Prepare for the Resurrection

Tap tap tap...Is this thing on? Testing 1 2 3. Ok. I think it still works. Maybe it's time to wake this blog up from it's period of hibernation. Disclaimer: I don't promise to have anything interesting to say that's worth reading.

Crack that ass!

Had a nice ride around the woods with the work colleagues today. We've dubbed lunch rides on Friday's to be 'Mountain bike Friday's'. It won't be long before we are doing far more dirt riding than road riding.

Now I'm drinking wine and watching the budget scene from the movie Dave.

Lesson in Perspective

I wouldn't say that the last week has been one of great enjoyment for me.

The most influential teacher of my high school years died.

Chris Mearns died.

I'm not over the death of my dog earlier this summer.

I haven't seen enough of my friends (That means you, Steve).

I'm facing another significant transition in life.

I clearly am rubbish at updating my blog. Maybe this post will be a warm up. And maybe going forward, I'll have happier things to talk about.

Basking in Ineptitude

I've been doing a decent amount of riding lately. Not anything record breaking, but rather some long hours in the saddle. It's all sort of in preparation for the Etape in July.

Three weekends in a row incorporated rides that were either good distances, or simply lots of saddle time. In a last minute effort to keep up that pattern, I decided to join The Most Beautiful Man in the World on the Dyfi Enduro in Wales. It was set to be 47km, and after having a couple of big, hilly rides in the Peaks last weekend, I felt pretty comfortable with that length. All I needed to do was settle in to a pace that would allow me to last the duration.

I wasn't prepared. The amount of climbing was soul destroying. The descents were steep and technical, and a bad tire choice meant that I was on the razor's edge of disaster down every one. There was no time for my legs to recover. The downs were very hard work, and I was knackered after them. This didn't set me up too well for prolonged periods of churning up hills. The climbs were exponentially longer than the descents, and after every section of rapid altitude loss, there was a long, drawn out climb. I got bored going up. I got off the bike to walk just for something different to do; to use different muscles.

It's not the event itself that was the problem. Under different circumstances, I would have really enjoyed it. The issue is me. Were I in a better state of fitness, or if I could be a person who climbs well, I would have been faster. I could have gotten through the climbs like the 'normal' people on the ride. I wouldn't have gotten frustrated. I could have pushed myself without fear of blowing up, or hitting the wall. There were nearly 700 people entered in the event, and I think 95% of them were better equipped than I was. It's quite humbling.

I don't know if I'll do the Dyfi again. Yesterday pushed me to the edge of my mental ability to cope. I'm my own worst enemy, and I'm not good at just sucking it up once I've headed down that dark path of self-deprication. I would need to be at a much higher level of fitness, and things like life get in the way of being able to prepare for such an event. I know that it contributed to my fitness level, but I'm not keen to face that sort of mental challenge. I'm not a winner in those situations.

It's all a bit too fresh, at the moment. Maybe it's one of those things that will get better in a week, and I'll be excited about it later on. It was nice to hang out with Steve, but as of now that was the best part of the day. Well, that and the love I continue to feel for the Superfly 100. It's a shame that people have such negative opinions of 29ers, but that's a topic for another day.

Steve Makin, It Is Your Birthday

So this post is pretty much entirely for SteveM, since it's his birthday, and he's been waiting for an update.

This doesn't mean that I have anything worthwhile to say, but I suppose I'll just keep typing and see what happens. Maybe I'll just talk about SteveM.

SteveM is one of my best friends in the entire world. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that he's one of the best friends I've had in my entire life on this Earth. The thing is, he got to be that way in a stealthy way. I can't even remember exactly when it happened. I just know that over a period of time, he became my hombre, my homie, my brotha frum anotha motha.

It wasn't too long before I realized that everyone loves Steve. He won't take that well, because he's far too humble to accept how valuable he is to everyone who knows him. He's the consummate friend. He listens, he offers advice, he encourages, he teaches, he reads poetry at fireside. He also absorbs the feelings of those around him and masks how stressed he really is so that he can be there for everyone else.

So Happy Birthday, Steve. I hope you see rainbows for many years to come.

Day 14-Cassiday

Today was supposed to be a day of running around. First, take Cassidy to pre-school. Then, go back to the house and make breakfast. Oatmeal, of course. Next, go back and pick up Cass from school and then take Kim to work. Shop around in Trader Joe's for dinner provisions-and more importantly chocolate-and then take Cass shopping for a backpack for her first year of big girl school in the fall. Then we had some other things to do.

Things changed when we got word from Kim that she was getting off work early. Conveniently, we were just down the road when she made the call. So back round we went to fetch Kim, then home for lunch. By the time we were done with lunch, it was time to fetch Dylan from school. Then we did the backpack shopping, hot beverage buying, and email checking. At some point, the time became 5 and that meant I needed to start making dinner.

I generally try to make dinner at least once when I come to stay with Kim and Michael. They are both busy people and parents, and since they are kind enough to let me invade their lives, I try to repay the favor at least once by taking the pressure of dinner prep off their hands.

Of course, the two small children never like what I fix. They are always happy with chicken tenders and fruit, rather than the fancy schmancy spinach and sausage frittata with parmesan cheese that I made. I don't take it personally. It needed salt anyway.

Tomorrow I start ramping up for work mode again in preparation for 3 demos in a row this weekend.

Day 13-More Ohio, But With Less Hair

Quiet day today. I woke up, did some emailing, chatted to some people, ate some breakfast.

I got my haircut. I wanted it to rest just above my shoulders, but the little stylist took off more than that. I say little because she was not a tall person. I was heads and boobs above her. She reminded me of one of our surf instructors in Costa Rica, I wanted to put her in my pocket!

Anyhoo, it hasn't been this short since Dan came to visit me during the Fruita Fat Tire Festival. I know this because he took a picture. But it's just hair, so it will grow back.

Then it was time for a mad rush hour dash to pick up Michael from work so we could meet up with Kim, the kids, and my favorite Aunt Betty. Cassidy is graduating from pre-school, see. It was a special day.