Happy New Year

It's New Years Eve and we are getting the house cleaned up and ready for our annual steak dinner with the family. I rode for about an hour and 10 minutes on monday and we leave to go camping at Santos tomorrow morning. I'll be riding the single speed there. I look forward to trying it on some of the more technical trails there. The kids should really enjoy the trip. They have expanded the pump track and the boys really enjoy riding their bikes on it.

Back to work on Monday. Crap!

Am I Back?

I've been too busy to update the blog lately. Hopefully I will stay with it. 

We finished the 2008 Florida State Series last weekend and I ended up 5th overall. It is my best finish in the 5 years that I have been racing. I'm very proud and thank everyone for the support. I plan on taking it easy for this week but will start training for the 12 hour soon. I am thinking about hiring a coach if it's affordable.

I started to commute to work as well. I really enjoy it and find the ride home particularly relaxing and re-energizing. 

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Weekend Plans

Not much new going on. I rode last tuesday and did some intervals we call bridge sprints. Because the only hills in this area are manmade, either landfills or bridges over the interstate, we are limited in our training options. I chose a bridge very close to my work, put the bike in the biggest gear, and sprinted up. At the base of the bridge on the other side I immediately turn around and and sprint back up. That counts as one. I did this 10 times. Total ride time, 45 min. Total mileage 10 miles. My legs were cooked!

I probably won't ride today due to family obligations, but I plan to do a long session on the mountain bike on sunday. We race at Alva, our home trail, in a few weeks. Due to rain, it has been unrideable until recently and I haven't been there for a long time before that. I want to put in a lot of practice there so I do well on my home course. The fields will be huge for that race. There are a ton of people who don't race the series that plan on doing that one race just because it is local. Hopefully they are only "pack fill".

Race update

I had a good race at Tallahasse with my best career finish ever. I finished 7th but had I not made a crucial tactical error, I could have finished forth or fifth. The next race is next week sunday in Alafia. It is a very technical course and I hope to do well. I've ridden the course many times for fun and know it quite well. A top five finish there will be quite an accomplishment. 

Did You Think I Left Town?

Well then you would be wrong. I haven't left town, I just got out of "blogging" for a while. I'll try to briefly re-cap the last four weeks. 

The first Florida State Series race went well. I finished a strong 11th place. I know where improvement can be made and hope to do so at the next race.

The 12 hours of Dauset went very well. I felt that I personally had three of the best laps of my career. Although we finished fifth, we had a great time and we were up against some pretty tough competition. The weather was perfect and it was great to see all my friends. 

The boys had their sixth birthday last Sunday. We went to a water park on saturday to celebrate as well as a family party sunday afternoon. 

Our next FSC race is in two weeks in Tallahassee, ( I skipped the San Fernadino race) and the courses will get more and more technical as we continue through the season. I am trying to turn the intensity of my training back up so I can have a peak for the last half of the season. 

I'll try to stay on top of the blogging. I know the millions of people who read this feel empty inside when I don't post for a while.

Excitement Building

Only one week away from the first race of the Florida State Series. I'm pretty excited. I rode yesterday on the road and today at Alafia with the MTB Team. We had a good ride. It was moderate paced and we were basically "shaking out" the equipment. Of course, now several of us need last minute repairs or replacement of broken or damaged parts that we have been "living with" but can't deal with anymore.  I guess it's better now than friday afternoon. 

The following week we travel to Dauset. Again, very excited! The family loves the camping and we get to spend time with Lori and Grog. We never do enough of either. We have also made some pretty good mountain biking friends in Georgia and we look forward to seeing them as well.

The bike is finally in what I think will be it's final race configuration. I have a full XTR build including crank. Chris king hubs with a Stan's front and DT Swiss rear rim. Carbon bar with Thomson stem and seatpost. WTB silverado saddle. And I decided to run a Tioga red phoenix front tire and a Continental twister on the rear. Final weight, 22.6 lbs. I'm very happy with it.

So It Begins

So it begins. Race season is officially upon us here in Florida. We rode in the 8 Hours of Labor last weekend and used it as a training ride. The heat and humidity were off the charts and caused me the most problems. My second lap was terrible and I started cramping about 3/4 of the way through it. I'm not happy with my personal overall performance, but our teams did well for their first race. I have identified what I think is the root of my problems and have made some adjustments to both my personal daily habits (eating and drinking) as well as some positioning adjustments on the bike. I'm looking forward to our first series race as well as the 12 hours of Dauset the week after that.

