It's Been a While....

I've been meaning to post for the past couple of weeks but somehow each time something comes up and I've been delayed.  Now it seems everything is old news.  But, just to recap the last month or so...It's been a relatively warm February and I've been able to get a week or two of good rides in.  I ended my training block last week as planned but I wasn't able to end it with the high milage that I had hoped.  We were to take another trip to St. George and ride in it's beautiful warm weather to end the training block but bad weather moved in and it was forecasted to be rainy and cold both at home and down south.  We decided it wasn't worth it to drive all that way for bad weather.  It would defeat most of the purpose of the trip.  Needless to say, our kids were not happy.

Infinite Cycles had their team camp this past weekend and the weather was much improved for them but sadly my schedule didn't allow us to go.  From all the pictures and reports it looked like it was a good time and hopefully next year my schedule will allow me to go.  Still, the Girl and Boy had ski school on Saturday and it was a gorgeous day on the mountain.   Fate wasn't kind to us again as the Boy came down with a fever friday night and didn't have the strength to ski the next day so Jen stayed home with him while I took the Girl up alone.  But it was such a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, warm temps and zero wind.  The snow was in great shape too.  It was a little slushy at the bottom but up top powder stashes could be found.

 I recorded some of my ski day on my cell phone using strava but it ate up my battery pretty quickly and died at about 2 p.m.  Still, I find it pretty cool to recount some of my favorite runs looking at the recorded map.  Click here to see it.

Birthday and a Quick Ride Down South....

For my birthday I wanted to take the family to St. George for some warm weather and riding. Sadley, as the planned weekend approached the weather didn't look promising. In fact, the mountains locally and in St. George were to get plastered with snow making for great skiing. At first I wanted to cancel and ski instead but after telling my kids, the looks on their faces made me change my mind. So we went despite highs all weekend only in the upper 40's.

I'm getting old.

We planned to arrive Thursday night but the freeway got shut down due to a high speed chase and shooting, closing the road until the next morning. So that delayed us a day.  Then, while driving there I began to feel sick. I got the chills and my whole body ached. I began to think the weekend was doomed all around. Luckily, I felt better the next day and I was able to go on a short ride and hike with the kids.

Beautiful scenery for the ride.

Zions is still amazing even with snow.

The view on our hike to see the indian art.

Kids loved the Anasazi art.   

Playing on the red rocks above St. George. 

We enjoyed it, and we want to go again in a few weeks with hopefully warmer weather, and more riding.

Cold Weather Training...

I've been able to get outside a couple of times for some cold outdoor training.  The problem with the weather during this time of year is that usually if it's decent enough to get outside there's usually a layer of smog in the valley due to inversion.  It makes you wonder if it does more harm than good being out there breathing so hard that your lungs burn.  But I can't help myself.  I hate training inside.  The whole point of riding your bike is to get outside and enjoy the world.  Well, it may not be the whole point but its a main point for me.  I will risk the lungs just to get outside.



One cause of concern I've had lately has been my right hip.  In an earlier post I described taking a spill on a saturday group ride.  That was 7 weeks ago.  I've ridden ever since without pain but since riding outside I've noticed that every time I ride out of the saddle I feel a continuous "popping" in my hip just the side that I fell on.  It doesn't necessarily hurt but it does bug me.  Just the fact that I notice it is a distraction that I don't want.  I can't figure out why it's doing it either.  At the end of my outdoor rides I also notice that the hip is a bit tender.  Maybe it just needs more time to heal but I thought it would be completely healed by now.  It wasn't like I feel that hard on it in the first place.  I guess I'll just continue to monitor the situation.



I'm excited to go to St. George in a couple of weeks for my birthday to get in a weekend of riding in hopefully warm weather.  When I say warm, we're talking mid-50's.  That is warm when compared to Salt Lake temps.  Weather in St. George can be very unpredictable this time of year so I'll have to keep an eye on it.  If it's no good for riding then I will cancel and we'll ski instead.  Not a bad alternative I think.

Band Basement Gig....

Recently our band added a new drummer and with this addition has come a lot of renewed energy and optimism about our sound.  Unfortunately, it also came at a time when our frontman and lead guitarist made plans to move to L.A. as part of his video editing career.   As moving day for him approached we decided to do an impromptu show in the place where we practice, my cold basement.  We invited a few friends and family, set up some lighting, and served hot chocolate and donuts while we played our new album and a few other sweet tunes.  It went well enough and it served as a good excuse to rock out one more time with Col.  (At least until he comes back. After, of course, making it big in L.A.)

The good news is, I think we'll plan on keeping the music going with the remaining members and maybe even adding more.  It's a fun outlet for me so I hope it works.

A few short clips from the show.  The sound from the iphone is not the best but you get the idea.

Oh, and you can get our album here (shameless plug):

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/aligned/id763762612?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Christmas and the New Year.....

Christmas was lovely as usual.  We skied Christmas Eve with the kids and stayed late to catch the fireworks and torch parade.  This has become a tradition for us but we missed last year due to a snowstorm that canceled our plans.  It's a fun atmosphere for the holiday up there.  Sip'n hot chocolate while watching the festivities is a beautiful thing.

