4luvandlife

been in a bitter battle with old man winter the past week or 2. for some reason the same gloves that worked fine last year were not working. painful fingers on a few rides made me decide to give a pair of Gore gloves a go. the first ones i tried had me briefly wondering about frostbite about 30 minutes in. turned around and went home with plans on returning those to REI later in the day. got some pearl izumi lobster gloves and i think i am all set to keep my fingers in March.

getting off to a sporadic start this year. trying to fit rides in between W throwing up (he calls them "big burps"), snow storms, and other "stuff". when i do get out it feels great. i am pretty much running (or riding) on faith that the legs will come around to what my head is doing. taking it pretty easy here in early February. out the door at 7 again today. temp "felt like" 8 and a beautiful, calm AM in MPLS. went out and around Cedar Lake and cut off about 3 minutes from my time. was back to the house in about 42 minutes. short ride but it is fun to be back for breakfast with H. he has some pretty funny hair at that time of the day and i don't want to miss that. it was pretty bright at the start today. i think i will get out at 6:45 next week. maybe even add Lake Calhoun to the trip.

got out to ride before work today. felt good. first ride before work of the year. nothing like starting in the dark and riding first light. out the door at 7 and the temp "felt like" 16. no wind and about 70% himidity I think. felt pretty good. rode for about 45 minutes and then back for breakfast with H. if it was clear i probably could have started about 6:45 today. i had 3 layers on the legs and 4 layers on top. tights, shorts, and windreaker pants on the legs. long sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve jersey, and then 2 fleeces up top. had the new shoe covers on and the new gore helmet liner over the baclava. shoe covers and helmet liner were good additions. sunglasses today, no goggles needed. race at Hillside on the 21st. Pugfest. something to ride/look forward to. lets do it old man Winter.

3 rides over the last 3 days. the first one lasted for about 30 minutes and went about 5 miles over the path. turned around and went home in pain from underestimating the weather (lobster gloves or goretex gloves are now on the wish list). 2nd ride remined me about the mini-heart attacks i was introduced to last year at this time. it was probably the iciest i have ever seen the path. rode out to Theo Wirth and it took me almost an hour to ride the same route it takes 15 minutes on a good day. it is not an exageration that i could have ice skated 25 to 30% of the way to the trail at Theo. i am actually now interested in possibly skating the bike path someday just to be goofy. the idea reminds me of a time growing up when i ice skated a creek with friends. that was a good time. growing up in Iowa forces a kids imagination to stretch if your going to have fun. 3rd day was a reward for trying it again. B was amazed that i was going to give it another go after cheating death so ma...

came home last night and noticed my favorite bike was gone from the garage. my race bike. stood there dazed and in disbelief for about 3 minutes staring at the spot where my bike had been hibernating for the winter. what am i going to race on?? i will admit that for a nano second i already started planning what my new race whip would be. went inside holding back tears (not really) and told Beth that my bike was gone. she kindly reminded me (although she was laughing at me a little) that i had taken it in for a tuneup and it was in the shop. man, i have got to get back on the bike. my January brain waves are...way....too...slow. whats worse is that this isn't the first time that i thought my bike was stolen from the garage and it wasn't. maybe i will share that story on here someday. for now the above story is enough embarrassment .

it's winter now. it has been for a while. this is a blog about biking. this blog is in it's winter...hybernating. quiet. it's sleeping. don't wake it. winter is different now since racing. it is more about taking it on now. it used to be about waiting until spring to live again. the year is almost twice as long now. don't get me wrong. it's definately slower still in winter. it's still quiet. but biking in winter brings out the world more. i feel like i am meeting the earth in the middle. the elements are nothing to be scarred of. just be prepared. old man winter softens up as you accept him. the snow levels out the trail. the rocks are covered up. the log pile is a small hill easily rolled over. the rock garden is hidden away until spring. the trail is smooth and forgiving. the world is a new place after a snow fall and so is the trail.

friend of mine beat cancer about 3 years ago. about a month ago he found out that he will have to beat it again. he watched his two little girls open up Christmas presents over a webcam. this day is a gift. life is right now. Joe, you inspired me in 2007. you showed me what heart can do. your challenge made me appreciate life more. i look forward to seeing what heart can do again in 2010.