A few months ago, I got an invitation to Gordo’s 50th Surprise Birthday Party in Palo Alto, scheduled for late January. Given the time of year, I made the decision to head out there a week early to get out of winter and ride my bike a bit. Additionally, my friend, Rob Mohr had planned a trip to LA/Venice the week after so I had planned to join him following the trip to Palo Alto.

However, the weeks following my last race in December were rough. I caught three separate viruses in the span of four weeks and had to take some major rest throughout that time and I headed into the early days of January in rough shape. I considered cancelling the entire trip, aside from the birthday party, given my recent health and lack of fitness. However, I decided to stick with the plan, but sort of changed the agenda in regards to training. Instead of going to lower elevations to train hard, I was simply going to sea level to make things “easier.”

And I’m glad I did, not simply because of the training, but for the time I got to spend with my friends in both locales while also celebrating a long time friend’s 50th birthday.

I won’t go into all the specifics of the trip, but I will make mention of a few things that took place during the trip.

I was fortunate to have some nice weather while I was there, allowing me to take full advantage of it to primarily ride my bike. I did some running and swimming, but the cycling took the emphasis on this trip. Both locations had easy access to some great climbing which is my favorite type of riding to do. I found both places to have some great training and both areas exceeded my expectations in that regard. I generally “just rode” while I was there, but I did try to lift my efforts on the climbs a little bit by the end of the trip.

You can see every ride I did on the trip on my Strava profile: CLICK HERE.

While I was in Venice, my friend, Rob Mohr, was in town to oversee some podcasts that hosted Dr. David Sinclair Ph.D., A.O., a Professor in the Department of Genetics and co-Director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Harvard Medical School.

I highly suggest listening to his podcast on the Joe Rogan Experience. You can find it on itunes or CLICK HERE for the youtube link. Some interesting implications of the conversation about aging, health and the science and research being done in that realm.

I rode through a lot of the burn area from the Malibu Fires in November. The damage is severe and the area it affected is massive. It reminded me of riding through the areas affected by the Four Mile Fire in Boulder in 2010. The recent rains have led to some noticeable regrowth in the area, but the homes, structures, etc. are mostly still as they were when the fire rolled through. A somber experience to say the least.

And now some photos from the trip:

Got the chance to meet Q’s new baby, Lila, before he headed back to NYC

Opening ride with Petro up Page Mill Rd.

Made Petro get back in the pool after a one year hiatus.

MonZ swim before the birthday party. Lots of yards and not much talking.

Rode to the coast on my last day. My favorite ride of the trip.

Off to LA. First stop, the Santa Monica Swim Center.

Early morning run above Palisades in Topanga State Park.

Thanks to Ken Rideout for showing us around.

I did get one bad weather day and got caught out in a pretty massive thunderstorm. Most training isn’t memorable, but I will definitely remember that session.