Summer is finally here

Memorial Day is usually a kickoff to summer for us and this year was no different. We went to Spokane to support friends riding solo in the Round and Round 24 hour mountain bike race. The last couple years I've done this race on a team with them, it was really fun to support them as they took it on solo (one on a single speed). 

Single Speed!

Lap 1

Unicycle!

JJ"s first race

Mace tearing it up

We took the Apache with us to the race for the first camp of the summer. After figuring out what we forgot in Spokane we loaded up and hit the road the following weekend. We went to Newport, OR and played on the beach a ton. Beck also ran the Newport Marathon where she ran a great race (3:46) after having a rough start with her training.

Post race goofing around

Cocoa makes the rain easier to deal with

go beck go!

10 miler today

A great run, here's the map!



View 10 miler alki in a larger map

First weekend of Spring

We welcomed spring by loading up the weekend with a bit of fun - the Alki Street Scramble on Saturday and the Mercer Island Half Marathon on Sunday. Street Scramble's are a blast and very family friendly. It's a great way to get outside and play while learning a bit about navigation and the neighborhood the event is held in. We managed to grab 4th in our division without going all out, and the weather was amazing.

After the scramble Jack and Mace came with me to Mertyl Edwards / Olympic Sculpture Park to play while Syd and Kenaia saw and met Jodi Picoult at the Central Library. The girls were pretty excited about meeting the author and managed autographs and cell phone pics like any good fan.

Sunday morning was spent on Mercer Island for the Half Marathon. I didn't train like I wanted to and I've been fighting a cold for the last week or so but I went for it anyway. It's only a half. Right? The only expectation I had was to finish and I would have walked if necessary. Things went pretty well and I managed a 2:07. Not bad considering I've been a total slacker for the last 6 months.

A pretty good weekend. Hello spring!

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 :-)

Selling the Cannondale Rush

Looking for a great XC Mtn bike? I'm selling the Rush to make room / justify a 29er.

CL post here

happy new years

holly cow! a decade gone! dang that was fast.

here's to a great 2010!