The Big Wheel

Screwed Again!

Last week I was informed that I have been reassigned to Izmir, Turkey with a report date of 10 May 2008.  Yes, that's right....another season of mountain biking in the States stolen right out from under me.  On the upside, there is some great mountain biking in the area.  I've been in contact with a guy that is living there right now and he has been feeding me some great info about the assignment and the local riding scene.   Check out his blog for some info....it's not updated often (but then again, neither is mine) but has some good pics and even google earth maps of the local trails.  Here's a sample of what's on his site.  This pic below was taken on one of the trails in the mountains that overlook the city.    

In addition to the trails in the immediate area, there are hundreds of miles of trails out in the Cappadocian Mountain.  I'm shipping my truck over with me so I will be able to get out and see the country and ride some of the more remote trails. 

It is my intent to chronicle my riding adventures on this blog.  So instead of a few lame posts about rides that everyone has done a million times, I should be able to show some scenery that you might not otherwise see. 

TRICARE SUCKS!!!

Nothing bike related here, I just want to add one more page to the google results whenever someone enters "TRICARE SUCKS" as a search.  Thousands of hits out there. 

I have been having severe back pain for the past four nights.  I feel the ache during the day but at night it's like someone is stabbing me with a red-hot poker.  I can't sleep for more than a few hours at a time without waking up because of the pain.  Getting back to sleep is very difficult.  I toss and turn so much that my wife isn't getting the sleep she needs either. 

  I have no idea how or why this pain started.  I wasn't in any accidents, didn't lift anything heavy, didn't change mattresses...nothing out of the ordinary to cause this.  It hurts so bad that I get short of breath. In fact, it hurts even more when I fully exhale so I end up taking a lot of short, shallow breaths - almost to the point of hyperventilation.  Although I'm sure my frustration is also to blame for that. 

So this morning I called to make an appointment to see a Doc in the Pentagon Tricare clinic.  The next available appointment is 11 Feb!  They want me to wait two friggin weeks just to see someone to talk about the problem.  The way military healthcare works, that first visit will be 45 minutes behind schedule and last all of 10 minutes.  The doc will give me some motrin and tell me to avoid heavy lifting.

  The only other option I have is to call them at 0600 in the morning and hope they have a same-day appointment available.  I wonder where those same-day slots come from.....probably cancellations by people that either sought outside care or died while waiting on their appointment. 

  I know Tricare is cheaper than other health insurance.  But this is certainly a case of "you get what you pay for."

Short Write-Up for Short Rides

Been on a few short rides over the past few days.  Nothing difficult but enough of a workout to keep my legs from complete atrophy.  I also wanted to post an image of a really cool wooden bike Tammy and I saw on the cruise ship last week. 

The Joys of Being Home

I would like to say that I've been busy with all sorts of exciting stuff since I got back from Iraq.   But I haven't.  I've mostly been sitting around doing nothing.  That might make me sound lazy but after six months of non-stop 12-hour days - doing nothing is pure bliss.  I've been sleeping in, vegging out, drinking beer, eating unhealthy food, and generally being a bum.  And I don't regret a moment of it.

  Tomorrow I I am driving up to Princeton, New Jersey to meet with some folks about a part-time consulting job I managed to stumble into.  Long story made short:  I've been hired to be a consultant on a new software application.  I'm not a programmer but that is not what they need me for.  They want a users perspective on their product and, based on some work I did with them in the past, they hired me as a SME (subject matter expert).  I won't mention the name of the company or the application to avoid any endorsement or conflict of interest with my Air Force job.  The money I am going to make off this job is kinda crazy - at least for someone that's been collecting enlisted military pay for the past 18 years.  With the money I'll make on this job I'll be getting a second mountain bike (had to bring the topic back to bikes to keep this post on-topic).

  Anyway, once I start getting paid for this new job, I will start the painful process of trying to figure out what new bike to get.  I've got a good line on slightly used Niner RIP 9 frame.  The money I save on the frame will let me put together a very nice build kit.  Stay tuned for updates.

Finally Back from Iraq

I am very pleased to announce that I am back from Iraq now.  I could write several megabytes worth of text about how happy I am to be back.....but no one wants to read that. 

