23AUG07

Dean recommended that I come to the 13 Hours of Santos on Labor Day weekend….well Dean, you’ve got a race my man! I’d already planned to come over for it and I’ve been planning a few races for September. Since I missed the Granny Gear race at Conyers in May due to my deployment, I was really hoping to catch the Dirty Spokes Productions 6 hour race on 08SEP since I won’t support Stu-Rat. Well, I found out today that the Dirty Spokes gang is only running the Steeplechase side of the Conyers course so I’m reevaluating my attendance there. I’m not interested in racing Conyers unless I can race the full course. Right now, it’s looking like my coming month looks like this:

02SEP: 13 Hours of Santos
22SEP: 12 Hours of Dausset
29SEP: Double Dare in Pisgah (tentative)
06OCT: Santa Rose Tri
TBD: Three Shaker 12 hour

Yes, I said those scary three letters together….T-R-I. The Santa Rosa is a sprint – 500m open water swim, 12.5 mile bike, and a 5k run. I’ve been swimming twice a week, running two to three times, and riding some road and mountain. As my time in Florida continues, I’ll be doing some climbing at Wetherford’s, about 3 min from the house. I’m looking to find a sea kayak so I can drop it in the water on a Sunday afternoon and go catch some rays on the water! I guess what I’m trying to say is that in order to avoid boredom in the flatlands, I plan to keep the workouts mixed up.

I’ve had a lot of folks ask me how I’m doing in Pensacola. Well, I’ve not had much time to get out and find my favorite new hangouts or really get to know the area as work has kept us pretty busy. I’ve gotten into a new apartment, we’re getting the office trailer set up next week, and are pretty much spending our time taking care of some of the upfront paperwork needed to get a new construction project up and running. Overall things are going fine but it still ain’t home. I’ve been home at my house in Marietta, GA about 8 weeks this year. Mollie, my dog, is doing well considering she’s been bounced about quite a bit. She’s settling into Florida nicely, especially with her new haircut – I need to keep her trimmed down in this climate!

So that’s it for now. Sorry for the delayed entry but as I’ve said, getting settled in has been a chore. I hope you’re all doing well and Dean, I’ll see next weekend friend! Drop me an email so we can meet up (cmyrickjr@mindspring.com).

07AUG07

I'm not sure if I've actually explained why I'm in Pensacola but I'm here as the construction manager for a project for 18 months. The project is an expansion of the Barrancas National Cemetary at NAS Pensacola. So far, this has been interesting and exciting already and I count myself blessed to be a part of this undertaking. The national cemetary program was established in 1865 by President Lincoln in order "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan." It's amazing to speak with folks here and as a result of the press this project has received, almost everyone I speak with knows about it and speaks highly of it's importance.

I wish I could tell you all there is to know about Barrancas but I'm still learning it. All the details can be found at http://www.cem.va.gov/CEM/cems/nchp/barrancas.asp.

So I figure that while I'm here in the flatlands I might as well make the most of it for my sporting life. There's a triathlon coming up on 06OCT that I'm going to race in. It's the Santa Rosa Tri and the distances are 500m ocean swim, 18 mile bike, 5K run. I'm not worried about the bike or run but I did a swim workout tonight and I'm really worried about that! I know I can get back into swim shape quickly but WOW it kicked my butt tonight!! I found an outdoor pool with lane swimming open each night and the water felt so nice. Hopefully if I do three (3) swim workouts a week I can be ready for the race. I'll keep ya posted on the progress and the race results, obviously.

I want to get some pictures of the area and the cemetary to you and hopefully you can understand the greatness of this project. Have a great week!

01AUG07 (edit: 05AUG07)
Dateline: Pensacola, FL

Sorry for not posting much, but the last few weeks have been crazy and my brain's been working overtime --- I think it's time to get some riding in and give the brain a rest ;) It's hot here, flat, and has rained two of the last three days. I'm tired of rain this year. It cannot rain the next four months and I would be totally fine with it! I got in about a 20 mile road ride in an hour about town today so that was good.

