Snow and Sun

I haven't skied in years, and Simone has never skied. We changed that a couple of weekends ago when we went to Hoodoo. Mary stayed home because she was feeling under the weather.
We got to Hoodoo at noon, ate a little lunch, got our gear on and headed to the lodge.
The conditions were perfect: no wind, just below freezing, and turned from high clouds to sunny blue sky.
I signed Simone up for the beginner class and left an excited girl in a room of strangers.
I hit the slopes and got in a fun hour and a half before Simone's lesson finished. Hoodoo is so nice - a full day and a half after a 9" dump, I was still able to find little pockets of untracked powder in the trees. It wasn't quite like riding a bike, but it came back pretty quickly.
I checked in on Simone halfway through her lesson - they'd just come outside from the instructions inside - and she was still having fun. I kept Mary updated via text messages.
I skied down to Simone at the end of her lesson to watch a little snowball fight and got the scoop that she was doing great. The lesson only progressed to them walking up a green carpet and sliding down 20 feet of practicing pizza slices and French fries (snow plow and parallel).
I asked Simone if she wanted to ride the lift, and she was game.
I think I was more nervous than Simone about getting on the lift. She hopped up with a little help from me, and as soon as we were up in the air she said, "this is FUN!!!"
We spent an hour skiing down the bunny slope together, and finished with snow angels and and a snowball fight in a huge patch of fresh powder.

Halloween

Simone is often figuring out who she wants to be for Halloween. It might be a pig, or a ballerina, I can't remember all the crazy ideas she's had.
Tonight she came out of her room because she couldn't sleep. So I tucked her back in. As I was leaving she said, "I have to tell you one more thing. For Halloween I want to be Elvis. We have to get the wig and the big eyebrows."

Where did she learn of Elvis?

Snip Snip

Nana was down a few weeks ago, hanging with Simone. I guess there was a lull in the action, and Simone zipped off to find a pair of scissors and some space in the bathroom to take care of a tangle in her hair. And her bangs were a bit long too. Snip, snip.

Tsk tsk nana. This comic strip is for her. http://www.bugcomic.com/comics/put-on-ice/

How to save $150

What so you do when you get a new bike and find that it doesn't fit on your old Yakima Steelhead rack because the disc brake caliper gets in the way?

You can drop $150 and get a fancy new rack.... Which of course only works for one newfangled bike, so don't try to bring someone else along.

Or, you can get a hacksaw and a file and start cutting away. I think the result looks pretty good.

Upcoming Mud

It has been absolutely beautiful in Corvallis the past few weeks.  The trails are dry and fast, the sun has been shining, birds chirping.  People were starting to think spring had no showers!

But, that had to come to an end.  Why?  Because the Mudslinger XC Race is this weekend, and it has to live up to its name.

I didn't do the pre-ride this year, but have been out and about - finding little bits of mud to get accustomed to riding in the slick.  I'm not real excited about the "Root Down" section of trail - last year I walked it during the Mudslinger because it is steep, and when muddy - it's scary.  I rode it well during the TOE 50, but it was dry then.  Other than that section, I'm pretty psyched for the race.

My goal (which I set last year after finishing the Mudslinger) is to get on the podium for the Clydesdale category.  If last year's times are any indication, I've got to finish 22 minutes faster at around 2:45.  Given that I had a mechanical that stole 7 minutes and kind of sapped my resolve to race super fast, I think it's totally achievable.

A first place might be within reach, but the guy who finished first last year is a really strong rider, and I did have nearly 6 weeks off, so my training isn't quite where I wanted it to be.  Nonetheless, I'm ready to give it my best shot.

If you're curious what it's like out there in the woods, there are a couple of videos worth watching.  The first is really well produced and shows the beauty of the riding in Blodgett.  It's from the TOE race from last year.

Test of Endurance from Mike Ripley on Vimeo.

The second is Mike Ripley's introduction to the Mudslinger, and shows some action from the viewpoint of the rider.  Like most videos shot from this angle, you have no good gauge of how steep or flat any particular section of trail is.  So, imagine it real scary, or not:



And, while I'm putting videos in, check out this video of the High Cascades 100, the race I'm aiming to finish in the end of July.  You can also read one guy's realistic account of it here.

