The Second Half

Back On/In the Saddle

By the end of our trip, I’m sure we smelled like fish that’s been in your refrigerator a little too long – to my parents anyway. We had a great time, but I would bet that they all took a nap, went out for a steak, and enjoyed the day after we left.

Lyza is a high energy kid, and we went from 9am - 10pm each day at full throttle. Amusement park rides, water park slides, baseball games, miniature golf, swimming, miniature golf, kayaking, boat time, alpine slide rides. When I dropped Lyza off at her Mom’s last Wednesday night after the trip home I even paused for a second before I got in my car and just thought about it all……a solo vacation with my daughter – and how special that time was. The time with my parents was fantastic. I wished D could have been there though, and I know she won’t miss the fun next summer.

Did I ride? No. Did I run? No – f*ck no I don’t even run at home unless it’s to catch an escaped dog. I did nothing more than play – Frisbee, swimming…that was about the extent of it. When I left had every intention of not losing the fitness I had built through the first 5 months of the year, but I had an overwhelming feeling to just shut it all down and hit my own personal reset button.

I’m paying for it today, but not as badly as I thought. D re-introduced me to Flagstaff on Saturday with a 50 mile road ride. Yesterday, I took my Rig out for an hour and a half MTB ride and after a massage/stretch last night I feel pretty good. I had so much f*cking fun on both rides – and I am ready to bust ass in July to get ready for the events that come later this summer. The mountain bike ride in particular was borderline existential or whatever the hell that means. My legs were just OK, and I could feel the elevation a bit having been at 700 feet for 2 weeks, but carving the downhill turns and the burn of the climbs felt fabu..

The Scalpel sold and shipped today and so I’m down to one mountain bike and a roadie. I got me some o’ dem new carbon Ritchey parts coming for it soon – you know – to go with the new wheelset that should be done in a couple of weeks. Summer feels great, and I can’t wait to get out of work already. Yeah – I’ve been back all of 4 hours and I’m throwing down a 15 minute blog entry. Hey, priorities ya know?!