My brother started drilling me last night about not updating my blog. I guess the whole point of keeping a blog is to keep those-who-care informed. However, I prefer to think that you all might be more interested to hear what I think, as opposed to what I do or did. It becomes especially hard to tell you about what I was thinking on a long ride since I haven’t been on any long rides as of late. My life has been consumed by a job in Houston for Jan+Feb lately and when you throw in 2-3 hours of training it just leaves me a little spent at the end of the day (hints not blogs).

BUT… …My friend and I did make it out to ride this weekend (after not seeing the sun in Houston for ten days). It was my first ride over two hours since IMFL (its good to back WAY off from time to time) and we threw around some thoughts and ideas in between our cow-spectating. I think a lot of guys that are into hunting/camping probably experience some of the similar bonding moments that I have had with friends while cycling. Sometimes the road brings out that honest self awareness and there’s actually enough time to share it.

We chatted about training and blah, blah, blah, but eventually we tried to pinpoint what makes us happy. It could be a person, place, movie, song, type of food, etc. It didn’t really need to fit into one category or another; it just needed to be something that you associate with happiness in your own life.

My friend’s very first response was “the feeling I get when I see my wife after each day at work” Touching, but a little hard to relate to right now.

My first response:

Coffee.

I’m not that cold. I got a little more deep and sensitive and came up with:

The_presence_of family and friends

Any conversation that lasts considerably longer than either party anticipated (assuming both are enjoying themselves, of course).

Mountains.

Sunshine.

Long walks (especially with my mother).

Jager. Just kidding, but not really.

The Simpsons.

Very hard bike rides when I DON’T blow up.

All joking aside, the presence of family and friends really does make me quite happy. Houston is not an ideal setting for an active individual. In fact, I would probably suggest that Houston is the antithesis of active communities amongst the developed world’s largest cities. However, it is where I am from and the friendships I developed here started when I was learning to walk. Many of those friends and family are still here and they probably don’t realize how often I miss them (but more specifically the ability to see them at my will). Visiting via travel is one thing. Its another to know that you can see those close to you at any given hour of the day should time permit. So while the triathlon side of my life is kind of cruising in neutral, the personal is thriving.

Sooooo I’ll continue to run the same loop over and over again, ride the trainer, and forget what the sun looks like… ….but I’ll be sure to hang out with family and friends as much as possible for the time being. I’ll be back in CO riding the Epic Death Loop soon enough.

Happy Monday working folks,