Sheppard AFB, Texas

Graduation came and went, along with Commissoning Ceremony, where the Seniors officially became Lieutenants.  I headed the ceremony, which was 10 times as much work as I had planned for.  I put in a ton of time, and grew a few grey hairs over the last 4 weeks getting everything ready.  The ceremony was outside, and we lucked out and completed the Commissioning without any wind.  The entire night was a ton of work, but I'm pretty sure everyone had a great time.

Biking has been going well.  I've gone out a bunch since school ended, including a ton of night riding.  I got kicked off of a fire trail heading into Jacks Valley, by the police; supposedly it's too dangerous to ride back there in the dark?  Oh well.  Ah yes, just last weekend I was riding, just about dusk, when I went over the handlebars going about 15 miles an hour.  My front wheel turned sideways in a rut/root hole, and I went head over heels.  I did pull some ninja shit and simultaneously unclipped and rolled sideways, landing only on my shoulder and elbow.  I felt pretty stupid, but shook it off and kept going, with a little daze, however.

As I said, summer is here, but I wont be home until July, training must come first.  I'm currently at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, also known as the muggiest place I've ever been to.  The 105 degree temps mixed with the humidity really take a toll, but it's all a trade off.  Being at an operational Air Force training base, even for just 2 days so far, has given me an appreciation for how much work every airman truly puts into their jobs.  The younger airmen who are still in Tech School have to walk at attention everywhere, and march 2 wide if there is more than 1 person walking.  It's interesting to see the similarities and differences between their "Freshmen year" and mine.

My group of 9 people went this morning and spoke to the 1 Star on base, along with the base, Command Chief and a few Master Sergeants, getting the perspective and insight to what the 'real' Air Force is all about. After lunch, we were able to spend a little time at the training facilities with the Airmen, talking with their main leader, Master Sergeant Small, he was huge, and also funny.  It seems like the comradery within the training area seemed very positive, which is great to see.

I'm excited for the next two weeks, I'll get to spend time with Security Forces and shoot some guns and I'll get a ride along in a T-38 and spend time in the fighter squadron.  We get the weekends off to relax, along with every afternoon to do what ever we want.  I plan on working out, along with spending some time at the pool cooling down from the heat.  I hope everyone is well, take care.


Matt

Night Ride!

So it was my first ride in a while, the weather was finally nice, no snow, and I decided to try out my new lights.  Here's a quick review I wrote for them.


A few weeks ago I contacted Patrick from BikeRay USA, and asked about ordering a set of lights. He was very helpful and suggested I use the BikeRay-I and the BikeRay-II lights for my type of riding. I used the BikeRay-I on my helmet and the II on my bars. My typical ride is 14 miles of mostly twisty single-track through the forest in Colorado, Falcon Trail specifically. In quick summary, all I can say is WOW, these lights really performed beyond anything I was expecting. 

I received the lights within a week ordering them, and was blown away at the quality of the packaging. Each light came in its own box, with the light itself, a charger, a batter, and a helmet mounting strap with extra mounting equipment for the handlebars. Opening the lights was like opening the perfectly wrapped present on Christmas, nothing better. The batteries came fully charged ready to go, which made my first ride that much better. 





After about 5 minutes of set up on my bike and helmet, I set off for my first night ride of my life. Starting around dusk, I initially had the lights on low mode, which is more than sufficient even for dark cloudy nights like tonight. I did however switch both lights to high about 30 minutes after sundown to see their true potential. Having the wider beam on the bars allowed for better overall coverage, while the light on my helmet with a little narrower beam allowed for easy cornering. Riding the single-track with both lights on high was even too bright at times; I ended up finishing the last half of the ride with the bar light on low. 

Even though this was my first time riding at night, I was very comfortable with everything, especially with these lights. I’d say my “downhill” speed was about 90% of that in the day, while my flat and uphill speeds were 95-100% of daylight’s. Honestly though, these were so bright that on a straight trail, I could see rocks coming from over 50 yards away, just like in the day. I have 20-15 vision and can claim without a doubt that the lights will not be the downfall to your night riding. Because it was my first time, I was a little timid with my riding, but tonight’s ride might have been the best ride of my life. I saw 18 deer, 4 coyotes, 2 baby hooters and a rabbit, non of which would you see in the day. 


