Anticipation

Summer on my calendar has officially arrived. The fourth of July celebrations have already come and gone and Le Tour de France is underway! This morning the sun peeked over the horizon in California at 5:45 a.m., a comfortable 60 degrees, the skies were turquoise blue, the winds calm, bird’s singing quietly in the background, and the fresh smell of the trees filled the air. Well, not exactly, you see today’s chore was to empty and completely scrub the cats litter box. As you might imagine the smells were not exactly that of a floral bouquet. Anyway . . .

For me, summer continues to build the anticipation of this year’s annual high Sierra adventure. This will be my fourth consecutive year wildness backpacking near Bishop, CA. It’s less than two weeks away and my motivation for training increases daily as the trip approaches. My challenge is to not overdo it, maintain a balance between workout and proper rest.

As a devoted cyclist and French compatriot, anticipation always runs high with the start of Le Tour de France (Le Tour). This year’s 2,277 mile bicycle race was officially started by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry. Saturday’s first stage of 118 miles began in Leeds with the finish in Harrogate. The familiar voices of NBC broadcasters Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen made it eminently clear that favored to win this first stage was Mark Cavendish. With England's Royal family waiting in anticipation at the finish to see their native countryman win, 984 feet from the finish line he crashed. Sadly, after all of his work to get to Le Tour Mark Cavendish is out after dislocating his shoulder. What a stark reminder that all the training and preparation is useless when your fragile body is injured.

The drama of yesterday morning’s Le Tour reminded me that as your body gets stronger you must exercise caution and care when training. Yes, accidents, I suppose, are inevitably a part of sport, but I’m moving forward alert and attentive. The last thing I want to do is inadvertently twist an ankle, or injure a knee. The slightest injury would end the trip before it even begins. Much like what happened to Cavendish.

Thankfully I can report my training regiment has been consistent. Since purchasing the new backpack I’ve logged over 30 miles with a loaded pack. Alternating between power walking, cycling, and hiking I’ve now logged over 150 miles since June 20th. Wow, that’s hard to believe!

So, today I’m officially designating it as a rest day. It’s still early, I wonder how stage two of Le Tour is progressing? With Cavendish out I’m sure last years champion, Team Sky’s Chris Froome will be the favored rider. Pardon me while I go flip on the television.

Stay tuned . . .

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