Fear Mongering

Our local news stations are totally pathetic. We are currently in the midsts of tropical storm Fey. From the onset, local media has been hyping this thing at every opportunity. They have stirred the resident idiocy into such a frenzy of panic shopping it's unbelievable. Gas stations have run out of gas and places like Walmart and Home Depot were packed to the gills. Come on people!!! This is just a tropical storm with maximum predicted strength of Maybe a category one. This will barely be a fart in the wind with a lot of rain. Just bring in the loose things that may blow around your yard and be done with it. 

Maybe I'm over-confident because we went through a category five relatively unscathed. I just think that our news services sensationalize to the extreme which sends people over the edge because they believe everything they hear. They need to show the reality of the situation instead of focusing on the extreme worst case scenario. They need to go out and see what grief their sensationalizing of the situation causes to the more level headed people. Now I not only have to deal with the actual situation, but I also have to deal with every idiot who thinks it's going to be the end of the world.

This whole thing drives me insane. Now when I hear that something like this is on the way, I worry more about having to get normal everyday things than worrying about the event itself.  God forbid I get in someone's way who is buying 30 cans of ravioli for their fallout shelter.

I think I'll calm my nerves with some Starbucks while I stroll around the mall.

The Right Tool....

Remember the sage advice I'm sure that was given to you by your father, grandfather, or at least your high school shop teacher? The right tool for the right job. Well it goes beyond that. Some of us just don't have the natural ability to use the right tool. Take for example, the Machete. Used by farmers and caribbean natives for centuries. Used to cut brush, trees, as well as an assortment of crops including sugar cane, and coconuts. In some cultures, the machete is the swiss army knife, used for almost everything. With that being said, it is with confusion I sit in the emergency waiting room, wondering at what point in my work day did I make the actual mistake. Was it choosing the tool in the first place? I mean, come on! I am a very competent individual. I grew up around tools. I have been working in "Labor" careers most of my adulthood. Although not officially college educated, I did spend some time there. I consider myself to be competent and proficient in most endeavors I take on. Besides, how hard can it be, right?

Or was the mistake in the confidence and hubris itself. The first half hour went by so easily and smoothly. I was looking forward to finishing the job quickly. As they say, "Speed Kills". Maybe if I was a little more methodical and took a step back to re-evaluate every aspect of the situation, I would have been done ahead of the expected time, instead of an unfinished job. You know, the tortoise and the hare.

Well hindsight is 20/20, especially when it is focused by a five hour hospital visit and nine stitches. I could sit for days, driving myself nuts, analyzing every second of the incident, but that will do no good. I was lucky that my riding will continue unimpeded by this injury. I think I will leave the machete for the natives, I'll finish the job with the chainsaw.

More Bike Review

I rode the new bike on tuesday. Due to the poor trail conditions, I did a solo ride around town. It was fun and allowed me to get to know the bike better as well as jump some curbs and bunny hop some puddles. I now see the difference in the aluminum frame and it can be summed up in one word......... Feedback! The aluminum transmits more feedback than I have ever felt. It's not good or bad, just different. I am not used to feeling every vibration and I am going to have to learn what to ignore. Even riding on smooth pavement, I could feel what seemed like every knobby on my small bloc eight as I rolled over it. It will take some getting used to. 

New Bike Review

I took the new bike to Boyette on sunday and it rode very well. I am happy with the set-up and the handling. It does feel a little whippier in the turns which is what I was looking for. However, the aluminum frame is stiffer then the steel Dragon frame that I was riding. I feel more impacts and jarring transmitted up through the frame. I will have to run a little more air in the rear tire than I previously did. I'll ride it again tomorrow and see if tire pressure improves the feel. Overall, it should be a very fast and responsive race bike. I'm looking forward to riding it at Dauset.

Long Time, No Blogging

I haven't been doing anything out of the norm, so I've been neglecting my blog. I've actually tapered down my riding and I'm getting ready to start ramping it back up so I can "peak" during my race season. We've had blistering hot weather that has drained me physically. I haven't had much ambition to ride after work anyway. Now I need to buckle down and start riding. I have about a month until my first series race, with an endurance race prior to that. 

