So it's been an awfully long time since I posted anything. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening in Mike's World of Cycling lately, other than lots of training (and let's be honest, how exciting are base miles, really?), and falling off the training schedule due to various side trips. As I write this, I'm sitting in the Windy City visiting with family for Thanksgiving. I am, of course, bike-less, so there's three days down the tubes.
In October I rolled down to the Grand Canyon with a crew of folks I met in the Chicago Basin last year and had a Grand time. Another five days gone, though I can write off a lot of that to cross-training.
And at the end of September I traveled up to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park for a few days of backpacking and had an absolute blast. Sequoia is, hands down, the most spectacular place I've ever seen. I cannot wait to go back, to drink in the fantastic scenery and clean mountain air again.
On second thought, I guess there have been some interesting developments in my cycling career. As I already noted in my previous post I am now a Cat IV road cyclist. In addition, I have a new team. I will be racing for Liquid Fitness Cycling this year on their Cat IV/V squad. I'll have new photos and sponsor links up as soon as I have them, hopefully towards the end of this week.
I will also be bidding fairwell to Beatrix, my faithful, if short-lived, road bike (so if anyone you know wants a 58cm Cervelo Soloist, drop me a line). She's just too long and my pelvic angle is all wrong when I'm on top of her. Yeah, all you followers of Freud can have a field day with that. Instead, I'll be running a Specialized Roubaix Pro, with a SRAM Red build. The added head tube and shortened top tube are, according to several fitters at the LBS, exactly what my freakishly long femurs need. Looking forward to that, though not to re-learning how to shift. As in keeping with custom, I shall take suggestions for a name. Only requirements are that it be female, and you be able to tell me why I should name my bike whatever it is you suggest.
That's all on the Western Front for now. May everyone have a happy Thanksgiving, and a festive and joyous holiday-of-choice. Until next time, keep the rubber side down.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Swim Out Past the Breakers...
At long last, I am in sunny Los Angeles. I checked into my apartment today, and started getting moved in. It's definitely easier when everything you have to put in there fits into a compact sedan. More details on the trip later, once I have time, but I shall leave you with the following:
1.) Zion National Park is quite possibly the most stunningly beautiful place I have ever seen, is wholly deserving of its name, and should be on the list of places to see before you die. Period.
2.) The Mojave Desert is really big, really hot, and surprisingly pretty to look at.
3.) Las Vegas is really big, really hot, but air conditioned and carefully engineered to make parting with money as enjoyable experience as it has ever been.
And now it's time for bed here on the left coast. I promise pictures from the trip at my earliest convenience, and more details of good times and debauchery from Vegas et al. Best of luck to all my fellow Snakebiters at the Sizzler this weekend!!
1.) Zion National Park is quite possibly the most stunningly beautiful place I have ever seen, is wholly deserving of its name, and should be on the list of places to see before you die. Period.
2.) The Mojave Desert is really big, really hot, and surprisingly pretty to look at.
3.) Las Vegas is really big, really hot, but air conditioned and carefully engineered to make parting with money as enjoyable experience as it has ever been.
And now it's time for bed here on the left coast. I promise pictures from the trip at my earliest convenience, and more details of good times and debauchery from Vegas et al. Best of luck to all my fellow Snakebiters at the Sizzler this weekend!!
Monday, June 9, 2008
California Dreaming
On June 27, 2008, I will be leaving Ohio.
For my entire life, I have lived in Ohio. I was born in Dayton. I grew up in the house my parents bought when they got married. College was a big step for me; moving to Cleveland was the furthest I had ever been from home, and I stayed here after graduation--and for most of the summers before graduation. Even then, my parents were less than four hours by car, and I would certainly never think of flying to go see them. I have family all over the state, too: Cleveland, Akron, and Dayton. Such has been my life for the past twenty-four years.
As my regular readers know, I vacationed in SoCal at the beginning of April. While I was there I realized what I had been missing. This is a place where I could train year round, outside. I would have, at my fingertips, all manner of parks, forests, and wilderness in which to pass the time. When I tired of living deliberately, I could return to a bustling metropolis with many highly regarded medical centers, all of whom demonstrated a need for nursing staff. As I returned to Cleveland, I vowed to explore this opportunity more.
