Last weekend I did the L’etape de California.

From the website:
“L’Étape du California provides serious recreational cyclists the opportunity to ride a complete stage of the Amgen Tour of California – and the most challenging stage of the 2011 race at that. Riders will cover the same route as the professionals on Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California, from the City of Claremont to the Mt Baldy Ski Area. The route is breathtaking in its beauty and difficulty, covering some of the most …

Many years ago, I used to be quite an avid runner. I ran regularly with a wild group of fun folks, the Hash House Harriers. Through that group, I ended up meeting Michelle, and we ran quite some number of marathons together. All on dirt, mostly tough courses. I ran a couple without her, and then Kim and I ran a couple. Then I stopped. I did some running in training for some triathlons, but …

Kim and I had a great weekend. We did a bike tour, on the tandem, from San Juan Capistrano to San Diego and Imperial Beach.
We set out from San Juan Capistrano Sat. morning. It was grey and cool, and I was a little nervous as we headed out. We cruised towards Dana Point, and then pretty much hugged the coast all the way to San Deigo, through San Clemente (where we stopped for our favorite tacos), Oceanside, Encinitas, Del Mar, Leucadia, La Jolla, …

Kim and I have been enjoying our tandem a lot lately, and decided to try a century (100 miles) ride. The ride we picked was the Death Valley Century, which is exactly 108 miles. I know 108 doesn’t sound much longer that 100, but its 8% harder than a regular century. It’s like paying sales tax.
Last weekend we headed to Death Valley, CA, to do the ride. We probably didn’t train as much as we should have, …

I went to San Deigo to participate in a triathlon.  It was 70.3 miles, consisting of a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run.   It was in support of Challenged Athletes Foundation, and thanks to the generosity of my friends and family, we raised nearly $2,500 to assist in providing facilities, equipment and support for athletes with disabilities that want to play, run, swim and do many of the things we all take for granted.  A very deep and sincere …

Kim and I ran the 10K Volkslauf mud run today. It was super fun. I had done it many years ago a couple times, but not since moving away from Bakersfield. We ran in a team with Ray Purcell and Courtney Purcell, and had a great time. The Volkslauf has moved sites, and had some teething issues with parking and having enough water for the runners. This 10 K has lots of mud, some long pits, tunnels to crawl …

Last weekend, Kim and I drove to Lake Tahoe, parked the car in Squaw Valley, and rode about 50 miles around the Lake to South Lake Tahoe on Saturday. The route included everything from bike paths to rolling hills to a LONG climb that led to a screaming fast downhill. Super fun. We stayed in an inexpensive motel in south lake tahoe…. then walked 6 miles roundtrip to get dinner. A great night of rest, and we woke sunday, and …

Last weekend, we were fishing around for an idea for something to do, and had the brainstorm to go backpacking in the snow. Two sets of rental snowshoes and some furious packing later, we were heading to the mtns.

A while back, Kim and I took out the tandem for an awesome tour of Sacramento and the Delta. About 36 miles. Loving the tandem, but I need to figure out some better bars, my hands go numb. We stopped for a quick snack and some warm drinks. Total we rode was nearly 40 miles, our longest tandem ride to date.

Kim and I had our maiden voyage of our new (to us) toy, a KHS tandemMountain bike. It was fun, we did about 15 miles after work tonight.Nothing much, but given the short time we had available, I felt prettygood about it. It is used, with some cosmetic nicks, but solid, andgood quality components. I’ve ordered some slick road bike style tiresand some other odds and ends to freshen it up a bit, but I’m excited andlooking forward to getting out for some longer road rides.
The …