So here’s John Mayer covering Van Halen’s Roth-era song, “Panama.” Mayer really got into character there on guitar, even getting the latest Edward Van Halen look down, with his shirtless jumping around. Good stuff. Mayer’s a really competent player to be sure.

John Mayer Covers Van Halen’s ‘Panama’

So a co-worker is going up to Kings Dominion this weekend and it got me and another co-worker into a reminiscent mood about that old amusement park just north of Richmond, Virgina. I’ve been going to Kings Dominion since the late 80’s/early 90’s, when I lived in Maryland, Virgina and then North Carolina. I even had season passes for multiple seasons.

Kings Dominion has gone through so many changes, expansions, etc. When I first started going, it had Hannah Barbara tie-ins. Then, it was bought by Paramount and we got ride tie- ins to all their movies and characters from those films – guys in race jump suits from “Days of Thunder” and Vulcans and Klingons from “Star Trek.” Now Paramount has sold off its parks to Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., owner of the Sandusky, Ohio Cedar Point – site of my first roller coaster ride.

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So with the long and extended weekend, Amanda and I wanted to relax, but also created a list of things to get done around the house – cleaning, etc. Today was the day we blitzed that list so that the next three days we have off will be very relaxing and devoid of chores. Tonight, we’re doing a date night – dinner and a movie at Brier Creek.

Tomorrow, I don’t think much is planned, and with the possibility of thunderstorms, I’m not even sure I’ll get any outdoor bike training in. I might be glued to the trainer watching the Tour de France instead. Despite Amanda’s protests, I see a lot of GTA IV and Rock Band in the coming days as well.

Happy 4th of July everyone! I started out the day off with a nice 66+ mile ride. Now we’re relaxing and will soon head out to Holly Springs to hang out with Bret, Tina and the rest of the crew. Have a safe and happy Independence Day!

So the original plan was to get up first thing this morning. But, instead, given that we are only allowed lawn watering Wednesday and Saturday, I watered the lawn first thing this morning and played some GTA IV on the Xbox. That ate up a couple hours and we then went out to lunch and ran errands. Luckily, I kept the motivation to ride this afternoon once we returned home, as I wanted to record a course on my Garmin Edge 305 GPS to use to race against in future training (including tomorrow morning’s bright and early training)

Man, it’s hot out there, with the sun beating down! I have a standard course from the house out to the local lake and back that clocks in just under 20 miles – an hour out and back, which is perfect for squeezing in some training after work, or pretty much any time. I started out fast, with a high cadence on the way out, dully aware of some wind at my back.

Over time, the midday sun and temperature in general was really draining. So much of the road course I picked was very exposed, with little shade and tree cover to help. On the way back, it was a bit of a struggle – a strong wind pushing against me was like climbing the whole way back. I kind of expected the heat to be an adversary in today’s training, but the wind was a total surprise. Regardless, I finished the ride in almost exactly an hour, and have an initial course to try out tomorrow morning to race against myself (virtual partner). I’m really looking forward to using the virtual partner to up my training efforts – including my bike commutes to and from work.

Falls Lake Training Course

So while I’ve been consistently bike commuting, I’ve had a lull in my race schedule and even my training a bit. Last race I did was back on Memorial Day. OK, I guess I’m not that far out, but I’ve had teammates that have done 4 and 5 races since then. Between work, family, weddings, traveling, it’s been really tough to schedule races.

There’s a criterium Sunday in Greensboro, NC, but I’ll be in no shape with this weekend’s wedding festivities and friends from out of town around. Oh well, plenty of more races.

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Not much going on here.. another weekend come and gone with not a lot to show.. some relaxing today.. both Amanda and I ended up with stomach aches… not sure what that’s about. But didn’t get half the stuff done this weekend I would have liked, but oh well. This happens when it’s busy busy and travel travel. Some down time is allowed. I guess this weekend fell into that category.

This weekend, I did finally get the visuals up for the 2008 Patriots Criterium in Fayetteville, NC on Memorial Day. All the pictures can be viewed in our Cycling Set on Flickr. Amanda got some great pics of me and my teammates across the three races the Tri-Cyclists competed in down there in Fayetteville.

So Bongo’s back to the kennel until Sunday and we’re back on the Interstate. This time we’re heading South to South Carolina. Sadly, it’s not for a wedding thus time, but rather to a funeral. Amanda’s grandmother passed away a week ago today, and the funeral is tomorrow. While it’s not the best of circumstances, it’s nice to get Amanda’s whole family together.

So today was a busy day, but we got a lot done. Amanda’s parents are in town and we’ve been having fun with them – started out with breakfast out at Camille’s, did some shopping and then we did a bunch of household stuff. I whipped the yard back into shape – mowing, edging, weed-wacking, fertilizing and some weed killing. We ended the evening with some grilling out and eating out in the backyard and then played a long game of Cranium – perfect holiday weekend.

So it’s like 8:30 Saturday night. Mike and Alycia’s was a blast and we’re now barrellng down 95 southbound heading home. Without any stops, the Garmin says we’ll be home right at midnight. There will be stops, and we’ll be sleeping in tomorrow for sure. More later (or tomorrow) from our home state of North Carolina.