Happy Halloween!

Halloween Bike Ride by Jeanne Allgood. Go to www.allgoodart.blogspot.com for more of her work.

Caption this

Friday videos:

Talking about one-wheeled contraptions is a little unusual for my blog.  I actually do own two unicycles, but haven't learned how to ride them yet.  If I do learn how to ride it, I doubt I'll ever be able to do anything remotely as impressive as what Kris Holm is doing in this video.

NAUCC 2010 from Max Schulze on Vimeo.

Product review: Zensah compression socks

Another product review of a company that I saw at the Outdoor Retailer show this summer.

Prior to receiving a pair of compression socks from Zensah for review purposes, I have never worn any type of compression garment. I had no idea what to expect. I didn't know what type of "compression" to expect. I also didn't know what the benefits of compression socks or tights were, so I did some quick research on the interweb:

Compression Sportswear or Compression tights are designed to help give athletes a physical and psychological competitive advantage over their opponents.

The alleged benefits of wearing compression tights are: 

• Improving athletic performance by maintaining repeated jump performance
• Reduce muscle movement and vibration and focus the direction of the muscle
• Reducing the risk of Sports injuries
• Maintaining body temperature and moisture wicking
• Reducing the build up of Creatine kinase which is an indicator of muscle tissue damage.
• Reducing the time taken for muscles to repair themselves[Reducing muscle soreness during post workout recovery
• As an alternative to Compression stockings they can be worn during long flights to reduce the risk of Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) caused by pooling of blood in the lower legs  

These factors allow an athlete to increase both the duration and intensity of training and competition.

I wore them for the first time in competition during the Dirty Dash in September. Alleged benefits or not, I found them extremely comfortable, and I swear that they made my legs feel better than they should have running up and down the trails of Soldier Hollow resort. Due to my injury during the Dirty Dash, I haven't been able to try them out again, or do a "with and without" test, but I will definitely wear them next time I go running, and will post a long-term review after more time wearing them. . You can get more information at http://www.zensah.com/. They are available for purchase online, or at running stores across the nation.

they even look good muddy!

Grainnns!

Yet another post that has nothing to do with Bicycles.  Since it is Halloween, and I am vegan, I couldn't help posting it.  I can't tell if it's available for purchase, but here's the link to it.

The Horde

Not a thing to do with cycling.

I was surfing when I came across this shirt.  Seriously cool.  Purchase it here.

Sunday funnies

for more great comics, visit http://www.yehudamoon.com/

Caption this - Halloween bike edition

In the spirit of Halloween, I give you the broom bike:

This bike was found over on everythingweird.com.  I just wonder how hard it is to steer.

Happy Halloween!

Sunday funnies

Story of my life right now...

Caption this! - Video edition

this is not me, but I now wish I had a tandem, and a skeleton.

Two jerseys I will never own

The Fleisher's Meats jersey from Vicious Cycles

and the Devo (yes, Devo the musical group) Hot Dog Fresh jersey

 - I found this one on the Bikerumor site.

Even though it would be nicely ironic for a vegan to wear a meat jersey, I just don't think I could do it.

Autumn riding

If you didn't see my update on my post about going to the doctor, I have a minor fracture in my left ankle, and have to wear a boot for the next 3-6 weeks. 

One of the things I'm going to miss during my time off of the bike is the fall riding.

The leaves are finally starting to change color here in Utah, and there are few things more beautiful and enjoyable than bundling up in your cold weather kit, hopping on the bike, and taking a long ride down a tree-lined road, listening to the fallen leaves crunch under your tires, and marveling at the explosion of reds and yellows in the trees. 

I love fall, and I'm sad that this year I have to experience it as a spectator, instead of a participant.

Sunday funnies

Dirty Dash: The Pictures

Here are the pictures that go along with the Dirty Dash post from the 27th.

Here's the map of the course

The Dirty Eagles, and Soap (team names) before the race. The pig-sty behind us will come into play at the end of the race.

Soldier Hollow was a great venue.  The fall leaves were absolutely beautiful!

Up and over.  Not too muddy... yet. Photo by Flo-Foto.

me wearing my Zensah compression socks.  They worked great!  I'll post about them soon. Photo by Flo-Foto.

