Monday, November 30, 2009

Quick update

Wow, it's been probably a week since I've read any blogs, and it looks like I missed a lot! Skimmed most of my usual's today. Work has been crazy (still is, no sign of stopping), training started up again, and it seems like we are never home!

Good to be busy in all facets of life, I guess.

Closing in on the end of Prep and the beginning of Base starting up this weekend. My work schedule next month is weird, and with the workload I can already feel some problems coming my way with my weekday schedule. Should make for some interesting "flexibility" with the plan!

First things first. Last week Justin got a moto. We are not fiscally responsible people, and generally when we want something eventually we get it. Justin had been wanting a dual-sport for probably as long as I wanted an iPhone. Now, I didn't get an iPhone, but I suppose that is in the details. Also, I got mine with birthday money. teehee.



I took Thanksgiving to sleep in and get a late start, and then Justin and I decided to head to the gym for a quick leg sesh before hightailing it south to cook dinner at his moms'.

I'm pretty surprised with the recent gains I've been making in the gym on leg day. In the past 5 weeks I've about doubled my leg press and squat rack weights. I chalk it up partly to getting used to the exercise, partly to not sandbagging, and partly maybe diet. The last one is highly subjective.

Since we made Thanksgiving dinner it was pretty paleo. Oven baked turkey, paleo butternut squash, and string beans (I know these may or may not be ok on the paleo plan, but it's a wash). I had a glass of wine with dinner (my first in about a week and a half). Amazing how that stuff just goes right to your head when you aren't used to it! It was a pretty quiet day, and we got home at a decent hour.

Friday I got up and hit up some quality trainer time for a drills session while Justin worked like mad to clean up our garage. It looks spiffy now.

Saturday we woke up to some wet ground, as was forecasted. It's days like Saturday that I hate when the weathermen are right! Justin worked on getting me a SS ready to ride (the Dos Uno Niner had been in pieces since mid-October) and after we took what seemed like forever to get packed and ready to go (he was going to head out on the moto to do some recon and riding and meet me at Blue Jay), finally I got on the road around 11:30 or so. Sky was clear and gorgeous, temps were chilly, but it seemed like an opportune afternoon for a ride when I started at San Juan. The climb up was pretty uneventful, with a few groups descending. Only passed 2 climbers on the way up.





I made it to Cocktail in an hour, and cleaned most of what I have previously on the Epic, so was stoked to be climbing pretty strong on the SS. It's so.much.FUN. A few guys pulled up to Cocktail from the loop while I was leaving Justin a voicemail, and after a quick snack I headed up the trail. The skies were looking fairly ominous up by Santiago Peak, but I had already determined it was going to be a beautiful day, so didn't worry too much. Once I got to 4 Corners the temps were cold, and it was getting darker.

I got up to just at the trail intersections before Blue Jay and it started to sprinkle. I stopped a little ways up to put on the vest Justin loaned me (not waterproof). It was drizzling a little as I made it to the campground, and by the time I got to the front bathrooms it was coming down. I set my bike under the oak tree and beelined for the bathroom overhang area (the only dry spot in town!). Justin joined me a minute later (he'd been there for about 30 minutes) and we hunkered down trying to stay dry, and getting colder by the minute.



We kept hoping the skies would clear and we could bust outta there without getting drenched. Luckily for me Justin had brought his cycling rain jacket (just a clear rain coat) and gave it to me for my descent. I only had my normal full finger gloves, and was wearing my BG therma-fleece knicks, and my new SmartWool socks (love 'em).

I wouldn't say we got a break, per se, but the rain went from a torential downpour to an easy drizzle, so I hopped on the bike and hightailed it out of there. No mud to speak of (the DG up top just soaks up the rain), but it was sure wet, and really cold. I got probably half a mile down the trail and my fingers started to go numb.

By the time I got to the intersection above 4 corners I couldn't feel my fingers at all. At 4 corners they were useless stubs of sausage (and felt about that big as well). Justin had suggested I skip out on the loop to finish up sooner, so I did. As I was heading straight back down the way I came a climber popped up around the corner, and in my haste to not get in his way, and also due to be unable to effectively brake, I crashed pretty good on my left knee. Kept moving, and did some hiking, but really couldn't feel the fingers much. Some feeling came back as I descended.

