the old, the new and the new old

Been awhile! I've got a queue of unfinished posts, including my first solo 24-hr mountain bike race, a cycling/yoga camp, the Big Parade walk, a trip to Portland and other mini-adventures. I haven't been writing much at all.
This has not been the summer I thought it would be and and as September creeps up behind like a storm in the distance in the mid-west, I'm taking in all I can and delighting in the present. My racing schedule (am I a racer?) has changed, the biggest ones being not racing the Vineman full-iron and deciding to race the Furnace Creek 508 solo again this year. Why? I've been obsessing over Charles Bukowski and here's a fitting quote:

"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is."

This past weekend I rode the Cool Breeze Century, which has a fun double metric option through Ojai. Camped the first night, hung out with some friends of friends at a swank beach house the night after (where I ended up sleeping on the floor) and did some trail running and swimming (cliff jumping! Yay!) before riding back to LA from Ventura via Potrero Rd and Westlake Village.

I love waking up at an unexpected new place this much: