Endurance Turtle A journey through this turtles triathlon adventures

George has been pretty busy with flying, so I am on my own when it comes to my Saturday morning rides. Yesterday, I did a ride that I really enjoy. It takes me a little over 20 miles and there are 2 significant climbs in there, the harder climb being toward the end of the ride. I also like it because it keeps me pretty close to home so if anything happens or I get tired I can get home fairly quickly.

For the most part the ride was uneventful. I recently decided to go an a regular regimin of my asthma inhaler (even when I am not working out) and I felt as though that also helped with my breathing. I also wore my heart rate monitor, something I haven’t done for a while and I was able to keep my little rabbit heart in check. Normally, on a big climb I can reach 205 and I linger in the 190s. Max heart rate is supposed to be 220, I am 26 years old so I am not really sure why my heart rate is so high. It might be because I am a regular coffee drinker…or I have small heart. I do recover very quickly and can get down to the 170s within seconds.

The weather was nice, a little cold, but nice. I finally figured out the perfect clothing combination for here in Los Angeles. All you need is a pair of bib shorts, a jersey, knee warmers, arm warmers, a vest and long fingered gloves. The combo is so great because if you get warm you can unzip the vest, and pull down the arm warmers. I have a long sleeve jacket and that is just a little too much and hard to stuff in a pocket. The combo is also great for when you drop down into those cooler canyons on a decent and need to stay warm. Here I am at the top of Lida, feeling okay:

Arm warmer down and vest & jersey unzipped, it got a little warm on that climb. It’s about a 1 mile climb with grades averaging from 4-8%.

After the last climb I really started to make my ride more relaxed. I actually stopped by a historical landmark on Chevy Chase that I have always wanted to take a picture of. It is a house designed by Lloyd Wright (the son of Frank Lloyd Wright) and I think it is actually pretty cool:

There is a house in the Hollywood Hills that was also designed by him:

You can see some similarities in the design, it is somewhat of an acquired taste.

From there I traveled into Glendale more and went to the Americana. I decided to stop by because they have a farmers market and I was thinking about getting some food there. But what I ended up doing was getting some coffee, eating my cliff bar and listening to a live band. While I was sitting outside I was looking at an old building, a little more of Glendale history:

It is actually an old Masonic Temple which is now sometimes used by the theatre group, A Noise Within.

Sometimes it is neat to have fun with your rides, and Saturday I got to have a challenging ride and make it a little fun.

I also discovered a new great way to wear my hair, a bun!

Pretty good self photography skills, huh?

It’s great because my hair doesn’t get in the way and I don’t really have to think about it. I also like it because when I turn my head to look for traffic, or when I blow a snot rocket (yeah!) my hair doesn’t get in the way. Not sure if it makes me look like a boy or not…but I like it and I think I am going to try it out for a while.

So I did about 21 miles in 2 hours, did some climbing and enjoyed the weather. Saturday mornings are fun!