More on the Pelvic Floor exercises.

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Try this great abdominal and Pelvic floor exercise.

Get a foam roller (found at local massage and back therapy stores).

Sit on the very edn of the roller.


Then, lie down on the roller with your roller in the middle of your back. Make sure you feel your whole back on the roller. No lifting your back or arching off of the roller.

Have your knees bent and place your hands on your stomach. If you need to support yourself, you can place your hands on the floor out to your sides.

Slowly, while thinking about contracting your stomach muscles (also your pelvic floor muscles), lift one foot off of the floor. Hold for a count of 3 seconds and then alternate the lift to your other leg.

1488 M: What a wonderful ride yesterday. Another century.

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So another century down and more to come.
We headed out in a group of 6. One wanted to climb and practice for her upcoming triathlon. Another two from Denver, never rode with us in the past, but looking forward to riding with us. Then our faithful Joanne, she was interested in a 50 mile. Steve and I, not sure but planned to get in at least 80 miles and then get home in time to get Nina her first Chemo pill.
SO off we all went. Low and behold, as with many rides and riders, we were all going at different paces. What's the best thing to do them. Make sure no one rides alone and everyone does the ride they wanted to do. We all split up. It all worked out to be the best.

Ocne heading into the Fruit Loops we ran into John Lee E. HE was doing a whopping 150 miles. Yikes. We talked him into changing his route and come along with us. HE did. So, Steve and I figured it was a perfect way to get in a 100. You know, help John out and all.... If you know John, he is extremely accomplished and did NOT need our help.

We headed out towards Ft. Collins, north around Masonville and then into the wind back south into Boulder.

We had great stops at Sandy's, and several other mini marckets around Boulder County. Yummy stops for extra food. Can only bring along so many CLif Bars and Bloks.


1387M: Nina and another awesome bike commute.

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Well, it was about 10 degrees cooler today but so worth the ride to and from work. That makes it 1387 for the year. Now it really needs to rain or snow or both. Not that I don't like riding every day to work, but.... I'm more afraid of the hills burning down.

Today's commute was the usually. Windy, but not as bad as earlier in the week. It was, however, cold this AM riding down and I was not dressed for it. I kind of froze most of the way.

Good news is, I can now get to work in 30 minutes almost any time-mountain or road bike.

For today's ride home, Steve met me and we went back up Sunshine. It felt like my legs were crying. I time trial a lot to work and the ride home can be painful if my legs are not recovered. Today they felt the week of commuting. Every time I tried to stand to go faster, they cried. Couldn't change it so I just slowed down.

Steve would ride ahead and take a photo or two. (I'll add them tomorrow).

On the home front, the news is in on Nina. She is very close to leaving this world. She has cancer and it's progressed. We will keep her comfy, give her a chemo pill and some prednizone. That will give her (really us) a few more months and actually make it more comfortable for her.

She is an awesome kitty and would have not done very well if we had not taken her in about 10 years ago. She was only four pounds when we got her and has stayed around 8 pounds the years she has been with us.

Here's to Nina and all of her cuteness. May we keep dignity in her life for as long as she has left.

1362 M and some great riding commutes

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Had a great commute home today. Decided to climb home up another canyon road, then take a dirt road to my canyon, and then back up to my house. Awesome weather! Awesome views.

Nice little climb up to the dirt road but there was less traffic than the road/canyon I usually take home. More mountain views, too.



Yesterday we rode with some friends from Edwards. Man was it ever windy. 50 mph winds. Yikes! And the day before that I had two of my best rides commuting. Record times for commuting on 26 inch wheels.



Will commute one more day this week. Yeah 4 commuter days and getting close to 1400 miles. Should have that by the end of the weekend.

Saturday we will hopefully get rain or some snow. It's getting so very dry and I'm getting nervous about fires.

Sunday will be seasonable temps and be about 55 degrees. That should be good for a moderate to long ride.

