Hilly Route

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Today I pulled out my bike and went riding under a gray flat sky. No wind, except the wind created by rolling down the road on two 29" tires. 49°F degrees. It rained yesterday, on Christmas, so the road still had a few small puddles, but the road was almost dry. I had the day off because of the holiday so it gave me the rare opportunity this time of year to ride during daylight hours!

After a short distance I got on the Yelm-Tenino trail to ride into town. My only destination on the ride was the post office, to check my box there. After recycling the ad circular I got back on the bike and headed out down the street. I took the steep road out of town. It's not a big hill, but it's a hill. There aren't a lot of options around here to find hills.

From there I pedaled down Rainier road to Military, then followed a series of roads to loop around Rainier. While I rode along I saw cows, dogs, alpacas, horses and even pigs. The back roads were sparsely traveled today so I mostly had the road to myself. One benefit with taking this route were more hills, a couple good ones but ultimately hardly more than bumps in the road compared with climbing passes for the continental divide. As my training progresses I'm going to have to ride farther afield to find some significant mountains to ride!

But for today it was fine. A nice short loop as I start getting in better shape. Bike and rider both functioned fine. I'm planning to start riding more at the gym before work, so I can get in some morning time. Hopefully by the time the days get longer and I start riding to work again I'll be in good shape for the rides. I have some new routes mapped out that I'd like to try.

Timberland Regional Library: Tumwater

Tumwater Timberland Library

Yesterday I checked another library off my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit on my bicycle, when I went by the Tumwater library.

In a couple weeks I'm starting a new position with the library system and will be based at the administrative service center just a short distance away from the Tumwater library. Yesterday I was working out there for training so I decided it'd be a good day to practice the commute with the added detour by the library.

It was 39°F when I left the house at sunrise. Beautiful morning with only a few clouds but cold! I'd bundled up, though, so I wasn't actually all that cold. I'm gradually getting my gear together so that I can handle any temperature. If it was colder I might want a pair of lobster claw gloves, maybe a baklava and another layer on my legs if it got really cold. I don't want to get too warm though so it's a balancing act. On this ride it worked out just about right.

I also got to test out a new app that I installed on my Optimus V phone, called MyTracks from Google. It's a GPS app that tracks your route, live speed/distance/elevation numbers (although the elevation isn't accurate). After you're done recording your route you can share it to various Google services or with friends. It worked very well at tracking my route.


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Since it exports to Google Docs you can build a spreadsheet of your rides, which will be nice as I add mileage and track my progress.

After work I headed home without the added detour. It was much warmer on the way home so I was down to my shorts once again. I started the day riding at sunrise and finished the day riding at sunset. Not too bad!

Only one Thurston county library remains: Olympia!

Tenino Old Oregon Trail Marker

Old Oregon Trail Marker

On Friday I decided to take the long way to work, which brought me into town via the main highway / Sussex where I stopped to take a picture of this marker. I've known about it and I've even ridden by it but hadn't stopped to take a picture until now.

I found an article about this marker in an article about the Seattle to Portland ride, which points out that this was the first marker laid by Ezra Meeker. That's the cool thing about taking a minute to look at markers like this, they remind us of history. Most of the time when I've gone past this marker I didn't stop, didn't really think about it much. It becomes an invisible piece of the landscape. But on the bike you have more of an opportunity to just stop and think about what is around you. In this case, a chance to stop and look at the marker, and then think about it and read a little about the history of it, coming away feeling a bit more connected to the history of this place.

It prompted me to download The Ox Team by Ezra Meeker, which looks very interesting to read, from Google Books.

I didn't set out on the ride with the goal of riding past the marker, but I did think about it before I left. My main objective for taking the long way was to get in more mileage and hills. My route took me down the Chehalis-Western trail to Waldrick, on over to old highway 99 and then up over "Chain Hill".

Coming up on Chain Hill

Chain Hill isn't a big hill. It's about 300' of climbing over a fairly short distance, but it isn't too bad. It's just one of the bigger hills around this fairly flat area. There are bigger hills, but I'll have to go off the paved roads to find them. This route is pretty much my new commute, except with the new route I'll turn right off Waldrick instead of left. Either way ends up being about 17 miles, a little farther for the new commute. And of course with the new commute I've  got ~17.5 miles to ride to get home. On this ride I took the Yelm-Tenino trail home, so my final distance was about 7 or 8 miles less. Still, it was good practice and fun!

