Training Lesson No. 1

OK, I'm in REALLY bad shape. But, I guess that's why we train...right?

I went out and spun-up 39.3 miles averaging 15.3mph and figured "not too bad" considering we've got a pretty stiff SSW wind blowing today. I got back and drank a bottle of water and rested for 30 minutes figuring I'd start my yoga adventure and then shower. Well, I've never attempted yoga but I have always heard that it is a great, low-intensity way of building core strength and flexibility. I went by the library last Saturday and picked up a copy of Lilia's Yoga for Beginners on DVD and figured, "yup, that's me... a beginner" (to quote my good friend Dao).

I figured the best place for me to attempt this maneuver would be the bedroom as there is plenty of floor space, it's cool and quiet and I can close the door to the dogs and kids and other interruptions. That part of the plan came off without a hitch. I propped up the laptop and popped in the DVD and Lilia and I began to get to know each other a little better. It wasn't too long though before I was cussin' 'ole Lilia... and me and my back and my legs and the Coriolis effect and the Moon's geosynchronous orbit and the construction practices of sub-prime contractors!

The warm up went pretty smooth with a little breathing and some flailing about of the arms and shoulders. I was thinking, "hmm, this is a snap." Well, then we attempted what Lilia called the "plank position," which should have been a clue since you make planks out of what else but HARD wood, duh! I have this problem that crops up on occasion when I attempt to stretch a muscle while simultaneously exerting force. What happens is pretty spectacular for any observers that happen to be in the area. My muscles cramp with such force that my entire body contorts and is accompanied by grotesque facial expressions and some very colorful language. I've even been known to make up entirely new words and even entire phrases when this happens.

See, when I broke those 3 vertebrae they didn't just crack and lickity-split fuse back together. They actually exploded as the force caused compression fractures resulting in the vertebrae ending up in many little pieces with, what seems to be the majority of them coming to rest in my spinal cord. Spinal intrusions they called them and it took the surgeons several hours of an 16-hour surgery to pick them out of their resting places without doing additional damage to my spinal cord. The vertebrae were then fused/grafted back together with strips of bone taken from my hip. The vertebrae have healed but along all those little fissures where the cracks were there are now little deposits of calcium material that forms like a little stalactite. I believe they called them "bone spurs" and whenever I exert force enough to cause them to come in contact with my spinal cord... yeah, ouch! I get these really bad shooting pains and my muscles tighten, twitch, feel like they are either on fire, being electrocuted or having warm water poured over them (that's the least painful one but often leads me to think I've just pissed myself) and sometimes cramp.

So, when I stretched out my legs and then lifted my hips... BAM! My legs locked up like a Seargent at the Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier. I thought I was going to cry. I immediately fell back to the floor but couldn't move to get my legs to relax enough for the cramp to stop. Usually when they are this bad I have to have TC rub the cramps out for me but she was gone. So, I just lay there cussin' 'ole Lilia until they calmed down all by themselves. After a little rest I figured I'd finish up with a little less intensity... remember "I'm a beginner." Well, every time I attempted one of the postures involving my legs they would begin to cramp and I would back off. At this rate it will take me approximately 944 years to attain any level of yoga ability.

Perhaps, I should ride then carry on the rest of my day and perform yoga or resistance training in the evening after my muscles have had time to relax and the swelling to go down a bit. I have increased my water intake and while riding I use an electrolyte tablet in each water bottle. I'll try doing the yoga in the evening tomorrow and see how that works. I'll just do what I can and hopefully over the next few weeks I'll start seeing some results.

Ride On!

Mission Helping Hand

For years I have wanted to launch a major operation to help the cause of Veteran's Advocacy. While I have often helped my brothers-in-arms on an individual basis, I have always wanted to do something on a larger scale. As a Disabled Veteran myself I know full well the frustration and confusion while transitioning from service to civilian life and all while you are healing, mentally and physically, you must continue to be vigilant of your rights and healthcare when dealing with the VA and other government agencies. Often times it feels totally overwhelming. I have always sought to help my brothers-in-arms. It is an aspect of my character that I hold in the highest regard. It is engrained in me just as strongly as is the love and care of my immediate family. This will be, by far, my largest ever single contribution in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of U.S. Veterans, the need for third party Veteran's advocacy groups and to raise capital for two of these groups.

