Training Log Archive: PG

5:00 am in Punakha, Bhutan. Trip so far is wonderful.

Spent a day in Delhi, then a 5 am flight to Paro, Bhutan, views of Everest and all the other peaks lit up at sunrise. And now Bhutan for a couple of weeks. We are part of a small group, 6 other paying customers, 3 guides and a support crew of about 8. Wildlife tour, focus on birds, also a lot more cultural stuff than I expected which has been great. One of the guides is a local, seems to know absolutely everything, speaks English well, puts up with all our questions. Another is Indian, bird/wildlife expert, also wonderful. Trip leader is a younger fellow, dutch, living in Kazakhstan, could be better.

We are usually off before dawn, with breakfast in the field a couple of hours later, ditto for lunch. So far we've been staying in non-chain local hotels run by Bhutanese families. Not fancy but first-rate. Will be camping for several nights, first is tonight, will be at about 10,500'. Will see how that goes. :-)

Been lots of altitude changes, lowest about 4,000', highest 13,000'. Really felt the latter anytime I headed up evening the slightest of hills. Vegetation and wildlife a very altitude dependent, so you get to see a lot of variety in a short time.

So far so good. Internet access is sketchy, but sufficient. Nice not to have it most of the time in all honesty.

Time to hit the road.... ;-)

Paro airport. Houses/buildings are just uniformly gorgeous.



It's a Buddhist country. Prayer wheels large and small abound. You always spin them clockwise, just as you always walk around any religious building clockwise.



Archery is the national sport. Standard distance is 140 meters. Watched a match between two teams for a bit, would have gladly stayed longer.



Lunchtime. We have a bus for us and the guides, a truck for the bags and all the gear, and a bus for the crew. Prayer flags abound.



Chele La (La means pass).

Pretty sure this route choice was not just based on some combination of shortest route and most favorable winds.

C • Route Choice by air 5

C • Phillip 3

With Walter, Bill, and Ciel. Modest effort except for the ups, especially Bull Hill and Cave Hill. Excellent company. Mid 50s, windy. Shorts.

Low 50s, sunny, S about 10. Delightful, never cold. I thought at one point, well, when the temps get in the 70s I'll probably be complaining it's too hot. :-)

Steady effort but heart rate stayed rather low. Maybe because I was well rested? I don't really understand what different patterns for the heart rate mean, but it is good entertainment.

Mid-30s, sunny, W 10-15. Just felt cold. Didn't rate real high on the "Did I enjoy it?" scale.

Back to more normal March weather, low 40s, cloudy and windy, W 20+. Leverett loop, moderate effort but still more than I intended.

Mid to upper 50s, more sun than clouds, S 10-15. Pretty nice out. And because there are still snowbanks along the roads and there was lots of melting today, the theme for the day was splish-splash. :-)

Low 50s, sunny, S about 10. Not hard to take. No tights for the first time in a while. Loop over to Whately, so a few small hills, but mostly flat.

Lots of puddles....

Leverett loop, so a few hills. About 40, NW about 15, sunny. Nice loop with a NW wind because you get help for the first few miles, and don't seem to get hurt as much later on.

Easy to start, then progressively harder effort. Not so bad.

Mid-40s, sunny, wind W 10-20+. Lots of melting, lots of water on the roads.

Not dogging it, but also not in any particular hurry.

Main wildlife sighting was a rather small escaped pig. It must have spotted me first, because when I saw it, it was already racing back to its pen, or at least to the outside of its pen.

About the size of Barney, though somewhat different proportions. As far as fragrance, powerful as Barney's is, I'm guessing he might have to settle for second place. He might also have to settle for second place in speed. The pig was really moving.

C • Smell 1

Nicest afternoon in quite a while, sunny, mid-40s, breeze from the north about 5 mph. Face never cold. Could get used to that. Except snow coming tomorrow.

Modest effort heading south with the wind, then working hard coming back. Someday I will get JJ to quantify how the wind affects you much more when you are old and weak than when you are young and strong. At this point, not likely to improve.

And a nice late afternoon hike up the steep side of South Sugarloaf with Charlie and Rhonda. Followed by a delicious dinner masterminded by Gail Rhonda and Kissy. Can't do much better than good food and a lot of laughter.

Time to head outside again. Forgot how much stuff I have to put on. Forgot about wind, sometimes friend, sometimes foe. Didn't forget to check my tire pressure. The front one was quite low, think the tube may need to be retired.

Upper 30s, S 10, 5 miles into it, 5 miles coming back that were nice. I think this is always a windy time of year, so I'll probably be complaining about it for a while.... :-)

At Walter's, hard part was 6 x 6'. Upped the watts just a little each time, so was working pretty hard by the end.

Two week break from the roads is almost over.

At Walter's. Hard session, or at least the harder parts, first 10x30", 30" easy. And then 25x30", 30" easy. Didn't seem like there was much recovery going on during the easy bits.

Ah, well, it's done.

At Walter's again. I'm enjoying it while there's space, and the weather outside this week hasn't been very appealing.