Fall is Here

Fall Trail

The rain let up today, the temperature wasn't that cold, so it turned out to be a nice morning for a commute. With all the rain and storms we've had recently there's a lot of Douglas fir needles, branches and leaves down on the trail. It felt great getting out and riding to work.

Tree Down

Near the lake there was a tree down across the trail (sorry for the blurry picture). I'd was able to go around the tree without any problem. It looked like the Parks folks had been cleaning up this portion of the trail and I think the tree fell when other brush was removed. By the time I came back in the afternoon the tree was already cleaned up and gone.

I'm trying to get out more, build up more mileage but I feel like I'm making slow progress. I need to get out riding more days than I've been doing and I want to build up more distance. This weekend I'm thinking of doing another library ride and head down to Olympia, but we'll see.

Timberland Regional Library: Lacey

Lacey Timberland Library

Today I got to check another library off my list of libraries to visit on my bike. I had a meeting nearby so I left with enough time to pay a visit to the library where I worked for fifteen years! It's funny the things you notice when you've been away from a place. The tree behind the sign has grown much taller, and the sign itself, something that I'd pushed to get added, has recently been repainted and touched up. It looks good!

I gave myself plenty of time to get there so I didn't have to push too hard before the meeting. It's dark this time of the year, but the sun was just starting to come up as I climbed the hill to leave Rainier.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but Mt. Rainier looked awesome

Since I had a meeting I had my clothes in the handlebar bag, I just changed when I got there. The ride to the library I took Rainier road down to where the Chehalis-Western trail joins it just at the border of Lacey. I got on the trail at that point and took it on into Lacey.

The small section of the trail that's unpaved

I turned at the junction with the Woodland trail. The last time I was here the Woodland trail wasn't complete, this section was nothing but gravel.

New, Improved Woodland Trail

After a very good day of training for all staff working in the libraries I changed back into my bike clothes and headed right back out, crossing the street to rejoin the Woodland Trail and head home.

Woodland Trail, Along Pacific

It's great that we have such fantastic trails around here, but as I mentioned in my last post, there are reasons to take to the roads too. I rode the trails through the main part of Lacey, but then took Rainier road back home. It does mean riding next to traffic doing 50 MPH, but there's a generous shoulder. There are more hills, but the main reason that I went that way today was because sticking to the Chehalis-Western trail would have added several miles each way to my ride. I ended up with ~32.5 miles round-trip as it was, and that's enough for today. All things considered I feel pretty good, but I can also feel that I worked my legs today! I might take tomorrow as a rest day.

Highway Commute

Highway 507

This morning I decided to take the highway instead of the bike trail. There's a few reasons for that:

• More hills! I'm working on my mileage but the Yelm-Tenino trail is a converted railway trail so the grade and hills are mild. There aren't any huge hills on the stretch of the highway either, but it's a bit more hilly than the trail. That's a good thing.
• More traffic! I'd rather not ride with cars around, honestly, but since cars aren't going to vanish and my new commute (switching to a new position and a ~17.3 mi commute) will involve more riding on roads, I need to feel more comfortable with the traffic.
• More visible! I think it's important for drivers to see more cyclists on the roads. The trail is nice, but we shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that cyclists must ride the trail. By being out on the highway it reminds drivers that there are other folks on the roads. Maybe that helps.

Right after I took the blurry picture above (sorry, my phone takes terrible pictures), the rain started. A few drops became many drops and then before long I was soaked. I was wearing bike shorts and a jersey, messenger bag over my shoulder. Helmet, of course. My work clothes were in a handlebar bag. I'd actually put on my fenders this morning in anticipation of the chance of rain. The forecast only said 30%, but clearly we hit that! 

The wind blew, the temperature was cool to cold and felt colder with the rain. I'm sure this might sound odd to some, but I had fun! It was a great ride speeding along the highway with cars zipping past and the rain pouring down. The Marlin took the hills pretty easily. The wide shoulder gave me plenty of room but I also kept an eye on approaching cars with my helmet mirror. The dim conditions emphasized what a difference headlights make! Cars with their lights off were much harder to see. I had my rear blinker on but I hadn't taken batteries for my headlights. I need to start doing that because it wasn't nearly as light as I would have liked and even with my screaming yellow jersey I would have felt better with a headlight.

