I enjoy riding mountain bicycles. I hope you do too. And I hope you enjoy my little video about mountain bicycling.

This past week I did a podcast interview with the guys over at Endurance Hour. Dave Erickson and Roger Thompson chatted with myself and fellow XTERRA pro Emma Garrard. We chatted about Lance Armstrong, on road vs off road racing, sponsors and what it means to be a professional triathlete, ITU Cross Triathlon, and much more. Click the image below to listen…

2012 started with some fun (as usual) down at the Snake Gap MTB TT in Dalton, GA. Two of my buddies, Craig Evans and Matt Schupp, and I headed down the day before to do a little spin at Raccoon Mountain along the way.

Trying to look cool at the overlook on Raccoon Mountain the day before the Snake Gap

Because this was the first race of the year, and quite early in the season, all of us were a little nervous about our fitness. We knew it was going to hurt and we were going to suffer, but at least we would all be hurting together.

Getting ready to throw down at the Snake Gap MTB TT

It was a free-for-all time trial start, which meant that whenever you got to the start line, that’s when you started. Craig and I left 10 seconds apart and I soft pedaled to wait up for him so we could ride together. We then proceed to crush it. Check out the data that I collected on my Timex GPS Global Trainer.

Data from my Timex GPS Global Trainer via Training Peaks

I was stoked and quite pleasantly surprised to feel very strong right from the start. Craig and I rode together until the last few miles, where I turned the throttle and put 1:40 into him to pick up the win in 2:48:55. Not a bad way to start the year!

For many triathletes, or at least the ones smart enough to list to their coach, friends, family, science, the experts, trainers, and the countless other authorities on the subject, around now is the time of year that we take a bit of down time. A week or two or three of no training. Time to rest, both physically and mentally. Let your body completely recover and recharge and let your mental energy levels do the same. Many articles, blogs, and other pieces have been written on the topic, but I think most of them miss some of the most key reasons to take a break from training.

Below are 10 additional benefits of taking down time that the “experts” don’t tell you about:

1. You finally have time to watch all 3 Lord of the Rings movies (including deleted scenes) straight through
2. You finally have time to practice your celebrity impersonations while reading The Night Before Christmas
3. You finally have time to read War and Peace in one sitting
4. You finally have time to learn the alphabet backwards
5. You finally have time to do all those little things that have been piling up around the house; such as clipping the dogs toenails, discovering what that smell is behind the fridge, and cleaning out your belly button lint
6. You finally have time to try out all those recipes that you have been eyeing on ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com
7. You finally have time to feed your goldfish… who apparently died three months ago from not feeding him, but you didn’t notice. So I guess you now have time to go get a new one
8. You finally have time to count all the holes in the ceiling panels at the dentists office (even if you don’t have an appointment to see the dentist until April)
9. You finally have time to make that life size model of Abraham Lincoln out of Multigrain Cheerios
10. You finally have time to sit down and attempt to be funny and creative while writing a blog about doing nothing for 2 weeks

Do you have any other reasons I may have missed about why some down time is good for you?

I know this is grossly delayed (the Skirt Chaser 5k was on Oct 1st), but I’ve just now got around to getting a bunch of photos together from Bobbie Turner (kick a$$ photographer) and SUAR. Talk about a fun afternoon!

The Start. The Finish. The Expo. The whole shebang!

Part of the last mile was inside the Sports Authority Field at Mile High

The women are off! 3 minutes til the guys get to chase them down.

The men getting ready to chase the women

Getting ready to strut my stuff for 5k

Finishing up a fun little joggy jog

Post race dance party!

Rocking out in the pink dress

Would you look at that! Representing the sponsor (Go Team Timex!)

Showing off the legs with speedster Megan Hebbe

Super star photographer Bobbie Turner