The trail was about 99% dry when I got to Cocktail, despite there being a faint mist still. The trail was perfect and dry the entire way down. I took my time, had a really creepy encounter with a guy climbing (I was worried he'd turn around and chase me down to the trailhead) and when I got down to the truck had never been so happy to see Justin's moto as then. The creepy guy had not followed me, but you never know!

We missed out on being able to head over to Oakley (too late), so drove back home. Justin braved the pretty cold temps on the moto.

Sunday he got out on the road for an easy spin with me! At about 25 minutes in (about twice as long as he should've been riding, period) he turned around and I hit up some bonus time.

Then it was off to the grandparents house for Thanksgiving take 2! I fell off the paleo wagon with sharing 2 beers with Justin, having some delish Old Vine Zin, and then topping it all off with a nice big slice of pumpkin pie.



Amazing what un-paleo food and alcohol will do to you! All good, though. The best way to deal with falling off the wagon is sprinting to hop back on, which is what I'm doing today!

Great weekend overall, though four days was not nearly long enough!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Prep Week One - Done!

Started the prep part of training for 2010 this past week. I started it off similar to last year by racing the 12 Hours of Temecula, only this year I didn't race solo! Rediscovered just a tad little bit of the speed I'd had in the late summer for a lap or so.

Sunday we did an easy spin down to a local market to pick up some local veggies, fruit, and meat. Wednesday I did my first revised schedule at work, and took off in the afternoon for a few hour ride! It was really windy on the way back, got cold, and was almost dark when I got back, but it was cool! Looking forward to more of those, for sure. Thursday was back in the gym for some mega strengthening, and then I had some sweet weekend riding with my 2nd favorite training partner, Luke.

My favorite riding partner was over in OC taking the MSF motorcycle course to get his certification. The knees are still not doing so well. We tried dual-action Cho Pat straps, which do help the pain some, but they haven't solved the issue(s) yet. *le sigh*

I dropped Justin off at school early yesterday morning and then DROID told me how to get up to Cooks Corner. Sweet. Luke and I (it was entirely my fault) had a meet spot fail, so once I realized around 9:10 that he was at the nature center, not at Cooks, I rolled out in chase. He got up into cell range about a mile or so up Harding, got my text messages, and met me near the bottom after I'd climbed Modjeska. We set a pretty good spin pace up the climb and chatted the whole way.

Ran into Ann and Andy on the way, in chase of OMR and Gene, who were in chase of Clinky and Maxwell et al. It was great seeing everyone out there.

I hadn't climbed Harding literally in about 3 years. Justin and I climbed it once on our first half century as we were training for Counting Coup. We'd climbed up ITT, traversed over either Holy Jim or Trabuco, and tried to go through O'Neill (wound up climbing Live Oak) over to Harding and started climbing that around 25 miles in to our day. I could barely pedal for 15 yards without stopping to stretch my lower back, and Justin kept downing Tums tablets to try to break up the cramps in his legs. We got up to Upper Holy Jim just as the sun was setting, and I turned on our only light as we descended. It was a long cold trip back down ITT in the dark, and I'd never been so happy to see the truck as that day!

This trip up was quite a bit different. No running out of daylight, no back pain! The climb does go on for ever (it's around 12 miles or so from the bottom up and over to Joplin), but then you're almost home free with LOTS of descending and grinning!

I was all by myself...







After Luke "found" me we climbed nice and steady





It got COLD up at Main Divide!

Ran into some familiar faces



Droppin' in



Luke was nice enough to play photographer for me!



Don't forget to breathe!



Way off line... I was committed until then, though.

We were cruising pretty good down Joplin when Luke came up with a flat. D'oh! It's ok, we're used to it riding with Justin.



We got down to Old Camp, took a short break, then continued down STT. Luke's front tire was getting low again, so after a quick pump-up we kept going, until he was getting rim strikes!



Weather was better when it was sunny than when it wasn't!



After the ride I hung out a bit with Ann and Andy, and left early to go pick up Justin from moto school.





Sunday we got up early so Justin could head back to OC. I spent the morning cleaning house (yay!) and then met up with Luke for a pretty short road spin on the flats in town before we parted ways to watch the Chargers/Broncos game.

Stoked on my weekend! Short week coming up, so awesome.

Monday, November 16, 2009

10.5 Hours of Temecula

Let me preface this by saying that I agreed (I like to use the phrase "somehow got wrangled into") to do the 12 Hours of Temecula about 11 days before the event. I love riding my bike. I even love riding my bike for long periods of time, and I like to try to ride fast. Sometimes I like to attempt to put the two together.