And so I did. Thanks to several weeks of phone tag, faxing documents, writing large checks to government agencies, and playing the waiting game, I will be starting work in the Liver Transplant Surgical Sub-specialty Intensive Care Unit at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Westwood Campus, on July 7. Since the commute would be prohibitive otherwise, I will be moving to Los Angeles on July 3. Since I'm driving out, I leave Cleveland on June 27, with plans to visit several national parks, Boulder, CO, and Las Vegas on the way out. The next several weeks will be a whirlwind of planning, finalizing a few things on the LA end, and compressing my life into a 2003 Honda Civic Sedan with an extra eleven cubic feet of space, courtesy of the fine folks at Yakima and Bike Authority. So if you're in need/want of some furniture drop me a line; I'm looking to be rid of most of what I have here, and most of it can be yours for the cost of coming to get it. I have bookshelves, a couch, chairs, dining room stuff, you name it. Please come get it. Please...
For my entire life, I have lived in Ohio. I was born in Dayton. I grew up in the house my parents bought when they got married. College was a big step for me; moving to Cleveland was the furthest I had ever been from home, and I stayed here after graduation--and for most of the summers before graduation. Even then, my parents were less than four hours by car, and I would certainly never think of flying to go see them. I have family all over the state, too: Cleveland, Akron, and Dayton. Such has been my life for the past twenty-four years.
As my regular readers know, I vacationed in SoCal at the beginning of April. While I was there I realized what I had been missing. This is a place where I could train year round, outside. I would have, at my fingertips, all manner of parks, forests, and wilderness in which to pass the time. When I tired of living deliberately, I could return to a bustling metropolis with many highly regarded medical centers, all of whom demonstrated a need for nursing staff. As I returned to Cleveland, I vowed to explore this opportunity more.
And so I did. Thanks to several weeks of phone tag, faxing documents, writing large checks to government agencies, and playing the waiting game, I will be starting work in the Liver Transplant Surgical Sub-specialty Intensive Care Unit at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center, Westwood Campus, on July 7. Since the commute would be prohibitive otherwise, I will be moving to Los Angeles on July 3. Since I'm driving out, I leave Cleveland on June 27, with plans to visit several national parks, Boulder, CO, and Las Vegas on the way out. The next several weeks will be a whirlwind of planning, finalizing a few things on the LA end, and compressing my life into a 2003 Honda Civic Sedan with an extra eleven cubic feet of space, courtesy of the fine folks at Yakima and Bike Authority. So if you're in need/want of some furniture drop me a line; I'm looking to be rid of most of what I have here, and most of it can be yours for the cost of coming to get it. I have bookshelves, a couch, chairs, dining room stuff, you name it. Please come get it. Please...
Friday, April 11, 2008
In those high-rolling hills...
After sixty-eight miles and thirteen thousand vertical feet of climbing, I have emerged from the wilderness. The Santa Monica Mountains provide a stark contrast to the urban jungle that lies just below; many miles of trails exist, flanked by brush covered hillsides that were brilliantly coated in wildflowers and green grass. Looking out over the slopes ravaged by fire last October, I saw a green rivaled only by the pictures I've seen of Ireland. According to the locals, it's almost never that green. For an idea of what it usually looks like, one only needs to watch a M*A*S*H rerun. The show was filmed in Malibu Creek State Park, where I camped my second night.
Despite the vibrant nature of the vegetation, water was still hard to come by. On the many exposed ridges and fire roads, there was no water, and only in a few of the seasonal streams did I find more than mud at the bottom. It was small wonder that the fire danger throughout the mountains was rated at least at Medium. Many areas throughout Malibu carried permanent smoking bans outside, not in the interest of personal health, but in the interest of not burning down the county. One ranger drove by me while I was carrying a pen; thinking I was smoking he got out of his vehicle to give me what-for, but stopped short when he saw it was only a blue Bic. Campfires are out of the question, and even charcoal grills are off limits. Thankfully propane stoves weren't banned at the time I was there (it's happened before, though I've always just missed it), since such bans make having hot food a little difficult.
Other than the aridness of the climate, the weather was perfect. The sun shone every day, nice breezes blew up the canyons, and nary a drop of rain fell upon me. Thankfully there was water at all the campgrounds, and I had enough water bottles to carry a gallon at once, so I never went thirsty. When I got off trail, I went to dinner with my friend George and then heard his barbershop group sing at a coffee shop in Santa Monica. Before that, I stopped at a Burger King for a cheeseburger. There's nothing I crave while on the trail like a cheeseburger.
