Acupuncture appointment #2 was yesterday afternoon. Dr. Cao worked on my back in this session, with most of the needles along my spine, the back of my neck, and one right in the center of the crown of my head (not a pleasant place to get poked).

He’s asked that I increase the dosing on the herb formula from 2x to 3x per day.  I also found out that I don’t have to actually eat the squirrel testicle pods of my aforementioned post… just make tea with them and drink.  I’ll chalk that one up to the language barrier & resolve to ask way more questions next time he hands me a small brown paper bag…

He had also prescribed green tea.  We stopped at a local tea shop and picked up 4 small packets, pretty much at random.  Two of the packets were some form of Jasmine tea. “No good, too hot”, says the Doctor.  I couldn’t remember the names of the other two teas we had purchased, but he recommends “Dragon Well”.  As a result, we will be heading back to Kent today to pick up some Dragon Well, at which time I will likely pick up one of these badass teacups, pictured at right.  They are double-walled with glass on the inside, acrylic on the outside, and they have a stainless steel screen in the top so that loose leaf tea stays in the cup.  Just the kind of gadget that appeals to the geek in me.  If I gotta drink the stuff, give me something shiny to drink it out of, dammit!

Shout out, kudos, all hail Ms. Lee Spencer!

After setting a goal for herself about a year ago, and busting her ass ever since, fellow Green River Rider Lee is heading off to Penticton Canada to participate in a Full Ironman competition.  This event consists of:

• 2.4 mile swim, followed by
• 112 mile bike ride, capped off with
• 26 mile run – a full marathon!

I have trouble running up my hill 50 yards doing my sprints.  After I ride 100 miles I just want to don my kilt and have a couple of beers.  I have no idea how to even wrap my little synapses around the feat which she has set as her goal.  But knowing this woman, she will do it!  Best of luck, Lee!  We will be keeping tabs on your progress as you compete this amazing journey, all 15+ hours of it!

Now the Green River Riders, being the eclectic and free-spirited little group that they are, don’t necessarily jump out of their chairs when someone says “ride!”.  Out of the maybe 15 or 20 folks that are loosely associated with the GRR’s, 4 showed.  Granted, one guy just had shoulder surgery and two are on an airplane returning from the right-coast of the U.S., so they get a pass.  The rest of You’s?  What do you need, an engraved invitation??  50 miles, brisk pace, lovely warm weather, and the opportunity to bask in the presence of Dale, Russ, Marshall, and yours truly.

The appointed hour and locale was 9:41 a.m., at Cycle Therapy in Kent.  Yes, 9:41.  I told you ECLECTIC, and I meant it.  Then the person who posted the ride was 10 minutes late.  Go figure.  We got rolling shortly before 10.  North along the Green River Trail:

We made a comfort stop at Christensen Park (a.k.a. Bicentennial Park) in Tukwila.  Dale had brought his single speed Specialized Langster (Seattle Edition).  After a whopping 7 or so miles of 17 mph, he felt confident enough in his (and most especially, our) ability to set and hold a pace that he flipped his rear wheel from “freewheel” to “fixed gear”, meaning non-stop pedaling for him.

Warm and humid, it was, so we were far better off moving at the proscribed pace than stopping and steeping. The rest of the venture north was rather uneventful (except for the dude in the Hummer that couldn’t see the Sharrows symbols over the hood of his fricken vehicle. Thanks for waking me from my cycling reverie with a near miss with your right hand mirror. I needed that +20 mph sprint for a mile or two into a headwind to try to catch your sorry ass. I assume it was my kettlebell-chiseled physique that made you speed away, turdball).

We stopped for refreshment at Alki Bakery. I went with the bran muffin and lemonade option. Russ was feeling a little carbo-challenged, so he went for the glazed cinnamon roll the size of his head. His head isn’t huge, so I think it wasn’t a problem.

The ride home was even less eventful that the nearly uneventful ride to Alki. We were all a little overheated, and we all went our own way to seek a malted-barley recovery beverage. Mine came in the form of a large mug of hefeweizen at the Ram, along with a shrimp-and-crab corndog appetizer. YUM!

I have to get a handle on a schedule that won’t compromise family, work, school, weight loss, cycling, and sleep.  I think that either Saturday or Sunday have to be ride days, Monday, Wednesday, Fridays are probably kettlebell training, so Tuesday/Thursday must be some form of spin/hit/or ride.

