Memorial Day

Just hanging out at the Steaming Bean right now in Durango. It's my usual hangout spot when I'm waiting for Matt to finish a ride, since they have free wireless here. Matt should be coming back from his ride any time now. He decided to ride up the part of the Colorado Trail he did yesterday. He lost his new FooMTB long sleeved jacket somewhere on the trail, more than likely the part he's doing today, during his ride yesterday. What a bummer!

For me, it was an off the legs workout day, so I went to the Durango Community Rec Center to do some upper body lifting. What a nice place! We've used it before to shower when we camp in Durango, but I'd never gone upstairs to look at their workout facilities. The equipment is new and clean. It's also not crowded, which is a plus. Guess most people here have sense enough to go outside to workout when the weather's nice. They have a pool area that's amazing if you have kids...kiddy pool has a lazy river you can float around in with inner tubes and everything. Reminds me of a mini Wet N Wild with the water fountains, colorful animals, and water slides. Very cute.

For only $4.50, I was able to use all the facilities there. After working out, I went back to the hotel, packed up the Element, and headed downtown. I've never really shopped there before since I'm usually out riding, so I figured I'd walk around. Managed to walk the entire area in about 2 hours.

Tomorrow morning I'm riding with Sandy, bright and early. I'm meeting her near the Foothills at 7:45 AM. I'm gonna have to dig out my cold weather clothes! I'll go for a short ride with her, then head to work. I'll just work late to make up the time. Maybe tag on a little more time throughout the rest of the week to make it fair and square.

Sandy, by the way, is a serious bad-ass rider. She used to mountain bike competitively until her unbelievable strength caused her to rip some muscle from the bone. She was even in Switzerland for one of the World Mountain Biking Championships...competing against Marla Streb no less!!! Unfortunately, she's been down for the count for 3 years now. I can't complain about my predicament compared to hers. She's had an amazing recovery and is now back on the bike. She's also a PT and has been giving me tips for my recovery. I'm even borrowing the cane she used a bit for her recovery. :O)

It's pronounced Floreeeda

I took Florida (don't pronounce it like the state, or you'll get funny looks from the locals) Road all the way out toward the reservoir, but decided to keep on chugging along toward Bayfield. I wanted to set a new goal--40 miles. I got in 43! I'm paying for it now though. My entire body is sore. Feels like I have the flu or something with the all over achiness. Just popped some pain meds, so soon, all will be good. ;o)

The ride was awesome! The pic you see was heading out to the reservoir at mile 10. Had to take a nature break, so I got a picture as well.

As I got to about mile 15, the dark clouds really started rolling in, as did the wind. Luckily, it was a tailwind for the climbing, so I got a little boost, which was nice. On the way back was another story. I wanted to stop and take some pics, but I wanted to avoid the potential rain even more, so I chose to bypass the scenery. I rode part of this ride yesterday, with one descent I distinctly remember being 35 mph. Today it was 20 mph and I was hauling ass just to get that. It was brutal coming back, but a very good workout.

Ride Stats (a new record since the surgery!)

• Distance: 43 miles
• Ride time: 3:07
  
• Total time: 3:34 (includes a short stop in town to get a glimpse of the crits before heading to the hotel)
  
• Avg speed: 13.8 (blasted wind!)
  
• Max speed: 38.3 (blasted wind!)
  
• Avg heartrate: 145
  
• Calories: 1254
  

Made it back to the hotel room, downed the recovery drink, ate a banana with peanut butter, and a hardboiled egg (mmmm, yummy lunch--not--but no appetite after the recovery drink) and took off downtown to watch the men's crits. I missed the women and was bummed by that, but did get to see Luna Chix Shonny Vanlandingham and Crazy Cat/Yeti's Shannon Gibson hanging around after the women's crits. Definitely 2 of my road and mountain biking heros!

Got a call from Matt (that's him stretching for the ride yesterday) about 20 minutes before the men's pro crits were to finish. I headed back to the hotel, and sure enough, he was all in one piece and happy to have had one epic of a ride. He got cleaned up and we headed out to STB (Serious Texas BBQ) for some sammiches, then off to Steamworks for some good beer!