After work I decided to take the trail back home instead of recreating the morning's ride along the highway. I felt tired and wanted to take it easier without the added stress of cars passing. But I do plan to do much more street riding in the days ahead. I'm already making plans for my next library rides!

Urban Primalist

Today, while reading the Before and After thread over at Mark's Daily Apple, I came across Timothy Williams' site, Urban Primalist with a great before and after series of photos. There are a ton of similar stories on the message board and it really encouraged me when I was first starting out on our primal journey. "After" is a bit wrong for most folks, given that it doesn't ever really start. When it comes down to it primal/paleo is more about paying attention and eating and exercising in a smart, healthy fashion. It's not about dropping a set number of pounds or anything like that, it's about being healthy.

Check out Timothy's story, and then maybe some of the others. Worth reading.

In my case I'm much healthier now than I was back when we started at the end of February. Since we're about six months later I'm going to take some new photos soon and post up a new before/after comparison. It'll be interesting to see the difference.

Timberland Regional Library: Tenino

Tenino Timberland Regional Library

Interestingly the library where I currently work was the third building I visited in my goal to ride to all the Timberland Regional Libraries. I'm actually on vacation, but this morning I headed out to visit the Tenino library.

A few things made the ride stand out from my usual commute. One, I wore sunglasses. I've never been a sunglasses-wearer but I got tired of bugs hitting my eyes. That gave the ride a different hue than I'm used to, sort of like watching a 3D film or something rather than something I was seeing for myself.

Before I left I added fenders to the bike. No rain today, but I wanted to test out how they worked. These are Shockblade 29er fenders, easy to mount and easy to remove. Once I was riding I pretty much forgot they were there but it'll be nice when the weather turns nasty and I'm commuting to work.

The other thing that struck me about the ride was once again the feeling of being up so high! I think because the Yelm-Tenino trail is such a familiar route that riding it on the Marlin let me see it from a different perspective.

I made pretty good time on the ride, compared to my previous commutes I knocked a good half-hour or so off my time, about fifteen minutes each way. I think once I get used to the bike and switch to clipless pedals I'll see that improve a little bit more.

Tour Divide Caveat

Are you a seasoned multi-day bikepacker? Have you ridden back-to-back off-road centuries? Are you an expert level mountain biker? Are you a veteran of Primal Quest-scale multi-day adventure races? Are you a proficient bike mechanic; skilled navigator; competent at self-rescue? If you cannot confidently answer yes to most of the above, it would be wise to consider simply touring the route or taking more time to prepare for a true blitz. - TourDivide.org

Uh, no. No. No. No. And not really, um, no, no. 


Guess I've got some training to do! At this point the idea of doing the Tour Divide sounds insane. Daily 150+ mile rides, mostly off road with tons of climbing? I'm not even up to doing one day at that mileage! 


It's really hard to imagine. And as they say on that page, you don't want to discover that solo racing isn't your thing when you're out in the back country. I don't know yet if this is something that I can seriously consider. I'm dreaming about it, thinking about it, and out riding a 29er these days, but I have a long way to go before I can consider doing the race. I've thought about a 2013 attempt but that gives me not quite two years to get ready. Right now I have no way of knowing if that's going to prove possible or not. Maybe I'll lose interest before then. I don't know.

That nice sticker is available from mbeganyi on flickr, free for personal, non-commercial use. 


So given all of that, what's my plan? 


Right now just to ride. I need to get stronger, get used to riding a bike, and build up my endurance. As that improves eventually I'll go for longer all day rides, start doing centuries and more. I guess I'll keep going so long as I'm having fun and enjoying the challenge. The goal isn't so much the destination, because I'll never reach that, it's the journey along the way. Ride to the next tree, the next hill, the next library and keep going!

Timberland Regional Library: Yelm

At Yelm Library

I've checked off another library building on my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit by bicycle! Yelm is actually the closest library to me, so this was a nice ride, but not too long. Great for helping me get used to the mountain bike.