Here's the first hooter I saw... haha



Riding at night is a whole new experience, and with these lights selling for around $100 for the lamp and a 4+ hour battery to accompany it, you really can’t go wrong. 

(and sorry about the poor quality pictures, I was my own cameraman tonight)

Pictures don't do justice...






I really wish this one came out better than it did  

Night riding is truly a blast, and while it is easier to get distracted and lose focus, nothing matches the perfect silence that riding in the woods at night does.


Hope everyone's doing well, sorry for the short hiatus from the blog, I'll try to stay on top of it a little more...  Take care!


Matt

Bring on Spring

Wow, the weather has been amazing lately.  I got in 2 solid rides this weekend, no where near where I need to be but its a start.  School has been pretty busy, only 4 weeks of classes left; it's pretty crazy... I have some sad news, I got my braces on this past week.  My teeth don't really hurt, its mostly my gums but I'm sure I'll get used to it before long.  I never thought I would be getting braces on at the ripe young age of 20, considering I had them in elementary and middle school, hmm...  Oh well.

So biking this week: I didn't get out during the actual week due to school work and play offs for flickerball.  Side note: Flickerball is an intramural sport here at school.  It is much like Ultimate Frisbee, but you use a football rather than a Frisbee.  Each squad has a team, so 40 teams overall, and right now my team has made the Final 4.  One more game until the Championship, but we'll see if that happens...

Back on track, biking.  So, I was super busy this week with school, briefings, appointments, labs, and flickerball, and didn't get out on the trails until Friday.  However, come Friday and Saturday I got some good rides in, along with two rides on the Falcon Trail last weekend that I didn't write about, oops.  This past Friday, I rode the falcon trail quicker than I ever had, about an hour and 30 minutes, and still had some energy at the end.  Comparing that with my hour and 45 minutes of a few months ago finishing completely exhausted, I'd say my weeks of conditioning down at the Gym did help quite a bit.

Yesterday I started on the Falcon Trail, then detoured back and around through Jacks Valley.  A very weird route, but I wanted to mix it up.  From there, I rode next to the train tracks until I reached the stadium, then jumped back on the Falcon trail to finish my 20 mile ride.  I downloaded an app called Map My Ride that marks my distance traveled, time, elevation and all of those sort of things.  This is the link that shows my map with all of that schnazz.  After 2 hours and 20 minutes, I climbed a total of 1,158 feet; not too shabby.

Now that the days are getting longer, I'll have more chances to ride in the afternoons after school.  Also, I'm starting to look for some bike lights to allow me to ride past sundown.  I will actually need a lot of night practice as more than half of the 24 hour race is in the dark...

I leave you with a picture of what the sun can do to your arm after just two hours, even if you're wearing gloves. Take care everyone.

Matt

Slacking

Well the last two weeks have involved very little training due to Recognition, midterms, and Spring Break but I'll be back on the bike before long.  Being back at school after an amazing trip home for break is a bummer, but I'm in the final stretch of this school year, with just 15 lessons left until finals.

Over break, I was able to see family and friends, and catch up on life with everyone close to me.  I ate out way too often and didn't really work out, but oh well.  Just yesterday, my brother and I took my dad out for a day of fun for his birthday.  Coop surprised him with his visit, but the surprises continued on.  After lunch, indoor go-kart racing, and a movie, we came home to my dad's 60th surprise birthday party.  As it turns out, he had 0 idea of the party, and was truly blown away with everyone there.  I'm certain he had a great time, and I'm glad I was able to be there with him for his 60th Birthday.

Along with being home with friends and family, I had the distinct opportunity to ride in an F-16 fighter jet in Phoenix this last Thursday.  Very few people will ever receive a ride, and I know how lucky I am to be given the chance.  I rode in the back seat of the plane during an actual mission, so "Twitch" my pilot, wasn't able to do the maneuvers I had been hoping for; oh well.  We did however roll inverted a few times, pulled 6 G's, had a full afterburner take off, and best of all, I didn't throw up...  The hour and a half I spent in the air was probably the best 90 minutes of my life.  I will remember my flight for quite some time, and now have something tangible to work towards.

I'll get back to the training this week, no worries.  Hope everyone's doing well, take care!

