From KT – June 24, 2012

Yo DaVita!

I am back on the grid, and hoping that you all had healthy weekends.  I got home a few hours ago, after 4 GLORIOUS days of mountain biking and camping in the mountains outside Moab, Utah.

This will be a long one, so get ready or skip out now.  I will have to check with some of my co-riders to make sure I have the numbers right:

            Thursday, did final emails and calls until 8:30 am, then left hotel for one hour drive to launch site  —  one medium intensity 75 minutes before an early lunch, then 90 minutes of steady climbing to the campsite after lunch, I had to get off the bike several times to walk.   Then pitched tents and got camp ready, followed by another 75 minutes of  intense riding — so it was a strong starting day, in 85 degree temperatures, with a lot of net vertical gain and ending at 8000 feet of altitude, somewhere in that range.  Pre-dinner conversation about how to make our Village concept become more real for more teammates.  We generated some good ideas that I will be bringing back to the rest of the senior team.  One of them is similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation that McD’s or someone has – more to follow on that.  Great night singing songs around the campfire.

            Friday, waited for new arrivals (my son and 4 close friends), therefore did not break camp until about 10:00 am.  Brutal opening ride on long, sun-baked gravel road, but then switched to some exciting and beautiful wooded trails.  Total riding = 4.5 hours, ending at a campsite on a lake.  The water was cold, but felt great.  I did 50 push-ups, (after 44 the day before) but one of the other DaVitans told me I was hanging my head too low, so the number is probably misleading.  The pre-dinner conversation was about leadership and what, if anything, each of us most wanted to change in our personal or professional lives.  It was so good it went thru all of dinner as well – which is easy because we were all just sitting in small camp chairs around a campfire.

            Saturday also started with a tough gravel road climb, about 90 minutes.  Pre-lunch we did a DaVita business idea conversation, each person throwing out an idea around where they thought we could most improve the business performance of DaVita.  After lunch most of the DaVita teammates left to ride one direction to meet a van to go to the airport to head home.  I stayed with my son and his friends and one of the fellow DaVitans (don’t worry, I paid for the boys expenses, starting from the moment they arrived).  The rest of us did a challenging hike up to 11,700 feet, Burro Pass I think it was called.  Took 2.5 hours, was worth it as the views were spectacular and the lake we arrived at was small and pretty.   After pitching camp three of us went out for another 75 minutes of single-track riding, I fell twice and so was feeling a bit banged up.  Pre-dinner and dinner conversation was about what each of us was most proud of, professionally and personally, in the last 12 months of our life.  It was a very thought-provoking conversation.

            Sunday am it was hard to get out of the tent.  The other riders ranged from 24 to 36 years old (before most of the DaVita folks left, the age of riders who rode all the miles ranged up to 42), so this 56 year old body was beginning to protest.  But off we went for a total of 3 hours, with me falling twice on the downhill single track which was quite hard for me.  Fortunately no serious injury.  And we did also have someone older, Mark Mazak of the Village, who rode a lot of the miles and contributed perfect guitar playing and lead-singing in the evenings.

            Separate from this fact-filled summary, it was GLORIOUS.  Beautiful views, 24 hours a day of fresh air, serious business and life discussions with DaVita citizens and then my son and friends, lots of thinking/reflecting time … plus we saw 6 big Buck Elks moving majestically through the forest, on top of many deer bounding in that graceful powerful way they do.  Plus many hours of very intense exercise.  Pretty special.

            Now I am home.  I will adjust my goals to take into account the fact that taking 2 vacation days allowed me to super-invest in my exercise – but at the same time I do want to get some park-visiting credit for having done it!

            I hope all of you are doing well.  There are over 3600 of us now, joining hands across America and the World to help each other pursue incremental improvements to the health of our lives.  

Take care …. Your Mayor, KT