Baker or bust

Well, I certainly picked a great weekend to head to Baker. They've had 45" of new snow since Sunday and 9" in the last 24 hours.

I'm not so sure about the North Shore race tomorrow because of weather, but we'll see. I liked the course so much last year that I'll probably get out there in the freezing, pouring rain anyway. Hey, I've got tons of toasty clothes and a rain jacket, right? I'll just pack some toe and hand warmers and I'll be set.

Here's to an upcoming weekend of racing, boarding, and snowshoeing. Woo!

A Dog's Life

While I was hard at work last night sitting on the couch crocheting my new blanket....

I'm back baby!

I actually hopped on the Ruby today for a big whoppin' 3-mile spin around the neighborhood -- woo! When I haven't ridden the Ruby in months, the first time back on brings tears to my eyes. I can think of only one word: butter. Damn that bike rides smoothly. Of course, I have to remember how twitchy it is, meaning very light and very responsive vs. a 27-lb single speed or 30-lb aluminum Giant with full fenders, tools, lights, and various commuting necessities.

My lungs feel good, the cough is gone, and my legs actually don't feel too bad either. Just wait until North Shore this Saturday. Those 100 miles I put in over the winter along with the last three weeks of rest (i.e. pneumonia) have me poised for victory.

My mom always tells me my sarcasm sucks.

Back to normal?

Today is first the day in over two weeks that I feel almost back to my normal self. I took the last of the meds and I'm so happy to be off them. I'm dying to get on the bike now and probably would if we weren't having 30+ mph wind gusts. Drat!

I think I'll start commuting to work this week and getting back on my training plan. Since I already had plans to head to Bellingham for the weekend, I'll be doing North Shore, though I doubt I'll be "racing". I'll be lucky if I can hang for half a lap!

A fantastic drug cocktail

I'm still derailed from biking while I've been battling this horrible plague that's going around. Over the weekend I started feeling better, but my lungs and chest felt tight, horrible, and crappy. Yesterday I started feeling worse again so I finally threw in the towel and hit the doctor's office.

Turns out I have walking pneumonia, so it was probably a good choice. Now I'm on a kickin' drug cocktail that should wipe out everything in about 7 days. This is awesome drama for me since I'm allergic to nearly every antibiotic out there. I haven't been on meds in probably 3-4 years.

One of the meds they prescribed me I've been able to marginally tolerate twice before. It's in the same family as something else I'm allergic to, but for some reason, I haven't had a full blown allergy to this one yet. Last night after downing my first pill, my throat started swelling and by the end of the night I could barely swallow, but I had no trouble breathing so I just hung in there. My face ended up all swollen and puffy, so I told everyone I had botox done, but I doubt they believed me. Mild allergic reaction? Yeah, probably. Let's hope I can get the two remaining pills down without some major drama.

I guess this is keeping me from starting my cycling season too soon, which I probably would have done. I was shooting for a debut at North Shore, which was earlier than planned, but that's probably in jeopardy now. I think I'll lay low until Volunteer Park, then come out and get my ass kicked. Good times!

Stupid cold

For the third year in a row, I got started on my bike training plan, then got promptly derailed by the cold from hell. Friday I had a 103 temp and spent the evening in bed, but felt good enough by Saturday that I ended up riding 60+ miles over the weekend. By Sunday night I was down and out and I've spent nearly 48 hours in bed since then. I haven't even been out of the house since Sunday night. Pathetic.

I don't do well with serious disruptions to my routine, so I really can't wait to get back to work tomorrow. I'm finally starting to feel better this evening, so hopefully I'm on the downside of this crap. I really want to get back on the bike and back in the gym and get going! Sunday is the Big Climb for Leukemia, but if I'm not 100% better, I think I'll be bowing out.

I checked the calendar and can't believe racing starts at PR next Tuesday evening. I think I will start going down there again since racing with the Cat 4 men will get my butt in shape pretty quickly. I need all the help I can get at this point!

F***inghill!

Two of my big goals for this week were to get back in the saddle and commute to work on the bike. I'm happy to say I've accomplished both! The winter of low motivation and lack of riding seriously had me worried, but now I'm honestly happy to be back on the bike. I guess I just needed a long break.

Last night I checked out veloroutes and bikely to see what route commuters were taking into downtown Bellevue from I-90. Most just cruise straight up 108th from Enatai, but I did notice many people's routes detoured off 108th at Bellevue Way and reconnected a few blocks north. I couldn't figure why, because Google Maps showed a bike path or large shoulder, but today I found out.

Since power builders were on the training menu today, I dusted off the 'ol Univega single speed and hit it. This route is hilly for the vega and the best part was the wall on 108th just north of Bellevue Way. Yep, that's why people detour. Halfway up I seriously thought I would have to walk, but mustered about a 30 cadence and somehow barely rolled over the top going about 3mph. Ah the joy of having no gears! I checked out another bike site later in the day that had a note on that intersection that said "F***inghill!!". No doubt.

The highlight of my day was the brand new set of Armadillo tires I snagged at Gregg's. They were made for my bike, because they have redwalls! The guys at Gregg's got a kick out of my red sparkly bike and couldn't get over my matching red sparkly chain and redwall tires. Groovy indeed!

I got to cruise back home after dark and I always forget how fun it is to ride in darkness. I think more night rides will definitely be in my future. Now I just need a red neon light for my bike ;)

Icebreaker TT

I signed up for Icebreaker pretty late in the game and contemplated bailing on it this year, but decided I couldn't live without the fun. My result wasn't what I wanted, but was more or less what I expected. I was the poster child today for what not to do before a bike race. 5 hours sleep? Check. Half a muffin for food? Check. No water for about 12 hours? Check. About 6 hours on the road bike since October? Check. Awesome.

When I took off I felt surprisingly strong all the way to the turnaround, then massively collapsed. The 5 miles back sucked and I just couldn't get my legs to turn over at all. My endurance is for shit right now after taking an entire winter off, but it's what I expected. I crossed the line in 31:36, which is way off last year's time of 29:13.

I'm finally emerging from my winter hibernation and it feels good to get back on the bike again. I'll be riding this week and starting to build base miles and endurance back up. I'm just not in a hurry this year. I'll be doing some road racing and may be at a few early season races, but I'm waiting for later in the year to really get started.

I think I may have spent about 5 minutes all total over the winter in Zone 5, so the 30+ mins today killed me. I'm beat and headed to bed.