Moab MTB VidS

Just put together some Moab MTB helmet cam footage from the porcupine rim and amasa back trails. View the ish here. MOAB!!

When nature and pollution combine to make something gorgeous.

A visually striking sunset can make you dizzy like the way a beautiful girl can make your head spin. As humans, it's our nature to be drawn to the beautiful and exquisite. They grab and pull you in and soon you forget how you got to where you were but you don't really care. I caught a glimpse of this sunset through my window as I was closing my blinds to snuggle with myself for the evening and the next thing I knew, I was on my roof staring into the eyes of a beautiful girl we call "sunset." She had the most vibrant glow and I was instantly mesmorized by the captivating scene in front of my eyes in my very own city. These are the simple pleasures in life that make us appreciate choices we make. They can unlock hidden away happiness that is stored in the darkness of our minds. 

Sometimes we can get stuck on something that we thought was "everything" but in  the scheme of things is contrived and trivial. It's hard to let go, but once you can, there is a moment where you feel free, free until it clouds your mind again like that first glass of wine...when does it truly release it's grasp? I guess it must be when you accept and stop hoping. It's funny that a simple thing that occurs everyday can stir up your mind and rearrange a thought that is always in the background to brimming on the surface of every firing nueron in your brain. Perhaps we'll never understand parts of ourselves, but at least we have the sunset to show us how beautiful life can be.

Fun Meter Pegged!

The view from Porcupine Rim

Uhh OWW!

Moab is a mecca for outdoor adventures. I spent my weekend there attempting to mountain bike some of the most technically difficult trails I have ever ridden. It was amazing. I was really stoked for my first Moab trip and oh boy did it exceeded my expectations. We only rode two trails in two days because of how physically demanding they were. After a 3 hour ride I felt as though I had been repeatedly shaken in a martini mixer filled with rocks and blistering sun. I loved it! We rode Amasa Back which is a 10 mile out and back ride that is 5 miles of climbing and 5 miles of descending. I managed to crash and severely bruise my hand in the first 10 minutes which was actually quite hilarious because I was all "gung-ho" to rip the shit out of the trails and just got humbled immediately. But never the less, I still was able to grip the handlebars and enjoy the ride. The next day we rode Porcupine Rim which is one of Moab's signature must ride trails. It is nuts. There is a 4 mile section of single track that navigates technical ledges and loose rocks all just feet from the exposed rim edge where if you lost control and fell off the edge, you probably would have time to pull out your cell phone and call your mom before you hit the ground and died. Pretty hairy stuff. But then there are wonderful downhill sections with twisting turn and nice ledges that you can gap and all kinds of fun features to play on. I'm definitely going back...and soon.

Beat Down and LOVING it!

Your probably wondering, "Tyler, what about your Paleo EP" and yes, I managed to keep it up although it wasn't easy and I did drink my fair share of chocolate milk to aid in recovery. The update is that everything is going good, my gut has seemed to calm down a bit and I don't get the feeling of being bloated as often as I did when I ate a bunch of grains and nuts. Hmmm...am I onto something. Stay tuned! Oh and the knee held up great, even when dropping 5 foot ledges to flat...Thank goodness for full-suspension mountain bikes. Come on knee, stay with me, I promise I'll be nicer this week.

P.S. I'm 26 today...wtf?! 

The Amazing Backwards Woman!!

 

This picture is simply astounding. This lady, bless her soul, has somehow eaten her way to making her pooch look like her ass! My favorite part is that she is at Taco Bell...this may have something do with her complete dysmorphia, but I'm not expert so don't take my word for it.

