First Century Of The Year

My riding buddy Dallas wanted to ride the century route that we had done 2x last year, Saturday a week ago. I was in, as were 6 other guys. So, we had myself, Dallas, Cliff, Randall, Brian, Grady, Russell, Philip in for the ride.

Left at 7am and we ran a nice easy double paceline for the first 25mi. Stopped at a store that Dallas had stopped at yesterday while driving the route and the operators had locked the bathroom and would not let us use it. Not bad for the guys, but I wore bib shorts and needed to take the jersey off in order to get the bibs off. I was sorta pissed cause I NEVER have to pee on a ride, but I did this time and the assholes wouldn't let us. The guys went behind the store....I had to ride over to the tobacco curing barns and take care of business.

But, while waiting for the "person" to come out of the bathroom, Russell said he didn't think we should be stopping every 25mi and he was going to pick the pace up. DH. I could tell that the pace was faster when we started. He doesn't know how to ride in a group. Surging & slowing. Slowing on the declines and surging on the up slopes. Just take it easy up the climbs and the group won't fracture.

I bitched and whined to Dallas and he went and told Russell to ease the pace up and to take the climbs easier. That worked for a little while. Another thing - he can't hold a line worth a shit and no one likes riding behind him. Oh well, enough about him for the moment.

We did pretty well for the next 30mi, reaching another rest stop by 10am (55mi). I was starved by then, as was Randall (and he had already eaten 2 PBJ's). I had up to that point, 2 gels and 1.5 bottles of Perpetuem and 1.5 of water. Randall and I had a cheeseburger, coke & split some Ruffles Cheddar chips. Everyone told us it was a bad idea, but we knew better.

From this point on, we had a headwind and whenever Russell was on the front, my legs were really screaming. I couldn't have cared less about the pace for the ride - I just wanted to finish without hitting the wall at 90mi or cramping. We ended up breaking up into 2 groups - the Russell group and the Dallas (sensible pace) group. Philip started to cramp because he wasn't drinking enough and when he came off the front, we told him to just sit in the draft and rest. He did up until the next rest stop and then got himself into the Russell group....bad idea.

Made it to the next rest stop at 73mi with an 18.7avg. At this point, I was filling my bottles with luke warm water from an outside spigot and then dousing my head & back. The others followed suit. Russell was hell bent on getting started again and said for us to hurry up. Go The F On then. Since Philip had cramped, he should've stayed with the Dallas group, but he didn't.

Dallas pulled for the most part in our group and when he went off, I followed because I was directly behind him. Randall pulled, then off. Then Russell. Then the group split into 5 & 3, as I just could not keep his pace - it was myself, Dallas, & Randall. They left us in the dust on the way to Kenly. When we got to Kenly, Brian had waited on us and the other 4 had gone on. It was good that he did, as he helped Dallas pull.

We have no idea the route the others took, but learned, upon arriving home, that Russell & Cliff dropped Grady & Philip. Grady had dropped Philip. The 4 of us made one more stop for water & Nutter Butters (for me & Randall - we were hungry again!).

So, we finally arrive back to Dallas's house around 2pm (I think) to find just Russell & Cliff. We asked where Grady & Philip were? They shrugged shoulders and said they didn't know. Probably 5-10min later Grady showed up. He was in bad shape.....couldn't really talk and was covered in goosebumps. He was finally able to tell us that Philip was a ways off and cramping up. He finished with 113 miles.

Dallas went off to see if he could find Philip. The rest of us sat around on the carport talking and when Russell left, we talked about him. I told Randall I was not going to ride any long rides if Dallas invited him again. He said Dallas wouldn't be inviting him again and I think this is so.

After all of that ^ I felt pretty dang good. Could of had more food to eat, but I think I did good by starting to hydrate Wednesday and eating well last night. I'm really proud of myself for completing this ride. I've only been really riding for the last month and have done nothing more than 47mi in that time.

I stopped off at Lowes and picked up some french onion dip, Lays Wavy Chips, Jalapeno Doritos & Fresca. I ate some of that while I tried to figure out what I would have for supper and get a shower/cleaned up.......

That's all.

Going Solo - South Mountains State Park.

