Just Like That

Well, winter is here. After the nice WNR that Benson and I had last week, I thought we may be able to eek one more out at Boyne this week. Nope. We now have just over a foot of snow on the ground, and the forecast for this week is calling for much of the same. Got out on the boards for the first time this season yesterday with Marcus, Matt, and JT. We parked near the bottom of Pintail Peak (which isn't open yet) on the backside of Nub's Nob. It's a longish climb to the top (appox. 350 ft.), but the ride down is well worth the effort. Five self-serviced runs took a little over two hours. Fun times. WNS(ki) @ MVSC this week. Meet at 6:30 for a nice tour in the woods. Bring your headlamp and give me a shout if you need directions.

WNR # 32

Attendance: Myself and Benson.

Weather: Cold. High 30's and a wicked wind out of the north.

Trail Conditions: The dirt and paved roads on which we traveled were in fine shape.

That may just be the last WNR of the season. There are 3 to 4 inches of white stuff on the ground, and the long range forecast calls for much of the same. Still, it's hard to believe we went 32 weeks in a row. Attendance wasn't always great, but the important thing is that at least a few of us were out to represent the Team every Wednesday since the early spring. Tentative plan for a WNS next week. I'll do a little recon and see if I can find us a suitable spot to strap on some boards or snow shoes. I'd like to keep the whole WN thing rolling; so if we end up being stuck in some limbo land between the bikes and the skis, I'll plan some fun alternative cross training activity. Take care and have a good weekend.

Ouch!

I tried do dial it back on the stair climbing compared to my first run last fall. Instead of the eight laps of yesteryears first run, I opted for what I thought to be a sensible five laps. I failed to factor in a change to the equation though. Over the vacation I read an article on stair climbing as a cross training exercise for nordic ski racing. It was a short, but informative article touting all the usual benefits of running up stairs. They also suggested to do the stairs two at a time. Last year I did them one at a time for whatever reason (it probably goes back to dry land training for downhill skiing in high school). This year I did them two at a time. That hurts more. Yesterday I could barely walk. Today, I'm still pretty sore, but the idea of a nice mountain bike ride tonight actually sounds like a good idea. We'll see who shows up.

Resume Play

Got back on friday, and I've been on two rides since. Saturday I did a little loop on the Q29er (the road bike is still in transit) mixing it up between the pavement and dirt. Yesterday it was cold and rainy so I skipped the dirt and instead did a cold 20 miles on the road. Both days I felt surprisingly good, although I could have done without the rain yesterday. Today Matt and I are going to run up and down some stairs. The trip to California has definitely reignited the desire to start training seriously again. This is a good thing, since I've been in an unmotivated and directionless state of limbo since the end of summer. I've almost got my whole 2010 season planned out. If everything pans out with scheduling and such, it's probably going to be my most ambitious to date. I'll try and get it posted once it's finalized. Also, the WNR is back on tap this week. Plan on a 6:45 start at HQ. Hope to see you there.

Homeward Bound

I just got back from the UPS store, and the bike is now on it's way home.



Below is a picture that pretty much sums up one of the things I like least about SoCal. This shot was taken as we inched our way through L.A. in the early afternoon on tuesday. I don't even want to think about actual rush hour.




Wheels up tomorrow morning at 8:40 (if all goes according to plan). I can't wait to get home.

Justin JUST Inn

Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for
Paso Robles Rd. # 2 (to Justin Vineyards)


I rode up to Justin Vineyards from Paso Robles this morning to meet Sarah and check into the JUST Inn. It's a really small, quaint little inn situated right on the vineyard property. We had a really nice and informative tour of thier production facilities and vineyards this afternoon. Tonight we'll be feasting right here at the inn at what is supposed to be an uber gourmet dining room. Tomorrow morning our time here in wine country will come to a close. We return south to Sarah's brother's house for a little pre-thanksgiving feast before we fly home on Thanksgiving day. It doesn't look like it's going to get cold enough at home for Nub's to make enough snow for skiing this weekend, and that's a bummer. We've been lucky enough to get out skiing over the holiday weekend for most seasons in recent memory. So, anybody up for some dirt road adventuring on Sunday? Over and out.

