Recent Adventures

So the last week was a busy one. It started with the Dirty Duathlon Sunday morning. I haven't trained beyond an occasional mountain bike ride and my commuting. I think I ran about 15-20 minutes for three days before the event. Needless to say, when I found out the course would gain 600+ feet for the first 2 miles, I wasn't too confident in my ability to make it. I thought for sure Kev would have a good lead on me by the time we got to the bike portion and I wouldn't be able to catch him. So when the gun went off, I just kept to my own pace and plodded along. It burned a bit in sections and I backed off some but amazingly I had Kev in my sight most of the way up the mountain - until I passed him near the top! Whoa, what's going on here? The downhill was treacherous - wet roots, leaves, fresh trail with loose dirt. I made it into the transition at around 32 minutes - not bad for 4 miles and no training - and out of the transition just in time to hear them call Kev's name. I set out up the hill via a different route this time, passing a saddle along the way. Someone had an uncomfortable race... We were met with a killer climb I probably could have made if my granny gear was working. Oh well, hoofed it up (twice because it was a two lap deal). The downhills were interesting - muddy, twisty, steep in sections. On the second lap, my calves cramped up like I have never experienced before. Very painful, made me fall off the bike on two separate occasions, once surrendering a spot I had been battling for throughout the race. Oh well. I finished in 1 hour 42 minutes, 26th out of 40 total racers. I finished the run portion in 18th. It was fun, I am glad that I did it but would like to have been in slightly better shape...

Race pictures can be found here. My bib number was 76, Kev's was 77.

On the way back, we took the scenic route and checked out some wind turbines near Warsaw. Very cool - how can you not be in favor of wind power???







There is no rest for the weary (or crazy) as the next day Michael and I rode at Dryer - his first time there without snow. He kicked my butt but we pushed out skills limits, testing out the black diamond routes. There were a couple of good wrecks on my part and Michael nearly ran into a deer.We road for about an hour and a half and tried our hand at the pump track. I am not so sure how to pump my way through but maybe I will find someone to show me at some point. I was officially wasted by the time we finished. My legs felt like rubber bands and it has taken since Monday to fully recover. Tuesday was the DMB concert at Darien, a great show as usual. Glad to have the pavilion seats - out of the rain.

Due to all of the riding, my commute times were a little slow this week. I had wanted to get to Letchworth this weekend but the rain and work prevented this. Something local tomorrow might be on the list though.

Enjoy the videos - one should make you smile...