and "do you need anything?" and then the words I really needed to hear "don't worry, I got your time." That was welcome relief because I missed the finish chute, veering right. I think. I don't recall. Much thanks to the kind lady and her children who offered their aid to me so generously while a sat upon their ice chest. After about 30 minutes or so and lots and lots of water, I was back on my feet and felt fine.

The Aquarena Sprints Sprint Triathlon on July 1 was my first triathlon and for the first hour and forty minutes or so, it was a great experience. Aw, let's just say the whole thing was a great experience. For the record, here are my splits:

Swim (500 meters): 15:09.3
Transition 1: 3:40.3
Bike (16 miles): 57:06.5 (avg. 16.8mph)
Transition 2: 2:23.4
Run (5K): 24:58
Total time: 1:41:57 (149th out of 295)

Joan and Jill and I carpooled down with church friend, Jan Haas who, by the way, is a great athlete. She finished 3rd in her age group in 1:41:20.3. She is now the proud owner of a cool placque with a pink pig on it, an Aquarena Spring trademark. We're all proud for her.

Although the swim is the event I was most dreading, it actually turned out to be the most enjoyable. They started the athletes off one at a time, about 10 seconds in between, so there was none of the water-thrashing, elbowing, kicking, water-swallowing that I was warned about and most feared. Instead, it was a nice, open swim through beautiful cool, crystal clear waters. I kept a steady pace throughout and my time was under the 15 minutes I had figured on.

The bike was a fairly tough, hilly course, 16 miles total (out and back) into the hills outside of San Marcos with a total climb of 431 feet over the first 8 miles. I rode hard and at the turn around a steady rain slapped my face as if to say "what do you think you're doing!" I had two close calls, skidding on the slick pavement but caught myself in good form. We cyclists also had to battle car traffic which was unfortunate. I believe the weather played a bit into my dehydration incident as I was intent on white-knuckling the handlebars instead of my water bottle.

Oh, about the transitions - the times between the swim and the bike, and the bike and the run... I was pretty awkward on these but I'll figure it out. The bike racks were packed solid and by the time we arrived in the morning to drop off our bikes, there was not much space. I basically crammed my stuff underneath my bike. But mostly, I was just bumbling while putting on shoes and stuff. I obviously did not drink enough water during the transitions either.
But I started off well on the run and felt good although my breathing was faster than normal. I ran steadily for the first 2 miles but, along with many others, was a bit faked out by the approaching finish line. I knew it was short but, there it was! Alas, it was only a mirage, a delusion. "Keep going, right through there," the officials instructed. And so I strode on, realizing I still had a mile or more to go. Unfortunately, there were no more water oases to be found as the one water stop available to me was far, far behind. (The 2nd stop in the last mile had been abandoned by the volunteers as they ran out of water.) With about a half mile to go, I began having trouble running upright although I did not correlate it with dehydration at the time. At about 300 yards from the finish I decided I better walk a bit. I walked for about 100 yards and then, finish line in sight, started to run again. And you know the rest of the story.

Actually, I am really proud of my run. 24:58 is a good time for me in those cicumstances. My fastest 5K since I turned 50 is 22:25 so my pace was really good.

For sure, I need to figure out the hydration thing for my next triathlon. I feel that my training regimen is on target as I am not sore today. I may increase my distances some but we'll see - that takes more time. Not sure when my next tri will be but I hope that I can do the Aquarena Tri next year. Thanks to my family and friends for all your support! Joan has decided she will be my nutrition specialist now. She says "no more Dehydration Delirium and Lost Equilibrium for you, buddy!"

The long road to my first Triathlon

2007-06-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

One more week until my first Triathlon - the Aquarena Springs Sprint Tri in San Marcos, TX on July 1st. I think I'm ready but you never know. This pales in comparison to my daughter, Rachel's, summer exploit of cycling across the United States for Bike and Build. And my other daughter, Jill, did her own triathlon, Austin Danskins a couple of weeks ago.
But this is a good challenge for this 53-year old. My 2007 training efforts have been a struggle as I've battled a strained achilles heel, a week of stomache ailments, poison ivy, a brusied rib and more. I had to walk the Capital 10K because of the heel and what should have been my first Tri, the CapTexTri, was rained out.
But this past week it seemed to be coming together as I had 6 good days of workouts that totalled swimming a mile, running 7 miles, and biking 37 miles. Now, I will ratchet it down a bit and see what happens on next Sunday's adventure when we'll find out how far and fast this training takes me on the 500m swim, the 16 mile bike and the 5K run.
I will keep you posted!

