Long Time Away

A long time away from my blog but here's a long winded update.

I spent some time in the Mid-west after finishing a job there and got to spend time with my parents. My dad just got a new Trek Madone for his birthday and had to break it in with a 40 mile ride to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I think his longest ride for the season had been 12 miles so I was impressed that he hammered out the ride with no problem.

After the ride we took the plane out for a buzz around the lake.

Since returning to Bend I had a friend visit from Chicago for four days of biking and climbing. We were able to get in some good rides on the upper trails and spend a day on the McKenzie where I tested the strength of my helmet after many over-the-bar endos.

To give the legs a rest we spent one day at Smith bagging a few pitches in the park.

Since then I've been trying to put in some serious mileage on the bike. I pulled of an 11 hour day on the single speed biking from town, up the North Fork, down to the Metolious Windigo to Lava Lakes, over to Edison, and fire roads back to the river leading me home.



After a few days rest I dusted off the road bike and did a five hour ride from town to Bachelor, around and back home. My legs are tired but I'm starting to get some endurance back. I hope to put in a few more long rides in the next couple of days and see if I can push my envelope a little bigger.

Okay, okay...here's a blog update

Between computer issues and work I've been neglecting the blog and posting nothing the last four weeks. I'm back in Bend and I'll try to be more diligent.

I had to spend a week in Pittsburgh for work and got a chance to see my old team mate Sue.

She's the pretty one with the smile above.

Notice how she's always smiling while I seem to be suffering immensely?

Sue is currently training for her 3rd Primal Quest race which is held this year in the Badlands of South Dakota. I'm very impressed!!

To Race or not to Race

Running and more running. Wisconsin weather has been sunny and 70's so I've been trying to log a lot of running miles. I have been considering a race this weekend which includes an eight mile run and a 12 mile kayak. The lake temperature is still very cold and if the weather turns ugly by the weekend it could make for a miserable race. Today I am shooting for a 10 mile which makes my total mileage 31 over the past four days. Maybe I should get in the water and paddle?

Bees Part II

Rain and more rain is soaking the mid-west, not the best training conditions. There was a break long enough to transport the bees to their new apartment. There was only one Bee suit and I had to thumb wrestle my Dad for it.....I lost.

Buzz Off......

Today is raining and have to wait for the weather to clear up before I attempt another run. My father harvests his own honey every year. Today he sent me up to Wisconsin to pick up a shipment of Bees.

Back in Chi-town

I'm back in the Chicago area for more work. This always seems to screw up my training but I'm trying to make an effort to keep in shape while I'm here. Over the past three days I've been able to log 4:26 running. I tried to get a long bike ride in but had some mechanical issues on a borrowed bike. Looks like rain for the next week so I guess I'll keep my running shoes on and keep putting on the miles.

Kudos to Kevin

Today I have to honor my friend Kevin (aka Chicken Legs) who just completed the Leona Divide 50 ultra marathon. Chicken Legs is the guy in the green helmet wearing the leg gators hoping it will make his legs look bigger. He's a runner, great athlete and phenomenal climber but has never run so much as a marathon. I'm not sure if he's ever tired a half-marathon. Anyway, he set his goal on a 50 mile ultra and pulled off a stunning finishing time of 10:53:10. It must be said that he woke up late and arrived at the race 8 minutes after the start making his true time a more impressive 10:45:10. His finishing time qualifies him for the Western States 100 in 2010 which he is now considering. My hat is off to his accomplishment....GREAT JOB C.L.!!!!