Fit Ball Hamstring Exercise

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Here's a great workout for your Hamstring muscles. You don't even have to go to the gym for this one-although, because I do work in a gym, I think they're a good place to go for a good workout.



Take the ball and place it under your feet with your back on the floor.


Next, keep your knees straight, hands out to your sides, and lift your hips high into the air. Make sure you are contracting your Pelvic Floor muscles and abdominal muscles. Then, draw the ball back towards you, as far as you can.


Then, keeping your hips high in the air, roll the ball away from you back to the starting position.


When starting this exercise, you may not have enough core and leg strength to keep your hips high the entire movement. If this is the case, you can rest in between each one or rep.

If you want to make this a more advanced exercise, close your eyes, lift your hands and arms off of the floor and also you can do a single leg at a time.

Today's ride and yesterday's commute

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Today our friends from Edwards came to the Frontrange to ride with us. They also brought along their little dogs, Merlin and Cannon (dale). After setting up the dogs in out house with our own two Girls, we headed to Boulder for a ride.

Steve had to work at 2:00 and we got a late start so we decided to do a quick 37 miles. As the wind was whipping at 50 mph it made for a pretty fun adventurous ride.

I've never been on a ride with Wendy and was quite pleased to see how well she handled her bike in this kind of wind. She quite a bit smaller than I and it was fun to see just how the 50 mph wind would affect her riding. She was a pro. No problem at all.

We chatted the whole way, when we could hear each other and it ended up a great day for the four of us. This all with a nice 75 degree temperature and with my hard commute form yesterday.

Yesterday I rode the Ventana hard tail-(aka retro commuter) with a huge pannier on it. Got to work under 30 minutes (avg hard pace) and got home, more surprisingly, in 47 minutes. And, no, I did not have a tail wind either directions. I was huffing and puffing pretty good both ways and figured it was a good LT workout day.

The sad news is my bike fell over and the top tube was majorly dented. Now I'm not sure what I'll ride on to get ready for the upcoming 200K. Wwaaahhh. Calfee? KHS? Have to find out who can fix it.

And... on the pet front... Nina does have Lymphoma. Not sure, yet, how advanced but will be talking to Dr. Bob soon as to what direction to go. Yes, life sometimes does have sad turns.

2 of my friends making their way in the iditibike.

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Go check out this web site:http://www.alaskaultrasport.com/alaska_ultra_home_page.html.

My two friends Catherine Shenk and Louis Kobin are racing. As far as I can tell Louis is about 4-6 hours ahead of Catherine. Amazing that they are doing so well.

Catherine is my training partner for some of my longer rides. She does far more than me and has some amazing accomplishments. There is also a great Velonews article on her.

I'm looking forward to hearing all about her race in one of the upcoming REI/RMCC talks. She's aboslutely amazing. And, so is Louis.

About 1300 miles to date. Yeah!

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OK. I have to start writing in here more often. No excuses, really.
So if you wan to check out a great lecture about training, nutrition, and cycling, come to REI on
March 18th at 6:30 PM. The Rocky Mountain Cycling Club is the club host.

Cycling, Break the Century Barrier!
March 18, Wed 6:30 PM
Here's the scoop:

In this seminar you'll learn the best training, nutritional, and ride-day strategies for cycling events in the 100-125 mile range. USA Cycling Expert-Level coach Rick Russon will explain the physiology of endurance cycling, and how to maximize your performance based on that knowledge.

Licensed USA Cycling Elite-Level Coach and Certified Personal Trainer Michelle Grainger will fill you in on the secrets of motivation and cycling nutrition. A panel of veteran endurance cyclists from the Rocky Mountain Cycling Club will also be on hand to answer your questions.

The RMCC offers a program of training rides building up to 100 miles, and a number of 200km (125-mile) and longer events to challenge you.