The Emergency Social Security Act of 2025

2007-06-19T05:38:00.000-07:00

(fictional but probable)
Dateline: February 5, 2025
Today, Congress passed the controversial Emergency Social Security Act of 2025, thus saving the program from certain demise due to inadequate funds. The law is a last gasp effort the takes drastic measures to keep the program funded and the checks will go out on time this month.
"There was no other choice," says venerable Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA). " We had to do something fast and we reached across the aisle to solve the problem."
The law places restrictions on Social Security payments based on an index of savings and income. Basically, if you have accumulated over $250,000 in retirement savings (IRAs, company pensions, etc.) then you will no longer receive Social Security checks, beginning June 1st of this year. Income earners must still contribute to the program even though most will not reap any benefit from it.
Critics say the law is too little and way too late and blame Congresses of the past 25 years with not having the courage to reform the program. They also point to the citizens and interest groups who were unwilling to be unselfish with their entitlements, even if it only meant the raising of the age at which you could begin drawing from the program by a few years.
So, today I became unselfish. I am giving up my $2842 monthly Social Security check because I saved enough (or too much) during my 49 years of work. At least I was able to receive 9 checks which is more than my children will ever likely see.
In other news, the 21,543rd American soldier died in Iraq and tonite you will meet the newest American Idol!

Cycling Across America for Affordable Housing

2007-06-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

This morning, Austin High grad and current UT student Rachel Hokanson dipped the rear wheel of her bicycle into the Atlantic Ocean near Providence, Rhode Island. It is the start of a cycling trip that will take her and 31 fellow cyclists from the hills of New England to the wheat fields of Kansas, up and over the Rockies, and ultimately across the Golden Gate Bridge! The Providence to San Francisco team is one of six Bike and Build teams starting their treks across America from Jacksonville to Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Bike & Build organizes these cross-country bicycle trips that benefit affordable housing groups. In the past four seasons, the organization has donated $752,804, and pedaled thousands of miles, all to spread the word about the affordable housing crisis in America.
To qualify for her journey, Rachel (age 19) had to apply to the organization, write three essays, raise $4000 and work at a Habitat Home here in Austin. She also needed to train by cycling the hills and streets of Oak Hill as well as the Veloway at Circle C. Today’s ride is a “short” thirty-seven miler from Providence to Plainfield, Connecticut. But the average mileage per day will be about seventy miles.
Along the way, these young adults will stop and work at affordable housing projects. Yesterday (June 13) they worked at a habitat in Providence and there are seven other “BUILD DAYS” along her route. The team also makes presentations about the Affordable Housing Crisis to churches and civic organizations in the towns where they spend each night.
Rachel feels she is prepared for the journey but came up a little nervous the last few days. “My limited cycling experience includes biking around campus and mountain biking in Austin’s greenbelt, and I am mostly unfamiliar with the affordable housing cause, so this trip should be very interesting and exciting.” She became intrigued about the possibilities of cycling across America when one of her fellow U.T. Ultimate Frisbee teammates told her how her Bike and Build trip went in 2006. Besides Ultimate Frisbee, Rachel stays active by jogging, cycling and swimming. She played basketball and participated in the Band program at Austin High. But this is a new challenge.
About her 65-day Bike and Build journey, she comments “Before I learned about Bike and Build, I was interested in traveling over the summer, but only if it was through a service organization. I enjoy being outdoors, exercising, and taking on new challenges, so Bike and Build seemed like the perfect fit.” You can follow her journey at http://rachelsride.blogspot.com/ or through the team’s journal at the Bike and Build website (www.BikeandBuild.org).
As for her hopes for the next two months, Rachel says “I’m ready to share what I have to offer and hopefully learn something about myself in the process. That’s the great thing about service; for all that you give, you gain something in return.”Rachel is the daughter of Tom and Joan Hokanson of Austin, and granddaughter of Mathilde Lindig of Fredericksburg, and Jerry and Marilyn Hokanson of Albuquerque, NM.

Jill Completes a Triathlon!!

