update

Welcome to saiklr, a blog dedicated to amateur cycling, fitness, nutrition, and any additional random odds and ends I feel are worth sharing with my audience. Today marks the official launch of the web site, although I have been writing here for a little over one month now.

This morning I awoke will the full intent and motivation to get out on the tarmac and ride 50k. All my hopes were dashed when I went out to prep Red Chameleon for the ride, and the stem valve broke off the inner tube, leaving me with a completely flat rear tire.

Once my alarm clock started screaming at me at 4am, I slowly started to become semi cognizant of my surroundings. My eyes reluctantly peeled away from their submerged sleep state, and I heard an unusual, faint sound off in the distance. What was happening around me now?

This morning I was super hyped to ride, but unfortunately I have been inundated with meetings since the latter two days of the week are national holidays. Despite easily awaking at 4am, I was unable to get out for a ride with my buddy Red Chameleon thanks to work meetings.

Hitting the tarmac on Sunday was an amazing experience. It felt satisfying to not only get outside and ride, but hanging out at Starbucks in the early morning hours, sipping coffee along the river was refreshing. Sadly, I was unable to ride today.

Fiesta Friday finally arrived after a non-stop, action-packed, never-ending Thursday. Regrettably, yesterday turned into another shit show at work. Instead of being able to hit the sack at 9pm, I was on phone calls until after 11pm, finally laying my head on my pillow around 11:30pm.

As I wrote on Monday, I went camping for a few days to unplug from the grid and do a sorta digital detox. All too often in this new work-from-home normal we are faced with mounting pressure to work, often failing to consider our own mental well being. That was the primary point of the trip.

Quick update to mention I am going camping and will be off the grid for three consecutive days this week. Beginning Monday, I am heading up into the Chichibu Mountains in Saitama to hang out in the wilderness.