Matt

Week 5, Changes are made

So for the first 4 weeks of my training, I primarily stuck with biking and biking alone.  However, lately I've been mixing in different, smaller workouts with the biking to hopefully return better results in the long run.  I've been doing lots of ab workouts, along with some running after my biking. I've been running some mid paced miles after biking, along with wind sprints during intramural days when I opt to not ride.  Running was near painful the first time I tried after biking, but it's getting a little better.  My ab workouts are also getting more intense as time goes on.  I'm now to the point to where I can do 150 straight sit-ups without anyone holding my feet - good, but I still have a ways to go. Here's the excel sheet for this week...

Some excellent news came my way earlier this week.  I will be getting a ride in an F-16 this Spring Break, just two weeks down the road.  I'm beyond excited and will hopefully come back with some amazing pictures and one amazing story.  I will be required to be in Arizona for 2 or 3 days to get the flight, but I'm staying with my Aunt and Uncle, which should be fun in and of itself.

The cold is on its way back in, with snow expected for the next two days.  And to think, people were saying we were coming out of the Dark Ages already with our 60* temps of last week.  The Dark Ages is the period of time between New Years and Spring Break, where it is always cold, and never sunny.  Spring Break historically marks the end of the Dark Ages, but snow through the end of April wouldn't surprise anyone.  Mid-semester has come and gone quicker than ever.  It's hard to believe just three months from now, college will be half over.  They say time flies when you're having fun, but it seems to also fly when you're bored out of your mind.  I guess that means time always flies??

Just this past Friday, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, came to speak to our school.  Everyone was expecting him to touch on the new Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and how it should be implemented here.  We also thought he was going to cover the Air Force's draw down in numbers, which includes cutting over 400 students permanently here at the Academy.  He didn't talk about those, and really only covered two main points.  The joint operation will continue in full force, which everyone already knew, and that Lockheed Martin has signed a $350 Billion contract agreeing on 2,400 new F-35 Fighter Jets to be produced in the coming years; that I didn't know.  For a reference point, currently there are under 1,200 F-15's in service, and only 168 F-22's ever made.  Adding 2,400 new fighters to the current fleet the Air Force currently has will allow members of the classes of 2012 and 2013 with the perfect opportunity to fly a fighter.  I'm quite happy about that.

Well, just two weeks and I'll be back in wonderful California, relaxing with friends and family.  It's really the only thing keeping me going for right now.  Hope everyone's doing well, I'm sure I'll see you all sooner or later.  Take care!

Matt

When the temps get below negative, everything freezes...

Week 4, One month down

First off, sorry the blog is a day late, I was swamped last night with school...

With one month of solid training under my belt, and only another 7 months to go, I can tell I will be where I want to be, well before my October deadline rolls around.  With school midterms in my immediate future, last week, and this week won't be what the others have been.  I took 3 days off of biking last week, but went to a 2 hour training session on one of those days, focusing on push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups.  Here's the excel sheet for this past week.  Not a ton of miles, but still a pretty good week of training.  I really need to hit the trails and get some fresh air, I can only watch so much girls basketball before going crazy; trust me, I'm half way there...

NCLS, as I spoke about in last weeks blog, was going to be very interesting, and it truly was.  I attended the Medal of Honor panel with Colonel Bud Day, Colonel Leo Thorsness, and Sergeant Sal Giunta.  They spoke individually of their experiences in war.  Colonel Day and Thorsness talking mostly about the POW camp they lived in together for 6 years in Vietnam, and only after hundreds upon hundreds of beatings and years of solitary confinement, they were able to go home.  Sergeant Giunta spoke of a different war, and how he didn't earn the medal for himself, it was his fellow soldiers who lost their lives that earned the medal for their country.  Giunta is quite a humble man, who I really enjoyed listening to.  I also saw Colonel Day and Sergeant Giunta individually, and as they each spoke more into their stories, I agreed more and more with what they were saying.  For them, receiving the Medal of Honor wasn't the best part of their Military careers, rather helping those around them and doing what they had been taught and learned from others, was the highlight.