Well, I have decided that since I'm not "into" cycling nearly as much as I was this time last year, I would, maybe pick up another hobby. I used to go hiking/backpacking to the Uwharrie's quite a bit in the late 90's/early 00's and I really enjoyed it.

So, I decided that would be my next hobby because I liked it and I already had some gear. Boy, was I in for a surprise....I knew I wanted to get a new backpack - what I used to use was the old external frame pack - I wanted a new & improved internal frame pack. Picked up an Osprey Ariel a couple of weeks ago and a few other items. I "thought" I could just use most of the stuff I already had....

So, earlier this week, I decided to just go ahead and try this out...Picked out South Mtns because it's close to my Dad's house and I planned on visiting him this weekend (his birthday is tomorrow). Packed up the gear I had along with the rented sleeping bag from REI and put the pack on. OMFG. Heavy. I decided to stop at REI in Durham on the way and see about a few "lighter" items. Replaced the heavy (1.5#) pots with a 10.7oz set, replaced the 2 # Thermarest with a 16oz one, ditched all the clothing except a shirt & clean undies, ditched all the food except a meal for supper & breakfast. Put the pack on after doing this. Wow, that's much better! :)

Then I put the REI Half Dome tent inside.........holy cow! Now the pack is heavy again! Oh well, not much I can do about that now because the tent I wanted is on backorder. So, I go with what I have. BTW, the tent weighs in at SIX POUNDS!!

I arrived at South Mtns later than I planned (a couple things to take care of for my son caused delays), but thought I could get to camp in 1.5hr. I didn't plan on the whole 4 miles being pretty much UPHILL. Followed the creek for a while, then crossed it at the lower waterfalls. Then the trail went UP. OMG. This was strenuous for a first time out hiking in ages. But, I motored on. Finally, I reached the top of a really long climb (shadow picture) then headed down, thinking it's not much further.

Wrong. More uphills, a few flats, but the majority was uphill. I was seriously wondering what the hell I got myself into....I finally reach the trail to the Jacobs Branch campsites after2hr. I set the tent up, go down this really steep trail to the water source, climb back up...Boiled the water for my meal - at this time, I'm lightheaded from not eating since 11:30am - and it seems like it takes forever. Finally, get the meal ready and while waiting on this to "cook", I start my campfire. I'm actually doing pretty well with this solo thing.

Eat my supper, let the boiled water cool off and add that to my water bottle. Another couple arrive around 8pm and set up across the field. I'm pooped, so I went on to bed around 9pm. It was windy the whole night, got just a tad chilly. I know one thing - I do not like these mummy style sleeping bags. I don't like my feet so close together - I like to spread out. I'll have to find something with a larger toe box...

Up around 7am, eat breakfast and begin packing up around 8am. It starts to sprinkle, so I hurry up & get things packed up. My hips and right knee are hurting before I head out and only get worse as I head back. I thought the downhills would be easier, but they weren't. Actually made my hips and knee hurt more. By the time I reached the waterfalls and traversed down the steep stairs, my legs were shaking. I didn't think I'd ever get back to the car, but I did.

I'm going to replace the heavy Whisperlite stove with a Snow Peak GigaPower stove and that heavy assed tent is being replaced with a Big Agnes FlyCreek UL2. Also, I need to pick up a pair of trekking poles - I think those will help too.

That's about it. I'm thinking of going to Eno or someother park either next week or the week after.....

It was great fun! I sorta wish I had someone to go with me - might be a little more fun, but overall, I did have a great time. :)

Linky for pictures until I can add them here, once I get home tomorrow.... 

Ft Benning, Family Day on 4/14

I finally got around/time to try and get a bit of write-up done on Family Day/Graduation (sorry for the delay).

The time finally arrived...10 long weeks since I had seen Kyle, minimal contact - a few letters, a few calls and an occasional text message between us.  I was SO eager to get to Columbus, GA last week to finally get to see what the Army had done to him, to hug him and tell him how much I loved him and how VERY Proud I was of him!