Now, to help inspire me to ride, here it is, the new addition to our family. 

This is an '08 Orbea Lanza frame. I have the Rok Shok Sid team fork and XTR build except for the cranks. Those are currently Truvative but will be XTR before my first race. I will ride it tomorrow for the first time. Current weight as built is 23 lbs but will drop with new cranks and a lighter rear tire. I hope to see it come in at 22lbs. Wheels are a Stan's no tubes in front and DT swiss in back, both with Chris King hubs.

I am very secure in my manhood so I can appreciate the pink accents more as an anti-fashion statement. Besides, pink is the new black! Plus, as the King hubs state, I am "pretty and strong."

Wet Weather

Continued rain in the afternoons has again thwarted my effort for the tuesday evening mtb ride. This is getting very frustrating. I have started the second cycle of Liquid Endurance. I hope I see the hydration issues continue to improve.

The parts needed to build the new bike are on order and hopefully will be in Friday. I look forward to using the bike this year. 

I have committed myself to the 8 hours of Labor and the 12 hours of Dausett this year. Both of them come at the beginning of my race season so I'm hoping that it will not adversely affect my results for the rest of the season.

Dehydration

During the last two Saturday road rides I have been experiencing symptoms of dehydration. Our weather has been oppressively hot lately and I think that I have basically been living in a state of mild dehydration every day. This is causing severe leg cramps near the end of my saturday rides. Sometimes, the pain is so excruciating that it causes me to dismount my bike at the side of the road and wait for the pain to subside. Even worse, the pain is sometimes joined by nausea. 

I've developed a routine that reminds me to drink more liquids throughout the day. I basically take one drink from my one gallon thermos whenever I get out of the truck. By the end of the day I have gone through at least the entire one gallon container. Sometimes I add more during the day which gives me about 1.25 gallons consumed by the time I'm ready to head home for the day.

Now for the shameless plug:

I've also started using Hammer nutrition's Endurolytes. I take the recommended dosage of 3 capsules every hour during exercise. This seems to have made an improvement. I'm also trying their product called Liquid Endurance. I have yet to see results as it requires a "loading" period three days prior to your "event". This product reportedly allows your cells to retain more water then normal, basically getting you very well pre-hydrated. I will let you know the outcome after the weekend.

Last saturdays' ride went very well performance wise. I was right where I wanted to be for all the sprints as well as chased down several breakaways. I have surprised myself by being at my current level of performance, but of course once you reach a level, you always set your sights higher.

I'm looking forward to this years mountain bike season. It looms dangerously close and I have yet to have my new bike built. That should change over the next couple of weeks and I will post pictures of the new bike once it is completed. Our first race will be an endurance race on Labor Day weekend. I will probably ride the eight hours solo. Then on to the Florida State Series.

Rain, Rain Go AWAY

We have been having daily rain and it's getting very frustrating. Wednesday we stopped working at 10am due to the rain and it continued all day. Yesterday, I got hit mid afternoon. It's getting near impossible to get an after work ride in. The trainer, although puts you through the same mechanics of riding, just doesn't feel as fluid. We need a break. Enough already with the rain!

I will try to spin tonight and then ride saturday morning with the group. 

The tour is pretty exciting. It is getting very closely contested by some not so "name brand" riders.  

Weekend Update

My wife went to the east coast for a concert this weekend so that left me free to ride all morning on saturday. The boys were having a sleep-over friday night at grandma's house. I did the normal saturday ride and had a good showing for the first 40 or so miles. I took a solid 3rd in the first sprint and chased down several breaks. I felt pretty tired when we got to the point where I could cut off and head for home with my usual 55 miles, however I decided to keep going and see how long I could hang with the remainder of the group. I did ok through the next section but got dropped at the very end. I turned the corner and saw that about 500 meters ahead, the group was looking back and soft pedaling. I waved them to leave me for dead but they continued to go slow, so I felt guilty and sprinted up to them (these guys are good teammates). We continued on and I rode in the back to try to recover. The next and final section is a long loop that gets fast. They slowly built speed and finally I got spit out the back. Another guy got spit out after me but several hundred meters ahead. I followed him around at that distance until he slowly pulled away as well. I continued on the loop until I could cut off and head for home. 