6-26-06 (edit: 7-3-07)
Quickie from Wales

This will be mostly pics and I'll explain 'em later. All's well here in Wales. Rain cleared out and I got to ride down the road a bit to a town who's name I'd butcher if I had to spell it! Here's some pics from the Mountain Mayhem race, London, and riding from today. Enjoy!

Here's a statue of Achilles in Green Park, London. The sky was perfect for capturing this picture so I couldn't pass it up.















Big Ben and the Pink Turtle. Again, couldn't pass this up.



















Me with Hans Rey, mountain bike trials rider extraordinaire. This guy's been around for years and is a legend of the sport.
















The toilet shot. I had no idea the guy that took this had the toilets in the background, but this was taken right after I finished my last lap at the Mtn Mayhem.




















The Kenda UK boys must be rednecks! I almost felt at home when I saw this.















Eastnor Castle looking down on the race camp.
















Patrick Adams greeting finishers and thanking them for coming to play at his little gig.
















Here's what the crankset looked like following my last lap. Look at that mud! but notice how clean that chain is.....BIG thanks to ProLink chain lube, made right here in Atlanta, GA.
















Cymmer Abbey, near Dogylleau, Wales
















Riding The Beginning of the End trail, Coed y Brenin forest, Wales.

6-15-07

Finally.....

Well, it's official: I got to actually ride my bike in Kabul!! There is true Afghani dirt on the Pink Turtle. We had a BBQ tonight at the villa of our security team and instead of walking, I opted for the ride. Hey, it's the only chance to officially get the required escort and get to ride so I had to take it.

No more explanation needed.

6-10-07
Do you feel that?

It's racing fever and it's spread all the way to Kabul!! Here's where I've been riding for the last couple months....man, it doesn't get any better than this! Wait...I think I've been here too long....remember Pisgah, Clemson, Conyers, Stanley Gap......oooooooooo....Stanley Gap.....YEA!! I remember now =)

Last night was a good workout. I somehow managed to stay at a high power output at an average of 95 rpm for the entire hour. I had some good stuff to watch during this workout too. See, our neighbor on one side is the VP of the country and he had a large gathering of about 100 folks at this house. There were people coming and going and guards and soldiers with RPG's all over the place. Good times! I may get to see the new F-22's running patterns at home, but you don't get guys with AK's and RPG's. HA!

Ok, picture pages, picture pages.....


LOOK!! It's the PinkTurtle Walt Works in action. Take a good look at that becuase that bike is going to be a singlespeed or 1x9 when I get home. The gears are going on the new Dos Niner softail 29er.















There's my view for most of my workouts. Note the privacy screen around the patio next door? Yea, the VP doesn't like us nosey Yanks!!

6-8-07
12......

And we're back with more from your broadcasting correspondant from the Big Funky K-town. Weather this week has been....well....interesting! We've had sun, rain, hail, sun, heat, cool, sun....did I mention sun? This week also brought on a site visit to a building dedication. The building was constructed by the Germans with money donated from the country of Qatar and it was a cool experience to be a part of. I will say we didn't go just for the dedication as we needed to see the remainder of the site so we can include it in our master planning efforts but it was a fun time anyhow.

I've been talking also with several new contacts about the possibility of executing some facility management training for the Afghan ministries and that has brought me into discussions about collaborative work with the German government as well as the US and Afghanistan governments. It's been a great learning experience to say the least!

Oh, I bought a new mountain bike frame this week...a Salsa Dos Niner. I've been wanting this frame for about two years and just refused to pay the asking price of $1000 for a Japanese made frame when I got my custom WaltWorks for under $800! Well, I found the Salsa for under $700 from the fine folks at http://www.bike29.com/, based in the Green Mountain State (VT) and was able to get a quality new wheelset and the frame for the MSRP of the frame. I'm pleased with that! I also found a new helmet by LAS....I'll post a picture of this funky skid lid when I get home and retrieve it from the mail.