I woke up at the crack of dawn and walked the dogs. After they were done I got ready and headed out on the bike. I'm planning a big day of writing so I wanted to get my riding done early. Plus I love early morning hours when it's cool and the sun is just coming up.

Down the Yelm-Tenino Trail

I headed out down the Yelm-Tenino Trail, not exactly a tough ride! Beautiful morning for a ride along the trail!

Cows in the Fog

The trail runs about five miles to Yelm. When I got to the end of the line I headed up E Yelm Ave / HWY 507 until I reached Clark Rd and road over to the library to get the shot. When I finished that I headed over past the cinemas to West Rd / Stevens Ave down to 1st and then on back to the trail which I took to home again.

Nice, easy ride. I didn't push too hard. My seat still isn't used to the saddle, but with only a few rides that doesn't surprise me. Despite that I'm having fun. Should get another library checked off soon!

Timberland Regional Library: Service Center

At the Service Center

This morning I checked the first building off my list of Timberland Regional Libraries to visit on my bicycle. I rode out to the Administrative Service Center. At over 17 miles that made it one of the longer distances I've ridden. I had a meeting to go to and we were car-pooling from the Service Center so that made it a good day to try riding. I left earlier than I actually needed to, just to be sure I'd have time.

Riding out I headed down the Chehalis Western Trail. I haven't ridden that far down the trail in a long time, so that was nice to see sights along the trail again.

Marker About Trail Project

The Trek Marlin 29er

Riding the bike is very different, fun, and a bit uncomfortable. I'm not used to a bike seat yet. I don't know that there's anything terribly wrong with the saddle that came on the bike, but I'm thinking of getting something different. I think I should also try bike shorts to see if that helps.

The meeting was out at the Amanda Park Library, I had a hard time imagining riding all the way out there, but one of these days I'd like to try it!

On the way home I stopped at a historical marker that I've always driven past. On the bike it was easy to swing in and stop.

George Washington Bush marker

With the heat, and the fact that I haven't ridden a bike in years, coming home took  a few minutes longer and left me pretty tired. I really like the bike and look forward to getting stronger and better at riding. There's a couple other things I want to get to make the ride nicer. A helmet mirror, so I can see when cars are coming up behind. Sunglasses, mostly to stop the bugs from hitting my eyes like the dragonfly that hit me today. Bike shorts, hopefully will make things more comfortable. And a new saddle, one that might be a bit more comfortable. I'd also like to try going to clipless pedals.

But that's for later. Right now I'm glad that I've got the bike and am building up mileage.

Great Fun

So this morning I got out on the Trek Marlin 29er mountain bike for my first real ride. I'm not counting the little spin around the neighborhood of the bike shop, wobbling around since I hadn't been on a bike in years, trying to figure out how the heck to shift.

Today the ride went much better. Right off the bat the bike took off compared to the trike. I'm not saying I'm all that fast, the average speed for the ride was 14.2 mph, not exactly blazing fast. But I did get up to 20 mph pretty easily on the ride and cruised along much faster than I usually rode on the trike. I had expected to go faster on the mountain bike, but it was interesting to see how quickly that happened. And I didn't have my clipless pedals, I think if I'd switched out the platforms I'd go faster. I actually tried last night but couldn't get the platform pedals loose. I think I'll need a pedal wrench.

During part of the ride I slowed down to experiment with the shifting, trying to get it into my head what each shift of the gears does. With three rings up front and a bunch in the back and four levers it's a bit more complicated than the twist-shift control of a 3-speed trike.

I've 'borrowed' a few things from the trike. The bike computer, bell and water bottle cage. Pedals (but they're not on the bike). I do plan on riding the trike in the future for fun, but I plan to put most of my miles in on the bike. I'm getting a few bags to use as my big plastic bucket panniers won't work too well with the mountain bike and I want to get the weight down that I'm carrying. I'll probably add some fenders as the weather turns wet, but I've looked at types that are quick to take on and off. Mostly I'll want them for commuting.

I've got a goal to commute via bike as much as possible. Some days due to meetings or whatever I'll need to drive still, but most of the time I can ride. Right now I've got a ~10 mile one-way commute, but I'm also applying for a new job which (if I get it) has a ~17 mile one-way commute.

