29035

So what's the big deal? People spend years preparing; the treks are followed closely in the press. And when successful, which isn't all that often, there is all of this excitement ~ flag waving, high fives, maybe even a parade back home. All of this for traveling a mere 5.49905 miles. Straight up miles, to be sure, but seriously, all of that hoopla? For all of the attention the feat attracts, climbing Mt. Everest simply means navigating 29,035 feet of climbing, just a medium sized yak* shy of 5.5 miles.

Sure, we've made it out to be a big deal, but I can tell you that I've made that same climb. In shorts. Dragging along a bike. Looking at my ride log, I noticed that, on April 23, I went past the 29,035 foot mark in total climbing. A Mt. Everest's worth of verticality. And I didn't even get an inch in the local paper. Go figure.

OK, so maybe climbing our local 500 foot hills 60 times isn't the same as summiting a mountain in the Himalayas. But I'll take it. My total climbing has now reached 37,693 feet. This means that I'm already 9,442 feet up K2. Only 18,809 feet to go. Piece of cake!

* it's well-known that medium yaks are 0.00095 miles (or 5.016 feet) tall.

Alphabet Soup

Following up on yesterday's theme - the sudden return of winter - I broke out the long sleeved base layer, tights, jacket, glove liners, under-the-helmet cap and toe liners for a 36 mile ride. It was a wonderful early winter evening, with the beauty that abounds around here accentuated by the afternoon light.

My route reads like some secret code: after climbing Bliss Road, I rode along county roads F, FA, FO, OA, O, M, and YY to Highway 33 (don't know how that one slipped in). Then it was back to OA, FO, F, FA and finally down Bliss Road and home. There were climbs on Bliss, OA, YY and FO with descents on FO, OA (twice) and Bliss. It was chilly the entire ride, even on the climbs, which totaled 2,826 feet tonight.

I'm not sure what the weather report is for tomorrow, but I'm not putting away the cold weather gear just yet.

Really Long Nap

Spring arrived last week and with it came 188 miles ridden in the stylish warm weather outfits preferred by us bikers. Dressed to the 9's, we are. Sunblock was in order and tan line development was well underway. It was, in fact, a very pleasant spring season. While it lasted. Summer apparently came and went while I was napping after the last long ride. Friday, I had to wear a jacket against wind and cold rain. Saturday was washed out. Sunday I bailed out. Monday it snowed. Snow, on April 28. I am not making this up.

So, since there is little riding to write about, I suppose I should unveil the plans for [the next big ride]. Drum roll, please...

June 21 through June 28, Bill and I ride through northwestern Colorado and southern Wyoming on the 500 mile Rocky Mountain National Park tour. Not as long as last year's Seattle to Missoula Northwest Sampler. It will be, however, quite a bit taller. I've taken to trying to spend more time climbing so my training rides have been, so far, a bit shorter than last year. So far, so good.

There, wasn't that exciting?

To the 9's

The other day as I was pulling the long grind up County OA, I looked down at my computer. Progress is recorded there in terms of miles traveled and feet climbed. As I glanced at the screen, I saw that I was 9.99 miles from the start of the ride and had climbed a total of 999 feet. Now, isn't that amazing!?

Longing...

How I long for

...being able to get out on the Trek with only shorts, a jersey and low cut socks, leaving the wool socks, high-topped winter riding boots, chemical foot warmers, tights (2 pair at times), glove liners, base layers, full fingered gloves, jacket, cap (replacement for the natural cover that I used to have on my head), and ear warmers in the closet;

...spring rains to wash away the sand from the hills so I can come down without doing the biking equivalent of tiptoeing;

...sunny days where the helmet cover is off and sunblock is on;

...days where I don't expend more energy getting dressed than I do riding up Bliss Road.

...sunlight into the evening hours for long rides after work;

...the cool tan lines;

Yes, I long for summer rides. Perhaps I won't have to wait much longer, but it is 28 degrees as I write this.

Oh, and I long for rides without a 25 mph wind in my face. But THAT may really be too much to hope for.

Short

"Only a short while before the rain" was the Sunday morning forecast. With numerous errands to run after church, I was sure I'd be rained out. But not so. Upon arriving home, the sky was cloudy, but not threatening, so I took off for a short ride. Up Bliss road around to and down FO and then back again; 18 miles with 1400 feet of climbing. A good afternoon workout. Shortly after I got back home, it started to rain. Good timing.

Oh, another thing. It was approaching something you might be tempted to call "warm" on this Sunday afternoon. So I wore shorts without tights for the first time. This is getting to be more like it!

Long Winded

I wrote so much about the wind last year that I finally decided I wouldn't mention it again. That was last year. That was a different blog. Good grief! How does the wind manage to stay in my face for so much of a ride? It was a longer one today, too; 69.5 miles and almost 4,200 feet of climbing. Just what I needed in this early phase of preparation for [the next big ride].

There's a great song about the wind from Lerner and Lowe's 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon ~ They Call the Wind Mariah. I called it #@!$%!$# a couple of times today. But, back to the musical theme - One line of the song goes "Mariah makes the mountain sound like folks was up there dyin'." That would've been me.

I suppose I should be thankful for the wind as it provided for an even more intense workout. That works. I guess. I'll see if I can sound more convincing after I finish watching golf on TV (a post-ride activity I learned from Bill). ZZzzzz...

I wrote so much about the wind last year that I finally decided I wouldn't mention it again. That was last year. That was a different blog. Good grief! How does the wind manage to stay in my face for so much of a ride? It was a longer one today, 69.5 miles and almost 4,200 feet of climbing. Just what I needed in this early phase of preparation for [the next big ride].

There's a great song about the wind from Lerner and Lowe's 1951 musical Paint Your Wagon ~ They Call the Wind Mariah. I called it #@!$%!$# a couple of times today. Back to the musical theme - One line of the song goes "Mariah makes the mountain sound like folks was up there dyin'." That would be me.

I suppose I should be thankful for the wind as it provided for an even more intense workout. That works. I guess. I'll see if I can sound more convincing after I finish watching golf on TV. ZZzzzz...

Talents

Coming down Bliss Road today, I had my first flat of the season. Got that out of the way in hurry. Tonight I changed out the offending tire and tube on the rear wheel of my Trek. Took about five minutes. It's nice to be able to so something well. But the shine is off a little, given that my talent in this area has come from way too much practice. C'est la vie.