The sun came out today after what seemed like a week hiatus. Bright and warm but windy, it was a beautiful day. One that requires you to appreciate how nice a day can be and not waste it. Though I did not ride today, I did take a hike. Not figuratively, but literally. Down to the park with Rene and the Boyz, along the river, finally settling into its normal summer shallow-ness, watching the kayaks from the bridge under the bridge and stealing lilacs from an abandon home's yard. Better we enjoy them than no one!
All in all, a good day. A little salad with salmon for dinner, a good beer and bread with a movie and it is 11 p.m. before we knew it. Tired now, but good tired. Even the boyz were. They didn't fight me too hard when I said it was time to hit the kennel. Usually, they grumble or ask to go out one more time and then run around the yard for 30 more minutes. But not tonight. Tonight, they were satisfied they had accomplish all they needed to. Any more would be greedy!
So, we head to bed. Tomorrow, my youngest baby walks up to the podium and receives her well earned diploma. And I will be proud. Happy in her accomplishments, glad to see that she is becoming an adult, but a little sad that she can fly now.
But they all do someday. It seemed so far away just yesterday and now, it is here. I love her as much as all of them, but she is the last.
I am finally riding more but writing less these days. More or less.
Bike to Work Week was a bust again in 2009, mainly due to Rene being out of town (rides to the airport) and my work schedule (numerous meetings out of the office). Finally wrangled a ride on Friday, with a nice 21 mile commute each way (added a few miles to avoid the bigger hills; wuss!). Met up with my Bike to Work com-padres at Starbuck’s in Ada at midpoint for a chilly latte stop (it was 44 degrees at ride time!) and then on to the office. Our resident marketing person asked that we pose for a group pick so she could brag on our website how “green” the employees are by riding to work. One day. Wow. Impressive.
Saturday was busy with preparations for my daughter’s upcoming graduation. Pictures, cards, etc. Shopping basically. The rest of the day was house and yardwork, but I was back on the bike on Sunday. Windy as heck, I headed out on the road and was able to get some hills and mileage in. I even ran into (not literally) Danielle Musto, racer/coffee drinker extraordinaire out on the road and we chit chatted about her Poison Ivy at Dirt, Sweat and Gears race. I had to let her go so as not to affect her training numbers and get her in hot water with the Coach! Finished up with another 30 miles in.
Monday was Danielle’s No-Drop Ride Night, this week at SGA. Super Bon Bonnie and Barry showed up too and it was great to ride and catch up. I took some shots from mid-ride and what you can’t see in the photos are the swarms of mosquitos that stopped by to feast on us. It was intense. All the rain has hatched a bumper crop this year. Might have to get a case of Off!
Not much else to tell. Still aiming to do the final time trial event in the Milk Jug series, as I am 0 for 2 so far. After that, it is a bit before I race again. Just enjoying the finally warming weather and sunshine and hoping to get many miles in before I have to go visit the Carson and Oakland-ites!
Have a great Holiday weekend and try to get some riding in!
I had to get back on the horse sometime. In the past week-ish I have been able to get out 3 times; twice on the road and one gravel grind. The pain of my crash a few weeks back is still lingering, specifically, the torn muscle in my chest/arm area. It does not like it when I ride, but like a junkie looking for a fix, out I go anyway.
Friday last week, Rene went off to the bar with a neighbor/friend so I snuck out and did a gravel grind on the single-speed. It was a beautiful night and with time on my hands, it seemed like a good plan. I did manage to get in 20 miles, but it paid me back in pain the rest of the weekend. Probably wasn't the best choice so soon, but I was itching for saddle time.
Yesterday night, the weather was a little windy but the sun was out. Great night for a road ride. I could not ride into the office that day thanks to two construction meetings which required a car, so I brought the bike along and rode a loop from the office after work. The wind made it a workout for a good portion of the ride, but I was able to get 30+ miles in, so it was worth the struggle. However, today, my arm is not happy again. I probably should lay off the bike and just let things heal, but I have never been good at that. I take a break tonight; have to pick up Rene from the airport (she was in MN again this week). Tomorrow night is another Milk Jug race but we will have to see how the arm is fairing before I commit. The first race was rained out.
Weather and work have prevented me from participating in Bike to Work Week so far, but fellas from the office have assured me we are on for Friday! I am hoping we can make it work (no pun intended, really!) including a stop at Starbuck's in Ada for a little caffeine fuel up.
Things are all a-bloom here thanks to all of the rain and sunshine.
River is still high and running fast. I need to get some paddling in one of these days!
We are planting a vegetable garden outside the office and it is in the ground and on its way. Hoping to see some cucs, carrots, tomatoes and jalapenos soon!
Season Finale for LOST is on tonight. Be there or be squared!