My XC race season ended on 9/27. I took a week off and then basically did some regen, did a big ride, did a massive ride, and then did almost nothing. The week of my birthday I literally had about 2.5 hours of bike time. I hadn't been on a mountain bike since Noble. I hadn't ridden my Epic since CA State.

So, on top of all that, Justin got a call Friday around 6 as we were sitting down to dinner from a manager at work, who I would be racing Co-Ed Duo with the next morning. Justin and his group had been uprooted from their building at work on Wednesday or Thursday due to some structural issues. The plan had been that it'd be inaccessible for a few weeks, and then everyone would be back in there. Well, Friday something happened. So, then it was well by Monday morning everything needs to be cleared out. They talked about the race, and determined I'd go first in the race so I could try for Queen of the Mountain, and then it was time for dinner. About 30 minutes later it was no longer - it's okay by Monday; it was Everything needs to be out of here by tomorrow at noon. So, Justin headed back to work. Meanwhile, we had guests on their way, and my race bike hadn't been touched in over a month, and nothing was packed. I got my food, clothes, bottles, etc. together and tried to pack a few things for Justin and then hung out with Steph and Dan.

I tried to sleep. Around 11 Justin called and was about to head home for the night. Luckily we got a few hours of sleep, and were up and at'em the next morning before 6 to pack up and head to the venue.

We got a primo pit spot just past the timing booth. I wasn't sure how I'd like not being down by the pool, but it was aight.



It got WAY more crowded in the 2 hours before the race started.

My partner, Bruce, and I registered and got to work on the finishing touches of the bikes and pits and hanging out.



I realized I had to get dressed and do some kind of warm-up. I tried to get in some last minute training the week before the race (it's always a good idea to go from totally untrained and riding 2 hours a week to riding 3.5 hours in 4 days with as many hills as you can find, and doing threshold efforts), but I still wanted to make sure that the legs were ready to clear some lactic acid once the parade lap tapered off and it was go time for the hill climb.

I'd never even been near the front of an event like this before, much less tried to go for a prime, so I was kind of nervous. Jason mentioned that the King and Queen of the Mountain would get jerseys, so I was stoked cause I love the SoCal Endurance lime green jersey. I was pumped and ready to go. Had no idea who I was racing against, but I was going to go full bore up the climb!

Meanwhile, back in the pits…



And from the other angle…



Stephanie changed jerseys about 8 times (kidding!) and then as I was about to go hit up the restroom one last time I realized everyone was lining up for the start! I snuck up as close to the front as I could and hoped I didn't get taken out on the neutral roll-out! It was only hectic in a few spots, luckily.

Roll-out



Hitting the dirt.



I passed Natasha from Amgen and one of the Hungarian? girls just after hitting the dirt and just tried to stay out of trouble and pushing the pace. Bruce had been yelling, "Draft! Draft!" as I went by the pits, so I tried where I could. I was up pretty far to the front, but even as I came up off the first turn I could see guys already a football field or two up on the climb. Crazy! I passed a few guys, and were passed by a few, but didn't see any women. I felt like dying, but when I hit the top I asked the lone kid on a quad if I was the first woman. He said no. What! I was shocked. I then had moments of paranoia where I questioned if it was fastest lap and not climb? I didn't let off the pace once, just in case.

I stayed in the mix where I could, and pulled over for others where I couldn't. I came off ridgeline feeling good and ready to hit Ambulance. Once I hit the singletrack on the way up the fire road I felt my tire getting squishy. Then it kept rolling around the corners. Ugh. Not again.

We'd just seen Race Across the Sky on Thursday, so I had this flash of Lance standing there, leading Leadville, looking around trying to figure out what to do with his flat tire! I figured it worked for him, so I'd try it… left the bike rubber side down, pulled out my Big Air and filled the tire to where it felt pretty full. Meanwhile Natasha had ridden by, along with a lot of other riders! I re-tightened the valve and heard air hissing out. What? I saw a sidewall puncture. Had no idea if there was any liquid Stans left in the tire, but I gave it a few good spins, shook it a bit and said a quick prayer as I pocketed the Big Air and hopped back on the bike in chase. I caught back up to Natasha, who was also racing Co-Ed Duo, and she and I swapped positions for the last 1/4 or so of the lap.





