June 10th

“I gotta make a plan for myself
Can't look to you can't look to anybody else
Only this way am I truly free
I wasted time too long now it's up to me” (Pennywise)

I"ll admit that lazy people bug me. People that go on vacation and just sit around on a beach and do nothing, that bugs me too. Taking 2 hour naps is a waste of time. That’s what night is for. People that take zero initiative to see the wolrd, people that are complacent and passive...Ugh! None of this bugs me to the point that it affects me too much, but it is just  waste of life. As far as I know we only have one chance on this go-round. Why wouldn’t you want to see what you can accomplish? Why wouldn’t one want to see the world and feel alive every day? And sure, I have a crap job (that pays pretty ok with good benefits) so I am not happy at that, and a career person could say the same about me, and maybe they do. I just choose to put my energies in a different place.

Running down a trail in the middle of the mountains is a serene experience that brings peace to the soul. Or pedaling a mountain bike on single track. Or riding a bicycle at 50mph down a mountain.  Except for the running at the moment, these are the things that make up my life on a daily basis. But it doesn’t have to be “x” or “y” or even “z.” Find a passion, give it your all, and take it as far as you can go.  People not having a passion is such a waste of life - surely something must light a fire inside. And I think the last few weeks really drove this home for me to why I think like that.  A couple girls that I’m really good friends with both lost their brother, another friend of mine lost his good friend, and then another friend lost his Grandma. And sure, maybe grandma was old and maybe it was her time, but dammit to hell, for the other 3 it was NOT their time. These people had a life, a passion, were good people with people whom loved and looked up to them. And now they are not here anymore. But Sally fatass eating her gallon of ice cream sitting on the couch each day doing nothing but taking up space will live to be a 100. Life isn’t fair and I realize that. But still, get out and actually live and love life. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow. And crap, I may not even survive the day to go to sleep tonight, so I am damn sure that I will do something in life today 100%.

Nothing is worse than an indecisive person either, or one that lives for others.  I know what I want out of life, and have goals and sure, right now some of them are just dreams, but I will do all I can to make them happen. And if I fail so what? I am giving it my all, and I can gurantee that failure won’t be lack of effort or because I hesitated or didn’t or wouldn’t make a decision. The journey and pursuit of the goal brings so much joy and accomplishment as I work toward the endpoint. It might not work out exactly how I planned it but it should be fairly clost to my vision, because really - it’s up to me.  And I won't let myself down.

That’s my rant for the day.

 

Where it all started

my first real road bike - Nishiki International

I remember watching the Tour de France as a kid; I’m not sure what year it was, 1984 or 85? or maybe even 86. I just got my first “real” road bicycle, meaning it was something I would not flip the handlebars around and ride wheelies with, or jump, or basically beat the crap out of like every other bicycle I have owned. This was a real bike, meant for going faster, longer, harder, with toe clips that meant falling over was a cumbersome affair to untangle oneself. I even had some cool Avocet shoes that offered a harder sole to increase pedaling efficiency and grooves to hold my foot into place; this was a real frigging bike. And Hell NO do not forget to loosen your toe clips at a red light, there is no last minute twist of the foot to unclip with those damn things! I was ready to haul some ass.  Give me some spandex. A cool EURO La Vie Claire jersey and some matching Look shorts. Damn that was badass! As bad ass as you can be in spandex anyway.

It was the first day of the tour, and the prologue was it’s typical crazy short self, maybe 4K or so.  The pros did it in whatever time they did it in, I can’t remember. But I do remember hopping on my bike, hitting start on the cyclometer, and then pedaling my ass off around the neighborhood to see how close I could come to the winning time. Only quickly to realize that stop signs, other cars, and whatever other neighborhood hazard there is around to slow me down that it wasn’t a fair comparison. Sprinting up  to 29 mph, staying at  that speed maybe 5 feet, basically hyperventilating, then completely falling apart all within the first 400 yards.

Long slow rides with friends, stopping at Burger King to refuel, those were the food and fun days I remember from riding. Nowadays I am just getting back into the same type of riding I did as a kid. Getting lost, running out of food, exploring new areas, just riding without a distance, time, pace, or specific destination in mind. Having fun again and just being a kid on a bike. And I may not be  a bad ass in spandex, but don’t most superheroes where spandex? I may get to that point at some time. 

A few photos from biking and hiking Zion

One thing I have been realizing lately is I don’t take enough pictures – of the things I do. I take tons and tons of pictures of the kids, whether it is baseball, a little hike, the playground, jumping on the hippity hops at home, go carts,  or whatever our adventures entail. But when it comes to the time I am not with them I hardly ever take pictures. I have ridden at probably 10 different trail networks this year, and I’m pretty sure the only place I took pictures was in Utah. This year I have ridden in Anacortes, Kettles, Woodinville, Lord Hill, Galbraith, Chuckanut, Lake Padden, Salt Lake City, Jem trail loop in Zion, and Gooseberry Mesa at minimum, I’m probably missing a couple places. Amount of pictures I have taken in Washington…..ZERO!  

Hidden Canyon was a cool hike. Hiked along 300 foot cliffs which is pretty brave (for me).

   I need to change that – even on my road rides I see so many cool things, spending a couple hundred miles per week on a bicycle is such a cool way to see the world. Single track or some back road that not many people know about it filled with interesting things and memories and views that most people will never see. Sure, I took a picture of a canyon wall a thousand feet high in a national park – but 1000’s of those pictures already exist that are basically the same. Seeing an owl waiting patiently before it dives for its prey is indescribable, but not having a camera to capture the owl perched and waiting is inexcusable. So many amazing sunsets and full moon bike rides I keep forgetting to capture – I need to do better.

Waking up to this every morning was pretty cool.

Sunset was amazing each night.



4/7/13





This week I definitely crossed the line from riding my bike “just to have fun” to actually training for races. I rode about 215 miles, not crazy high mileage or anything, but the fact that I am constantly pushing myself to eke out another  .2 or .3 mph to my pace, or push my cadence a few revs quicker means the little switch got flipped. Oh, and I can’t forget about the amount of rain I rode in this week. Seriously, I got dumped on each of the last 3 rides – crazy amounts of wind and rainfall which is not too fun to ride in. I am not quite doing 5 hours rides in 38 degree downpours anymore, but 2.5 hours at a strong tempo in a deluge would not be happening if I wasn’t trying to get my ass back in bike racing shape. I know that I am enjoying the pedaling because I don’t even bitch to myself during the rides how shitty it is to be out in crap weather. This past Thursday it completely dumped on me for at least 90% of a 42 mile ride and not once did I internalize the fact that this weather sucks and I don’t want to be out here. Nope. All I thought was “Hey, I’m starting to feel stronger on the bike” and “Damn I love pedaling my bike and no one else is around, this is so peaceful and even the bunnies are hiding so hopefully I won’t have to worry about running them over and wow it feels good to be riding a bike again.” Yep, that’s what I think about when I ride. Just my cadence and bunnies.