Legs

Woke up with my legs talking to me. Once I was up and moving around though they came around. Guess they don't hate me for yesterday's hilly ride.

Hilly is all relative, we'll see how they feel in about two months.

Great Day to Ride

Today I went on a super ride with Danielle and Toni. The terrain is much better west of home. Roads were good and it was great to have company for that many hours.

Check out Danielle's blog for photos and more.

The sun again made an appearance for part of the day and kept temps just above freezing.

Busy Week

What a week….mostly work, a little bit of sleep and even less training. Not a good thing.

Here's the closest I got to a bike most of this past week:
Visit Everti Bikes and you’ll see me on a nicer day with my Epic CX rig.

I need to get some time in on the bike. Riding long with Danielle Sunday...

Versluis Cross Race, er Mud Race

Racing yesterday was like churning through peanut butter...the temps were just below freezing but the sun was full on. It got nice and slick. Then the snow/mud would freeze back up on the bike. Today I was rather wasted from that little orchard epic. But it might be best hour of power I've done. Time to spin out the legs.

Ouachita Challenge and other events

The notion that I'm going to be on my bike and racing at the end of March instills a certain degree of motivation and one healthy dose of fear. This isn't just some mid-winter entertainment...this is the Ouachita Challenge. Pronounce it 'Wash it aw', accent on the first syllable. Living where it is pretty flat, I might be dubbing this the "Ouch"it-all Challenge It's 60 miles through the mountains of Arkansas, approx. 4500' of climbing, about 65% singletrack. The 200 rider limit for the race has been met. Looks like there will be five Michigan riders in that 200.

Other upcoming races on the short list:
Lumberjack 100 (www.kisscross.com)
Iron Cross: America's longest cross race
Ice Man: which is already full and it isn't until November!
More to be added but it is tough to narrow them down. I'm looking forward to more mtn. bike events this year and doing more of the endurance stuff. This might be where my 'years of life' could be an advantage.

Busy

Been on the go but took time for a super ride on Sunday. The sun came out after missing for days. It felt really good to be outside on the bike. I kinda lost my mind and rode for multiple hours and came home a bit muddy. Another half hour to hose the bike off and two extra rinse cycles in the washer. Guess who forgot their fender...

Running

Great night for a run. A bit misty. Weather sure has been pleasant if gray. Sun has hidden for days. But come on, 40 degrees in early January? Rivertrail was clear too. The hard week of running December paid off tonight. Felt great. Danielle "I can ride all day and all night" was getting in a ride today with her speedy sidekick...I better keep working. Time to start weights. Racing cyclocross tends to put my 'winter' training a bit behind a lot of riders.

Good day to ride

Biking in the snow. Biking any day is a great day. Saturday I wrapped up 2005 with a couple of my AAVC riding buddies. Folks thought we were crazy but we had a blast. For once I remembered my fender so I didn't end up with dreaded 'mud butt' (as in cold-n-wet) .

Time to start 2006 and the blog

Sunday morning Dennis and I went for our annual New Year's Day kayak. The recent weather meant no ice blocks or flows, a very wide river and strong current to paddle against as we went upstream. One Kingfisher, a deer, two hunters. Even did our first good deed of the year retreiving a duck decoy that escaped.