For those mountain bikers who read this, you can ride over much of the trail; thanks to the many road intersections along the route it's not hard to get to and from the trail (since not all the trail is open to bikes), the trail is fairly wide and well-constructed in many places. You'll want plenty of water and sun protection; as I already said the trail is dry and shaded spots are few and far between. Check out the National Park Service site for more information.
Despite the vibrant nature of the vegetation, water was still hard to come by. On the many exposed ridges and fire roads, there was no water, and only in a few of the seasonal streams did I find more than mud at the bottom. It was small wonder that the fire danger throughout the mountains was rated at least at Medium. Many areas throughout Malibu carried permanent smoking bans outside, not in the interest of personal health, but in the interest of not burning down the county. One ranger drove by me while I was carrying a pen; thinking I was smoking he got out of his vehicle to give me what-for, but stopped short when he saw it was only a blue Bic. Campfires are out of the question, and even charcoal grills are off limits. Thankfully propane stoves weren't banned at the time I was there (it's happened before, though I've always just missed it), since such bans make having hot food a little difficult.
Other than the aridness of the climate, the weather was perfect. The sun shone every day, nice breezes blew up the canyons, and nary a drop of rain fell upon me. Thankfully there was water at all the campgrounds, and I had enough water bottles to carry a gallon at once, so I never went thirsty. When I got off trail, I went to dinner with my friend George and then heard his barbershop group sing at a coffee shop in Santa Monica. Before that, I stopped at a Burger King for a cheeseburger. There's nothing I crave while on the trail like a cheeseburger.
For those mountain bikers who read this, you can ride over much of the trail; thanks to the many road intersections along the route it's not hard to get to and from the trail (since not all the trail is open to bikes), the trail is fairly wide and well-constructed in many places. You'll want plenty of water and sun protection; as I already said the trail is dry and shaded spots are few and far between. Check out the National Park Service site for more information.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
We can live beside the ocean, leave the fire behind...
At 1020 PDT on Friday, April 4, I arrived in Los Angeles. I left the torrential downpours of northeast and central Ohio (having flown out of Columbus) for the sun and sand of southern California. My friend George has been kind enough to let me stay at his place in Santa Monica while I'm in town, and so far the time here is shaping up nicely. The plan for the week involves backpacking in the Malibu Hills (yes, Virginia, there is a thru-hikable trail in L.A. County), hitting the beach, and checking out a bike from one of the local bike shops and getting acquainted with California Highway 1 around Malibu; bringing my bike with me wasn't worth the hassle, since pack/unpack times would have put it out of commission for a week, all in exchange for only about a day's worth of riding.
Flying out the route took us over the Rockies west of Denver before the plane turned south west across the Four Corners region, including Durango, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon. I got a few shots out the window of the surrounding area, and I'll post any good ones when I get home. The flights went smoothly, and all my checked baggage arrived as planned. The rest of Friday was spent napping, then attending a Santa Monica Theater Guild production of The Full Monty.
Yesterday we hit the REI store in downtown Santa Monica to pick up some supplies that the FAA frowns upon carrying aboard an aircraft and generally hung around. We also grabbed the necessary supplies for a Pepsi-can alcohol stove, since I've always wanted to try one, and I'm finally going somewhere with an average altitude below 10,000 ft.
Time to head out and enjoy the day. Good luck to all my Snakebite teammates at the Weekly Worlds this Tuesday!
Flying out the route took us over the Rockies west of Denver before the plane turned south west across the Four Corners region, including Durango, Mesa Verde, and the Grand Canyon. I got a few shots out the window of the surrounding area, and I'll post any good ones when I get home. The flights went smoothly, and all my checked baggage arrived as planned. The rest of Friday was spent napping, then attending a Santa Monica Theater Guild production of The Full Monty.
Yesterday we hit the REI store in downtown Santa Monica to pick up some supplies that the FAA frowns upon carrying aboard an aircraft and generally hung around. We also grabbed the necessary supplies for a Pepsi-can alcohol stove, since I've always wanted to try one, and I'm finally going somewhere with an average altitude below 10,000 ft.
Time to head out and enjoy the day. Good luck to all my Snakebite teammates at the Weekly Worlds this Tuesday!
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