Day 111: Of Satelittes and Tumbling Mexicans

Update: 211.8 lbs, 46.4 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 3.6 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

Sorry I missed posting yesterday, I actually even was down from today's weight, but won't post it since I missed my official post. Needless to say, I'm back up to where I was day before yesterday, but it's all still good.

Wanted to get in some more training-type of rides, so I set out last night for a 20+ miler. For all you tech-geeks out there, you can click here to see the GPS downloaded map of my ride. Now, the really cool part of this geek-tech is that you can actually follow along the ride, and see different speeds, elevations, etc along the way. Click here to go to the player, and then click on Large version, change the speed to something like 1x, or .5x, and then click the Play button to follow along. You can even click on the Hybrid button to see the scenery mixed with the map. You can dial in too close out there because the satellite images haven't been updated yet, but you get the idea.

So, anyway, I'm cruising along on my route, right about the point where I normally see the guy who has the most amazing set up -- a TV on his front porch where he watches and reads in his chair out there -- when another dude on his road bike passes me! I was doing about 15 mph at the time, and didn't feel like I was going all that slow, but since I had been passed, I stepped it up a few mph to catch up with him, and then stayed with him, pretty much till we hit the top of the Ravena hill, where we went our separate ways. I normally would turn into Keizer like he did, but since I wanted to get up over 20 miles, I went out to the Mission Park first. (Obligatory pic of my bike in front of the giant Cottonwood since I took one of Nick's last time. Sorry, crummy camera phone pic this time.)



Now, I know what you're saying...boring, give me something to laugh about. Ok, here you go -- I put the bike down for the second time at the park. I had been telling myself every few minutes "remember, you're in clipless pedals...you have to unclip before stopping." However, it was so nice when I rolled into the park, that I basically forgot as I crossed a small patch of gravel, and rolled into the grass by the picnic table I had spotted. About the time the bike came to a halt I remember "you're in clipless, dude," but it was too late -- 211.8 lbs of prime mexican hitting the grass. Nice thing was, at least this time it wasn't pavement, but still, you put that many lbs in contact with the ground unexpectedly, it'll make you a little sore there the next day. Since I had just rolled up in front of 3 cars parked right there, I quickly looked to see how big of an audience I had watching The Amazing Tumbling Mexican Riders, but fortunately for me, they all had gone to see the Nation's Largest Black Cottonwood.

Anyway, the rest of the ride was uneventful. I might not have been properly hydrated as the old legs were getting crampy towards the end, but felt good to get in a little longer ride -- gotta get ready for that big 70 mile section of the Livestrong Challenge! Other cool thing was I later found out that I only have about 3.5 degrees of separation from the gentleman with the front porch entertainment system...it's such a small world!

Hasta!