In 1988 or so Thom said, "Let's get mountain bikes." So we did. We did lots of 20 - 30 mile rides down near San Diego, some road, some off road.

Then in 1990 Thom got of the Marines and we moved up to the Bay area. After one HORRIBLE ride at Henry Coe I decided I didn't much like off road riding. I don't remember what made it so horrible. I know it was hot, sandy, the parts that weren't sandy were above my ability. So we soon put slicks on the mountain bikes. We did lots of road rides in the Sunnyvale, Los Gatos, Saratoga area and eventually did a self supported tour from Sunnyvale to Santa Barbara in 1993. That was awesome and I want to do it again.

Then in 1994 we bought a house and stopped riding. We needed to do things around the house. We didn't feel like the riding around here was great. It didn't help that I had a beer bottle thrown at me. And I HATE beer. So the bikes sat in the garage. We got into woodworking and sailing.

For some reason the school year of 2000-2001 really stressed me out. It wasn't my kids. It was changes in the district and the various committees I was on. I think I gained nearly 20 pounds in that school year. I ate chocolate constantly. In June of 2001 I weighed 180 pounds and could not fit into my size 12 clothes. Being a 12 was okay. I was in my mid thirties, married, carrying some extra weight was no big deal. But size 14 in my head meant I was fat. By the end of 2001 I had lost about 25 pounds by doing Spin classes and swimming. At work I only ate what I brought. The chocolate on the school secretary's desk was off limits.

Somewhere in there we got a postcard from TNT advertising tri training. I tried to talk Thom into it, but six years in the Marines really soured him on running. But they also talked about different century rides, so we decided to do one - America's Most Beautiful Ride around Lake Tahoe. We did it on our own, not part of TNT, on our mountain bikes with slick tires. We got passed by a tandem, pulling a trailer with a cooler on the ride. So we got a tandem. Then I decided I wanted to commute to work, so I got a single. Then Thom got a single. Then we started riding the mountain bikes again. There is great mountain biking just three miles from our house at Black Diamond. I still haven't been back to Henry Coe - I need to.

At the end of 2005 I decided to do doubles. I did 3 in 2006 and 3 in 2007. The last one left with an overuse injury that it took me nearly 6 months to get worked out. My right leg still has some issues. I'd missed doing some of the doubles I wanted to do, so I decided I'd do a HIM tri instead and go for an R-12 award. Around the 9th 200K I was feeling pretty burnt out and I barely rode before #10. I tried twice for 10 in December. I was actually really relieved when I didn't finish number 10 on Dec. 31. That meant I didn't have to do 11 and 12.

I haven't been riding much since then. I want riding to be fun again, not something I HAVE to do. I'm finding that place again. My rides up Diablo have been fun, look at the scenery, not hammer to the top events. I'm really excited about our upcoming trip to Vermont.

Veronica