Seeking Coastal Utopia

A close friend of mine that wishes to remain anonymous because he is deathly afraid of the Google monster sent me a picture of his bike after a ride in the snow in the Midwest.  He had recently put on his studded tires and notice the pansy fenders on the Specialized ride.  I think he personally sponsors Specialized - yes, you read it right - he sponsors Specialized, not them sponsoring him. So of course, I could not let him one up me.  I dug the old school Raleigh Peak (circa 1991) with the Shimano XT Rapid Fire shifters and first Generation RockShox (Paul Turner design - air oil) -  http://mombat.org/Rock_Shox.htm  and decided to ride it in the snow here in central Oregon to prove a point. Dumb. Really dumb. So having not really even ridden the 20 year-old bike in probably 2 years, and being VERY used to my Gary Fisher Supercaliber 29er , I was immediately noticing how different the geometry is on the Raleigh.  Don't get me wrong, the R...

http://www.endomondo.com/?wicket:interface=:2:::: My first run since knee surgery. Heck, it is even my first run since I last ran in Hawaii in May 2010! Tried a new running style - more of a Chi or Pose method of running. It was the first time trying that. I also ran with new shoes that will promote that running style, NewtonTrail Guidance Trainer . So because I really do not know what I am doing in this running style, I most likely overdid it.  Left calf is a little sore, but what is nice is that my knee does not seem to be bothering me yet.  I was concerned with my ability to run.  The path I ran is one of the same paths I use on my mountain bike, and it was muddy, so there was some extra natural cushioning with the mud, maybe that helped.  Overall 4 miles as I was also listening to the Audiofuel running coach to music and posted the run at the time called in the music.  8:00 min mile pace.  I've turned into a slowpoke. Related articles Endomon...