YouTube - Contrabass Saxophone

YouTube - Contrabass Saxophone

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Komen for the Cure: LEE & JODI CURRENT PLEDGE PAGE

Komen for the Cure: LEE & JODI CURRENT PLEDGE PAGE

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State Fair, Bicycle Racing, and Camping

Hello Bloggerati! It's been awhile since I've posted. Mainly because I'm getting converted to Facebook and Twitter. You can follow the links on the side bar of this Blog to follow me on those sites.
Anyway, Jodi, Jordyn, and I had a great time at the Iowa State Fair. Lots of decadent food, free entertainment, livestock, people, FAT people, expensive beer, and ran into good old friends! Always seems like you need more time there though.
I just completed the Altoona Criterium Races series. Fun, fun racing! If you pick the "A" race you get to race with the cat 1,2,3's. This makes for really fast racing. You're basically racing in the same race as some of the fastest racers in the Midwest. It makes for a great work out and helps you get much faster for in your own category of racing. This last race was exciting. I nailed a cone on the course, which almost ripped my handle bars out of my hands at 30mph! Close call! I ended up hanging on in the race for a mid pack finish.
Jodi and my schedules are finally easing up a bit, allowing us to start planning some camping trips. We love tent camping! Headed to a private campground this weekend near Des Moines for some much needed reconnect time. Other campgrounds in the running are; Backbone, Ledges, and Keomah, just to name a few.
Oh, almost forgot to mention, my last bicycle race series of my season is coming up on Labor Day weekend in St. Louis. The Gateway Cup. Four days of fast criterium racing with 90+ guys in my category everyday. Going with good friends of ours, Steve and Deisha, and staying at Jodi's sister's Victorian Mansion, where Penny and Rich treat us like Royalty! It's all a great atmosphere, great Italian food, great racing, and awesome friends and family! I can't wait!
See ya! Keep both wheels on the ground!

He who is quiet, agrees!

More about me on my blog at: http://leecurrent.blogspot.com/

Bicycles, Blues, and Barbeque

We had a great weekend at the BBBQ festival in Clear Lake! The racing was fast and exciting. My results weren't as good as I would have liked, but I'm feeling stronger and on Sunday's road race I was in 2nd place with about 500 meters to go but I started my sprint too early and picked the wrong wheel to follow.
My friend, Steve Reyonolds, got entangled with another rider on Saturday's crit and ended up with a hole in the chain stay of his full carbon fiber Trek. Not a good thing. I felt bad for him. Bad luck that day!
The beer was good and cold, the food was tasty, and the music was awesome! I love the Blues! My favorite music to play. I wish I had more time to check out more of the bands. Oh well, maybe next year.
Now I'm focusing on preparing for RAGBRAI. I just have to figure out how many beers it takes to win it! (-;

..

He who is quiet, agrees!

More about me on my blog at: http://leecurrent.blogspot.com/

"The Hangover"

It's time for another cool movie alert! Go and see the new movie "the Hangover". It has a little something I think all of us can relate to in it. Of course not on such a grand scale as the movie melodramatizes, or, if you have partied that hard call me...just kidding. This movie had me rolling with laughter on more than one occasion. The perfect mix of characters to play off each other. Go see it, don't bring your kids unless they're adults already.
P.S. Sneak in your treats......they cost more than the movie tickets!

He who is quiet, agrees!

More about me on my blog at: http://leecurrent.blogspot.com/

Tour de Raccoon!

Jodi and I are planning on ripping up this trail thisweekend! It's an overnight trail ride from Des Moines to Jefferson and back. We're riding with Steve and Deisha, good friends of ours. Planning on 100+ miles on our bicycles. All we need is the weather to cooperate and some quality recovery drinks at the end! More details to follow after the ride. Maybe some pics too!
Link to ride;
http://dmcycleclub.com/tour_raccoon/
He who is quiet, agrees!

More about me on my blog at: http://leecurrent.blogspot.com/

Memorial Day Weekend Bike Races

It's been a busy weekend of racing. This first pic is of me racing up Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa. It was a bad start to my weekend because another guy got into my front wheel the second time up the snake and knocked me off my bike. After running with my bike for two of the switchbacks, before I could get back on my bike, I found myself about a half lap down. I lasted 8 laps before I decided I wasn't super human enough to catch back on.

The next day was Melon City Crit where I lasted 10 laps before my heart rate popped. I was very discouraged after this one. But, I regrouped, put it behind me and focused on the next day.

Monday was the Quad Cities Criterium on memorial day. This is the race I was the most looking forward to! Pancake flat course, Lots of right and left turns, fast, and suits a sprinter. I finished the 14 laps and was in the mix for the field sprint at the end. I ended up 6th place and won enough money to cover my entry fee!

Above is a pic of the category I was racing in. If you look close, you can see me in the middle of the bunch before I decided it was waaaay better to be near the front. This is, by far, my favorite race course.

As a parting shot, the picture below shows it wasn't all hard racing and stress. The girls got together and cheered us on while partaking in some cocktails! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! That's Deisha on the left, my wife Jodi center, and Elisa on the right.

Time Trials, Tulips, Church Gigs, and Star Trek

Slowly improving my Elkhart Time Trial time. Beat my last time by 8 seconds. I averaged 23.6 mph. Time is a funny thing, those seconds just keep on ticking no matter how bad you're suffering.
Tulip Time was crazy as usual. Just one big huge mass of people in my way for three solid days. A bicycle was the preferred mode of transportation. You could sneak in the back streets nab your dutch treats and escape back home before road rage could rear it's ugly head.
I joined a contemporary gospel duo to make it a trio last Sunday at Trinity Church. It was a great impromptu gig. Always fun and inspirational and challenging playing this type of gig.
And in closing, go see the new Star Trek! Great movie! Almost nostalgic. It's like some of the orignal series only with fresh young faces, way better special effects, and Iowa has some cameo appearances! A must see.
Peace Out!

