Bikes and the Ocean

A few weeks ago I decided to make a few changes to the stable of bikes. After IMC the road bike was hung with flat tires and never saw the light of day for the remainder of 2009. It's actually sad, I put in a lot of road and trainer miles last year and the Felt took it all in stride. Due to all the road training I barely rode the Rush after the 24 hour last May.

IMC took a lot out of me, mainly my desire to ride. It's a weird side effect as I can't recall any other time in my life that I would NOT have wanted to ride. I had to do something to get back on the bike so I sold the Rush and Felt and picked up two 29ers. A '09 Cannondale 29er 4 mountain bike, and '09 Marin Hamilton 29er SS for commuting.

The Cdale -

The Marin -

I never seem to find the stuff I want locally, but the Marin I found in Seattle on clearance at REI. I was looking at their range of bikes when I saw this one sitting on top of a Thule display. It had clearly been there a while as it was covered in dust. The '10 models are in, so this one was a steal I couldn't pass up. I swapped the the lame OEM seat and pedals with the parts off my old commuter, including the rack. The niner is sweet for commuting, bigger wheels and larger tires make for a smooth ride on rough Seattle streets. The SS isn't so bad either, some of the steep side streets downtown have me walking though.

I found the Cannondale on Craigslist in Portland. After riding one in Seattle I started shopping around finding this one on accident. I really didn't expect to find a used one, let alone one within driving distance. Of course, when I asked Becky if she was up for a day trip, she responded by saying we should spend the weekend at the Ocean. So we did.

After meeting the seller and picking up the bike we headed to Manzanita for a stay at a cozy little motel near the beach. The kids (including the dog) had an absolute blast. We spent Sunday on the beach in Manzanita then went up the coast to Cannon Beach.

Here are a few pics-
Manzanita, OR

Change is good

2009 was an epic year for me thanks to IMC and the training leading up to it. I fully expected to finish, take a few weeks off, and roll into a marathon or two. My reality was a bit different. I basically stopped until December when I finally managed a few runs and some skiing. I didn't get on a bike until January.

A few weeks ago I decided I was ready to get back to it, but I needed something to kick start the fire. So I sold my mountain bike and the road bike I used in IMC and picked up a couple bikes - a new Marin 29er single speed commuter, and a one season old Cannondale 29er 4. I've decided to bag the road rides this year and focus on running, mountain biking and getting outside. I may do an off-road tri, but I'm pretty much done swimming for now.

The race plan as of today - Mercer Island Half and Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon. That's it. I may do a local mtb race or two, 5Ks, 10Ks.. who knows. But I will be having fun and rebuilding fitness :-)