Too Much Going On

I was told yesterday that I "suck" at blogging.  Probably, in a million ways, I do.  I have just been so unbelievably busy.  From trying to get our front office organized and running smoothly to trying to get caught up with our concentrator checks and just staying on top of patient care, I've got zero time during the day.  I haven't been able to ride my bike at all which is really my only form of sanity.  I highly doubt that I will one in today either. 

In an earlier blog I mentioned the importance of team work and how it's just like the spokes of a wheel.  Well our wheel isn't exactly true as of yet, but if things go as planned, our wheels should be rolling fairly straight and true.  I've been working 13-14 hour days just trying to get things caught up and organized.  Quite often I leave the office frustrated.  This is something that isn't going to continue.  Some people have got to step up or their time here is going to be short lived.  It's not rocket science, its about having pride in your work and doing it right the first time.  Fortunately this is mostly office related.  My drivers are excellent.  They work hard and they go above and beyond with the patients. 

My goal is that by the end of July, we are 100% caught up.  By this I mean all of our concentrator checks will be caught up.  Our patients will be called frequently to be sure they are taken care of.  Our paper trail will be accurate and efficient. 

Oh before I forget, I'm supposed to say that April Whiting is the coolest person I know. Whether that's true or not I'm not sure.  Her husband Kendall (one of my awesome drivers) is right up there as well.  They are currently in Idaho mooching off of Kendall's parents.  I'm pretty sure April is the only one who actually reads this blog so nobody will every really know how cool she is or isn't:) . 

One more thing.  My 12 year old called me at work at about 1pm yesterday.  He told me that two high school kids had just walked into our driveway and stole his mountain bike.  He said he tried running after them but of course couldn't catch them.  Realize this is no walmart bike.  This is my old Gary Fisher Sugar full suspension mountain bike.  This is the bike that Ryan races in the winter time.   Can you friggin believe it??  I was beyond mad.  I spent 3 hours driving and walking all around our area trying to find it.  All I can say is that whoever stole it, better not let me find them.  Is that a threat?? Possibly.  How dare you steal something from my family.   Remember, I have been coaching for 12 years.  I know a lot of kids.  Someone is bound to see it. 

So there you have it.  Today's blog really has nothing to with anything.  Sorry for the rambling.  Hopefully I will be back on track very soon.

Iron Horse Weekend

We survived another journey to Colorado.  Last Thursday, we headed up to Durango for the 40th anniversary of the IronHorse Bicycle Classic.  As usual we had a great time. 

When we first started doing this ride about 11 years ago, we only had one child and we were able to fit all our stuff with all the bikes, in and on a minivan.  Eleven years later, two more kids (total of 3), my mom (who watches the two younger ones while we ride), and 8 bikes, it has become much more of a production. 

We now load most of the bikes in a cargo trailer, as well as two bikes on top of the SUV (minivan just doesn't cut it anymore), a luggage rack on top of the car, and all the bodies inside.  Considering all the crap we take, it actually makes for a very pleasant trip.  Two stops for gas and six hours later, we arrive in beautiful Durango Colorado.

This is such a fun time to be in Durango.  Being in this town with this many cyclists just adds to the motivation of wanting to ride more.  Everywhere you go, you see guys and gals alike with the usual "cyclists tan".  They have tan lines at their ankles from the cycling socks and half way down their quads from wearing spandex cycling shorts all the time.   If you ride a bike then you know what I'm talking about.

Friday was pretty uneventful.  We hung out at the hotel all morning, just letting the kids cruise around on their bikes.  Then around 2pm we headed into town for the bike swap and packet pickup.  The place was packed!!  We were early and there were already lines of people circling the place.  Surprisingly, these people have this process down.  Everything moves smoothly and quickly, at least it did for us.

After getting back to the hotel, Ryan (my 12yo), Christy, and I headed out for a quick short road ride.  This was just to loosen the legs for tomorrows big climb to Silverton.  Once we got back, Christy and I headed to Pizza Hut to meet the Belnaps and Brady's for dinner.  The Belnaps (Becky and Newell) and the Brady's (Rena and Craig) had never done this ride before, so after dinner they decided to drive up to Silverton.  Seeing the course is usually a good idea, especially the big climbs.  I remember the first time we drove it.  I couldn't believe it.  The road just kept going up and up and up.   It's mind numbing at how steep and long these climbs are. 