  To keep this bike-related - in the few days I've been back I have made a few tweaks to my bike.  First, I installed the Kent Eriksen seatpost that my wife bought for me.  It's a titanium post and has some noticable flex to it...the good kind of flex.  The post will take some of the edge off riding a hardtail bike.  The other change I made was to replace the stem and handlebar.  I picked up a Salsa Moto Ace with a 17-degree backsweep.  I haven't had a chance to do a real ride on it yet so I can't comment on how these two changes have improved the bike.  I'll report my observations once I've had a chance to put some miles on it. 

Absence makes the heart grow…....insane.

 Between all the preparatory training and the actual deployment, I have now been off the bike for over six months.  The break would not be so bad if I could manage to keep bike-related thoughts out of my head. But with access to the internet and a wife that sends me all the bike magazines (even the ones I would not buy if I were still home) I cannot help but think about mountain biking even though I can't ride.  

 

 Biking may sound like a dumb thing to think about while in the midst of a war zone but I can't stop.  I read about it, talk about it, and even dream about it. When riding the stationary bike at the gym I try to visualize an actual trail. I usually do a lap at Fountainhead in 55-60 minutes – that is how long I try to spend on the bike at the gym. I realized that I need to take the visualization a little less literally after catching myself trying to bunny-hop the stationary bike over a virtual log.  I also look kinda goofy trying to coast down hills and lean into turns. 

 

 In an attempt to sate my hunger I have undertaken two projects.  The first is to tune my body. I can't ride but I do have access to a gym. For a few months I was doing a lot of cardio – mostly on a stationary bike but also some running and elliptical.  I would get a good workout but only had time for about an hour on the bike three of four times per week. (For reference, I am working 12-14 hours per day, 7 days a week for the whole deployment.)  It's hard to build any endurance with only an hour to work with. So a few weeks ago I started hitting the weights. I'm following the off-season resistance training portion of the Dave Morris plan. Getting my strength up will be a big boost for next years riding season.  When I am back home I will transition over to the on-bike phases of his program. 

 

 The second project is to tune by brain. Specifically, I am working on a defined set of goals and milestones for 2008.  I've never really set any cycling-related goals for myself. Sure, I would plan to attend the Memorial Day camping trip and the SM100 on Labor Day weekend. But for 2008 I need to be more specific and aggressive with my goals. For example, I intend to enter at least three XC races.  I plan to enter a 12 or 24 hour race, preferably as a member of a team (notice I said enter…finishing would be nice but I'm being realistic).  Some of my goals are less defined. I plan to attend more group rides – even organize and lead a few as well. I also plan to set a mileage goal for the year – or maybe a certain number of hours would be more appropriate.  I refuse to ride just to pump up the numbers but I won't get stronger or faster unless I push myself towards a goal. 

 

 The third project…wait, didn't I say two projects? Well I'm adding a third.  My bike needs a bit of tuning as well. My bike is rideable as-is but it needs a few final tweaks. I'm not going to go into details just yet because I have not yet entered into negotiations with my wife on just how much I can get away with.  I'll elaborate more once I am back home and riding.

 

 Final Thought:  The old adage that "every cloud has a silver lining" is pure crap.  People use sayings like that to make themselves feel better about a situation they wish they could have avoided. Coming up with goals for 2008 and getting stronger in the gym will help my riding next year but they aren't worth losing my 2007 season.  I am trying to make the best of out a situation I cannot control. The only real glint of silver in this cloud is that I now realize just how much mountain biking means to me.  

--
"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."
-Albert Einstein.

Blog on Hold...

As you can see, not much being posted here lately.  I am about to leave for Iraq and have been busy with all the prep....not to mention being generally lazy while I still can.   In the past few weeks I have done a bunch of mountain biking and some work around the house (though my wife would have been happier if I had reversed the bike-work ratio). 

In a couple hours I am headed down to Stokesville for the annual MORE memorial day bike trip in the Shenandoah mountains.  On monday morning I leave for my last bit of training before heading to the desert.

