Biking with Danielle, Elise and Mom

Ah...Spring is finally here. Time for biking at the forest preserve near our house. This trail can take hikers and bikers up to hundred or more miles if desired. We took the section closest to our house and took Danielle's new 'Specialized' bike and Elise's trailer for a spin. It was a lot of fun just enjoying the greens. We saw deer along the way. Danielle is definitely had a blast but asked to stop more often than I wanted:-( I want her to practice more so she can come with me moutain biking. Nella was the photographer so the most you will see is her bike. I will take the camera next time. We are planning to do this on a regular basis.
Enjoy the pictures.

Family Biking May 07

Pinoy Champ

I had the liberty to rub elbows with the champ and other celebreties at his last fight in the US. If you don't know who I am talking about, you are neither a boxing fan nor Filipino:-)

Manny Pacman Pacquiao once again showed his skills by knocking out the undefeated Mexican fighter Solis in the 8th round. His punches were too powerful and fast to handle. All the famous Filipino fighers were also at the fight along with the very pretty actress Geneva Cruz who sang the Philippine National Anthem.

It was electrifying indeed during the fight. We also had connection to go to his hotel room and spent a few hours after the fight. There were problably 30 people (in and out) at that room from midnight to around 4 AM. We also heard the Sunday mass at that room as a thanksgiving service for both Pacquiao and Bernabe (a boxer from Catanduanes).

Check out few photos --> http://picasaweb.google.com/mcregal/Pacquiao_AlamoDome

Enjoy.

75 degree and Burnin

Thanks for dropping by my blog. Today, I got my first real mountain biking ride of the year. A friend from South Bend, IN and a couple of friends from work joined me today in the wonderful 75 degree weather. We went to Palos Hills and toar up the trail, it was awesome. My lungs and legs were burning but it was to my enjoyment. Well I can say that 'mcregal' still got the fire to tear up the trails.

It was muddy on some parts but that just made the ride more exciting. The bike was a mess after but it's all shiny again. I cleaned it while grilling some ribs. It was indeed a great day in the midwest.

Stay tuned.

Happy Easter

Hello there. The kids had a blast this weekend. We started by sticking to our 3 year old tradition. We went to Apple Holler up in Wisconsin. There was a story telling session with Granny McGreggor who told the story of Peter Rabbit.

Then we went on a hay ride (tractor pulling a trailer full of families:0). It goes around the entire apple plantation with a little bit of funny narration. Usually there is also a pony ride and train ride but we skipped that this year as it was freezing cold (28 deg) with wind factor. Coldest April for us yet. Elise and Danielle had fun watching the animals (Goats, chickens, ducks, bunnies, etc. Elise knows what all of them say:) They had a quick egghunt as well which was a blast.

Danielle and Mom painted some eggs too which she really enjoyed.

Then we attended Saturday vigil (long 1.5 hours:) then again Easter Sunday mass. We ended it by going to a brunch at Cheesecake Factory. Yum.

Of course Dad enjoyed his weekend by watching Ultimate Fighting Championship where they had the biggest upset yet in the history of the game. George "Rush" St. Pierre got knocked out in the first round. Very very surprising. Hats off to the new champ... Matt Serra. Go UFC.

Click the image above to go view the photos last weekend.

MTB Season!!!

Finally the wait is over. I have been waiting for the weather to warm up a little bit. I am planning to go up to South Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin to ride this weekend. It is going to be a little nippy (38 degrees) but who cares. It warms up once you start pedalling. Last time I went on Mountain Biking was last fall and my legs and chains are getting rusty.

I usually go to John Muir Trail where they have different loops from 1.5 mi to 10 mi. If I get lucky, I might be able to ride maybe 15 mi of offroad (blue and orange).

For those who don't know, I have learned to love MTB when I lived in Arizona when my buddy Eric forced me into it. I used his wife's bike (Diamond Back) and helmet:-) I ended up buying that bike from him. Arizona is heaven for me when it comes to riding since I can be at a different trail every week and not have to drive more than half an hour. They have a good selection of technical to crazy technical trails like the ones in Trail 100 and South Mountain. We also went to Flagstaff where it is green and gruelling. The picture above was taken in Flagstaff a few years ago. That part of the trail is called "Organ Donor". See the cliff on my right side? That explains why. I miss Arizona.

I have since bought a bigger and better bike (Cannondale Lefty Jekyll 600) and moved to...well, a not so MTB friendly Chicago suburb. I have to drive atleast 60 miles to get to a good trail. Otherwise I would be riding on a flat mid-western type trail (yuck!). I try to live this hobby every year and have since recruited a few officemates to ride with me. It is fun.

I will tell you more after the ride..."Id Rather Be Mountain Biking"...

Second Best Thing

Yo! Tivo is the greatest invention! What is second? iRobot Roomba. Dude, this thing cleans for me even when I am not home. I have never been so excited about cleaning in my life. I tell you though, the first two weeks was a waste because I would always catch myself (and Danielle and Nella) watching it do it's thing which totally defeats the purpose. After a while, you get used to it and you just let it do its thing. The best part is that it goes under places where you would'nt normally get to using the conventional vacuum or broom. It also has a mind of its own to go back to its home base to recharge when it is running out of juice. Stairs? no problem, it can detect stairs and not fall off.

For less than $200 bucks, I highly recommend it. I stopped using cleaning service after we got this. Saves us $100 a month. Great invention.

Fear Factor

Hey there. No, I did not audition for fear factor. I meant something different. Having been in the technology field for more than a decade, I have never been so afraid to try something new in this field. However, blogging gave me a little bit of hesitation, not because of the techy challenges that might come with this but just mere time. I thought and still think that this will eat up a lot of time, time that I don't really have due to the craziness of my work and young family. I had a website 5 years ago and was pretty good updating it but like anything else, it got outdated so quickly. I will give this one a shot, what the h*ck.

Welcome friends and please do not hesitate to let me know what you think.