New Glory and Summer Redesign

So after a winter plagued with recurring strain injuries and financial challenges, last week I was finally able pick up my 2010 Giant Glory 00. Saturday I decided to finally put down the school work and take it out for its first ride. God it is good to get the wheels rolling under me, if only at a mellow cruising pace. With an extensive warm up and a high degree of focus and caution I was able to make it down the trail without any negative repercussions, which was a relief in itself. Have to thank all the yoga for that one. I still can't pull up or take much compression with my lower back, but just cruising down trails and rolling the bike through corners left me with a huge smile. The bike is amazing to ride... with a 10% weight reduction from last year's design and wider bars it is absolutely effortless to ride. The angles are spot on and it is going to be really fun once I can get it up to speed. I am excited for the suspension to break in a bit more so I can get it really tuned and take full advantage of it's potential. Other than my back I am feeling quite strong, which was a welcome realization, but I have a long way to go before I can really let myself go. Good times...

The last few days I have had the opportunity to look at my summer goals and start making the appropriate adjustments due to my current situation. It has been a trying exercise, as I have a lot of big goals that I hoped to have everything in line for right away, but unfortunately I find myself a few steps behind where I wanted to be. I have also been offered quite a few new opportunities in all different directions, so trying to figure out which ones to accept and how to link everything together has been a creative challenge. After this re-adjustment it looks like my season is going to start slowly and bring it up to peak for some of the bigger events later in the season. Not what I had hoped for, but if things go half as well as I am hoping I should be in a strong financial position with a healed and fully active body and all the resources I need to compete as I intend for the important events in the second half of summer. One piece at a time... first I just have to slay the rest of this semester and get my body back together.

All the best,

J