The Boy and Jen riding through the tunnel to Mineral Basin on Christmas Eve.

The Boy killing time before the fireworks.

My new clock I got for Christmas made from recycled bike parts.

New Years was a fun night as well as we ate dinner at my wife's parents and then partied at my sister's later.  My sister did a french theme to her party and decorated accordingly.  She did a great job and my kids (especially the boy) were blown away at the ambiance.  The food was great too.

My brother standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

My family.

Jen and myself.  (I'm clearly enjoying the food.)

The food.

Speaking of food, I fell off the healthy wagon over the holidays and ate like crap (as the above picture of me suggests), but I'm back on the wagon today.  I gained about 2 lbs which isn't terrible but not good either, especially given how hard I have to work to take it off.  My "race weight" goal weight is 165 lbs and right now I'm at 170 lbs.   I'm confident that I can make that by March.

I've been indoors the past month riding the rollers but I was able to get out the past two days riding outside.  Tuesday was cold but bearable, but yesterday was downright pleasant.  It was so nice to get out both days just to be out.  My legs felt sluggish and the smog didn't feel great breathing but I was just glad to be out of my basement.  I need to make more of an effort to get outside.   I met up with some infinite team members yesterday so that was nice.  It's always more fun and more challenging to ride with others.  Plus, the more I've got to know the infinite team the more I've realized they're just a good group of people who love to bike like I do.

Almost Christmas....

My kids are so excited for Christmas they can hardly contain themselves.  As they wait for the day it must seem to them that time is standing still.  That's how I remember it when I was a kid.  Now, for me it's the opposite.  It seems time is going so fast that I haven't had a chance to savor the season at all.  I just want to be able to take it in and enjoy it all, but I can't.  It comes and goes too quickly.

The last chance I've had to ride outside was over 2 weeks ago and that was the day I had my little crash.  I've been surprised at how long it has taken for my hip to feel better.  I must have bruised it pretty good good because It's been over 2 weeks and I still can feel a little tinge of pain in there once in a while.  But that's not what's kept me from riding outside.  It's been the miserably cold weather.  It's been highs in the 20's for as long as I can remember.  Too cold to ride. (for me anyway)  That, along with the terribly smoggy air.  So, I've been stuck indoors riding the rollers.  Have I said how much I hate riding indoors?  I'm sick of it already.  I want to ride outside.  It looks like temps might get into the 40's tomorrow so I might try to sneak in a short ride at lunch.

We've been able to get out of the smog and ski the past couple of weekends.  It's amazing how beautiful it is up there when its so ugly down here.  And it's warmer too.  Last week they opened the new Gad II lift at Snowbird and we rode it as a family.  I know a lot of purist hated the idea of replacing the old lift but I think it's a major improvement.

Random pics of Jen and the Boy just off the new Gad II lift.

I look forward to skiing this weekend and Christmas Eve but the snow is still scarce.  I pray for big storms but none are coming it seems.

Thanksgiving and a Crash....

We stayed at Snowbird the night before Thanksgiving and though the snow was sparse on the lower mountain,  it was fun as usual.  This has become a family tradition for us and we never expect too much as far as snow conditions go.  So long as the resort is open for skiing, we happily take it.

The kids rip it from the Tram.  Conditions were much better up there.

My sister was gracious enough to invite us, and the whole family, to Thanksgiving at their house this year.  The food was exceptional and I ate way too much, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Final prep being made on Thanksgiving.

On Friday and Saturday I was able to get out and ride my bike in an attempt to burn off some of the Thanksgiving excess.  The weather was warm and it made for nice riding.  On Saturday I went with a good group from the Infinite Team.  While heading up Rose Canyon there was some excitement on the front of our group because of a family of deer crossing the road.  I'm fairly used to the deer up Rose Canyon so I didn't think much of it when I saw them crossing but it caused some hard slowing by others in front of me.  When riding in a pack like we were there's always a chain reaction to what happens up front.  I wasn't able to slow in time and touched the wheel of the person in front of me and I immediately went down hard on my side right side.  I got up quickly and didn't feel any pain so after checking my bike and putting my chain back on I climbed up the rest of the way to the top.  Once at the there we stopped for the usual group photo and it was then that I started to feel slight pain in my hip.  Also, while riding to the top I noticed my bike had trouble shifting and realized that my back derailer got a bit messed up, but other than that my bike is fine.   My body, on the other hand, has been sore for the past 3 days.  Both in my hip and my shoulder.  It's amazing how I didn't feel any pain for the first 10 minutes after the crash but then was I've been sore for this long after.  Still, I feel lucky to have escaped with such minor stuff after my first real crash.  I'm also glad it happened while going up the canyon at low speeds vs. going down.

At the top of Rose after my crash.  (credit: Steve Parry)

(I forgot to mention how nice the guys on this team are.  They've always been fun to ride with but they were especially helpful to me after I crashed.  I was impressed by their thoughtfulness.)

It's snowing hard today so it's back to the rollers for a while.  It gives me some time to heal up for the next ski day, which should be better (although colder) conditions.