One of my friends, Mandi, coming down the slippy slide.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of me on the slide. Photo by Flo-Foto.

Another friend, Kim, coming down the slide. Photo by Flo-Foto.

My cousin and his girlfriend.  Surprisingly, they weren't racing!

The pig-sty.  some people went into it carefully, and aren't muddy on their faces or heads.  Me?  Belly flop!

Do you think I was having fun? Photo by Flo-Foto.

The climb out of the pig-sty.

rock-on!

This shirt was white...

my cousin and her son.  She flew up from California Friday just to race with us, and then flew back Sunday.  You rock, Tracy!

muddy smile.

... and the after photo.  Photo by Flo-Foto.

What we didn't get a picture of was the showers after.  If I had one complaint about the Dirty Dash, it would be that they didn't have enough showers.  Several hundreds of us were standing in line for what seemed like forever to wash the mud off enough to get home.  Oh, and the showers were ICE COLD!!!!

If you couldn't tell from the pictures we had a blast!  We'll be back for more next year.  Thanks to the organizers of the Dirty Dash for a great time!

Should I see the doctor?

It's not like I think I'm some sort of tough guy - far from it, in fact. Nor am I some sort of tightwad - we spend our money way too freely in most instances. I am also not scared of going to the doctor - but I do have an intense, almost irrational, dislike of getting a shot.

I do, however, dislike throwing money at the doctor only for him to tell me that there is nothing that some rest will not cure.

That is why I haven't been to the doctor to have my foot looked at yet.

What is wrong with my foot, you ask? Well, last week, during the Dirty Dash, I missed a step in the tire obstacle and landed funny on my left foot. It felt a little off, but it didn't hurt enough for me to DNF, so I ran on. during the rest of the race there were a few times that it felt "not quite right" so I would walk for a bit. I broke my foot 12 years ago playing a game of basketball at work in Birkenstocks. When that happened, I wasn't able to walk on it about an hour after it happened. This time, I can walk on it, although it does hurt. I figured that I just tweaked it, and It just needed some time to heal. It's been over a week, and it doesn't feel any better. It doesn't feel any worse, either.

not me, but I'm sure that is what I looked like... I was also much farther thru the obstacle than this person...

I haven't been running on it, but I also haven't been keeping off of it. Cycling doesn't hurt at all - probably because the stiff soles of my cycling shoe do a great job of immobilizing my foot, and keep it from flexing unnecessarily.

So, what do I do? I don't want to go to the doctor only to have them tell me I have a little owie, but if there is something wrong, I do need to know that.  I don't want this to keep me from participating in any more triathlons - like the Turkey Tri which is coming up next month.

p.s.  I should have pictures up this week, plus a review of some compression socks that I wore during the Dirty Dash.

Update:  I went to see the doctor today, and found out that I have a minor fracture of my left ankle.  The prognosis is 3-6 weeks in a boot.  Looks like my cycling and triathlon season is over.  As I told the doctor, I would rather take care of it the correct way now, than encounter problems in the future.  I'll be back on the bike (downstairs on the trainer) as soon as the boot comes off.

Josie Johnson Memorial Ride

This Saturday, I rode in the Josie Johnson Memorial ride.  This is an annual ride in Salt Lake City to help raise awareness for bicycle safety, and to honor and remember those cyclists who have been killed or seriously injured in Utah.

The ride is named after Josie Johnson, who was killed while riding up Little Cottonwood Canyon on September 18, 2004.

This year, there were three cyclists that we were riding for:  Norman Bryner, Elizabeth Bradley, and Michael Wright. 

About 100 cyclists rolled out from Sugarhouse park, and headed south towards Mill Hollow Park, where a brief memorial service, and a moment of silence was held. 

Unlike past years - where the weather has been rainy, snowy, and bitterly cold -  we rode this year in summer-like temperatures.  We had a nice, leasurely ride down Holladay Blvd. and back.  About 19 miles total.  It was nice to ride with some friends that I haven't seen in a while.

The ride is put on by the Utah Bicycle Coalition, a non-profit organization that is working to improve bicycling conditions throughout the State of Utah. For more information on what the Utah Bicycle Coalition is doing, check them out at http://www.utahbikes.org/

Sunday funnies