My kingdom for a bike...

Today was one of those beautiful, warm, sunny days with blue skies that make San Diego so famous. The weather was awesome with temperatures around 80 degrees- yes, I know I am spoiled.

This afternoon, the Masiparents watched the Masidaughter so that Masiguy could go for a Masibikeride. Getting out in the sun and working on getting my old tanlines back was pretty sweet.

The punkin and I, as I was heading out for the ride.

I rode one of my favorite loops in the east county area of San Diego, in the semi desert hills of Jamul for about 37 miles. I did the ride on my scandium prototype- the same bike I rode in Taiwan. It's built up with a Prologo Nago saddle, Ritchey WCS carbon seatpost, WCS Carbon Evolution bar, Ritchey 4-Axis Carbon Matrix stem, SRAM Rival group and the new Shimano RS80 carbon/ alloy wheels. I have to say, the RS80 wheels are awesome. I rode them for the first time when I was in Taiwan with this bike. I put them on the bike just before shipping it to Taiwan, so my first ride on the wheels was over there and I was really happy with how well they performed. Sure, they aren't super light, but the carbon/ alloy rims provide a really supple ride with great sprinting/ climbing stiffness. I just got the bike back from Taiwan this week and I have been riding these wheels every chance I get... and I really dig them so far. I highly recommend them.

The trusty steed in beautiful Pea Soup Green .

The burned remains of a tree along the road to Otay Lakes.

This area was destroyed in the wildfires a year ago. The valley is full of fresh green grasses now and should be beautiful when the wildflowers are in bloom this Spring.

I didn't feel super strong or anything, but I felt a lot better than I did a few months ago. It's great to be getting just a little bit of fitness showing up and not feeling like quite the same tub of goo.

Soaking in the sun!

I'm gonna teach that cholesterol a thing or two!

Tim

A bit of randomness...

There are so many things crammed in my head these days as we do a lot of strategic planning for the new year and huddle to assess the economy and the possible impacts of it- good and bad. It's also time to start that catalog process again, as well as begin thinking about the Taipei trade show in March- on my birthday this year. We've also been looking at planning of the timed release of the new 2010 bikes- which will be awesome- before we've even gotten the bulk of the currently new 2009 bikes! It's insanity at its finest.

But... today, for the first time in nearly 3 months, I went for a ride during my lunch break. I've been on my road bike about 5 times in the past 3 months! Work and travel, and being daddy, have kept me off of my bike for a very long time. It's sad to say that I am well enough to ride and have not had any time or energy to actually do it. Needless to say, my fat, outta shape arse was suffering just to do a short 45 minute ride. I was breathing hard and standing to get slowly over short rises I normally spin seated over. It was humbling, but energizing. The day was beautiful and it only took a few seconds to remember why it is that I love to ride bikes. I'm SOOOOO far from being in any other kind of shape than "round", but the short, simple ride had me itching to get back into real shape so I can race again. It's just in my blood- which is no longer full of thinners, by the way- and is something I sincerely love to do. So hopefully a slower schedule will allow me the chance to get on the bike enough to be able to consider racing again by the end of the summer. It's a longshot, but it's my new goal... that and losing at least 20 pounds!

Some friends of mine and I were having a little discussion recently about messy desks, so here is my submission for review;

It's been much worse in the past, but this is pretty bad just the same. Now that the new year is upon us, it's time to roll a dumpster over to my desk and start getting rid of things. Painfully sad, but true.

One of the cooler things about my job is the people I have gotten to meet and get to know. Yesterday I got a little package from my friend Nick in San Francisco (formerly of San Diego);

I already know that I look like I swallowed a whale...

Nick is now a full-blown cross junky living in the Bay Area and racing for the cool Crossniacs team. Nick knows that I like cool t-shirts. Nick knows a cool t-shirt when he sees one. Now I have that cool t-shirt. That's cool! (Thanks Nick!)

Tomorrow is another day of trying to consolidate my power so that I can take over the free world... I mean... so we can better develop and provide you with the best bikes ever made!

Now it is time to sleep.

Tim

Sunday mixed bag

My girlfriend left for home last night and I took my daughter to her mom's today until next week, so today meant returning to being Sologuy again. This morning was spent with my daughter and breakfast at IHOP. After I took her back to her "other home" (as she always calls it), I shaved my furry legs and drug my fat ass out for the first ride in two weeks since the Lake Mead ride during Outdoor Demo. Between the show itself and then the follow-up afterwards, the past two weeks meant no riding... and I can feel it. Now that the show is over and I don't have any travel for a few weeks, I'm looking forward to riding as much as possible between now and Outdoor Demo East.

This is why people move to San Diego; beautiful blue skies and warm weather in October.

The Shadow rides with me all the time. He likes the new Scandium frame as much as I do too...

Downtown San Diego from across the bay, coming back from Point Loma.

The two weeks off the bike have not made me any fitter or any thinner- that's for sure- but it still felt great to get out for a short ride and loosen the legs up a little. My flexibility in my back is really terrible right now, as I really need to see a chiropractor now that my neck is healed up enough. My neck is sore lately too, so I need to work on regaining range of motion there as well. The plus is that my knee doesn't hurt at all when I ride. My legs seem to be recovering better than I feared- it's the rest of my body that appears to be taking longer. All in all though, I'm ahead of the schedule as far as riding goes and need to just relax a little and let the healing continue without pushing myself to "train" through the winter to be ready to race again in January. I mean... I'm lucky to be alive and not paralyzed from the crash that only happened on April 29th. I need to relax and just let my body do its thing. Really... I do.

Ok, time to hop on my SoulVille and get my grocery shopping done so I can cook my dinner. I'll be back with more Virtual Tradeshow and more random pics from Interbike.

Tim

It's sunny, I'm inside and the Giro has started...

Ok, first slight dose of melancholy today. It's gorgeous here today and I'm unable to ride- of course- and the Giro d'Italia has begun- further fueling my bike jones.

It's gonna be a LONG 3 months of waiting to ride. Those first few rides on the trainer are going to hurt like hell... but will be the best rides of my life. As soon as I can, I'm going to get my daughter on her Trail-A-Bike and go for a ride with her. That's a promise.

If you are able, get out and ride and enjoy (but wear your damn helmet). My mind is wandering all over the world, dreaming of bike rides I've had and hope to have. I look forward to being back on the roads with you all.

Tim