So, got back last night from a trip to Maupin, OR. It’s a very cool little town about 90 minutes North of Bend. Population I think was just under 500. Despite the small town in the middle of no where, it’s a cyclist/fly-fisherman’s haven. I headed up with BigMatt as he was participating in a time trial stage race and I wanted to take some photos with my new lense. The town is tucked into a valley along the Deschutes. The local market proudly displays a stuffed mountain lion, and one of the locals won 21 million from a lottery ticket he bought at the store. Still lives in town, just a bigger ranch.

The Time Trial consisted of 3 stages. A 26 mile loop on Saturday morning, followed by an 8 mile climb that afternoon. Sunday’s final stage was a 46 mile out and back. I followed in the car, pulling on and off the road to snap some shots. Here are few, I still need to go through the rest of them and pick the best. The Maupin chamber of commerce requested a few pictures for their site as did OBRA. Good exposure, should be cool.

My LSD run on Sunday morning went well. I took off early, around 7a.m. in order to get back in time to shoot the days stage. It was cold and I ran the Kenyan way, before breakfast. It was a cool run along the river. The interesting part was I was able to hold 134 avg. heart rate heading out, and 142ish heading back. Now 134 is my 70% number, but I’ve had a really difficult time getting it there until Sunday. My runs are usually in the high 140’s to low 150’s despite trying to kep it lower. I think this is a result of a few things. Maybe the altitude? Bend is at 3,500 and Maupin isn’t… And I usually run trails, rolling… vs. Sunday’s relatively flat route. At any rate I was able to hold the comfortable pace and lower heart rate for 95 minutes. Progress is being made. Feeling good. Recovery week this week. Will probably do some extra swim sessions.