:: Livestrong - Thank You ::

:: 18 yellow livestrong braclets on my seatpost representing each donation in my name for the livestrong challenge this weekend. thank you for your generosity! stay tuned for more stories and pictures afterwards. ::

:: Make It a Double ::

:: gray skies over monotonous existence. rejecting lethargy in spite of it's profusion; time for action. fill the void with torture lest apathy gain hold; turn towards the source of indifference. upwards and into the heart of the storm. droplets streaming now; sweet mix of rain, sweat, and tears. each effort lifts from the tempest below; each effort lifts towards the opening above. an excercise not for destination but passage. make it a double... ::

perdue mountain double shot, 39 mi, 4026 ft, fixed

:: LiveStrong - a preview ::

:: here's a slight preview of what is in store for the livestrong challenge ride on the 26th - 98.2 miles and 8400 feet of climbing. yippee! ::

:: Gravity Demons Almost Win ::

:: one tough day for shojo! for some reason, i'd had it in my head to do this ride for awhile now. it's one i've been doing on feb 14th as the first ride of the season; what i call my 'lookin for love' ride and the last time i did it, it took me 4:35. i wanted to see how much i've improved since feb, so i tack on an additional 1000 ft climb to start and an extra 500 ft in the middle up to the I-80 overlook at the top of moose run. after about 1:40 i was already over halfway through this new version, and feeling great. things started to not feel so great part way up the biggest climb - moshannon, so i stopped at the spring for a break. even the teeming artesian well was looking a bit faint, but still provided some much needed fresh water. back at it, and things started falling apart. over the next 20 some miles and 2300 ft i didn't get out of the saddle and kept my head down. 5 miles from home i stopped to regroup and found the last bit of energy and made it back to the house, to the shower, and then to bed. from 4:35 and 5800 ft to 4:05 and 7300 ft in 6 months. not bad i'd say. except for all the suffering in between ::

:: DIEt ::

:: it strikes me as odd that the word diet is just die with a t tacked on for good measure. plump_chump is slowly dieing. not nearly as quickly as i'd like, but it's happening. unfortunately, motivation and ambition are too, but we'll work on that. the above graph is the progress. units have been removed to protect the innocent, or guilty, whichever. close inspection and you'll see we're on our way. however, using my incredible matlab prowess, i extrapolated the curve, added some delineating lines between plumpchump, shojo, and gebnor; and the cross season. in a strange twist of fate, we can see gebnor won't be making a cameo this fall. any suggestions? ::