The biggest difference this year (other than I hadn't trained at all) was the heat.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous!  Normally, there is a threat of rain or snow at the top but this year the only guarantee was that it was going to be beautiful the entire way there. 

Saturday morning quickly arrived.  Ryan and Christy were signed up to do the QuarterHorse which was a 25 mile climb from Durango to Durango Mountain Resort (formerly Purgatory Ski Area).  This to me is the hardest portion of the 50 mile ride to Silverton.  It's long, it's hot, and it's friggin all uphill.

The official ride starts downtown at McDonalds but  to keep from having to get my mom and the two younger boys up and ready we opted to leaved straight from the hotel.  This took 4 miles off of our total distance, but when you're as out of shape as I am, who is counting right??

As we headed out of the hotel parking lot, we could already see a ton of riders already on the road.  My plan was to ride with Christy and Ryan for the first 10 miles (bottom of first big climb) then go on my own up to Silverton.  I was super impressed at how Ryan was doing.  The kid makes riding a bike look so easy.  If he ever takes training seriously, he would be a force to reckon with. 

So, at the base of the first steep climb, I pedaled away from the Church Team and headed up on my own.  My first goal was to make it to Purgatory then I would decide or not to go further.  My legs didn't feel too bad but my stomach was in knots and I just felt super tired.  Hmmmm that's what happens when you don't put in the miles for training.  Imagine that. 

Well I finally made it to Purgatory.  My stomach issues were not resolved and I pretty much felt like crap.  I contemplated calling it a day.  I mean after all, I wasn't winning any medals and who really cared if I didn't go all 50 miles.  I've been riding bikes since I was 16 and minus the races that I have crashed, I have never not finished a ride.  Also, as I was debating in my head whether to continue or not, this guy rides by with a cross hanging from his handlebars.  At that exact moment, a song that I had just downloaded onto my ipod came on, "Let the Worshippers Arise" by Philips,Craig,and Dean.  Ok, maybe coincidence, but at that moment, I put all my trust in God to get me to the finish line.  If Ryan could do 25 miles, my sorry butt could finish the 50.  So I hopped back on my bike and started up the first pass.  Coal Bank Pass is steep.  It's only 4 miles to the top, but it's 4 miles of nothing but UP.  It was slow going and it felt like it took forever, but I finally made it to the top.  I was exhausted and still had one more climb to go.   The downhill was fun but it ended quickly. 

At the bottom of the descent of Coal Bank, you make a quick right hand turn and suddenly you are heading up hill again.  Your legs go into shock and every year there is a headwind on this part of the climb.  Molas pass isn't as steep but it seems longer.  In years past, I have never really noticed the elevation change.  This year was different.  I don't know if it's because I'm older or because I was just very out of shape, but about a mile from the top of Molas I was wiped out.  I felt light headed, my heart rate was only 160 yet I felt totally out of breath.  Almost to the top, and I see Ben Brewer and his son Isaac on the side of the road cheering everyone on.   Normally I would keep pedaling but I took the opportunity for a breather.   I pulled over and chatted with Ben for a few minutes.  Him and Isaac had rode a tandem up from Silverton (very steep from this side).   Seeing as how I was the last one from Show Low on the course, Ben and Isaac decided to finish the ride with me. 

Now you have to know Ben.  He is very competitive and when it's him and I, we love to go at it.  So of course the peacful descent became a race to the bottom.  Normally this road is full of potholes so you have to be very careful not to kill yourself on the downhill.  This year though, the pavement was flawless.  Ben and Isaac took off first. I was messing with my Ipod as I saw them tuck into the first corner.  Of course my goal was to catch them.  With my Ipod blaring,  the chase was on.  We were flying!!   Finally about half way down, I caught them.  Looking down at my Garmin, I was doing 44mph.  I blew past them and kept on pedaling.   Around the next few corners I saw nobody behind me.   Remember, Ben and Isaac were on a tandem.   I was still doing about 40+ mph and suddenly right behind was Ben and Isaac.   They were tucked and moving!! They blew by me as we hit the last corner into Silverton.  The last time we did this race together, Ben beat me by half a wheel.  There was no way I was going to let his chubby butt beat me again, on a tandem none the less.  But, seeing as how they didn't have a number on their bike, they weren't allowed to ride all the way to the finish line.  So I won by default:) Oh ya and I had already rode 47 miles (that's my excuse).