Week 2

Well gang there isn't much new to report with my Paleo EP. My energy levels have remained constant and I have noticed much, if anything, of a change in how my stomach feels. I'm still only halfway to the recommended 30 day challenge. I'm slowly getting used to planning out every meal and really starting to enjoy it...most of the time. My new passion is cooking with loads of olive and coconut oil, damn, it makes everything tastes so much better. In case you were wondering, here is what a typical day of food intake looks like for me:

Breakfast:

• Frittada loaded with eggs, sausage, mushrooms, asparagus, spinach, cilantro, thyme, jalapeno, onion, avocado and garlic all cooked in coconut oil.
• Bowl of fruit: raspberries, blue berries and black berries.
• Coffee with heavy whipping cream

Lunch:

• Pork Shoulder cooked in the crock pot with garlic, onions, diced apple, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil.
• Handful of roasted almonds and beef jerky
• Banana

Dinner:

• More Pork Shoulder
• Salad with lots of greens and veggies

I am constantly drinking water throughout the day and will usually have a snack or two in between meals which consists of an apple with almond butter or a smoothie with frozen berries, almond milk, spinach, scoop of whey protein powder and a banana. If I'm still hungry at night I'll make a bowl of popcorn cooked in coconut oil instead of vegetable or canola oil as they contain lots of the short chain omega 6 fatty acids that I'm already trying to balance out with omega 3s.

So in light of that delicious menu, I think it's time for breakfast! 

Week 1 + Some

Hey Friends! So, I'm a week into my new eating plan and things are going great. My appetite has begin to calm down and I'm not as ravenous as a fat lady at McDonalds anymore. Thank you, God! My energy levels have remained high and I'm not snacking every other hour like I used to. My gut still feels about the same so I hope to see some improvement there over the next few weeks. I've also been getting back on the bike much more in the last week and because of that, I have had to incorporate more carbs before, during and directly after my rides. I'm hoping this cycling season I can keep the 5 lbs that I've gained since last years all time low. Being light is great for climbing, but horrible in the flats. I need to maintain a healthy balance. Wish me luck with that!

My knee that I had surgery on a month ago is holding up well and taking all the pain I can throw at it and spitting it out right back at me! I still have some minor swelling and it gets stiff and a little sore after being on my feet all day at work. Despite all those minors downers, I went out to the RMR Crit races last night and hung in there for a middle of the pack finish in my first "race" back after only a month! I'm definitely stoked to be riding hard again (and pain free!!), but I have a lot of catching up to do before I can think about doing some damage in any upcoming races. My knee is sore today, but I don't think I've set myself back, it just needs a day or two of rest before I get back on the horse.

The old family comes into town tonight!! WOOOO!

Paleo EP - Day 4

I'm done calling this thing a diet. A diet is a ridiculous word that out of shape middle aged people use to convince themselves that they are going to lose some weight and begin working out again. That's definitely not me, I will now use the term "eating plan" to describe my food intake.

This speaks for itself!

 
I have never eaten so much food before. I think the absence of carbs as fillers in my food is the cause. For breakfast I made a huge scramble with 4 eggs, half an onion, half a green pepper, five mushrooms, a handful of spinach and half a cup of sausage and I ate the whole thing along with a bunch of strawberries and honey dew and I could still eat more. Anyone that knows me, will tell you that I usually eat like a bird, but I'm not eating small amounts intentionally, I just eat til I'm satiated. Never more because I hate feeling too full. UGH! I feel as though I'm alwayhungry all day long. I hope my body adjusts because as much as like to eat and cook, I can see it becoming a lot of work.

I made my beef jerky while watching the Champion's League final yesterday. I'm really happy Manchester United lost! (Poor Emory) I feel your pain buddy. Anyway, the jerky turned out quite well. It tastes like Teriyaki jerky. I think next time I'll try to use a little less salt because it has a savory salty after taste. My only complaint is that it didn't make very much. I used almost two pounds of beef and only got a medium sized tupperwear of jerky...WTF. The oven ate all my beef!

JERKY!!

Paleo Diet - Day 2/2.5

Yesterday was my first "real" Paleo day. After work I hit up the great Costco. Damn, I love going there and hate checking out because I always end up spending way more than I intended to! $150 later I am now fully stocked for my Paleo adventures with the exception of fresh veggies. So, I'm walking down aisle after aisle just looking at foods and going, "Damn, that looks tasty, but Shit, I can't have that." I think that happened about 50 times and all the free samples...Oh it was a little painful to pass up the bagel bites and fish sticks! It's amazing how many foods you cannot eat on this plan. But I am pretty stoked about the bacon and sausage coming back into my life. 

That is one HUGE jug of Olive Oil!

