Tag Archives: Bike Ride

“To Undertake an Endeavor” or “The Day after Yesterday”

I woke up Saturday at about 4:30, 4:45 in the morning. I was wanting to get up at five to leave early, but I must have been too warm, had to go to the bathroom, or just plain anxious about not being late. And I was having nervous dreams – like being up somewhere high and balancing about to fall to my certain death or being buried alive in a cave, trapped forever underground.

And being late! Man, that would horrible. I’ve put so much into this, months of training, getting too busy to train, then training hard to make up for the last time. I’ve invested money into this too! A new bike, all sorts of equipment, gym membership, and time. OH MY, the TIME! Hours of being on my bike, hours being in the pool, waking up early to train, going to bed early cause I’m exhausted from the the running, the biking, the swimming. Such an investment can’t be allowed to self-destruct with such lax negligence! Nervous I shall sleep!

I am blessed to have such an amazing girlfriend, that she was at my house at 5:30 ready to go with me to cheer me on (with homemade signs). I am blessed to have two good friends to support me and show up at 5:45. We all loaded up in the car and hit the road. Continue reading

Near, far, Up, and all around…

As evening fell, a maiden stood
At the edge of a wood.
In her hands lay the reins
Of a stallion.
And ne’er I’d seen a girl as fair,
Heard a gentler voice anywhere.
Whispered, “Alas…”
She belonged, belonged to another–
Another forever.
Yes, she belonged to
the twilight and mist.

(I’ve had that song, well, the melody, stuck in my head for a while)

The Near
18: Run 2 laps, 2.5 miles, 30:15 minutes. Walk/Jog 120/90 seconds. It was my fastest time so far. It’s annoying how slow I go when I’m walking, I got this quick cause I did more jogging than I was supposed to.

20: Bike ride. But more of that in the far.

21: Run 2 laps, 2.5 miles, 30:37 minutes. Walk/Jog 120/90 seconds. Slower, but it was easier to jog for the 90 seconds.

24: Bike 6 laps, 7.5 miles, 38:48 minutes. Fastest lap was around 5:40 or so. I was much impressed, but then the next lap was slower, like 8 minutes. All and all,  6:41 average time per lap. 11.6 miles an hour. That means it would take me, oh, forever to go 16 miles.

25: Run 2 laps, 2.5 miles, 30:17 minutes. Walk/Jog 90/90 + 180/180. Yeah, I was confused too. I had to read it four or five times before I understood what exactly it said. 3 minutes is a LOOOOONG time to jog.

The Far

The bike ride alluded to above was amazing. I rode uphill for four miles or so, then went on a 7 mile downhill mountain bike trail, complete with scenic detour (read: lost).  The views were amazing and the trail was pretty scary.

Father’s day I went fishing and caught this. Yep, that’s right, it’s a 17″ rainbow trout. It was pretty fun to be fishing again. And a blast to be out there with some amazing Dads I know.

The Up

It was a movie. A good movie. And pretty darn awesome in 3D, and with some great company. It was well worth the trip and the $14.50 I didn’t pay. But I would have, I swear!

“17 Miles” or “My Butt Hurts”

I rode my bike for 17 miles yesterday. It was amazing, and amazingly long!.

Everyone showed up late and we got off about an hour later than we were supposed to. Bright sunshine and warm weather were our send off. The first hill we hit was small, like a driveway, but it still scared me. I just didn’t know what I was getting myself into. But it was a small hill and I rode up it no problem. The next two hills were super long and challenging but I managed to ride up the them (with ample breaks).

Then came the pay off.

Downhill is the reason I own a bike. It might have not been the reason I bought it from Jof, but it is the reason it still exists (especially after the end of yesterday’s ride, but more on that later). There is nothing like riding down a back country road with the wind racing past your ears. You are bent over your handle bars, tucking to make yourself as small as you can, so the air doesn’t know you are there. Your weight is on your feet and hands, you look like you are sitting on your sit, but you have deployed your natual shock absorbers in your elbows and knees. You see corners and want to touch your brakes, but you don’t want to loose any speed for the hill that is you know is coming up so where. So you just swing wide and hit the corner praying you don’t loose your back tire.

And of course right at the beginning of one of the best downhills, your bike tire goes flat… So since you are in the back, you just have to walk down. And walk the flat part. And walk up hill. Then about halfway down the next downhill till Jordan comes and rescues you with the bike pump (YAY JORDAN!).

But then the rest of the bike ride was mostly up hill going into the town. During the hottest part of the day. And some one forgot the keys to the truck up the hill. And the person who was supposed to bring them brought the wrong ones. And your girlfriend drives all the way up the hill and back to bring them to us.

Also, it seems after we got into town I got stuck in a time warp. We went to the pizza place, and they took 3 hours to bring us the food, and I went to Lindsey’s house for another 3 hours, but I was somehow only at each place for an hour and half… Strange.