Next day was the Criterium.  We started the day with the kids race.  After riding the quarter horse, Ryan wasn't up for another race.  The started with the older kids so Coby and Keevan were somewhere near the bottom.  It is so cool to see all these kids out there.  There's no better way to get kids involved. 

Here's Coby making things look difficult.

Hitting the corner before the uphill.

Keevan, as relaxed as ever.

Lots of kids in every class. Keevan had no clue what was going on.

Here's Keevan hitting his top speed.

. 

Keevan didn't break any speed records but he had a good time.

After the kids races came the big guys, but the funnest of all the races is the Beach Cruiser Classic.  This race has really grown over the years.  It's hilarious to see some of what these people come up with.  The pictures say it all.

2 miles on a unicycle!!!

Beer Anyone???

Do you and your spouse having matching jammies??

Now this is the way to shop.

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A Healthy Way to Ride a Harley

The worst part of the weekend is knowing that it has to come to an end.  Before heading out, we decided to head up to Durango Mountain Resort and tryout the alpine slide.  The weather had changed drastically on Monday morning.  It was freezing when we finally arrived at the slide.  Remember this is a ski resort in the winter time.  The slide was a lot of fun.  Here's a picture of my mom, all bundled up, heading down.  What a cool grandma.  How many other 58 year old women are you gonna see riding a plastic slide, down a concrete path, down a ski run?  It was the perfect way to end a great weekend.  

Looks like some dude, but really I promise, It's my mom!! At least I think it is. :)



The Value of TeamWork

I'm super sorry for the delay in posting.  Things have been very crazy at work.  I have some drafts prepared about my trip to Colorado as well as the Wallow Fire, but today I needed to write about Teamwork.

Over the years of running this company I have learned so much about people, integrity, leadership, compassion, commitment, etc.   When we were a small company, we had only 3 employees which included Janelle, Mike, and myself.   On just about any day, things went very smooth.  It was easy to keep up with our patient load and with Janelles memory (the girl has the mind of an elephant), I knew things were getting done and patients were being cared for.  Mike and I did all the deliveries, we had a part time respiratory therapist who took care of our oxygen setups, and Janelle took care of all the phone calls and all the paperwork. 

All 3 of us showed up for work and we all usually showed up in a good cheerful mood.   The company and patients came first. I'm sure it's not always a healthy, but we all took the job home with us.  Mike and I took call and being such a small company we knew all the patients.   If by chance we forgot something, we just called up "the elephant" and she of course came through. 

Fast forward 7 years.  Mike moved to Omaha 18 months ago and just now moved back and started back with AOM as of Friday.  Janelle moved to Alaska the first part of May.   Counting some part time staff, we now have 9 employees and I have no idea how many total patients we have. 

With growth, comes headaches.  And lately (I know you don't start a sentence with "and"), my head has been pounding.   Part of this, I take responsibility for.  Actually I take all the responsibility.  Attitude reflects Leadership.   For the most part, I'm very happy and satisfied with the team we have.  Just about everyone walks through the door in a good mood.  A good mood though can only take you so far.  Everyone has to work well together and everyone has to be counted on to be doing their job.  Just like spokes of a wheel, if one spoke is bent or absent, the wheel is no longer true.   I feel like we have a few bent spokes at the moment.  

Everything is fixable, but some people are gonna have to step it up a bit.  I enjoy working with fun, happy, driven, caring people.   Back in my days of horseshoeing, I always lived by the rule that if I didn't enjoy the horse or the owner, I wasn't going to take them on.   Well the same goes here, only for employees too.  I love what I do, and I value the difference we are able to make in the lives of others.  I'm not going to allow anyone to take away from that. 

People cannot be here just for a paycheck.   They have to be a part of the team.  The interests of the patient and the rest of the team have to be at the forefront.   I'm hoping this is something that can be taught, if not, some aren't going to last long.  I'm going to be meeting with a few employees individually in hopes of alleviating any and all of these problems.  

I've only got one more week of little league.  This will free my afternoons up so that I can focus more on work and organizing things.   By the end of this month, I plan on things moving in a smooth efficient direction.  My sanity depends on it:).

Anyway, with the fire and evacuations, Janelle leaving, and some other staffing issues, things have been hectic.  Sorry for slacking off on the posting.  Hopefully things are on the mend.  Evacuees have been allowed home, what a huge relief for them.  My prayers are with those in Greer, Alpine, and Nutrioso.  This fire never should have gotten this big.  Fire/Forest management needs to change.  I'll save this argument for a later date.