Reflections on Life, Family, and Fitness
Gandhi taught us to “Be the change you want to see in the world.” I would like to suggest if there are areas where you could improve, to “Be the change you want to see in yourself.” Often we have things about ourselves that we don’t like and sometimes devise a host of defense mechanisms…
Five years ago today, my mom passed away from lung cancer. It was a traumatic experience but I consider myself lucky to have been surrounded by absolutely saintly people. A few months before she passed away, Christina tasked me with writing a thank you note for a quilt she made for Christopher (he was 10 months old…
Five years ago on May 9, 2010, we visited my mom at Potomac Hospital who was suffering from the final stages of lung cancer. Patrick, Eileen, and I wanted to do something meaningful and special – but getting her something was not really an option as she only had weeks or months to live. As…
The photos and video in this make me even more excited to do the ride. However, all the extracurricular activities is silly – when you get back after a hard day of riding, all you really care about is eating and getting sleep!
In training for Ride the Rockies, I try to make it out to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park every week. It is essentially 21 miles straight up, and then 21 miles back down. To give it a visual, here is a 3D profile of the route I often take: Anyway, on April 11,…
Since the dawn of e-mail, my inbox has largely ruled my work days, often displacing the important for the seemingly urgent. And since the advent of mobile devices, e-mail went beyond ruling my work days to largely ruling my life. As a result, I was in permanent and perpetual reaction mode. I jumped from the hottest fire…
Fundraising page: http://fundraise.worldbicyclerelief.org/michael-obrien On June 13-20, I will be doing my sixth Ride the Rockies. This year is unquestionably the most difficult – it is just under 500 miles and has 40,000 feet of climbing, requiring training nearly every day until the ride starts. However this year, I wanted to make the ride more meaningful so…
A few weeks ago I came across a web page with great piece of advice and planned to post them on my blog. To augment these suggestions, I started writing down some of the gems I have learned from my family, friends, and colleagues and quickly realized that these alone make a complete blog post. As…
Prologue: As I prepared to leave for Ride the Rockies this year, I struggled with what to call it. Was it a vacation? Most vacations involve fun – and this would involve hours of discomfort, aching muscles, saddle sores, and waking up every day around 5:15 a.m.. Calling it a “bike ride” did not seem…
In November 2012 I learned that my CIO position had been eliminated and that I would be without employment starting January 1, 2013. I knew I was starting a new journey – and unlike most journeys in my life, I had no idea where this one was going to end. A little after a year…