Its been a busy couple of weeks since the Tour of Utah ended. Immediately after the race I flew up to Vancouver, BC for a couple days of fishing with my buddy Tony. It was a cool trip. I had never been to Vancouver Island before and it was gorgeous. We spent most of our time pulling salmon out of the pacific, which was pretty exciting aside from getting a bit sea sick at one point.
Upon my return from BC I had to catch up with a few weeks of work that had been neglected, some of which were a bit time sensitive which lead to several long nights. Once the business had been taken care of, I jet-setted off to Berkeley, CA to visit my special ladyfriend, Crystal, at her new home. Crystal was super busy with school work for the first few days that I was there so I borrowed a bike and tried to get lost in the East Bay. I cruised around most of Berkeley and into Oakland, getting a feel for what was going on. On the weekend we had a chance to go to a late-night art gallery stroll in Rockridge and visit the SFMOMA. We were fortunate enough to catch a Richard Avedon exhibit as well as a Georgia O'Keefe/Ansel Adams dual exhibit, all of which were awesome, especially the Avedon show.
While in California I also started running, in order to get my legs used to the impact again. I have to start with short runs around 30 minutes and build up. At first my legs were pretty sore but it only took a few days before I was up to over an hour. It was fun to explore foreign trails in the Berkeley Hills. I like not knowing where I am or where I am going, but just going.
I traveled home after six days away and it was time to start with the rollerskiing as well. Its a similar process to running for me. My elbows don't take the impact well right off the bat. I went out yesterday for my first skating workout with my teammate Andrew Johnson, he was doing intervals and I figured 'why not'. I was able to hang on, it wasn't the most comfortable thing I've ever experienced but far from the worst. I was a little off balance and my technique wasn't super tight but nothing was bad. Everything was close. And it won't be long until its there.
Sometimes doing things differently than they have been done before is the right choice, regardless of the outcome. I can't say that I will ski faster because of the bike racing I have done this season. But, I can't say I will be any slower either. What I can say is that I had a great time doing it and that I can't wait to race my bike again. Had I rollerskied all summer, I'm not sure my level of enthusiasm would be quite the same.
School has started again here in Park City. The kids have been learning how to play Ultimate Frisbee and Speedball right now and are anxious to get on the High Ropes course this coming week. For me, the next few weeks will be a very gradual build up of running and rollerskiing hours. I will start lifting weights this week as well. I have not stopped riding and I don't think I will. I am planning to ride a bit throughout the winter for easy recovery workouts and to keep my legs used to pedaling circles...
Onward. Until next time.
