STAMINA AND ENDURANCE LOST?

Most of the time, this title would signify an upcoming Viagra commercial; not today. After a three week layoff from biking, I headed out to Op Schnabel for a Sunday morning ride. Although a bit chilly, the sun was shining brightly and it was a beautiful morning.


In the past, if I missed two consecutive weeks without riding, I would be very out of shape and get winded quickly, requiring many breaks throughout the ride. To say I'm still in good riding shape would be a stretch, because any of you who know me, know the words "good shape" and "Mike" are not usually used in the same sentence.


I rode a respectable 10.5 miles for an hour and a half, so I was pleased. The trails were gorgeous, having blossomed into color with the recent rains. There was more wildlife than usual, as I saw several deer, a couple of rabbits, robins, and a SKUNK. Fortunately, the skunk appeared towards the end of my ride, so I just rode in the opposite direction back to my truck.


I met a nice biker named Ralph, who said he owns Guadalupe River Cycle and Fitness. It is a very nice cabin on the north side of Canyon Lake on the Guadalupe River. Check out his website link in case you're thinking of vacationing in this area this summer. http://guadaluperivercycleandfitness.com/aboutus.aspx


I was astounded by the number of idiots riding bikes on the trails without helmets! I don't understand why people do that. Obviously they are not experienced riders, as we have all fallen several times and know how important a helmet is for safety reasons. It's not just kids either; there were a few adults riding sans helmet. Don't even get me started on motorcyclists who ride helmet less.


After a quick shower and lunch, and I settled into my recliner for an afternoon of being a couch potato. I watched as Tiger Woods came from 5 shots down to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament on the last hole as the sun had set. This was his second tournament since having knee surgery a few months ago. That guy is INCREDIBLE!



The announcers were detailing his daily work routine/schedule. He gets up every morning and works out for an hour and a half before breakfast, then he heads to the golf course to practice his shots, then plays nine holes of golf before eating lunch. Then he heads back out to practice more shots, work on his short game, then play another nine holes of golf before finishing up around 6:30 PM at night! He works HARD to be as good as he is. He deserves everything he gets!


What a nice, relaxing weekend. Things are getting really hectic at work, so every bit of relaxing and stress relief I can do, the better! Have a great week!

SPRING BREAK 2009

I've been rather inactive the last couple of weeks in regards to my bike riding. Last week was too wet and the weekend before, I had a very uneasy feeling about riding, so I didn't.

Matt came to San Antonio last Saturday to spend Spring Break with us. Stefanie, Rigo, and Aiden also came down last weekend, so we had a house full Saturday night and Sunday morning. Matt and I left for Port Aransas Monday morning, arriving around 1 PM.



By 2, we had unloaded the truck at the hotel, stopped to buy bait and a parking permit, and were on the beach. As we drove through town, we couldn't understand why there weren't that many people on the streets. When we hit the beach, we realized why; there were wall to wall people for miles!



We didn't think we'd have a snowball's chance in hell of finding a spot to park and fish, but we persevered and eventually found one. We unloaded and rigged up and soon were wading into the surf. THE WATER WAS COLD! We only caught a couple of croakers and left around 5:30.



After a quick shower, change of clothes, a couple of beers and shots of tequila, we headed to Castaways in Port Aransas; one of my favorite restaurants to celebrate Matt's birthday. After dinner, we drove around town and wound up at Sharkey's to shoot some pool and play Foosball.



Tuesday, we awoke to a dense fog and chilly temperatures. After breakfast at Taqueria San Juan (awesome Mexican omelets), we ventured to the beach to find a spot to park and fish. We wound up catching a few fish that morning, but nothing more after lunch, except a Sting Ray that Matt caught. We packed up around 4 since too many young kids were tripping over our lines and we didn't want any accidents.








Tuesday we had wings and beers at Port Aransas Brewing Company; a micro-brewery on the island. After sampling a few of their most popular, we settled on a nice full bodied Bock. After dinner, we again went to Sharkey's for pool & Foosball.

After breakfast (again at San Juan's), we hit the road for our return home. We both had a great time and I was extremely pleased and honored that Matt decided to spend his 21st birthday with me! We made some great memories and look forward to doing it again as soon as we can.




Yesterday I had to get another tooth pulled as I was in quite a bit of pain during the entire trip. I had been putting it off in hopes that the pain would subside, but it didn't. Now I can look forward to paying for TWO dental implants later this year (ouch; in more ways than one).

I feel better today, so Mel and I are off to run some errands and buy groceries. We are both off today, so we can spend the rest of my vacation relaxing and enjoying each other's company. I am TRULY blessed.

I hope to feel strong enough to ride this Sunday, but we'll see. Until next time, Big Dog out!

FREAKIN' COLD!

The shining sun and cloudless sky were deceiving when I went outside to get the paper this morning. In fact, it was quite nippy. I drank my coffee and read the paper before I started getting my gear ready for my ride.

I decided to check the weather website and saw that the windchill was 33 degrees! Shit! Now I know Juanita and her bunch probably think 33 degrees is short sleeve, shorts, and chancla weather, but not those of us in South Texas!

I layered on three riding shirts to brace for the cold, starting with my thermal undershirt, a long sleeve wicking shirt, then topped it off with my Marin jersey. As I opened the garage door, a blast of wind hit me and almost made me change my mind and climb back in bed with Mel. As tempting as that sounded, I knew I had to ride - missed opportunities, you know.

I had already decided to ride the Salado Creek Greenbelt trail, having ridden Madrone last week and not wanting to ride OP Schnabel because they were having some sort of race or event and I knew it would be crawling with riders. So, Salado Creek it was.

As I was unloading my gear at the trail head, another biker drove up and we struck up a conversation. Turns out he was supposed to meet some buddies for a ride, but it appeared they stood him up, so I asked him if he wanted to ride with me.

He said he moved here from Austin, which I soon found out meant he could ride! I had flashbacks of riding with Bert when he used to leave me in his dust on the trails. It was almost as bad today. Although this guy hadn't ridden much the last 8 years because of back problems, it was very apparent that he was in great shape.

I did my best to keep up without passing out and embarrassing myself. Considering he appeared to be in his mid 30s (maybe), I held my own as best I could. After riding about an hour, he started heading back to the trail head. We stopped and I told him I was going to ride some more, so we exchanged thanks for the ride and went our separate ways.

All in all, I rode 13 miles in a little over 2.5 hours. Because he showed me trails I hadn't ridden before, which were more technical in nature than the main trails, I am BEAT! By the time I reached my truck, my quads were cramping during climbs and I was spent.

I got home, showered, ate, then hit the recliner for a quick nap. In fact, it felt so good, I think I'm headed back to the recliner now for a repeat performance! Hope you all have a great week! Until next time, Big Dog out...