The blind squirrel finds a nut

Ahh the blog idea once again seems like a great idea as there's some riding to report this week. As usual some anticipated riders call in with their typical weather excuses, however for Steve and I the complaint dept is closed today. The cool air ingested into our lungs will admittedly burn, but it’s a small price to pay given the fact that all the snow and ice has finally melted.

Two minutes into the ride, Steve and I are quickly reminded why we came to ride. The trails are somewhat muddy but overall the pace is much faster than weeks past. Impassable sections are now passable, gears are switching, and low and behold we are actually mountain biking people! I was starting to feel like these fingers would never type those words again.

An hour and half into the ride, we find that the combination of the recent rain along with melting snow has overwhelmed a portion of the main trail that leads up to the ledge. Alright that sounded good but the reality is we ran into two other riders who had this greeting to offer..."You won't make the ledge today; flooding, major flooding ahead".

Of course we blatantly ignore their mumblings and find a different trailhead that eventually gains us access to the ledge. Once we get there, we decide to summit the ledge and ride some of the single track on the backside. In the end, we log a solid 2.5 hour day of riding minus the part where I got snagged on stick and dunked my feet in the freezing water.

Somewhat respectable photos from atop the ledge
given the fact that I took them with my phone
as the Kodak failed me once again...easyshare my ass!















Not a cloud in the sky

Weekly Round Up

Another week has past with no Mt. bike riding to report. That's right, no riding to report, but yes I did manage to hit the road for 3 more runs since the last post. From a training perspective this is good news as I managed to avoid the terrible too's...as in it's too cold to workout, or I'm too busy to workout, or I have been working too much to workout.

I have also been doing some Yoga lately to help with stretching, however what I'm finding is that its also taking the edge off. It's strange what a couple of deep breaths will do for you. I also like to screw with my elderly neighbors and so I do the yoga in front of the side window with the shade drawn so they just see my silhouette.

Finally I managed to finish my stair project at the house which has been the main obstacle between me and my bike lately. I look forward to the next post where I hopefully have some riding pictures to share


Other things worth noting-

Thanks to Dan and Nik from http://4feetrunning.blogspot.com/ for turning me on to http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/ where I'm now logging my workouts. This should help with reminding me of my accomplishments throughout the year.

Thanks to Christine for reading the blog and leaving comments...you may be my only reader. If I'm wrong on this one mystery readers, feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you think of the blog.

Thanks to Nigel from http://runningfromthereaper.blogspot.com/ for the interesting podcasts, I have been listening to his stuff while out on my runs.

Run Forrest Run

It's been a few weeks since the last post and some might say that the blog's mission appears to be failing its owner. Fear not, the ride motivation is still there however uncompleted house projects have been winning the time constraint battle lately. As result, I have had to resort to running on the road the last few weeks - for those keeping score, 6 runs - 4 miles each run = total of 24 miles. Not a bad plan B, but I must admit that running just doesn't have the same excitement level that Mt. Biking offers, but clearly it’s an excellent cardio substitute. More importantly, for any of you folks that may have been lured off the couch by the blog; remember if I'm not writing this doesn't mean you resort back to sitting.

I normally share the ride pictures with each post, and given the absence of riding, I thought I would share some random observations that I made over the past few weeks.

1. Americans love their autos and are not willing to share the road with anyone...especially runners. I literally had an oncoming driver swerve at me as I made my way down the road. If that particular asshole reads this blog, I would like to remind him that he sucks at driving and should have his license revoked.

2. Soccer moms, SUVs, and cell phones are a recipe for disaster. I came across this holy trinity during one of my runs and was almost converted into tar. When I confronted the Chatty-Kathy at the stop light she seem very annoyed by my presence...of course I should mentioned that my initial greeting started with "Hey you stupid Bitch..."

3. People love to encourage other people exercising. I have had more people shout more random crap at me during my runs that I can ever remember in my life. One guy nearly came to complete stop to share the fact that he too likes to run. I gave him the token thumbs up and then proceeded across the street in hopes that he would get on with his life. He may have followed me all the way home however I refuse to make any further eye contact.

4. The ipod is the second greatest running invention. The running shoe of course holds the high honors in this category. I did have a small war inside my head on this one but when I attempted to run bare foot with the ipod on, the shear pain did surpass the listening pleasure...sorry Steve Jobs...the facts are the facts. Food for thought for all you get rich quick types...invent the wireless ipod running shoe and make a million dollars on me.

5. Lastly, if you ever have a problem with constipation my suggestion would be to go for a run. It seems that my kidneys always respond positively to a good 4 miler. Its like clockwork I tell you...I leave the house with no bathroom urges in sight...I get home and its home sweet throne. I'm no doctor but I going to attribute this phenomena to the jiggling of my kidneys. I think I will bring this one up during my annual physical and will get back to my readers at a later date.