Paso Robles #1

Went for my first ride in the Paso Robles area today. It was good. Temps. were a little on the cool side, somewhere in the low 50's and most of the roads were pretty shady (with leaves). But the roads were also very smooth and had very little traffic in the a.m. hours. I ended up bundling up in literally all the worst case scenario clothes I brought with me from Michigan: knee warmers, arm warmers, base layer, wool jersey, vest, long fingered gloves, and a wool cap. I haven't needed them until now, but I'm glad I brought them along. It was cold at first, but after a short spin up the first hill the kit worked out perfectly given the weather. I ended up with just under 25 miles of hilly road riding on some great blacktop. I'm already checking out the maps and planning out a route for tomorrow. Check out today's ride below:

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Activity Details for
Paso Robles #1

Mt. Palomar Hill Climb

Yesterday was the first wednesday without a WNR since early spring. I suppose I could have taken the day off, but instead I decided to ride my road bike uphill for about 15 miles. I'd heard of Mt. Palomar before, but I'd never been anywhere near it. Before I left Michigan last week, I began to do a little research on the mountain. It's only a little over an hour from Sarah's brother's house. It was a mountain top finish in last year's Tour of California. It's not a particularly steep climb, but it is long. I wanted to ride it on this trip, and yesterday I did. Sarah and I decided to head north from Encinitas yesterday, and I talked her into shuttling me for the ride first. She drove me to the bottom of the East Grade Road and left for the Mt. Palomar Observatory. I set out on the bike and quickly settled into a slightly elevated, but sustainable pace. And so it was for about an hour. Then, about ten miles in there was a brief respite of downhill before turning back uphill again. I rolled into the parking lot of the observatory in just over an hour and a half. I was hungry and a little chilled, but other than that the legs seemed to have worked pretty well. Apparently my laziness of late hasn't put too much of a dent in my base. We head north to the central coast tomorrow; and from what I can tell from the maps so far, there appears to be some good riding to be had. Check out the pictures and ride data below. Stay tuned for reports from wine country.


Before.


Durning.


After.


Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for
Mt. Palomar Hill Climb

California Day 1

Sarah and I didn't roll into our final destination last night until after 9:00 PST. It was a long day. First, we had the five hour drive to Detroit. Next up was the almost five hour flight to San Diego. Finally, we got a shuttle to our rental car and made it to Sarah's brother's house in another half an hour. We ended up with close to twelve hours door to door, and I was beat. But not too beat to stay up and have a couple of beers with Sarah's brother and his wife. This morning I got up and had a nice big breakfast with the family. I got my bike together and did a little test spin up and down the street with Sarah's niece. I'm not sure she'll make the jump to the big leagues of Team Terpening or not, but she's giving it a shot.




After my test ride with little Rowan, I headed out for a proper spin to make sure I had reassembled the bike properly. I cruised down to the Pacific Coast Highway from Sean's house and headed south. It is utterly astounding to come out here and ride the road bike. For starters, there's the traffic. Imagine Shore Drive with four lanes for cars, a bike lane on either side of the road, traffic lights and stop signs, and about 1000 times more traffic. Fortunately, there are also literally hundreds of other riders out on the road enjoying the nice weather and wonderful views. The cars almost have no choice but to share the road, and they do. While it's plenty nerve racking to have to move across two lanes of traffic to get in the turn lane, the drivers are so used to cyclists they actually pay attention. Anyway, I had a good ride.

Garmin Connect -
Activity Details for
Encinitas to Del Mar and Back

After the ride and a shower, the whole family (Myself, Sarah, Sean, His wife and two kids) headed down to Juanita's Taco Stand for lunch. After refueling on chicken tacos (for me) and the like, we headed up to Carlsbad for a walk on the beach. It was nice. But to be honest, I like our beach better. We have a lot less people and a lot less salt. It was still nice though.




Tomorrow I'll probably ride a little further south to Torrey Pines. Then I'm planning on tackling Mt. Palomar either Tuesday or Wednesday before we start heading north on Thursday. Hope all is well in the north. Over and out.

WNR # 31

Attendance: Myself, Benson, Rob, Secret Steve, Kevin, and Charlie.

Weather: Cold and clear. Temps. in the mid 30's.

Trail Conditions: Given the darkness and abundance of leaves, the trail was a bit difficult to navigate. There were a couple of large trees that required a dismount as well.

Despite the cold and somewhat difficult trail conditions, it was a great ride to close out the season (unless we don't get any snow in december). We stood around and shivered through a couple of beers after the ride, and I think everyone was happy to have made the effort to get out for one last WNR.

Sarah and I are heading out to the west coast for a couple of weeks tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some good pictures and ride reports coming soon. Stay tuned and have a good weekend.