Staying Positive

So here is sit in Hot and Smoggy Southern California. Lots of stuff to do and things weighing on my mind.

Whoops.

Gotta stay positive.

Here I sit in sunny California. Not a cloud in the sky and lots of family around.

And I have a new bike to ride. It is a 2006 or 2007 Specialized S-Works Roubaix. When I first laid eyes on it, it screamed "I am an old man's bike."

It had the seat too low for the rider, flat pedals instead of clipless ones, and stem that was quite tall. In fact, that way it was set up for my Dad, the handlebars were higher than the saddle position.

Well, late last night I set up for me. I raised the saddle up for my leg length. I swapped the pedals out to some clipless ones I had laying around. I flipped the stem upside down so that I had the approximate bar height that I prefer.

Then this morning I took it for a little ride. I needed to go to where my Dad lived and so I decided that I would do it via the Specialized. It has a very nice ride to it. I have never owned any Dura Ace shifters before. I was amazed at how effortlessly they shifted. The carbon frame has some funky elastomers in it that are supposed to damp the ride a bit. I think they actually work. The ride was a bit more muted than my carbon Fuji frameset. I think both are great frames, the Fuji a bit more aggressive in the set up than the Specialized. The Specialized will be a great long ride bike. It is quite comfortable. And just like I thought after my initial look at it, it fits like a glove.

I am sure in the days to come I will put on some more miles and have more to say. Today I only got in 14 miles. But it was nice to be outside and be doing something physical. The town where I am at has a nice hill to climb in order to cross into it when coming from the north end. I climbed in the big ring standing up and felt great doing it. I have had enough time off since the Half Ironman that I don't have any lagging pains. I would have liked to have ridden much more, but I didn't have the time.

I think the riding is really going to help me vent. Now that my Dad is here out of the hospital it will be a bit rougher. He is on hospice with 24 hour care for the next few days. That will be great for us. If his condition stabilizes, the care will be on us. I worry about that. For lots of reasons that I won't go into details about. But, for now all four of us kids are here from all over the country and the burdens is lessened because of it. We have a great family. No losers in the family here. Maybe a little bit odd in ways, but all of us are dependable and easy to be around. It is nice.

Tomorrow is a new day and I try to get the most important things worked on for a bit everyday. There is just so much to do. And, of course I miss the family.