2012!

Jeez, I guess it's about time for another update... Time does seem to fly, regardless of whether you're having fun or not. But I HAVE been having fun... that's what life is all about, right?

I've been busy, but it's all pretty much with stuff that I've chosen to do. I like my job, and I like the extra projects I take on. Sure, I get stressed at times, but I like the challenges. You're not going to get anywhere in life as a spectator, right?

Aside from work and all that stuff, the lovely wife and I were able to escape up to North Conway for a fun and relaxing weekend. As a life-long snow hater (yes, haters be hating), I've got NO problem heading up to "ski-country" to go hiking. I do empathize with the businesses that rely on that "white powder economy" (not the one from Columbia), but I'm all about the mild winter. READ MORE...

I can't believe I've still been able to get out on the bike so much. I think last year at this time we were piling snow piles on top of snow piles. Maybe mother nature will bitch-slap us in April, but so far, so good. All in all, the trails have been in great shape... Okay, there have been some muddy spots, but overall, rideable! I should clarify... by getting out on the bike, I pretty much mean the cyclocross bike and the mountain bike. I've fallen BACK in love with my freestyle bike, but weather/schedule conflicts have kept me off that bike for a few weeks, and I'm a big sissy on the road bike, so that's up in front of the TV by the rollers.

In fact, at this point, the cyclocross bike is disassembled and ready for end-of-season rejuvenation. I had a great season of racing this past year. Not necessarily in terms of actual results, but in fun. I love cyclocross racing. I did come in 4th in one of my races, NE Velo Cross in New Hampshire. In fact, I was leading for a little while, but that was bound to end at some point. I did well there partly because of the smallish field of racers but also because the course had a BMX section. Booya!

If you're so inclined (i.e. bored, trying to waste time on the Interwebs), you can read more about the racing scene over on the team's Web site:

• New England Regional Championships
• Ice Weasels Cometh
• More racing info!

Anyway, with the 'cross season over, I'm already looking at mountain bike races and, of course, thinking about the upcoming cyclocross season. It's a sickness.

I made it through the holidays with only minor elevations in my baseline stress levels. As is my annual holiday tradition, I was working on Christmas. Christmas eve too. Someone's got to do it, right? All in all, it's great to take a break from the day to day chaos of modern life and spend time with family. Yep, my mom was up from FL, and I was able to finagle my schedule so even though I worked on the holiday itself, I still had some quality time off.

So what else? As you may have guessed from all of the links to the Focus Group Photography site, I've been trying to take more photos. I post the same photos to my personal photo site, but the Focus Group Photography site is a collaborative project that I'm working on with a few friends. I love seeing the world through other people's eyes, and their work motivates me. I hope you spend a few minutes checking out some of the pics there... You'd think that taking a photo per day would require minimal time and effort, but my God, sometimes it take herculean effort. More often than not, while I *take* the photo daily, I don't get a chance to post for a few days, so I'll end up posting a few at once. Anyway, it's a journey, and one of growth and learning, right?

I also had a chance to back up to the University of New England to give physician assistant students lectures on concussions, post-concussion syndrome, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophies and mysathenia gravis. I love having a chance to "give back" and work with PA students. I really did have a good experience while in school, so I'm hoping to help my future colleagues have a good experience too. Plus, it's kind of like a stand-up comedy routine, but with diagrams of complex physiological processes. You think it's easy coming up with jokes about voltage gated calcium channels on an axonal terminal bulb? Well, it's not. In fact, I don't have one. If you can think of one, please let me know.

So, I guess that's about it... Work, travel, riding, racing, holidays, lectures, photography... Hmmm, I'll bet that's what 2012 is going to be about too...

2012 is also likely going to be about more political diarrhea, but don't even get me started.

If you can't wait for the next post (and who can), check out @beardedbiker on Twitter. I'm usually good for at least one witty tweet per day.

Ciao for Niao!