2007-06-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

It was pitch dark when Jill got up to go meet her friends to carpool to the Danskin Women's Triathlon. 4:30 a.m. as a rendezvous time seemed sort of harsh but when 3,500 swimmer/cyclist/runners are competing, that's the pricing you have to pay to avoid the traffic and get there by the mandatory check-in time of 6:30. After all, this was the culmination of months of training for Jill and she did not want anything to go wrong.
Once she arrived at the Austin Expo Center near Decker Lake, she realized that something had gone wrong - she did not have her running shoes! She called her Dad who wondered aloud how anyone could forget their running shoes for a triathlon. Furthermore, her shoes were in her friends, the Schnelles' house. Tom and Joan and Rachel were already preparing to leave so they grabbed Jill's old shoes and headed out the door. There was still plenty of time as even spectators were rising at 4:45 a.m. to go root for their friends and loved ones.Traffic was terrible as we reached
the Expo Center and the 6:30 deadline passed. But after the mile and a half walk
from the parking lot to Decker Lake where the race was to begin, we delivered
the shoes to a relieved Jill. And now the wait had to begin as wave after wave
of Triathletes began their swim. Jill was in the 21st wave.
The Danskin Triathlon consists of a 1/2 mile swim, a 12.9 mile bike and a 3.1 mile run. The swimmer swam straight out into the middle of Decker Lake then veered right for awhile before heading back to the finish. Jill did great, finishing the swim in 21:50. Not bad for her first Tri and for swimming zip-zag through the lake as she was not used to swimming in open water. Even with goggles, you could see nothing in the water.
She popped out of the water and jogged up to the transition area to get her bike. Her friend, Alice, came out a couple of minutes later and she was off to catch Jill on the bike course. We cheered them both on as the headed out to the hilly roads, still looking pretty fresh. Jill spent nearly 6 minutes in the bike transition area and then completed the tough bike course in 53:57 and we cheered her and Alice on again as they dumped their helmets and prepared for the toughest part - the run.
We proudly watched them go out on the run course and then about 10 or 12 minutes later come back by. The were still smiling!! Jill finished the run in 39:59 for an overall time of 02:05:12.

HOKANSON, JILL

Overall Rank: 1619 of 2612
Class Rank: 77 of 105
Swim time: 21:50 Swim Rank: 796
Transition #1 time: 05:59
Bike Time: 53:57 Bike Rank: 1808 MPH: 14.4
Transition #2 time: 03:25
Run time: 39:59 Run Rank: 1795 Pace: 12:54
Overall time: 02:05:12

What an accomplishment!! And she is excited about doing it again! Way to go Jill.

Jill Graduates

2007-05-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday May 12, 2007, Jill graduated from Texas Lutheran University with a major in English and a minor in International Studies. We are so proud of her accomplishments which include Summa Cum Laude honors and recognition in Who's Who in American Colleges and several honors sororities. Among those who came to TLU this day were her mother and father (Tom and Joan), her sister Rachel, grandparents Jerry and Marilyn Hokanson and Mathilde Lindig. Also attending were Uncle Michael and Aunt Anne Marei and their children, Uncle Mike and Aunt Judy, Uncle Shawn and Aunt Laura, Uncle Jim and Aunt Debbie, Aunt Jenny and her son, friend Perry Hall, cousin Betsy and her husband Trent and their children. Obviously, her family is quite proud.On Sunday a party in her honor was at her home in Austin with dozens of people, friends and more family, coming to celebrate.
Jill will work this summer for Casa Marianella in Austin. Then, beginning in mid-August, she will work for a year for the Alliance for Global Justice in Washington D.C., as program coordinator for Nicaragua. Great adventures are in store for Jill!

Tom Hokanson News and Views

2005-09-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Perhaps you will find something of interest here... It's mostly Tom Hokanson's family stories (Austin, TX). But I will throw in a commentary here or there. Happy days to all!

Yosemite National Park - 2004

2004-07-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

In late July, Rachel, Joan and Tom went to California's Yosemite National. While we sorely missed Jill who was working at Camp Chrysalis, we nevertheless had a wonderful time. Yosemite is awesome! Read on. Maybe our experience and to help you plan your visit to Yosemite.

Getting There
To get to Yosemite, we flew from Austin to Sacramento on Southwest Airlines, rented the "Silver Bullet" and drove from Sacramento to Cedar Lodge which is located just 6 miles from the Arch Rock Entrance.

Our journey from Sacramento to Yosemite was quite eventful. Tom had the route well mapped out using Yahoo Maps. Head down I5 South to Stockton, switch over to State Hwy 99 towards Merced then State Hwy 140 through Mariposa and on the the Cedar Lodge near El Portal. Easy enough.

Along the way to Yosemite, Tom took a wrong turn which took us to the quaint village of Sonora in Tuolumne County. Here Tom was able to show Jill and Rachel the Title Company and the County Courthouse build (left) where the software that Tom wrote (halFILE) is used.

