Yosemite

For those that have been you know what I speak about, for those that have never - what are you waiting for?

A poem I wrote on BT - Called The Chief

Your cracks have been filled by the fears of the fearless.

High above the valley floor the mighty hang.

Some quietly contemplate, some loudly cry out for strength;

some shed tears, but through it all they push onward and upward.

You feel their needs through the placement of fingertips.

Strength exudes through the placement of feet.

Sweat pours on your face.

Hearts race, you feel the pounding on your steadfast granite.

They are a selfish lot; they look to be shaped, they turn to you for clarity.

How do you share your story? When do you get to be heard?

The day begins to close, Your voice prepares to boom.

Your counsel is strong, You long to be honored.

You speak through awesome splendor; you speak through a ring of gold.

Your peace has been spoken, Your tranquility has returned.

October Mountain Biking at it's finest

Well after last weeks trip to Ontario County Park I put the Felt 29'er back into action by adding pedals and grips to it and took her for a spin yesterday at Chestnut Ridge Park and the surrounding area - it was a glorious day!
On a glorious bike :)

See the waterfall below?The Boston Valley in fall - beautiful

The City of Buffalo and it's southern suburbs.

Mountain Biking at Ontario County Park

My beloved Bianchi M.U.S.S. This bike is so much fun to ride even climbing hills :)

Some trails that I got to ride on - great fun and the weather was absolutely gorgeous out!
A picture of the valley from Lookout. I am so glad I finally got to ride here. Will definitely be returning in the future for more!

Wow is it Winter Time Already

I/We woke up to 2" of snow on the cars and lawn but not the road. This is crazy and it is only October 16th. Time for an Indian Summer right!

I have been slack posting lately but not much is going on.

There are some plans in the making for next month - heading to Arizona and taking a bike ride from Phoenix up to The Grand Canyon for some sightseeing. It will be 500 miles round trip approximately and I have 5 days including sightseeing. I arrive late Thursday so I plan on doing 150 Friday and 100 Saturday - hope to see sunset at the Canyon.

Going to hang around Sunday morning and head out Sunday afternoon for 60 or so. Contemplating a 200 miler Monday for TransIowa training. I think that will be a good test. I fly out Tuesday afternoon so I need to get bike back to shop for shipment and then it will be winter training time back in Buffalo!

That is going to include some skiing at this area here:

This is Kissing Bridge ski area 2 weeks ago. The leaves of change or a changing.

Get out there and ride/run/swim :)

Creative and informative Blogs I read

There are some amazingly creative and good blog writers out there on the Internet today. Here is a list of the main ones I follow on a weekly (if not daily) basis:

http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/ - Guitar Ted - Race Director of Trans Iowa and the GTDRI. Both rides will have linkage from his main blog. Very bike knowledgeable and all around good guy.

http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/ - Jill Homer - This girl is an amazing athlete although she would never admit to being one. Currently she is on pace for the fastest Female Tour Divide Race finish (http://tourdivide.org/) and she has awesome writings and photographs during her training rides throughout North America.

http://www.cpfarrow.blogspot.com/ - Charlie Farrow - Trans Iowa and numerous other races veteran. Has an awesome writing style which shows his literary knowledge and intelligence. Plus he just swore off gears and is running solely single speed bikes for the foreseeable future :)

http://www.gnatlikes.com/ - GNAT (God first (how awesome is that) and the first letters of his twins names. Does some great writing and cool photos. Just recently came across this blog but it is definitely worth looking into if you love riding your bicycle like I do :)

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/ - This person is great. Bike reviews, tears down people in a nice type of way, and great writer from NYC. Great spin on the bicycle community (but I don't think he likes Portland much :) )

There are some for you to check into. One day I would like to be that creative. Just don't know if I have it in me.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY HOLIDAY EVERYONE (And HAPPY CANADA DAY (Sorry it is late) to our friends up north!)

Welcome to Mid-June

So this week has been quite the fun bike mechanical week. It all started Sunday on my typical I want to ride instead of swim ride. Here is the post from my training log on beginnertriathlete.com:

I realize I never told my bike story from Sunday:

Went to church and like usual figured I would take a bike ride while the wife went to see her family. In the back of my mind I felt like I should just go swimming at the Y because something didn't feel right. So I went home, changed, got SS Felt Cross Bike ready and headed out. I decided to take a new route. Well on that route I was in a dirt tire track (in deep grass also) and I wrecked as I went to close to the edge - that caused a good laugh.

Then I came to a dirt screen that I usually just ride over on my mountain bike. Front wheel clears then all of a sudden I am going over the handlebars. It grabbed the back chain ring or something and just threw me to the ground. Ok another laugh.

I get to my close single track, hit my helmet on a low branch that I have never even come close to touching, throws me off a little, and I hit a tree - WTF creeps in about now!

Do my short loop and figure I am just heading for pavement and doing an easy ride or I might end up dead. I want to check something so I start breaking and my wheel is skipping. I tighten the headset and take off. Get ready to turn and I nearly go down in the middle of the road - I flatted somewhere along the way and I didn't even know it. Change the flat - say that is what the pool is for and I ride home (uneventfully thankfully!!!) and hit the pool.

That is what makes the worst bike ride ever!

Fast forward to Wednesday evening:

Riding home about 4 miles from the final destination I get a flat. Call SAG wagon in to pick me up since I was so close and I didn't want to waste a CO2 cartridge. Went home and proceeded to changed gearing around, new handlebar tape, handlebar adjustment, flat replacement, and play some catch with my boy.

Fast forward to 4:45am this morning. Something went off in my mind sort of like this:

Well you had to put air in the tube last night again.

Yes, but maybe I forgot to fill it up.

Nah, I wouldn't do that and still ride.

True, then why was the tube low again when you went to take it out again.

I don't know, better check.

Guess what - Flat again!!!!

So that is 3 flats in 3 days. Hope that streak ends soon :)

Ride On!

BTW: GDR and Tour Divide start up this week and next week. Keep an eye out!

Well June is right around the corner

Not much exciting going on around here.

Mount Washington Road Race is June 20th in New Hampshire. As the heading says - Only 1 Hill but it is from start to end and over 6K feet of elevation gain. Should be fun :)

Will post a report after the race but for now I am just doing some running, swimming, and a lot of riding (which is my first love!)