It is time to begin blogging again. Events compel me. Well, an event compels me.

For 12 years, I held the title for most times riding my bike up the steepest street in Los Angeles. Fargo Street, while only a tenth of a mile in length, boasts a 33% grade. Most people can't ride up the hill even one time (walking up it is not so easy, either), but I managed an unprecedented 26 ascents one year.

In March, 2004, my crown was taken from me by a 30 year old usurper. I want it back. I want my bragging rights! So I decided to try for 31 ascents of Fargo Street this year. I managed to ride with a little more frequency over much of 2004. True, I was off my bike for all of October and all but a day in November, but since early December I've climbed more than 54,000 feet and ridden well over 500 miles. I'm averaging, over the 40 days I've been on my bike since December, more than 1400 feet of elevation gain each time out.

There are less than two weeks to go before the event, which will take place on March 20th. After so many difficult days of riding, today I practically took a day off, merely pedaling with some of the Los Angeles Wheelmen from the Los Angeles Zoo, traveling about nine miles and 800 feet up to the little town of Montrose, in the San Gabriel Mountains. We stopped at a little pastry shop - I had a fruit tart - in Montrose, before returning to the Zoo. Tonight, I had a nice dinner but for dessert I polished off way too many Girl Scout cookies. I need to lose, I reckon, another 10 pounds, but that goal seems too elusive.

Tomorrow is another day. A day for more climbing, and less weight. Another day to prove to myself that, at least when I'm on my bike, I'm still vital.