Weakend

So, Friday pretty much sucked. My emotions were zapped all day long. I typically love to start my day reading various cycling blogs, but the news of Elden and Susan at Fat Cyclist came from out of the blue to me, and I am sure hundreds of other readers. The part that struck me as odd is the heartfelt connection I had to someone I have never met, nor even spoken to. I felt a little helpless in the fact I could only send a reply with words that can do little. Susan has been diagnosed as terminal now. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. If you can, send them a note of support and encouragement, he shares them with Susan and I am sure it is good medicine, too.

I had to say goodbye to an eight year employee at the days end. He is a friend too who really got me psyched to bike again a few years back -- we even rode over our lunch hour for a spell. Here I am optimistic for both our journey's as we move forward, hopeful we can still connect as friends.

On the way home I collected Emily from the vet. News there is inconclusive to bad. She has a bad left hip and bad right hock joint. They sent xrays out to be read by a radiologist (7-10 day wait) but there is a chance she has a tumor in the hock joint. The options are not good for treatment and make our choices quite clear. We are hopeful that it might be soft tissue damage from arthritis which we can treat. Seven plus days is a long time for us -- a gift for others.

Finally the AC went out that night. Fortunately it was cool out and dry so we were comfortable and it was fixed first thing in the morning.

As for cycling... I was too drained to do Spin Class and had to prep for a Client event that morning anyway. I did manage to get some supplies for the 6000 though and ride 27 miles that afternoon. I felt sort of slow and not much fight in me against the wind, but had to do the distance.

Sunday Nifi and I went boating with Todawgz. I wanted to ride, she wanted to garden and clean house but these opportunities don't come up often. The weather was fantastic, the beer was cold and the company was gracious. Now I have a nasty burn on my chest, stomach and tops of my feet! How long have I lived here?? What a rookie. I have some degree of sun poisoning and a massive peel to come. I might not ever eat lobster again.

Spin On

A different Perspective

I came in this morning concerned about what the surgeon will tell us about Emily. It is going to be a long day because she got moved to end of the day. I am hopeful we can be proactive with her care and resolve Emily's joint problems.

Then I read the Fat Cyclist blog. I nearly wept. His latest post "Like Dandelion Seeds" is heart wrenching. His wife has been battling cancer for some time now and just recovering from hip replacement. If you have some time, send his family some words of encouragement -- they need it more than ever.

Then I got a call from a friend who is going through some family issues and facing heavy decisions. Best of luck, dear friends.

So, I had to think hard about my own feelings. My perspectives are certainly different, as are my motivations. I'm not a big fan of "could be worse" but, I am a proponent of "be thankful for what you have". And I am.

Going to try and get in another series of rides and some distance this weekend.

Spin On.

Lift & Spin

Spent Tuesday evening at the gym with the trainer. Worked the legs pretty well with a 2 minute spin between machines. Some upper body and lots of core -- which is cool because I can do that at home, laying down, which is positive in my lazy-a** book.

Last night I got in a faster than normal 16 miles. Despite some wind, mostly cross, I upped the average speed a little which had more of a mental boost than anything else. My HR has been much lower lately. I can honestly say it has to be from less conflict/drama/pressure at work. We have slowed some due to the economy but it puts us at a more comfortable rate of production. It puts me at an uncomfortable level of "bike porn" however.

Tonight is a rest night with an ale or two. Alvaro is stopping by (again) to see the new ride and make adjustments on the 5000. I still can't shift on the fly to the big chain-ring...

Anxious for tomorrow, Emily goes in for another surgical consult. She has become a bit more chronic in her discomfort. Fingers crossed for better than expected news. Of course, can surgery ever be good news?

Spin On

That's A Wrap

The weekend is over and it is back to work. Monday is a recovery day -- in name only, usually a flurry of meetings and deadlines for me. But it was a good biking weekend.