We came through the start/finish literally together, but unfortunately since Bruce and I were tagging off down by our pit I got a little held up, but then continued on, and off Bruce went chasing down Natasha's partner.

She confirmed my thoughts that there were no women in front of us at all!

Justin had me put my feet up, and I hydrated and ate a snack. I had NO idea what to do. Racing solo it's easy. You ride your bike, you grab some stuff, you ride your bike, for hours, and hours. This duo thing? You get just cold enough to be stiff and ready to hang out for the rest of the day and then it's time to go again, and not just go slow and steady, but go really fast.

Am I doing it right?



I cruised around and wound up talking to Heidi about what she does when racing with Mario. We chatted about training, racing next year, etc. Then all of a sudden Justin was yelling my name. It had been about 45 mins since Bruce had gone out, and I was just about to head over and take a gel shot and line up to go. Well, Bruce's lap was a LOT faster than expected, and I had to shed the jacket and GO!

Oops.

My lap 2 felt pretty good, and I was still cranking along. I tried to be more social and cheer on the solo's this lap, while still going as fast as I could manage. This lap was a few minutes slower than lap 1, but not by much. Still felt good, but I knew I couldn't keep cranking out 55 minute laps.

My off lap was a little easier. I'd had Accelerade on lap 2, so wasn't as hungry. Had a few snacks and then was ready to go about 12 minutes before Bruce came in for the hand-off. Went out for lap 3 and tried to keep a good pace, but also spin a little more than the last 2 laps. I was cleaning stuff pretty good still and felt okay. Natasha and her partner had opened up a big enough gap that I couldn't see her on the laps at all, but I tried to keep my "time checks" close. I wound up with a 57 I think. I believe it was at this point Justin relayed that Bruce was looking forward to me slowing down so he could rest more. What!! I was barely getting 50-52 minute breaks! Haha! I put my feet up, and had the situation somewhat dialed in. It isn't like solo where you're a zombie. You kind of are totally amped up when you come in, but it's important to sit down, hydrate, get some food in early and then head out for easy spinning.

Luckily for us, I think, the fire road out to Dam Climb is about a mile or so, undulating, but very little elevation gain/loss, so it's a great warm-up in and of itself.

All I really remember after that is Heidi and the BMX Mulisha trying to talk me into drinking Guinness in between laps, and then I got slower, then I got a lot slower. Then it got dark. I went out for lap 6 I think around 6:15 or so. My 6th was really slow and I was out of energy. I'd asked a lot of my untrained and unridden body and it was pretty much over it at that point. I was grannying stuff, walking stuff, and my mind would wander and I'd be sitting in Zone 1 cruising. I'd try to speed up and then just forget again. So, I just cruised it out.

Got back around 7:30. Bruce was still kitted up, but he was definitely not into doing a 6th lap. We had a few laps up on 3rd place, and were a solid 15 minutes behind 1st, which he couldn't make up in one lap, so we called it.

It was really cold once I finished up, but put on some layers and got to drinking a home brewed Kolsch from Luke and then we sat by the fire and snacked on pretzels until awards.

I got my Queen of the Mountain jersey (a non-SoCal Endurance men's large that won't fit Justin or I, so much for being excited about the jersey) and wound up nearly tied with Karen for fastest female lap of the day (I wasn't even thinking about that!). Stoked.



Bruce and I on the "podium" with Natasha and her partner



We hung out and were totally stoked that Steph won the Pro/Expert Women's series overall!! So awesome.

All in all, a great day on the bike and with friends.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Droid - My Impressively Non-Pro Review



So, like some of you out there, I have long been lusting after the iPhone, but unable to attain one. I have been on a month-to-month contract with Verizon for over a year now, since I had no real reason to re-up. They'd bombarded me with "New Every 2" fliers, emails, and text's for months, but to no avail.

When I did some research in the late summer it became pretty clear that the iPhone wasn't going to be available on Verizon's plans any time soon. And, it didn't really matter as Justin was holding steady against either of us getting an iPhone and the ensuing $30/mo data plan like the warriors of Rohan defending Minas Tirith.

I'd been rocking the Motorola Razr since like January of 07 maybe? Phone is still in great condition and works great, but it wasn't a smart phone (or an app phone, or an android phone, or whatever you want to call it).