Wednesday, April 14 was designated as Family Day.  This day started out at the barracks where Kyle lived while at Sand Hill (Ft Benning).  OMG.  This was absolutely awesome to see the Company come marching out from the bay singing "Drill Sargent, why don't you leave me alone?  Why don't you let me go home?"  Not sure if I can embed the video, if not I'll do a youtube linky for it.  

So, the Company came out and I looked and looked at all the young, bald-headed men in 3rd Platoon.  Where in the world was my son??  I could not find him for the life of me, amongst all the baldness & some wearing the BCGs.  Finally.  Finally, either I or his step-mom found him.  I did not recognize him because he had his BCGs on!  Captain Oliver talked about several things, then told the families the significance of the Berets, what each color stood for.  When he talked of the black berets, the Soldiers bent over, pulled the berets out of their back (tucked into the belt) and put them on.  They all stood back up at the same time.  OMG.  It was so awesome to see those young men in the black berets.  What love and pride I felt for Kyle!  

Also during the Family Day proceedings, there were certain young Soldiers recognized for their achievements during BCT and 5 Soldiers took the Oath of Citizenship.  Isn't that awesome??  These young men becoming citizens of the US, going through all they did through basic.  It's just great!


After all of that, Captain Oliver released the Soldiers to their families until 2030 that evening.  I could not get off the bleachers fast enough to find Kyle!  I did manage to not cry when hugging him, but lemme tell ya, I almost did.  It was so good to see him!  Everyone gave him hugs, we took more pictures, then he went up to his area to get everything that he needed, leaving just what he needed for the next days Graduation.  We got everything except the large duffle bag into my car.  He had a lot of stuff.


In several of Kyle's letters, he told me where he wanted to go eat, the stuff that he really missed.  Our first stop for lunch was Red Lobster.  Kyle ordered a spinach/crab dip for an appetizer, salad, and main meal was lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, baked potato.  When the salads came to the table, everyone began eating and I looked over at Kyle (sitting beside him) and he was shoveling the salad in pretty dang fast!  I told him he could slow down, that he had more than 7 minutes to eat.  LOL.  The rest of the food came out and he did manage to eat that a little slower.

After Red Lobster, it was over to the ice cream shop, similar to Cold Stone here in the Raleigh area.  He had some big ole cup of white chocolate ice cream with Reese's Pieces.  The rest of the family had ice cream too, but I was too full to have any.  After the ice cream, we headed to the mall to look around.  Everywhere we went, there were strangers coming up to Kyle, thanking him for serving, shaking his hand, wishing him luck.  It was very moving to see this happen.  So, it's around 5pm by now and Kyle is ready to eat again.  The rest of us are still so full, but it's about Kyle that day, so we ask, where do you want to go?  Outback was the answer.


After supper, it was back to Sand Hill for Kyle and hotels for the rest of us.  The next day was the big day!  New post for Graduation so that this one isn't extremely long....it's already long now as it is and pictures have to be added. :)


This is C Company, 3rd Platoon.  Kyle is 3rd row, 4th from the front.

The soldiers who became citizens of the US on 4/14.

Kyle and I.

It-was-fun-just-tooling/putzing-around....

Well, this post will be a bit of explaining about my upcoming year and about the last couple of rides I've done......

Many who read this blog know that I was injured back in December and that injury took me out of cycling till January 20th or so.  I had planned on starting back to riding, training for Mitchell and doing a couple of organized rides prior to AoMM for training rides.  But, even the best laid plans can fail for one reason or another.  My plans fell through when the weather turned cold & nasty the last week of January and didn't let up till sometime this month.

During this time (January, February & part of March), I tried to get on the trainer to ride, but I hate that thing and just ignored it.  I felt discouraged, disappointed, and depressed about cycling.  I even had thoughts of selling every single bike I own and quitting cycling.  But, I knew deep down, that I would regret those sales so, I held on to the bikes.  I hated the fact that I had lost all of my cycling fitness, knowing how strong I was prior to Nov/Dec 2009, and that it was going to be a long hard road to get back to my fitness level of June 2009. 

