I'm doing a Triathlon!

I have a little less than a year until I am 40 (April 2nd, for those of you who would like to get me a gift

A couple of years ago, I decided that I wanted to do something big, something extraordinary to herald in 40 years of breathing. But I didn't have any clue what. Most of my ideas centered around the bicycle, since that is what I enjoy doing

I had mentioned wanting to do a triathlon in the past, but seeing how I hate to run, and didn't have access to a swimming pool - let me re-phrase that. There is a pool relatively near my house, but my work and commuting schedule made it impossible to get to the pool for a workout - that didn't seem likely

I have several friends who run, and a couple who have done a triathlon. they have said that I could do a triathlon, especially with my strength on the bicycle. I always brushed it off, falling back on my lack of access to a facility to train in. I would chant the mantra, "if only... if only..." to deflect any further prodding from them . While deep in the back of my mind wish, "if I could figure out a way..."

After a while, that little voice in the back of my mind got quieter, and I didn't think about it much any more.

Then one of my cyclist friends said that he was going to do the Spudman Triathlon in Burley, Idaho, and that little voice gained some strength (the Burley area is, for those of you who don't know, is where my lovely wife, Kelly grew up) Then I found a childhood friend on Facebook who is a triathlete, and the little voice got a bit louder. Then, some ladies in my ward mentioned training for a local triathlon, and the little voice gained some more strength, Then my commuting arrangements changed, which would give me time to go to the pool before work, and suddenly that voice in the back of my mind wasn't so little. Then I talked to a guy at church who is training with his wife for a triathlon, and talked a friend who just completed the Ragnar Relay Wasatch Back 170 mile relay race as part of a 12 man team, and the voice was screaming "YOU CAN DO A TRIATHLON!"

So I decided that I am going to do a triathlon sometime before I turn 41. Everything I have read says that if you intend to do something, the first step is to announce it, so you have people who will publicly and mercilessly ridicule you if you wuss out of it. Then you send in your non-refundable, non-transferable registration fee so you are financially tied to that race. I am currently somewhere inbetween steps 1 and 2. This, along with telling my friends, is my anouncement that I am going to do a triathlon. I just haven't decided on which one, and what distance I want to do; sprint (.5 mi swim, 12.4 mi bike and 3.1 mi run) or olympic (.93 mi swim, 24.8 mi bike and 6.2 mi run) The main reason I am considering an olympic distance is the afore mentioned Spudman is an olympic distance.

I do have a few other things to do before I am ready. First off, I need to get a membership to the pool, so I can go swim and run at 5:00 AM before I go to work. Then I need to get a pair of running shoes, shorts and swim goggles.

As I have mentioned, I don't like running, never have. But for some reason now, I am actually looking forward to doing this. I will post updates to my training here on my blog. Wish me luck!

Caption this!

Utah Velodrome, D.O.A? M.I.A? R.I.P.?

The majority of hits I get on my blog are looking for information about the Utah Velodrome which was supposed to be in the planning stages up in Ogden. Since it has been quite a while since I posted any updated information about the velodrome, I figured I would see what I could find.

I checked at the Salt Lake Velodrome Association website, which when I try to pull it up from work it says the url is available from godaddy.com, but when Kelly pulled it up from home last night still seemed to exist. Then I did a google search under Utah Velodrome. Now I know why I am getting so many hits from people looking for information: Guess who is at the top of the page! Probably the only time my meager little blog will appear at the top of any list, but #1 is #1. Woo Hoo! Other searches for information on the velodrome also lead to dead ends, and articles dated Sept 2008 talking about funding being denied by Weber County.

I can only speculate that this means that the Utah Velodrome is dead before it even started, or has been shelved for the foreseeable future. With the increase of people riding bicycles, and the renewed interest in track bikes (although the majority of those are under the skinny leg jeans of some fixed gear freestyler doing skid stops and trackstands in the middle of some downtown intersection, and unfortunately will never see the banked track of a velodrome) that is a sad thing.

That leaves the nearest velodrome to us as the Idaho Velodrome and Cycling Park in Eagle, Idaho - a suburb of Boise. **Word of caution** do not rely on Google maps to give you directions there. We stopped in Boise on our way back from Washington - yes, I will post pictures of that trip, soon - and I decided to take a ride out to find the velodrome armed only with my blackberry, google maps and no actual address. Just so you know, the velodrome is on Horseshoe Bend Road, which is also known as Old Hwy 55 about a mile from State St. It is NOT on Old Horse Shoe Bend Road - which does not exist. If anyone knows how to tell Google Maps that their directions suck, please let me know. They sent me a couple of miles in the wrong direction. I never found it, because I didn't know the actual address until I got home and was able to do a more thorough search, and because my wife was anxious to be back home after a week away, and didn't want to spend any more time on a wild goose chase.

The "A" on the left of the map is where Google Maps says the velodrome is, the bullseye, on the right is where it actually is.

Let's hope that one day, we will once again have a velodrome here in Utah. We may just have to wait a little longer.

He's back.

Back on April 11th, if you visited Yehuda Moon, you saw this strip:

And if you came back after that, you saw the same strip. Yehuda Moon's creator Rick Smith put the strip on hiatus for a while while he took care of some personal things, and got caught up, and probably ahead, on what is undoubtedly a huge undertaking of producing a daily comic strip.

Since then, Rick has posted a few "filler" strips, just to let us know that Yehuda isn't gone for good. Today there was this strip:

And this was posted in the comments section:

Sorry about not keeping everyone updated! Yehuda returns tomorrow (today's strip is just another fill-in from the hiatus), Wednesday, June 17th.

Since I found Yehuda Moon last year, it has become one of my favorite comic strips. I enjoyed the contrast between Yehuda, and Joe King; the commuter vs. the racer. Non-cyclists may not get some of the humor, but the rest of us are nodding our heads and smirking in understanding.

Welcome back, Rick, Yehuda, and Joe. You have been missed.

Sunday funnies

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National Get Outdoors Day

Tomorrow, June 13, 2009 is the second annual National Get Outdoors Day. It is an annual event to get people outdoors and involved in active, healthy activites. Participating partners will offer opportunities for American families to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities. Prime goals of the day are reaching first-time visitors to public lands and reconnecting our youth to the great outdoors

Their website lists 62 official GO Day sites nationwide where activities are planned. Locally, you can go to Snowbird resort to participate

The important part of this event is getting outdoors. You don't need to participate in one of their events, just get outside. Go to a park with the family, go for a hike, or ride a bike. Find somewhere new to explore, or go to a favorite location and do something you enjoy

I plan on spending the majority of Saturday outside, I am riding in the Tour de Cure/Golden Spike Century raising money for the American Diabetes Association.

Get Outdoors and have fun!

Forks, Washington Twilight trip - from my perspective.

It probably won't be until next week when I can get some pictures posted.