Somehow, in late October (like many other people) I first heard about the upcoming Motorola DROID. Naturally, I coveted. An iPhone killer on Verizon? How could a girl not be interested? I read the news, rumors, and updates on the phone on about a daily basis, and somehow talked Justin into letting me get one Friday, November 6, the first day of release.

I will admit, I was somewhat nervous they'd run out by lunch time, especially at our local Best Buy. Why Best Buy? The $100 rebate was instant instead of mail-in. Score!

Since I'd ridden over to Best Buy to get in a workout, I had literally no time to play around with it, especially after the hour + it took to get my account re-upped and the data plan added. The phones weren't flying off shelves, but the Verizon network was crawling!

By Saturday afternoon I'd mostly figured out the stuff that I needed to know. I still haven't used most of the phones capabilities, nor will I, I'm sure. I haven't downloaded more than about 6 app's, and they were all free. I pretty much just like checking my email and Facebook, and taking/posting pics online instantaneously. Eventually I'll probably check in to a "grocery list" type app, and wouldn't mind finding something for traffic (the Google Maps traffic layer was vastly incorrect on Friday showing green when we were dead stopped, or it was grayed out where it would've been nice to see it). I'm sure at some point the Where app will be cool (thinking this is similar to Yelp?). I've only downloaded 3 ringtones (how are they giving these away now? They used to be like $2.50 for a midi tone), and sent one text message.

I do really like the phone. So far I haven't had any issues calling or receiving calls (though admittedly my experience here is as limited as with anything else to do with the phone - I've made about 4 phone calls and received probably less).

Let's see if I can break it down:

Phone itself: the contacts became somewhat cumbersome when the phone sync'd Gmail, Facebook, and my old phone contacts. It's nice that you can star/favorite contacts which is a somewhat poor exchange for speed dial, but I've read you can add a contact to the home screen, and honestly, it's not that difficult to click the Phone icon, then select from the recent list or hit favorites. I have yet to try voice dialing, but honestly, I never used it with my old phone either unless I was using my bluetooth (which I've yet to even try to sync with this phone - noticing a pattern?). The call quality has been good. I'll just say I haven't noticed anything bad when on the phone, except as some have noted.. if you're using the Google Maps navigation, the chick does talk really loud in the earpiece whether you're on the phone or not! No, I wasn't driving.

App store: since I have zero experience with the iPhone app store, I have no idea what I'm missing. I'd probably download more app's if I thought they'd be useful, but so far I haven't really needed anything, and anything that I have looked for I've downloaded. I haven't even logged in to Pandora yet. I did get a free NFL scores program that isn't great, but it worked last Sunday. The Twidroid Lite has worked well, and I like that I can exit the app so my phone doesn't go off all night as everyone Twits! OK, back to the blog... I just downloaded as many app's in about 30 minutes as I had in 4 days. Not sure I will use any of them??

OK, also, I am dim... when I visit websites that have the app's all listed out there's like this little 2D barcode box. What does that do?

Camera: It's functional, and better than what I had. I've read quite a few complaints about the lag-time (it is slow, but that's coming from my Canon SD950 IS) and lack of focus. I have gotten the "green" focus tabs a few times, but most of the time I get the red ones (assuming this means it hasn't focused). I was able to take a picture of some birthday confetti this morning up close indoors.



And indoors at a bike shop over the weekend



Takes decent pics outside at night with the flash. I actually found a work-around to silence the camera from making the focus/shutter sounds! Turn all media sounds off entirely ;)

I'd probably say my biggest complaint is the size, but coming from an older flip phone what do you expect? I knew it'd be too big to fit in my jeans pockets; I've just yet to find anywhere else to stow it while I'm walking around aside from carrying it, and that's dangerous.

The other day I was leaving my desk walking down the hallway. I knew I needed to turn left around a corner, started playing with my sounds menu and WHAM!!! Slammed my head right into the wall. Turned too soon, I guess. D'oh. Good thing the paint didn't leave a lasting scratch on my glasses.

Anyway, all in all I'm pleased with the phone so far. I think a more thorough review once I've actually utilized more of its capabilities would be necessary. I'd totally recommend it to anyone on Verizon that wants an iPhone like phone. Battery life has been fine for my usage (1-2 calls a day, random lite web-surfing, etc.). I sit at a computer all day, so I don't really need to play on the phone too much. I have noticed a nasty crik in my neck that I didn't have previously ;)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Fairy Tale: The Walker, The Mailman and the Squirrel

Once upon a time there was a princess that wanted (ok, make that "needed" - Bruce will be a slave driver on 11/14) to go ride her bike at lunch. Her prince preferred her to ride a different route than the one she chose, but she liked it for the terrain.

