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Nationwide Insurance Summary
Nationwide is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and currently employs over 35,000 people throughout the country. They are one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, and have over $150 billion in assets under their control. Their primary business is property and casualty insurance, but both their retirement and banking divisions are growing rapidly. On the insurance side, Nationwide primarily sells their products through third-party agents, but they have added functionality to their website to allow for quotes in auto insurance and home insurance.
Nationwide has become one of the largest insurance companies in the US through growth and acquisitions. They are the flagship name for many subsidiary companies, such as Titan Insurance, Victoria Insurance, Allied Insurance, and Scottsdale Insurance. The company was founded in 1925 as the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company. They changed their name in 1955 to Nationwide Insurance, and have remained that ever since. The company is structured as a mutual, so policyholders are actually considered members and not customers. Company profits are used to offset premium costs, so during good years, members may receive dividend checks or discounts on their insurance.
Insurance Products
Auto Insurance
Nationwide was founded as a car insurance company, and it has remained one of their most important business divisions since. Their policies are offered in 44 states plus Washington DC, and their coverage terms include a standard set of protections, including liability and property damage. Their auto policies can be supplemented with optional add-ons like comprehensive, collision, rental car reimbursement, and roadside assistance. For states that require it, medical payments coverage and personal injury protection is also available.
In addition to the different coverage types, Nationwide has a few features unique to their auto insurance which they use for marketing purposes. As with most of their competitors, these "additional benefits" are more for attracting new customers with fancy commercials rather than providing truly tangible benefits.
Vanishing Deductible® – Similar to Safeco's diminishing deductible, Nationwide offers an optional add-on to their auto policies that reduce the deductible amount every year you drive without a claim. So if you go five years without filing an auto claim, your deductible can go down by $500 (maximum amount). These lowering deductibles have become quite popular with the major insurance carriers over the past few years, and they really seem to be more hype than substance. Nationwide charges you extra for this feature, so if you really are a good driver you could end up paying more than you save over the life of your policy. At its core, car insurance is supposed to keep you from going bankrupt due to an accident. The Vanishing Deductible® is just a distraction and a marketing tool, in our opinion.
On Your Side® Review – According to Nationwide's website, every policyholder is entitled to "free advice" known as the On Your Side® Review. During the consultation, an agent will go over your entire auto policy as well as any other insurance needs you may have. What this is called everywhere else is "an agent doing their job." Again, there is nothing special about an On Your Side® Review besides a canned set of questions an agent may ask you. Sitting down with an agent from just about any other insurance company will more than likely yield similar results.
Home Insurance
Nationwide can provide homeowners, renters, condo, and flood insurance in 43 states, including Washington DC. They also provide discounts to individuals who bundle their home insurance policy with other Nationwide insurance policies. This is pretty standard for the insurance industry as a whole, but Nationwide offers up to 20%, which is a generous discount. Just like their auto insurance policies, their home insurance policies are sold primarily through the use of third-party agents, but they do allow for potential customers and current members to run quotes on their website.
Brand New Belongings® – Nationwide homeowner's insurance includes a benefit they call Brand New Belongings® that claims to pay for the actual cost associated with buying a new version of what you lost, rather than just the actual cash value, which factors in depreciation. If a loss occurs, Nationwide will send a check for the actual cash value, then provide the difference once receipts have been submitted. This is actually very typical in many home insurance plans, and is referred to as "replacement value" coverage. Nationwide just came up with a catchy title and had it trademarked.
Life Insurance
Nationwide also has a good-sized life insurance business, where they sell most of the major products on the market today. They include term life insurance, whole life insurance, universal life insurance, and variable life insurance. Their universal and variable life products have a few different options, depending on the underlying investments you are looking for. Unfortunately you are not able to get a quote for anything, including term life, on their website, and must speak with a licensed financial adviser in order to get personalized information.
Additional Products
The total product offerings from Nationwide include retirement and banking products, but those are beyond the scope of this review. Here is a list of the rest:
Nationwide Insurance Price (Rates)
|Quote Test Results
|+ 31%
|Rate Test Details
The premium for our auto insurance rate test came in 31% above the average for all companies we have tested so far. It fact, this was the third highest rate we have ever received, one of those being Nationwide when we ran the test last year. Unfortunately, the rate is less than $1 below what it was previously. Potential customers should note that Nationwide is a mutual, so in theory you may get some of your premium back at the end of the year. But there is no guarantee of that, so we have to go off of what the actual premium price is today.
Nationwide has revamped their online claims center since the last time we reviewed them, and have added a few features to help members with their claims. To report a claim, you can call 800-421-3535 or file it on their website. As with most insurance companies, Nationwide has a network of pre-approved repair shops that they would prefer you to get your work done through. You are not required to, but they guarantee the work and have a little added bonus called AutoWatch®. AutoWatch® allows you to monitor the repair process from Nationwide's website, view messages from the mechanic, and see pictures of the repairs. From what we can gather, this information is updated daily.
Consumer Research and Complaints
According to multiple customer satisfaction surveys performed by Consumer Reports and JD Power, Nationwide falls in the "average" category nearly every time. A 2010 reader survey by Consumer Reports awarded Nationwide an 85 out of 100, which gave them their best score and declared their members were "very satisfied" in the Overall Insurer Rating category. In 2011, JD Power released their US Insurance Shopping Study results, which rated Nationwide 3 out of 5 (about average). In 2012, a US Auto Claims survey done by JD Power gave Nationwide 3 out of 5 for Overall Satisfaction. Finally, Nationwide scored another 3 out of 5 for Overall Experience in JD Power's 2013 Auto Insurance Purchase Experience study.
The Better Business Bureau is currently reporting an A rating for Nationwide Insurance, and shows they have been accredited since 1955. According to the report, there have been 324 complaints filed in the last three years, 105 of which came in the previous 12 months. Problems with Product/Service is by far the number one complaint, with over 60% of all issues falling under that topic. 230 complaints in the last three years have been resolved with the BBB's assistance, while 94 complaints are still not up to the customers satisfaction level, even though the BBB feels Nationwide made a good faith effort to resolve them.
Financial Strength
|Rating Company
|Financial Outlook
|AM Best
Bottom Line
Nationwide is a very large insurance company that can provide coverage for just about anything an individual or family would need. They spend a lot of money on marketing, and have very catchy names for industry standard practices. Our rate test showed them as one of the most expensive auto insurers we have ever reviewed, but that does not factor in any possible dividend payment you could receive at the end of the year. They are financially strong, have a good product list, received mediocre consumer ratings, and expensive.
For a list of companies that we recommend, visit our Best Insurance Companies page.
Best Insurance Quote Providers:Auto Insurance - Liberty Mutual
Home Insurance - Liberty Mutual
Life Insurance - QuinStreet Life
Health Insurance - eHealthInsurance
Business Insurance - Hiscox Insurance
About the Author
I am a former insurance agent turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.


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"When I'm inspired, I get excited because I can't wait to see what I'll come up with next.
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Ticket Info
Purchase Tickets Online
Admission: $20
Join the SFCA chefs for an exclusive tasting and demonstration from our "Foods of the New South" pop-up dinner menu. Afterwards, join us for the full four-course dinner in The Guesthouse! This 30-minute demo is just $20.00; the pop-up dinner is $45.00, with wine and beer available for purchase. Demonstration.
Address: 112 West San Francisco Street
Suite 300
Phone: 505-983-7445


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This full website whois and analysis report on Directmailman.com was ran on October, 24, 2014.
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The official title of Directmailman.com is: Database Marketing Group Online Direct Mail Service
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Ex-SAAA chief bankrupt
By Alex Bridges -- email@example.com
The Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging had reason to settle a legal battle with its former chief -- she's bankrupt.
Helen Marie Cockrell, of Rileyville, Page County, and her husband, Stanley Scott Cockrell, filed a voluntary petition under chapter 13 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Harrisonburg on Friday. Earlier that day the SAAA board voted to settle a civil lawsuit Helen Cockrell filed against the agency for wrongful termination. The agreement also settles the agency's counterclaim. No money would change hands under the settlement.
SAAA attorney William E. "Bill" Shmidheiser III issued a press release Tuesday stating that Cockrell signed the agreement Friday.
"However, Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging recognizes that in Helen Cockrell's financial position, she is unlikely to ever be able to make any significant payment to {the SAAA] regardless of the amount of the Judgment against her," Shmidheiser states in the release. "In the opinion of {the SAAA] because of the nature of the cause of her termination, she is unlikely to be employed again in an executive position, or in any position of trust, and so her future ability to make money is limited."
The attorney cites the bankruptcy filing as confirming "the wisdom of the decision of [the SAAA] not to pursue the matter further. Shmidhesier would not comment further when asked Thursday whether a bankruptcy filing would have protected her against SAAA's lawsuit. The bankruptcy filing documents indicate the Cockrells have assets and liabilities of between $500,001 and $1 million. The Cockrells had filed for bankruptcy protection under chapter 13 in December 2009 but a judge dismissed the case a month later.
