Phun Day Monday Ride...

Today I managed to sneak out of the house for a bit and get some more miles on the MTB. What I really need to do is put some miles on the road bike! I think if I don't soon I risk my wife selling it just to prove a point. Well, 'irregardless' (**That is one of my pet peeve 'words that don't exist, yet get overly used' words). Sorry, ADHD catching up with me. I got out and had a nice ride. Wound up stopping to see the progress at Little Mountain Brewing Company and chatting a while, then getting back on the road. Got back on the bike, rode for a bit, and then tried to ride back home the way my wife drove when I was Racing The Automobile. I took her exact path, and was quite please to complete the two mile, 253 foot climb in ten minutes. Legs felt great, breathing was fast but my chest wasn't tight, it just felt good. Yup... time to get the road bike out.

Racing The Automobile...

So I got out for a fairly paced ten mile ride. That is, of course, until I saw my wife three miles from our home. I thought it would be funny to race her. So, clearly without thinking, I told her, "sync our phones, and let's see who gets home first." Now, let me explain. She is in a car, automobile, vehicle. She is going about two miles, on paved road, with ONE traffic light. On the other hand you have me riding a three mile dirt trail, through a creek, up an insane/poorly graded/falling apart hill, and through the woods.

So, she cam in at nine minutes. I came in at a mere seventeen minutes. I'm going to go ahead here, use my license, and just call it. I won. I owned. My legs were burning, my shirt was drenched and I felt amazing! I need to do some stupid sh** more often.

Back In The Swing Of Things

First off two quick points of business. First off, as a point of cross promotion, I was featured for The Art Of Brew (my other blog) on Drink With The Wench. Both AMAZING blogs, if I may say so myself.

Also, my buddy rich is almost completely through Virginia on his 4500 mile cross country ride. He is raising money for LiveStrong, and is accepting donations for LiveStrong on his LiveStrong page. He is now officially more that 500 miles into the journey, and it's day 10. More to follow as I hear more

So it has been about ten days now since my last post, but at least it has been for a good reason. I've been managing to get out on the bike and log some miles, and have been putting myself into a world of hurt working out my core. It's one of those weird things that my body is hurting so much that it feels so good.

I've also been making a point to eat a lot better. Skipping wings with the guys from work, eating a lot more raw, and veggie, and even being suckered into my wife's vegan habit. I have to admit that I could likely be persuaded to go vegan if I didn't have to give up cheese... Or chocolate... Or bacon. OK, I could give up bacon, but it's SO good.

Anyway, I think this is going to call for a July ride in Cleveland. Likely the Towpath once again. So if you're in the area, or want to be, drop me a line and you can meet up with us.

Cheers, for now!

Possible Winds Of Change?!

If you missed yesterday, check out the post about my buddy Rich who is riding from VA to OR and raising money for LiveStrong. If you can, please consider donating a few buck (or more) to his LiveStrong page. I'll keep writing about his journey as I get info from him on his ride.

WHAT?! This is the third post in a week. I got two rides in, in that time. I've started a (minimal, but still...) amount of core building. All in all, I think this might just turn out OK. I have spent the last year feeling like my life has fallen apart, but suddenly I've seen a light at the end of the tunnel. NOTHING I has seemed to go the way I planned, but now it looks as though a ray of sun is breaking the clouds.

Let's take today as an example. I had a crappy day, turned good day, turned uh-mazing. I took the anger of the day and turned it into cranking out a hilly seven mile ride, like I've never killed it in the past. I think I ride much better when someone pisses me off. It's like I need an assistant to just piss me off before I ride so I can hammer that much harder. I am in HORRIBLE physical shape right now. I've decreased in fitness, increased in weight and am 180º opposite of where I was in 2008. But today was different. I threw on my iPod (I know, I DID write about how I hate people riding with iPods), gritted my teeth and just killed it. It felt so good.

So now I sit here eating a few peanuts and some watermelon, legs burning, with a GIANT smile on my face. Turning point? Dammit, I hope so!

My Buddy Rich Is Crazy...

I'm writing this in hopes that my buddy Rich isn't going to be pissed at me, but I had to talk him up. You see, Rich is riding cross country for LiveStrong. Thats right folks, 4,500 miles from Yorktown, VA to Astoria, OR. Crazy, probably but Rich is incredibly badass. With that in mind, Rich will be fundraising for LiveStrong while he is out riding. He leaves Tuesday, June 1 and will take three months going cross country seeing the sites along the way.

If you are able and/or interested, you can donate to his LiveStrong page. I will also make sure that I update his progress when I hear from him.

Let the journey begin! Dipping his rear tire in York River/Atlantic Ocean, Yorktown Virginia... Astoria Oregon or bust!!! Only 4500 miles to go... Holy crap!!!

Godspeed, Rich! Keep fighting the good fight for LAF!

Phun Is NOT Dead... No, Really... I'm Not

Hey all, I know it's been a while (one month, one week, and one day to be specific) since you've heard from me. I wanted to take a minute to say hello, assure you I am not dead, and the blog will go on. It might be sparse (hopefully not 1Y/1M/1D) but it will still be here. Things are in all sorts of chaos right now, but I and mine are well. Busy, but well. I am in the midst of many things right now that are occupying my time, and Cycling Phun has hurt a bit for that. I will be updating, and it should get juicy!

One thing is I am getting ready to start to do one of two things. I want to get back into The Lean Look: Burn Fat, Tone Muscles and Transform Your Body in Twelve Weeks Using the Secrets of Professional Athletes by Paul Goldberg and Matthew Fitzgerald. I just love to say the full title, it's just so freaking long. I've said it before and will say it again, "I think Paul and Matthew should hook me up for how much I've pimped the book on this blog now, don'tcha think? - hint, wink" I'll either do that, or I might start P90X. I've seen awesome things happen to friends, and think it might be an option as well. Anyone here do the P90X thing?

I've also been going back and forth on whether or not I want to go back to the veggie route. I did it a while back and felt great while I was vegetarian. Also, the ol' lady has decided to take a hardcore approach into the world of veganism. I am NOT that hardcore, nor do I want to be. On a serious note: anyone who has ANY input or thoughts... I'd LOVE to hear them! Drop a line in the comments, please. If you need to you can also hit me up on the upper right corner... The "contact me" button.

To leave you with a positive note. I have been getting light exercise in, and I even got a nice, fairly hard pace, ride in recently. It was hot, humid, and I was sweating my ass off. It felt SO good! Even took some time to find a really nice path, with a great photo op. Enjoy it, and I'll be back soon! PEACE!

-Don

Turning Cranks

I had a meeting out of the office today at 3:00 and decided, two days ago, that I was totally playing hooky afterward. So, I got home at 4:00, had a light dinner, skipped lunch so I was hungry, and jumped on the bike. Got about two hours in the saddle today, and man did it feel good. Last time I went out, and totally got creamed by the fact I was out of practice, I really overextended myself. This was going to be all about pacing myself, and keeping the cranks turning. Well, that's just what I did. Up hill, down hill, turns, flats, whatever. I just focused on staying in a moderate gear and turning.

It was a great day for a ride too! Through the woods, across the creek, no iPod just listening to nature all around me. I was, however, also reminded just how much I hate limestone. Have you had the misfortune of riding on it? It sucks! But not even lime stone could piss me off. OK, so dropping my chain off the big ring mid-pedal, might have got me a bit tweaked. I'm beginning to think that maybe I need a new chain.

Anyway, got home and did some stuff around the yard. Got the lines strung for my hop plants to grow on, and now this. All in all, not a bad afternoon.