However, right there on Hwy 99 is a huge California State Highway sign saying Exit Here for Yosemite! Looking at our map, the exit 108/120 looked much more direct. Forget it! While the start was interesting, traveling through numerous citrus and pistachio groves, when you neared the Yosemite Area, you had to take what has to be one of the most winding roads in America. It's like 50 miles of slow travel and the trip took 1-2 hours longer then the mapped route. So trust yahoo on this one!
On the way back home, we took the correct route and were amazed at how fast the trip went. We arrived at Sacramento early enough to take a side trip to "Old Sacramento," an area of shops and museums along the banks of the Sacramento River. We had lunch and strolled around and shopped. Very nice.

Lodging
Cedar Lodge were surprisingly nice. Tom found the plac on the web and while the room was just your basic hotel room, it was quite affordable and included a number of amenities including:

Gift shop with some food items plus books/maps of Yosemite
An indoor swimming pool with sauna
An outdoor pool (we never used - it was cool at night)
A small park along the river across the street. We did swim and wade here - cold but refreshing
A restaurant

The best part was the proximity to Yosemite - only 8 miles from the Arch Rock Entrance to Yosemite Valley. Tom was having trouble finding anything near the park and was close to reserving a hotel in Mariposa, about 30 miles away.

There was also a bit of excitement around the lodge - bears! While we never saw bears in Yosemite Park during our stay, the lodge management told everyone to beware as bears were on the lodge property one evening during our stay.

Hiking
Hiking Yosemite was our favorite activity during our vacation. Tom studied the trail maps then proposed a hike to Jill and Joan who were always eager to go.

Lower Yosemite Falls Hike

Rachel at the base of Lower Yosemite Falls

We started with an easy hike on our first day in Yosemite. After driving into Yosemite Valley and parking in the day parking area of Yosemite Village, we walked to the village to check it out and then took the short 1/2 mile roundtrip hike to Lower Yosemite Falls. The hike is very easy and the falls are magnificent! Once there, we paid little heed to the warning signs and hiked around the rocks at the base of the falls. Rachel was the most daring, going all the way to falls.

Vernal and Nevada Falls Hike

Rachel and Joan enjoying Vernal Falls

We soon graduated to a more strenuous hike - much more strenuous! The brochures label the hike to Vernal and Nevada Falls and "moderate to strenuous" because it begins with moderate hiking through beautiful wooded areas on a nice path and become a extremely steep, harrowing hike up to Vernal Falls. But the hike is worth it and you can get a great view of Vernal Falls by hiking the moderate trail to the Vernal Falls Footbridge (1.6 miles roundtrip).
But did we stop there? No! We continued one up the trail toward Vernal Falls. Soon we were climbing narrow, steep, rocky and slippery steps up toward Vernal Falls. Between the steps and the people coming down "Mist Trail", it was very precarious. Joan braved it all the way to the base of the falls and, along with Rachel and Tom, enjoyed the cool spray from the falls. Then Tom and Rachel continue all the way up to the top of the falls and soaked our feet in the stream. The trail is the beginning of the famous John Muir Trail. The total roundtrip effort to Vernal Falls is 3 miles and takes about 3 hours.

Joan works her way up the Mist Trail

Once atop Vernal Falls, the trail continues on to Nevada Falls. Did we stop there? Yes! Nevada Falls is another 4 mile roundtrip hike and we were not prepared for that!

Bridalveil Fall Hike
On our way to Mariposa Grove, we stopped at the Bridalveil Fall parking area and walked the short (1/2 mile roundtrip) hike to the falls. This is a beautiful area of Yosemite and should not be missed!

Taft Point and Fissures Hike

Fissures at Taft Point

On our last full day in Yosemite, we drove up the Glacier Point and, along the way, enjoyed two great hikes. The first was to Taft Point which begins at the Taft Point/Sentinel Dome parking area. From that point you can choose one of two hikes and we opted for Taft Point and are glad we did! The hike (2.2 miles roundtrip) winds through wildflower meadows before arriving at a solid rock area that would remind Texans of Enchanted Rock, except the rock has risen over 2000 feet above the valley floor! Once on the rock the first thing you meet are the fissures - incredibly narrow openings cut deep (up to 2000 feet) into the granite rock. Getting anywhere near the fissures will make you knees tremble!

The fissure views continue as you hike across the rock to Taft Point. A small railing takes you to the very precipice of the cliff where you can look straight down to the valley. Very exhilarating!

Glacier Point Hike
This is a very short hike (300 yards) with a great reward. From Glacier Point you can view several waterfalls as well as Half Dome, Sentinel Dome, El Capitan and Yosemite Valley. Plus there is a nice (considering the location) restaurant/store here.