I didn't see Dick Hoyt like I had hoped, as it turned out I accidentally went to the wrong lecture hall.  Instead, I saw Chad Hennings, a 3x Super Bowl Champ, AFA grad, and an A-10 pilot.  He has lived an interesting life, but hearing his 4 step plan to success was a bit excessive, and while I assume he didn't get paid a lot by the Academy to come out and speak, promoting his book to success over and over was a little much for me.  One athlete I did enjoy listening to was Lopez Lomong, a Sudan native, who escaped a rebel camp, who  eventually made it to the U.S.  His story of overcoming diversity, while sounding cliche, was pretty impressive.  He won two NCAA championships, and competed in the 2008 Bejing Olympics.  He is now looking to make the finals and possibly podium in 2012, with his impressive 3:45 - 1500m time.  Along with the professional athletes, I met and listened to Neil Amonson, a prior AF Special Tactics guy, who now lives the ultimate adventure lifestyle, with base jumping, extreme skiing, skiing with a parachute and everything in between.  He lives the ultimate grown up-child life, doing what he wants, with no one to stop him.  I'm half jealous...


Overall, this last week was pretty productive, with somewhat decent training, only 2 days of school, and 2 fun days of lectures.  Hopefully I'll get out on the trails before long, the warm temps are really calling my name.  Recognition is only 2 weeks away, with spring break just one week behind that, excitement is in the air.


I leave you with a picture of Sergeant Giunta and myself; I was mid sentence, that's why I have a weird smirk on my face.  Take care everyone, I'll see you next week.  

Week 3, the training continues

As life continues to move on around me, I seem to be standing still.  Over the last week, my boredom has hit an all time high.  With the stresses of school and the lack of variety in my life, I feel constricted but am working through it with my training.  I know it sounds bad, but no worries, I'm not depressed or anything of the sort; I'm just ready for a little excitement in my life :)

My biking this week did go well for the most part however, 136.5 miles, which brings my 3 week total to 460 miles.  I don't have any intense riding stories to share, nor do I have any cool scars from a good crash out on the trails.  I am still just riding the stationary bike, watching countless hours of silent TV with only the subtitles to keep me posted on what's really happening.  Oh, here's my excel sheet, by the way...

Side note to ESPN:  If you're going to spend 2 weeks covering every moment up until the start of the Daytona 500, you should probably cover the race too.  Rather than being able to watch the race while I rode today, I was stuck watching College Lacrosse on one TV, with women's basketball on the other.  I would have rather watched a nice long episode of underwater basket weaving.  I mean come on, there's more action in 5 minutes of scuba diving than an entire season of lacrosse or women's basketball.  No offense to either sport but ESPN, you really dropped the ball on this one...

Anyway, this coming week I only have 2 days of classes, which will allow me to relax and hopefully do something a little interesting.  NCLS, the National Character Leadership Symposium, is a conference the Academy puts on every spring.  Every year, over 15 amazing speakers and leaders come here to speak about their life experiences, allowing the Cadets a chance to see the possibilities which may away in the outside world.  Last year, I saw the Secretary of Defense, 2 astronauts, Tommy Lasorda, and the writer of Black Hawk Down.  This year, I am scheduled to see 3 different Medal of Honor Recipients, including Colonel Bud Day, and the most recent recipient of the award, Sergeant Giunta.  I am also seeing the first above the knee amputee of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Two other people I will be seeing are Dick Hoyt, and Neil Amonson.  While not necessarily leaders in battle like the Medal of Honor winners, they both have lived extraordinary lives. Hoyt is the founder of Team Hoyt, and has competed in over 1,000 athletic events in the last 30 years while pushing his paralyzed son, including 28 Boston Marathon's, and 6 Ironman Triathlons.  His determination to train, all for the love of his son is truly amazing.  Neil Amonson is regarded as the worlds best base jumper, and has starred in a few helmet camera commercials. If you've seen the commercial with the base jumper or the skier with the parachute, that's him.  His story will be interesting, but I'm certain the others will be more relevant in my near future.

I leave you with the typical sunrise here at the Academy.  I took this picture just last Friday on my way to morning formation.  There's one good thing about being up early, sunrises here in Colorado are truly amazing, pictures don't do justice.  

Have a good week everyone.  Happy Birthday Mr. Washington, I will enjoy my day off tomorrow.

Take care,
Matt