                        Watch more video of 2012 High Cascades 100 NUE #6 on thom.cyclingdirt.org

Let the racing begin!                

Easter Birthday

Easter fell on my birthday this year, and Mother Nature came through in spades.

Simone woke up to a basket from the Easter bunny full of books and stickers - very exciting. Then the Easter egg hunt began. Simone used to not enjoy looking for things, but the eggs were more than enough incentive.

Mary and Simone headed over to church for service and another hunt while I headed out on a birthday ride. At the top of McCulloch peak I ran into a friend on Team Dirt - Joe. We were headed in the same direction so we put together a bunch of single track from the peak through Iris Meadow and all the way to Jackson Creek. Joe has just moved into the valley and he pointed out his house - literally a stone's throw from the forest entrance. Anyway, an awesome ride made better by sharing it with a friend.

In the afternoon, Simone decorated the maple tree with plastic eggs and we just hung out until Rose, our sitter, came. Then Mary and I had a lovely walk to dinner and back, and then I made a gin and tonic with a new bottle of gin from http://www.ransomspirits.com/. Yum!

All in all, a good day. I'm not sure how Simone is feeling today after eating all those jelly beans... She'll get through it.

New Ride

I got my new bike (finally!) and have ridden it three times. Way fun!

The weather has even cooperated and stayed dry (sunny even) for each of my rides.

The front shock (with the brain transplant) works great - best upgrade I think I'll be able to make. And overall, the bike fits me real well. I am enjoying the fact I have gears, suspension, and bigger wheels.

I just learned a new trick even. While going around corners you hear you're supposed to point your inside knee into the turn, turn your hips into the turn, stand on the outside pedal, lean the bike, outside elbow up, etc. My turns are pretty horrible, and I've been struggling to incorporate the tips, but today I figured out that I can stand on the outside pedal and sort of screw the outside hip into the turn. It seems to set me up for the turns pretty well. We'll see how well it works over the next few weeks.

It'll take a while to get used to having gears again, I've found myself powering through sections when I could easily switch gears.

A few weeks to get used to the bike and then the first race.

Patting Your Head And Rubbing Your Belly

Tonight I asked Simone if she could rub her belly in a circle and pay her head. I forgot how fun it was to watch someone try that the first time.

No luck this time. We'll work on it in Mexico.

I Just Whistled

Simone has had a few nights of difficulty falling asleep, and tonight is no exception. Mary and I are on the couch, talking about the day and the books we're reading. We've got the washer and dryer going to provide some white noise to help Simone.
Suddenly I hear a high pitched whistle.
"I just whistled!!!" shouts Simone, at the top of her lungs.
We cheered for her and told her it was bed time.

Changes In Diet

A little over 6 years ago I had surgery to break up a stricture just above my stomach.  I took prilosec for a few months after that to "help" my body avoid re-creating the stricture, but stopped taking it because ... I didn't like the idea of taking it for the rest of my life.  Plus, there are a wide range adverse effects reportedly related to taking it long term.

About a year and a half ago the stricture announced it was back, and I began taking prilosec again.  Luckily, for whatever reason, the prilosec helps with my symptoms (food getting stuck in the esophagus).  It doesn't really make a lot of sense as the stricture is certainly still there, but perhaps the prilosec helps keep down my acid re-flux (well, likely it makes it "pH-neutral reflux") and that helps my esophagus from being overly irritated.  And a less irritated esophagus means no problems swallowing.

Yah, I know.  TMI.  You can stop reading at any point.

The next step was to talk to someone who might be able to help (other than my very knowledgeable, yet too personally connected, wife), so I'm seeing Dr. Sandberg-Lewis.  We're working on a plan to get my body back in order to eventually get me off the prilosec.

What does this mean in practical terms?

We ran some tests and found a number of food allergies, and that I have SIBO.  The food allergies can be related to a number of issues, but the hope is to reduce/eliminate those reactions so my body can be healthier in general (less inflammation, better digestion of food, etc.).  The SIBO could be influencing my acid re-flux by causing pressure that forces the stomach acids up into my esophagus (if not the fluids from my small intestine up there...).

