Next to Last Day of My Spring Break

The first part of my Spring Break was taking my middle and youngest urchins 890 miles southeast to the lovely Dallas suburb of Plano, TX. I brought my bike to do some group rides but it was soooo cold (whereas the week prior it was in the 80s) and drizzly the bike stayed put at Mom and Dad's. That was okay though, it meant more hang time for the familia. Maura brought her lacrosse stick down and we played catch in-between rain drops, hung out with the parents and I made breakfast and dinner most days. I did manage to get 12 miles worth of running down there. The best day weather-wise was when we left back to Colorado-go figure. My eldest went on her first Mother-Daughter trip to San Francisco. It was great seeing my parents. 5 days was enough before we started to get onto each others' nerves. Goodbyes are so awkward. I kind of hate them. Waving goodbye as we drive away is not a natural phenomenon.

Coming back on a Thursday meant that I could make it to out our Natural Grocers Racing Team picture. It was on the same day held at a nearby crit. I would be financially irresponsible to pay for a one day license, chip rental, and race fee to get my butt handed to me when I can get base miles for free. Back in the day when entrance fees where cheaper I'da considered it but with gas prices going nutty and our sizable commutes I can't whittle away at our potential gas pool of money. I probably gained some mass doing some quality eating with my folks and kids and having not touched the bike in a week was not the recipe to race. The season's long and I've resigned myself to probably racing the bulk doing crits. Looking forward to when XC mountain biking starts up. Due to La Niña, the high country should be thawed out sooner than most seasons; and, I got the green light to get a new mountain bike this season. Seriously considering a 3x9, hardtail 29er. Did some research and to sum, what I found is this: a 29er is not an all-rounder but it is good enough for Front Range mountain biking. I can see its limitations at some of the WinterPark XC courses-especially the technical uphills; and, at Slickrock in Moab. I want the carbon rig but my wallet's not that fat. Realistically the aluminum version of the Flash 29er with a Lefty fork-that'd be the shizzle kids.

After the team pics we went out for a ride. It was Joe, Ben, Kenny, and my lame memory is slipping and two others (Brendan and ?). It was nice riding with Kenny again let alone race with him. I haven't raced with him in a while. We've done the same XC races but not in the same category like we raced in the IIIs so it was nice riding hard with him today. Seeing the racers and the race today inspired me to do more training (at least start with smart calories). I will pay more attention to leg, weight training seeing that I probably won't be in any shape to be competitive in 80+ mile road races but can hopefully fake sitting in a pack attempting to complete a crit. I do want to do the Colorado State Master Road Championships and the series at the State Patrol (track) come Summer.

Work starts Monday. That sucks. This Spring Break though was memorable in a way that I spent some quality time with the kids (as opposed to other Spring Breaks when we were hanging out). Really enjoying each others' company in a way that transcends the other times we spend just being physically near each other but not really interacting. We snuggle at night, talk kid talk and just like being next to each other. Not in the Brady bunch sort-of-way but in our sort-of-way that's intrinsically meaningful and not subject to non-family interpretation. Took Maura on her first mountain bike ride and she slayed. Mason did too (his second). They're both fearless and I really want to do more with them in that particular skill set. Right now they both love the things I find recreationally valuable (I'm a big believer in sound mind, sound body): skiing and cycling (not in any particular order). It can only get better (and more expensive too I suppose).

They're spending the night at Grandma's tonight and I already miss 'em...