Mountain biking...

We have finally stripped the paint off my bike frame...ugggh. I took it in last week to the powder coat guy and he was going to charge me $100 to strip the frame of the paint. Are you kidding me? I thought that they would bead blast it but he said that aluminum frames are too soft to do that with. He was just going to use paint thinner and take it off. He told me that if I want to save money I can do it myself. Ok! That sounds like a much better idea. Granted, "Do it myself" actually means "Jason does it"! :-) Gotta love the men in our lives! So, after one unsuccessful try with regular paint thinner we bought this stuff called JASCO. It's not really liquid but more of a paste. It stuck right onto the frame and boy did it work!!! yay! Jason was all decked out in his gloves, respirator, and goggles. It was some seriously powerful junk...only slightly toxic :-). So, we have a few finishing touches left around the crevices and then FINALLY I am taking my dumb frame to the paint place. We are at the one month mark of no cardio exercise. I wouldn't be surprised if it takes another 2 weeks to finish the bike and get me on it. Uggh. A month and a half. Holy cow. I'm going to be SO out of shape.

Last night Jason went on a "full moon ride" with some guys from church. These guys are pretty much animals when it comes to riding. They ride a ton of road and mountain miles each week. Poor Jason has probably ridden two or three times in the last month. He really needs a group of fast guys to spur him on. I am slower than him and there is something about "manly competition" that every guy needs. I don't fart, heckle him, try to push him off the trail, or threaten his manliness by leaving him in the dust. I ride hard, I push myself, but I also look around at all the wildflowers growing and usually say something totally girly like, "Oh, aren't they just beautiful!?!" I don't like to be pushed off the trail. I don't like to be given "brake checks" (where they ride up along side of you and squeeze your brake on your bike) and I definitely don't like to be t-boned. All of these things though Jason experienced last night and boy did he love it. They headed out at 9:45pm and rode up Poly Canyon, around the tracks, up Stagecoach and then down Shooters. The uphill was done by moonlight and the downhill by lights. After that ride they rode to Madonna mountain and rode up that. Um, insane? Yeah. This is a somewhat normal ride for these guys. Jason told me that he would just do the first part. I heard the words coming out of his mouth but I knew he would do both parts...he did :-). The poor guys legs were cramping on the way to Madonna mountain but he just couldn't say no! Oh well, it's good for him! I'm happy he finally got to ride with them. They do morning rides but Jason has to be at work at 7am. He can't ever go on them but always wishes he could. So, way to be a stud Jason! I was half jealous and half happy that I was in my bed nice and cozy at 11pm! Have a great day everyone!