Partway home I started to get leg cramps. One series of cramps were so bad I had to get off my bike on the side of the road and grit my teeth. I couldn't believe the pain. Then, when the pain subsided, I had a brief spell of nausea. I'm thinking, "Great, look at me on the side of the road, puking my guts out!" Luckily, I didn't throw up and I was able to get back on the bike and ride home slowly. Total finishing mileage, 76.

Moral of the story I think is, you must drink ALOT of fluids ALL WEEK LONG in order to put your body through that sort of stuff on the weekends. I do make sure I drink at least a gallon of gatorade during the day at work but I don't continue to drink that much once I get home. I drank six water bottles during the course of the ride but it just felt like the water was sitting in my stomach and not being absorbed. I think because it was already too late. I was actually dehydrated before I started the ride.

I will be better prepared for next week!

Getting Back On It

I'm trying to get back on my training schedule. I fell off last week with bad weather and work stresses. It's been tough this week as well due to our summer rain pattern. It's frustrating to have a beautiful sunny day and then literally one hour before we head for home, the dark clouds roll in. By the time I get half way home, it's raining. Cycling is hard enough with traffic, but I don't like to compound the risk by riding in the rain. Last night was the same. I ended up riding the trainer. Although I know the benefit is there, I still would rather be out on the bike.

Our mountain bike race schedule has been posted and it looks like an interesting season. There are some new courses on the schedule. Some I've never ridden and some I know very well. We start in Gainesville which I'm happy about. I usually do well on that course. 

The new frame for this year is in and it looks better then I had hoped. I'll post pictures once it is built up but I'm waiting for a new fork. I don't want to build it with the old one and then have to take the front end off to re-do it once it comes in. I'm hoping final weight will be sub 23 lbs.

Tired

I've been a little over-worked, over-stressed this past week. We pushed hard at work trying to complete everything in time for the 4th of July holiday. I guess it wore me down more then I had expected. We didn't ride tuesday night due to severe thunderstorms and lightening. I didn't have the ambition to get on the trainer until wednesday night. No riding on thursday either. I was so tired thursday that I went to bed at 9:30 and slept for ten hours. This morning's Saturday ride went well. I didn't feel like I had a good spring in my legs but I rode well and finished 3rd, 6th, 4th and 4th in consecutive sprints. I took the short ride bail-out and finished up with 54 miles. I'm ready for a nap! 

I plan to take it easy today and tomorrow and then get back on my normal schedule this coming week.

The Tour has started. I hope everyone is watching although I am worried that it may be somewhat boring with very few "Big Name" riders there. We will be cheering for Valverde.

Good Week

I had a good week of riding. Tuesdays ride went very well. We really pushed and got a great workout. Thursday morning I did a nice 30 mile road ride. And Saturday's morning ride again showed me that time on the bike is paying off. I put in 73 miles and rode in a few breakaway groups. I also chased down other breakaways for the team. I felt strong all day and although I was tired, I wasn't so spent that had to come home and sleep. 

Today we go to the water park. The boys are looking forward to it and hopefully they will be tall enough to ride some of the bigger slides. 

Tuesday ride

Last night's off-road ride was great. I feel that my technical skills have improved immensely. We also rode at what was probably close to my maximum effort for several long stretches. Last night I was totally spent after the ride. I did have one wipe out though, and I'm a little sore this morning. I have tomorrow off so I plan on doing a ride in the morning. I'm not sure if it will be road or mtb yet. It will depend on the weather.

Ride Recap

We went to Boyette today and rode 23 miles. We've had a lot of rain but this place sheds water well and conditions were just about as good as you could get. Just enough slip in the turns to make it fun. We averaged 10 miles an hour on the computer, which is a pretty brisk pace. I made it through all the technical sections with no problem. I was a little worried because I have been riding the road bike so much that I felt a bit rusty. The off road riding at North Port on tuesdays has paid off. 

I still haven't heard from my friend's daughter on the outcome of the 20 mile challenge. I know it rained there this weekend. I hope that they got some riding in.

