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!