Cool Gig Alert!!

This Saturday, May 2nd, 7:30pm, at the Pella Opera house http://www.pellaoperahouse.org/home.asp

I'll be gigging with the Blue Sky Band out of Dubuque, IA. Many years ago I used to gig with Jon(Hawk)Stravers. He calls me up whenever he's near Pella and we JAM! The band is great! Good vocals, good songs, good talent, good writing, and great venue! So get to Pella, sneak in and out before the Tulip Time crowd hits town and enjoy the show!

Here's a pic from a gig we did last summer at the Simon Estes Ampitheatre on the river in Des Moines.

Dodging Menonite Horse Poop in the Rain!!

Six miles into the rain soaked race course, near the Menonite town of Kalona, two riders went down to the right of me as we hit an unforseen mud covered section of the road. It was a miserable day to race a bicycle, but aren't they all in the spring here in Iowa. Thirty-nine miles of open road covered with rain, mud patches, and horse poop. I survived the first thirteen miles only to miss the break. I sprinted like a mad man and caught the breakaway group only to find I'd redlined my heart rate right before a nice climb. I fell back, joined another dropped group and outsprinted them at the finish line. It was a "character" building day at the Iowa City Road Race.

The next day I raced the Old Capitol Criterium in Iowa City. It was, again, wet and rainy. I had a bad start beacause I couldn't get my shoe clipped in the pedal, so I played catch up for two or three laps. Just when things were looking good and I was deep in the pack again, a group of riders went down to the right of me on the "wet", 30mph, down hill right turn. They all came skidding right at me. I had to take the curb to miss them and found myself out of the lead pack draft..aaaaarrrgh! I ended up hanging on with a couple of the other riders and ended up with seventeenth place. But hey, the beer was sure good while I watched the rest of the categories race! Jodi was great, she and others cheered for me the whole time. She took a ton of pics and even got in a little shopping.

Here's some more pics for ya.

This last pic is what happens to you when not enough oxygen gets to your brain!

Track Meets and Cycle Racing

A very busy weekend.

Watched my daughter run the hurdles at the Osky Relays. They had 1st place locked up, but one of her teamates tripped up during the shuttle hurdle relay, they ended up 3rd. (Still in the money!)

Jodi and I headed up to Dubuque for my 1st debut at the Eagle Point Criterium. Not a bad weekend, I guess I'm in better shape than I thought. I ended up hanging on til the end and joining in on the field sprint. Wound up in 7th place.

We ate at an awesome place on main street, the 200 block on a corner. Forgot the name of the place (Brick....something), but good food, good service, and good atmosphere. We'll be back!

Easter Weekend

What a great weekend! Good weather, good bike ride, good track meet, good family dinner, and good birthday!
Cycled apx 45 miles with some of the guys. Started out a little cool, 35 degrees, but ended just right. Ended the ride in Knoxville, where I watched my daughter Megan place 3rd and 4th in her hurdles. Sunday was Easter and my birthday. Jesus and I have something in common this year! We had my whole family over for ham dinner. It was a great celebration of Easter, Leanne- my twin and my birthdays, and a welcome home to Jodi from Europe, and my parents' anniversary. All in all a memorable weekend.

..

The man wants to wander, and he must do so, or he shall die....The world was "all before me" and there was pleasant excitement in plunging single-handed into its chilling depths.
-- Sir Richard Francis Burton

Cycling and Prom

Cycling! Yes! I and three of my teammates rode about 40 miles today. Yep! In this gale force wind we had today! It was one hell of a workout going out the 20 miles into the wind. Man, but when we turned around and came back.........Hell Yes! Heaven on a bicycle! Many times going up the hills, I'd look down at my cyclocomputer and we'd be doing 30mph! That's Uphill people! NICE! Oh yeah, and between 40-45mph downhill and on some of the flats. Sigh.......the return leg of the trip made all the suffering going out worth it.


My son, Alex, went to prom tonight with his girlfriend Alicia. They looked like a great couple. Dressed up very nicely. I took some good video of them. The Opera House was decorated up nicely. It should be a great time for them.


Well....that's all I know today, except I'm missing Jodi alot and can't wait for her return from Europe. I'm counting down the days. I even tried to put a countdown timer on this blog, but it didn't seem to work right. So I'll count down the old fashioned way. In my head. Out for now.





My wife ,Jodi

See ya soon, babe!

Cool Movie Alert: About Wine!

This is a movie I've recently rented. If you are at all curious about the American entrance on the world stage of wine, check it out. It's funny and enlightening.
Following is a review from Montelena's website;

Montelena in the Movies
Bottle Shock Now Available in DVD
During 2006 we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the 1976 Paris Tasting, at which Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay won top honors. Now the independent film Bottle Shock, loosely based on events leading up to that historic day, is available in DVD. Bottle Shock is a fanciful and fictional tale featuring prominent actors: Bill Pullman as Jim Barrett, Chris Pine as Bo Barrett, and Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier. Meanwhile, for a highly readable account of events as they actually unfolded we recommend The Judgment of Paris by George Taber.Thirty years on, Bottle Shock is generating great buzz yet again about Chateau Montelena wines. They continue to be in short supply. Be sure your cellar is stocked!

Late Night wine

My first ever Blog post! Just sippin' some wine tonight, wishing I was sharing a glass with my wife who is currently on a european adventure. This is a candid shot of us at a local winery, checking out one of our favorite blues bands.

Rode my bike an hour tonight to burn out the acid in my legs.