I plan on riding my bicycle approximately 1,600 miles from Houston, Texas to New York, New York in an effort to raise awareness of the 31,000+ Veterans who have been wounded in the Global War On Terror, to raise awareness of the treatment of these Veterans and of all Veterans by Our Country, and, to raise $5.5 million in capital for the Soldier's Angels and Wounded Warrior Project. These two organizations provide for Our Troops on the battlefield and, in the case of injury, in transition from battlefield to rehabilitation to civilian life and beyond.

Thus far I have a plan and a bike. I am fine tuning each and preparing myself for this mission. Over the next 10 weeks I will be communicating via this blog my plan, my route, my training, my gear and contributions made towards this missions end. Then, during the ride I will be posting my daily progress along with photos, video, interviews and other cool stuff. You can check out Soldier's Angels and Wounded Warrior Project through these links: www.soldiersangels.org and www.woundedwarriorproject.org . Please help out by contributing what you can... from a cheer of good luck, to friendly advice, to a room and a shower along the way, to a capital donation. All proceeds from this mission will go directly towards Veteran's Advocacy.

Tune in tomorrow...

Goings On

Hey, all!  No story today just a run down of what I've been up to.

Let's start with WWP Soldier Ride TX.  I had a really, really great time.  It was in the 40's and raining the entire ride but it could not have been more fun.  Met some new friends and hooked up with some of those I met last year.  Thank you to Woody for inviting me again.  Met Benson who, as it turns out, just lives across the freeway from me.  We've been riding a bunch and it's nice to have a friend to hang out with again.

I ordered a new full suspension MTB... a Specialized Stump Jumper FSR Expert test bike.  Sweet riding bike!  I should have been on a full suspension bike a long time ago.  It's in, I just have to come up with the mullah to go pick it up.  I'm trading the C'dale 29er and a grand for it.  But with a house full of teenagers...  I would never have believed that they eat so much if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes (and checkbook).

For Spring Break we went to Corpus Christi and stayed at La Quinta.  It was a fun trip.  We all went, including the puppies!  Becky watched the cats and fish for us.  We went to the Aquarium and took the kids to ride PWC's at the Holiday Inn on the beach (Thanks to Anthony for making that happen), took Fabian wind surfing at Bird Island and generally just enjoyed being together.  For Soldier Ride it was 40 and raining and less than a week later it was in the 80's and sunny... as Steve Earl sings "Texas weather's always changing and one thing change will bring is something new."

Funny Time:  They said that "There will be a black President when pigs fly..." and now we have Barack Obama and the Swine Flu... I laughed my ass off when I first heard that one.

We aquired power of attourney for Trevor who is now living with us on a "legal" basis.  He's been staying with us for nearly a year now but the school discovered that his folks no longer lived in the district.  It seemed the right thing to do allowing him to finish school without having to start all over again.  He only has his senior year left.

On April 18th the rain came down so hard and rose so fast that it caught me by surprise.  I was driving over to pick up Mick from school and the water rose from a few inches to above the wheels by the end of the street.  I tried to go around the block to return home but the motor died and the water rose to nearly the mirrors.  It flooded up to the instrument panel.  Insurance totaled it and our brand new jeep went to the auction block.  I'm going to look at the same jeep today only in a different color... and without the water.

Those are the big events.  Other than that, I've just been riding lots and enjoying family and friends.  Ah, my back has been giving me fits while riding so I'm looking into changing to a recumbent or a trike.  I found a really cool trike at Terra Trikes that would be perfect.

Summer draws near and I can't wait.

Lake Bryan, TX MTB Trail Ride

Oh, yeah! What a sweet day this was! Fabian & I drove up to Lake Bryan, approximately 135 miles to the NNW, to ride their 17 miles of single track. It was pretty cold when we woke up so I added several layers, a jacket and gloves before heading out to load bikes. We started loading the bikes about 0730hrs and within an hour I was stripping off layers. By the time we got to Lake Bryan around 1100hrs it was 70ish with a stiff West breeze. It was dry, clear and cool... perfect!

We started with a run to Morning's Kolaches for a dozen hot ones and a quick stop at the gas station to top off the fuel tank. The drive was nice with light traffic and good roads. We listened to some old country and warbled away with Roger Miller. We arrived somewhat unprepared as the gate attendent asked us for the $5.00 entry fee and all we had to offer were five euros, which he didn't feel would be acceptable with his supervisor. He allowed us to enter and purchase the day pass at the bar where they had the capability of running my credit card.

