The Pro Card

This came in the mail. The official It-just-got-way-harder-to-get-to-Kona card. Also known as the I-may-get-my-a$$-handed-to-me card. But I'm looking at it as the Chance-of-a-lifetime-to-chase-the-fast-girls-and-have-a-blast card.

Snowy Orchard Ride

Yesterday's ride started with green fields and a lot of climbing. In the middle of this picture is the snowy mountain I climbed.

 

By the time I reached Riley's Farm it was snowing on me.

The coffee shop was closed. I considered turning around, but was more excited about making it over the top and descending the other side of the mountain, so I kept climbing, keeping a close watch to make sure the roads were not deteriorating. I have no desire to crash.

Snowy apple orchards are beautiful. At this point had I not reached the highest point I would have turned back, as slush was starting to build on the shoulders of the road. Instead I found a coffee shop that was open and sat and enjoyed this view with a latte.

 

I know I say this a lot, but the places my bike takes me are incredible. There were not many people on the mountain. The few there were throwing snowballs and looking at me kind of funny in my clippy shoes and spandex pants.

 

After ten minutes the clouds rolled back in and I knew I had to get off the mountain before snow started to accumulate.

 

The descent was a little cold, but definitely worth the views.

Running Playground

I'm lucky that my inlaws live near some great running trails. 

REALLY great!

These are the type of trails where my mind wanders and I could run for hours. Trails that make my legs and lungs burn. But the grass is so green and the air so crisp I hardly notice.

Casual Friday

Oh yeah - I have gnome slippers! TGIF! Looking forward to riding some new roads up north on Sunday after the rain subsides. . .

Climbing from Spring to Winter

Spring blooms early in California. As rain threatens to literally rain on my training parade this weekend, I shuffled things around and climbed Palomar yesterday. Mike conveniently came down with a "cough" so he could join me.

These are the cattle grates all over the mountain that feel great to ride your bike over.

The sun was out most of the way up.

 

For those of you who think I smile all the time - this is what I look like when I'm fairly uncomfortable and trying to hold my watts above 200 for extended periods of time.

The top felt like we had left spring for winter again.

TriSports.com Visit

My TriSports.com visit crammed a lot into a single day. 

I started out with a workout in the endless pool. I set one side to super-fast and the other to normal. This would have made for some great video, but I didn't think to set that up. When I swam on the super-fast side I would last about a minute and then fly toward the back of the pool. I practiced my butterfly a bit for the upcoming competition. The great thing about this pool is that there are mirrors on the bottom and in front of you, so you can analyze your stroke. They also have just about every wetsuit available for testing.

After the swim, it was time to hop on the bike.
Craig - aka expert bike fitter - set me up.

This is the smaller of the two bikes I tested.
I will ride the medium bike.

Bike #2 was set up after lunch.

And an F-16 fighter pilot came to help measure. He was also kind enough to drive me to the airport at the end of the day.

The store is currently being renovated. Even so, they had everything I can imagine wanting for triathlon. Thankfully they are online, since I don't live in Tucson.

Bike Fit

The boys at TriSports.com know how to fit a bike. We switched bikes multiple times, moved things up and down, pedaled fast, stood up, etc. Oh, and they made me laugh. A lot. If you need a bike fit check out their fly-n-fit program.

More pics when I can blog from a computer...