That road is a discouraging road.  You go out to ride, thinking you can ride 50-60 miles and ride as hard/fast as you could 6 months ago.  Wrong.  I figured that out quickly when I went to G'ville, SC to "try" and do a 40-60 mile ride the first weekend of March.  I even had these grandour thoughts that I could still climb.  I set out to climb up/down/up/down Paris Mtn and then ride elsewhere to get in that mileage.  Uh huh.  I made it to the 0.75mi point on Paris Mtn, where the road takes a left and goes UP.  I couldn't do it.  Not at 3-4 mph.  I turned tail and ended up riding around Paris Mtn area for 2 hours.  A hilly 2 hour ride for my first ride in 2 months.  I had a pathetic 25 miles.  Yes, that's 25 miles in 2 hours.  You can figure out the pace. :(

So discouraged after that - I didn't ride again until March 15 (I think) and I did a quick 16 miles or so after work one day.  I rode again that week on Sunday, March 21 for 2hr.  I did manage to do a little further distance, 30 miles.  But, my butt hurt like the dickens!  And, I had to fight the wind.  Anyhow...My last 2 rides have been of the "It-was-just-tooling/putzing-around" variety.  23 miles last Thursday, the Sunday ride, and a 15mi ride with my buddy Dallas (who hasn't ridden in 2+ months either).  And, you guys know what??  I actually enjoyed those last 2 rides.  You should have heard Dallas moaning & whining about the pace at times, but I had to remind him to forget about it right now.  Time in the saddle is what counts for both of us now.

What's my point to all the above?  I'm taking the season off.  I'm not going to do Assault on Mt Mitchell (sold the pass) nor will I be doing any organized training rides prior to that ride.  I'm going to ride, try to get back on a Tu/Thur schedule with Dallas and some of the other guys, but I'm not going to be concerned with how fast we go (like I was last year) or I'll try not to. :)  I want to finally enjoy cycling after 2.5 hard years of cycling without "seeing the roses or even smelling them".  I'm sure Dallas and I will get back to form and be able go knock out 60mi rides in 3-3.5 hours, but it's not all about that this year.  I think being burnt out and having close to 3000 miles by the end of May the last 2 yrs has taken it's toll on me.  I'm ready for something different with cycling. :)

That's about it.  I do want to do other activities this year, things that I used to enjoy but lost due to cycling every bit of spare time I had.  I'm going to work on getting fit enough to hike the Foothills Trail in SC/NC sometime this summer.  I'd like to take a week off from work and hike the whole thing (77mi).  I think it will be some awesome fun!  Who knows what else I might try....maybe a BRP tour?  We'll see....

Right now, I do feel much better, knowing I'm not doing any rides up to AoMM nor AoMM.  It's like the monkey is off my back now. :)

Phone Calls!

w00t!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I got to talk to Kyle this morning for almost 45 minutes! :)  He had tried calling last night, but he had to let some others use his phone and it was going dead.  He said that if one person in the platoon didn't have a phone or was unable to use a phone, the whole platoon lost that privilege, so he let his Battle Buddy (Rivera) and a few others use it.

OK...things are going pretty good for him, now that he's not a squad leader. Still, he said he only has about an hour in the evenings to write & get prepared for the next day, so it's still hard to write to everyone. I guess Sundays are the better days for writing since they don't have to do much.  They will get in trouble right now if they are caught writing after 9pm, so he doesn't want to do that.

His platoon (3) won the Basic Rifle Marksmanship and the whole company was awarded with a milkshake & pizza party (I think the whole Co because he said even though they won, they were last platoon to get pizza) and he ate 2 WHOLE pizzas! He didn't quite make it to the Expert for marksmanship, he's a Sharpshooter and can re-qualify after 6mo.

He had 2hr to use the phone this morning and next weekend, he thinks they will have the phone from Fri-Sun!!! I hope everyone there does everything they are supposed to do so they all get to use the phones!  They are getting more privileges as they move through Basic.  They now can go to the PX without the whole platoon going with them - just themselves and their Battle Buddy.

