It’s 5:10am and in a little over an hour, I’ll leave for a mountain bike ride with a friend who was stupid enough to let me talk him into getting rolling this early on a Sunday.  Right now, however, I’m sitting in bed with a mug of Stumptown Coffee in front of a copy of The Oregonian that Sal has just delivered.

The column is reality.  My little pea-head is there in print.  My blog address is there at the end in italics.

If any of you are visiting today by way of the opening column, I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the blog.  The Everyday Athlete Blog is a labor of love that I have written for over two years.  It focuses on the emotive side of sports – the high drama and experiences that challenge, inspire, and motivate us in our everyday lives.  Check out the About page for the full story.

To get you started, I’ve pulled a few of my favorite stories from the past few months. 

• 100 Miles to Freedom (the story of my first century)
• My Second Road Race (an impressive fiasco)
• Three Man Rescue Team (why I love my teammates)
• Little Match Girl (Blowing Up at My First Road Race)
• My Running Comeback (the beauty of a well-run training day)
• On Surviving the Hard Days (winter training)
• Epic (racing at the 2007 USGP in a typhoon)
• Drunken Cheerleader Zombies (a race report from the Halloween Cross Crusade)

If you are new to the blog and have comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you.  Please feel free to drop me a line.

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