64 degrees in July? Seriously??

Look at how beautiful the landscape is in OH! Plenty of farms and country roads to ride on. Now wait until you see the second picture.

Can you believe it?! It was 57 degrees when I woke up on Tuesday. I waited for it to warm up a bit. When it reached 64 I decided to head out but I still needed arm warmers and with a 15 mph wind, a windvest. It was not a pleasant ride. Besides the cold and wind, I was feeling every bump and crack in the road. At the end of the ride I was exhausted. Not from the distance or the effort, but from the road. I felt like I had taken a beating.

And yes, I know I look dorky with the mirror on my shades, but it's nice to know if there is a car back and how close they're going to be when they pass me.

Last Sunday I had the chance to see professional triathlete Meredith Kessler compete right here in Columbus. Meredith went to Columbus Academy (where I teach but I didn't have her as a student) and I also work with her mom at Academy. I follow Meredith on Twitter and during her races all over the world her husband gives updates, so it was very cool to actually see her race in person. She is currently ranked 2nd in the world as a female professional triathlete.

Top left: Meredith as she makes her way into the bike-to-run transition (T2) area. Top right: She's heading out of T2 for the run. Bottom left: Crossing the finish line in 1st place! Bottom right: Just after the finish, what a great race!

Meredith was kind enough to get a picture with me after the race.

75 degrees today so I'm hoping to get out for a few hours.

Thanks for reading!

Best,

Robby

Pelotonia 2014, 17 days to go!

Wow, has it really been 6 months since I posted anything? That's just sad. Time to get you updated on my training.

With just 17 days to go until Pelotonia 2014, training is coming along slowly. I trained for a marathon back in April, so I didn't do my first outside bike ride until May. Yikes. Not a lot of time to get ready for a 180 mile weekend in August. But I have been logging miles consistently now and did my big 75 mile hill ride this past Sunday. I felt pretty good on the climbs but the distance started to get to me towards the end. So, still some work to do but I'm confident I'll be ready come August 9.

Two pics to share. The first one I decided to go old school one day and put on my 7-11 kit from the 80's. Still fit! The second one I came across a family of turkeys crossing the road. It's so nice riding out in the country and seeing this kind of wildlife.

If you'd like to donate, click on the link to the right ('My Pelotonia Page') and it will direct you to my donor page.

Thanks for your support and thanks for reading.

Best,
Robby