It was lots of fun. Still more to learn. I want to try some cycling shorts, new saddle, etc. All in good time. Eventually I'll build up more miles, tackle longer rides and start working on bikepacking trips. Thinking about the STP ride for next year. Eventually I hope to tackle the AZT, Tour Divide and other races like those. By then it may be on a different bike, but I think the Marlin will get me started!

29er Change

Trek Marlin

I have a new mountain bike! First real mountain bike I've owned and a huge change from riding the TerraTrike Path. I've been thinking about it, and then an email came from BikeTech about their summer sale. It seemed like a perfect time. I called over and Jim was nice enough to bring one down from the other store. He also called yesterday to make sure I knew they had the bike and it was ready to go. I was really looking forward checking the bike out. I got off work at 4:00 p.m. and headed out on a hot day to Olympia to take a look.

I had two thoughts when I saw it. One, it was green! I'd wanted that color, but hadn't asked. Not that it really matters, but I like green and black. My second thought, That's huge! I've been riding a trike that sits a couple inches off the ground. This thing stands tall and once I'm on it I felt like I was on stilts or something, way up in the air. Cool, but quite the change than what I'm used to. That's what I wanted. When I got there I walked around the outside where they had tons of bikes set up, saw one of these but it was the 19" size, too big, went to the next and it was 17.5" with my name literally on the tag. I talked to the guy, got on the saddle, and then grabbed my helmet and took it for a spin out down the neighborhood streets. I've been using a twist shift with an internal hub so it took me a bit to figure out how to shift. By the time I got back to the store I was sold. I also picked up a lock for work (I'll leave it there), a spare tube and a water bottle cage.

I've started making a few changes already. After removing the front tire to get the bike in to the back of my VW New Beetle (yes, I did manage to get it in with the back seat folded down), I noticed some brake rub on the front and back. It was a good opportunity to get the quick releases figured out and then I adjusted the calipers so that there was no rub on the brakes. That was good. I'm taking a few components from my trike, this like my bell and bike computer. I think I'll swap the pedals as well, and go clipless. I've gone back and forth thinking about it, but I'm used to clipping in on the trike. The difference will be doing it on two wheels.

timbuk2 freestyle

Carrying things is the challenge. What to carry? How to do it? I can stash some things at work, like a pair of shoes. I've got a timbuk2 freestyle bag on order, plus a seat bag and a small top bar bag. Enough to carry my iPad, keyboard, a few flat-fixing tools and some food. After I get some time to spend on the bike I'll figure out more details on what works. I'll get a photo up soon.

Since getting bit by the whole Tour Divide bug I've been itching to get on a 29er and start putting on miles. I think this is a good bike to get started with, it looks like fun!

Riding Again

I've been riding the trike more, at least in theory. In actual fact the last time I rode before today was three weeks ago! I finished up that week with my highest mileage of the year. Still not anywhere like the distance I need to work up to doing. I try to picture the Tour Divide, doing ~125-150 miles per day, daily, for weeks on end over tough terrain. How am I ever going to get in that kind of shape?

I don't know. Keep riding, I guess.

It was a nice day for a ride to work today.

Easy riding

The air felt slightly cool on the ride, but of course not too cold. But suggesting that maybe we're not really going to see a summer around here. I've already seen a few trees changing their colors.

The other day I asked Kent Peterson on Twitter for his suggestion for a newbie MTBker. 

Trek Marlin

His suggestion, the Trek Marlin, was one of the bikes that I had been considering to get started. It looks nice, and fits my budget. Further down the road, if I'm still pursuing my hope to ride the Divide, I might look at something else. But for now this looks pretty good to me. Now I just need to figure out how to pay for it! I'd like to switch soon and start building my mileage. It'll be strange to get back on a bike after riding the trike the past several years. I need to get down to Bike Tech and check it out.

It felt warmer for the ride home. Lots of people out on the trail. Tons of roller bladers, not sure what was going on with that but they kept coming in groups of two for the most part. Must have been at least a dozen of them, plus assorted other cyclists, dog-walkers and runners. The nice weather really had people out on the trail. When I ride it during other times of the year I tend to have it to myself.

On the ride back I stopped to take a picture of the clouds, which doesn't do it justice.

Clouds

Good day. Need to get out more!

