ROAD TRIP

After finishing up the holidays, I began packing for my trip to Tucson, Arizona which would begin on January 4^th. Essentials were nabbed from bike shops and a quick run to Costco and Whole Foods were made to avoid the sales tax I am unaccustomed to in Arizona. After finishing up one more load of laundry and stuffing the suit case, I hit the sack for my early morning start to the road trip.

Three o’clock rolled around pretty darn fast. I loaded up the truck, said my goodbyes to the family, and ventured on over to the coffee shack for a 5 shot espresso. Soon, I was on the road heading south to warmer climates.

The drive through Oregon seemed to go by quickly and the miles ticked away. The sunrise greeted me right around Dorris, California. It exposed a snow covered Mt. Shasta and streaks of fog that meandered through the valley and hillsides. I couldn’t help but grab a few pics of the quaint surroundings. Eventually, I arrived in Redding where I would make my ritualistic stop at both Starbucks and In N Out Burger. Since I was making decent time, I ended up being the first customer at the burger joint stepping through the doors as they just released the bolt. I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing.

I enjoyed my second caffeine rush of the morning and held off on scarfing down the burger until the afternoon since I still had about 8 hours of driving left for the day. I continued on the I-5 corridor through Sacramento, onto Santa Nella, then finally through the LA Basin. I arrived at my Aunt and Uncles, in Laguna Niguel, where I was welcomed with a hug and a trip to dinner.

I quickly unloaded the truck, hopped into another car, and we all made our way to some Thai Food. The fresh appetizers were quite tasty and the Chicken and Tofu Pad Thai were amazing. After finishing up with dinner and conversation, we made our way back to the house where I would crash on the pull out bed for the evening. I’m pretty sure I was dead asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

The next day’s plans included making a trip down to San Diego to take a jaunt on my Uncle’s boat, the Grace Passage. We had a light breakfast, hopped into the car, and ventured down south. Once we arrived at the marina we grabbed our snacks and headed on over to the boat and prepped her for the day out in the bay. Our goal was to find some whales, but we were quickly greeted by some dolphins instead. They meandered there way under the bow of the boat looking up at my Aunt and I expelling water from their blow holes as they surfaced. After playing with the dolphins, we made our way around the last buoy in the bay and headed back into the marina.

As we made our way back into San Diego Bay, we enjoyed seeing all the activity around the military base. Fighter jets and black hawks flew patterns off Coronado and we also saw a nuclear sub exit on the Point Loma side of the bay. We were immediately greeted and paced by coast guard as the sub leisurely departed the area.

After pulling the boat into the slip, giving it a quick wipe down, and locking everything up, we made our way to another dinner. This time we enjoyed some Mexican food at La Salsa. I took advantage of the salsa buffet and loaded up on the chips. Soon I found myself in a slight food coma with a numb tongue. We made our way back home and I hit the sack early as I would have to start the second part of my road trip.

That morning we went out to breakfast at the restaurant in the Mother’s store. I scarfed down some banana pancakes and coffee, plotted the course in the GPS, and was on my way. It was another seven hours of driving interrupted three of four times by border patrol and gas stops. I arrived in Tucson just as the sun was setting over the hills.

I made my way into the city on the I-10, toodled by campus, and found the house. After meeting the roommates and unwinding a bit, I unpacked the truck, pumped the air mattress, and passed out. Tomorrow would be my first ride in the desert climate!

LAST WORDS OF '09

Since my last post, I have been quite busy. It’s been a month and a half chalk full of holidays, training, football viewing, cold weather, and work. Below are some pics of the freezing fog that rolled through town.


The majority of November was spent working, riding the trainer, and going to the gym. Riding has consisted of lots of tempo, which needless to say seems a bit harder indoors, and endurance. I have also been incorporating strength routines given to me from HSP. It’s a bit different of a routine than what I have done in the past but so far I can tell the core strength is steadily improving. The key to my core workouts are the Dynamax ball which Todd introduced me to this year. It’s a soft 8 lb. medicine ball which is the source of the burn! “Twist, bend, stretch, BAM!”, as Todd would say. The end of November also included a bit of hunting and jury duty…ugh! Thankfully, the jury duty was quick and painless and I don’t have to worry about it for another 2 years. Hunting was decent as well. It turned out to be more of some duck hunts as my Dad and I didn’t see too much of anything else. They were long days of hiking and peaking over river banks.

Thanksgiving seemed to come around pretty fast this year. It was very laid back and a nice time to visit with family. My Grandma came over to enjoy the Turkey dinner and cookies that my Mom made throughout the day. It’s always a tough time of year, to watch what I eat, when cookies, pie (two pies actually), candy, and mash potatoes taunt me all day! I began my day as usual with steel cut oats and coffee, ate a healthy lunch, but once dinner rolled around I lost all hope. I ended up stuffing myself with a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and veggies. TWICE! Then I concluded the evening with both a slice of pumpkin and apple pie topped with ice cream. Hmm, I think I went a bit overboard. When it hurts to move around you know you overdid it. I think my food belly was bigger than the Dynamax ball.