Well, I'm wiped, Matt's wiped, it's been a great day, so it's time for some shuteye.

Hasta!

Faster than a Speeding Train!

As expected, Matt beat the train today. He took off at 8:15 AM from Durango, along with all the other riders in the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Citizen's Tour, with the challenge of beating the infamous train into Silverton. 2:56 I believe was his time; the train generally takes 3:30 to get to Silverton, so he had lots of time to spare. You'll be able to get the details from his blog pretty soon. I got some good pictures of him at the starting line.

The weather is great here. A nice respite from the pounding heat and wind in Albuquerque. I took a slower ride out on Florida Road today, only covering about 25 miles. I was sore today, so I didn't want to push it, especially since I want to go on the longer ride tomorrow. I'm planning to take Florida Road all the way out to the Lemon Reservoir. I thought it was 40 miles, but just Googled it from the hotel and it's only about 30. There's some ass-kicking (at least for someone in my physical state still recovering from the hip surgery) climbs involved, so that may be all I need. If I need more, I'll go a bit more on County Road 240 to get in 35 or so.

To avoid doing any damage to the body, I have to remember to sit and spin...sit and spin. No more standing on the climbs. Reminds me of a toy my sister had when she was little.

Matt will be doing a hammerfest tomorrow, and I'm hoping he comes back with no mechanicals and a big fat smile on his face. Should be fun, as he's planning to ride with a very good rider from Durango, Dave Harris.

Time is a Relative Thing...

I was sitting in the office today, working on some "stuff" as usual, thinking to myself, "Wow, I've been here a long time...I bet it's about lunch time!" I looked up at the clock and it was only 9:30 AM. Today is my Friday since it's my 9/80, so that must have had something to do with how slow it felt my day was going by. 4:30 rolled around and I was packed and out the door! It's ride night with the gals, so I wanted to get home.

Had a good group ride. Paige, Sue and Kim showed up for the Foothills, heading out from the house. A bit hot to start out, but as the evening progressed, the weather wasn't bad at all. Ran into Dan's ride group--Dan, Mike and Randy--while out there. They'd started at Juan Tabo and were doing part of the Foothills too. The gals had a great spin and got a chance to yack it up, as usual, in the driveway afterwards.

I'm really enjoying these rides and am glad I'm getting the opportunity to ride with friends again. I think Kara (another beginner we're trying to recruit) and Kiyoko (a newbie to Albuquerque, but not new to mountain biking) may try to make next week's ride, so this should be lots of fun!

Ride Stats

• Distance: 15.7 miles
• Total time: 2:12 hrs
• Ride time: 1:44 hrs
• Avg speed: 8.8 mph
• Max speed: 23.5
• Calories burned: 761
• Avg heartrate: 141

Well, got the "honey do" list from Matt this evening, so it looks like he's planned out my chores from afar. My Friday off and he puts me to work!! Yep, he's gonna owe me one for this! :o)

We're off to Durango for the Iron Horse Classic. I rode it last year, but won't be doing it this year. Defintely next year though!! Regardless, I'll have a nice few days of riding on my own. Not sure if I'm going to bring a road and mountain bike or just road. I'm leading toward riding the road this go around. We'll see...

New Mexico Summer

Damn it's getting hot around here. The high was 92 degrees, with a "RealFeel" of 95. It felt like friggin' 95 all right. It'll be in the upper 80s to 90s all week, with no rain in sight. I can't believe people run around like Chicken Little dreading this "pending" bird flu when we are running into a drought and could be out of water well within my lifetime in this part of the country. Enough ranting...

Got in a good mountain bike ride today while Matt took off for the Sandia Crest. Of course, Matt doesn't start from Tijeras like the map in the link shows...he starts from home! I've done that ride once. Once!! I'm not jumping to do it again any time soon either.