Shmidheiser notes any effort to pursue the matter to a judgment would require the agency to incur substantial attorney and accountant fees -- expenses the SAAA board does not think it could recover from Helen Cockrell even if awarded by the court. Such action would be "detrimental" to the mission of the SAAA, according to Shmidheiser.
The settlement calls for the money owed to Cockrell for unpaid vacation and sick leave to offset against the amount the agency claims she misappropriated, Shmidheiser explained.
"[The SAAA] has turned all of its evidence over to the Commonwealth Attorney and Virginia State Police and hopes that the matter will be pursued by those authorities," the release states.
Board Chairman John Hudson said after the panel voted to settle the lawsuit the members felt they did not want to continue spending the agency's money pursuing the case. Hudson called the settlement a "parting of the ways."
Cockrell, represented by attorney Robert Zelnick, filed a complaint in Warren County Circuit Court on Oct. 26 against the SAAA alleging the agency had improperly fired her. Cockrell claimed the agency owed her the balance of her salary per an employment agreement and accrued, unpaid vacation and sick leave. Cockrell sought $150,000 in damages plus interest and court costs. Cockrell subsequently reduced the amount sought in the lawsuit to $20,000.
As Shmidheiser explained in the release, Cockrell's employment agreement entitled her to receive the balance of her contract salary through Nov. 1, 2012, unless the agency fired her for cause. The agreement "narrowly defined" cause as "'the misappropriation of any of Employer's funds or property.'"
The SAAA filed a counterclaim against Cockrell alleging she had embezzled or converted the agency's funds for her own purpose, plus a claim for the expenses of the investigation, punitive damages and attorney's fees.
The case had been scheduled to go to trial Oct. 30.
"Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging believes that, had the matter gone to Trial, [SAAA] would have been to prove in Court the allegations it made against Helen Cockrell in its Counterclaims," Shmidheiser states in the release.


text:
GreatSchools Rating
Teacher quality
Principal leadership
Parent involvement
The school has greatly improved with the new superintendent. It does need more classes geared toward the Native Culture as Arlee is on of the Confederated Salish & Kootenai Reservation. It would be nice to see more Native personal at the school or at least teachers/staff who are culturally sensitive. A lot of the Native students are disciplined for things that their culture teaches them to do/or not do!
Arlee High School provides an adequate education to those students who wish to learn, but does not punish those who do not. Students get away with WAY too much at AHS. A more strict disciplinary program would really help AHS a lot. Racism is also an issue at this school -- but not toward the usually minority, toward the minority of the school. It seems that this behavior is often encouraged by students, teachers and community members alike. I believe the school (and students) would greatly benefit from advanced classes, as well as more clubs and Extracurricular activities. If students were offered more after-school activities, they would most likely stay out of trouble, and the school crime-rate may lower.
There are some good teachers. Some students struggle because they don't get enough attention. Some more advanced students don't get challenged enough.
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school's average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
72220 Fyant St
Arlee, MT 59821
Phone: (406) 726-3216
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Recently, I had an opportunity to interview Andrew Duffy, senior portfolio manager of the James Alpha Global Real Estate Investment Fund (JAREX), to get his thoughts on the current market and outlook for global REITs and the benefits of investing via mutual funds.
Brad Thomas: What is the primary advantage of investing in a REIT mutual fund versus a REIT exchange-traded fund?
ETFs typically own 100% of the constituents of a market index, i.e., "the good, the bad and the ugly." Conversely, mutual funds seek, through careful analysis and diligent research, to own only the good companies. Why would you want to own the bad and the ugly companies when you can invest via a mutual fund that seeks to own only the good ones?
This qualitative assertion is backed up by empirical evidence specific to global REITs: Over the past 10 years (2002 through 2011), the top-performing quartile of REITs each year outperformed the bottom-performing quartile by an average of 65%. The inescapable conclusion: not all REITs are created equal, and stock selection is key to maximizing returns on your portfolio.
Thomas: The James Alpha Global Real Estate Investments Fund is broadly diversified by geography, with the U.S. currently representing just around 50% of the portfolio. What drives the global diversity?
To qualify as a global fund, the SEC requires a minimum of 40% of the fund's assets to be invested outside the U.S. The global REIT market is weighted approximately 35% to the U.S. Thus, the fund's U.S. exposure will typically vary between 40% and 60%, depending on our assessment of the relative risk-adjusted returns available country-by-country around the world. Global diversity allows us to invest in countries with higher GDP growth rates, better demographics and other factors which can lead to higher returns, even on a risk-adjusted basis.
Thomas: A further question on diversification. How important is it to spread risk across multiple property types?
Property types differ in how they perform under different economic growth scenarios. The two primary criteria that we use to assess how each property type is expected to perform in a given growth scenario are: 1) how secular vs. cyclical are the demand drivers; and, 2) how short or long are the lease terms (similar to a bond's duration).
Property types with cyclical demand and shorter lease terms (e.g., hotels) tend to perform better in times of strong economic growth, while property types with secular demand and longer lease terms (e.g., health care facilities) tend to perform better in times of weaker economic growth. Having the optimal mix of property types is another way we seek to generate alpha in the fund's portfolio.
Thomas: How has the James Alpha Global Real Estate Investments Funds performed compared with other peer funds, as well as the global REIT market?
Since its inception over three years ago, the fund has delivered an annualized total return of about 14.5%, significantly above the 12.4% annual return of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global REIT Index over the same time period. The fund has been awarded the 4 Star rating by Morningstar, and ranks in the 16th percentile of its global real estate category.
Thomas: What is your edge in enhancing income?
Today's historically-low interest rates leave many investors hungry for yield. To meet that need for our investors, we employ two income-enhancing strategies to boost portfolio income and deliver an above-market distribution yield (about 7% on current NAV, based on the last four quarterly distributions).
The two strategies are: 1) covered call-writing, and 2) dividend captures. Because they're complementary in nature, we have a way to generate additional income regardless of market conditions: covered calls tend to work better in flat or down markets, where there's less risk of a stock's price running above the call's strike price and being forced to sell the shares and forego further upside. Dividend captures, on the other hand, tend to work better in rising markets, where behavioral finance can result in a stock's price recovering the ex-dividend amount quicker, sometimes within a few days.
Both strategies require careful evaluation and judicious application, calling on an understanding of both the art and the science that we've developed over more than 20 years of experience investing in global REITs.
Thomas: As you know, many of the strongest global REITs have repaired their balance sheets and restored their ability to play offense. What trends do you see today and how can investors benefit from the "survival of the fittest" strategies?
Commercial real estate is a capital-intensive business. The global financial crisis and ensuing economic challenges have weighed on the weaker companies with less access to (and higher cost) of capital, leading to a bifurcation of the industry into two camps: the "haves" and the "have nots" (meaning access to capital). Weaker companies with maturing debt on over-levered assets will be forced to either sell the properties, or hand the keys over to the lender who will in turn sell the properties. The high-quality REITs with strong balance sheets and access to plenty of low-cost capital are positioned to capitalize on the sales of good assets by weak borrowers, thus fueling their growth. In short, you're either going to have a seat at the table, or you're going to be on the menu. We seek to own in our fund the blue-chip REITs with strong balance sheets and seats at the table.
Thomas: Given the U.S. Fed's commitment to low interest rates through at least mid-2015, along with easier monetary policy by other central banks, what tailwinds do you see this providing for global REITs today?
Low interest rates help commercial real estate and, by extension, REITs in three key ways:
1) Lower interest expense, which for most REITs is the largest expense item on their P&L, so low rates holds down interest expense, thus keeping profits up;
2) Lower capitalization rates, which are the inverse of a property's cash flow multiple, thus lower cap rates mean higher valuations; and,
3) More appeal to yield-oriented investors who've grown increasingly dissatisfied with the meager yields available on bonds and instead buy REITs for their higher yields.
Accomodative central banks, together with enough GDP growth to give landlords pricing power to push rents and maintain or grow occupancy, and virtually no new supply from development, are all working together to create a "Goldilocks scenario" for commercial real estate and REITs that we believe will likely extend the length of the current real estate cycle and bull market for global REITs.
Thomas: You have over 20 years of experience in global real estate securities (previously a senior portfolio manager at TIAA-CREF for 7 years, responsible for managing over $3 billion in REIT equity and debt securities). What is different about the market today and how can investors benefit from the current global recovery in real estate?