Worf's First Run

Took Worf out for a run this morning around the local streets. Both of us unshod. The roads are rough asphalt with plenty of loose rocks. I forgot to look at the time again, so that's a guess.

Worf, Resting

When we took Worf for his last shots we noticed how leash-shy he acted, so this was a good chance for him to practice being on leash. He did really well. Mostly stuck right by my side, rarely pulled. Never barked or really tried taking off after bunnies. When other dogs barked he ignored them. Cars scared him, but there's little traffic on the street. He crowded my legs as we ran past one car parked on the street, but otherwise handled it fine. I think with a bit more practice he'll turn out to be a good running companion. I'll need to get him down to the trail so we can work on passing other people, dogs, and bicyclists.

As far as I can tell at this point my feet handled the rough surface fine. Nice short run, a bit misty at times but not really rainy. Solid cloud cover and 59° F degrees.

When a Tree Falls

Tree Down Across Trail

Thursday I took a rest day and didn't ride after all, but I headed back out to work on the trike yesterday. I still felt a little tired but actually made good time. About a mile before trail's end I came across a tree down across the trail. A dog walker on the other side and I looked at moving it off the trail but there was no way. I was able to get around the end riding through the brush alongside the trail. Later, after work, the county parks folks had already cleared it away! It made me think how quickly these trails would disappear without someone to maintain them.

This week has already set new mileage records for me. I'm tired this morning, I pushed harder yesterday, but at the moment I still think I'm going to ride. Probably slowly. Or I might change my mind. I guess I'll know after I see how the morning goes.

Second Day

Heading to Work

It's been almost two years since we moved into our small rural 1970s ranch house. When we bought the house one of the things I particularly liked was that the house sits about a half mile from the Yelm-Tenino Trail. Not only that but the trail runs all the way down to within about 800 feet of work, giving me a perfect gentle ride to work. A little over ten miles, about 10.44 as Google Maps it. When we first moved in I thought I'd end up riding nearly every day unless a meeting or something meant I needed to drive.

Only that hasn't happened. Sure, I've ridden to work, but at my best I've ridden two days out of a week. Rarely two days in a row. Now that I'm thinking about mountain bikes and riding much longer endurance events I have added incentive to ride more regularly, but I don't think I'd be doing it if I hadn't lost so much weight by following the Primal Blueprint (mostly). Since February I've lost over thirty pounds. That's almost as much as the trike weighs! I think the last time I checked I had lost 32 lbs, but I think I might have lost a couple more since then. On top of eating better I've also been running lately and I think that's made a difference in riding the trike as well.

So now I've ridden two days in a row. I'd like to keep it going. I guess I'll see tomorrow.

Heading Home

I still have a long ways to go before considering anything like the Arizona Trail Race or the Tour Divide, but I'm starting.

Yelm Prairie Line Trail

Yelm Bound

This morning I rode down the Yelm-Tenino Trail all the way to Yelm and then went across the street and headed down the Yelm Prairie Line Trail, just as far as the trail head and parking at 1st. Turned around there and rode back. It was a nice cool morning, mostly sunny with scattered clouds. I felt strong and the ride went well. Before I left I realigned my boom which took care of the chain-dropping problem I had yesterday. I still need to tweak the brakes a bit to get them right, but they work so that's good. Lots of bunnies out today!


As rides go this isn't a particularly challenging or lengthy ride, but that's okay. I'm working on getting out each day to ride or run. It's easy on a beautiful day like today. What's more of a challenge is running or riding in the rain, cold, etc. I need to get used to adverse conditions. As part of that my assumption these days is that I'm going out. The weather doesn't matter. Usually once I'm out in the rain I don't mind it at all, it's just overcoming that mental barrier first.

Yelm Prairie Line Trail Head

In any case, a good way to start the day!

Brakes Fixed

I'm gradually learning how to deal with more mechanical issues on the trike. Today I replaced the brake cables that had gotten so filled with junk that you couldn't even pull the cables out of the housing. New housing and cables and then the brakes work. I think they could still be adjusted better, but they work so much better now! Went for a short ride around through town to try them out. I need to get the chain a little tighter, it bounced off twice, but otherwise everything works great.

Now that I can ride again I plan to increase my mileage on the trike by commuting more regularly. If I'm not riding the trike I'll go for a run. One way or the other I plan to get out each day.

