WTF?! I'm not over the hill, I've just begun to climb it!

Me and Laura on the "chocolate bunny" off Minnehaha creek

What's all this nonsense about "40" being over the hill?  Sorry folks, you can tease me all you want, but I'm not buying it.  All in all, I feel physically, mentally, and emotionally stronger than I did when I was 30.  Okay, I might not have the umf I did on sprints 10-15 years ago, and I may need the occasional extra recovery day, but the positives are I know my body so much better than I ever did, and with that comes increased endurance--again mental and physical.

Bike friends, no matter their age, keep me young

I joke with my clients and friends that my "secret" to staying young is hanging out with a bunch of friends who are in their 20's and early 30's.  The flip side is I also stay young because I hang out with a bunch of kids in their 50's and 60's.  By subjecting myself to this full spectrum of youth--be it mental or physical--I will hopefully be kept in check and will keep the years rolling off me like water on a duck's back.

One of the ways I always choose to celebrate my birthday, and yes, I am celebrating turning 40, is by biking either alone or with a group of cool people.  This year is no exception.  Our little gang of bike hoodlums from Madison embarked on a journey to my home city of Minneapolis to play with others. You see not only was this weekend my b-day, but it was another friend's 40th recently which brought back one of my friends, who goes back to early college days, all the way from Seattle.  Damn if I didn't feel a bit overwhelmed with love to get the chance to hang out with so many wonderful people.

So as in my other posts about biking in Minneapolis--I seem to go back to do this yearly now--there was more than just biking.  There was also a plethora of ethnic food from Ukrainian to Vietnamese, beer...so much beer, and little jaunts down memory lane.  Each time I come back here to ride,  my past solidifies a bit more--thankfully with good memories and I experience wonderful new things which will become good memories in the years to come.

Pho at Quang

Uki food!!!

Regarding the biking part, it's always pretty grand (the urban riding scene here can't be beat and the mtb along with some gravel trails are so much better than Madison, but the road riding sucks the big one).  This time getting to show two friends, who have never biked in the city what serious infrastructure looks like, made it that much better.  Splitting the flood water seas from a deluge was "interesting" but fantastic since we got all the trails to ourselves, and finding hidden gems as well as running into my father's racing team was the icing on the cake.  Speaking of cake, copious amounts of sugar and fat were consumed at the Baker's Wife to restore our energy.

Joshua!  All the way from Seattle!

Joshua and Jon rolling on the Kenillworth trail 

waiting out the rain at lake Harriet

gravel!

sunset on lake Calhoun

river bottoms near Crosby park

Hennepin Av bridge

North American Cycle Courier Championship

flooding between lake Calhoun and Isles

Yep, it was deep

Joshua on the Theo Wirth trails

Really, I doubt there is a better way to celebrate climbing, what I hope to be, a really long fucking hill.  Cheers all and here's to another year!  So many thanks go out to Laura, Jon and Joshua for coming out to play with me--I love you guys!

Are my friends trying to kill me or keep me young?