Elena Gallegos wasn't too bad today bike traffic wise. Guess that was in part due to the fact that I actually took off earlier than I usually do. I think I made it out the door at 9:45 AM!!! Can you believe that?!? I'm usually not out the door until after 11 AM. I was quite proud of myself and Matt almost didn't believe me when I told him what time I left. ;o)

The hikers were nice today and so was I. The only grouchy people I ran into were pretty much bikers. You know, the kind that totally ignore you when you say, "Hi!". What a bunch of posers. The only rude hiker today was some fatty having a tough time getting up a climb. Maybe she didn't move or acknowledge me because she couldn't breath. I don't know...she was just being a jerk, but I refrained from being a jerk back to her and just smiled and said hello.

So, stats for today's ride are below:

• Max speed: 22.8
• Average speed: 10.2 (riding along the pavement on the way to Elena really boosted up that stat, not usually that fast on the MTB)
• Ride time: 1:33 hrs
• Total time: 1:41 hrs
• Distance: 15.7 miles
  
• Calories: 584
• Avg heart rate: 143
  

Team MJ Inc

Got in a great road ride with Matt today! I took out the new Surly for a spin. Mike, from Bike World, gave me a ring right at 6:00 PM last night, 30 minutes before they close, so Matt and I went out immediately to the shop. I had to have my new bike!! It's a Surly Pacer with the Fatties Fit Fine design--perfect for my new commuter machine.

This bike is a work of art! The steel frame is an unbelievable ride. Mike and Matt told me I'd really like the ride of a steel frame, but you just don't know what to think until you try it. Honestly? I didn't think I'd notice much of a difference, maybe something slight. In reality, what I observed immediately after riding around the neighborhood is that the damping effect is superb. It's like running on a padded running track instead of concrete or asphalt. Total bling for a mountain biker, trailer park trash-like for a stuck up roadie. I love it!

Now I have 2 awesome options for the road. I can be race ready on the carbon Giant TCR 1, or go for a comfy (yet still fast) ride on the Surly.

I got this bike so I could commute to work a couple times a week. I'm waiting for my new building to be built...it's closer to home. But I'm tempted to ride all the way out to BFE where my current building is now, considering how fun this bike is.

So...back to the ride for the day. Matt and I took off from the house and took Tramway to work. The idea was that Matt was going to show me the route, I'd head home, and he'd head out to the Crest and back. Turned out, we went to work, turned around, then headed to Einstein's for a bagel, cuz Matt's stomach was growling. He decided to hang out with the slow poke today, so after a quick break, we headed back toward Tramway, and did the neighborhood climbs back to the house. It was a fun ride! We ended up with about 30 miles, probably about 2:18 hrs ride time, and a little over 3 hrs total time. I managed to burn about 1150 calories and had an average heartrate around 130. I think I maxed at about 171 today.

I'm hoping to hit a short ride tomorrow, but I won't push it. 1) I don't want to be grounded to the trainer, and 2) gotta be ready for the Thursday mountain bike ride I'm leading. It's be the usual suspects, me, Paige and Kim. I'm hoping Kara will show up, and maybe even a newbie to Albuquerque, Kiyoko!

Noisy Eater

So, I got nuthin' to report progress-wise. I overtrained--again!! And now I'm taking it easy. Yesterday was upper body lifting at the gym. The pudgy muscle heads that walk around with their chests sticking out crack me up. They're just about as bad as the pot-bellied barbie doll chicks with hardly any clothes on that strut around trying to pick up the muscle heads. It can be quite a spectacle sometimes.

So today, did some time on the elliptical. Tomorrow I'll spin. I'm planning to do some real riding on the weekend that won't over-fatigue me. My MTB beginner ride group I'm leading is planning a ride next Thursday, and I plan to be ready for that!

So yesterday, I'm sitting in my office trying to mind my own business when a coworker--I call this person the "noisy eater"--starts smacking away as usual. It's always noisy. I'm in a cube (with a door), so the sound goes right over the walls and into my cube. Sometimes it's slurping, but most often it's more of a smack-thwuuupp kind of a sound. Yesterday it sounded like shelled sunflower seeds were being downed by the handful. It was bad! So I couldn't help myself. I exited my cubicle, casually looking into this person's office to see what the fare of the day was. Turns out the coworker was chewing gum. That's it!!!! Never heard anyone chew gum like that before. It's sad and hopeless all at the same time. I will say that it wasn't as bad as the farting coworker. That was THE WORST!! Must have had some bad Mexican food the night before because this person was unloading the SBDs like there was no tomorrow. The stench was gut-wrenching. Nothing I could really do because the smell just kept wafting over my cube walls. The door did nothing to protect my olfactory glands on that day.