Oh yea...his Grandma sent him a box. A box with note pads, pens, envelopes, stamps. But........................underneath all of that was 8 Reese's, 6 Almond Joys, 12 Butterfingers and something else!!! LOL - he said that he opened it and was about to freak out! Fortunately for him, he had opened it not under the DS supervision (he had to tape it all back up and then open again and pretend to be surprised!) so when he finally opened it, he had to take it all to the DS, who said he couldn't have it. He really wanted to have some, but didn't cause he knew he and the rest of the plt would get into trouble. LOL at his Grandma :)

He has been getting lots of mail from family & friends....20 push ups for each pc and 5 extra for each sticker. I think that one letter I sent him had about 10 stickers on it!! He said he had to do around a 100 that day at mail call!! For his birthday (yesterday) all he had to do was 19 push ups. He was lucky too...usually what happens on your birthday is once you do your pu, the DS steps away and says "have at it" or something like that - the platoon then just attacks you and gets to give you a birthday "beating" /eek/ !!! Fortunately for Kyle, the DS needed someone to help him get the cell phones and chose Kyle! :)

That's about all he said or all I can remember right now. :)  If I remember more in a little while, I'll post it up. 

I guess I can go for a ride this afternoon since he's already called me today. :)

Adopt a Soldier

Since Kyle is now a Soldier in the Army and I've found that I really enjoy writing to him, I thought that there are probably other Soldiers who are deployed overseas or elsewhere who would also enjoy getting mail and care packages.  I'm sure getting mail & packages during the week can make their lives a little happier.  So, I signed up at the site listed below and should find out information about my Adopted Soldier by the weekend.  I'm really looking forward to this...

This is from one of the discussions on Facebook at the Ft Benning page - a post from another Mom/wife/gf:

I took this from the http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/ website ... I thought a mother could really appreciate this and maybe all of us (myself included) feeling left out and forgotten because of letters going elsewhere and ours not getting answered as much as we want them to be might get a bit out of this perspective:

Those of you that share this soldier with me have seen this...It is the most amazing letter that will hopefully put into perspective what our troops go through day in and out and how thankful they are even if you do NOT hear from them!!

I am a soldier deployed to central Afghanistan and I wanted to tell you how very much your support means to all of us fighting over here. I know that you write out of the goodness of your heart, many of you writing countless letters, which often go unanswered. You write and mail packages and pray for these fine young soldiers, the best our country has to offer, often in harm's way each and every day. I know that it might get a bit discouraging sometimes, sending letters and emails and packages into the "big black hole of Afghanistan and Iraq" and you must wonder sometimes if you are making a difference. Well that is why I am writing this...to tell you that you are!

Our soldiers...most importantly, YOUR soldiers, are doing unbelievably stressful and dangerous work. The average soldier in my Brigade lives and works out of a remote Combat Outpost. This can sometimes mean sleeping in the dirt, sleeping when they can in between incoming rocket and mortar attacks. They normally go weeks without a shower (thank goodness for baby wipes!), eat cold chow, with few phones or Internet being available. We are in the midst of the "summer fighting season" which means that we are engaged in numerous firefights and IED strikes every single day. When you go "outside" the wire you are always tense and high-strung, searching for that command wire of an IED, meeting village elders as you immerse yourself in a totally foreign culture that you neither fully understand or are part of, and are often viewed with deep suspicion and frowns. There are indeed rewarding moments where you smile; children in particular have the unique ability to bring a smile to the face of the gruffest soldier, but you never let down your guard. When your armored security vehicle rolls back through the relative safety of the gate after days on patrol where you perhaps carried a 100 pound pack on a mountain at 10,000 feet it is sometimes all you can do to stumble to your sleeping bag for some much-needed rest.

So where do you come in? You, quite simply, are there to greet us with love and support when we stumble back through the gate.

Mail has always been cherished by soldiers in a war zone for as long as there has been the written word. It's hard to describe what it's like when those magical words of, "hey, the mail is in!" is excitedly passed from soldier to soldier. The atmosphere instantly lightens and smiles appear on the tired faces of soldiers who look 10 years older than their age. The closest I can describe it as is that it's akin to Christmas morning. The toughest soldier takes his box or letter from a loved one or a Soldiers' Angel and does his best not to grin like a 10-year-old getting that new bike from Santa, retreating to someplace quiet to open his mail. That's an unspoken rule for soldiers....unless 10,000 Taliban are about to storm the gates or a nuclear bomb is about to vaporize the entire countryside, you DON'T disturb a soldier when he or she is opening up their mail! It may be behind the guard tower or in their sleeping bag by the light of a red-lens flashlight, but a soldier opening his mail is a very intimate and private moment, one to be cherished.