This weekend’s race was a bruising lesson on knowing the course. The race is the Fort Custer Stampede which is located in a State Recreation area and has been run virtually the same for many years. This year they decided to throw a twist in and reverse a section of the course. This part of the trail features very twisty single-track in the woods and a constant series of log crossings. I am not much of a fan of log “stunts” and this section has more than its fair share of them. If a tree falls across the trail, you typically make the required corrections (by hatchet, axe and saw), but for some reason, the designers of this trail actually, purposely added fallen logs as obstacles. Not sure if they are functioning as speed bumps, but the nature of the trail doesn’t really make that necessary. And they appear to provide no erosion resistance, so I am baffled as to the need. This isn’t a free-ride course and it probably is ridden by a fair number of inexperienced bikers who could be “tripped-up” trying to cross them. Case in point.
The point I’m getting to is, when you put in logs, you create the need to cross them. And the nature of a trail is that they are typically designed to be ridden in one direction as well. I was actually surprised by the lack of a designated direction for the trails we rode in Oakland last fall. Most, if not all, trails in this area are specifically marked to be ridden in one direction only. As a result, they often “flow” or ride better in the direction of travel. This is the case in this area of the Fort Custer trail. Not only were there some sketchy climbs as a result of the reversal, but one log crossing proved to be downright dangerous (in my opinion). It was a stacked pile, maybe 4 logs high at the center and in the normal direction, had a relatively flat, downhill approach that allowed you to maintain your momentum over the obstacle. Reversed, you were required to ride up to it on the taller side and if you did not crank hard, you easily could lose the momentum needed to clear it. And that is what did me in. I started the race with as much effort as I could afford, trying to stay in the lead group, maybe 6 back. For the first mile or so, I pedaled as hard as I could, but at the first uphill, lost some momentum and fell back in the pack. With that, I was now on my own and had to push myself to catch up again. Enter, the reversed trail section. Maybe 4 miles into a 9-1/2 mile trail, I came to the infamous log pile with some speed but obviously, not enough. As I cleared the top with my front wheel, I discovered on the back side, a gap between two logs exactly the width of my tire! Needless to say, my wheel went right in. Given my lack of speed, the bike stopped on a dime and I kept going. For a moment, it appeared I could actually fly! And then, the rude awakening as I tumbled to the ground, that I could not. I landed hard on my shoulder, right arm and hand and for a second, thought that I would be joining Lance in the cycling wing of the broken shoulder clinic. It hurt damn bad. I was lucky enough to not have someone directly behind me. One, I would have probably been run over, adding injury to injury. But also I would have had an audience to my screw up. That would have been more painful! Once I realized I had not broken anything (including the bike, surprisingly), I decide I could continue. After the first race frustration of a broken chainring and walking to the finish, I was determined to ride this one out. I caught up with a couple riders who had passed by during my stunt and tried to hang on and make up some ground. That seemed to help me focus on riding and not on my arm which was hurting. We eventually made it around to the water crossing, which was deep but not as much as I expected. I did not plan it out and ended up drenched on the other side. In the process, I made up some ground on a few of the riders who lingered on the hill coming out of the stream and finished the first lap with a decent time. The next lap was a blur and I just rode as fast as I could, gaining a bit of ground on a couple guys in my class and bettering my time by about a minute. Not an awesome display of power, but glad to see I sped up the second time around rather than falling back. I actually dismounted and ran over the log pile the second time around (using my cyclocross skills!). I had no desires to “be a man” and try my luck again. Best to learn from your mistakes!
I got into a group of about 5 guys near the end and we rode in a pack right up to the last half mile. There I was able to get around most of them and though it was mostly symbolical (they were not in my class), it felt good to have something at the end. Finished up 12th of 16 in the end, not my finest hour, but better than I thought I would finish while I was laying on the ground at the log pile.
It turned out to be a beautiful day and I even ended up with my first tan lines of the year afterwards. My buddy Matt, who rode down to the race with me, finished first in the Clydesdale class, so we hung around after cleaning up to give him the chance to stand on the podium and collect his booty (nice pint glass with the 15th anniversary logo of the race). They were giving away free beer as well (one to a customer) from Anchor Brewing and the ale I had was very tasty. Danielle’s husband Scott finished first in Expert for the second race in a row, so the boy is back! He had a chain incident during the race but was able to fix it and still beat the competition to the line. Must be the cool Twin Six Metal outfit he wears that is making him so fast! I had a ball racing but still suffering some pain in my hand and arm today, so I have stayed off the bike so far this week. Looks like we will be seeing rain again for the next couple days, so I may not ride again until the weekend. Racing is over for awhile (except for the Milk Jug events, the first of which was cancelled last week due to rain). Next possible race is early June but I may skip that and just focus on commuting and riding to train for the rare air in Tahoe. Next week is bike to work week, so I hope to get a chance to participate. Check out Jeff Moser’s site “www.bikecarson.com” for all of cool stuff happening this month in Carson City. The boy goes all out and has even snagged some sweet sponsors like New Belgium Brewing for this years festivities. Excellent work, my friend! Mid-June is the Great Harvest Cycling Classic in Minnesota (Minneapolis and surrounding areas) and I hope to get over there to see some racing. The event is June 10-15th and it should have some big names in attendance. We are again looking at moving to the area as things are changing on the job front for Rene but it is still too soon to call. We are thinking of doing some job and apartment reconnaissance during our visit if we can get out there that week. We will see. Hope everyone is getting some riding in.