I finally emailed Matt to tell him the hell I was going through. I was looking for a sympathetic ear, but got nothing but laughs and later an offer to use his office fan. I was ready to call it a day and find somewhere else to work, but the coworker must have gone home to unload whatever foulness was dwelling in the belly. End of that torture.

Enough said. I'm ready to go to sleep.

The Manitoba Loop

Ouch! I can't believe I've done it again. My strength and cardio far outweigh the ability of my hip. Today, after a day's rest, I was feeling very strong and ready for a hard ride. I was planning on a short one, since I got home late from work, and generally, short rides are fast with lots of climbing. That was in the old days...I gotta remember that I can't do that yet!

So, headed down to the casino and climbed back up. I had to pedal into a headwind, so I think my max speed going downhill was maybe around 30 mph. I figured I'd have to ride harder to make up for the lower speeds. Climbed back up, trying to stay over 11.5 mph, but started to make 10 mph as the grade increased. I was a pathetic 8.5 at the steepest part. Oh well, I got another challenge as I started climbing toward the La Luz road turn off. Some guy was coming down from the road and hooked up on Tramway. He wasn't too far ahead of me, so I decided to push it and planned to catch him before we got to the stop sign at the top of the climb. I caught him, right before the sign! Pretty happy with that, so I let him pull me for a while along the flat part of Tramway. At first he was a little miffed (who knows why), so he tried to drop me. He couldn't, so he finally gave in and tried to be friendly. Eventually, he turned up Manitoba and I was ready to turn around and head back home. This usual after work loop is 16 miles, and I wanted to make it an even 20, which is why I had biked to Manitoba rather than heading up Elena on Simms Park Rd.

Went back to Simms Park and rode up to the check in shack, turned around, and did the usual climbing back through the neighborhood. I realized I wasn't quite at 20, so added 1 more mini climb up Cedar Hill. Got back home and I knew I'd overdone it. A nice sharp pain in the hip joint reminded me that I'm a bit "stubborn" when it comes to following the directions of my PT and my surgeon. I guess that's just a part of my heritage, according to Lee, a fellow Asian who was kind enough to spread more stereotypes by telling Matt that Asians are "stubborn" and "cheap".
Ride Stats

• Max speed--42.1 mph
  
• Avg speed--16 mph
  
• Distance--20.3 miles
• Ride time--1:16:27
• Total time--1:17:00 (stop light at the turn around by the casino)
  
• Calories--529

So, the plan? Start riding the trainer again during the week--shoot for 2 times, then add in the upper body cardio workouts during the week. I'll save the longer rides for the weekend, where I'm less apt to push it because I've got more time

Fanta Se

Matt's doing his SFBFL ride today with some friends as I sit down to type this blog. I got us a hotel in Santa Fe near the plaza, the Old Santa Fe Inn. It's just a couple blocks from where Matt and crew met at the Zele Cafe bright and early this morning at 7:30AM.

I tried to get back to sleep after Matt took off, but couldn't. Friggin' inn workers were laying bricks on the ground outside our room! Geesh, this is a local Inn, but come on! Do you have to start manual labor at 7:30AM?!? I'm pissed--I was looking for some more shuteye.

So, rather than be lazy, I woke up, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the inn, eggs, potatoes, etc., then came back to the room, threw the hair in a ponytail and put on some shorts and a t-shirt and headed to Zele myself to get an Americano and read the newspaper. I finally made it back to the hotel and out the door for a ride on my own at about 11AM. Wow, what a ride it was!

I decided to ride Dale Ball Central. It's probably been a year since I've been out there! I pretty much had the trail to myself until toward the end of the ride; a very peaceful day with a slight breeze and just enough clouds to keep the temps reasonable.

