Smell My Picture

Two sweet weekends in a row--i'll take it. We got to spend Saturday with my parents who drove up Friday afternoon and it was great to spend some time with them although brief. Just hung out and showed them Rutland (lol not much to see), took them on a tour of some of the massive 100-200+ year old churches around here, drove by the Wal-Mart plaza, ect. They took us out to a local restaurant called Roots for dinner which was top notch. Seasonal menu, local ingredients, and it's located in a really neat old brick building too. Their artwork was pretty cool as well. Both Chelsea and my mom always have bigger eyes then stomachs, so I used the opportunity to really pack away some reserves for my spin today.

A while back I was lucky enough to cross paths with a local ride guru who knows about all the sweet rides around; both dirt and road. He was nice enough to show me a few routes. When he asked what I wanted I replied something along the lines of "I need something scenic but soul crushing, a churn and burn suffer fest." After today's ride I know why he was chuckling as he was laying out this route...it was such a beautiful ride through the mountains, but man did it burn and boy did he deliver. The first mountain on the chart is just one across the street from my house that I do reps on, and I probably could have left it out of this particular route until a little later in the season.

After about 6ish miles of steady  climbing I realized i'd been a little overzealous at the base and found myself in that dazed state of oxygen deprivation where you're better off just staying on the bike and spinning then stopping, so I spun it out for a while and let myself recover when out of no where I noticed I had a guy drafting me haha. I guess he had been there for a while, but I had no clue. It was cool by me, but man are we both lucky I didn't slam on the brakes like a newbie roadie. It totally wigs me out to be so close to another rider going so fast, something completely foreign to mountain bikers. We chatted a bit and then parted ways at a fork in the road.

I wish you could smell my picture. This morning was one of those mornings that it really was nice to get out and ride. One of those euphoric, "this is why I ride" mornings. As I weaved through the mountains with almost no cars buzzing me at all, it was just cold enough that the cabins scattered throughout the landscape had their fireplaces lit, but warm enough that  the whole way I could smell that beautiful musty scent of the earth thawing-that spring-time wilderness aroma that gives me goose bumps every time. Much of the route followed a creek that was rumbling so awesomely I could hear it over my tunes, and I eventually muted the tunes in exchange for some good old fashioned nature music. I wish there were more days in the week because lately everywhere I ride turns out to be amazing, and these mountains are going to make me Vermont Strong (license plate slogan) for sure. So stoked to be in such an amazing area.

Not the stopper finger!

My poor stopper finger.

If i'm feeling old...

If i'm feeling old...think how old the old people must be feeling! So...I made it all the way to 28 yesterday. Funny how life works. When I was 5 years old all I wanted to do was ride my bike. One of my first memories is of me getting grounded from riding around the block after dinner. I have no memory of why...but i'm sure I probably did something very worthy of the punishment. Now, 23 years later little has changed and i'd have to say that given my track record i'll probably be addicted to this stuff called Dirt the rest of my life.Twenty three years later and still the only think I can seem to think about when i'm not on my rig is my next ride.

I had a pretty sweet birthday considering I don't usually even acknowledge that I have one. Birthdays are in between Valentines Day and Halloween on my list of fake holidays...but i'll leave that list for another post.

To tee my birthday off we woke up at the crack of dawn and headed north to a run Chelsea was in, and we got to see some pretty beautiful vistas along the way. In a couple of the little towns we drove through we negotiated some pretty insane traffic patterns. One was sort of a pentagonal traffic circle, with a stop sign within it on the inside lane of it. The reason that description seems to make no sense is because it indeed made no sense at all. Had I not been so focused on not dying i'd have taken a pic of it.

It was fun to watch Chelsea run and the weather wasn't too bad although overcast, windy and gray. The venue, a field house/fitness center complex in Shelburne was pretty nice. The best part was when the guy who took 2nd place in the 5k overall crossed the finish line, fell to his knees and hurled repeatedly. Almost like he knew it was my birthday lol. Have to admit though, he laid down a solid effort chasing the guy that won. It was an interesting event and other then the top 5 guys it was much more relaxed and less competitive then what i'm used to at the bike races. Chelsea had a blast and did really well. 

Later on I feasted on some birthday grub and an incredible Cheese cake the wifenheimer made me. Finished it off with a birthday spin and some more cheese cake. Then birthday beer and more cheese cake. I could get used to this.

My dad won the card contest...although my sister's has not arrived yet so I guess she may still be in contention. My family is somewhat competitive when it comes to cards and lately it's been getting harder and harder to stay ahead of my sis in the rankings.

Tried this saddle for the first time...Selle Itilia XO. I think I may need a doughnut after another session on the thing. Does not fit well at all.  Probably why it's a good 60-70% cheaper then anything else in the Selle line up. Probably going to track down another Shadow V because for some reason, out of all the saddles i've tried, that's the only one that's ever not left me walking like a cowboy, and it just so happens to be dirt cheap. Getting harder and harder to track down though as it's a pretty old skule choice.Time for some gravel in the rain. At least it's not dusty anymore!