putting in the miles...

A pretty good contrast to last week's ride... that was on the trails and in the sun. Saturday's long ride was in the hills, on the road, and in some rain!

Another big weekend on bike. The weather was kind of weird all weekend with rain in the morning and then clearing to sunny skies.

On Friday morning I got up looked out the window and it was dry so after I was properly caffeinated and suited up and headed down to the garage. My plan was to get 90 minutes on the road before work. When I opened the garage door the ground outside was now wet and it was drizzling. I hate riding on the road in the rain, and I try to stay off the local trails when they are wet because I don't want to shred them up.

So I took out my single speed mountain bike. Gordon converted my Specialized Stumpjumper into a SS for me a couple of months ago... it's killer. And when it's wet I don't mind taking it out because it's easy to clean up. So I headed out for the local neighborhood trails in San Elijo hills. There is pretty extensive network of trails (trail map) that for the most part hard packed sand and hold up to the rain very well. There is also a lot of climbing to do out there and I got myself into some spots where I could barely turn over the gears... and pushing a 32x16 doesn't help. A tough workout for sure.


On Saturday I got in my long ride. Again I woke up to damp roads but decided to stick with the plan and hit the streets. I got in 4+ hours with plenty of climbing. Luckily I ran into Matt about 3 hours in as I was kind of hitting the wall. Riding and talking with him got me through it and I was able to finish strong.

My bike was trashed after the ride. So Saturday afternoon while Beth was at yoga I cleaned all of our bikes... in sun.


tools for cleaning: bucket, brushes, hose, rags, and beer. Dale's Pale Ale.


Sunday... my birthday and more weird weather. It rained a bit early so this time I hit the San Elijo trails on my Epic and did some more exploring and found some new single track which was pretty technical and fun. An hour and 45 minutes later I was back at home, fueling up and getting ready to run. The plan was to run for an hour... my longest run in 6+ weeks. I decided to run in San Elijo lagoon because of the soft surface and because it's one my favorites places. The run went great from a foot pain perspective but I was full-on bonking at the end... but I pushed through. I can't wait to start ramping up the running volume again. That starts next week... slowly.

the ride. more climbing.


birthday beer. i earned it.


After Beth and I had our workouts in the books for the week we headed for some brunch at the Beach Grass Cafe. It might be our new favorite spot. After that we headed home and just lounged around all day. Beth cooked me up and epic b-day dinner. She perfected her chicken tortilla soup recipe... a Vo2 maxed post is in the works.

So that's it. I am another year older, happier than I have ever been, training is coming around. Things are good.