Had another week of not riding. Only one more to go and then it's back in the saddle. The girls and I have been putting in some good miles on the trails. I'm getting around 30 to 40 miles a week. Good mileage for a cyclist not so good for an endurance runner. When I was training for marathons I would break out 50 to 60 miles in a week. I think my best week of running I managed to break 100 miles. I guess that's why I still have notions of running a 100 miler some day.

Ride on! or run I suppose...

Down time

This morning I headed down to Palm Springs for my pulmonary study. I won't hear the results until we go to the sports medicine Dr. Yesterday Bonnie and I both had blood drawn for full panels. I really hope we get my asthma under control.

So this week we've just been recovering from the flu. I managed to catch a bit of a cold as well. Have you ever noticed when you slow up and let your guard down that when you get sick. All I've done in the way of exercise this week is run the dogs to school. Tonight I'll run them home as well.


Here is a shot of San Jacinto from one of the vistas on the way to school.

The poplars are popping!

This is what it looks like when I've spent most of the summer on my bike and not much time running. These girls are out of shape! Don't worry we'll have them in tip top form in no time.Ride on!

We are a family of givers. Finn got the stomach flu and he passed it on to Mom and Dad. Thursday night I got it and Friday morning Bonnie woke up with it. I thought being sick was miserable before having kids...Wow! Enough said.

Like most of you I was watching Moab this weekend. It looked like the course unleashed its typical savageness. Strong riders fell, and everybody suffered. I've never raced there but I think it's something I've got to attempt at some point.

I mentioned earlier training is on hold for the next couple of weeks. Good thing since we've had the flu and work is really getting busy. The first show of the season is taking most of our time these days. I can't wait to see what it's going to look like. Bonnie has designed a great set not it's up to me to put some good light on it. As always I'm impressed with the students. For most of them it's their first time in the shop and they're tearing it up.

Ride on!

He's been hit

Well it happened, Finn got his first flu bug. It showed up yesterday as we were on our way to lunch with my cousin and her husband and 6 month old. They were up for a quick visit but Finn just wasn't up for it. He's been sleeping most of the day. Mary, my teammate usually watches him on Thursdays, not this week. She'll probably go riding instead.

Since Finn's been sick I've been trying to get as much spinning, riding, and running in as I can before I get nailed with it. From what I hear it's very contagious. We're keeping our fingers crossed, which makes shifting and breaking difficult but I'm not taking any chances...or am I?

Ride on!

Good Times

Things have been pretty busy. We are settling into a rhythm at school. The show is really starting to take shape. It's been fun not following any real training schedule, not that I really follow anything formal anyway. It's good to just run, hike, or ride when I can. I love hiking to school with Finn on my back and the girls running all round the forest. I know I've said it before but I have one of the best commutes ever. Three to six miles depending on which way I take, and about 75% on trails if I take the 3 mile rout. The longer the hike the higher the percentage of trail goes. Now that I have Finn to carry I don't run as much, there are spots where I can sort of do a shuffle jog. Anything more and he's bouncing all over the place. I think I'll start back with organized training once the show closes the first week of November.

This weekend was a lot of fun. We went to the Sierras with some good friends. This was Finn's first official camping trip. That is to say one that had nothing to do with a bike race. We got to see the first snow fall of the season. I also took note that the first snow fall of last season was over the same weekend. A year ago this coming weekend was when I got to summit Whitney for the first time with a former student and his father. We had to deal with the snow that had fallen the week before. We had such a good time this past weekend that we are already trying to line up a trip to Joshua Tree in December. This will be easier since it's only about an hour and a half away. I'm sure this will make Finn much happier, and in turn the rest of us as well.

On a side note, on the way to the hardware store today I saw Floyd out for a ride. No helmet...risky business, especially on our mountain. I hope we was meeting someone in Pine Cove before the decent.

Ride on!

Race wrap up

This past weekend we raced our last 24 hour race of the season. It was a blast, everyone was on hand to get us back on the top of the podium. Shannon and Becky got out here Friday, Brendan was putting the finishing touches on the Song and the trailer was set up in our usual spot. Saturday morning rolled around and I was feeling pretty good. The race started off fast and stayed that way. The pit was getting me in and out in no time. I'd run through start finish, hand a bike off pick up a new one while someone stuffed food in my pocket and mouth. The guy in first and me who was in second were riding so fast, had we signed up for the 8 hour race we would have podiumed. Our first 9 laps were sub hour, then I had to take an actual stop to put on more cloths. It ended up being a very cold night, below freezing. This triggered my asthma something awful. I tend to get congested but it never puts a stop to my race. By the time the sun came up it was all I could do just to walk the climbs. In the end we were second, with 21 laps. First place did 22. He raced an excellent race. He pushed me to ride harder than I ever had at this venue. In the morning he passed me on one of the climbs, but he did recognize me until I walked up to him and congratulated him. We both looked like zombies, he had that 1,000 yard stare and I'm sure I did as well.

Recovery has been quick, with the exception of my lungs. I'm still coughing up some trail. Next week I'm going to a doctor and getting my asthma under control. It was something that was pretty serious when I was a kid and I thought for the most part I grew out of it, but I guess the combination of the cold and dust make for the prefect lung restricting mucus.

The bikes ran great with the exception a minor mechanical with the rear shock on the Song. It lost all air pressure about half way through a lap late in the race. It was no problem for Brendan to fix it and I was back out on it the next lap.

Huge thanks go out to everyone who helped out at this race. Thanks to Bonnie for all her support not only at the race but all season long. To race well I need to spend a lot of time on the bike every day and she understand this. Now that we have Finn she understand this even more. Thank you to Shannon and Becky for being there for almost every race, no matter where we are. You guys are the best! Brendan and Mary, you guys are awesome, it was great knowing I could come in the pit and say what the bikes needed and know it would happen. It's also very cool having someone in the pit who has raced 24s and know what your going through, thanks Mary. Thank you Darren and Ay Up lights. I never have run the down hills as fast at night as I did on my Song with Ay Up lights. These lights were a big part of the reason we were able to close the gap to first to 8 minutes at one point. And last but not least thanks to all the folks out on the course and in the campgrounds. There is so much love and support out there for the solos. It means a lot to us when we are feeling half alive to have some tell us we're looking good.

So now it's time to goof around a little. Ride without purpose and with friends, go for runs, long hikes. Next race will likely be 12 hours of Temecula, I don't know if I'll race solo or duo with Mary or pit for Brendan. We'll just see what feels right.

Ride on!

Wow...Long About Time

It's finally happened, We're moved into a new blog full time. I'm still working out the bugs so give me a bit of time. We'll get it all clean and polished in no time.

Ride on!