Part I: Breaking big miles
I’ve been riding my bike A LOT lately. Like 50+ miles in one week A LOT.
It makes sense. When you only have one car, your bike becomes not only the best means of transportation, but quite simply, the only way to get to where you want to go.
To drop Eli off at the babysitter. To a massage. To the library. To the grocery. To the Farmer’s Market.
I’ve never done that kind of mileage on my commuter bike before and all I can say is…it’s making me love my bike even more. Sigh.
Part II: The Olympics ain’t got shit on my friends
I didn’t really watch much of the Limp Dicks (our loving nickname for the Games) but I didn’t need to because I had my own personal Olympian-like friends to celebrate. Ingrid went to the USA Cycling Master’s Track Nationals last week and kicked ass. She racked up eight(!!) medals including one for Best All Around Rider.
Oh yes, she did. And here she is looking really fast…
These accomplishments would’ve been a feat for someone training full-time but did I mention that Ingrid is also the CEO of Quick Left? Right.
Part III: The Woman made of Iron
Jessica is Eli’s godmother and a former massage school classmate of mine. As of two weeks ago, she’s also a two-time Ironman finisher. That’s some crazy shit yo.
(What can I say? I have a thing for befriending badass women.)
In addition to being (almost) funnier than me, she’s pretty much just wicked awesome. She talked me into doing my first triathlon…which was also my second-to-last…but whatever…
More importantly, did you know that after the 1.2 mile swim in the Ironman race, you have to ride your bike 112 miles? Before running a marathon? That means a mere eight hours(!!) on your bike before jumping off to run 26.2 miles.
(Seriously? I’ll stick to the sprint triathlons.)
Jess tracked her training on her blog and posted this video during one of her LONG bike workouts…on New Year’s Eve. I don’t think many people know about the kind of training that goes in to successfully finishing an Ironman race. For those days when you’re cursing your workout that maybe took 45 minutes…
Part IV: And finally, my kid on his bike
It’s even more awesome than I thought it would be. He loves riding his bike and insists that I help him put on his helmet. Safety first.
Plus, we’re trying to teach him what you do when you fall off your bike…
Which is something I could work on.