The sun came out today!

Today was one of those glorious SoCal winter days that people dream about- it was warm enough to wear a light jacket/ sweater with a t-shirt and maybe even shorts, if you're the shorts type. The skies were insanely blue and clear- if you looked to the east/ northeast, you could even see all the mountains capped by snow. The air was crisp and clear, as only a winter's rain can provide. In short- amazing.

You can't really tell from the photo, but there is snow on the distant hill tops

I snuck out for a 1.5hr ride today, after Ann came home from her swim at the YMCA- 6.5 months pregnant and still swimming 1500M in the pool nearly every day! I left home with legs that felt a lot like wood, but they slowly warmed up gradually and I found myself pushing my pace. The first part of the ride was largely a headwind, so I had no choice but to push... but as I warmed up, I wanted to push. The first real hill kicked my ass and the pain from the day before was lingering in the legs. As I reached the top, I forced myself to not relax and kept pushing to the stop light at the top of the hill before turning left for the second climb heading out to the Cabrillo National Monument. As is my tradition, I stopped at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery to say hello to my grandparents before motoring on to the end of Point Loma and heading back toward home. I rolled the hill pretty good and zipped through Pt. Loma and then raced back by the airport before hammering through downtown and up the hill to home- never letting the pressure off the pedals the whole way.

The air quality was incredible and clear for miles.

I didn't feel great or ride with inspired legs, but I rode happily through the stiffness and made myself feel the burn of the tired legs... because I could. I rode the scandium frame again and really relished the stiffness of the frame- it's so nice to dig way deep and feel the frame not relent at all. Carbon has a special ride to it, but I love my non-carbon bikes a lot too. It wasn't an epic ride and I only won sprints where I was beating myself... but it was a nice ride in the sun and cool winter air. Not a bad day at all.

Happiness is being on a bike... well, it's one form of happiness anyway...

This week is going to be an unholy busy mess as I prepare for a week out of the office 2/1- 2/5 in Boulder City NV again. The yearly tradition continues this year, so we'll be heading out for a demo event for one of our major retailers. It's the 3rd year for me and I look forward to it... because, rather selfishly, I get to ride every day while I am there! The roads around the Hoover Dam are not the best roads, per se, but the riding itself around the area is really a lot of fun. I am hoping that being in Boulder City will mean some good training while I am there. This week, however, is going to be pretty much the exclusive territory of roller riding at night in the driveway. After the last week I've had, it will hopefully be good leg speed work and help me regain some of my pedal stroke. Sunday, 2/7 is one of my favorite crits of the year and I am giving really serious consideration to being on the start line for the Masters 35+ race. It's 50min long- about 45-48min longer than I really want to be pegged at anaroebic threshold... but it's a great course with a short power climb to the finish. The course has always treated me well in the past, so I hope it will again. But first... this week.

I have a couple PowerPoint presentations to create, some research to do and a bunch of demo bikes to build and tune up before packing the trailer full on Thursday. It's gonna be one helluva week... so don't be surprised if I happen to get quite here on the blog for a bit. I'll be back... eventually.

Tim