The Comeback Kid

Unbelievable. I was doing so good - and was in such good shape. Then, I stopped riding. Why? Well, it certainly started innocently enough (heard that one before, I'm sure!) - I simply got burned out when trying to desperately train for the Death Ride with a couple of my riding buddies - actually, it was just one main riding buddy - Ed. He's a great guy - and a really strong rider - especially considering he's actually a few years older than me. Ed was able to retire - I'm still a working stiff - and he had time to ride as much as he wanted - and he really wanted to ride a LOT, to see how well he could do on the 2008 Death Ride (he ended up doing quite well, btw!) - and since I had done the Death Ride a few times, I was trying to get psyched up for that really hard ride - but I was working at a new company (SeaChange) - and I had been put onto a really hot project - lots of fun - but also lots of work...

So I tried to meet up with Ed as often as possible - and tried to play "catch up" on the miles (and the elevation gain) that you need to put into your legs to ride a successful Death Ride (in this case, "successful" means just finishing it before it gets dark!) - but alas, I was trying to ride too much in too short of a time period - and I simply burned out.

Yep - I just burned out. I was on a ride with Ed - starting in Palo Alto (right near where the Noon Ride takes off most days during the week - a racer's training ride) - and we were going to ride up and over to the coast and back - I don't even remember the exact climb we did to get over to the coast - all I remember is that I struggled immensely to get up the climb that took us to the coast - and then *really* struggled to get back from the coast - all I remember was stopping about 1/2 way up this one climb we were on - and I just said, "Screw it! I'm NOT doing the Death Ride this year - no way, no how! I'm DONE!". And that was it - I crawled my way up to the top of the climb, then drifted back down to Palo Alto to our start point - put my bike back in my car and told Ed he wasn't going to do the Death Ride with me - I was done.

Really done. I then decided to stay off my bike for a month or so, to just get away from all the training and racing I had been doing. But that one month turned into two months. Then three months. Then the legs began to really atrophy - and I started thinking about how painful it was going to be to start riding again. So the three months turned to four months - and so on, until today - two years and six months later - 30 months off the bike!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

So now I'm motivated again - I've gained a BUNCH of weight (probably 30 or 40 pounds - I'm actually afraid to find out!) - and it will be really, really hard to ride again. But ride I will. I know I will. How do I know? Well, I'm going to use my blog to keep all my dedicated followers informed (all one of us!) - and someday, maybe one of my kids will read this - and use it as inspiration to get themselves onto some kind of exercise track - and make it a a permanent part of their life!

To be truthful, I know that one of them is already on the right road - our middle son, Mitchell. He is in good shape and is on a really good diet, too (vegetarian - well, actually, he's a pescetarian, since he'll eat fish for protein) - and I'm confident he'll maintain those healthy habits all his life - because I'm going to really BUG HIM BIG TIME if I see him start to wander away (like I have - a few times in my life, unfortunately).

And our youngest son, Grant, is really into surfing - which involves a lot of exercise, too - although he doesn't do it often enough - you need to find something to gives you some kind of good aerobic exercise at least 3 or 4 times a week. I plan on starting out with 3 to 4 - and then slowly increasing it to 5 or 6 times a week, like I used to do when I was in the very best shape of my life.

But our oldest son, Jake, is kind of like me when I was in my early college career - after a couple of years just studying for classes (like Jake) - and totally stopping any kind of exercise routine (in high school, you HAVE to exercise!) - I had gained about 20 or 25 pounds (just like Jake has now) - and one day, I decided to get myself back into shape - so I looked around and decided to choose biking - what a great choice! I hope that Jake (soon!) finds something, too - and then sticks with it all his life, to keep himself as healthy as possible. Because after all is said and done (are you listening carefully, Jake?), your health is the only thing that really matters, along with your relationships - but you can't have any relationships with people unless you are able to visit them - and do things with them - so if you're bound to some hospital bed and in the poorest of poor health, you can't enjoy the fruits of all your hard labor - or enjoy your family and friends, either - so get in shape, then STAY in shape - and have fun, living life to the fullest. Okay, time to jump off my soapbox... :)

But THIS time around, it will be a little different. Rather than try to keep on pushing myself to ride faster and faster - and harder and harder - and get back into racing - I'm going to keep it light - and fun. With the emphasis on "fun". Oh, I'll do my fair share of huffing and puffing (especially in these first few months that I ride again) - but I'll keep things "fun" - I'll only ride harder when I feel like it - and it won't be to try and set some new record (although I'm sure I'll occasionally test myself, just to see how far I've come in my comeback).

To get started on the right foot, I've just had my trusty Trek Madone 5.2 bike all cleaned up and tuned up at my favorite bike shop, Chain Reaction (in Los Altos) - I bought my bike at the Chain Reaction store up in Redwood City, since I used to work up there (at SeaChange) - but now I'm at a new company (Panasonic in Cupertino) - and the other Chain Reaction store is now the closest to me - and I'll be starting on the comeback trail tomorrow, December 1, 2010 - and my first ride will be really nice and easy.

Oh - and I will be recording my rides, as usual - and I just purchased a new Garmin Edge 500 cyclometer to assist me in my comeback endeavor - and I'm really looking forward to recording a lot of FUN rides - and getting myself back in shape. I'm now 56 years old - and I know what I have to do.

So here we go...again... :)