She suited up in her kit, clipped her shoes into her pedals and off she flew, feeling fast and free as she glided into the breezy pre-noon air. Traffic was light in some spots, and heavy in others; seemingly the opposite of most days. Without incident, she made it to the hill and out to where she wouldn't hit a stop light for another 45 minutes.

The headwind was demoralizing, her legs burning and sore from a hard gym workout the day before. She saw another princess descending the hill and waved as they continued in opposite directions. As she crested the hill, there was another princess. What? Not even 30 minutes in to her ride and already she'd seen 2 other princesses out riding and no princes. What a day!

The next few miles ticked by without incident, the headwind like a battering ram, but the sky was as blue as the ocean and the clouds floating quietly like marshmallows up above.

She noticed a few hundred yards ahead a man walking with traffic in the bike lane where it narrowed to 2 or so feet. She looked back to see if she could safely take the lane to pass, but naturally there was a truck barreling down the road. The driver clearly saw the princess, as well as the walker, so he safely passed over the yellow line, allowing her to safely pass in the lane of traffic.

Disaster averted.

As the princess came back around to finish up her loop she passed a mailman stopped delivering the mail. Soon he passed her back, and again as he was stopped to drop mail she passed him once more. He pulled to stop a third time, and was unfortunately forced to stick out halfway into the narrow lane of traffic as there was no shoulder there. She looked back to see if it was safe to pass, but unfortunately there was a box truck heading right for them. If there was no traffic coming the other way this would have been fine, but sadly there was a car heading the opposite direction taking the other lane.

With only a split second to decide her course of action the princess hit the brakes and slowed to a stop, waiting for the box truck to pass the mailman, so she could pass the mailman and continue on her merry way.

Disaster averted once again.

Now it was time to descend! While there had been a nasty headwind climbing up the hill, the wind seemed to continue to buffet her attempts to gain speed, and a car kept close behind her, not passing for some reason. She decided not to relinquish the bottom of the hill sprint just because of the car, so once down at the "line" she took off out of the saddle gaining momentum and speed.

Just as she sat up to recover, still near max speed, out into the road bounded a bushy-tailed squirrel. OH NO! The eyes on both the squirrel and the princess bugged out in cartoon fashion as they only had a split second to determine a course of action. The squirrel had run right at the princess on her bike.

She grabbed a handful of brake and fishtailed as the squirrel passed safely inches from her front tire. Both continued, their hearts pounding with adrenaline.

Luckily the rest of the ride was simple enough and the princess arrived back at work and lived happily ever after.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Weekend Update and Food Stuff(s)

Friday night Justin and I drove south after work, and after he had his first PT appointment for his irritated knee. With traffic we got down there just before 7, but Steph had already headed back to school to help out with the evening's football festivities.

That left Justin, Dan and I to fend for ourselves (after Steph made quite an amazing dinner for us to enjoy, if I may say so).





See the Carolan's in the background? That was the beginning of the end! Dan poured just a tad in his almond milk with dinner. Then Justin poured himself a small serving. It was amazing. So smooth and tasty. There wasn't much left in the bottle, so we ran out quite quickly. Naturally, one thing led to another and we wound up at Vons buying Bailey's, Kahlua, and two cartons of Haagen-Dazs Five ice cream.



Stephanie got home just in time to partake of some vino and for the four of us to sit down to a nice game of Monopoly Surfing!





Somehow I managed to be able to get out of bed on Saturday, and we prepped for a long day out at Noble Canyon. Unfortunately due to Justin's non-compliant knee he had to sit this one out. Made me really sad, but he went to hang with his mom before an easy road spin.

I didn't have such a great day on the bike. But, take the good with the bad. Here's a few pics:





DFL!



Darryl



Dan











Steph



Halloween dessert



As for the food stuffs... I haven't been posting much on my food blog, but that's going to change soon. Justin and I are going to try the paleo diet for athlete's here pretty soon. I'm trying to finish up the book, and have one event to do before training starts up in earnest. Soo, we'll be trying out the new "diet" (i.e. way of eating on a regular basis, not a way to lose weight) in a few weeks.

I'll be posting up about it on my more food-ish blog. Check it out there if you are interested in info, recipes (hopefully), and the journey.