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July 26, 2005

Becca's New Bike!

Per request, I am displaying my newly-purchased road bike. This bike was previously owned by a triathlete who is currently a patient at the gym, and it is adorned both by a Team USA sticker and one of the Canadian flag. After I finally received the shoes and pedals that seemed to take an eternity to get here, I installed them relatively easily and took my first ride around the block. Unfortunately for me, I can't spend as much time on the bike this summer as I would like, since I'm trying to beat up the erg as much as possible in preparation for my senior year of rowing. Still, I'm having a lot of fun on it when I can. This morning, I hit 36 mph going down a hill in a headwind!

Posted by rgutwin at 02:23 PM | Comments (3)

July 23, 2005

Vacation!

After an enjoyable hike at the end of the week, I headed up to our family cottage in Old Orchard Beach, Maine with Anna and Karl. We were joined shortly by Karl's girlfriend, Rebecca (yes, it does get rather confusing at times), where we were subjected to countless hours on the beach and forced into modes of relaxation. My mother and Bruce came up from Vermont on Wednesday, and we all headed over to a nearby water park to meet up with one of Mom's employees and her family. It's been so long since I've had a full week of vacation, with nothing I really have to do except for the daily workout and personal hygene routine, and I almost forgot what I've been missing! I had a great time just hanging out with my family and taking full advantage of the opportunity for laziness presented to me. Come Monday, it's back to work I go, but at least I have one more day of relaxaton...plus, my first ride on my new road bike!

Posted by rgutwin at 11:46 PM | Comments (1)

July 16, 2005

Hiking

One of the best things about living in Vermont is that there are so many opportunities to do things outdoors, away from noisy cities and bright lights. I think the cows are the singlemost enjoyable feature of this state, but outdoor activities come in a close second. Karl and I went hiking on Friday and Saturday this week, and we had a great time. We hiked up the Sterling Pond Trail from Route 108 to, you guessed it, Sterling Pond for about a mile. Then we followed the Long Trail for 1.5 miles or so up Madonna Mountain, which was lots of ups and downs, but it wasn't too difficult. Karl kept the pace rather comfortable, as he was following behind me and I figured it wouldn't be very nice to disappear out of sight. Madonna Mountain was cool because we ski at Smuggler's Notch a lot, and they have a chairlift that goes to the top of the mountain. Against Karl's protests, I took a short break on one of the chairs facing down the mountain. The breeze felt wonderful, and the view was spectacular.

After enough time on the Long Trail, we took Chilcoot Trail to Beaver Meadow Lodge, where we spent the night. We were excited to see the sign at the interstection informing us that the lodge was a mere half mile away. Little did we know that the half mile was at the bottom of an incredibly steep descent. All-in-all, though, the hike only took us three hours from the start to Beaver Meadow Lodge, which was definitely impressive considering we ascended and descended 1300 feet in that time frame. We ate dinner and spent the night at the lodge, which was surprisingly comfortable. The hike back up and down the mountain was relatively uneventful, and we arrived back at the car just in time to have a nice little picnic before heading home. I know that my quads are a little sore right now from all that extended use, so I hope that Karl is still able to walk tomorrow...

Posted by rgutwin at 02:34 PM | Comments (1)