Stairs Can Hurt

If you're ever in the mood to give the legs a really good, quick, painful workout, I've got just the ticket for you. Find yourself a set of stairs with appox. 150 ft. of elevation gain. Next, alternate walking down and running up. I did that eight times this afternoon, and by the end my legs were shaking like a bowl of jello in the back of a truck cruising down a bumpy dirt road. I don't recall packing so much effort into such a small time window in I don't know how long. Until I can get out on the skinny skis, I think this will be my cardio workout of choice. Next week I may try to incorporate some pushups at the top in between laps. Check it out on the MotionBased below.

Thanksgiving

I like to think that I'm aware of, and thankful for the good things in my life more than just one day out of the year. But it is nice for those with a less positive attitude to be reminded once a year to take a moment of reflection on what they may have to be thankful for. At any rate, turkey day has come and gone. My hiatus from structured and disciplined training is almost over. Monday it's time to get down to the business of getting ready for the upcoming ski season. I haven't gotten my plan totally set in stone yet, but I do know that I will be starting to do some serious work on the upper body. So far, this will include pull ups (of which I can currently do two), push ups, sit ups, and double poling on the skis. I've also slacked off enough on yoga this fall that I have enough credit to go twice a week through the month of December. Here's to hoping that everyone had a nice holiday. I'll be looking for you out on the slopes and trails. Take care and thanks for reading.

Chipmunk Meets Dog

Here's a little ditty of the Gdog hunting down a chipmunk. His basic strategy is to quietly stalk them and eventually chase them up a tree. Then he just waits them out. He'll sit down at the base of the tree and have himself a good old fashioned stare down. The chipmunk usually gives in first and tries to make a run for it. Sometimes they make it, and sometimes they don't. We've finally gotten some snow, and it's looking much better outside with a little white on the ground. Have a happy wednesday.

Seedless Grapes

If they don't have seeds, where do baby grapes come from?

WNR Season End

Last night would have probably been the last WNR of the season if I'd actually gone out riding. Unfortunately, the weather wore me down; and I called Benson around three to tell him I wouldn't be riding. It was 38 degrees and raining. After a long, long season of riding, I just couldn't muster the motivation necessary to head out last night. Next week I'll be on break, and there will me men (probably a few ladies too I suppose) in the woods with guns so it looks the end of another successful WNR season. Hopefully in a few weeks there will be enough snow to start up some WNSkiing. At any rate, the blogging may be a little light over the next couple of weeks with the lack of activity on my part. I do have some raw video footage of the G-Dog hunting and killing a chipmunk so maybe I can cobble together a video. Have a good weekend and take care.

Civics

Sarah and I went up to the tower yesterday morning to perform our civic duty. That done, I spent the rest of the day hanging out around the house before heading out on the loop around 2:00. The warm weather trend is still holding, and yesterday afternoon I actually got hot in shorts and a short sleeve jersey. Needless to say, this is not normal November riding gear. It looks like we're going to have a couple more good days, but the forecast for the weekend is sounding a little more normal for this time of year (high of 40 with rain/snow). Well, we knew the good weather had to come to an end sooner or later. I'm ready to start skiing anyway, so bring it on. Thanks for reading.

Transition

I've definitely entered what I feel to be my transitional time of year. Daylight savings has reallocated my waking daylight hours. Before too long, there will be a lot of people with guns populating the woods. On top of that, my legs are pretty wiped out after a long season of riding/training. I'm planning on taking a good 5 to 7 days of little or no exercise starting Nov. 14th. It's going to be tough. I was looking back in the books yesterday, and I couldn't find a stretch of inactivity that long in just over a year. But it should end up being a good thing in the end. I'm hoping to come out on the other side with fresh energy and motivation to get ready for skiing.
On to current events: We've been having unseasonably warm weather over the last few days, and so we've had to take full advantage by doing some good riding. Saturday afternoon Sarah and I did a nice leisurely road ride up Good Hart way. Sunday I met up with Benson, Rob, Matt, and Tim for a great ride on the NCT at Larks Lake Road. I decided to trade the front shock for gears and rode the Quiring 29er fully rigid. I go back and forth on whether or not I like this setup. Yesterday it felt fine. It's amazing how different it feels riding a rigid bike, especially going uphill. Anyway, we rode a good 13 miles at a really good clip. Come on out for riding and/or beer on Wednesday. After that, the WNR will be up in the air due to weather and hunting. Hope everyone had a good weekend.