When I first started investing in listed REITs over 20 years ago, there were only three countries on the map. Today, there are 25 countries around the world that have adopted the REIT (or REIT-like) structure as a tax-efficient way for small investors to achieve the many benefits of owning an indirect interest in high-quality, well-located and professionally-managed income-producing real estate. The industry has grown from a backwater with less than a dozen public companies, to a mainstream asset class with over 290 public companies with an aggregate market cap of over $800 billion. The most important enhancements to us as investors are:
1) Liquidity, particularly valuable in the current volatile market conditions;
2) Diversification, both by geography as well as by property type, allowing us to invest not only in the "four food groups" (i.e., office, industrial, retail and apartments) but also several newer specialty property types (e.g., data centers, wireless cell towers, lab space and student housing) that offer better growth;
3) Access to capital, in all four quadrants of the capital markets (i.e., public and private, debt and equity) which translates into a lower cost of capital—a sustainable competitive advantage for listed REITs;
4) Transparency, from improved regulatory disclosure, converged accounting standards, and coordinated "Street" oversight—both sell-side and buy-side;
5) Alignment of interests, resulting from the industry discarding the old conflicted model of externally-advised REITs, and replacing it with the current self-advised model with high insider ownership that has many REIT CEOs make more money from their equity ownership in their companies than they receive in annual compensation from their companies. They're motivated and incentivized to create shareholder value by driving their stock prices higher and growing their dividends.
Thomas: Finally, how do you assess the potential impact on U.S. REITs of President Obama's re-election, and the likely outcome of the so-called "fiscal cliff?"
We view this as a positive for health care REIT stocks with meaningful exposure to hospitals and medical office buildings. We expect rates to stay low which would make REIT dividends that much more attractive vs. bonds, and continue to provide a low cost of debt tailwind for commercial real estate and REITs. The Bush tax cuts are more likely to expire at the end of the year and all current "qualified dividends" (i.e., on non-REITs) will once again be taxed as ordinary income, thus reducing their after-tax yield. REITs have always been taxed that way so they'd be back on a level playing field.
Thomas: Andy. Thank you for your insights.
Andrew Duffy, CFA is the president of Ascent Investment Advisors and the senior portfolio manager of the James Alpha Global Real Estate Investment Fund (JAREX), which was recently awarded the 4 Star rating by Morningstar in recognition of its superior total return and low volatility. Duffy has more than 20 years of global real estate securities experience, managing portfolios of listed REITs at TIAA-CREF, Citigroup, Hunter Global Investors and Eagle Asset Management. Prior to his career in investments, he served for five years as an Army officer, where his assignments included serving in the 7th Special Forces Group and the 82nd Airborne Division. Duffy is a graduate of West Point and received an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Brad Thomas has no ownership position in the stocks listed in this article.
Click here to contact Forbes Contributor, Brad Thomas


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An excerpt from www.HouseOfNames.com archives copyright © 2000 - 2014
Where did the German Zentz family come from? What is the German Zentz family crest and coat of arms? When did the Zentz family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the Zentz family history?
Spelling variations of this family name include: Zens, Zense, Zenz, Zents, Zentz, Sentz, Sents, Zensen, Zentzen, Zentsen, Zenser, Zentzer, Zenzer, Zentser, Viezentz, Vicentz, Vicenz, Vinzentz, Vinzenz and many more.
First found in Eastern Germany, where the family was established in early times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Zentz research. Another 143 words(10 lines of text) covering the years 1545 and 1726 are included under the topic Early Zentz History in all our PDF Extended History products.
More information is included under the topic Early Zentz Notables in all our PDF Extended History products.
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Zentz Settlers in the United States in the 19th Century
The Zentz Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Zentz Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.
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The Chargers have activated Brandon Taylor off of the PUP list and he is on the field practicing today. He is out doing DB drills and this will be a huge step for him to get back onto the football field and possibly the starting lineup. That is a huge help in a thin secondary.
Taylor tore his ACL in his only start last year and had to sit out the rest of the season. He is back tehre working, but we still have to see how he looks on the field. We didn't get a good look at him last year, since he was only able to start one game.
Not everyone is able to come back from an ACL injury like Adrian Peterson, hopefully Brandon Taylor can be one of them.


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Dating back to 1823, Glebe House in Mohill, County Leitrim, was at one time a rectory. The guesthouse set in 50 acres of woods and farmland and has been completely restored by the Maloney Family.
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Renat_Solishchanskyy says
Hi there, can i suggest to possible tracks from my portfolio:http://audiojungle.net/item/epic-presentation-/4097002
and this http://audiojungle.net/item/the-epic-love-story/3808479
delgibbons says
Hey these are worth a listenhttp://audiojungle.net/collections/2071031-live-piano-tracks
Sophonic says
This thread is 6 months old guys.
FortyTwoStudio says
Sophonic, for real. Didn't saw it.
istarink says
Hi… maybe you wanna try this nice track for your project…http://audiojungle.net/item/white-sunday/3865640
Best wishes Ingo…
MastaBlack_fK says
Try this: Classic Piano Intro
petrenj says
Why someone doesn't lock the thread?
HardReality says
May be this:


text:
I wish there was a codeword for "you sprung that plan on me too last-minute and I didn't have enough time to mentally prepare myself" because I feel kinda bad when someone spontaneously invites me to do something and I'm just like no no no no I need wARNING I have to have enough time to build up my social energy
I really wish people understood this.
Its hard for people without depression to understand when some days that just dropping a cup of water will bring you to tears because they think oh this is just one little thing but you see it as oh my god I can't even get water without fucking up and now I've made a huge mess I shouldn't even try
my brothers say that if this gets 500,000 notes i get to get out of the cage
goddammit we're getting you out of hell ourselves
if we get enough notes we need to take a screen shot and tweet it to the writers.
Even if you arent a supernatutal fan, favourite and reblog this for us.
sometimes people who are sad dont always need the "it gets better talk"
sometimes people just want to hear "you are sad, you are trying your best, and it's okay. you're okay and you're alive and that's a big accomplishment"
because i know for myself unconditional optimism gets really fucking annoying. sometimes i just want to be sad and have it be okay that im sad.
don't make me feel weirder than i already do in my own skin.
Anxiety isn't cute.
Not being able to talk to people isn't cute.
Being paranoid all the time isn't cute.
Eating disorders should not be promoted.
Hating yourself should not be promoted.
Bullying should not be promoted.
Self harm isn't a joke.
Somebody's sexuality isn't a joke
Suicide isn't a joke.
So stop judging.
Stop promoting.
Stop laughing.


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Do You Choose 600 (Calories)?
The New York State Health Department recently launched a new campaign called iChoose 600 to get people to choose meals, especially at restaurants, that have 600 calories or less. The average adult needs about 2000 calories a day, which can be obtained by eating three 600 calorie meals and a small 200 calorie snack.
It's great that most restaurants now provide calorie counts for all their items, help you to make better decisions about what you eat. It does take some work to find restaurant meals with 600 calories or less, though.
The NY State Health Department's examples of fast food meals with less than 600 calories include:
- Hamburger with small fries and water
- Grilled chicken sandwich with a diet soda
- Fish Sandwich with a side salad and water
I travel a lot and sometimes end up eating fast food on the road or in the airport. I also try to carry some health snacks, usually energy bars in my bag, in case there aren't any good food choices.
Do you think the iChoose 600 plan would work for you? How do you eat healthy at restaurants and on the go? Tell me in the comments.
Related Posts:
Snap a Photo of Your Meal to Count Calories
MapMyRUN Now Provides Healthy Diet Suggestions
Can Weighing Your Food Be Sexy?
How to Read Your Body Fat Scale
High Protein Diets May Have Hidden Risks


text:
Posts tagged 'videos'
Skiing and cycling – an unscientific comparison
So I mainly just wanted to upload a video of my kids in their first ski race yesterday, but I thought I would compare and contrast cross-country skiing and cycling as part of the post. First, the video:
Josiah is the boy taking off running without any ski poles. Analise is skiing next to my wife at the back. One of the things that my wife and I connected on when we first met each other back in 2001 was the similarities between her cross-country ski racing and my bike racing. Kristine first started to ski when she was only 2 or 3 years old. And she would ride in a backpack with her father skiing even earlier than that. Through elementary, middle, and high school, Kristine ski raced in the winter eventually earning a full scholarship to the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay to ski collegiately. I didn't start bike racing until high school and college, but I dove right into it so that I experienced many of the same things she did: from the travel with a small group of guys usually to a very rural area, parking in fields (snow covered fields for her), and then taking your body to the limit racing against others. Also, the training – most skiers run or bike in the off-season to maintain the aerobic fitness required to excel in the sport. Up here in Wisconsin, many serious bike racers (Greg Lemond for example) switch to cross country skiing and ski racing to maintain aerobic fitness for biking when it finally thaws out late into spring. In Alabama, I'm fortunate to be able to ride year-round. Part of the adventure of biking for me is the ability to travel from point to point and explore new places so much more efficiently than if you were running. Skiing has the same allure because you are able to travel through the woods and explore trails much more efficiently than snow shoeing.