Barefoot Blisters

I went out this morning barefoot, carrying my huaraches in my hands, the Spot GPS strapped to my arm. At 59 °F the cloudy morning felt about perfect for running. Cool without being cold, a light breeze stirring the mostly Douglas fir trees along the road. This road hasn't been repaved in many years and my feet felt all the small stones, the cracks and loose pebbles. I pressed the button on the Spot to track my progress and started out with small, light steps.

The surface felt rough, hard, but not actually painful to run on. I ran as light as I could, each foot fall a nearly silent padding along the road. I wore shorts and a t-shirt but felt comfortably cool. My breaths flowed in and out. My calves felt stiff and tight but I didn't push, letting the run loosen them up as I headed down the road.

A half-mile on I headed down the steep hill to the trail as a car passed me going the same way. The Yelm-Tenino trail felt much smoother after the rough road and I settled into the run, cruising along, enjoying the fact that my feet felt good. At the train crossing I paused and checked my feet. No hot spots. Everything looked good. I kept going.

On up the trail past a woman walking two big dogs, up into town, still barefoot. Surprising, but my feet felt good so I kept carrying the huaraches. Heading through town I ran across a few stretches, at driveways, littered with small gravel. No problem.

It wasn't until I headed on out of the main part of town, back onto the rough road that I thought maybe I'd pushed my bare feet a bit too far. I stopped and checked over the bottoms of my feet and found a blister on the ball of my right foot, and a few other suspicious parts. Rather than risk more problems I slipped on the huaraches and ran the rest of the way home.

A good run, a few blisters, but those will go away soon. Eventually I'll leave the huaraches at home! 3.54 miles on this loop, it's a good start for now. I hope to have my trike's brakes repaired soon and then I'll get back into riding the trike on my commutes more often. I still plan to keep running too.

Final Beach Run

Headed out shod in huaraches until I hit the beach then went barefoot the rest of the run, including the pavement on the way back.


Went out along the beach making good time before turning around after fifteen minutes and heading back. My right foot bothered me some so I ended up walking a bit, so I took longer than planned. The air tasted salty today, the ocean gray and more active beneath mostly cloudy skies. Big clouds hung above the water off the coast.


I like running on the beach. Roads and multi-use trails can't really compete with a beach. The biggest problem with the beach? Development and crowds. The same things that draw me draw everyone else. 


So if I needed to pick between a crowded beach and a quiet forest trail? The forest trail wins every time.


I definitely feel the running in my legs. A small blister on my big toe bugs me a little, but not too much. Mostly I feel strong running. After losing over thirty pounds, it feels great to run!

Hilltop Run

Went running before lunch at the Hilltop. Followed HWY 101 a bit, then took to the back roads (I'd mapped my route before leaving so I didn't get lost) and got to see lots of houses, many nice places, quieter than I'd have thought. VERY hilly terrain, and a section of Bard is nothing but big gravel / dirt road. Bard comes right out across from the Hilltop, but I went the quarter of a mile or so up to the light and crosswalk to cross HWY 101, and then came back down to the Hilltop. I was going to run back to the Anchor after lunch but changed my mind and bummed a ride with one of my fellow students. I felt strong during the run, all in my huaraches, guessing at the time, but that's pretty close given when I checked the time. Maybe I should get a watch.

Camping and Run

Stealth Camping

Last night it looked like a great, if windy night, to go string my Hennessy hammock up between some trees in the woods. It was the first time this year that I've camped out. Sleeping outdoors in the hammock is great fun, cool, listening to the breeze and the whine of mosquitoes (protected from them by the netting), all in the comfort of the hammock. Late in the night I found it a little chilly but that mostly just made me want to stay in the sleeping bag. When I get closer to doing bikepacking trips I'll probably look at a different bag, and maybe a ground pad and bivy. We'll see.

Right about when the sky started getting light I woke up, huddled in the sleeping bag for a few more minutes, then slipped on out of the bag and hammock. I strapped my spot onto my arm and headed out for a morning run up through town and back.