What do you all bring to us over here? A slice of home. You may think that you don't have much to offer in your letters that often go unanswered. You may feel you are rambling on about the weather or about how you find cemeteries a peaceful place or who just won "American Idol." But to a soldier in a combat zone? That is life. That is normalcy. That is what we have to look forward to when our duty here is done. When you write these letters, even though they may go unanswered, you need to know that every letter that you seal and put into the mailbox will cause a tremendous smile on the other end.

On behalf of all of us soldiers over here I want to thank you for what you do. With the lack of Internet access, limited time, and plain old exhaustion, most of your letters and emails often go unanswered. Please know, however, that they are deeply appreciated. You are doing your own part in all of this...you are showing your support. And that is what a soldier needs...knowing that he is not forgotten, that his efforts are appreciated, and that many, many people back home are thinking about and praying for them. Thank you so very much for what you do.

Steve

Soldier Update & Other Misc Stuff

So, it has been 5 weeks since Kyle left for Basic training at Ft Benning, GA.  It's been an adjustment for me - living the single life, but, I have adjusted pretty well I think.  It was pretty dang hard the first couple of weeks with an empty house, without his presence here, but as the weeks went by, I found myself not dreading to come home to the empty house anymore.  It's actually quite nice to come home to a clean house, to a kitchen sink that's not full of dirty dishes, to a stove that's clean, to a house full of testosterone filled teenagers. :)

Of course, I do miss Kyle, very much.  But, at some point in our lives, our children have to leave (the nest) and become the young adults which we used to be (I'm almost as old as dirt now).   He's is own man now and will have to make his own decisions pertaining to his future.  I am confident I raised him well and that he will make sound & wise choices throughout this period and in the future.

I didn't get many letters for the first 4 weeks he was gone.  A couple the first week or two letting me know that he'd arrived at Ft Benning safely and some of the stuff that was going on while he was in the 30th AG Reception.  He was there from February 2 through Feb 8.  Mostly, it was a lot of Hurry Up and Wait while there, a bit boring just doing paper work, getting shots & hair cut.  He got to call and talk to me during that time once, basically to let me know he was there and everything was fine.


I heard from him next (letter) a week later on February 16.  I would come home from work and go straight to the mailbox.  No letter.  Next day - check again.  No letter.  It became very discouraging - I had no idea what was going on down there, why he wasn't writing me.  Unbeknown to me, he was selected to serve as a squad leader in his platoon.  Being a squad leader just took up a lot of his time, so much so, that he said he had 10-15min in the evenings of personal time....just not enough to sit down and write everyone.  Every time someone messed up, he had to do push ups.  Now, he's a "nobody" and likes that so much better! :)

He was a pretty good squad leader - of course I knew this because it was the way he was here at home.  At the end of each phase (Red, White, Blue) they have to choose another squad leader so that others get the opportunity for leadership.  His squad didn't want him to not be their leader because he was very good.  Because his squad was ran so well, it earned the squad 20 minute phone calls this past Sunday.  :)  He spread the 20 minutes around to different family members and a few friends.  Now that they have moved on to the White phase, they should be getting more phone time.  *crosses fingers*

What all has he done??  He's received his M16 and initially thought it would be great, but once he realized that he had to take it everywhere with him and if left unsecured they are punished.  Punished by having to hold it by the front sight and charging handle with just his thumb & forefinger, arms outstretched!  I bet it didn't take but once for him to make sure it was always with him & secure!  They've rapelled down a 50-60 tower - loads of fun, but painful due to the rope wrapped super tight on his butt & groin.

Gas chamber - in with masks on, take them off, recite last name & last 4 SS, put mask back on, take back off, put helmet on and then outside.  Lots of coughing and tons of snot! :D  They've done confidence/obsticle courses, land navigation, spent the night outside a couple times.  Plenty of time at the range zeroing/sighting their weapons, live fire practice, learning how to clear rooms, how to identify IED's, and combative fighting techniques.  With the identification of IED's (claymores), if they failed to find one & let the instructor know (i.e. someone stepped on one) - it went off and that person was covered with a coating of baby powder!