As far as the racing goes, I'd compare the ski racing more to mountain bike racing or cyclocross racing on non-technical courses with more of a notion of "getting the hole shot" and pushing yourself mostly alone or chasing one or two skiers just up the trail without as much drafting as in road racing. Still, there is a drafting component particularly at the elite end of the sport where the speeds are much closer to 20mph than 10mph, and there tend to be large groups of skiers able to maintain the same speed throughout the race. The tactics are different because of this, but you still see skiers attack each other and change pace to try to drop the others. Cross-country skiing at the winter olympics is by far my favorite winter sport to watch … not the least because of the way the skiers push themselves to the absolute limit. In any close cross country ski race finish, the skiers will fall over as soon as they cross the line because there is not enough energy left in their muscles to support their body weight. Cyclists push themselves similarly to that extreme, but because we aren't standing up we can usually manage to keep the bike upright as it coasts to a stop. Although in one close finish this past year, three of us sprinting at the end of the 105 mile Rouge Roubaix race all fell over on the side of the road into a grassy yard … completely spent, utterly exhausted, but also undefinably happy – and we were only sprinting for 2nd place!
Of course, I buck the trend a bit when I visit from Alabama … bringing my mountain bike and enduring the cold weather for a week in some truly epic rides rather than cross country skiing. Today I'm traveling point to point to Heartwood cabins where Kristine and I had our wedding reception back in the summer of 2003. We're going to spend a few days up there so Kristine and her dad can do some good cross-country skiing on the trails up there … while the kids enjoy ice skating, sledding, and a little bit of skiing. I've got a three hour ride planned to get there today, and then a couple four to five hour rides planned for the next couple days taking me through the snow mobile capital of this area (Danbury, WI), and across the St Croix into Minnesota. Heartwood looks completely different in the winter covered in snow, but that's the beauty of the northwoods – each of the seasons up here transforms the land into a completely different amazing world.
Dale, Kristine, Anna, and Kat finishing the 2012 Birkie 50KM ski race together
Family ski 2007 – from front to back – Analise, Aunt Anna, Aunt Kat, Kristine, Josiah, Papa Dale, and Uncle Hal. I was out there too, but I took the picture.
More videos from our weekend in South Carolina
In my post yesterday about my 176.5 mile end of the season epic ride, only uploaded a few of all the videos I took. Here are the other ones, including roller coaster road and a short clip of the climb through the fog up NC-215 to the parkway.
Rapha Rising Climbing Competition – Days 4, 5, 6
It's 4AM – time to start my longest ride ever.
At midnight, celebrating with @beautifulwife the end of a very long day of riding.
Wednesday – Day 4 – 249 miles, 42,200 feet of climbing
These two pictures above bookend my longest ride ever with the most climbing ever. Getting up at 4AM and then riding all the way until midnight with only a few breaks along the way. Even though my grand total was exactly 248.84 miles and 42,200 feet of climbing, my Garmin lost 24 miles of GPS coordinates. So only 225 miles and 38,000 feet of climbing counted on Strava towards the climbing competition. I'm still waiting for official results, but I believe it may have been just enough to win the "one-day challenge within a challenge" for the Rapha race bag given to whoever climbs the most on Wednesday.
I rode laps around my neighborhood for the first hour or so until it got light enough for me to venture out onto the main roads. I kept it nice and slow on the laps since I was hand carrying a flashlight and because I knew that I had a long day ahead of me. I was really, really sleepy and had a lot of negative thoughts about how on earth I was going to last 20 hours of riding. The repetition of the 1K lap along with the really sketchy corners in the dark didn't help with my motivation. But then I started to notice that the sky was getting lighter. Each 2.5 minute lap would see the sky brighten ever so slightly until I could see the sketchy corners clearly and could start going a bit faster. This was all it took to get rid of the negative thoughts, and I was ecstatic by the time I headed out of the neighborhood.
My first destination was South Cove to get in some super fast descents before traffic started to pick up. There were people out jogging and walking (seriously, how do you people get up that early on a regular basis??? That is some serious motivation). But the nice thing about the S Cove Dr descent is that it is so steep that it is rare for anyone to try to walk or jog up it. So I let it all fly and hit these max speeds approaching 60mph just about every lap.
After the S Cove loops, I went over to Skyland Dr to do my first set of roller coaster hill repeats. Unfortunately, I nearly t-boned a German shepherd that gets out of its yard occasionally on the first descent down the roller coaster. I decided to come back later and opted instead to head on over to Vestavia Dr and then back home to say good morning to the family before Kristine left for work and the kids left for a day of playing at Grandma's house.
After a nice breakfast, it was back out again – this time heading through hilly, curvy, fun Georgetown over to Bluff Park and Green Valley. When I climbed to the top of Green Valley I could see a thunderstorm building to the east not too far past my house – but the storm was heading south and not going to hit me over in Bluff Park. It was cool to watch the sky darken and to be far enough away to see close to the top of the storm. I continued riding through Bluff Park and made my way over to Vestavia to get water at the Publix grocery store. Then as I made my way to the top of Vestavia, I could see a huge thunderstorm that had built over downtown which was hidden from me because of the ridge line. I thought maybe I had enough time to dip down into Homewood and then back up the Hwy 31 climb while traffic was light – but as I was descending Hwy 31, I had a perfect view of lightning striking the Vulcan (less than 2 miles away) and decided to cut through Brookwood and try to make it home. I made it about 1/2 mile before the storm hit hard with heavy downpour and lots of lightning. I continued on making it home where I took these videos:
After a long lunch trying to wait out the thunderstorm, I had to eventually head back out in the rain. I had just made it over to Mountain Brook and started climbing over there when my Garmin shut off – went completely blank. I turned it back on, but as soon as it made it past the startup screen, it would shut off again. I did this several times – almost in a panic because here I was 8 hours 48 minutes into my ride and I was thinking that the Garmin might be in the process of losing the ENTIRE RIDE. So as much as I wanted to do the entire ride in a single file, I decided to try to reset the Garmin while it was on the "picking up satellites screen". This worked AND it saved the entire ride. So that is why I have annotated the screenshots at the end of this post with the approx total time and total elevation gain.Since it was still raining, I decided to head over to Karl Daly since it is more straightforward without very many turns. By the time I had made it out to Karl Daly, the rain was gone and the sun had come back out. I climbed Karl Daly from all three sides going for a KOM on the long version from the Grants Mill road bridge (after snapping these pictures of the canoe landing on the cahaba river). I was 130 miles into my ride at this point, but I still felt great and set a new KOM on the climb. No power meter to pace myself, but I basically went as hard as I felt reasonably possible with 120 miles still left to ride. I did get the KOM (sorry Kyle!)
Then it was back down the Irondale side of Karl Daly to cut through the Irondale neighborhoods back into Mountain Brook. There is a steep descent that leads to two traffic lights. I normally turn at the second light – rarely missing the first light. But today the first light was red and I decided to go ahead and go through it since there was no cars coming out of the shopping center where I was turning left. Not a good decision, especially since there was an Irondale police officer at the intersection. He came after me in the shopping center and was absolutely furious asking if I had a death wish. He ran my social security number through the system with the dispatcher since I didn't have any ID, gave me a stern talking to. Thankfully he didn't give me a ticket, and I learned a lesson – obey the law. I was very respectful to him, and told him that it was a mistake, a bad decision, and I shouldn't of done it – but he was still really angry even several minutes later after calling in my social security number and everything. The only other time I've gotten pulled over while biking is when I was drafting an unmarked state trooper on Hwy 280 towards Lee Branch. I didn't realize it was a state trooper because I was focused on the rear end of the car and brake lights. He also was really angry when he pulled over into a bank after turning his lights on, but after a couple minutes he cooled off and we ended up joking together about the whole thing. This officer, on the other hand, was really upset. Don't mess with the law in Irondale, folks.A couple hours of climbing through Irondale and Mountain Brook and I was home for refueling again. Kristine was home from work, and the kids were home my parents' house so they came out to cheer me on a couple laps. This was a really short stop at home – just to grab a quick bite to eat and refill my bottles before heading back over to Hoover / Green Valley / Bluff Park / Vestavia for some last minute climbing while there was still daylight. The Vestavia Dr area is a favorite of mine along with these mountain goat statues at the very top of the Vesclub descent.
I ended up doing the Vesclub descent well after sunset – then I realized that instead of being stuck doing laps in my neighborhood for the rest of the night – I could do laps over in Countrywood and Dolly Ridge. I discovered this when I had to ride home in the dark from that area with no light – and it felt very safe so after a long stop for dinner with the family, Kristine kicked me out of the house telling me to go get the last 38 miles I needed for 250 miles for the day. I headed out needing to average a fairly high speed to do it. I got more and more motivated as I got closer to midnight. But at 11:15 PM (about 8+ hours into my second ride of the day and only 45 minutes left to ride), my silly Garmin cut off again. This time, unfortunately, I lost everything from after dinner – about 24 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing. I didn't realize it, though, because the ride was correctly listed in my history as 126 miles. It wasn't until I uploaded it to Strava that I realized the GPS coordinates were not stored so Strava would only recognize 102 miles of that ride.