For the SIBO, I'm taking a garlic extract and another supplement (neem) to control the overgrowth of bacteria.  I'm also to eat a particular diet (specific carbohydrate or gaps or cedars sinai) - which reduces/eliminates the foods which feed the bacteria that are over populating my gut.

For the food allergies, I'm avoiding the foods I'm allergic to, and rotating through the rest of the food families.  My food allergies are: dairy, egg, almond, wheat, yeast, beans (dried and green), bell peppers, sesame, and I'm mildly allergic to corn and rye.

Mary's been super supportive, and other than the beans, egg, and sesame, it's the kind of food she'd prefer to (not) eat.

We're also drastically reducing sugar intake - which actually isn't too difficult given the fact that most of the sugar I take in is associated with wheat/dairy/egg (baked goods, desserts of all kinds).

It's been almost a week now, and I'm doing pretty well.  I was a little worried about not getting enough calories, but I'm quickly realizing how I can get them in different ways (I've got to watch out for eating too many nuts).

The biggest issue, for me, is my lack of symptoms.  I don't really notice the acid re-flux  unless I eat late at night, or eat a huge dinner - then sometimes I can feel the heart burn (if I'm not on prilosec).  And, of course there's the difficulty swallowing - but that's one I actually didn't have for a few years after the surgery, so it's not a very useful symptom.

So, when I re-introduce the foods I'm avoiding, will I notice anything?  I kind of hope so, but then again, I want to be able to eat dairy/egg/wheat... I'm not noticing much of a difference yet - other than my ring finger has shrunk just a little and the ring sometimes wants to fall off - so perhaps I'm already less inflamed.

When I had the surgery, the surgeon commented on my esophagus being irritated and corrugated, and didn't recommend doing the surgery again.  So, my goal is to get healed up so that if my SIBO is gone, and my acid re-flux is gone, my esophagus is healthy and could handle another surgery to get rid of the stricture (should it be a problem).  Then, with a healthy body, perhaps the stricture won't regrow.

For now, I'm focusing on the elimination diet, and will begin my supplements as soon as they get here.  And, some time in the next week I'll read up more on the specific carbohydrate, gaps, cedars sinai diet and make some more adjustments to what I'm eating.

But baby steps for now.

Not to mention, all of this should help avoid gall stones too.

Kitty Paddling

We went to the wave pool in Springfield today, much to Simone's delight. She immediately took to the wave pool and was as happy as a clam there, floating around with her life jacket.

We then went to the shallow pool to recover from papa taking Simone in too deep (she held on tight like I asked, but then I didn't float over the waves like she does...) the respite was more for me and Mary than Simone. She seemed food to go and after we were done, she reported her favorite part was the wave pool.

Next we went to the slide, and after the first slide together, Simone rode the rest if the time by herself. Her first ride down was incredibly slow because she was sitting up and all the water was just rushing around her a d not pushing her down the slide. She had to pull herself along. The next slide was much faster and seemed even more fun.

While we were in the wave pool, Simone was splashing around - swimming between me and Mary. I asked if she was dog paddling, and she corrected me saying she was "kitty paddling." It made even more sense after I thought about the costume she made up earlier today.

Chilly

No snow today, but blue skies and frozen puddles everywhere. Luckily, I've got booties to keep my feet warm, bar mitts to keep my hands warm, and a bunch if layers in between.

One if these days I'll actually go on a ride in the rain to test my newly installed full front fender.

Happy New Year

And so begins a new year. Mary and I turned into pumpkins at 10:30 last night after a raucous evening of lounging about.

We woke up to a beautiful blue sky. I donned many layers and headed into the woods for a ride while Mary and Simone made pancakes and then went for a walk with P'Nut (a dog we're taking care of for a few days).

We reunited to snack and put together a puzzle.

Tagging Along

Simone and I took a little ride through Avery park and to Crystal Lake sports fields. The original plan was to go to the south co-op and have some hot chocolate, but Simone was so into the ride that we just kept on going.

We took some dirt/mud trails at both parks because Simone said she did t mind a little mud.

Other than being a little cold, it was a most excellent ride.

Last Ride Of The Year

I took a spin in the fog.