It has been my intention to transition this blog from bike stuff to info about how I am doing in Iraq.  Well, it turns out the unit I am going to support is not the type that allows information to be passed outside their control.  All I am permitted to discuss over the phone or email are family/friend issues - nothing about my daily routine, job, etc.  So rather than run the risk of breaking their rules, I do not plan on posting while I am gone.  Whatever information I can pass back home will be through calls/email with my wife Tammy.  She will be able to post whatever she can on her blog....unless she wants to log into mine to post it.   Her site is located here

Until later....everyone enjoy their summer.  Be safe and have fun.

Home Again

Just a short post to say that Combat Skills Training is over and that I am home again, at least for a few weeks before I head over to Iraq. 

In hindsight, the training was great.  A large portion of it was irrelevant to what most of us will be doing in Iraq but I guess they need to cover all the bases rather than changing the agenda for every class. 

In the next few days I will go through the 1200 pictures I collected and post of few of the more interesting ones and some of the back-story for them.  For right now, I am happy to be sipping my starbucks and watch TV.

Past the Half-Way Mark

We are now more than halfway done with the training here at Ft Dix.  This week is comprised primarily of classroom training in three different tracks.  The track I'm in is for a system called Blue Force Tracker.  The details are too boring to go into but not as boring as the actual classroom instruction.  The instructors are teaching to the lowest common denominator for a typical Army class.  Not digging on the Army (not much anyway) but does a group of 26 Air Force Intel analysts really need a 20-minute block of instruction on how to change the mouse scroll settings?  Not joking...it's really that basic.  Hopefully today will be better as we start using the tools within the system.  The only thing that kept me awake yesterday was watching other people fight to stay awake. 

  Off to class I go...with a BIG cup of coffee.

Summary of the Last Few Days

Been a busy few days so let me try to catch you up on the highlights. Yesterday we had MOUT training (Military Operations in Urban Terrain). This is the stuff that you see SWAT teams doing in all the movies – rushing buildings, clearing streets, all that crap. We had a few hours of classroom training then went outside for hands on training. We assembled into groups of nine – a squad leader and two 4-person teams. Rather than risk getting stuck with the slobs, I assembled my own team. I would have been the Squad leader but they wanted E-4/5 ranks to lead them. So I fell in as number four on my team with the task of securing the rear of our team when we moved and set up new positions. They gave us tons of blank ammo so I was able to actually lay down cover fire when the other team in our squad had to move out. 

 After a few hours of practice in different scenarios, the entire Company was given tasks to perform in a large-scale exercise. The Army has build a small village using discarded connex boxes, trailers, and tons of debris to make the place look like a dump – they succeeded. My squad was tasked with securing a building that was known to have a sniper in the upper floor. We managed to leap-frog our way to the building without anyone getting shot. Bravo team stormed the first floor and secured it. Then Alpha moved in an my Number-1 took a simulated shot to the groin as he stormed the room because he froze when he went in the door and saw a guy there with a real AK-47. (The Army hires people to be the bad-guy in these villages and they shoot blanks at us.) We managed to secure our position and hold it while the rest of the company proceeded with their mission. One of the Squads was able to accomplish one of the required tasks for ENDEX but when they drove out they forgot to give the signal for the rest of us to bug-out. So we were left to fight our way out of the village. Bastards.

 Tomorrow morning all the M-16 shooters will be going out for a full day of range time. When I say full day I really mean a full day. We have to show up at 0700 and will be there until after dark for the night firing portion. Guess I need to bring my ipod and a book. It should be cool though because the Army uses pop-up targets instead of the wimpy paper targets the Air Force uses to simulate long-range fire. We’ll be shooting at human-sized targets up to 300 meters out. 

 I should also note that between all these cool-sounding training events, they stick in a bunch of academics. Language training, legal briefings, code of conduct, cultural orientation, etc. Some of it is even rank-specific. Junior officers and enlisted below the rank of E-7 are often put into a more practical, hands-on discussion while the E-7+ and the Majors and above are given a more strategic-level version of the same topic. For example, today was COIN (counter insurgency) training. The lower ranks were given a layman’s view of how

US

presence in

Iraq

is helping shape the future. The senior ranks were given a briefing on the overall

US

strategy for COIN. Good stuff. 

 Think I’ll get some sleep now…will be a long day tomorrow.