Even though I didn't know all of this at the time, the second power outage on my Garmin really cut my motivation. I was trying to do some math in my head to figure out if I was going to make 250 miles, given that I needed 14 more miles and had less than 45 minutes to do it. I incorrectly calculated 30mph when in fact it was only a bit less than 20mph. So I cruised on home no longer trying to hit 250 miles, but instead trying to hit 400km which is about 248 miles. I figured I could do that … but as I started to do laps with Kristine cheering me on and taking pictures at 11:30 in our neighborhood, I recalculated and figured I might be able to make it all the way to 250 miles. This renewed my motivation in a big way, and I really hit it hard – each time up the hill in front of our house, I sprinted like the end of a night criterium. When all was said and done, though, I only made it to 249 miles as the clock rolled over to 11:59PM – which I decided would be my stop time.
Then I spent the next 3 hours trying to figure out how to merge all three ride files into one file – and to figure out why the total was only showing up as 225 miles. Eventually, I figured it all out – but there was nothing I could do to recover the missing 24 miles. Grrrrrrr. 249 miles, 42,200 feet of climbing, 1 crazy hard fun cycling adventure!
Thursday – Day 5 – 52 miles, 7,636 feet of climbing
Easy recovery day today started out with a short ride to the grocery store with Josiah. My forearms were the sorest part of my body from all the shifting on my long ride on Wednesday. It was really difficult to shift by the end of the day! We bought a few things and headed home for a nice relaxing day watching the tour de france. In the early afternoon, I headed out for an easy ride and ran into somebody who lives in the neighborhood across the street from us. We rode together all the way through Mountain Brook to the Irondale turnaround and back – before I took off to head to my brother's house for a birthday dinner. After dinner, I headed back home and did some more climbing in the dark. Legs were starting to feel better by the end of the day. There was a huge thunderstorm blowing up just to the north and I managed to snap a picture of some lightning (although I only got the afterglow).
The most interesting thing that happened during the ride was early on when I passed this guy only slightly faster than he was walking up a hill carrying a big log on his shoulder back up to his truck. He asked me "Are you doing this for fun, or because you have to?" I thought for a second and then said "A little bit of both". And then I proceeded to spend the next hour of my ride thinking about how complex a question that was that he asked me and how complex an answer could be given – but was boiled down to "a little bit of both". I was thinking I would go into more detail on my blog post about the answer to that question – but it requires more thought and I've spent too long on this one already!
Friday – Day 6 – 57 miles, 10,261 feet of climbing
My legs were still feeling tired today – wrists/forearms all better. I really wandered on this ride although I basically did all of my normal routes hitting the Green Valley roller coaster loop several times. The only thing out of the ordinary was the Hwy 31 sidewalk climb – which I normally only do on my commutes into work. It has been 2 months now since the end of the semester so it was fun to revisit a climb I haven't done in a couple months. Plus, I wanted something easy and steady towards the end of my ride, and yet I wanted to go snap some more photos from the top of Vestavia Dr. The mountain goats didn't disappoint as they were in a new position today.
Finally, here is a gallery of photos and screenshots. Most of these are from my ride on Wednesday – but the ones from Thursday and Friday I've tried to pick out and label as such. Also, the Garmin screenshots are in order starting before sunrise and ending after dark.
Out west – day 13 – Barn Burner 104 MTB race
Me and Josiah immediately after the finish
Great race today at the Barn Burner just outside of Flagstaff, AZ. This was by far the hardest race I have ever done – 104 miles of double track forest roads – some very bumpy, some very sandy, some very crazy, all of it a whole lot of fun! I was happy to finish 4th overall, but sad to lose my Garmin Edge 800 with approx. 25,000 miles on it.
Race Details – the dust bowl
It was a Le Mans start, which means you ran to your bikes mounted on bikestands or being held by your support crew. I opted to have Kristine hold my bike so I wouldn't have to try and extract it from all the bikes jammed together on the bike racks. I ran kinda slowly because I don't run well and because the terrain had some lava rocks and there were tons of people jostling together. I met Kristine behind the bikestand area, mounted my Garmin and took off running through the grass to get back to the dirt road. By this point dust was everywhere, and I was easily 100-200 riders back.
The first mile of the race was on some dusty, sandy rutted roads so it was really hard to see a good line and you didn't want to get caught in the deep sand so I could only pass a few people here and there – but as soon as we turned onto the main forest road, the terrain tilted upwards on a long false flat. I passed probably 100 riders through here. At the beginning it was streams of riders that I was passing, but then it has started to break up into small groups – so I started to catch and pass these groups.
Lost water bottle
Right before the lefthand turn onto the next rutted sandy section, I latched onto the back of a fairly large group of maybe 10 riders. It was here that I realized that mountain bike racing requires a lot of trust/faith in the rider immediately in front of you. You are trusting that they are going to take a good line and not crash. This section of the course really emphasized that trust because there was so much dust you couldn't see the ground in front of you – you could only barely see the wheel of the rider in front of you. It was at this point that I lost a bottle when the road unexpectedly dropped a good 2-3 feet into a rounded rut/hole. I wasn't expecting it so my weight was forward and I ended up coming out of the hole doing a front wheelie. Luckily the ground was smooth long enough that I could get the rear wheel back down without flipping over the handlebars. Hitting the hole popped out my water bottle so I did the entire first lap on one bottle.
Lost Garmin
Not too long after the front wheelie, the group I was in came out onto another stretch of road which was much harder packed. I went to the front and tried to rally the troops, but I ended up dropping that group and catching one or two more groups until I finally latched onto the back of the lead group. I knew I had reached the front group because there was no more dust in front of this group. This was towards the top of the long gradual descent before the first climb. This part of the course was super fast, and we were absolutely flying single file trusting the rider in front of you to take a good line. For about five minutes, this was my favorite part of the race, but then I felt something hit my knee. I thought it was my only water bottle popping out of the cage so as we are motoring along I'm looking down and doing a double-take to see if it's my water bottle. It wasn't, so I continued staring hard at the wheel in front of me following his line. Then I glanced at my handlebars and noticed my Garmin was gone!!! I debated for another 10-15 seconds about turning around or keeping on going. I realized the Garmin was worth too much to just abandon – so I turned around and rode backwards on the course. It had been a couple minutes of fast riding since I had felt something hit my knee (which I assume now must have been my Garmin), so I had to ride back a long ways but I never did see it. It is quite an understatement to say that my motivation was completely gone by this point in the race. I was about to attack the Strava KOM challenge segment hard, and now I not only wasn't going to be able to do that – I had lost my great position at the front of the race and given the leaders a good 5 minute head start.
The Strava climb (1st climb)
Frustrated at not finding my Garmin, I went flying up the climb that started shortly after the stretch of trail where I couldn't find my Garmin. It was the more technical of the two climbs on the course, but I didn't care – I just flew past everyone no matter what line I had to take. By the top of the climb, the race was all blown apart and people were by themselves and no longer in groups.
The rocky technical descent
After the top of the climb, there was a short rolling section followed by the longer, rockier, and more technical of the two major descents. It started out super fast on a mostly clean but a few high speed rocky sections that you could roll over, but then there was a hard left turn on loose dirt that required clipping out for balance that immediately led into some nasty rocky sections that you just had to blow threw as there wasn't much of a clean line. I went really slow through here on the first lap – getting passed by two riders, the second of which came by probably 10 mph faster just riding over all the big rocks I was trying to avoid. So that is when I learned that you can do that – just bomb over rocks at 30mph – the bike and wheels can handle it these days!
Once I reached the bottom, I continued passing riders all the way to the start of the second climb – the longer, steeper, and less technical stair stepper. In fact, I almost ran right into the back of a small group of three because I had been so intent on catching them that I wasn't looking for turn signs. I caught them right at the turn and had to slam on the brakes skidding for some distance before stopping just shy of ramming into the last rider. I immediately passed them and continued passing riders all the way up the long climb.
The fast descent that gradually became slower
At the top of the long climb was a super fast steep descent. I didn't have my Garmin, but it felt like I hit 50mph on this descent on the first lap. There was one clear, clean line between loose gravel/dirt and larger rocks on either side of the foot-wide line, but the line was clear, non-washboardy, and had no rocks in it — on the first lap! I almost wrecked here on the second lap because I tried to take it at the same speed as the first lap, but 1100 riders doing that descent on the first lap had loosened up soil on the clean line and created a bit of washboarding so that it no longer felt safe to go really fast. So each lap of the race, this descent got a bit sketchier and slower for me.
After the steep, sketchy part was a harder packed fast double track that went next to some sort of campground before turning onto the original national forest service road leading back up to the two-way Barn Burner entrance road. I flew through this part catching one or two more riders, and I heard someone yell out "ninth" as I made the turn in towards the barn.
The pit crew
At the end of each lap, you have to dismount your bike and run through the barn. Below is a video of me coming through the barn at the end of my second lap. You can see Analise waving the chain lube that I desperately needed because of all the dust/dirt on the course. My pit crew was just like a Nascar pit crew! Josiah would hold my bike, while Analise would hand me bars/gels/chain lub and Kristine would refill my bottles with gatorade. I would stand there eating and drinking whatever I could get down before Kristine finished with the gatorade. It was so awesome – less than 30 seconds to have two new bottles, a lubed chain, more gels/powerbars, and then off again.