Got in a short burst Friday night around the neighborhood, just enough to spin out the week. I did not feel great on the bike though, everything seemed a little off. Knowing I had an evening of projects ahead I folded it up after about 10 miles.

Saturday was spin class. There is a lot of construction at the gym and even more employee drama. I guess Edmund the Inhaler has quit now too. That really limits the number of instructors left to teach classes. Plus many of the regulars are not showing up because of the changes I imagine. I missed the week before an only ONE person showed. We had nine this week. It's a start to rebuilding.

After wrapping up the community garage sale, I headed out with Twodawgz to get some Belgian ales and the new Trek. It is a sweet ride. I already know I want to dress it up with some Ergon grips and a rear fender. My only hope is that my maiden voyage is not foreboding of rides to come... one wheel revolution and I rode right through a dog pile on the side yard! I had to laugh and hose it off. Dog eats too much fiber.

I also got the Carbon Suppository cleaned, lubed and the old Cateye computer back on. It was like having an old friend come back after being away too long. I really like this set-up. And, it works!!

Sunday I rode 40+ out to the Islands. I knew it was going to be a challenge when I was thirsty 3 miles into the ride. I was never able to fully hydrate. I did forty miles in 2:34:43. That was few minutes off my goal. I has tailwind for about 15 miles and flew. Of course that comes with 15 miles of headwind home and a 6+ m.p.h. drop in speed. I really try to focus on cadence not speed for these long rides, keeping it about 80. I was pretty uncomfortable at mile 27 so I pulled over at 30, drank some water, stretched a little and that took away the aches.

Congrats to Spenghali who cranked out 35 miles with a 19 mph average! Fantastic spring effort. Don't drop me at Cheers & Gears, please!

Meeting prep awaits.

Spin On

Aaah, Friday

It has been a longish week for me work wise. There was some joy mid-week when I took part of the day to help M&L pack for their trip back north and I stopped in to two bike shops to test ride mountain bikes. I like the Specialized Rockhopper but did not care for the Giant. But for the money and Trek credit, I have to go with the Trek 6000.


Hope to get it this weekend and enjoy a spin with the Nifi as a recovery ride. If all goes as planned I will do Spin in the morning and on Sunday tackle a 40 miler out to Captiva. I really need the longer base miles. Quick spin last night felt great, but they are a fraction of what I need to accomplish.

Speaking of accomplish -- I had my first session with Tracy, a trainer at the gym and animal loving triathlete -- very interested in our R2R cause. She worked me on several machines, focusing on the climbing muscles for my legs and a bit of upper body to help round out my efforts. She explained that you need good upper body strength to climb and not atrophy like many roadies do. And drink water -- lots of water to combat the altitude adjustment. The only downfall was my lower back really got tweaked and acted up towards the end of the session. Bad core muscles and pulling dogs is my theory.

All in all I liked it better than Core class. I do better with individual instruction anyway. Not feeling sore the next day. The day after that my triceps were screaming all morning. Today not much discomfort at all. I think next week we can amp up the leg workouts though.

I leave you with on final picture from Captiva -- proving weight lifters are two dimensional.



Spin On

Does My Butt Look Big?

As promised, here are some of the promised images from the Captiva Coffee Cruise. Not much different from the Holiday romp, and just as fun:


Does my butt look big in these shorts?


A nice coffee on a tropical bike ride... How very British

There are more pics but Blogger is Buggering me on uploading images for the past couple days. I will try more later.

More to come on the weight training.

Spin On

Temporarily Out Of Action

The ability to upload images is currently not working, so I will synopsize the weekend:

Three rides, one with Kevelo -- thanks for the cruise, pictures coming.

Trip to the Trek store and the Insuck FINALLY crapped out in front of them which means a $200 credit and possibly the Trek 6000 in my future:)

Sunday was a nice ride, not really cranking or keeping score of anything because I had no computer on the Carbon Suppository.

Tonight is the first attempt with a trainer to work on a routine and weights... I sense "ouch!" will be the headline tomorrow.

Spin On