I knew he would be hungry between meals too!!  He ate a lot here while at home and now, it's just 3 meals a day.  He gets 7 minutes to shovel the food in, but says that he's still hungry.  He's missing Bojangle's and candy.  Sounds like they're feeding the guys well too.  I'm sure if there is something on his tray that he hasn't tried before or didn't really like before, that he will eat it now!!!  I think we will be taking him somewhere to eat where he can just pig out!  He'll probably be sick afterwards cause he won't be used to eating such a large amount of food, nor will he be used to the spices/seasonings that will come on the food.  Oh well, he deserves it!

Wow...there is just so much in these last couple of letters...5 pages (front/back) to me, 3 to his Dad & ex-stepDad....and each one talks about different things!  He's done pretty good with the PT stuff, but has to work on the sit ups he says.  He was doing them differently here and they are harder in Basic.  He works on those every night before going to bed, doing anywhere from 25 to 40 sit ups.  He also did well at the 2 mile run - 14:18min and was 20/240 guys!

That's about all - he talks about the weather down there - how one day it can be really nice and the next it just sucks.  He's very tired of the cold, having numb hands/fingers & feet.  They were out one night and when they went to sleep it was nice, but by 2am, it was cold/pouring rain, 40mph winds and the DSs got everyone up and sent them back to the barracks.

Things Kyle misses right now: Bojangle's Biscuits & Gravy, Fried Chicken & french fries; a medium steak and candy (as far as food).  The thing he misses the most is sleeping in on Saturdays.  He has to be up at 4:15am every day and then in bed by 9pm.  They get 6-9pm as personal time too.  This next one is just too damn funny!!!!  He misses the WOMEN!!!!  He says he really misses looking and checking out all the hot girls!  All he has to look at are the lunch ladies and the ocassional DS's wife.  He said that he's already looking at women that a year ago he would've never even looked at!  OMG...I think it's just so funny to hear my son talking that way. :)  "In a couple more weeks, if things don't change, I'm going to be turned on by ugly lunch ladies".  LOL.

That's pretty much it for now.  Hopefully, I'll get another letter in the mail for me this week.  I've been mailing Kyle pretty regularly, at least every other day.  He has to do 20 push ups for each piece of mail he gets.  I wonder if he has to do extra push ups for the stickers I've been putting on the outside of the envelopes??  :D  Oh yea, his birthday is this coming Saturday and I just could not resist getting a musical card for him.  Two cards actually.  /evil grin/  (don't worry - Kyle has always been the clown & can take it as well as dish it out, so he'll be ok with the cards).  He will have to get up in front of the platoon and do the Chicken Dance and sing That Smell (Lynyrd Skynyrd).  I'll try to keep this Soldier-In-Training updated as I receive letters.  This one is so long because I've received 4 or 5 letters of length the past couple of days....

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Now for me....since getting injured in December, the sucky weather in January & February, I have not ridden but 3 or 4 times.  Totally have lost all fitness in my legs/butt/lungs for cycling and I'm trying to build it back up slowly.  I have a ride coming up April 10 and possibly one April 11 (not sure if I'll attempt both) and both are climbing rides.  I have to get my ass in gear & train for not only those, but the main one - Assault on Mt Mitchell.  So, while visiting the bf in Greenville, SC this past weekend, I thought I would attempt a 60 mile ride with a climb up/down/up/down Paris Mountain.  Boy, was I stupid!

60 miles my ass.  That's right...my legs are in no shape for climbing, so I abandoned that idea and instead opted for a plain ole 2hr ride.  My butt and legs were so sore afterwards and the following day, it was hard to sit, get up, and even walk!  But, I rode on Tuesday for an hour and will hit the trainer shortly tonight.  I'm hoping that a week or two of easy riding then start on the intervals towards the last of March.  I think I can be ready for AoMM.  I sure as hell hope so.

Pretty much it for this post..........:)