The second, third and fourth laps
On the second lap, I was caught by a rider wearing a green Trek kit and the two of us worked together catching another rider to form a group of three. We worked well together all the way until the second climb where I rode away catching and passing a few more people on the climb finishing the lap in 5th place.
I rode the first half of the third lap alone eventually catching Derek Wilkerson who was in 4th place at the time. We worked well together catching and dropping the third place rider. Derek was a far better descender than me and had to wait for me after the descents. At the end of the third lap, I stopped with my pit crew to refill bottles and gels while Derek had enough to keep going.
I was so tired I figured I would never see him again, but a relay rider came flying by on the long gradual false flat leaving the barn. I hopped on his wheel and dug deep to stay there and soon we had caught up to Derek who tagged onto us making a small group of three. I was digging way too deep, so when we turned onto the dusty long descent I decided to back off and do my best to pace myself to hold onto a top 5 finish. I cramped on the Strava climb, stopped, went easier until I got caught by another relay rider towards the top. I was able to stick with him until the descent, but then he dropped me hard on the descent. I was caught by one more team rider on the section leading into the second climb, and he really lifted my pace again – but he flatted shortly before the start of the climb.
I went up the final climb knowing that I would need to go slow to keep from cramping again, but I continued to pass lapped riders many of whom were walking there bikes up the steep sections of the climb. I was able to solider on in a very easy gear to make it up the climb – but there were definitely sections I was wondering if I was going to have to get off and walk. I kept thinking that at any moment whoever was in 5th place would come cruising by. It didn't happen though, and I made it up to the top, down the sketchy descent, and then turned on the gas one final time to make it to the finish line. It turns out that I was over 12 minutes ahead of 5th place so I could have taken the finish a little bit easier.
At the finish (as you may be able to tell from the picture at the top), I was exhausted. It took a while to be able to get out more than one or two coherent sentences in a row. I sat on the gatorade jug for quite a while drinking chocolate milk and cokes.
Two final videos before all the pictures – the first is of my finish. Look at Josiah cheering me at the top of the video near the far track, Analise near the turn, and then Kristine filming the video. It was awesome to come through there and see my family cheering me on. Also, there was a cool dirt bike track next to the barn so that the kids could spend the hour and a half between laps riding up and down the jumps and around the berms. Analise is tackling one of the jumps in the second video.
Analise, me, and Josiah after the race
Podium for 30-39 yr old males … 2nd place for me … Ken Chlouber handing out Leadville entries!
2011 Tour of America's Dairyland Summary
What a great race series the 2011 Tour of America's Dairyland was. I'm already looking forward to next year. This year featured 9 criteriums, 1 road race, and 1 time trial. The criteriums were a mix of hilly technical courses and flat, fast courses. This was my first time to race more than six days in a row. By the end of two weeks of racing and riding, I had ridden/raced 824 miles (383 miles the first week and 441 miles the second week). To put that in perspective, that is 15 miles longer than our drive home from Madison, WI to Birmingham, AL. The 441 mile week is my sixth 400+ mile week of the year and most likely the second longest week of my entire racing career. I had a 500+ mile week in college.
All of our criteriums were timed at 90 minutes and depending on the average speed worked out to be around 45 miles in length. The race was so well organized, thanks in part to having a nearly identical schedule very day. I didn't have a lot to do besides race, so I would frequently start warming up during the pro women's race and continuing warming up during the masters 1-2-3 race before checking out the course for a few laps during the downtime that was scheduled between the end of the masters race and the start of the pro men's race. That down-time meant that every one of our races started on time because any kind of delay earlier in the day was worked out by the time our race started.
The road race was an excellent course through the Kettle Moraine state forest area. The hills and crosswinds combined with some rain during the first half of the race made for a challenging course. I was disappointed that I put so much effort into an early break that was brought back and then missed both the break of the day plus a large chase group. I was stuck in the field until the last lap when I bridged to a solo move and worked together with the rider I caught to finish just ahead of the field. It was a good finish to an otherwise disappointing race performance.
Favorite picture and favorite video… the picture is Lapham Peak where I rode to on my rest day in lieu of the Ripon time trial. The video is the last lap sprint of the last race of the series in Madison, WI.
Panoramic view from the top of the Lapham Peak tower (click to enlarge)
Here is a summary of all my results from the races. I was hoping for more top 20s, another top 10, and a top 5 in the road race. So my results weren't quite what I was expecting, but it was still great experience, great racing, and the longest race series that I have ever done!
|Day 1 – Shorewood Criterium
|Day 2 – Thiensville Criterium
|Day 3 – Grafton Criterium
|Day 4 – Waukesha Criterium
|Day 5 – Greenbush Road Race
|Day 6 – Schlitz Park Criterium
|Day 7 – Ripon TT (rest day)
|Day 8 – Sheboygan Criterium
|Day 9 – Fond du Lac Criterium
|Day 10 – Downer Ave Criterium
|Day 11 – Madison Criterium
Finally, here a few maps to help illustrate the scope of our fun summer bike racing adventure…
Annotated map showing our entire trip.
Annotated map showing all the places that I raced.
Map showing all my races and commutes to/from awesome host housing in Brookfield. I saw quite a bit of southeastern Wisconsin frequently opting for side streets and country roads instead of interstates.
Madison Criterium – Tour of America's Dairyland – Day 11
Strava map of the Madison Criterium course – 2011 Tour of America's Dairyland
Mmmmm – chocolate milk at the finish in front of the capitol after 11 days of racing
This was a great way to end up the 2011 Tour of America's Dairyland. I put the course map first because it highlights the unique location for this criterium. We raced around the Wisconsin state capitol building in Madison. The course was a square with a downhill leading into Turn #2 and #3 and then an uphill leading into Turn #4 followed by a short flat finish.
I started about mid-pack and sank backwards on the first few laps so that by about the fifth lap I was somewhere in the back 1/3rd of the field. Eventually, I started feeling more confident about the race and started to move up. The best place to move up was immediately after turn #1 on the run-in to turn #2. This meant that you had to take turn #2 on the inside, but then you were in great position sheltered from a pretty strong cross-wind on the fast stretch from turn #2 to turn #3. The problem with this line, though, is that the inside of turn #3 wasn't the best place to be if somebody decided to cut you off. This happened several times where I lost a lot of momentum and had to accelerate hard up the hill between turn #3 and turn #4.
Towards the middle of the race, I had worked my way far enough forward to attack when a $100 prime was announced. I got a gap after turn #1, but was chased down by about halfway up the hill before turn #4 by a Garneau Test team rider. I ended up crossing the line 3rd behind the Garneau rider and a Foundation CRC rider. Then I tagged onto the back of two more riders who had attacked from the field. Our five-man break lasted about a lap before Kenda brought us back. The move of the day went fairly early on with Dan Holloway (Kelly Benefits), Timmers (Garneau Test), and Sergei Tvetskov (Aerocat) braking away and gradually increasing their lead. Kenda chased hard, but the short hilly four-corner course did not lend itself well to a steady chase.
About 50 laps into the race (out of 70 laps), I attacked going up the hill into turn #4 hoping that a prime would be called on the next lap. As I attacked, somebody yelled "Watch out for the squirrel". I was a little frustrated because I was thinking that they were calling me a squirrel even though I thought I was riding a very good, safe race. In a hilarious coincidence, though, there was actually a squirrel that was in the road at that exact spot at the time that I attacked. The squirrel was dodging back and forth trying not to get run over and eventually leaped over the barriers to escape. Kristine was right there and watched the whole thing – including the person yelling "watch out for the squirrel" so she can verify that they weren't shouting about me!
After my lap solo, there were a bunch of attacks / chases. I ended up sliding pretty far back in the field, but with about 10 laps to go I decided to do everything I could to move back up to the front of the field. With a couple laps to go, a group of 3 had separated themselves from the field and were just a few seconds up the road. With one lap to go, I had worked all the way to the front of the field sitting second wheel behind Emile Abraham (Aerocat) who was setting a very fast pace on the last lap. He attacked going into Turn #3 at the bottom of the hill and I went with him. I stayed on his wheel until his teammate, Josh Carter, who had been just behind me attacked and Emile sat up. I swung out to the left of Emile and gave it everything I had getting passed by only Chad Hartley (Kenda) between Turn #4 and the finish to place 9th.