 I think I am going to be having a difficult time with breakfast. My stock oatmeal is out the window, it was so easy and it filled me up for a solid few hours. I'm going to try making a Quiche the night before work  and eat that for breakfast...we'll see how motivated I stay with that idea. I've read that some people will just drink the Olive Oil straight up to supplement their breakfast....ugh! But I suppose I'll end up trying it.

On Day 2 I felt a little different, definitely a little more gassy with upped protein intake. 140 grams of protein is a lot! Paleo recommends 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight!! I found an awesome recipe for jerky that I'm psyched to try out. Check it out BEEF JERKY!.

Well, that's about all I have to report since Day 3 has only just begun. Gotta replenish my body after my first Team bike ride of 30 miles. Damn, they kicked my trash. 

Paleo Diet

Today is Day 1 of my Paleo-Diet trial. I am going to give it a proper go because I have been having gut irritation and over inflammatory problems for over a month now. The basics of the Paleo diet are high protein, moderate fat and low carbs. This means tossing out all the bread, grains (my beloved quinoa..), pastas, peanuts (no peanut butter...oh god!), juices, dairy and anything else that is a refined packaged item. Most of these items won't be much of an issue for me to give up, but I can only imagine what a struggle for some it would be to give up bread, dairy and cookies! My roommates love their ice-cream and this is a big no-no on the Paleo diet and I could just see this as a deal breaker for them. Haha! I love them.

So, basically what today is going to consist of is going home and cleaning out the cupboard and fridge of all the no-no items. Then going to the store and shopping....Fuck! But, I am incredibly curious to see whether or not this diet will help out with my issues and give me a performance boost on the bike. I have acquired the book, "The Paleo Solution, The Original Human Diet" by Robb Wolf from my Mom. Thanks Mom. This will be my food "bible" for the next few weeks. I have also been listening to Robb Wolf's podcasts and they are really interesting and he's entertaining too. He's not some fucking science dork, he's an athlete, he's funny and he doesn't have a filter.

I think the biggest issue for me will be the alcohol. I am definitely not going to stop completely, but tone it down...a lot. I'll keep my blog updated on my progress and hopefully I'll see some positive results.

Vimeo!!

Ty's Vimeo Account!!!

I am finally back from my two month hiatus away from the internet world. Rejuvenated and born again with a new outlook, upgraded status and another account on an interweb site. Damn!

Lately, I've been tooling around with my new POV camera and macbook pretty hard. I'm morphing into an electronic junky...soon to join my arsenal of electronic devices will be the coveted iphone. But that's just a side note. The real point is I've finally figured out how to edit some videos and post them on the internet. Check them out at http://vimeo.com/user6226040/videos. This is the link to my vimeo account where I will be posting my lastest and greatest footage from the adventures of Ty. Please bare with my primitive editing skills and mediocre athletic abilities as I continue to try and wear out my body before I'm 30. Let the good times rollllll.

Happy New Year!

Sipping on the "Arrogant Bastard" clone

It's 2011. I'm drinking in the new year with my newest batch of beer and it's delicious! If you have ever had an Arrogant Bastard by Stone Brewery then you will love mine because it is a clone. It's dark and strong with a smooth finish. Let's put it this way, I'm still hung over from last night and despite having a head ache and being disgusted by the smell of alcohol, it still tastes good (the hair of the dog...). Anyway, I'm pretty happy about it.

Well, another year has passed and 2010 was an exciting year to say the least. I over came a five month hip injury that put me on the shelf and really had me wondering if I was ever going to be the same again. My cycling season didn't produce many great individual results, but the team had some awesome performance and I definitely got stronger and enjoyed every race. Well, maybe I didn't really enjoy Lotoja, but I'm glad I stuck it out and finished strong. I applied to PA school, but didn't get in...bummer dude. I played really hard and made a lot of great memories along with some that I'd like to forget as well, but that's life, right?

Now is the time for new beginnings and with the entrance of the new year, we have the opportunity to change our lives in a positive way with the traditional new year's resolution. It's a funny concept, but one that we should all give a shot. I'm pretty awful with money and my resolution is to track my spending and come up with a budget plan. We'll see how it goes. Day 1 of 2011 and I spent $23 on checked bags for my flight tomorrow. Here we go.