Angela Naeth's Blog

Well, I’ve been at altitude for almost 3 weeks. I’m starting to feel normal. No more wheezing when walking up a flight of stairs, no more slow moving legs on the bike (unless I’m climbing one of the hills around here), and no more feeling like absolute crap with a full nights rest!

I’m dealing with some heel pain right now but it’s promising me that it’s on its way back to Alaska.

Now on the lookout for the Wongstar… Joc, there a number of fine, good-looking 40-something-year-olds here. I send them to your profile.

It will be sad to see the Tour go. Contador, I have to say, is the cutest I’ve seen. Winner or not. Everyday, I’ve watched each stage. I plan to be the Queen of hills. They need a match for the King. Pok-a-dots are nice, but Yellow it is. One needs both…

The last two times I’ve been at the local track, I’ve been surrounded by testosterone! I have to say, I love it! ;D Both days have been kind to me. The first day was the speed skating team of 3 relatively good-looking 20-something-year-olds (with those massive quads) and the local high school football team (a bit young, but the doesn’t stop one from looking). But the best part of that first day was the 6-foot black sprinter in lane 6! I had great views for an entire walk/jog session.

The second day (today) was just as good as the first. While I wore my Avia visor, Avia shorts and Wildflower T-shirt with my pink compression socks (a sight I know!), in lanes 4-5, ten stalky but fit mid-20-year-olds were doing a number of leg exercises. These guys had six packs that would put a wrestler or boxer to shame. (I’m still not sure what sport they were training for though…badminton? ). The high-school football team took over the infield about 15 minutes later. This group isn’t a great motivation for me but it was fun to be surrounded by 70+ men and me being the only female.

Nothing beats testosterone for motivation. Let’s just say, I ran a bit more than I wanted…

It’s been over 5 days now at altitude and my body is slowly adjusting. At first, just pedaling at a snail’s pace and walking outside jacked my heart-rate 30 beats/min. I’ve met a few (a lot actually) cyclists and they can all kick my butt right now! It’s amazing how much altitude effects you, or at least that is my excuse at the moment!

The town here has a lot of athletes. Everyone is very active. I’ve seen more cyclists on the road in one day than I have in Solvang in a week, maybe two! It was 4th of the July weekend and that may have brought out a few more athletes to the area. Either way, I love it here. It’s my kind of city. It’s a ski-town with millions of trails and roads to explore. Everyday I’m excited to get out there and find a new trail to hike or ’secret’ road to ride. When I find one, I pretend I’m the only one that knows about it.

Yesterday was one of those days. I road out on a well-known road (watching the storm clouds every pedal stroke) and followed it off some paved trail. The trail climbed up a hill gradually and gave you some spectacular views of a hidden golf course and canyon. Unfortunately it just stopped after a wicked descent (my favorite!). Looking at the local road cyclists map, the road is well-known. Bummer. But at least I was the only one on it. I’ll still call it mine.

Running is s-l-o-w-l-y getting up there in time and distance. I’m on the track mostly and can’t wait to explore the open trails. Swimming is kicking my butt as always, but at least I’m getting some pipes!

I’m packing up for the big move to Park City, UTAH and starting to get some training in the legs. Things are coming along. Shaking out a bike rag, a big black widow landed two inches from my right foot! Yikes! And I’m not sure what it is, but everytime I ride, the stupid sqirrels here attempt to commit suicide daily. The other day I hit one dead on! They literally jump out from the side of the road and play ‘chicken’ to see if they can cross the road. Crazier things have happened this year, but finding a black widow was not one I’m very fond of and killing squirrels left and right makes for some nasty cleaning of the bike!

Yesterday, Chuckie and I went out towards our favorite ride, Figeroa Mountain where MJ Neverland Ranch is located. (I used to laugh when we’d ride by at the lady in the red car who parked outside the gates of Neverland Ranch everyday. She’d sit and wait for hours to try and see the famous superstar. She’d literally sit in her car ALL day to try and catch a glimpse of MJ. Did she not know he didn’t live there anymore?) There were literally a ton of cars parked along side the road. They were coming in droves! It was a sketchy ride to follow the cars but we wanted to take a picture of not the gate, but the people… ::)

Chuckie managed to get this pic of me with all the people ‘hanging out’ at the gate…
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