We'll get some drinks at a local bar afterwards to socialize. I'll tell you guys how I got hit by a pickup truck while biking to work back in August and survive to tell about it.:):):)

Location:REI Denver
Contact:(303) 756-3100
Cost: Free
Registration Required? No.

How To Do a Proper Crunch.

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OK. So nothing new for a long time. More to come about the last couple of weeks tomorrow. But here is something to do in the meantime. Crunches-the correct way. For more on that you can go to the web site: http://www.ultracycling.com/index.html for more information. Should be some photos of exercises that help your Core - the muscles that surround our spine and allow us to hold ourselves uprights, bend over, and do just about anything.

Lie down on the floor (mat is fine) and bring your feet off of the floor. Then bend your knees. Place your hands behind your head and keep your elbows outward and parallel to the floor. Keep your chin away from your chest. Now, raise your shoulders off of the floor while trying to crunch your ribcage inward and towards your hips.



This is incorrect-see how my elbows come up and my chin is against my chest. No no no!

See. Here my chin has a space from my chest.

Boulder Cyclist Encounters Moutain Lion

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Boulder Cyclist Takes On Mountain Lion!

A few more days and I turn another year older. Younger? 38?39? Have to ask Linnie Twinnie. Can also ask ET. (Evil Twin in Fruita)

If I don't write anything here (often), than go to my Face Book page and look there. Seems I write there more often, right now. Hard to keep up with both.

Been busy hanging onto work. Actually I love my clients and they are riding and doing really well. Time s are so tuff for so many people. I've lost gym work, several of my friends are out of work and I think everyone I know is at least losing 10%. Yikes. I sure hope things get stable soon.

Not a lot new. Still hiking the Girls 1-2 hours every day. It really is great cross training. They love it and I love it, too. Still running some-3-4 miles with them. Not as often as my legs have been tired.

Steve and I went for a 29 mile ride today and we figured out that I have about 650 miles for the year. Not bad. Have to thank Global Warming or El Nina, or whatever is causing us to have 50 and 65 degree days in the middle of winter. Yikes! I'm waiting for that 5 footer in March. The kind that makes us think our house will collapse. I remember two winters ago when Steve had his knee surgery. Snowed every three days. I had to break trail on the Local dog trails and the Girls were wearing out their winter coats. I think I've only shoveled the driveway twice this year.
Uncle Bob and Steve are going to add a footer under the house tomorrow. That should put our minds at ease.

Probably only going to lift tomorrow. Well, and hike. That's a given. The Girls get a hike (or two) every day.Need a day for the legs to recover. Can bike commute on Friday as it is supposed to be 60 degrees. Then on sat we are going for the century.

If you're local-remember the BMA (Boulder Mountain BIke Alliance) banquet and auction is Friday night.

More Snow and Really Cold Temps.

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Special K in the photo in her holiday coat. It's also really warm b/c it has fleece on one side and nylon on the other.

Man was it cold today. Seemed colder than yesterday. Still the Girls got in 2 hikes on Sunday and one quickie fast paced one today. Today it was only 7 degrees when we went out. Had two coat on each of the Girls and put "Mushers Cream" on their feet.

Have to say, today's hike was really beautiful. The clouds parted allowing just a little peak of blue sky. Really nice.



This photo was hike number two with Steveo and the Girls on Sunday. Had my favorite Grinch hat on. Almost as fu as the "Sherpa hat".

This was on hike number one for Sunday.

End of the day.

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As soon as I got home from riding home from work, we were able to get in a great hour and a half hike with The Girls.

The ride home was awesome, as it usually is. Wind was not very bad today and the temp was in the upper 60s. Not bad for winter, huh?

I'm really getting in some good riding with the weather so warm. It's seems that I can get so much more from the commuting miles than I can from a trainer ride. But remember that its not as defined as a trainer workout. It depends upon wind, the climb, how tired my legs may be from the ride to work. I usually have just enough time to ride a TT to work. 30 min and hard. So, I don't do my "easy" recovery days on a commute. It's 600 feet of elevation gain to get ot work and it's 1600 home. Not exactly easy unless you go really really slow.


