Monday, April 24, 2006

Tour of California

Well, finally have some more time to get another entry in. I had the opportunity to go and see the last leg of the Tour of California down in Redondo Beach. I took Emily and went down to Redondo Beach with the Hodgson and Ireland families. I was lucky enough to get hooked up with a VIP pass prior to the race thanks to the Hodgsons. The VIP area was a row of tents along the start/finish line with a great view of the riders going by, all the big screen TVs that you could want to watch the race, free promo gear, and best of all free food and booze. It was luxury spectating at its finest. Anyway, since I was so close I got to take a few good photos as the riders moved up for the start of the race.

Here is a good photo of Bobby Julich heading to the start line.
Bobby Julich

This next photo has George Hincapie in the foreground followed by Floyd Landis(Tour winner), David Zabriskie(#9 hiding behind Floyd), and Bobby Julich getting ready for 1.5 hours of pain.
3 at Start

This last photo is the peloton passing by with Floyd Landis right in the middle behind his team mate Martin Perdiguero.
Floyd Landis
As you can see, the rest of the Phonak team were right there to support Floyd.

If there was one bad point it was the crappy music that they kept pumping out of the huge speakers at the start/finish line. You couldn't even hear the announcers! All in all, it was not a bad day though. I didn't score as much cool promo stuff as I would have liked but I did get a sweet Phonak hat! The crit format was good since it allowed you to see the riders come by more than once and the flat course allowed them to hold some speed as they came by. I would definitely recommend attending the race and plan on being down there agin next year. Who knows, if the Tour of California organizers get smart I may get to see a stage come through Topanga!

Friday, March 03, 2006

About time for a new post.....

Well, I have to say that I let the blog entires slack quite a bit. I figured it is time for an update on the life and times. There is a lot of news to report. The Fall of 2005 was a little slow. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving in our new home. It was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever had. The Hodgson and Grossman families joined us along with the ver popular Uncle Terry. Michelle cooked a fantastic turkey and everyone brought something special of their own to add to the feast. We all ate outside on our patio and enjoyed the warm weather, great company, and fantatic food. It was a really special day and I was happy to have spent it with my family and friends.

Not too long afterwards we had out first Christmas in our home. Michelle and the kids did some great holiday decorating. To clebrate the first Christmas we decided to buy a 10' tree since we now had room for one that size. We trekked on to Home Depot and found a perfect tree in the mix in only about 3 tries. Once the Home Depot guys put the tree on the roof of the car I knew I was going to have some problems. Being 10' the tree was a lot heavier that I was used to. To make a long story short, it took me about 2 days to get the tree set up in the living room with help from Uncle Terry. Also, most places do not sell tree stands big enough for a tree that size to be careful. I had to do some major modifications of the tree trunk.

On December 27 we headed oout to the East coast to visit my family. It was a nice trip. We spent the first few days in NYC and spent time in Little Italy, a whole day at the Natural History Museum, and a few hours to get to the top of the Empire State Building. Emily and Aengus had a great time, especially at the Museum. We took the train back down to NJ where we hung out with my Mom and Grandfather. Made a stop to see my good friend Phil and his family. Sadly enough, we all wound up getting a stomach virus and had to take Aengus to the hospital to get some fluids in him since his vomitting was horrible. By the time we had to get back on the plane for California the virus had passed and we were all feeling much better. It would have been crappy plane ride back if we still had the bug. Flying and puking ado not mix.

The end of the year saw our friend and colleague Karen Fergason, aka Fergie, pack up here stuff along with her husband Steve and head down to the Southern Hemisphere for a 7 month trek in New Zealand and Australia. They have been keeping us informed of their trip through their blog. The trip sound slike it has been a blast and they have taken some awesome photos. I warn you though, by looking through this blog you may find yourself longing to trek the Milford sound so badly that you pack up and take off. Which is not a bad thing.

Michelle and I went to the openeing of the Paul Smith store here in Los Angeles. I'm defintiely not about the fashion/clothing thing but it was a great place to do some people watching. Many interesting, and some down right crazy people, attend these things. Got to meet Paul Smith and have a quick chat. Free drinks and snack made things even better. Some of the clothes were cool but $300 for a shirt is a little steep. We had a good time with our freinds Michael, Gill, and Charlie. Michelle looked great all dressed up and was chatting with all kinds of folks. It was nice to go out without the kids for once.

Besides that things have been quiet. Some good things to note:
It has rained in Los Angeles, finally!
Super 14 season started up and the Hurricanes are on top right now!
Six Nations Tournament is in full swing. Let hope Scotland can take the title this year!
Today is Talk in Third Person Day! Please visit the official website and support the fun!

OK, that pretty much sums it up. We are all doing well and looking forward to some good times this spring. You may want to come up and visit us in topanga if you get the chance.