Weekend Cruise

 

I learned my lesson at the marathon nationals to not put in too many miles/hours on the bike the day before a race. Today I opted for my Public D8 cruiser bike for getting me around the city. I've got some slight modifications I'd like to do for a more aggressive ride, but otherwise it's perfect for hilly San Francisco.

Tomorrow is the Tamarancho Dirt Classic up in Fairfax, CA, just 3o minutes north of where we live. I'm excited to do this race since it's so close to home. While I'm not expecting to do spectacularly well, since my focus is on marathon, and I'm just not that explosive off the start line. My game plan is to be conservative on the downhills while attacking as much and as hard as possible on the climbs, knowing it's a rather short 21 mile course, consisting of three laps.

Nothing Exciting

Spent some time in the saddle, indoors, on my trainer. I've got a great view of the fog blowing through the trees outside my window. Daylight is escaping too quickly these days, and the mornings are pitch black, too. It's been hard staying motivated this past month. I've been working too hard and it's been pretty grey outside. Piecing together my Open bike is fun, but I'm getting burnt out spending so much time online.

Marlow In a Bag

Here's my dog, Marlow, in his special riding bag on my way out of the office. I think he likes it. He doesn't try to jump out or cause too much trouble. He careens under my arm to get a better view as we ride along.

As a side note, what was up with today and all the crazy bike commuters? Was it national race everyone you see day? I swear just about everyone I passed was hell-bent on catching up to me, riding on sidewalks just to scoot by and beat the light.

Recovery

Still feeling zonked from the long weekend. Besides commuting to work by bike I've decided to give my body a rest. Looking forward to seeing all the Interbike posts trickle through the internet this week. I'm hoping to see something new for my Open O-1.0 build. It feels good be back home. It's going to be another crazy week of work, but luckily I don't have any upcoming races so I can slack off on my training for a bit.

The Long Way Home

Had a great time in Bend racing the marathon nationals. My parents came down from Vancouver, WA the night before and surprise visited me. I saw them on the last loop of the course. Afterwards we went out for some good Thai food. On Sunday I drove back to San Francisco, and enjoyed the scenery for the entirety of the 9 hours in the car by myself.

Arrived

Arrived safely in sunny Portland, Oregon. My family actually lives across the river in Vancouver, WA. The weather is quite nice and should hold up for tomorrow's ride. Not sure where we're going yet, but I'm super excited to put in some miles with the old man. It's been at least 15 years.

P-Town

Headed up to Portland for Labor Day weekend right after work. Got two bikes in tow, one for me and the other for my wife. Got a big ride planned with my dad on Saturday before we head to the coast. Now for the long drive North.

Mondays

Not much going on with me this Monday. Still recovering from yesterday. Still thinking about Colorado and Leadville. Can't decide what to do with this blog now that goal I set a year ago is accomplished. Daily posts? Weekly posts? Not sure, but I think I can't stop because it's become a routine. Hope everyone still enjoys it.

Processing

It's been a few days since the race, and I'm still high from the entire experience. I keep replaying the decisive moments of the race where I either made up or lost time, what could I have done differently, what was the best bike choice, did I drink/eat too much, too little? These are all important things to think about leading up to my next attempt at a sub 9 hour Leadville, and hopefully under 8 hours. Nutrition is a key factor as I didn't feel 100% dialed in that day. Regardless of all these things running through my mind I'm still enjoying the post race glow. I'm still working on a full race recap. I just need to find more time.

Breckenridge

I'm looking forward to having Breckenridge, CO as my home base the week prior to the Leadville Trail 100. I've never been there before, but I hear great things from this quaint little town. It's not quite as high as Leadville, but it'll be the perfect place to acclimate to high elevation. I'm staying at the Crystal Peak Lodge and am looking for trail recommendations as well as places to check out while I'm there.

Race Prep

Getting ready for the Leadville qualifier in Tahoe this weekend. Bike is all set. Added another water bottle cage, but because of the frame design I had to use a seat post mount. It works quite well. My wife is out of town, and I can't bring our dog, so I'm going solo. I'm excited to check out Tahoe. It'll be my first time in the area.

Friday the 13th

Stay safe everyone. I was expecting something to happen to me on my morning/evening commute, but luckily nothing made my Friday freaky in any way. I decided to take a day off from riding, having had a really busy week at work. I plan on putting in some major miles over the weekend to make up for the somewhat easy week of training.

Still Loving It

It's been a little over two months since moving to San Francisco, and so far we still absolutely love it. I've been making a lot of new riding and work friends, and have gradually become more familiar with our neighborhood at large. I haven't, nor ever will, take for granted the beautiful landscape that surrounds us. I take advantage of it all the time. I commute to work almost every day, through the Golden Gate Park and into the beautiful Presidio. It's wild out here. I think we just missed the rainy season, but it's been relatively dry, foggy at times, but overall amazing weather. I don't miss the East Coast humidity at all. I do definitely feel like I'm a part of the city now, and it feels great.

The Calm Before the Storm

We stayed up in Geyserville, CA the night before the SoNoMas race, and had some amazing pizza from Diavola. It was quite honestly the best pizza I've ever had. Perfect pre-race food. It was also the first time using the bike rack on our new car. The drive up was gorgeous, as the race venue is deep in wine country. Full race recap coming soon.

15 Hours of Driving

My wife and I drove up to Portland over the Memorial Day weekend to visit my family. It was a lot of fun, especially when all we did was eat a lot of really good food. We maybe had a full day in Portland before we had to drive back. We took highway 101 south all the into San Francisco. The last time I did that must have been 10 years ago. I forgot how beautiful the southern Oregon Coastline was.

We stopped along the way for fish and chips and scored a few pieces of driftwood to decorate our apartment. I drove for 15 straight hours, one of the longest stretches I've done in a long time. Our new car did us well.

How is any of this relative to the blog? Well, sometimes it's nice to take a break, from work, from training and even riding.

Portland Road Trip

No riding for me this weekend. My wife and I drove out on Friday evening after work up to Portland to visit my family for the holiday weekend. It's our first real venture in our new car. We made it as far as Yreka, CA. Wish I had more time to ride. Watching the sunset over Northern California hills and mountains is enough for me. It'll be a nice mental break from work and training. Now I'll settle into my nice food coma.

Unpacking Days Are Numbered

Day off from the bike. Unpacking is in full effect. Our apartment is a complete mess, boxes everywhere. Unearthed my bike tools and stand, along with the remainder of my cycling kit. Nice to have a new rotation of clothing, too. Slowly but surely I'll get my life back in order.