I asked the bar keep about the trails in an effort to gleen some information that might give me an idea of what kind of ride we could expect. Unfortunately, he was not a well of information and answered only that he had no idea how long the trails were that he finished when he finished. (Later I found him to be amiable and a well of information about football, but, I save it for later.) He did offer that he personally liked the East trails better as they seemed a bit more challenging... bingo! Now we've got a starting point! I left the bar with our day pass, an idea of where to start and a place to get a cold beer when we finished. Life is Good!

I crossed the parking lot back to the jeep with a smile as the sun warmed my face and glinted off the waves on the lake. There were several other cars in the parking lot but nothing like we see at Memorial Park in Houston. There were a couple of boats out on the lake and one pulled a guy on a wake board. I thought to myself, "now, that's something you won't see in Wisconsin on February first." We unloaded the bikes, got our gear ready and discussed our approach agreeing that we should start on the West loop to warm up before tackling the East loop. We hadn't even pushed a pedal before being approached by three other groups of people, indivdually, who hadn't ridden there before and were doing reconaissence. I simply smiled and with an air of confidence relayed how we like to start on the West loop as a warm up before tackling the East loop. They were all very greatful for the information, which, as it turns out, was dead bang on. I guess when you look like you know what you're doing...

I enjoy watching people. I sat in the back of the jeep putting on my shoes getting ready and I just glanced around at what kind of folks were using this area... checking out my competition so to say. There was a great mix of old & young alike. There were families but, the families were "older" with a complete absence of children younger than late teens. There were just as many girls as guys. There were a few cross country runners. The equipment ranged from Walmart special to mid-level quality including specialized, trek, jamis and giant. I was the only one with a Cannondale that I saw and there was only one other 29er. What I saw was a place where I would feel very comfortable. Everybody, without failure, was very friendly and easy to engage in conversation talking about their riding experiences.

We jumped on our faithful steeds and headed for the West loop. The first 100 yards were on the road atop the dam. The first left dropped us down into the woods at a good clip followed by a series of switch backs and then... straight back up the dam! So much for warming up! Man, right out of the parking lot and now my chest feels like it's going to explode. I need to spend some time riding around the parking lot before tackling these trails. It turns out that the trail basically follows the dam around the lake incorporating the dam road to get from one trail segment to another on the way out. On the way back the trail stays off the dam except one short segment that follows along the base. The trail is wide, well-travelled single track. It is fast and a lot of fun. It was so beautiful riding along the trail with the sun pouring through the trees and the water sparkling like diamonds. The West loop turned out to be just over 7.5 miles long afterwhich we got a couple of cokes from the bar and chilled in the parking lot for 30 minutes talking with other riders.

The East loop is more technical than the West loop but not super high on the difficulty scale; although I wiped out three times, I think twice it was more from being tired. I think what made the East loop so much more difficult was the presence of so many leaves, especially on the up side of the hills. The leaves were very slippery and made for difficult excelleration and tight turning. There were also a lot of areas where the feral hogs had rooted-up the trail and it went from hard pack to super soft. Other than that, the East loop follows the same design as the West loop in using the dam road to connect a series of trail segments. We had to double back after missing a turn and ending up on the "short cut" so we ended up having 19.86 miles for both loops. Poor Fabian had a bit of a hard time on the East loop. One of his spokes loosened up and his back wheel was pinging and cracking making him worry about possible damage. On top of that, his saddle kept slipping and tilting back with an unnerving "crack" each time it went. I finally ended up moving it forward and flattening it out a bit to lessen the lever effect. It worked and although he was a bit closer to the bars, the saddle stayed put for the last half of the ride. Being used to riding 6 to 8 miles, Fabian and I were pretty well worn out by the time we got back to the jeep.

On a side note... the wildlife. The squirrels at Lake Bryan are fricken HUGE! I couldn't believe it. At roughly the size of a house cat you can't miss 'em! They were large red squirrels that were plenty fat and healthy with big, bushy tails. The urban squirrels that I am used to seeing around the house are scraggly-looking, greyish-colored, little rat-sized ones. Just one of these squirrels and you could eat for a week and make a new cap! I also saw a ladder-backed woodpecker, various other little birds, a legless lizzard and some rabits. The woods surrounding the lake were really jumping with wildlife and it was great to be out in it.

