Rainy Ride

Riding sounded like a good idea when we left the house. There were black clouds, but only sprinkles. Before we reached Allan's house to pick him up the clouds unleashed their fury with some downpours and hail.

Undeterred, we picked up Allan and carried on. After a while we even dried out and the sun made an appearance. Briefly.

And then Southern CA made up for its lack of rain in the past seven months.

We found shelter in a market.

And then the power went out.

There was some hail.

After the lightning, we called the meat wagon.

Thanks for the rescue Dad!!

Thankful

I'm pretty sure Thanksgiving is not complete with out a Ride & Tie race. Fast B and I showed up to cold temps and found Colleen and Beth trying to stay warm, along with this rabbit.

The ride & tie is a 12 mile race where a team of two has one mountain bike. You leap frog by running/biking. The fastest time doesn't necessarily win - there's a catch. You collect stuffed animals, pinatas, etc. along the way. Each deducts from your overall time.

I can still picture Fast B running in front of me as I'm trying to remember how to shift gears on the mountain bike. He had a pinata attached to his back and a big teddy bear flopping around on his shoulder. I was laughing so hard I had to hop off the bike and push it up the hill.

At the end we got some awesome sombreros and Turkeys.

The rest of the day was spent with family and friends. Laughing and eating. I have so much to be thankful for.

We ended the day here.

Night and Day

These little yellow trees looked awesome all lit up.

This is a bridge down near the meat packing district. I thought it looked like the Bridge of Sighs. Except it is lit up like a rainbow. And longer. And really looks nothing like the Bridge of Sighs.

The Standard Hotel at High Line is behind my friend Annette and I. We saw no action at all. NOTHING.

Perfect NY day.

Chelsea Market, where I consumed quite possibly the world's richest hot chocolate.

Cedric enjoyed his NY visit.

Beautiful

One of the things I love about NYC is the architecture and the overwhelming amount of artistic beauty in such a small area. I could spend days just wandering around the city taking pictures of random things.

It can be confusing - walk or stop?
Just don't get nailed by a bike messenger!

This is as close as Cedric made it to the Empire State Building. Steven and I spent two years in the city a while ago and most of the touristy stops were covered when family visited.

Perfect Sunday Run

I don't think there is a better way to spend Sunday morning...

Perfect fall weather.

A great friend to run with.

And an amazing park to run around.

Fall in NY

New York State of Mind

Fall in New York is amazing. I realize the colors are probably gone by now, but I still love the city. Tomorrow Steven and I will jump on a redeye to spend three fun-filled days with friends in the city. My running shoes love Central Park!

Thanks to Matte Stephens for the visual.
See more of his paintings here.

Shorter Days

All the lifeguard towers have been moved aside for winter. The large crowds of sunbathers are gone, and the beaches are peacefully quiet once again in the early morning.

This is one of my favorite times of year. The shadows are longer. I dug the long sleeve jersey and knickers out of the closet again. After my ride, while sitting at work, my hot drink serves the dual purpose of tasting good and warming my hands.

Tiptoe likes winter too.

Cactus to the Clouds

Yesterday at twilight Steven and I set out on the Cactus to the Clouds hike to the peak of Mt. San Jacinto. The climb starts in downtown Palm Springs on the desert floor.

The first 3 hours consisted of climbing while watching the sunrise and an array of cacti and shrubs for scenery.

Behind me in the background you can see the top of the tram (overpriced gondolla). From the base to that point is 12 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing. It took us six hours to reach the tram. Ironically the tram ride takes 11 minutes.

The final climb before the top of the tram is pretty steep. The best part was that we were so far away from anything the only sounds were those from nature. No cars, lawn mowers, people, etc.

At the tram we refilled water bottles and climbed another 5.5 miles to the summit. The entire day we were fighting the clock to beat the sun. We did not want to get caught on the mountain before sunset.

At 7,000 feet we hit our first snow.

Peanut-butter-jelly-time at about 9,000 feet.

The summit: 10,834 feet.

The trees were plastered on one side with snow. At the top the wind chill was probably in the 20s. I had on 4 shirts, a vest, hat, gloves, etc. We spent about 5 minutes at the top and when my fingers went numb we started moving fast again. Steven even humored me and trail-ran with me on the way down. This was my favorite part of the day.

At the end of the day we spent just under 11 hours covering 23 miles of trails. And let me tell you, my tram ride down the mountain at 5pm was worth every penny!

Movember and a Mountain

For those of you who aren't familiar, Movember is when men around the world grow a mustache during November to raise awareness for cancer and men's health.

My Stache made it on Fat Cyclist's cancer-fighting blog today!

Tomorrow I will be climbing Mt. San Jacinto. There is no snow on it right now, but this picture looks way better than those with brown dirt and a lack of color.

We start downtown Palm Springs and climb (legs only, no bicycles) to nearly 11,000 feet. 22 miles round trip or so. The route we take is called Cactus to the Clouds. Should be fun!