It was a great morning for a run. I stuck to the huaraches for the first leg down to the trail and then ran barefoot for a while until I started feeling a couple hot spots that I noticed the other day. Not really wanting blisters I slipped the huaraches back on and continued running. I made it back up to our street before the plantar fasciitis acted up in my right foot. I ended up walking a bit then to let it relax, but not nearly as much as my last run. Ended up with a better time. Took care of our animals and sat down to ice my foot, drink a banana/blueberry coconut milk smoothie, and write this. Good way to start the day.

Endurance Training

I never considered myself an endurance athlete. Or really any kind of athlete. Sure, I did track and field in school, I lifted weights, I went without a car and walked or rode a bike pretty much everywhere until a few years ago. But the bar set by my parents was always so high that I didn't really think of myself as an athlete. Both of my parents are my heroes, and they both run tons of miles. They'd totally run me into the ground. My dad has completed several ultras including the Leadville 100 mile run!

Gradually I started following other folks online like Kent Peterson and Jill Homer, doing fantastic things like the Tour Divide. And the bug bit. It sounded incredible, impossible, but I started following the race. I watched Ride the Divide several times and started dreaming. Could I possibly do something like that? At my age? At my weight? Hard to imagine!

Then on a bright sunny day I took a self-portrait so I'd have a recent picture to include with an article. Wow, I look fat!

At that point I wasn't really exercising and my eating habits needed changing. I'd heard about primal/paleo diets, eating with an eye toward eating the sort of foods we evolved to eat rather than what we started eating after agriculture came about, and thought it made a lot of sense. I talked it over with my wife and she agreed to take the plunge. We eliminated most processed, refined foods, grains and sugar. I read Mark Sisson's The Primal Blueprint and started looking at other books. And the pounds came off.

Back in May I posted my first 'before/during' picture of the changes, down 27 lbs at that point. I've gone down more since then, having lost 30 lbs now (with some weight gain during the short story workshop).

I'm feeling so much better these days! Running, cycling, all of it seems much more possible now. I went out this morning and ran 3.54 miles. The brakes on my trike are out of commission right now but as soon as I fix those I'm planning to ride much more than I've been riding lately. I figure I have another 10-20 lbs to drop before I get to pretty much an ideal weight and I have a long ways to go yet in building endurance and strength.

For the first time I'm starting to feel like it is possible. I think Kevin J. Anderson has the right idea in combining activity with writing. I don't know that I'll dictate my books, but I certainly want to keep active, keep moving and exploring.

#30DaysofBiking: Day 3 Fail

It didn't take long to miss a day! I was busy yesterday, doing other things, and just didn't get out on the trike at all. Doesn't matter. I'm going to keep trying to get out each day for at least a few miles.

I do have a small mechanical problem with the trike I need to solve. The chain keeps coming off one of the rear idlers. I'd left the guard off when I removed the chain tensioner and shortened the chain, so I need to put that back on. I thought the chain was tight enough that it wasn't necessary but that's clearly not the case.

#30DaysofBiking: Day 2 Sun Breaks

Sun Breaks

Once again I didn't find the time in the morning to ride, so I headed out after work. It had rained off and during the day, even had hail coming down at one point. When I was setting out it rained on me a bit but I soon got under a break in the clouds and enjoyed some sunshine. Despite the sun it felt colder than yesterday and the wind was blowing harder. It wasn't too bad on the way out but was much harder riding into on the way home. I only went a few miles before turning around and heading home again. Fun, but I'm really hoping for some better weather!

#30DaysofBiking: Day 1 Cold, Refreshing Rain

Water Over Trail

I first read about this over on Kent's Bike Blog and thought it was a fun idea. I've done similar challenges in the past and I had actually already signed up for a wellness challenge at work to do some activity each day so this fits in well. I can do both challenges at the same time! Bonus points! Then in May there's the Thurston County Bicycle CommuterContest to do, and in June I think I'll do my Mock Tour Divide Challenge again. I guess I'll put some miles on the trike!

I didn't get an  early start this morning so instead of a morning ride I headed out for an evening spin. I didn't go far, just out down the trail a bit and then back. Cold, refreshing rain pounded on me as I headed down the street. A short distance on I reached the trail and turned toward Yelm. I considered riding all the way to Yelm and back, but ended up figuring I didn't need to push that hard tonight. I might ride to work tomorrow, so I didn't want to wear myself out too much. I know, it isn't far for many people but six miles was enough for me tonight!