Takin Laps

Everything was same ole Westcreek until my second lap where I came up on a slightly older than I gentleman. As I was I greeted him as I passed and I heard, "I am going to suck your wheel for a few minutes." I have no problem when people want to jump aboard. He hung with me for the length of one side of the parkway and then at the turn around he says to me,

Old guy: "Great pull, Glad to see someone can still do it on an antique bike."
Me: "It isn't old".
Old Guy: "That is what I always tell myself too"

I didn't take kindly to his comments and kept rolling on down the road thinking to myself, "I cannot believe he just called my bike an antique" and by the time the first little climb came, lets just say I didn't play very nice. Off my wheel he came and left to suffer the 18mph winds by himself.

Yesterday's ride was my Monday ride only because it was the first ride of the week for me. Everything after that went as uneventful as I hoped. All in all I was glad to this week's "Monday ride on Tuesday" didn't suck as bad as my normal "Monday ride on Monday".

Getting anal-lytical

I have an unusual Monday off from work this week because the good folks who run the company decided to make Good Friday a paid holiday for us this year. I would rather be out riding but due to the rain I am keeping it indoors and driving myself stir crazy trying to anal-yze the last couple of weeks worth of workouts.

The past two weeks have been really productive riding weeks for me. The first I logged just short of 10 hours of saddle time and about 7 and a quarter hours worth last week. Both weeks have seen me riding home from work a couple days a week and then on my days off I have tried to get in a longer ride and then something in the 30-40 mile range. Total mileage for the two weeks were 174 and 137 respectively.

Last week for my longer ride, I decided to head through the city to extend my usual Riverside route. It was intended to add some more elevation change at the same time which it certainly did. Despite the wind and terrible road conditions in the city, I was extremely excited about the pace especially considering the small tantrum my legs decided to throw at the base of Old Gun.

Elevation profile for the Home-Riverside Complete route

This past weekend I had to switch hats over to the support hat as Jenn took part in her first triathlon in Smithfield. I didn't think this was going to be hard for me to do as I cannot swim "well" and really do not like running. What I do like though is competition. I have always been the one competing with others supporting me. So I thought to myself, W.W.D.D (What Would Dad Do) as he has always made sure I was were I needed to be and had what I needed at the correct times.

Jenn did an amazing job and didn't show much nerves at all despite her saying she was extremely nervous. Once she was in the water she looked completely focused on the task at hand. She had pretty quick transitions for her first ever attempt at one (she hadn't even practiced one prior). Coming off the bike her hands were extremely cold to the point which they didn't work which slowed her ability to get her running shoes on. She finished strong and is extremely excited to continue to doing more in the future. She has definitely caught the bug! Pics here!

Jenn finishing her first tri

Laundry Day

Laundry day really isn't much fun around here. Mostly because Jenn and I will wear everything in our dressers and closets before we decide to finally do some laundry. Not bad really when it comes to our power bill because we are only running the units once or twice a month but when you ride 6 of 7 days like I did last week it forces you into digging deep into the dresser then deep into the closest to find any old pair of bibs so you don't have to wear a dirty pair. Well yesterday I found this pair.

Surprisingly enough, I couldn't feel the chamois hemorrhoid once the bibs were on. I suppose I still have some winter pounds to shed so that gel chamois don't flatten out beneath me. Guess it is time to hit up another Pearl Izumi order so I can keep my areas comfortable.

I started this week out by instead of riding over directly over to Endorphin Fitness where Jenn has been working out I took a little detour for a fly-by of Westcreek Pkwy before heading over to EF. The ride wouldn't have been so bad except for the wind coming out of the South which has been trying very hard to bring in another set of showers this morning. I ended the ride with just shy of 20 miles, which is 4 times the amount of miles I started last week with. Tonight Jenn and I will be back out at WC for a little bit as she prepares for her first triathlon this coming Saturday in Smithfield.

Family type issues...