Same Old

I've just been riding. On the trainer, on the mountain bike, on the trainer, an endless cycle. My new frame should be in today. It is the Orbea Lanza. I look forward to building it up and riding it. I am not doing the saturday ride. Because I am allowed one day of freedom to ride on the weekends, this week I am going to Alafia on sunday. 

Grog's daughters are with him and they have been riding a lot. A challenge has been put out there for them to complete 20 miles on the mountain bike in one day at the trail. I await for the phone call that confirms their completion. I will be proud of them if they make it. That is a hard milestone the first time it's attempted. I hope they continue to ride when they move away.

Rain Out

All that training for nothing! It started out as a perfect day. Actually it was a little too hot. All the cats before mine went off without a hitch. We even had a second place finish in the cat 3 race. The cat 4's were on the road when all hell broke loose. A monster front blew in bringing high winds and torrential rains. The riders already out said that the wind was actually pushing and sliding their bikes sideways on the wet pavement. There was lightening and debris being blown on the road. The promoter cut the cat 4 race short by 2 laps. Then 30 minutes later decided to cancel our race all together. We have to wait and see what they are going to do. This race decided the state championship. We also have to find out how our entry fees will be refunded. I know they made the smartest decision but it stinks because I really felt in shape for this race. 

Random Thoughts

Yesterday was incredibly hot. It seems that last week wednesday was hotter than the rest of the week as well. We even went home early last week wednesday due to the heat. I didn't ride at all and we skipped BMX. We started using BMX as a reward. If we don't have two good listeners or good eaters, then we don't go. We did ride around the neighborhood as a family.

I will ride the trainer tonight. We are doing a charity ride on saturday morning and the race is sunday. I think we are taking the kids fishing on saturday afternoon. We are celebrating father's day early because I will be gone all day sunday.

This years race team has really come together recently. Last night, our last undecided rider made his choice to ride for us. Now we have a Pro on our team. We ended up with ten people which will field two teams. It should be a great season.

My How Fickle

We are finally receiving the much needed rain that we have been waiting for. But of course in typical Florida style, instead of a nice short, daily summer shower, we've had an afternoon typhoon two days in a row. The skies literally blacken and then unleash hell. We've also had tornados touch down just south of here. Yesterday, the power went out for over an hour. You would think that since the power goes down with almost any substantial rainstorm, that the power company would upgrade the system verses having to constantly send out people to fix it and inconvenience their customers. I guess that's job security. At this point, I've had about enough of the rain. I'm ready to go back to drought. Tonight's ride is in limbo until we see the weather. It would be too perfect if the rain could come overnight. If it continues in this pattern, I'll have to put more days in on the trainer instead of actually riding on the road. That would totally suck.

Lazy Day

Yesterday was just a lazy day. Amy was fighting off a cold and just feeling run down and blah. The boys wanted to go ride the "dirt trail" at Alva but it was so hot all morning that we really didn't feel that it was the best idea for them. We ended up hanging around the house all day. I did manage to get some yard work done. I had been planning to expand the patio area out back due to the fact that the dogs insist on urinating just off the edge of the existing patio. This has caused all the grass to die and a pungent odor to hit you the moment you open the back door. I figure that by widening the patio I cover the dead grass and force the dogs to go further from the back door, hopefully eliminating the odor from so close to the house. I spent a few hours yesterday, with the help of the boys, digging out the entire area where the new pavers would go. We took out five or six full wheelbarrows full of dirt. Now we just have to lay in the pavers and spread some sand on them to lock them in.

I did get my spin on yesterday. I spent an hour on the trainer while it rained outside in the afternoon. I also think that I may have to start riding my bike to work a couple of days a week. The cost of gas and some cutbacks at my work has caused us to tighten our belts financially. I am not thrilled with the idea, but it would be good for the training. I am looking into getting a set of panniers because I have to carry my one gallon water jug, lunch, and work boots if I don't wear them to ride. I'm going to turn my old road bike into a commuter. It already has frame mounts for a rack. I figure I can change the stem to one with more rise so I sit more upright. We will see what happens. The commute is 18 miles one way. I may drive part way and park at my bike shop, then ride from there. That may knock out about 4 to 5 miles. I just hate getting to work and already being sweaty. We have no provisions for showers there.

