San Diego Bound

Hadti get out of the house with my beauty so we called Grandma Jan to
dog sit and we are heading to San Diego to visit Kristen's cousin
Lizzie! Once we made it out of the SFV the rain broke and the clouds
are freaking beautiful! I will try to upload some more photos!

Not Ready

Mike was riding from Simi to Malibu today and asked if I wanted to
hook up with him in Thousand Oaks and climb Decker Canyon? I
unfortunately said yes! The weather on this Super Bowl Sunday was
amazing! (sorry to all you who may be in a deep freeze!) I headed into
Westlake to meet him and he had made really good time as I was late.
We headed towards the canyon and Mike blew a tube. I should have taken
that as a hint but no, I pressed on!
Decker Canyon is about 1400 ft of climbing in 1.7 miles. The
hardest part if the climb aptly named "The Wall" is right in the first
half mile! I was not ready for this climb. I have climbed this road
over 100 times probably and it is never easy! Even at my top form
it's hard. I had to stop on the wall for about 15 seconds to catch my
breath. It hurt bad! I definately for the first time felt my extra
weight as I was pulling my fat butt up the hill! We did make it up to
the top and I wishes him safety and fun as he headed down towards
Malibu, and I was back down the way I came! I thought that I would be
thrashed on the way home but other than the stupid headwind, I felt
decent. As I sit here I am feeling it though!
Super Bowl was awesome! Such a great game! Way to go Steelers,
and amazing job to the Cards who almost pulled it off!
Thats Mike in the picture as we climbed the canyon. He took it like
a champ with a 12-23 sprocket! Freaking animal!

Keep Climbing(as for me I will work on some steady base miles I think!)

Lucas

Oh My!

What an amazing day for a ride! I have been able to get in a bit of
riding! Yesterday was my first real test of climbing! Mike and I hit
up Chumash. We rode from his house and climbed Lajas Canyon which is a
steady 1000 ft. Fireroad climb. In the 40 mph winds funneling down the
canyon...it was tough! When we turned off towards Chumash there was
1500 ft if climbing over the next two miles. As we crested one hill we
got a little freaked out when we saw a herd of bullhorns! We
proceeded slowly and realized they were not mean angry bulls! As we
got closer to the top the wind got INSANE! The gusts had to be over
60 mph! It was a bit scary! The ride was awesome and it was great to
get some miles and climbing in.
Today I hit the road with the mission of more climbing and another
2 plus hours in the saddle. It has been MONTHS since I rode Rockstore
and I was feeling the call! My legs felt good on the way out and I
hit the bottom of the hill and headed up. My goal was to not stop and
just keep a steady pace. I did it! I was stoked! I was WAY in pain
at the top! Next hill is Power Climb and there is not much recovery
between Rockstore and it. That was a killer for me today but I made it
up loving every minute of it! Then as I crested the hill I saw two
cyclists stopped and kind of looking around. As I pulled up and they
stopped me to ask directions. IT WAS GEORGE HINCAPIE!!! So freaking
cool. He was with Steve Blick from Oakley and they were trying to get
back to the valley! After giving directions I told him that he was
awesome and wished him luck for his season and took off with a little
extra pep in my pedals! So cool! Once I dropped down into Westlake I
had absolutely no power left! Riding the last ten miles uphill into
the wind was horrible! I felt like I had been out for 4 plus hours!
All in all I was pretty stoked with the ride! It feels so good to be
back on the bike!

Keep Climbing,
Lucas

Riding in the Winter Sun!

I've been on the bike a bit in the last two weeks! I actually rode
for 2 hours in the dirt on Monday! I felt great afterwords to which
is very inspiring! I need to get some steady paced miles in to rebuild
the base but the wind has prevented that! I finally got out on the
road bike for the first time since the crash! Let's just say I took
that corner pretty slow!

Keep Climbing,

Lucas Crawford
http://riding-to-live.blogspot.com

Bath Time!

Finally a day warm enough to give the pups a bath! I forget how small
Bean is until he gets wet!

Time Has Come

Now that the back is feeling better, (thanks Dr. Wong and
accupuncture!) it's time to start rebuild version 3.0! I decided to
get my chubby Lola involved! We took a hike in the hills and she did
pretty well! I had to carry her a little bit but she will make the
whole loop in no time!
Also got in a ride yesterday which was awesome. Legs felt like crap
but it was amazing to be on the bike! Stay tunes for some Christmas
pictures!

Early Morning Hike

Monday I went on an early morning hike with my friend Justin and his dog Indy! These were the views that we were treated with once we made it above the fog! It was absolutely amazing! By the time we got back to the bottom, all the fog had burnt off! It was a great way to start the work week!

Sunday after church I took my dad out on his first "real" mountain bike ride! I had a really great time! We hit the Chesebro loop and he took it like a true champion! The first 20 times that I did this loop I had to walk large portions of it! Besides a couple bobbles on the two most technical parts...he rode the whole thing! I am way proud!

My health seems to be getting MUCH better! My back seems to be finally coming around as well. I am really anxious to get back to riding on a schedule but WILL NOT over do it. I am looking forward to a turkey day ride if the rain stops! Until then, I will be praying for the people in the burn areas!

Happy Thanksgiving!