My Summer Winter Camp

By Ryan Schneider 

 "There was a time in all our lives when we were instructed with nothing more than, "Get out of the house and go play!"  That was the only responsibility we had.  School was out. We were too young to work. 

So, we played.

That time ended for most of us around 12 or 13. 

At least for me it did.  Newspaper routes, day camp jobs and ultimately being a cub news reporter filled the rest of my summers until college graduation.

I reclaimed a bit of my childhood during the last two weeks of December.  Our games studio closed for the holidays on December 15 and didn't reopen its doors until January 4.  My wife had to remain at work during most of that time since we took an extended honeymoon in August and she was out of vacation days.

So there really was only one thing I could do...PLAY!

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Seven Fortius Racing Team Athletes Seek the King of the Mountains Jersey

On Saturday, May 19th, 12 Fortius Racing Team athletes will ride in the Heartbreak Hundred Century, the last century of the Planet Ultra King of the Mountains Series.  Like the winner of the mountains classification in the Tour de France, cyclists that complete all the Planet Ultra stages within the official time limit, earn the honor of wearing the red polka dot “King of the Mountains” jersey.  

This year the three stages include: the Mulholland Challenge Century – an epic ride through the Santa Monica Mountains, the Breathless Agony Century – where cyclists ride to the Onyx Summit at 8443 ft above sea level, and the Heartbreak Hundred Century – the final stage that takes cyclists through the Los Padres National Forest.  

The quest for the red polka dot jersey means that Fortius Athletes, Ariel Aboody, Rhonda Litt, Deirdre Owens, David Ari Wachtel, Kelly Walsh, Cynthie Cuno and Lisa Gillmann have cycled a total of 330 miles and climbed 33,375 ft – a total elevation higher than the summit of Mt. Everest that sits at 29,029 ft above sea level! From April 15 until this May 19th, Ariel, Kelly and Cynthie will have also added a 99 mile, 12,000 feet of climbing event, L'Etape du California and Lisa will have done the Leona Divide 50k ultra marathon. 

Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades - The Delicate State of “Almost”

By David Wachtel

“Almost doesn’t count, except in horse shoes and hand grenades,” said my father an infinite amount of times when I would respond to a various plethora of queries with the token response “almost”.  Whether the topic was something laughable as hitting the waste paper basket with a soiled kleenex, or more serious, pertaining to the completion of my pre-algebra homework, the term “almost” was almost always followed by the same predictable remark... “Almost doesn’t count, except in horse shoes and hand grenades.”

Well, on April 9, 2011, after almost finishing the Mulholland Challenge Century, a cycling event in the Santa Monica mountains, I have a slightly different opinion of that word and its connotation.

The day started like most of my weekend days in training for this summer’s upcoming Ironman triathlon.  Up well before the dawn to meet up with training partners for a workout that makes me look like a crazy person to the non-triathletes in my life.  Today’s workout, however, was something slightly different, and slightly even more peculiar, in that this particular event even made some of my triathlon buddies stop and contemplate my sanity.  After all, with 112 miles, and approximately 12,500 feet of vertical gain, the Mulholland Challenge is a serious undertaking.

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