The riding adventures begin again

I was joking at work today about how nice it would be to go on an all-night ride, since the weather has been perfect (well, after dark, that is, when it isn't scorching hot). Almost had that happen tonight! I rode up to Red Rocks to hear some of "The Police" as they were playing there tonight. Figured I could get much closer to the concert being on a bike. I was right about that, but I couldn't get quite close enough. I could hear the music, but it was a bit muffled. Besides, I had to turn around to get home as soon as I got there. It was worth it for the experience & some pics, to be posted later.

On the ride home, the sun began to set and it made sense to catch the bus home. Of course, as my luck would have it, I was waiting at a stop where the bus wasn't going to pick up ever. That wasted a bunch of time, but I made it to another stop (riding on dirt paths where sidewalks should have been, I was shocked to not get a flat) and then got a bus fairly quickly after that.

What an awesome evening. This summer is not going to get away from me if I can help it!

Why Dog Sitting is Cool

Tonight and tomorrow I'm dog sitting for a friend. This is Ruby, one tired dog after I got done running all over LoDo with her. Walking a dog is a normal, every-day thing for others. For me, it's a real treat. For one, I love the company and a reason for people to smile and say hi. The presence of a dog helps validate a person. It's also a fabulous excuse to people watch.

One of the stranger group activities I've seen:A Segway ride. Is this really better than taking a walk on a beautiful evening? No way!

This morning the day started with a great ride with Vera...we beat the heat of the day, for the most part (got on the bike at 7). I am still so excited to have my heart back into cycling.

It's Back

Friday something happened and I can't explain it. In a moment's time, I regained the passion I've had for cycling since I got my first road bike 5 years ago (almost to the day). That passion completely left me in February, and that sent me down the road of "normal" life. During that time, I pursued a new job and I did need extra energy to do that. The new job is great, but there's stress involved with doing anything new. Almost everything that had been constant in my life changed in the period of a few short months. (No, I didn't move.)

It was weird, though, these past few months of not being cycling-centric. Every time I've been on the bike, even for the short commute, I had nothing in my legs. Zero energy, zero desire to go fast. Zero desire to race. Not like me at all. Nothing was moving the bike forward...on most days. It's a place I never thought I'd be before and I hope to never experience again.

Friday's ride was a religious experience. There was a fair amount of spitting rain and I was able to skirt an on-coming storm. I rode around the storm and saw blue skies in the distance, though the storm was brewing over Denver. The splatter of the tiny raindrops felt amazing. I was smiling, riding hard, wanting to stay out for hours.

It's become clear to me that when I don't ride, I don't have the energy to focus as much as I need to on all of the other things. It's easier to be aimless in purpose. Life without cycling is not complete. It's probably true to extend this to mean that life without any emphasis on something physical is incomplete. After riding this morning, I got more work done than I have in weeks. And I feel great. My appetite, incidentally, is also under control (which it isn't when I'm not riding). Interesting, eh?

My passion is back and so am I. It'll take some time before I get my form back, but I don't care. I just want to be back in the place where I'm most comfortable--on the bike, in the peloton with my cycling friends, sharing the best life has to offer, which happens to be on the road.

Life 2.0

got an iPhone today...17th person on line, so worth getting today. Amazing that I've lived this long w/o it. Line stretched a loooong way back, I think I understand why people are dealing with the lines. Think my blog will be updated more now. I'm thinking this will change my life. Yes-I've drunk the Apple Kool-aid.

Marathons and Concerts, How much can be squeezed in a day?

Pic: Team Friends of Cindy Lowery (two others on the team had to leave prior to the end)

Sunday morning I awoke much too early to participate in the Colfax Marathon. Had I done the math, I might have been tempted to sleep in. Much of the fun, though, was watching the girls come in at the end of their legs and go off when that was possible. I started at hour 3 and ~45 minutes after the gun went off. My run began by bolting out of the porta-potty when I heard our team's number called, Jen had just come in. Fortunately, that only put me back a few seconds.

I was sure to start very slowly because I didn't know if I'd survive the 12k...I've probably only run that far once before in my life. The run was so scenic. It went past Sloan's Lake, waaaay downhill right through the heart of Downtown Denver, past the Watercourse (on 17th) and on to City Park. The miles passed quickly (okay, less quickly for me than others, but psychologically it seemed fast as in it wasn't a struggle to keep running). And I did it without the performance-enhancing iPod. The last mile and a half were a little more challenging because I could feel blisters forming on my toes and I was trying to push it more. It was also very hot out and I discovered that it's really hard to drink in the feed zones without walking (and I refused to walk due to the fear that I wouldn't start running again).

In the last 3/4 of a mile, I really started to push the pace and I wondered if I was doing some kind of damage to my poor body. Coming into the finish, a couple of guys were finishing, too, and I figured it would be appropriate to run as hard as possible...they took it as a challenge so it was a flat-out race to the line. That made it fun to have some competition like that...even though they were probably finishing a marathon versus my teeny 12k. It only lasted 1 hr 14 min so it wasn't too bad (half the time of a road race). After analyzing the results, it appears that I need to trim off 14 minutes to have a respectable time.