I was totally pissed off this morning, so I played a little motivational video, then I worked it off with a good hour in the man-cave.  Today’s carnage:

Warmup lunges, squats, etc., then

4 sets:

• 45 seconds kettlebell swings, 24 kg
• 10 burpee/kettlebell deadlifts 2 x 20 kg

5 sets Kettlebell Complex, 20 kg, 4 reps each:

• Clean, Press, Forward Lunge

4 sets:

• 10 Blast-Strap pushups
• 10 Blast-Strap scarecrows

2 sets:

• 4 Assisted Chin ups

the asynchronous bicycle drill team

Originally uploaded by JohnCalnan.

I did an actual, outdoor type bicycle ride today with a group mostly comprised of Green River Riders.

We met at Cycle Therapy in Kent, and after a last minute tire repair for one rider, we were headed east toward Flaming Geyser State Park.

At about the halfway point, we split up so that some of us could ride up “Hatchery Hill”. I would say that yes, the hill is easier since the weight loss, but it was still painful given my fatigue factor after yesterday’s workout. I’m anxious to go take another run at it with fresh legs.

The two groups converged at Flaming Geyser park, and we headed back at a pretty brisk pace. The first flat award goes to Lee, who ran through some glass only a couple of miles from the finish.

34 miles on the day.

• I am stronger, but not much lighter than last year.  Consequently, the “grunt” factor was approximately the same.  I’m still the Lanterne Rouge.
• I no longer mind being the Lanterne Rouge.  I ride how I ride.  Sure, I can improve, but I’ll not be beating riders 10+ years younger and 3 stone lighter up a mountain anytime soon.  So be it.
• Given enough Advil and ice, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be to do our ride to Montana.

I rode solo for just about the entire climb, except for this hawk who joined me for the next-to-last switchback leg:

If I have to climb 14 miles on a bicycle, I want to do it here.  If we do end up moving, I shall not miss the rain, but I will miss having the opportunity to ride with a view like this:

1. another hillclimb or some such indignity, and
2. missing my 8:30 dinner hour with the Mrs.

Not being one to miss an opportunity eat a meal or a skip a hillclimb, I screamed my goodbyes to the disappearing peloton and rode the tailwinds back to Kent. It was a nice little 25 miler, and my knees are still intact for this coming weekend’s Mt. Adams Country Bike Tour. At 100 miles and 6,600′ of climbing, rest and stretching may be the agenda for the remainder of the week.

On a completely different note, professional cyclist David Zabriskie has begun marketing his own brand of chamois cream, DZ Nuts. He claims he’s out to “protect your junk”. I’m tempted to shell out the $22 for a tube (because the marketing guys have my number), but then I’d be tempted to shell out another $22 for the t-shirt (because the marketing guys have my number on speed-dial).

I understood immediately that the selection of this more strenuous route was a form of payback. You see, a few days prior I was guilty of inserting a picture of this same fellow into a dancing leprechaun in a Jib-Jab “Sendable” cartoon (and forwarded same dancing leprechaun to most of the free world). I clicked in to my pedals and hoped to get dropped quickly. For the sake of future route selections, I will resist the temptation to post the cartoon here.

Getting dropped in the headwinds of the 8 mile run to hill #1 was not in the cards (in last week’s episode, Russ and I were blown off the back at about mile 4). Nobody let anyone fall too far back, and if someone started to falter a wheel would be offered for the sucking. Consequently, I was soon delivered to the bottom of “Little Italy”, where I gave directions and a regroup point to the speedsters. Much grunting and wheezing later, I too reached the top.

“We’re lost, you lead, Calnan”. I led the group through the next couple of turns, which would drop them down to familiar territory near the bottom of Peasley Canyon for climb #2. I lingered at the last turn so that the trailing rider would not miss it, and the others were soon gone. Down Peasley Way, left and up Peasley Canyon to 321st, and the last regroup was waiting. The faster group was soon gone again, this time for good as they missed our turn at 296th. A nice fellow walking his dog advised me that the other riders had continued straight, but Russ and I elected to make the turn anyway, as the 7% downgrade in the dark sounded more reasonable than the 15% or so that the others were bound to encounter as they made their way down to the bottom of 272nd via 55th Ave.

I survived better than I expected with only one day of recovery, which is a good sign. Also of note, there was still a hint of sunset color in the western sky as we rode the last few miles, shortly after 8 p.m. I’m looking forward to putting the bike headlights away in the next few weeks.

My good friend and riding partner Kevin has promised me 70 or so miles of punishment for this coming Saturday, however, including excerpts of the SOB route. It’s good to have friends that are looking out for me. Maybe.