I left from the hotel, taking Alameda to Upper Canyon Road, to the trail head at Upper Canyon Road and Cerro Gordo. From Alameda, I picked up the Santa Fe River Trail. It was completely dry! Not a puddle to be found. Very sad considering the amount of water I've seen running through there in the past. The two pics look like totally different trails!

My ride today had a heck of a lot of climbing; the toughest I've done on the mountain bike since the hip surgery. The Moots rode like a dream after I let out some air in the tires. I had loaded them up to 35 psi before the ride--way more than necessary--it's been long enough that I couldn't remember how much psi I normally ride with on the Bontrager Jones XR TRs. I love these tires, lightweight, and perfect for the terrain I ride.

Ran into Bugs' cousin on the trail. He saw me coming and hopped to the side, but not too far off. He didn't seem to be very afraid of me, so I snapped some pics. I continued to the top of one of the many climbs and decided to take a breather and swig down some water. There was a silly little trinket shrine (something quite common in NM), so I thought I'd get a picture of that. While trying to focus in on the shrine with the camera, I heard a large bird calling at me from above. He continued to call loudly, circling around the area where I was. My guess is that I must have been too close to its nest. The last of the wildlife today was a tailless lizard that quickly scurried by my front tire. Gee, I wonder how he lost that tail?!? Had he had one, I probably would have ridden right over it.

Ride Stats (forgot to put the bike computer on, so the miles are an estimate)
Calories: 1355
Avg HR: 138
Ride time: 4 Hrs
Distance: 17 miles

Back at It

Well, I managed to take the 3 consecutive rest days in a row. The human body is a strange organism. Before the rest days, I was working out every day and craving more exercise. I did it until the hip couldn't handle it. After 3 days of rest, my body is tired and I'm lethargic (okay, more so than normal). I didn't want to exercise at all! I managed to drag my ass to Defined and rode the stationary bike and then did an upper body weight lifting session. Hopefully I get the drive back to exercise again.

Stats for the Bike

• Time: 30 minutes
• Pace (1-5): 4
• Maximum heart rate: 174
• Calories burned: 204

Stats for the Weights

• Time: 45 minutes
• Pace (1-3): 2
  
• Calories burned: 189

I'm going to go riding in Elena Gallegos starting at the Embudito trailhead with Paige and Kim tomorrow after work. I could be asking for trouble since all the chuckheads like to ride that area after work too, but I'll take my chances. I'm more agile now and can manage to get out of the way a bit faster than I have been in the past. This is the first time I've ridden with Kim, and Paige is always a blast to ride with, so I'm looking forward to it! Hopefully I'll be able to ride with Sue before she's grounded due to her newly pregnant status. :)

Painting

So I suck as a painter. It's quite evident now. It took me all day (well, as long as Matt was out riding in Cedro/Otero) to paint just the upper part of the house from the deck--leaning over the side--and part of the backyard area...and it only looks so-so. I couldn't choose the correct tool (brush size, roller, whatever) if my life depended upon it!

It was a rest day today. I'm taking Matt's advice and will take a 3 day consecutive rest to see if I can reduce the hip pain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I've got more than enough to do this week, so I shouldn't go too stir crazy.

Well, another week is about to begin. Having 9/80s is great until I get the short weekend. It seems way too short. Saturday and Sunday. That's it!! At least I only have 4 days at work this week. 1 day will be shot at a conference being held where I work. I have 2 presentations for that, so I still need to prepare.

I have a meeting with Danny Milo, Senator Bingaman's Albuquerque Field Representative Monday afternoon. I'm meeting him with Chris and Russ from the club, FooMTB. We'll be talking to him about trail issues: Wilderness, Save Otero, and a national IMBA issue for RTCA.

Living the Sterotype

"I'm coloring the text, just like a karaoke screeen," says Frank, with a big grin as he edits a script we are going through for an upcoming Asian Pacific American Annual Celebration. I wouldn't have had a freaking clue what he was talking about had I not heard this ridiculous display of misfits (none Asian, by the way) singing karaoke in Santa Monica at both the King's Head Pub and Barney's Beanery a couple weeks ago.