The view of Sentinel Dome from Glacier Point

Rafting
While there are top notch white water rafting excursions in the Yosemite area, we opted for the 1/2 day leisurely raft ride down the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. We parked in Curry Village and rented the raft at the Bike and Raft Rental area in Curry Village. After a bit of a wait (rafts are in much demand, especially on a hot July day!), we filled out the forms, got a quick safety and direction lesson, and were in the cold water! The float down the river only takes a couple of hours but there are a few nice, sandy beaches to stop. We especially enjoyed the area shown in the picture to the right because we could get a quick float own an area of rushing water.

Along the way, we glimpsed beautiful views of El Capitan and Yosemite Falls. This was a wonderful afternoon!

Cycling

Our Yosemite cycling experience made for another great and fun day! We rented our bikes in Curry Village (no wait at all), put on our helmets and were on our way! First, we headed up the paved bike trail toward Mirror Lake. At first it was a bit frustrating because of all the car traffic. But soon we were away from all of that and had no problems at all. We stopped at the point of the Mirror Lake Trailhead where it say "no bikes past this point" (not every cyclist obeyed that sign). We hiked the short 1/2 mile to Mirror Lake which was quite low at this time of the year. But it was a nice, enjoyable walk.

Back to our bikes and were found a roundabout bike trail toward Yosemite Village. This was the best part as we had the trail virtually to ourselves even though we were in the heart of the valley area. Splendid piney woods along here.

We continued through the village and down to the Yosemite Falls area, past Yosemite Lodge and down to the Sentinel Beach area before turning around (actually the trail just looped so you never backtracked) and headed back to Curry Village. I think we spent about 3 hours on the bikes and enjoyed the day.

The Trees

While the trees throughout Yosemite are wonderful, the 1 1/2 hour drive down from Yosemite Valley to Mariposa Grove to see the Giant sequoias is worth it.

You cannot drive through the grove but rather park and either ride a shuttle or walk through a grove of the biggest trees on earth. We opted for the shuttle bus, primarily to get the ranger's presentation. It was very informative and we learned about how the ranger service is continually learning how to manage the area and keep these trees from becoming extinct.

The shuttle stops at several places and the ranger describes the history of the trees, gives an account of the "famous" trees and explains how the trees are beginning to come back.

These trees are huge! The tree above is one of the small young ones. The famous tree that people used to drive their cars through has fallen down. But the picture below shows a tree that you can drive a "bobcat" tractor through. In fact, the bobcat was in place as workers were doing some construction in the area.

At the point of the shuttle ride where it was to return to the parking, we got out and walked our way back to the car. We saw the same trees again, only this time up close and personal!

The Falls

The Falls in Yosemite are spectacular! Many of the hiking trails are designed to take you to the base of the falls and each is different and exciting to view.
Yosemite Falls is the 6th tallest in North America, a total of 2,425 feet of cascading water down the sheer cliff face. The earlier in the year, the better, as the falls are created by snow melt and by August, a mere trickle of water is falling. This July, as you can see, there was still plenty of falls.

Yosemite Falls consists of Upper Yosemite Fall (1,430 feet), the middle cascades (675 feet) and Lower Yosemite Fall (320 feet). To the right you see Rachel at the base of Lower Yosemite Fall.

Bridalveil Fall (left) is a gorgeous 620 foot fall that flows year round. We enjoyed the short walk to the base of the falls. You will catch a glimpse of this fall upon entering Yosemite and the first thing you think is, "We gotta go find that!"

Vernal Falls (right) is a powerful falls that probably best known for the steep hike up the Mist Trail to get to its base. The falls are 317 feet high. Once at the top of this fall, you can see Nevada Falls (594 feet).

The Rock

The massive granite rocks of Yosemite are magnificent. The first time we entered through the Arch Rock entrance and saw El Capitan (left) filling the front window of our car, we were speechless. This rock dominates the sky from many parts of the park. The last day we were in Yosemite, we stopped at a meadow where many people were studying the face El Capitan. It turns out that they were watching a couple of climbers repelling the rock face. They were only a third of the way up and would have to bivouac for the night.

We found that the best place to view Half Dome was from the Glacier Point. That's where Rachel is in the picture below. Half Dome rises over 8,800 feet above sea level and was carved by a glacier movement. The face of the dome is over 2,000 feet tall.

North Dome sites across the valley from Half Dome and can also be viewed in all its splendor from Glacier Point. Below is a good view that shows how massive the rock is.