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Author: Faux Runner

Utah Bike Tour – October in “The Year of The Smitha”

Utah Bike Tour – October in “The Year of The Smitha”

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We are back! This time with a custom private cycling trip in Utah! With very little training, unfortunately. I was diverted by my half Marathon training (along with life stuff) and neglected the bike. I even thought about pulling out, but “The Year of the Smitha” needs to be seen through and it was the bike tour for the month of December. Day 1 Capitol Reef National Park We started off with a wonderful ride through Capitol Reef National Park,…

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Its not the Alps. Its the “Pre-Alps”

Its not the Alps. Its the “Pre-Alps”

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I’d been training to do a self riding tour in and around Montreux, Switzerland. We were going to be visiting for the Montreux Jazz festival and it seemed a fun, adventurous thing to do! I scouted the internet for information, routes, guides, etc and finally rented a bike at a local bike store in Aigle, a 20min train ride away. The original plan was to ride around lake Geneva. Montreux is on the lake and looked like a path going…

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Climbing Mt. Lemmon

Climbing Mt. Lemmon

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The one where I almost cried on the side of the mountain but the awesome crew at Cycling house and Barbara and Becky wouldn’t let me… Mt. Lemmon is one of the epic climbs in US, with many cyclists/triathletes making Tucson their winter training base. Going in on the last day of our camp, I knew I wasn’t as trained on hills as I should’ve been. But what the heck, nothing ventured, nothing gained … and Barbara, Becky and I…

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An Ode to the Love of Cycling

An Ode to the Love of Cycling

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Love this year is doing something that I’ve come to love in the past 2-3 years – Clear skies, perfect temps, friends Barbara and Becky, and inspirational women and exploring Saguaro National Park on a bike with The Cycling House “Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove:O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;” – this sonnet remains one of my favorites worth repeating every Valentine’s…

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Day 1 – Shakeout Ride in Tuscon

Day 1 – Shakeout Ride in Tuscon

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This week of riding in Tuscon, Arizona with The Cycling House is a “let’s see how ready Smitha is to build on for the bike rides in summer in the Alps”. The shakeout ride on Day 1 evoked reminiscences of a July day nearly three years past when we embarked from West Glacier into Glacier National Park. Back then, the sun blazed down upon us, and the elevation gain on the ride far exceeded our expectations. In contrast, today’s shakeout…

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Boston Marathon Race Report

Boston Marathon Race Report

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“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination” Boston was my sixth and last stop to complete the World Marathon Majors that started after I ran London Marathon in 2016 and got a lottery spot to New York City Marathon in 2018 (I had earlier run my very first marathon in Chicago Marathon 2011 and a repeat at Chicago Marathon 2012 even before I knew of the World Majors). Tokyo…

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