Here is a link to the interactive Strava data: http://app.strava.com/rides/824628
NAME DIST ELEV SPEED POWER HR TIME Lap 1 0.6 mi 23 ft 24.9 mph 319 watts 149 bpm 0:01:23 Lap 2 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 421 watts 159 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 3 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 433 watts 157 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 4 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 421 watts 161 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 5 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.9 mph 362 watts 159 bpm 0:01:17 Lap 6 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 400 watts 157 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 7 0.6 mi 23 ft 30.0 mph 470 watts 162 bpm 0:01:09 Lap 8 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 429 watts 161 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 9 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 338 watts 159 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 10 0.5 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 369 watts 162 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 11 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 413 watts 155 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 12 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 368 watts 160 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 13 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.5 mph 364 watts 159 bpm 0:01:18 Lap 14 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 465 watts 161 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 15 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.9 mph 363 watts 163 bpm 0:01:17 Lap 16 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 453 watts 172 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 17 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 455 watts 162 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 18 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 441 watts 153 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 19 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 413 watts 152 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 20 0.5 mi 23 ft 30.4 mph 445 watts 153 bpm 0:01:08 Lap 21 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 375 watts 158 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 22 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 430 watts 156 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 23 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 378 watts 154 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 24 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 450 watts 160 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 25 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 463 watts 156 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 26 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 484 watts 158 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 27 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 494 watts 159 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 28 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 398 watts 161 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 29 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.9 mph 426 watts 168 bpm 0:01:17 Lap 30 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 417 watts 160 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 31 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.6 mph 503 watts 178 bpm 0:01:10 Lap 32 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 431 watts 173 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 33 0.6 mi 23 ft 25.9 mph 449 watts 164 bpm 0:01:20 Lap 34 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 402 watts 155 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 35 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 381 watts 147 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 36 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 412 watts 148 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 37 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.2 mph 400 watts 155 bpm 0:01:19 Lap 38 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 443 watts 159 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 39 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 425 watts 154 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 40 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 445 watts 155 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 41 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 406 watts 157 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 42 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 472 watts 158 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 43 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 399 watts 151 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 44 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.5 mph 407 watts 150 bpm 0:01:18 Lap 45 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 363 watts 151 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 46 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 391 watts 156 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 47 0.6 mi 23 ft 25.6 mph 409 watts 169 bpm 0:01:21 Lap 48 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 446 watts 156 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 49 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 352 watts 145 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 50 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 421 watts 140 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 51 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 434 watts 147 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 52 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 396 watts 153 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 53 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 393 watts 150 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 54 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.5 mph 381 watts 149 bpm 0:01:18 Lap 55 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 414 watts 151 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 56 0.6 mi 23 ft 25.2 mph 363 watts 152 bpm 0:01:22 Lap 57 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.5 mph 432 watts 157 bpm 0:01:18 Lap 58 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.2 mph 405 watts 149 bpm 0:01:11 Lap 59 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.6 mph 403 watts 160 bpm 0:01:15 Lap 60 0.6 mi 23 ft 31.9 mph 408 watts 161 bpm 0:01:05 Lap 61 0.6 mi 23 ft 27.2 mph 460 watts 172 bpm 0:01:16 Lap 62 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 426 watts 167 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 63 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.0 mph 433 watts 166 bpm 0:01:14 Lap 64 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 465 watts 164 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 65 0.6 mi 23 ft 29.6 mph 518 watts 162 bpm 0:01:10 Lap 66 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.4 mph 380 watts 164 bpm 0:01:13 Lap 67 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.9 mph 435 watts 168 bpm 0:01:17 Lap 68 0.6 mi 23 ft 26.5 mph 463 watts 167 bpm 0:01:18 Lap 69 0.6 mi 23 ft 28.8 mph 421 watts 173 bpm 0:01:12 Lap 70 0.6 mi 23 ft 31.9 mph 560 watts 181 bpm 0:01:05
Finally, Kristine and I got some good pics from the day – check them out in the gallery below! Summary post tomorrow…
Downer Ave Criterium – Tour of America's Dairyland – Day 10
I think I may have cracked the top 15 on this one. I was really happy with the finish as it was a complete turnaround from yesterday. Even though I was again at the very front with one lap to go. I was able to hold my position and not get passed by anyone in the sprint. There were thousands and thousands of dollars worth of primes including one ultra-prime for $5600 won by Isaac Howe (Kenda), but I was never in position to go for any of them. That's ok, though, because I really needed a good finish after yesterday's performance.
The course was a triangle with turn #1 fast and straightforward, turn #2 acute on rough pavement, and turn #3 and #4 very fast back-to-back to make the triangle. I had a great start and came around the first turn in fifth position. I stayed up near the front for the rest of the first lap. Then on the second lap, there was a major surge on the backside of the course and I got caught in the wrong position and was passed by at least 50 riders so that I ended up in the back third of the field. I spent the next 20 laps or so moving up. The course was easy to pass people on, but it was also very easy to get passed. So my position varied greatly from front to back for a majority of the race. Towards the end, though, I hit it hard to get into the top 10 and then attacked any time the pace eased up. This kept me at the very front leading the field through the start/finish with one to go. I didn't want to be at the very front so I eased up and then hopped on a wheel about 10 riders back when the surge came. I basically held this position until the end except for getting passed by a few people out of turn #2. So I think I squeezed into the top 15.
Here is a video of the women's finish plus videos that Kristine took of our race:
Here are the lap splits for this 49 mile crit…
NAME DIST SPEED POWER HR TIME Lap 1 0.8 mi 26.8 mph 396 watts 151 bpm 0:01:53 Lap 2 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 435 watts 156 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 3 0.8 mi 28.9 mph 460 watts 164 bpm 0:01:45 Lap 4 0.8 mi 29.1 mph 463 watts 160 bpm 0:01:44 Lap 5 0.9 mi 27.5 mph 453 watts 166 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 6 0.8 mi 28.1 mph 425 watts 165 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 7 0.8 mi 28.6 mph 457 watts 159 bpm 0:01:46 Lap 8 0.8 mi 28.9 mph 439 watts 167 bpm 0:01:45 Lap 9 0.9 mi 27.1 mph 442 watts 167 bpm 0:01:52 Lap 10 0.8 mi 28.6 mph 404 watts 164 bpm 0:01:46 Lap 11 0.9 mi 27.1 mph 387 watts 162 bpm 0:01:52 Lap 12 0.9 mi 28.1 mph 438 watts 161 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 13 0.9 mi 26.1 mph 412 watts 172 bpm 0:01:56 Lap 14 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 400 watts 152 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 15 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 457 watts 155 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 16 0.9 mi 28.1 mph 449 watts 156 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 17 0.8 mi 26.6 mph 374 watts 152 bpm 0:01:54 Lap 18 0.9 mi 29.7 mph 550 watts 162 bpm 0:01:42 Lap 19 0.8 mi 27.3 mph 403 watts 167 bpm 0:01:51 Lap 20 0.9 mi 27.5 mph 424 watts 161 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 21 0.9 mi 27.5 mph 446 watts 160 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 22 0.8 mi 27.8 mph 416 watts 156 bpm 0:01:49 Lap 23 0.9 mi 26.8 mph 381 watts 162 bpm 0:01:53 Lap 24 0.9 mi 28.1 mph 444 watts 159 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 25 0.9 mi 27.5 mph 424 watts 157 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 26 0.8 mi 28.1 mph 407 watts 157 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 27 0.9 mi 26.6 mph 385 watts 154 bpm 0:01:54 Lap 28 0.9 mi 27.5 mph 442 watts 164 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 29 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 408 watts 157 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 30 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 452 watts 164 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 31 0.9 mi 28.1 mph 432 watts 159 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 32 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 411 watts 159 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 33 0.8 mi 29.7 mph 484 watts 159 bpm 0:01:42 Lap 34 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 443 watts 161 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 35 0.9 mi 27.3 mph 414 watts 157 bpm 0:01:51 Lap 36 0.8 mi 27.3 mph 384 watts 153 bpm 0:01:51 Lap 37 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 434 watts 154 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 38 0.9 mi 26.8 mph 417 watts 159 bpm 0:01:53 Lap 39 0.8 mi 28.6 mph 417 watts 159 bpm 0:01:46 Lap 40 0.8 mi 28.6 mph 421 watts 154 bpm 0:01:46 Lap 41 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 464 watts 156 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 42 0.8 mi 28.1 mph 447 watts 157 bpm 0:01:48 Lap 43 0.8 mi 28.6 mph 452 watts 158 bpm 0:01:46 Lap 44 0.9 mi 27.8 mph 454 watts 159 bpm 0:01:49 Lap 45 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 451 watts 160 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 46 0.8 mi 29.1 mph 491 watts 163 bpm 0:01:44 Lap 47 0.9 mi 28.3 mph 452 watts 154 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 48 0.9 mi 27.1 mph 403 watts 154 bpm 0:01:52 Lap 49 0.9 mi 25.9 mph 365 watts 152 bpm 0:01:57 Lap 50 0.8 mi 27.1 mph 345 watts 162 bpm 0:01:52 Lap 51 0.8 mi 28.3 mph 451 watts 161 bpm 0:01:47 Lap 52 0.8 mi 27.5 mph 396 watts 163 bpm 0:01:50 Lap 53 0.8 mi 27.3 mph 395 watts 161 bpm 0:01:51 Lap 54 0.8 mi 27.3 mph 391 watts 163 bpm 0:01:51 Lap 55 0.8 mi 29.4 mph 467 watts 165 bpm 0:01:43 Lap 56 0.8 mi 27.8 mph 402 watts 172 bpm 0:01:49 Lap 57 0.8 mi 29.7 mph 511 watts 176 bpm 0:01:42
Here is a link to the interactive Strava data: http://app.strava.com/rides/810911
Map of the course plus my easy hill repeats for warm-up
Heartrate and speed data for the race
Finally, here is a gallery of pics from the day:


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Super Hot Sex Scene Featuring Blonde Australian Actress Nicole Kidman
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|28 Nov 2009
Windows 7 x64 Stability
Yesterday I installed win 7 x64 on an empty partition, retaining my XP OS in a dual boot configuration. I had previously downloaded drivers from ASUS for my MOBO, bought prior to ASUS developing the Win 7 drivers. When I began to install the ASUS drivers I had trouble. I installed the VIA driver, and then the ASUS chipset drivers. After installation of the chipset drivers Win 7 suddenly shut down, and when it restarted no desktop shortcuts or taskbar were present. I booted up in safe mode, used recovery, and reset to the point before the driver installation. Win 7 booted up as expected. I decided to reboot after each driver installation to isolate the event, but this time it occurred right after VIA driver installation. I recovered once more, restarted Win 7, and just opened a browser window and began doing things with that. I left the computer for a few minutes, and when I returned Win 7 had shut down on its own again, and upon reboot had no taskbar or shortcuts. Now I doubt there are ASUS driver issues, but more likely Win 7 issues.
