Jim's Place

The "Night Rider" rides again...

A key indicator that my body is truly on the mend from Celiac is how many miles I'm able to put on the bike. February, March and April of this year is when I was so sick that I rarely hopped on the bike and when I did it was from sheer determination. The total miles for those 3 months was a hard-earned total of 75 miles. But this week I rode 107 miles and the week before my total was 114. That's over 8 hours of cardio each week. My big comeback of 2009 is finally rolling right along...

I've even returned to one of my favorites - riding at night. I'm sure that sounds scary to most people but I love it. My old bike - the 1994 Trek - has lights and I call it my "night rider". Tonight, I rode almost 20-miles on my old road bike. I've done 4 night rides in a row which inspired me to jazz up a photo from one of my night rides. I've been having a lot of fun with this "Night Rider" theme, as if "The Night Rider" was a comic book character...

"If you see a flash of light on a darkened street, be not afraid... It is only the "Night Rider"..."

Glider flying on Friday

Flew one of my radio-controlled gliders for the first time in a couple of year. I figure getting back into my model airplane hobby is a key component of my big 2009 comeback...

32 mile ride along the coast

It's sure looking like this comeback is for real... I completed a long bike ride along the San Diego coastline... 32.3 miles...15.1mph avg...141bpm avg/162bpm max... Quite vigorous - about a level 8-9 exertion for most of the 2hrs 8min duration....

Here's the Garmin graph...

The Return to Carlsbad

I used to ride my bike along the San Diego coastline all the time back in the 90s. My favorite starting point was Carlsbad. Since 1996, illness has greatly interfered with making it to Carlsbad. But yesterday, it was a symbolic victory to ride my bike along the San Diego coastline for the first time this year. Looks like my big comeback from Celiac,pituitary failure and thyroid disease is for real... This video was made from video I took on the bike and Google Earth images.... 

My first bike ride with Steve and Gregg

My bike-riding church friends Steve and Gregg have been asking me to ride with them for months. Today, I finally had the wellness and conditioning to join them on a 22-mile ride...

"This old bike"

Had to ride my back-up bike today - my old 1994 Trek. It brought back memories. I rode the heck out of this bike in '94, '95 and '96 and through the years it has been a trusted companion through comeback after comeback...

This old bike... August 10, 2009 @ Yahoo! Video

25-mile bike ride to El Monte Park

When I woke up, at about 3PM, I didn't feel like doing a bike ride. Lately, I've had that run-over-by-a-truck feeling when I get up. Not sure why, but I figure it's related to the ongoing recovery from Celiac. I got a second wind and hopped on the bike, determined to "give it all I got"... I had some knee pain at the 5-mile mark and seriously considered cutting the ride short. But the knee began feeling better so I headed towards El Monte Park. I made it to the park, but on the way back my chain or something began slipping. So for the last 5 miles, it was rather annoying trying to pedal...but I made it home OK. This ended up being my longest ride so far this year - 25.2 miles. Here's the video I made from the ride...

25-mile Bike Ride - August 8, 2009 @ Yahoo! Video

The Mission Gorge hill...

What kind of crazy person would video himself while climbing a tough hill on a bicycle?! ;)

All things new...

After my bike ride Sunday, I reflected on how it appears that my big comeback from Celiac is finally getting into full swing...

All Things New - 8/02/2009 @ Yahoo! Video