Adventure Monkey |

May 17, 2012

The Dream of the perfect Dirty Kanza 200 setup

I’m sitting in my recliner drinking freshly made juice out of my coveted DK200 finisher’s glass pondering the meaning of life and where I should go from here but what really gets my goat (did I just say that?) is a distracting thought fluttering through my mind as light as a bouncing butterfly flittering through [...]

May 16, 2012

Nutrition Adventure: Juicing

I recently watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead as well as reading the book Crazy, Sexy Diet. I was already a healthy eater but I have been doing some reading and research on food and nutrition and I know I could eat a lot healthier. I didn’t have coronary disease, in that my arteries [...]

May 7, 2012

Slow Healing and Self Discovery

I haven’t updated the blog in awhile. After the last post in which I excitedly reported my ten minute spin on the trainer, I found myself pretty sore and maybe a little defeated. I decided to take some time to do basically nothing. How often, in this fast spinning world, do we find time to do [...]

April 16, 2012

Training after surgery

Ten minutes. I got on the trainer and pedaled for ten minutes. I realize that’s not very long, but it is a long time to a guy that recently had open heart surgery. I could have gone longer, but that’s one of my traits I had to tame for this ride as I didn’t want [...]

April 13, 2012

The Week from Hell – Heart Surgery Part III

Surgery was on a Monday. I was under for nine to ten hours. After the worst night of my life I finally awoke and the nurses removed the breathing tube from my throat. This was the biggest relief ever. That tube was in my throat for the whole surgery and the entire night, so almost [...]

April 11, 2012

Waking up from Surgery – Heart Surgery Part II

I woke up to familiar voices. The voices of an old friend of mine and some family members. It was comforting to hear the voices of the ones I loved. I felt pretty worn out. I was awake and could hear and remember things but I was too tired to open my eyes. It felt [...]

April 9, 2012

Heart Surgery Part I

To be honest, I was taking this upcoming heart surgery lightly. It seemed so surreal and I wasn’t feeling sick. I have never had health problems and I especially never had heart issues, so it almost didn’t seem real at all. But since it was real, I figured it would be best to get this problem taken [...]

April 4, 2012

Post Surgery Thoughts

I still believe it is best to tackle any situation head on and in a positive frame of mind. That being said, The week of surgery was the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my life. I’m not just writing that either. It was brutal on me. I have thought about how to [...]

March 25, 2012

Riding for Foundry Cycles: Ride, Report, Repeat

I have a big day coming up. A very big day. This day is bigger than any race day I have been up against. As you know, I am headed into surgery this Monday to get this bum mitral valve repaired. I am not scared, rather I feel much like I do before the Dirty [...]

March 19, 2012

I’m out; my letter to drop out of the Stagecoach 400

I can’t do the Stagecoach 400 this year, a bikepacking race that would have taken me through the hills, mountains, desert and oceanfront between Idyllwild and San Diego, California. It would have been epic. Instead I am going in for heart surgery in a week. I am planning on completing this route in the future. [...]