A new project!

One of my 50 extraordinary things is to create a podcast and have it listed on iTunes. I began the project today with the new domain, www.onemanslessons.com
There I'll be posting video journals, photos, slide shows and stories. I'll try to be better about posting here too.

My first triathlon!

I woke up at 5:00 am on 10-10-10, the day of my first triathlon. It was the Golden State Triathlon and was doing the Super Sprint. I rode my bike to the event and it was pretty cold. Once the sun came up it got better. I was standing on the beach ready to swim across the American river when my friend Jessica came up and told me to get in to the water. I asked why and she said the cold would take my breath away if I didn't. It made sense, so I did it.
They announced 10 minutes to start. Then 5 minutes. Then they said there would be a 10 second count-down. Then I heard it. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 GO! And I went. Into the water. For fifty feet it was too shallow to swim in. I tried, then got up and ran some more. Then finally, I was swimming. One third of the way across the river I was tired. Half way across the river I wondered what the hell I was thinking. Two thirds of the way across the river I was on the verge of panic and I called to one of the safeties in a kayak: "STAY CLOSE!" I was seriously worried that I wouldn't be able to make it across the river. By the time I made land on the other side I was tired. I heard one other person was behind me, so at least I wasn't last. I was wearing water shoes so I could run to the staging area to get on my bike. Sadly I didn't have the strength to run. I crawled up the steps on the opposite bank of the river and walked as fast as I could to the staging area.
By the time I got to my bike, I had recovered enough breath to stop gasping. My transition went pretty well. I dried off, donned my helmet and put my running shoes on. My friend Dee had told me to put powder in my socks and that was good advice. I had installed cage pedals on my bike so I wouldn't have to change shoes twice. Then I was on the bike and passing everyone...and I mean EVERYONE! I passed at least 40 people in the next 5 miles. Nobody passed me on the bike! I was breathing hard, but I was OK. Less than 15 minutes later I was back in the staging area, dropping my helmet and running.
I ran as fast as I could which wasn't very fast, but it was fast enough to pass 15 people over the next mile. Only three people passed me in that mile.
37:56 after that countdown I crossed the finish line. I placed 3rd in my age group and my time was better than I expected. Thanks to all my friends for your encouragement!
I'm not going to run another triathlon without training for it though. My cycling endurance has carried my running, but I haven't been swimming in months.

The Moab Trip!

The Moab Trip!

Ride a century?

Those who know me know that I've been riding bikes for years. My whole life actually. Through all those years, I've never ridden a century. The reason is because I never considered it a particularly difficult challenge. I mean I ride 50-70 miles at least once, sometimes twice per week when the weather is good. Here in Sacramento, that is most weeks of the year. What's another 30 miles? Well yesterday I found out.
Our friend Noelle, who is preparing do the 525 mile aids ride (click here to support her) suggested I ride my first century as one of my 50 extraordinary things. So we lubed up the chain on our Santana Arriva Road Tandem and rolled out.
The route we picked was only 80 miles so we started by heading out in the wrong direction for the first 10 miles. Everything was going great until we turned around at the 10 mile mark. That's when we discovered the 20 MPH headwind. For the next 50 miles we fought it. Buffeting us to the side. Slowing us down. God damned wind!
So many times I've spent the morning fighting headwinds, only to have them shift in the afternoon so I got to fight them on the way home too. Luckily, this day they kept blowing. It took us 5 hours to get out to the lovely berg of Winters, CA and just over 3 hours to get back thanks to the tailwinds we earned a ride on.
Out in Winters there was a live band playing music for a motorcycle club. We stopped for lunch and wished for beers at the cafe that had just taken ownership and neglected to think about the idea of selling beer. Oh well. We had sodas instead and I got my beers when I returned home. This is a nice ride that I'm going to post for my bike club, The Hammerin Wheels.
At the end of the ride I thought to myself, this is no worse than riding 70 miles. That was yesterday. Today, my glutes and quads feel like they've been run through a tenderizer. I wonder when I'll feel recovered? I've been riding to work all month and my quads haven't had a chance to recover. I don't remember what it feels like for them to not ache. On the bright side, I can eat whatever I want and I'm not gaining any weight.

Beer in Utah

Back when we were planning the trip to Moab, everyone asked (for some stupid reason): "Can you bring beer into Utah?" The universal synonym of: "Please regulate me." Sadly we learned that you cannot bring alcohol in Utah. Sad because now that I know, I am a deliberate criminal. I'm not leaving my drinking supplies home. Fuck that! Needless to say, I broke the law. I don't know why those folks were compelled to even ask.

Anyway, several of us took beer, booze and wine. We also enjoyed the local fare. One thing about Utah beer...it is only 3.2% alcohol. We stopped at a brew pub and I had the sampler. It was the first time I was able to finish all ten samples. Beyond that, I drank quite a lot and discovered that I wasn't getting totally shitfaced. What a delight! I could drink two or three pitchers and still walk and talk. I love to sit around drinking beers after a long day of hard driving mountainbike action. What I don't like is getting so plastered that I might get arrested for public drunkenness. 3.2 Beer is the answer!

My last experience with 3.2 beer was Lucky Lager. It tasted like water and wouldn't get you drink no matter how much you drank. Well folks, it's the 20th century and now 3.2 beer has grown up. They had delicious Pilsner, Lager, Amber Ale, Bock, Porter and Stout...all with an alcohol content of only 3.2%. Perfect for the true beer connoisseur. It is after all, the taste, isn't it? I mean really, if it's the alcohol content you're after, you may as well drink vodka.

Let's hear it for 3.2 beer!

Slickrock bike trail!

First off, there's nothing slick about it. Slickrock is a series of mammoth stones heaving up out of the ground Just outside of Moab Utah. There is a lot of lore about it. The first person we spoke to was a search and rescue worker and he told us: "whatever you do, don't go to Slickrock."

They've painted lines along the suggested bike route. Sometimes the route looks like it's going to send you over the handlebars, but it 'usually' doesn't. If you just follow the dotted lines, you'll make it. It took me three and a half hours to make the 10 mile circuit for an average speed of 2.37 miles per hour. I rode most of the way, but I also left more footprints than I care to admit.

Where the hell have I been?

Well folks, I posted this thing up here and have barely touched it since. That's because I've been out doing the 50 extraordinary things found on the page to your left. I have been updating that page though. I'm going to start posting more here.
It's Bike month and I've committed to riding 500 miles this month and commuting to work every day by bike. Tomorrow is calling for high winds so that's going to suck (if it comes true). On the bright side, I'll have nearly 1/3 of those miles done by morning and it's only the 4th.
That's all for now. Happy Star Wars day! May the 4th be with you. Corny!