I'm wondering if anyone else has had similar stability problems, or if there is some fix I need to implement.
|My System Specs
|29 Nov 2009
Win7 x 6 PC's
The problem is loading in the chipset drivers.
Windows 7 installer is driver-complete. Any newer will quickly be delivered by Windows Updates.
Only the most exotic software will not have drivers provided during install.
This is because MS funded the partnership with all manufacturers to develop Windows 7 drivers (WHQL) and thus has the drivers first.
I have done dozens of 32 bit Windows 7 installations within the past year and it improved steadily to the point that there is almost no driver that is now not supplied by Installer.
|My System Specs
|29 Nov 2009
That's interesting. On the ASUS forums this isn't known. Perhaps ASUS was posting the drivers for download to support the trial versions of Win 7, but I thought these were only for 64bit. It also seemed that there was no problem with the VIA sound support prior to installing drivers. I'll not install them any more....
Thanks again
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A meeting of the newly-formed Nonprofit Thrift Store Alliance was held at CareNet on Wednesday, Jan. 19. The group of Macon County will meet once a month to discuss ways to work together to promote the thrift stores.
Events that are planned include a Best Window competition. Each store will decorate with a theme for the month. The theme for February will be Sweetheart Month. Each store will decorate and be judged by shoppers' votes. The winning store will choose a name out of the ballot box, and the person chosen will win a gift certificate for that store. There are also plans for a bed race in April.


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LA JOYA - Heriberto "Betito" Flores Jr., 45, passed away on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013.
Mr. Flores was born on Aug. 8, 1968 in McAllen to Heriberto and Maria Blanca Flores.
Survivors include his father, Heriberto Flores; maternal grandmother, Elisa Treviño; brothers, Javier and Rene Flores; sisters, Aida Venegas, Elizabeth Hernandez and Martha Torres.
He was preceded in death by his mother.
A funeral mass was held on Nov. 5 at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in La Joya. Interment followed at La Joya City Cemetery.


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The Möbius strip or Möbius band (UK /ˈmɜrbiəs/ or US /ˈmoʊbiəs/; German: [ˈmøːbi̯ʊs]), also Mobius orMoebius, is a surface with only one side and only one boundary component. The Möbius strip has themathematical property of being non-orientable. It can be realized as a ruled surface. It was discovered independently by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 1858.[1][2][3]
A model can easily be created by taking a paper strip and giving it a half-twist, and then joining the ends of the strip together to form a loop. In Euclidean space there are two types of Möbius strips depending on the direction of the half-twist: clockwise and counterclockwise. That is to say, it is a chiral object with "handedness" (right-handed or left-handed).
The Möbius band (equally known as the Möbius strip) is not a surface of only one geometry (i.e., of only one exact size and shape), such as the half-twisted paper strip depicted in the illustration to the right. Rather, mathematicians refer to the (closed) Möbius band as any surface that is topologically equivalent to this strip. Its boundary is a simple closed curve, i.e., topologically a circle. This allows for a very wide variety of geometric versions of the Möbius band as surfaces each having a definite size and shape. For example, any closed rectangle with length L and width W can be glued to itself (by identifying one edge with the opposite edge after a reversal of orientation) to make a Möbius band. Some of these can be smoothly modeled in 3-dimensional space, and others cannot (see section Fattest rectangular Möbius strip in 3-space below). Yet another example is the complete open Möbius band (see sectionOpen Möbius band below). Topologically, this is slightly different from the more usual — closed — Möbius band, in that any open Möbius band has no boundary.
read more, this is basically explaining life right now


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Yep... another busy week... so let's get on with Airborne! Pipistrel is proving itself to be an amazing company... again and again. Just a couple of weeks after introducing its new four-place hybrid "Panthera" airplane, Pipistrel has taken the wraps off of its brand new Alpha Trainer ... which as the name suggests, is designed as a primary training airplane. Hawker Beechcraft has announced that it has reached an agreement with a significant number of its senior secured lenders and senior bondholders on the terms of a financial restructuring plan that will strengthen the company for the future and eliminate approximately $2.5 billion in debt and
Airborne 10.31.14: SpaceShipTwo Lost, GAMA's 3Q/14 Report, AEA Counters FAA
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text: New York Fashion Week: Y-3 Fall 2010 by coutorture 2/14/10 0 Reactions 0 Shares Print 0 0 0 0 0 Previous Photo 1 of 229 View on One Page ADVERTISEMENT ( more slides) Next What's Your Reaction? Thanks for your reaction Don't forget to share this with your friends! 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 New York Fashion Week: Y-3 Fall 2010 New York 02/14/10 Getty Read More 2010 Fall Fashion Week2010 Fall New York Fashion Week2010 New York Fashion Week2010 Fashion WeekSplashY-3GalleryRunway Splash Joey Lawrence Talks Splash's Big Finale and '90s Nostalgia 5/07/13 Paris Fashion Week: Thierry Mugler Fall 2010 3/12/10 Paris Fashion Week: Miu Miu Fall 2010 3/11/10 Paris Fashion Week: Cerruti Fall 2010 3/10/10 Paris Fashion Week: Hermes Fall 2010 3/10/10 Paris Fashion Week: Louis Vuitton Fall 2010 3/10/10 y-3 Y-3 Spring 2013 9/09/12 Our Favorite Looks From Fashion Week So Far: Day 4 2/13/11 New York Fashion Week: Y-3 Spring 2010 9/13/09 New York Fashion Week: Y-3 Fall 2009 5/12/09 Fab Gift Guide: Metro Man 12/10/07 Get a Personalized Fashion & Beauty Newsletter Help us customize your newsletter by selecting your interests (optional): Beauty Tips Street Style Celebrity Style Fashion & Beauty News What's Your Reaction? Thanks for your reaction Don't forget to share this with your friends! 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Reactions Link Love They took over the fashion world, and now they're making music — Style.com You can wear a wide leg, no matter your body type — Who What Wear Forget stilettos, wedges are where it's at — InStyle The one Fall outfit combo you need to master — The Cut Do these fashion finds take things too far? — HuffPost Style This little purchase goes a long way — Fashionista Here's why you should probably take a trip to the mall this weekend — Racked If you're a true fashion girl, you should drink water like one, too — Stylelist 10 things to learn about Tom Ford — The Fashion Spot Latest Fashion


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Come enjoy the coast of Nuevo Vallarta in your brand new penthouse
level villa at the five star resort of Villa la Estancia. Villa la
Estancia is the first 5 star oceanfront resort in Nuevo Vallarta.
My wife and I traveled to Nuevo Vallarta 2 years ago and visited
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|Rate Period
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Feb 1 2014 - Feb 1 2015
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Race Against The Skunk!!Me, my mom, little sister and my best friend were taking a walk once, around 9 pm, so it was dark out. We were slowly walking and talking, while my little sister played around us. All of a sudden, my little sister stopped walking and said "Look mommy! A dog!" We all turned around to see a skunk staring at us!!!!! It was a few feet away, on the front porch of a house on the street we were walking on. We all froze, knowing that if it felt threatened, it would spray us. And those things can spray QUITE FAR!!! We counted to 3 and all started running in different directions, my mom picked up my sister and ran straight to our house which was down the street, me and my best friend ran across the street and down, then made it to my house. We got soo scared of being sprayed. But now, when we look back at it, we must've looked like a bunch of lunatics running in all directions LOL Hey, at least we didn't get sprayed!
jewel76 36-40, F 0 Mar 10, 2011