My UK trip is coming together quite nicely too. I have a close friend whose brother lives in London and has offered me two nights free lodging. Turns out the guy lives two blocks from Buckingham Palace so I'll get to see all the sights and it's all within a 10 minute bike ride from Peter's! What a blessing! With the free lodging in London, free camping at the Mountain Mayhem race for two nights, this little adventure is fast becoming a lesson in "How to spend a week in the UK for under $500!"

Ok, now onto the pictures...

Rainbow over Kabul 6-5-07

Entrance to the Kabul Zoo. I'm almost scared to know what's behind that gate!

A couple months back I posted a picture of this mosque and the catwalk to the tower. Here's an updated shot so you can see the progress!

This is a village on the west side of TV Hill. I thought the street running straight up the hill just looked cool, but this gives good perspective on how much of the population of Kabul lives. Remember, there's no running water going to these houses, so the folks up top have to carry buckets and jugs from the wells at the bottom. I won't talk about the lack of a centralized sewage system....I'm sure you understand.

This is the north face of Shir Dawarza, the mountain we hiked back in March. Again, another good shot of the houses.

6-2-07

18 days and counting!



I'll start with pictures...

Here's Ryan, GIS guru hard at work















Next is Elbert "Princess of Maui", Ryan's trusty assistant taking a break from guitar practice















Self portrait on the patio















Robin & Ruth enjoying lunch on the patio. They're truly great to have around and they're a sweet couple...been together like 30 years. It's fun to watch them!















Here's our Afghan work crew enjoying lunch family style.















Kareema (left) is one of the housekeepers and Sonia is our administrative assistant. Both do a great job of putting up with us Americans!
















Token bike shot.....The Pink Turtle enjoys the feeling of home in my pink bathroom. And no, I didn't select this room for myself -- all four baths on this side of the house are pink!















Words of encouragement on Memorial Day from D2.














Crowd mustering for the Memorial Day service. This one was rather special because this command just lost two of it's own a couple weeks back -- the first loss this command has suffered since being in Afghanistan.















My new silk rug!















So, I hope you enjoyed our little presentation today. Now for a word from our sponsor.... hehehe! Sorry, I'm feeling a bit silly today! On a serious note, please keep Chaplain Major Shaw in your prayers. Last week he was with a convoy that was involved in an altercation. His vehicle sustained a hit from an IED. He was mostly fine following the attack except for some bleeding from his ear, which is never a good sign. Monday morning he was airlifted to the main camp in country for evaluation because he was having some chest pains. The last I heard is that he's been airlifted to an army hospital in Germany and once stable, may get a trip home. I know his spirit wants to be here as he was dedicated to being here and serving the camp so please just remember him this week.

On other notes, I've found a 4-man team to race with at the Mountain Mayhem race to be held at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, England. WOO-HOO!!! This is a 24 hour race and the promoters are saying it's the largest 24 hour race in the world. They have 450 team and 2500 racers on board so it should be a good time!

Let's see....what else in the last week.....oh, I'm not sure if I've stated this yet, but I'll be back in the States on 1 July just before my birthday, so I'll get to celebrate the 4th at home, which I'm very much looking forward to. Well, I think that's about all the news from Kabul today. I hope you'll check back with me for another edition soon.

Oh, and for all you UGA 'Dawg fans out there.....Go Vols! "Rocky Top, you'll always be home sweet home to me! Good ol' Rocky Top. Rocky Top Tennessee!" (Football season will be here before ya know it!)

5-25-07
Has it been THAT long?

WOW, I guess I didn't realize it's been so long since my last post, but my family's gotten onto me and some friends have to so HI! Here I am! All's well here, I've just been going full bore the last week or so with planning for about (6) new bases here and all the stuff that goes with them.

Let's see....what's happened that's worth reporting? We were supposed to attend an Afghan wedding tonight for one of our workers. Unfortunately, our team lead told our security guys that no one wanted to go and he didn't ask the (3) of us that did! I'm pretty peaved about that, actually, because I think my us not going, we insulted him, especially since he made the effort to ensure that everyone of us -- including all the guards -- had invitations.

