My greatest ride, Sandia Hill climb!!

My cousin Greg came to visit from Lubbock TX. He said while he was here he wanted to climb to Sandia Peak. It's a 30 mile ride with 8'800 feet elevation gained and lost. I'd tried to climb Sandia once back in 2005 when I was training for the Silverman triathlon & it was a COMPLETE disaster. Today I climbed it with no problem at all!!! I felt great the entire ride.

I'd been invited to climb Sandia with friends a few times since 2005 & had always declined the invites. I was afraid to try that ride again. I've been afraid because of what a poor climber I knew I was. I realized I'm not the same caliber of an athlete as I was back in '05. My greatest fears as an endurance athlete was climbing, the Silverman triathlon, & the BSLT 70.3. I now realize I can do those feats! Those fears were based of a mental block that came from how I did when I 1st got into triathlon. But I now weigh 50 pounds less, I'm lighter, I'm stronger, I am smarter with my diet, & I train harder & more intelligently. I can do those things now. As a matter of a fact I can do GREAT at things like that now!

What's changed between that 5 year period that I struggled with my weight, my training, racing compared to what I can do now? I've turned more to God. In Him all things are possible. Philippians 4:13)
. He's blessing me because I've embraced Him.

bonked & dehydrated in West Texas

We are visiting family in Lubbock Texas. Since August of last year my longest bike ride has only been about 30 miles. Today my cousin Greg & I were able to slip away for a 62 mile bike ride. We rode the Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 course & through Ransom Canyon twice. It was a GREAT ride.

Since I'm not used to riding longer than 30 miles I made some stupid mistakes on today's ride.

1) I usually don't ride long enough to need to buy extra Gatorade and Power gels to finish my ride. So when we pulled into the convenience store we realized we had both left our wallets & money at home. The people who ran the local convenience store in Slaton Texas let us fill up our water bottles with tap water, but without any more calories to finish the ride I bonked hard on the way home. I'm sure I could of handled riding 62 miles with that few of calories if I was used to riding those distances, but since that was twice as long as I was used to riding I fell apart.

2) the other mistake I made was not planning for how much hotter it is here in west Texas & how much more fluid I needed to drink. By the time we got home I had bonked & was seriously dehydrated.

The good news is I got to ride through my favorite 2 areas: Buffalo Springs & Ransom Canyon. When I retire in 2015 I desperately want to move to one of those 2 areas. That area would be perfect to train in & it would be a beautiful place to raise my babies- yes, in that order too!

We rode by the metal house in Ransom Canyon. That thing is weird, but oddly fascinating (see picture above). It's designed & constructed completely from scrap metal by local Texas Tech professor Robert Bruno.

My cousin rode his recumbent bike today. I had no idea how fast those things were. I'm in better shape than him & weigh less than him but he still laid a smack down. He let me put in a few miles on it & I was amazed at how comfortable it was & how fast it rode without much effort. I have to say I have a new goal. Before I die I'd like to ride in a 12 or 24 hour bike race on a recumbent. They are fast & comfortable & I'd be able to finish an ultra endurance ride much more comfortably on a recumbent than I could on a traditional road bike.

I love it here in West Texas! I can't wait to move here when my wife graduates & I retire!

Today while on my ride I tried Cliff gels for the first time. They were the best tasting gels I've ever had! They were like liquid candy! I'll be switching brands of gels from now on.