A Zero Emission Day!

On Tuesday Rosa and I went the entire day without driving a car-- a tricky task in this town, (especially when Rosa can get an audition call from anywhere between San Diego and Santa Barbara at a moment's notice). Fortunately, I've found an easy route for riding into "the office", so I'll be able to tack on a few hours to my embarrassingly low weekly riding volume. And we're lucky enough to have the post office and local markets within a couple blocks of the apartment, and Rosa can ride into the Yoga studio. 

Hopefully we can get these Z.E.D.'s up to at least two a week, because we know that for Hunter & Aimee in Tucson and ST in Boise, Zero Emission Day's are the norm rather than the exception.

Carbs v. fats v. Nothing Weight Loss Rules

Monique Ryan's books and articles should be required reading for endurance athletes. Over on the Velonews site she has a fantastic response to a reader's question regarding how to eat before and during training if they are aiming to lose weight (but don't want to lose performance).

One thing that surprised me was her advice that skipping carbohydrates in the morning before a 60 minute workout can have the effect of burning more fat stores (but after the one hour mark a breakfast-skipping athlete is only burning the same percentage of fat as their well fed counterpart). This advice makes logical sense because if you don't have any immediately available carbs then of course your body will turn to the fat stores sooner, but I've always been a little old-school when it comes to "break"ing the "fast".

Hit the link and check it out.

Order Up That Java!

Sorry for the delay, folks. You can order up the delicious Big Gear Blend using the order form here.

Shipping is just $5 no matter how big your order, so you might want to think about combining orders with fellow coffee lovers!

The New Gig

I can officially add "personal assistant" to the next line on my business card.

It's been a full week since I started working for Cameron Thor at Carter Thor Studio, and so far, so very good. I'm playing a lot of catch-up since the Studio is a tight family and everyone else already knows all the ins and outs, but it's fun. Everyone is open to the different perspective I bring to the table too, which is great.

Of course, learning a new job while the ABD gigs are in full swing is a little crazy, but it's been good, and so many things are happening right now. Winter is finally getting ready to leave the Midwest, the team is having a camp this weekend and hitting the big Hillsboro Roubaix road race, and I might even jump in my first race of the year this weekend in San Dimas. I was hoping to be the Sugar Glydar's wingman at the race, but unfortunately he's been grounded and is on the DL for a spell. Let's hope he's back soon so I'm not flying solo for too long.

Just Started The New Job

Sorry for the delay, I promise to update soon!

The Stomping Grounds

I've mentioned the LA River Bike Path and Griffith Park as preferred (and just out the door) training locations, so I thought I'd offer some visuals.

To the right is the lovely LA River. Gorgeous, isn't it? At least it doesn't smell too bad... and there arent' any cars.

 Now this actually is rather bee-you-tiful. It's from the center of Griffith Park looking south at the Griffith observatory (and downtown in the background). The Hollywood sign is just over my right shoulder. The climb up to this point is on the "closed" roads, so again- no traffic. "Closed" also means that the roads never get cleaned either, so it's like on-road mountain biking.

Laurie Morris: 1967-2008

Laurie was the hospice nurse who helped us take care of Grandma. She was one of the most beautiful people I've ever met.

Around the time Grandma passed away, Laurie started getting sick and the symptoms made it appear that her asthma was acting up. Unfortunately, it was a virus that went to her heart and over the last two months she'd been in and out of the hospital and the ICU. She passed away on Saturday night at just 40 years old.

I was given a lot of credit for taking care of my Grandma in the final months of her life— but I couldn't have done it without Laurie's strength, patience, guidance and kindness. She was my rock, the one who kept me strong, and I will never forget the lessons she taught me. One lesson is that listening can be more reassuring than anything you ever say, and the rest can be summed up in this quote:

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as true strength."- Ralph Sockman.

My deepest condolences to her husband, children and grandchild.

Daytripping

There was a little more snow than we expected in the mountains of California today!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the giant Sequoias. The road ended when the snow banks got to be 8 ft high on each side. They just stopped plowing and suddenly there was a minimum base of 6 feet of snow on the road. We just went for a hike. More pictures to come.
Sent from handheld

The List

I like to think I'm a man with simple needs, despite my love of gadgets and exotic cars.

If I can have each of these things every day then it's safe to say I'll go to bed a happy man:

30 minutes of NPR or even just reading the paper
Hearing 1 good song
At least 1 hour on my bike
1 big cup of bold coffee- black (GearGrinder, please)
1 apple
1 cup of old-fashioned Oats
1 heaping spoonful of peanutbutter (Crunchy, please)
1 bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

Sure, there are other things a man needs, but it's these that can really make the day. So how 'bout it, dear readers? What makes your day?

The Boss

I've mentioned my affinity for the music of Mr. Springsteen before, much to the chagrin of some readers, but for those of you who don't mind a little politics in your rock n' roll, check out the NPR interview with Springsteen this morning.