The trails have been soooooooooo nice this week. It was raining on Tuesday night, so I didn't get to do the Tuesday Night race from Sunnyside. I took the night off, but got to ride on Wednesday morning and again on Wed. evening. Both rides in the dirt. Both rides super fun. I think I've already ridden my MTB more than I rode the dirt last year. My back has been feeling good, so I'll keep taking it easy.

Thursday brought more rain. I took a quick spin in the evening on the motorcycle because my legs were feeling a little tired from Wednesday. Friday morning, Angela and I took a nice easy ride up to Mt Bachelor. An easy 45 miles. The weather was awesome.

Today, I got up at 6 and decided that I wanted to go EASY. It was a PTS ride - picture taking slow. I was trying to keep my heart rate under 100. That's easier said than done. I headed out East and kept it below 120 on almost every hill, until the last hill near the hospital, which took me to 140! Dammit! Big ride tomorrow - I hope it isn't raining.

I'm glad that MeanTodd and I no longer do the Memorial Day Triple Threat (3 centuries in 3 days) as the weather this Memorial Day weekend SUCKED! It rained every day. Luckily, the rain stopped each night just in time for the concerts down at the Amphitheater. Saturday night I sat out with some friends and listened to Death Cab, and last night I had tickets to Modest Mouse & the Breeders. The weather was super nice. The rain definitely helped the trails though. Had it not been for my need to get more time on the road bike, I definitely would have been riding the dirt yesterday. I am hoping that I can get out this evening for an hour or two.

Yesterday, I put about 5 hours on the road bike. I went out for a 1 hour spin, and then met up with my traveling partners for some climbing. We headed up towards Mt Bachelor around 9AM. We hit some mist, and then some rain, about 11-13miles up the road. But it stopped, and the sun was breaking through by the time we got to the Sunriver cut-off. We dropped down for 10 miles or so, and then turned around and came back up. When we got to the top, we put out rain jackets back on for the descent to Bend, and sure enough, the rain started coming down. Luckily it was the last half hour, and I was already drenched with sweat, and I was dressed appropriately, so the rain didn't really bother me, other than reducing my vision. I don't think I really went very far, maybe 65-70 miles altogether, but it was fun and my legs felt good.

When I got home, I turned on the TV and watched the Giro stage. Holy Crap! That stage looked horrendously hard. Makes me want to go to Italy and ride in the Dolomites! Hopefully I can do that next year.

So I skipped my Friday morning ride yesterday since it was pouring rain. I was a little disappointed, but that's life. It was still raining at 6PM when Angela (my girlfriend) arrived, ready to go to the Michael Franti/Spearhead & Built to Spill concert. I was a sort of dreading it, as the sky was dark gray and we were walking down to the show in a light drizzle. I also haven't really listened to Spearhead at all. I was expecting it to be a little more reggae, but it wasn't (I'm not a huge reggae fan). After we got into the show and got a bite to eat and a beer, the rain stopped and we didn't feel another drop all night long. The show was really good, and I even recognized a couple of songs.

With all the rain that fell, the trails have to be in awesome shape. I woke up at 6AM. I ran out to the living room like a kid on Christmas day. I peeked out the window and saw dry spots all over my driveway. Yippee! It wasn't pouring! I quickly got dressed and hopped on the Evolve. I had to be here at work at 9, so I didn't have a whole lot of time. I cruised around Phil's from the trail head. Not a car at the trail head. How could I be the only one seizing the opportunity to ride? Who knew how long the window of clear skies would last (it is supposed to rain for the next few days)? I didn't see a soul until the very end of the ride when I came up on WebCyclery rider Steph U. She was just heading out, but told me that Rob (her husband and our WebCyclery Team Manager) had already been out and forced her to get out on the trails. Wow. He mist have been out REAL EARLY!

Tonight is the Death Cab for Cutie/Decemberists concert. I'm not really into Death Cab for Cutie. I think I can tolerate about 1 or 2 of their songs. Maybe the concert will change my mind. Hopefully it won't be raining. And maybe I can get another MTB ride in after work and before the show.