We loaded the bikes, washed up and headed for the bar for some post-ride refreshments. While ordering a beer I got into a conversation with the bar keep and a young lady about football. It turns out that she didn't care much for this year's Super Bowl because the Broncos were not playing. I offered that my brother-in-law had 2 Super Bowl rings for playing with the Broncos and off we went into a long discussion about how cool that was. (Actually, I think I had said 3 rings which stemmed the conversation about how many times and what years the Broncos had been to the Super Bowl... my bad.) The bar keep had a wealth of knowledge about football, the players and what teams played in each Super Bowl for as many years as I could remember. We also talked a bit about Fabian's punting/kicking ability and how he wants to go to college in America and go on to the NFL. Well, about this time some of the other patrons began to get thirsty and we went to our respective tables. On the way out of the bar I felt like I was in an episode of Cheers as everybody waved and said goodbye. What a perfect ending for a perfect day! I could have sat there for the rest of the evening chatting and sipping on Dos Equis.

The ride home was uneventful though somewhat painful for me. My back, neck and shoulders were absolutely killing me! Thank gods the jeep has heaters in the seats! I ran mine on full blast all the way home, chased it with a hot shower and a handful of pain killers and ibuprofen... Laying in bed that night I kept thinking how nice the day was and started planning our next bike ride!

Ride On!

by TXPeddler


by TXPeddler

Long Time Gone

Well, David Crosby, Stephen Stills & Graham Nash put it very nicely indeed, "been a long time gone." Funny how that just popped into my head. I really like that song too. Wow! From 1969! I was but a year old then. But, the time, it does go so very fast these days. The children are now teens and nearly self-sufficient, though they will argue to the contrary when desiring food, clean clothes and money. And with the school year half over, Fabian has come to realize his year in America is passing swiftly; too swiftly for his liking I believe. I'm afraid I have not been so diligent in maintaining my blog as I had intended when I started nearly one year ago.

OK. To date I have not been very true to my cycling passion over the past 6 months with only a few 20 to 30 mile rides to speak of and the couch steeling away the time. I have, however, purchased a new '09 Cannondale F-four 29er that I have been riding at Jack Brooks and Memorial Parks. It was my first trip out on the 29er that made me realize I had been riding the couch WAY too much these past few months. After the third climb I was humped over the handlebars on the side of the trail with my heart thundering in agony and my lungs screaming in retaliation. It was all I could do to squeak out, "good gods... gasp... I... puff puff... suck... gasp..." I am getting the swing of it though and seem to be accelerating toward some semblance of shape. I've crashed only twice and managed to do so gracefully and without throwing a rod or breaking anything necessary on either the bike or myself. I just keep telling myself that I don't have to be "fast" I just have to "be" and repeating the mantra "Slow Is Smooth, Smooth Is Fast."

On my second trip, as I was unloading my new steed, I was approached by a gentleman inquiring if I road often at Jack Brooks Park. He was an amiable fellow maybe ten or twelve years my elder sporting a pony tail and riding a really bad-ass, long-travel, full-suspension bike. I surprised myself with such honest replies as, "no" and "actually, I'm a roadie" and "this is only my second time out on this here new bike." To which I heard the quite amusing, all though wholly accurate and fortuitously telling reply of, "well, we won't hold that against you...welcome to the dark side!" Our conversation continued in a warm and welcoming fashion as he offered me a map of the park and went over a few rules. He then offered that maybe I would like to ride at Memorial Park where there were a larger offering of less technical trails so as not to seem overwhelming and, perhaps dampen my enthusiasm for my new found interest in mountain biking. I smiled, folded the map placing it carefully in my pocket, took his information under advisement and proceeded to head down the trail, across the bridge and about half way up the first hill for a grand total of about fifty yards. I pushed my bike up the very first hill...and the second...and the third! I was soggy with sweat, sucking wind and my chest felt as though an alien would jump out and scramble away any second. Whew! What a slam to the ol' ego, eh! Wow! I really suck! All I could think was, "what a dastardly and sinister man he was!" and "has he been reading my mail!?!" I felt like Heston at the end of Planet Of The Apes... "Damn you all to HELL!"