My "littel
commute to and from work. This is the canyon part.

Who do you think made these prints? They were rather large.

All different kinds of sites and things to look at on the ride up to the house.


So warm on the hike I had to srap my jacket around my waist and was able to hike in a thin t-shirt.

Great Riding, Great New Prez and Great Weather.

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Sunday's ride was about s good as a winter ride can be. It's incredible. 60-something degrees and rising. OK, so a little windy but I'm not complaining. Wind doesn't bother me. Well, maybe a little but I love riding when I don't have to wear everything I own.

We (Stevo, me and Joanne) headed for the Fruit Loops. Not much ice left on the rads so no worries there. Saw a lot of riders out.


Headed out 66 past Paul (again) and had to say, hello. Still the wind was pretty mild.

It was getting so warm I had to ditch (store) my jacket, my overmits, my vest, and that was about all I could fit into my pockets. Good thing I didn't bring more clothes.


We have now named a new loop. There is the 5 mile "Small Box Loop", there is the "Large Box Loop" which is about 9 miles long (or extra, if you need more miles without going too far in any one direction), and then the is now the "Huge Box Loop". That loop adds in 13 miles and has great views of the mountains.
On the Huge Box Loop we encountered heavy winds. Kind of made us wonder why we went for the extra miles. So much wind out this direction there's the famous Leaning Barn. Guess if I headed out east, more often, I'd have known about this.

And there are the Famous Cheetos! Yahoo for orange dye number something!

Never Seen Her Tail Wag So Much In One Weekend.

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Saturday snowshoe in the Colorado mountains.

A weekend, is great if everyone around you is having the best time they can have. That was this weekend. I was happy, Stevo was happy, The Girls were happy, friends were happy-life is good. No-life is great most of the time. And that is what life is all about.

Started with a great commute home, a great afternoon hike, a snowshoe and dinner with Lucie's adorned, first mom.

Lucie first mom came over on Friday. Had not seen her in a long time and we knew Lucie would remember her. In fact Lucie has always had a very special bond with Melissa. Melisa would take Lucie home if we needed to go out of town. Melissa would take Lucie to shows and tay in hotels with her. Melissa would play with her, let her jump up on her, let her play with her daughter, let her have special treats, and even let her jump on the hotel beds. Yup, doesn't get too much happoier for a dog, then to have a "mom" that allows you all those fun things in life. And that, everyone, is what you rememebr in life. And Lucie remembered it all. She adores Melissa.

Not 100% it's OK to sit on the couch, yet.


Must be OK, I'm getting the attention.

Lucie's first time on the couch-at our house.
And then, the "keep away" game, that Lucie, herself, invented. She asked Melissa to play.


On Saturday, the weekend just kept getting better. We went on a snowshoe, last minute with more of The Girl's favorite people. Sally and Bob. Oh the fun!

All dogs and people getting ready.

Great snow for most of the hike. Sally and Bob skied and The Girls ran.


Sally gets ready for the Birkie. (spelling???)

Self photo with Dr. Bob. Goofing around, of course.

Me, trying not to step on a dog.


Tired Girls in the back of the truck.

The Best Kind Of Weekend

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It was the best kind of weekend, starting with a great commute to and from work on Friday.
















It was warm in the 50s and the views were just great. They are the same views i've looked at for about 18 years, and I never, ever, grow tired of them!

There's not much snow left and although we need more, I cannot complain about riding in the winter in one of the prettiest places in the country.

The rock formations looked great with the later afternoon sun on them and everything around me had a great stillness about it. It took about an hour to get home because I kept stopping to look around the take photos.

Got home with plenty of time to take the Girls into the woods for an hour hike. Enough time to get home and get ready for Lucie's favorite person in the world. Her first human mommy, Melissa.

Good workout this afternoon

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No photos. Just a great day!

