Photo by AMY.

To exploit circumstances to gain immediate advantage.  Eating healthy sucks in that you never seem to feel full, which means I’m not eating healthy.  After the firecracker I new I had to gain some sort of immediate advantage.  Throwing out my consistent principles, I stuffed my mouth full of McDonald’s cheeseburger and fries and drove down to Levis for the Levis 100.  

Three loops with a total distance of 25 miles did not seem all that bad until after the race.  23 of the 25 were on single track which makes for a different race all together.  Let’s just say conditioning plays a whole different roll on mile 22 of single track.  All in all it was a fun race and for the most of it I was out on the course alone with no one around.  Great way to connect with the bike and the trail.  Oh yea…that immediate advantage worked and I took third.  Nothing like a new shirt and water bottle.  Someday the paycheck will come…I think.

But that’s not the news for us.  Adam is getting hitched.  he popped the question to Steph in anon romantic setting.  That is beside the point.  The minute the sucker knelt on one knee he set the ball in motion for a life committed to utter submission and nostalgia.  ”You know she is not another notch in the old belt.”  Let it be known today that Adam doesn’t wear a belt…beltless.

I’m off to New Orleans for a week and am looking forward to a little break from the bike.  Life is good and keeping busy.  Once back we will then be off for Nikole’s half marathon in Chicago.  Training is the name of the game for us and Ayden is loving the fact that he gets to tag along!

…days where you wonder what went wrong between the time of your last race to this one.  I have to remind myself that my last MTB race was the ’08 Chequamegon.  That hurts but yet it helps to remind me to take this race in stride with the long season.  Keep in mind “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” –Mahatma Gandhi

In a nut shell.  I went out too hard and got caught in a pretty face paced group of riders.  Throughout the race I couldn’t get my heart rate down and on this particular course there are no places to recover.  You have to be stuck on someone’s tire or be left in no mans land.  

Lap 1 – went over my handlebars and messed up my saddle position which made for an uncomfortable lap 2 & 3.  burped my rear tire and was losing air slowly with every root and rock that I went over.  

Lap 2 & 3 – spent trying to recover, catch the riders ahead of me, and filling up my burped tire.  

In short, it was a long day of racing that I ended up chalking up as a training ride.  This weekend I hope for better.  I will be down at Levis riding the in THIS race.

Hopefully my form comes back to me by Saturday.

New #1 Fan

Single Swizzle,

Sturgie

Full race report coming.  Lets just say it will involve over-the-bar somersault, burping, and “what the hell am I doing here.”  Oh it was a good time.  Great to be back in the racing action.

Single Swizzle

It’s the still frame of the main artery through Chicago.  The cars caught in the lens in the black of night.  No structures or figures, just a blur of lights lining to and fro.  Life has been like the blur of light stretching across the night sky.

Coming back from school after being away for two weeks plays tricks on a Dad’s perception of just how much a child can change.  No really, I knew that Ayden is changing as the days change but I did not realize how much of a change does happen.  For the brief time that I was gone he rolled over for the first time, learned that he likes to stand on one foot, and cries if no one is paying attention to him.

In June we took Ayden down to the Dells with some friends of ours.  We were a little worried about the whole water thing but found out that he absolutely loves the water.  Last week we went up to my parents place in Hayward and he spent the whole day splashing and hanging out with the dogs in the water.  Just hoping that he stick to the bike and not to a swim team.Nikole and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary this month.  We actually got away from the house and spent the evening down at Mona Lisa’s drinking some fine mojitos and reminiscing about the days when we could stay up past 8:30 pm.  It was dinner and a movie and a constant reminder of the blessings that we have had so far in the two years as husband and wife.  highly recommend the movie UP.  Classic 3D movie that will have you laughing and crying.  Ok, maybe not everyone but for some reason the 3D glasses make my eyes water.

Sunday is my first mountain bike race of the season.  It’s going to be a good day for this ONE.  I know…July 5th will be the official start of my race season.  Hey, you have to take what you can get.  Summer is back to normal as I have found some consistency in my training.  And hey, if you want to read more about this bike thing you can go HERE as well.  Full race post to follow.  Until then enjoy.