Rainy Days and Mondays

Long as I remember The rain been comin' down.
Clouds of myst'ry pourin' Confusion on the ground.
Good men through the ages, Tryin' to find the sun;
And I wonder, Still I wonder. Who'll stop the rain.
Credence Clearwater Revival

Began the last of my first 6 weeks at the Ridge with something different, some live music in the dining hall following the guest orientation. Dan from season five of the Biggest Loser along with his partner from that season his mom, Jacky are doing the program this week. Dan is a fledgling country music performer and he played a couple of songs on his guitar for us. Was it James Taylor doing Fire and Rain, well no, but live music is never a bad thing.

My Monday morning was a whole lot different than most of my Monday mornings here at the Ridge. I did not do the stop sign hike. Now before you think I am slacking off, I did meet Tiffany at Sand Hollow to get out and ride the bike course of the Triathlon. The course is two 5 mile loops on open roads with vehicles still traveling down the road. Now bike riding is one thing, bike riding on a path another, but bike riding in open traffic with no bike lanes is a whole different ball of wax. I don't think I am going to wipe out and fall off my bike, and so far so good, but I sure don't want to do it while sharing the road with a cement truck. The course contains four uphill climbs with the final one being the longest and steepest of the hills. I know you have seen pictures of Lance Armstong standing on his pedals powering up some hill. That's not me. My butt stayed on the seat, I dropped the gears down, and pedaled all I could. I made every hill without a huge issue, and although sweaty ( no shock there) and panting a bit completed the course in a reasonable time for me. Now I have soreness and a bit of chafing in a new found fun area but I know I am going to do this. Special thanks to Damien, who swapped out the tube in my back tire after I woke up Monday to a flat tire.



Tuesday the rains came falling. I could hear the rain pounding against my window much of the night, which is someone surprising because it sounded like a team of lumberjacks was snoring in 118. I miss the quiet that was 118 when Brandi and Katee were there. Anyway back to the rain. It was legit, pouring, cold icy rain on Tuesday morning. Does this mean the hikes are cancelled? NO. Does this mean that people don't venture out into this cold wintery mix of weather? Well the smart ones don't. Being a Tuesday all of the newbies hopped onto those vans and headed back to stop sign. The off road hikes were a no go but you could walk the parts of stop sign that were not under water. Many of the stayovers understood that God, or more likely the people at Life Fitness, had invented treadmills, weight machines, roofs, and heaters exactly for days like this. so we cranked up the music, and plugged away at our inside activities. Mine included treadmill, medicine ball sit-ups, and some arm, chest and back work with the dumbbells. In the pictures you can see the girls struggling to reach new speeds and inclines on the treadmills or perhaps seeing who can find the most ridiculous way to climb aboard a treadmill.

I'm used to being asked about my weight and weight loss here at the Ridge. I begrudgingly answer most every question for the people here. However, the damn treadmill can bite my ass if it thinks I am answering that question for it. My advice to Mrs. Treadmill is mind your own damn business and get prepared to feel every single one of those pounds beating down on you.







The weather is going to be bad on Wednesday with sunshine arriving again on Thursday and sticking around for quite a few days. As of now there are classes scheduled in the morning for the first time since I have been here. A few hearty soles may venture out into the canyon but my guess is most of the campers will be content with a morning circuit and stretch class. As for me I am heading to the city pool to do the triathlon swim segment and work on my turns. I need to start packing up the room as well. I get used to my home away from home room 120 and don't know when I will be back in it. I do come back in a week but I will be at the new off campus studios down the road 3 miles in Kayenta. I hope it's warm and dry wherever you are and as always Peace and Love, Jim