Jump Start

So this season's training has had a slow start. I came out of last season rather burnt out and tired of being on the bike. The progression of things wasn't what I had hoped and that seemed to carry over into 2008. However lately I have been finding myself enjoying the hell out of getting out and riding my bike. Even though the majority of my rides have been in the 2hr range, minus the 5hr century I did a few days ago, I am excited again. to be quite honest it's been awhile since i enjoyed riding my bike. Lately I have been entertaining myself with my new liberties of being 21 as well as other forms of cross training such running but I think I am finally ready to get back into the swing of things..

Today I rode up north with future CU Cycling president Peter. We rode up north on some hike and bike trails which were either primo and dry or shitty with the nastiest mud ever. Nonetheless, its January and it was about 55 degrees and sunny so im not complaining.


Other than that, there's not much else to report. Yea, i'm happy with just about everything going on, nuff said. I'm doing a long ride tomorrow out to ft. Collins, should be fun as long as the hurricane force winds decide not to show themselves.

Dias dos, tres y quatro

Two days ago J and I rode 2 hrs in the rain. It rained the entire time we were out. I came to the conclusion that 2 hours marks the point at which I stop having fun if my toes and hands are cold. The ride however was fun. Its surprising how once you get used to riding in the rain, as long as you dress appropriately, its really not bad at all. There are, however, several key tricks I have learned.

1) bring multiple pairs of gloves
2) even though you're cold, eat and drink.
3) use fenders (a must)
4) rain-x on the glasses
5) start drying your clothes immediately after you get back if you plan on using them the next day
6) If for some reason your riding partner double flats and is still doing 20mph, your blown, don't even think about drafting behind him, even if there is a car coming....you will never hear the end of it.

#1 gloves!


Yesterday was a longer (3hrs) ride out on the flats. Once again we rode roads where we didn't see cars for half hours at a time. And while the weather was pretty shitty, colder than usual and the roads didn't provide spectacular scenery, for some reason I seemed to enjoy it a lot.


Today looks like it will either be a rest day or a running day, we'll see where my motivation takes me. We'll hopefully head downtown today, should be fun.

Sunny & Warm 78737 to Cold & Rainy 97229

My last few days in ATX were a blast. Clear blue skies with temps in the 70's. I spent the remainder of my time hanging out with friends and family. The riding in Austin was good because of the weather but the traffic seems to get worse every time I come back. I did the Johnson City loop 4 times while I was home along with a hand full of other rides. The Rio Grande team was in town for their training camp.


My second to last day in town I decided to go on the dam loop. It amazed me how much of lakeway is developed now. When I lived out there there was hardly anything and now there are shopping centers and housing developments everywhere, it was a good ride nonetheless.




Some pics from 360, this road sucks even worse than it did before.



After the ride everyone decided to meet up downtown. I'm still learning the little nuances of the bar scene but I've come to the conclusion that with the right group of people its a guaranteed good time.


Thanks to Scott, everyone besides him had a relatively inexpensive night. Thanks man.


My last day in town I went for a ride with dad. We revisited my childhood training ground at the Veloway.


This place on the weekends is packed! both with families and the most extreme weekend warriors. This guy passed us and gave us the look back at least ten times.


The best new thing about home came a few days before I left. Little Sophie, nickname 3G is a little hair ball of energy.



So now I'm in Portland visiting the ragin cajun.. I have never been here before but I like it a lot, minus the temps and rain. I seemed to have started the trip off right though. I got here with my bike case making it, but not my bag. It took the airline over 24hrs to get me my bag even though it was at the airport 10 hrs after I had got there. So with that being the case I borrowed some clothes and set out on our first ride.

The ride started out with some of the best weather Jason had seen in weeks. the sun was out and it was relatively warm. However by the time we started our 2nd climb the weather was clouding up.



At the midway point, AKA furthest point from home I flatted on the 1 mile stretch of road with significant traffic on it. And of course according to murphy's law it started to dump on us. As soon as we were riding again we were being pelted by ice chunks that stung really bad. It was one of those things where you didn't get mad, you just laughed really hard.


At the top of the third climb the scenery had changed significantly, from green and cloudy/rain to this.


At the top J flatted making the flat count 2.


Then on the way home we hit a road that used to be smooth but was now covered with sharp golf ball sized gravel. Thats when the shit started to hit the fan. Out of tubes now, J flatted again, (flat count 3) I think it might be a weight issue. Anyways he decided to try to ride home on the rim. Well after we got off the road he realized his front was going flat too, (flat count 4). Awesome! oh and for the record I'm blown from riding, and J is still doing 20mph on 1, then 2 flats. We eventually made it home, J riding 15 miles on flats.... yea, I feel slow. Today is day 2 of the Jason Sager training camp.....its 100% chance of rain and I can verify that with a look out the window. Today I'll probably die since yesterday I rode like a complete rookie riding hard up every climb. Oh well, it will be a character building experience.