Had a great wt training workout today. Finally getting back into good sessions on the gym. Today, listened to great techno while doing chest, back, and arm exercises.

I did: 3 sets of each exercise but the reps varied from 10-15.

Chest: Flat Bench BB Presses, DB Incline Chest Press, Cable Seated Incline Chest Flys, and Standing Cable Flys.

Back: Seated Lat Pulldowns, Seated Machine Rows, Standing Single Arm Rows (while standing on two Dyno Discs), Rear Delt Flys, Pull Ups (wide and narrow grip), and Back Extensions.

Arms: Balance BB Curls (on the large Dyno Disc), DB Bicep Curls, Standing Cable Curls, Tricep V-Ropes and Tricep Extensions (on the cable maching).

Oh yeah, and several different kinds of crunches and PFLATS exercises.

Buff for all uses.

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Went to Dr. Bob's to have some fun on his hiking trails. Sally out playing in the backcountry so we decided to keep Dr. Bob entertained.

Did a massive hike for the pooches. I think to our (only) 2.5 miles) Kayla ran about 8 miles.She disappeared a couple of times , much to my worrisome nature.

After the hike, we had Dr. Bob check out a mole on Lucie's belly. Should be nothing but now she's uncomfortable for any of us who know what it's like to go to the Dermatologist. So now we are trying to figure out ways to keep her from licking the little hole. The Buff idea didn't seem a very good option. Next, tried a t-shirt. She's embarrassed enough that there are no photos of her in Steve's t-shirt. Oh well, it's only foe a few days.

And... the Kayla Wiggins has a chipped molar. UUUHHHGGG! Off to the Dentist for her.

So, although it's tons of fun to have the Girls for all of the hikes, and cuddles and fun we have, it's hard when they are sick or have to make visits to the docs.

As for me, I'm good. Foot only hurts hiking in soft shoes, so I wear the hiking boots. All else is good and I'm looking froward to a good workout in the gym today.

What a difference 24 hours makes

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What a difference 24 hours can make.
Photo on the left is this morning with the Girls. Photo on the right is yesterday morning with the Girls. Where was this snow when the brave firemen needed it last week?

Rode 65 miles with Steve on Sunday. We rode a course backwards to meet up with our friends John and Catherine. They did an RMCC ride of 130 miles. They looked as fresh as Steve and I and we only did half of the ride. Still, it was are longest ride this year. We'll keep tacking on some miles each week.

We were very surprised to see as much snow as we got. The weather was called for snow in the mountains-they don't count us, at 7,000 feet, "the mountains". Yeah-we need it.

Also, gave me an opportunity to shovel which0yup, you guessed it, means a workout. Back, shoulders, pelvic floor, abs, and more.

Winter snow but fires flare.

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My Ebay Winter gift from Steve arrived today.

If you're having trouble getting into workouts in the winter months, well, new clothes and a good gym membership can help. I like dressing for fun when going out to run with the Girls. Running, playing and hiking are good ways to keep your energy up and smile on your face during the winter cold months.

Quite honestly I'd probably be on my trainer more if I didn't have Steve and the Girls to hike with. When I raced I needed to be on my trainer or doing outdoor rides at this time of the year. Now, I stay in shape by cross training. My mind stays focused on getting fit but I don't get too caught up in only riding my bike.And, well, I really think my leg strength issues get addressed more if I cross train.

Last weekend while Catherine was training with a 50 pound bike, getting ready for Iditibike, I hiked a nd ran with the Girls. Steve tagged along with us, too.

Its load of fun getting the Girls to learn new tricks. They'll always work for food.
It's also pretty easy to dress for winter. Anything you wear for cycling during cold months works great for cross training outings.

Hard to think two days prior to the snow it was 45 degrees and no snow on the ground. Scary thing is, yesterday Boulder some of the worst fires (very close to town) seen in years. We need more snow in the Frontrange.