Simone Rides Again

Simone went on a ride on her two wheeled (plus training) bike. It'd been a good six months since we last tried, and at that time Simone wasn't very excited.

But this morning she was interested in riding her bike (and not just the tagalong) so we took advantage if the nice weather and headed out to the Midge Cramer path.

Long story short, she rocked the ride. She was fearless and full of energy. She made it up the hills and kept her cool going down the hills.

I've a hunch that with a few more rides and she'll be ready to ditch the training wheels. I'm not crazy about training wheels. As Simone gets going faster, the training wheels get in the way of making any real turns. At one point she got going a little fast and pointed off the trail. She slowed down but wasn't able to get turned back onto the path. She spilled in slow motion, almost landing on her feet. We were happy to see her bravely brush herself off and stand up.

We turned around at that point, not wanting to push it, plus it was starting to sprinkle. She did a great job biking back, taking her time when she felt uncertain and racing when she felt strong. At one point she wanted to ride with her eyes closed.

Definitely looking forward to our next few outings, and I can't wait until the wheels come off.

Political Snapshot

So.... We had an election. I voted for Rocky Anderson, a guy whose ideas I liked and I knew he wouldn't get even one percent of the vote. I think Obama is marginally better than Romney would have been, but I'm still incredibly frustrated with all of the abuses of executive power, the war mongering, violations of the fourth amendment, indefinite detention, assassinations of US citizens, drone attacks, lack of transparency, and the list goes on and on.

The fiscal cliff is upon us, and I think we should fire all the senators and representatives. While I don't really want to pay more in taxes personally, the whole situation is ridiculous. Tax rates are at the lowest since the 1920's and income inequality is at similar historic highs. Something needs be done. The solution certainly isn't lower taxes nor is it cutting entitlements.

Social security is not on the brink of collapse, the politicians just need to stop using those funds to fund the tax cuts they've been making over the past 20 years.

The media is continuing its commercial slant, providing nearly zero information but tons of hype about tabloid-like stories to fill the air waves.

Medicare is a problem, but nobody is talking about a real solution. The root problem isn't the high cost of medical care, but is the fact we're such a sick nation. Too much bad food (over processed), too much environmental pollution, too many prescription drugs which don't solve problems but instead mask symptoms. We need to overhaul our food system to heal ourselves from the inside out. Just cutting Medicare will only move the cost from one place to another.

I'm hoping the next year is better, but I have little hope the system is going to change. Not quite sure what the next step is.

Cycling 2012

It's been a good year for biking. I raced in 5 cross country races, 2 short track, and one cyclocross. I logged over 165 rides, covering over 2800 miles and climbing over 325000 feet of elevation (nearly 1/3 a million feet, over 61 vertical miles).

Sadly, I'm down to one bike. The road bike was sold for scrap, and the full suspension ran into a parking garage. I have enjoyed riding my single speed, but it'll be nice to have some gears again.

Next year... What will it bring?

My goals are to place in the top 3 of the Clydesdale category in cross country races, and to do that I'll be racing in 6 races in April through July. And then, I've signed up for the High Cascades 100 mile race at the end of July. I've heard only good things about the race and look forward to riding nearly 80 miles of singletrack.

Other goals are to finish the TOE in 6 hours (finishing first in Clydesdales), and to get on the podium at least one other XC race. I think that in training g for all this racing I'll log 400000' elevation gain for the year.

And, of course, my ultimate goal is to remain healthy, strong, and in one piece for the whole year.

Santa Cross

Two weeks ago, Mudslinger hosted a cycle cross race in Corvallis, Santa Cross.  As far as I know, it's the first CX race in Corvallis in years (not that I'm really in the know).  I figured I'd give it a shot - it was just on the other side of town, and only 30 minutes of riding.  I even signed up for two races (back to back) - beginners and clydesdale.

I invited Mom and Dad down, and Sam came too, and of course Mary and Simone were there to cheer me on.  One nice thing about CX races over my more standard XC races is that they're more spectator friendly.  The course for this one happened to look like a snake that had coiled upon itself many times, and there was really no open space in between the lanes - just barely enough in a couple places for spectators to stand.

