The rest of the story

Like NKOTBSB I'm back, and hopefully this will be more permanent then a boy band. I've decided to start writing more regularly in here as a way to chronicle my training/racing, to try to keep track of my attempts to juggle; school, work, and racing, and to allow family and friends a little insight into the stories that they often only hear bits and pieces of.

In that vein I think it's important to put as much pertinent back story down on paper as I can, so that everyone is caught up.

Hi, my name is Colin and I love food.

About two years ago I was over 250 lbs (I had a no scales policy, so it's hard to say with any accuracy) and rapidly headed upwards. In september of that 2009 I started going to CSU Sacramento and bought a bike so I could ride to school. That first 3 mile ride felt like torture, and I can remember sitting in my first class pretty sure there was no way I was going to be able to make it home. Luckily I did (or else I would be writing this blog about living in a classroom) and it soon became a regular part of my life. Not long after as a convergence of things I had read (someday I'll post a book list) and things I had always felt I decided to become vegan.

Feeling the healthiest I ever had my wife and I moved to Portland Oregon last year and began integrating ourselves into a very vegan and bike friendly city. In December I had a return of what had been a chronic eye inflammation along with some acute back pain. After visiting what felt like hundreds of doctors, and batteries of tests I was diagnosed with HLA-B27 positive Ankylosing Spondilitis with concurrent Scleritis and Crohn's Disease. Which is a fancy way of saying I have a cluster of auto-immune problems all possibly associated with a component of my blood. In day to day terms, my eye has cleared up so what I end up dealing with is some back and joint pain and more regular pooping then the average person.

For the most part this hasn't slowed me down much. I joined a race team this past summer and got out to some team rides and for some racing. I also just transfered to Portland State University this fall to finish my bachelors degree, and joined the college race team as well.

Which brings us to now, where I am juggling a 36 an hour a week job, a full course load as a general science major, and trying to train for my first season of collegiate racing. I'll let you know how it goes as my life unfolds.