#tourdeschutes

[snowshoe1980]

Not only did I design the jersey for the last Tour Des Chutes (gratuitous self promotional plug), but I also did a solid 75 miles on the bike today to represent the fight for cancer and a long running charity event of the high desert summer. They had to move to a “virtual” format this year, which meant that you could ride whatever you wanted… or not… so in the spirit of the event I put some new shoes on the Speedvagen and rode the longest I’ve ridden since, idk… sometime last year? That last ten miles was a bitch, but it always is. Hills never get easier, you just get faster… or in my case, exponentially slower. Also: ALPACAS!!! @tourdeschutes #tourdeschutes #speedvagen https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf0EaoWlKAM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[nlillegard]

Ride for a reason

Training continues to be steady. I didn't ride very far this week, but I did get out and hit a few hard rides on Thursday and Sunday in Bend. On both of these, I climbed well, held a pace steadily, and kept feeling like there was a lot more I could do. If only we could stop the rest of life while we take time for a ride. 

All in all, feeling good about the coming weekend's event. 117 miles is a long ways, but having done 80+ and seen all of the course now, I'm not worried about finishing. If I take my OGF Medio result from last year and add my Scout Trip time, I should make this in just around 7 hours. We shall see. 

This past week, my mom was diagnosed with cancer. She's still in the process of coming to grips with this, as is the whole family. We'll know more soon, but to show her that I care and want to have solidarity with her during the upcoming struggle through treatment, I just registered for the 2014 Tour DesChutes. Why not use my fitness to show my mom that I care? It will be a great time to visit her and hopefully a chance for me to help raise some $$ for Cancer charities in Central Oregon. More to come.

So, riding takes on a new meaning this summer and my whole perspective on life has changed. #WeAreTdC