It'd been raining for a solid week, and the course was under the trees that looked like an old Christmas tree farm (very close together), so there wasn't any grass, just pine needles holding the floor together.  The course turned pretty muddy by the middle of the second race, I've no idea what it was like after an entire day of racing.

The course was super zig-zaggy, and pretty dark under the trees - I had considered bringing my headlamp and kind of wished I'd had it.  Luckily there were no real obstacles (other than the trees), so other than the geek factor, it wasn't really necessary.

I psyched myself up pretty good for the first race, the beginner men, and made sure I was in the first few people at the start - positioning really is everything in these tight and fast races.  I tucked in behind a guy wearing knee high striped socks and hung onto his wheel.  We passed a few people and were near the front of it all.  Another guy came up from behind and was racing with us as we passed the last person in front, and it was just the three of us - but they slowly pulled ahead.  I pushed hard, but never caught them - and I finished in third, well ahead of the remaining pack.

I stood there panting and wheezing, confirming with a guy at the finish line that I was in the next race.

I pedaled down to the start line, sucked down some water, ate a sausage/rice/egg bar, and chatted with Jason (a friend on Team Dirt) who was racing in the Cat C race.  The organizers made all the Clydesdales start at the back of the pack (weightism!!!!), and they started the race.  I realized just seconds before the start that I hadn't reset my Garmin (gotta Strava).

I realized I was a bit winded and decided to not worry terribly about the start - especially since they forced us to be at the back of the pack.  I took my time pedaling up to the barriers since I knew everything would bottle-neck right there.  Sure enough, I caught up to everyone and hadn't lost any time.

I slowly picked off the (5) Clydesdales and worked my way up the pack.  It was a bit confusing as the two categories were together.  I could tell one of the Clydes was serious about racing (I recognized him from Pickett's Charge) and he was my only serious competition.  I had passed him going over the barrier on the 2nd lap, and was ahead of him for a while, but couldn't manage to gap him.  I came up on a slower guy from the Cat C and remember thinking, "I gotta pass this guy" - but I wasn't aggressive enough and remained content to sit on his wheel.  He was a pretty good obstacle, almost as fast as me, and had I been able to put him between me and Mr. Yellow, I might have stood a chance.  But... one one particular curvy point, we got jumbled up and Mr. Yellow and another guy passed me and got behind Mr. Slow, and then they passed him, and I didn't.  A gap opened up and even though I passed Mr. Slow, I wasn't able to bridge the gap.  I finished probably about 30 seconds behind Mr. Yellow to come in 2nd place.

I was happy with the two races, they were fun, and I learned a little.  And, it was definitely a better showing than my first CX race a year ago where my chain fell off 10 times.  I had no mechanical issues whatsoever.  Yay singlespeed!

After all this, we went to Les Caves for brunch and chowed down on some tasty grub.  I hope to do the race again next year.

Dark under the trees, but plenty of bright white tape kept you from going the wrong way.

Navigating a corner, with Mr. Yellow chasing.

Barriers on a muddy uphill section, not much fun.

My form is not to be copied, not if you want to win.

I am but a blur.

Simone is ready to ride.

At brunch, happy to be sitting down (and together).

Let It Snow

It snowed!

I woke up Tuesday morning and over an inch of snow was on the ground around the house. I knew this meant some deeper snow up high. So I threw on some layers and hopped on the bike.

You can see the little tree we lit up, actual snow at the house. Nobody in Portland had any - I felt lucky. Simone had a great day at school playing in the snow with friends.

On the way to the forest I passed bald hill. Snowy and foggy.

By the time I'd gotten up to the junction just below dimple hill, the snow had gotten up to 3 or 4 inches. It was still pretty light under the trees, but anywhere open was deep.

The top of dimple actually poked through the clouds into sunny sky, so the view up was gorgeous. If the peak had been but another 100' higher and I would have been standing in sunshine.

I headed down Dan's trail because the snow was light, and then down horse. At one point on lower horse you enter a thick grove of tiny trees. The snow and light made interesting patterns.

I certainly regretted not spending the time to put on my shoe covers because my toes were frozen by the time I'd reached the bottom of the trail. May e Santa will bring some that actually fit my shoes.