Sunday, January 8, 2012

Happy New Year, 2012

"Drive, Race, Fix Bike, Make Her Dinner"

This is Patrick's description of several of his past summers during a discussion whether I should join a road team for the upcoming season.

His comments on my improving my speed on the bicycle through diet.

"You have the small thing down, you just need to get smaller."

The winter has been mild and I'm happy to say that I have not been on the trainer yet nor felt that I was freezing my toes! Today I went for what turned out to be a long and wandering ride north of my house and really could not tell it was winter at all.

Patrick and I enjoyed the autumn here mountain biking together and riding several long rides in scenic Western Mass. The most exciting was spotting a moose one morning on one of these rides.

Unfortunately I have felt a strain the past few months since I took on new responsibilities at work in addition to plugging away at grad school. Cycling and fitness were put on the back burner and it was truly a joy to get out for a nice ride today.

Over the holidays, Patrick and I took a short trip to Zion National Park. We rode mountain bikes near the town of Hurricane. I could get used to that! Smooth trail, lovely views, and playgrounds of rock. Patrick had a blast too and really loved it.

I really enjoyed reading the book Be Brave, Be Strong by Jill Homer while on vacation. I'm now procrastinating on work by reading this blog - associated links are excellent. Now, to find a way to squeeze out of my responsibilities so I can take off on an epic adventure too. http://joecruz.wordpress.com/category/inspired-rides/