There are little customs that follow every sport; some from whatever, some for machismo and some for safety. Out on the trail you'll hear someone yell "rider" when they are approaching a blind turn or hill. Occasionally, you'll just hear bells jingling away as the rider got tired of yelling and figured, "what the hell, they work on bears." Well, I am quite certain that, with the constant flow of some very colorful explicatives emanating forth loudly from my mouth at every such turn and hill, there was no problem determining that someone was in fact there... ME!

I later found my way back to the "Playground," the "Cut Off" and the "Never Ending Trail" where I conquered some more bike handling skills and improved my outlook on the sport in general. Then I sped down the home stretch without setting down a foot and huffed it back to the jeep for a day well spent. I pondered the "Dark Side" comment and slugged back some Gatorade. It certainly was. I had just spent 3.5 hours beating the tar out of myself and my bike (and a few trees and shrubbery), cussing and swearing and yelling and kicking only to realize I had had fun and actually began looking forward to my next trip... Sinister!


I am planning for more road miles this year and intend on a good effort and lots of t-shirt rides. Perhaps my goal of 6,000 miles for 2009 is a bit high but, 125 miles per week is well within my range of ability. I would like to put 100 miles on the road bike and 25 on the mountain bike per week. It may be tough to put 25 miles on the MTB as it gets hotter and the foliage comes back. Guess I'll have to wing it. That, I don't believe, is too much to expect from myself. Now I simply need to "Just Do It."

Ride On!

Ride. Fish. Repeat... Summer Time!

Ok, let me see...

My computer went on the fritz and left me to keeping my log with the ol' pencil & paper. I put in roughly 586 miles in May and 429 so far for June. I've been riding Sunday mornings with my friend Colin and Bay Area Schwinn in Webster. I've also been riding short morning rides every other day or so with Theresa as she has again taken interest riding. The rides are only 10 miles in length and take less than an hour. My intention was to ride with her dropping her back at the house and then continuing on by myself, though we get back to the house and I bail out and find other things to do. It will be difficult to extend her mileage as the heat gets progressively higher for longer periods of the day. I've ridden with the WOOF Pack a couple of times and would like to do so more often this summer. I helped with the Tour de Braz again this year by putting out route signs. I also rode the 62 mile route with Lee, Chuck and Rafael. It was a beautiful ride as the skies were clear, the air dry and warm, and the breeze light.

I have been feeling much better and find the saddle to be much more inviting as of late. I don't know why I have/had such difficulties in the saddle recently. It seems one day I'm up only to reach the apogee of sucking the very next, though the good days seem to out number the bad lately.

Ah, alas, I sold my '05 Cannondale six13! The black beauty that carried me over so many, many roads across Texas is now destined to be stripped for her parts, rebuilt with lesser components and ridden by a teenager... It was a very good bike. On the other hand, I picked up an '08 Cannondale t1; the bloodline of Cannondale's flagship bike having not changed much in nearly 25 years. It is a beautiful bike though I do wish it were equipped with campagnolo rather than shimano components. The shimano shifters are much larger and do not fit well in my small hands. They also take more motion to engage where the supple campy shifters engage with barely a tap. The shimano seems also to be much more susceptible to ghost shifting. This is not a low-end group either; it is a 105 triple with the rest of the group being ultegra.

It sounds like I am complaining but, honestly, these are only observations apparent to me after having ridden bicycles equipped with campy for so many years. I truly enjoy riding the new touring steed. When I went to pick it up from the shop I was pleasantly surprised. The titanium grey paint is much darker than the photos on the web indicate and the metal flecks are not apparent in the photos either; in the sun the paint almost glows. It is very pretty. The geometry is completely different from the C'dale bikes I have been riding for years and, at first, it was almost awkward though the more upright position definitely provides a much more comfortable perch for observing the passing scenery. Conversely, the upright position catches more wind but I can live with that. The 700 x 35 tires are a definite ride improver as well absorbing energy from cracks and bumps rather than passing them to the frame and ultimately my butt and back.

