Describe an Almost Perfect Day in Black and White

Thanks to my Fitness in the Fastlane crew and the Beautiful Mrs. K, I blasted the mountain bike trails on Christmas Day. You are allowed to be dubious of the term 'blasted.' 

Kind of like most days, I played frisbee with the giant Hound Dog. His Christmas gifts were pretty normal: dog bones and Nerf Frisbees. However, he's still attached to the chewed up old one, and opted not to chew up the new ones. Until the 26th, that is.

I usually get Christmas day pics with my favorite daughter. This time, I convinced her not to take a really bad picture of me, Plus a bonus gremlin. 

In perhaps the most surprising development of the day, the youngsters in the family were quickly and painlessly organized for a group photo. Except Laura. I have no idea how she was able to hide behind the shortest kid, so you'll have to imagine that she is there. Or just trust me. 

 

The Waiting Game is Killing Me

Waiting around for my body to get acquainted with the replacement parts is killing me. But Strava sends me a cheerleading message every year about this time and at least it's truly encouraging. This is the most mileage I've ever recorded, along with the most hours. And what is not included in those numbers is trainer time.

Meanwhile, in our basement when it's 15 degrees outside...

Being in the house with a very motivated 19-year-old cyclist is not helping my anxiety over losing the fitness I had during the last 6 months. I mean, I was so excited to follow my program. I was obsessing actually. And it felt awesome. Now besides Eli, the Beautiful Mrs. K is starting to ramp up her riding. Oh, and the kids on the Devo team are banging out 8 to 12 hours a week in preparation for the 2026 season which I look at every day on Training Peaks. Give me a break! 

But things just aren't ready yet. I'm walking, lifting with my upper body, doing physical therapy with my lower body...can't ride yet. I have to occupy my prodigious amounts of free time with other projects. Like new seals for the mountain bike fork. 

Wow. Yeah, that was like, what, an hour of my day? Then I messed with the cranks, headset, and dropper cable. Yep, that was another hour. Sixteen more waking hours in the day to fill. 

I'm dying over here. 

 

Who Knew?

Who knew that they actually put happiness in a large plastic tub?