Author Archives: Al

The Mental Game

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Al

Endurance Nation has a thread running now about mental training, as if it were a separate discipline, like nutrition. Here is my contribution: I’m a big believer that the conscious mind is only a very small part of what controls … Continue reading →

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Tour of California, Part IV

Posted on May 23, 2015 by Al

Stage 6: Santa Clarita Time Trial – The weather was turning foul, at least for South California. We had dodged clouds and rain during stage 5; the actual racers finished in a series of deluges into Santa Clarita. An unseasonal storm … Continue reading →

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Tour of California Part III

Posted on May 21, 2015 by Al

OK, where was I … Stage 3, heading out towards Monterrey (Do you know the way from San Jose?) It’s either over the spine of the peninsula, or down south through Steinbeck country – Gilroy, Watsonville, hints of lettuce and … Continue reading →

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ToC 2015: Stage 3 – Mt. Hamilton (San Jose)

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Al

Stage 3: San Jose (Mt Hamilton) – Our first real climbing day. The west coast of California is only tenuously attached to the main continental tectonic plate. Basically, San Francisco is sliding very slowly towards Los Angeles (or is it … Continue reading →

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Tour of California, Day 0-2

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Al

The Tour of California is a one week stage race – pro cycling’s equivalent to baseball’s minor leagues AAA (if the Tour de France and the Italian and Spanish grand tours were MLB.) The race includes 7 “stages”, each an … Continue reading →

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Going to Tibet, Part IV

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Al

Our scuba guide had promised all week a grand adventure on Friday – swimming with the seals. They liked to hang out and sun themselves on a large rock near the edge of the bay. They’d gotten used to the … Continue reading →

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“Getting Old Sucks”

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Al

Another exchange on the EN forum; this one started by a 61 y/o who had great success after starting up serious triathlon training about 5 years ago. The original post has been lightly edited for acronyms and jargon. …Back in … Continue reading →

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Going To Tibet: Loreto

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Al

Loreto was a small coastal town along the eastern edge of the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), two-thirds of the way from Mexicali to Cabo San Lucas. It also had been anointed by the Mexican government. Streets laid out, … Continue reading →

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Going To Tibet (Cont’d)

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Al

Reluctantly, we turned our attention to the Western Hemisphere. A beach vacation sounded nice. Especially one with a bit of exotic history as a chaser. We’d been to Mexico several times before. First, in the ‘70s, a rapid weekend to … Continue reading →

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Going To Tibet, Part I

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Al

“It’s a looooong drive to Seattle. I don’t know if I can do it every week.” I was complaining to Cheryl about the turn my job had taken. Instead of simply driving 15 minutes into an office or hospital in … Continue reading →

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