The day after Thanksgiving, I made another visit to Seattle for some Hagens Berman team riding. I made my way up to Washington with Kennett and ended up staying with Chris Wingfield and his family. They welcomed us into their home and accommodated us with beds, an abundance of good food and snacks, and great conversation. It’s gonna be tough to beat that homestay, Thank you so much!

Rides during the weekend were a bit wet unlike the forecast predicted. We didn’t have the full squad this time around but still ended up having a decent showing of other riders from the club. Saturday was a 3.5 hour loop consisting of hilly terrain and some WET, slightly leaf covered roads. I had fenders but have yet to install a buddy flap on the rear. I made rotations for the first couple of hours but for the remainder of the ride, I relegated myself to the back and tail gunned for a while. I received an ear full from everyone about the missing flap so it will not be forgotten the next time around. After the ride, Chris introduced Kennett and I to an amazing bakery, Sluys, in historic downtown Poulsbo. I experienced my first pumpkin doughnut, which needless to say, swept me off my feet. We also tried out some pizza bread which we toasted once we arrived at the house. It was a delicious cap off to the long and wet ride. The next day was a smaller group ride in the company of the team director (Joe Holmes) and Benny. We rode a strong pace for 3 hours taking long pulls while meandering through the hills and small towns on the peninsula. After the ride, Kennett and I were back on the road to Portland.

Kennett was nice enough to take me into downtown Portland, before dropping him off, so I could enjoy my first voodoo doughnut. We made a few loops around the Burnside area trying to find the obscure entrance. We eventually found the small shop. I was welcomed with the aroma of bacon cooking on the skillet and loud music. Coffee steamed and the rotating doughnut display glowed. I ended up ordering three tasty treats: the infamous voodoo doughnut, the maple bacon bar, and the cocoa puff. I enjoyed every bite and was amazed with the tastiness of the union of bacon and maple doughnut. After filling up on pastry and coffee, I made my way over moonlit pass back to Bend.

Here's a link to the voodoo pics/menu! Warning: Drooling may follow - http://voodoodoughnut.com/menu.php

The next big event marked on the calendar was the Civil War situated in the first week of December. It was one of the bigger games I saw this year as it decided who would move onto the Rose Bowl and decide the PAC 10 champion. Unfortunately, my alma mater (DA BEAVS!) lost so I won’t digress into the game at all.

During the second week of December, Bend welcomed more cyclists as it hosted the 2009 cyclocross nationals. It was another unfortunate time for me as I missed out on all the big races since I had to work. I was able to hear through the grape vine and pieced together video how the race progressed. It sounded and looked like an intense race on a complicated course. Maybe next year I can root on the pros. Todd also made a quick trip into town to do his coaching thang and to view the race. Carson, Todd, and I met up at the end of the weekend for some brekky at Alpenglow as well. Talk about a long time since I’ve eaten there. I’m pretty sure I was close to overdosing on coffee but everything was so good along with some entertaining chit chat.

I concluded December with the Christmas holiday and plenty of skate skiing. I worked Christmas Eve, slept in that night, and woke up to my Mom informing me that the girls wanted to open their gifts. I rolled out of bed and opened the groggy eyes to a Christmas tree hovering over a mass of wrapped goodies. I was pleasantly surprised that I had a few more gifts than expected this year, thanks Mom! A journal and camera perfect for my upcoming trip to Arizona. My Dad and I also cracked open a couple of West Vleteren beers that Evan brought back for him. A special occasion warrants a special bier.



Christmas also included a cooking lesson that I undertook with my Dad. We decided to cook up a Turducken just to change things up a bit. I’m pretty sure I could write up an entire blog entry just on the task we endured.



My Dad and I procrastinated just a bit that morning before taking out the ingredients and beginning THE PROCESS. Stuffing was prepped, meat was exposed, and the sewing kit was ready. My Dad laid out the turkey, covered it in dressing, laid out the duck, more stuffing, then finished off with the chicken. The sew up process involved two sets of hands, three at one point, where I gingerly laced the turkey together. It actually came together fairly well. But the actual learning part was soon to come. We put the boneless concoction into the oven only to find out it took about 9.5 hours to cook after reviewing a few recipes online. To make a long story short, we ended up fending for ourselves that night and postponed the Christmas dinner for the next evening. 1130 at night is a bit late for dinner. It ended up being a great success and I ended up having turkducken dinner for the next 4 nights.


Since the meal was postponed a day, I ended up enjoying a nice cupcake from Ida's Bakery here in Bend. I have heard plenty of rumors of how good the little sweets are so I made the visit. I ordered up a gluten free german chocolate cupcake with coconut frosting. Talk about melt in your mouth, cakey deliciousness!



We also enjoyed watching my Grandma open her presents while the turkey cooked away.



In between all the madness, I have been skate skiing quite a bit. Just trying to play in the snow as much as possible before I head on down to Tucson, Arizona where that white stuff is non-existent. It’s been a lot of early morning ski sessions with some great views, cold air, and perfectly groomed trails to enjoy. Carson has been my ski buddy the majority of the time where we tend to annihilate each other.


Now I am just prepping and packing for my trip to Tucson where I will be increasing the hours on the bike for the next couple of months and gunning to take on the 2010 race season. It’s been a wonderful 2009! Now onto 2010 which I started with another blustery day of skate skiing and watching the Rose Bowl. What a great beginning to a new year!