Well, I guess we need the rain. But it doesn't help my scheduled long morning road ride. I was able to get out for a few hours yesterday. It was great! I went soooooo slow. Picture Taking Slow as Amron Yang used to say. I plugged in my iPod and listened to French PodCasts the whole ride. I rode up towards Mt B at 5:30 AM. The sun was out, there was no traffic, and the roads were clear and dry. But it was cold. So not only did I roll up at a snails pace, I also stayed on the brakes on the way down to keep myself from freezing. I did learn a lot though, of French that is. I guess I didn't learn anything new, but a lot of stuff came back to me.

The rain today should help the trails tremendously. I heard it is supposed to rain all week. Not good, since I have tickets to Michael Franti/Spearhead tonight and then to the Breeders and Modest Mouse on Sunday. Guess I'll wear my rain boots. It'll also cut into my long rides that I NEED to start doing.

Once again I did the Tuesday night race (the only hard ride I do all week). It was windy as shit at the beginning of the ride. I am starting to feel better and better every week. Last night I started coming off the back about half way through the ride, but luckily I stayed within 100m or so and was able to catch back on at the highway. I kept on rolling with the group and felt pretty good. When we got across Cline Falls Hwy, I was still hanging on by a thread. I was at the back, and decided to take a right on the dirt section of Twin Bridges and get ahead of the group for the climb. It worked out well, as I knew I would have been terribly dropped on the climb. The group caught me at the top of the climb and we rolled into Tumalo. I dropped my chain going up Johnson road, but I was ready to start my cool down anyway. I'm not quite ready to keep it going at the end. Another week or two though, and I hope to be in there near the end. We'll see.

I'm down to 7 weeks before i go on my trip. It is now time to really step up my mileage. Hopefully I can get a ride in tonight, 40 tomorrow, 50 on Friday, something on Saturday, and a century on Sunday. We'll see if that happens.

Last week was a little hectic around here. We put on our annual Cascade Chainbreaker MTB race on Sunday, which is one of the biggest MTB races in Oregon. The race went off without a hitch, at least not a big hitch. Local Pro Ryan Trebon beat Carl Decker (riding a SS) for the Overall win. Barry Wicks took 3rd. The Chainbreaker course is on of the most spectator friendly XC course around, which makes it pretty fun for everyone.

I didn't get to ride as much as I wanted last week because of the race - too many 11 & 12 hour days. I still got a few rides in, but considered it a rest week for the most part. I got back on the bike last night for the Tuesday night race. It seemed a little bit slower last night, probably because a lot of the faster guys are racing the Mt Hood Stage race starting on Thursday. I am by no means fast yet, but I am feeling a little bit better every week. I am hoping to be able to get out a few more times this week, and hopefully another century or so on Sunday.

The Pole Pedal Paddle multisport event is happening in Bend this weekend. MeanTodd and I have decided it would be fun to make a film about it. We're trying to get 10-12 cameras on the course to get lots of footage. We're still a few cameras short - so if you are local, and wouldn't mind lending us a camera, please let me know ASAP! We'll put you in the credits - so you will get worldwide recognition (from everyone in Bend who might actually see the movie).

Back to work - we're busier than ever right now and I need to get caught up.

After the Tuesday night race, I decided I should take a couple of days off this week, so I skipped the ride on Wednesday, then rode easy on Thurs. morning. I meant to ride 50 on Friday morning but at 7:30 I realized that I had accidentally scheduled a meeting in the morning, so I had to bag that ride and then skipped Saturday too. So I only had 60 miles going into Sunday, so MeanT and I decided to go long and easy. We rode the FireCracker course. It ended up being a beautiful day. I got a little burn on my calves, but that was it (forgot to use sunscreen on 'em). It was a little windy, we had a headwind all the way down the Crooked River Canyon, and then for the first 6-10 miles out of Prineville. We caught a tail wind back to Alfalfa, and then had to struggle back in the last 18 miles. Again, we weren't out to set any records, and MeanT hit a wall just outside of Prineville, so we rode for 6 hours or so. It was a long day in the saddle. Unfortunately I won't be able to do another long ride for a couple weeks because next weekend is the Chainbreaker, so we'll have our hands full.