What else...I'm coming home 01 July...that's good news, I guess. My replacement is already in country and is getting immersed and caught up so I'm actually glad about that because that means there won't be any lag when I do leave. The transition will be seamless.

I wish I had some new pictures to post up, but alas, there's nothing new to show right now. I have been getting some good workouts both at the gym and on my bike -- spinning, not really riding. Oh, thanks to the $10 downloads from Carmichael Training Systems, I have a podcast of their Steady State spin workout so I can now do a spin class here at the villa. It's actually a neat workout and I'm pretty impressed with the ability to be able to download these things. I guess it's their way of getting ya hooked on smoking so they can reel ya in for the hard drugs! Trust me, I don't see CTS in my future because their personalized programs are just too costly.

Oh, I'm chasing down some more work here in Afghanistan. It seems that some of what my company, MACTEC Engineering, does for core business is not being done here so I'm looking into how we can resolve that! We'll see what actually shakes out of it, but with my new help in country, I can donate some of my workload to her and spend a bit of time marketing this other stuff.

I'm sorry that this entry is a bit melancholy....I guess I'm just ready to get on now. I'm getting info on the Pensacola project which excites me to know that I have work to do when I get home. I'm excited about the time I'm going to spend in the UK and I have an opportunity to race if I can find a team -- registration's been closed for a bit now. There are 450 teams signed up with a total of over 2500 racers! WOW!!! I know mountain bikers pretty well and I'm sure someone of that 2500 will back out and there'll be at least 50 teams looking for riders in the coming weeks. I'm praying so anyway ;) I spent today just reading and watching Shrek. I did an hour on the bike outside and got a bit of sun -- I'm so incredibly scary white it ain't even funny!

Well, so that's that I guess. I kinda really miss home this trip, more than the first trip I think. I miss my friends, driving, going to dinner, my church and choir...I think I miss it all more now since I'm actually leaving it all again when I do get home and I know that. I know God has a lot in store for me and I'm okay with not knowing it all. I just wish I could be home, that's all. Okay, now that you're all totally sorry you asked for an update, I'll let ya go! Sorry to drag ya down tonight. Tomorrow's a busy day starting at 0700 and meetings all day about (5) different things so I need to go to bed.

G'nite!

5-13-07
Whew, what a day!

And I don't mean that in a good way! Saturday was not fun at all. See, apparently Friday night at dinner, we got a hold of something that was not good. A couple of here in the house were sick as dogs yesterday. I'll spare ya the details, but let's just say I feel 10x better today!

So let's see, what's new here? I'm dreaming up my vacation plans in the UK for the first week of July, I think I mentioned that before. I just found this area in the south of Scotland that has (8) sets of trails -- not just (8) trails -- and the videos are killer! I'm getting stoked about this opportunity. Maybe I'll just stay on the main island instead of having to unpack and rebuild the bike 4 times....hmm.....For my riding friends, check these clips out...http://www.7stanes.gov.uk/forestry/INFD-5S6EYZ. Sweet singletrack goodness!

So yes, my bike made it here. It's in the "trusty" hands of the fine Afghani customs folks at this moment. Hopefully I'll get a chance to go pick it up today -- and HOPEFULLY I won't get charged an arm and a leg in customs fees.

On another note, I've been asked to take on a project down in Pensacola for two years starting in July. It's an expansion of a national cemetary just outside the Naval Air Station there. I'm excited about the opportunity, for sure, but it will mean having to move and find a new church, make new friends...all that jazz. It will all be fine, but I was just starting to enjoy the idea that I haven't moved in 2 years! Well, here we go again! I'll say this, I've been praying that God make it clear as to whether I'm supposed to make a third trip back to Kabul and then I got this call. Guess He can't be much clearer, eh?

Okay, well, I need to get moving. The work day is starting here -- man, I'm thankful to be feeling better today!