I haven't made any long trips yet but intend on a trans-Texas tour once I get the panniers and other equipment. I also want to start a local recurring touring event. This idea came to me while reading an article in "Adventure Cyclist" about taking short, 24 hour, or overnight trips. I figure on planning some 62 to 124 mile trips for adventure cyclists who don't have days/weeks available for longer trips and/or rookie adventure cyclists who want to get a few short trips for experience. The idea is for all those attending to meet at a designated coffee shop on Saturday morning, ride out to the predetermined destination, camp Saturday night and return on Sunday. The recurring part would be like the 3rd weekend of each month and each month would be a different destination, as I'm sure there are at least 12 destinations that would be attractive in this area. I'm excited about this idea as it would be a short and inexpensive way to get out of doors, ride and meet new folks who enjoy the same.

On another note, we have a foreign exchange student coming to stay with us for the '08-'09 school year. Fabian is from Hamburg, Germany and will be here the first week in August. We are all very excited and look forward to having him in our home.

And another note... I have been having an AWESOME summer thus far! Mick, Jessica, and Trevor, have been taking me fishing nearly every day. It has been quite a while since the kids actually wanted to go somewhere with me, perhaps they don't have to worry about me embarrassing them in front of the fish! We have been to the Texas City dike, Pelican Island, and kayak fishing in West Bay so far. I've caught red drum, golden croaker and a couple of hard-heads. No flounder yet... odd as I used to always catch flounder in West Bay. I've missed a bunch of hits though, I guess that's part of the excitement of fishing. I've also hooked up with a couple of nice trout and something rather large but managed to yank the lure clean out of their grasp during my failed attempts to land them. Without having somebody to fish with, I haven't really been fishing since about fall of 2005 though my touch is coming back. I have thoroughly enjoyed the kids company and look forward to many more trips this summer. Guess I'll have to work out a riding-fishing, or fish-riding ;o) schedule!


by TXPeddler


by TXPeddler

Catching Up...

Well, here I am. It's nearly a month now and I'm still struggling to get my legs back. The last few times I've ridden I just can't seem to find my rythm. Prior to, and including the Gator Ride I was feeling and riding great. No kidding. I had never been able to sustain 20mph on the bike yet it seemed very comfortable. Maybe it was the new bike; lighter, more efficient and better fit allowing for more output with equal input. All things considered, I should be kicking ass on the bike. My diet is good and I'm back down to 165.

My rides lately have been 20 to 30 miles and so uneventful that I haven't even bothered to log the miles. I feel guilty for neglecting my bikejournal. My back, shoulders and neck have been giving me hell just 15 miles into each ride. The weekend before last I rode with the WOOF Pack for the first time in a while. We did the bridges ride over to Cedar Bayou and back. It ended up at 74+ miles for the day. The first 40 miles were great. I thought, "man, this is it...much better," then I just went nose in. I struggled the last 10 miles just to get home and, I had a tailwind! I couldn't help but think, "damn, jack, you suck!"

During the week I put in a couple "round-the-blocks" of 24 miles each. I still was not feeling all too courageous so I skipped the Rolling Hills Challenge. I rode Monday and Wednesday for 56 miles combined. I jumped on the bike Friday feeling pretty good and went for a spin with no preset goals...it was just gonna be a nice ride. So, 15 miles and my back was hurting and I rode through it. Then 30 miles at weemart and I felt good. Then 40 miles and I still felt pretty good though it was getting warm. I took off my helmet and hung it from the stem over the bars and kept a nice slow but steady pace. Then 48 miles and I started feeling that wierd tingly feeling that creeps in from who knows where. At 52 miles I was barely ticking over the pedals as I made the exxon in Manvel. I had already finished 4 24oz bottles but still I drank 2 quarts of gatorade and ate a package of cheese-peanut butter crackers. I sat on the bench and watched my legs twitch and jump. After about 20 minutes I swallowed my pride and called TC for a ride home.

It's now Wednesday and I'm cleaning my bike and figuring on riding tomorrow once this rain passes. As Van Morrison sings that there will be days like this, I contemplate my back injury and how the nerve damage affects my riding and, more urgently, how it will progress as I get older. Is this my 40yo midlife crisis? Is that where this damn feeling of losing my grasp...losing time...watching my ability slipping away is coming from?

Thanks to TC I now have a really nice bowflex trainer in my garage and am going to put some work into my overall strength. This should help with my endurance and basic performance. Other than that, I simply need to put in some serious individual saddle time.

You don't have to be fast to have fun!

Ride On!