Next time, I would enjoy training for and completing a 1/2 marathon. Don't think I'm remotely tempted to run a marathon since I'm not light enough for it to be safe on my knees.

That's how the day started. It ended with lots of garlic- and olive oil-drenched pasta at the Gondolier (it moved! I almost had a heart attack when I thought it was shutdown at the old location.) The pasta was as good as ever. After that we (my co-workers and I) went to a Collective Soul concert that simply ROCKED. They were awesome & the Boulder Theater was a pretty intimate venue for such a show. In fact, I'm jamming to their music now as I write this. It fits my mood after spending the evening playing Rock Band.

Completely Random Things Part II

And it occurred to me that I have to run a 8 mile leg in a marathon this coming Sunday and I have neglected training. So since the day turned cold and rainy (again), I hit the treadmill and watched "Enchanted." What a cute movie! it was an excellent distraction from the running.

Lately I'm trying to keep things interesting. Looks like I might be indoor rock climbing tomorrow and going to a conference on public speaking this weekend, along with a concert (yeah, and if you know me, you know I don't go to concerts), but why not? The mountain bike might even be coming out of the closet (ha ha, okay, I'll stop trying to be funny now).

Completely Random Things

This is my super cool Grandpa, as seen on Mother's Day in the backyard. He and all of us were smiling because Mom made a wonderful dinner and the picture-perfect apple pie shown here. Yeah, she made the whole thing. I am trying to figure out how to make it up to her...but without cooking because she does so much better of a job. It's not all that clear how Mom and I are related: she cooks good food, keeps the house clean, she is organized and her wardrobe is vastly superior to mine. But, I'm assuming she's my Mom so my bro and I happily celebrated her and my Grandmother & Grandma this past weekend. Thank you all for willingly going through all of the pain of raising us kids!!!

And Saturday was spent sleeping in after a very late-night Friday deployment and then I attended this fuel-cell car/solar car competition at Dakota Ridge High School (the competition was for middle schoolers). It was fun to see the contraptions the kids put together and you should have seen those cars fly! Yeah, I'm a geek, this kind of thing is very exciting. Only thing better would have been participating in it....I'm a little too old, yeah....it was a bit surprising how young middle schoolers look.

Last Comment

To whoever left that last comment on this blog, my sincerest thanks goes to you. I really appreciate your words of wisdom. I believe in a balance, but I think the balance I was trying to attain wasn't the same as the one you describe so eloquently. In a way, racing has felt like a either you do it or you don't kind of thing. I have always raced for the love of it, but in the cat1/2 field, I didn't think it could be enjoyed without training 20 hrs/week during the off-season.

The other major reason why I like to race is that training is so social, I just love to ride with others and experience the world from the front seat...on a bike. So, taking a step back from this, I realize that I can have a lot of this fun simply riding with others: Going at whatever pace; racing up a hill in the middle of winter when others are wanting to do the same; riding slowly with a group of friends and appreciating the scenery; running during the spring and summer; staying out late to enjoy some kind of cultural activity...

Of course, there is a great deal of fun and thrill that comes from actually racing: the adrenaline rush; the once-in-awhile victory (shoot, even coming 2nd to a prime is like winning in my book); camaraderie; partaking in an event--not being on the sidelines, but being part of something that causes people to cheer; and, of course, the stories that can be told years later of this scar, that road trip...those many road trips, all of which would never have happened if it hadn't been for the silly, but very valid, excuse to attend a race.

Yes, what you said in your comment is correct. Balance is the key. It's nice to have some of both, along with time for friends, family and other important endeavors.

Thanks for giving me this to think about. I might be back sooner than I was planning on. And if you see me off the back, trust me, I'm having fun, as always.

If there's one thing you should do today...

Watch this:

End of Vacation, Start of New Job

I'm not going to try to re-hash the end of the trip. It was a wonderful time to connect with family and friends and to truly have quality time with everyone, including myself. It was two weeks that could not have been spent in a better way.

I just finished up week #3 at the new job. So far, I like the people very much and am beginning to be of value to the team. Changing jobs always comes with challenges, particularly those surrounding figuring out the people. It helps tremendously when the people all mean well and are very capable, friendly and genuine in nature. Still, though, there is a level of stress surrounding not knowing everything.

Today I volunteered to work a race that my team put on. It was hard to be there--watching people warm up on a frigid morning and then going out and working so hard. I was well dressed and couldn't fathom why anyone would be there. I think all of my energy is going into work and there isn't a lot left over to spend on racing right now, but I do hope to get back to it when the time is right. It was my whole world for the past three years and now I feel like an alien to it. It's not good or bad, just what it is and I still have yet to determine what the best thing is. It is so nice to have more time for other things that had been badly neglected for quite some time.