So the next day, I'm given some free swag from this Asian committee I serve on...it's a a camera carrying case! WTF?!? Somehow I've got to find a way to tell my new found colleagues that they need to stop perpetuating the stereotypes. Good grief!

Well, the Celebration went well. Interestingly, there were more Asian spectators than there were Asian performers, even though each performance reflected an Asian culture.

Met Paige for a ride after the Celebration. Went to our usual route along the Bosque. We're increasing speed each time we ride, so I know I'm improving. I'm increasing speed at an acceptable rate too (no more than 10% a week--PT's orders).

Bosque Ride Stats

• Ride Time--2:19
• Total Time--2:22
  
• Max Speed--21.2
• Avg Speed--15.3
• Distance--35.4
• Calories Burned (I got my heartrate monitor back!)--780
  

I've been pushing it way more than 10% a week in terms of overall exercise though, and my hip is paying a price. I jumped from about 2-3 days of very strenuous exercise to 5-6 days. I think that's what did it. Matt has prescribed 3 consecutive rest days. I think I'll take the advice.

I think I'm going to start charting some of this stuff to get a visual image of my progress. Could be cool in a geeky, Asian kind of way. ;o)

Mmmmmmm Beeeeeeer.......

I guess I should have said something like, Mmmmmmmm Wiiiiiiiiine for my title, since I can't drink the beer at Il Vicino, my favorite watering hole, but the Homer quote sounds better. I'm allergic to the stuff! Guess it's some Asian thing. Dr. David (Matt's double century riding partner from CA) said it's an Asian thing. He had a med school friend who had the same problem. Our Asian blood can't tolerate alcohol, go figure!

So we just got back from Il Vicino after delivering the new FooMTB jerseys to the club members. The jerseys are awesome! If you didn't get a chance to order them, we'll be placing another order some time in the future. These ones are definitely worth the $$. Check out the link and see for yourself! Matt did an awesome job coordinating that effort again.

Didn't get a ride in today. My hip is killing me from the road ride I did on Tuesday. It was short too, but the climbing did me in. I should know better by now, but I really like doing the climbing, so I did it anyway.

Today, hit the elliptical for 30 minutes, did some ab work and some upper body. That's it, just enough to get the heart rate elevated to make sure I stay in half way decent shape.

Yesterday was a REST DAY! I felt just like the dog in the picture. Totally wiped after the road ride! The alarm clock went off in the morning and I felt like I'd hardly placed my head on the pillow.

Stats for the Tuesday Road Ride
This ride started from the house, went down to the casino on Tramway, headed back up on the climb, continued on Tramway Blvd, headed up the climb to Elena guard shack, then back down to the Eagle Rock (or whatever the name of that road is), then the neighborhood climbs back to the house.

• Total time: 1:06
  
• Ride time: 1:04
  
• Distance: 16.5
  
• Max speed: 35.4
  
• Average Speed: 16.5
  

Monday (I'm going backwards in time) I went to Defined Fitness and did an upper body workout (arms still hurt!) and 30 minutes on the stationary bike.

Rollin'

Riding is becoming easier and easier!

This recovery thing seems to be working! I went on another roadie ride with Paige on the paved Bosque. As usual, I seem to bring the wind along with me. Paige indicated that when she rides alone, she has better luck with the wind...hmmmmmm.

Stats for the road ride

• Ride Time: 2:10:32
• Total Time: 2:22:30
• Max Speed: 23.6
  
• Avg Speed: 14.7 (we had 15.6 heading out with a little less wind)
• Distance: 32.1

Forgot the stats from the MTB ride I did last Wednesday as well in the Elena Gallegos area (there's a pic of the Sandias from Elena)--

MTB Stats

• Ride Time: 2:09
  
• Total Time: 2:20
• Max Speed: 29.8 (I rode some pavement, duh!)
• Avg Speed: 7.7
• Distance: 16.72

I'm pretty stoked cuz riding is getting better. I haven't managed to up my miles much. Seems like 35 on the flats for road and 16 on smooth dirt is my max right now, but I'm lifting light weights with the legs at the gym now, so I think my strength will start to improve soon!