Yesterday I decided to take the long route home once again. I have really been enjoying that route as it contains much less traffic and an almost never ending set of rolling terrain. On days when I don't take the time to eat and drink throughout the day prior to jumping onto the bike, it often leads to discussions between my mind and my dysfunctional family of body parts.

I was a bit surprised my legs felt as heavy as they did when I awoke yesterday morning. As I got dressed I checked the current temperature and was happy to see the mercury was going to rise above 60 degrees. I had a talk with my legs about how much skin needed to be covered up as there is no need in offending anyone so early in the season. I made the decision to cover up the knees despite my legs whiny objections. They proclaimed they were much to old to have to obey by the finger tip rule of grade school. I disagreed and they fought back. The entire way home all they did while half-assing their work was complain like whinny teenagers. For the most part the ride was enjoyable although I was never able to turn them loose and allow them to do their own work without sitting over them on my high saddle with a whip.

Today, like any loving and naive parent, I felt bad for asking them to dawn such long shrouds yesterday. I caved in and let those two pale sticks run free for a day. I was afraid if I gave them an inch they would take a mile. Take a mile they did, 31.8 of them! Isn't it amazing how the same amount of work can get done properly in a shorter amount of time when the workers are happy? It may of also helped that I took the time to hydrate and eat lunch prior to jumping on the bike. Good thing I wasn't pulled over with my little baggy of powder.

On a non-cycling note but still family related, today is Sage's 2nd b-day. The other day when Jenn asked what he wanted for this joyous occasion he told her all he wanted was an extra scoop of food with dinner and a new bone to destroy in less than an hour.

Holding the wallet ransom

Sage has always been the yappier of our two dogs, so I was very pleased to see he was growing more polite now that he has turned another full year older. When I got home I found he had already started putting his mark on the Thank You cards he plans on sending out to all those who sent him gifts.

Not my fault...

Last week, I was finally able to find the time and desire to take down all of the outside Xmas decorations. It was admittedly way overdue. Some even blamed me for the harsh February weather saying it was my decorations which were confusing Motha Nature. They may have been correct but I put the blame on a certain friend/realtor who didn't send Santa's reindeer packing until about the same time last week. The combination of the two surely had Motha Nature's head spinning in a vortex. As soon as they came down, the weather got warmer. First into the 50's for a few days and then to the upper 60's and then the low 70's yesterday. Mid 60's looks to be the norm for the next 10 days as well.

I had yesterday off from work and was planning on doing a possible half century or something close to it. But instead I woke up with an itchin to finish cleaning up the front yard. I mowed the grass, filled in two flower beds with topsoil and cleaned out all the garden of the last of the crop from last summer. And just because it felt so much like Spring/Early Summer, I grilled two of the best hamburgers out on the deck last night.

I do not feel too bad for not riding yesterday, as I was still able to get exercise in while cleaning up the yard. My arms are quite upset with me this morning. On Monday and Tuesday I took advantage of the nice weather and rode home from work. I took a slightly less direct route this week in order to work in the climb up Old Gun Rd. I know both rides were good because I didn't think about them at all. I just sat my padded rear onto the broken tipped saddle and let my legs and lungs do the work. Sorry for no pictures but Rhythm(lungs) and Flo(Legs) had put out the "Do not disturb" sign as if they were getting it on while staying in a "Pay Per Hour" motel for the afternoon. I didn't interrupt and they just kept pumping it out.

Weather looks a bit damp for the next couple of days through the weekend. I may need to find time to get the cross bike over to PSP. But then again, I may just recon some new routes while staying dry inside the house.

Seasoned card player

It all begin with my sister playing her first card (picture) of the beautiful Spring weather out in Boise.

"What a beautiful day" she says

I was going to play this card from yesterday's ride in hopes of trumping her photo.

Not a cloud in the sky! Photo taken on my 44 mile ride down to the riverside. You can read about it by clicking on the blurb to the right of the page.

Then like a whiskey hardened experienced card player, she laid down this ...

It's a chandelier made out of gummy bears!

Game over as I think we have a cheat on our hands. OORRRRR I just suck... The worst part is, she didn't even know she was playing.