Good Day

Today I had a good day on the bike. I felt very strong riding to the ride start point. I did a few laps around the parking lot and then started the ride. I was strong for the entire trip and even felt like I had some reserve while I rode home. It usually takes me from 45 minutes to an hour to get home, today it took me a little over 30 minutes. I'm totally sold. Time on the bike is the key to success! Go figure?!

Now that I do see some benefit, it will be easier to keep up my five day a week riding schedule.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It's been oppressively hot lately. The riding however continues. I rode  yesterday (tuesday). I have never sweat so much as we did last night. Until the sun goes completely down, the heat and humidity is unbelievable. I hope to ride the trainer tonight and then we have a road ride tomorrow. The race is a week from this saturday. I hope to see some improvement by then.

I also have been making a conscious effort to drink more water during the day at work. I go through a gallon of gatorade at work the drink water or juice at home. It has made a difference.

Sticking to the Plan

I'm sticking to my training plan..... so far. I am riding either the road bike or mountain bike two days a week and I spend one hour on the trainer at night three days a week. Five days on the bike per week with one very hard ride, one interval ride and three easy spins. I have Thursdays off now so I may do a double ride on thursdays.

I'm training for what will probably be my last road race for this season. It's on june 14th. After that, I'll be focusing all my training towards the mountain bike season. I may do an early race in July in Georgia, but the first definite race will be Labor Day weekend. 

Vacation is Over

Our trip to the Florida Keys was successful and much needed. Everyone had fun and we caught fish. Now it's back to reality and the daily grind of work. I've been newly inspired to train for the upcoming mountain bike season. My wife has also been recently ultra supportive and says she will make sure I ride the trainer three times per week.  That, along with my normal rides, will give me five times a week on the bike. I hope I keep up with the commitment. If I do, I should be in great shape by race season. 

This week I've already ridden saturday morning, then one hour on the trainer on sunday, then last night on the mountain bike. I feel pretty good this morning.

I installed the new sliding glass door yesterday afternoon. $176.55 for the replacement glass. What a pain in the ass!

Good idea, Bad idea

Good Idea: creating and marketing a small science project kit for young children to use and explore our universe. Including such gismos as a magnifying glass, ruler, string, paperclip, and the evil magnet.

Bad Idea: including the damn magnet. A small, 3 inch piece of iron that when dropped, turns into two 1.5 inch projectiles. 

Now these two projectiles, when thrown at an angle against a hard tile floor, skip back up in the air directly proportionate to the force used to throw them. And when these projectiles skip up in the air and impact a 45 X 75 inch sliding glass door, they punch a hole in it like a depleted uranium anti-tank round fired by the US army's Warthog aircraft. And when this hole is breeched, the amazing scientific properties of tempered glass are shown to full force. A literal implosion of glass. Every square inch of the 45 X 75 inch surface now had at least 16 individual pieces. Multiply that out and you are looking at 16 Billion pieces (if my math is right). 

Now I don't believe that this particular project was in the instruction manual, but it is written loosely and gives you room to create your own projects.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have actually been too busy to add an entry on the blog. Between working and riding and getting ready for our trip to the Florida Keys next weekend, and two sick boys to top it off, I've had no free time. 

We got our boat running and ready for the trip. This is always a big pain because we don't use the boat as often as we should. Lack of use is the biggest detriment to boats. Something always doesn't work right after prolonged periods of sitting. Our problems manifested as a completely rust through throttle assembly, and a malfunctioning alarm buzzer.

BMX went well last week but the boys have been sick so they didn't ride as aggressively as normal. 

My tuesday night ride took me back to the mountain bike for the off-road time trial. Being off the mt bike for so long definitely dulls the reflexes and skills. I've decided to alternate the tuesday ride between road and off-road.

High Speed

The race weekend did not go as well as I had hoped. Let the excuses begin:

First, I worked my ass off this week and the heat is finally here. I didn't think that it would affect me that much but I think it did. I just wasn't well rested and ready for the race.

Second, and probably more importantly, I wasn't properly hydrated all week and especially prior to the race.

It was a very hot day out on the road yesterday and our race started at 1:30, basically the hottest part of the day. Fifty percent of the course was climbing with a the last climb to the finish being close to 20% grade for about 1/3 mile. That is something you definitely need to train on to become a better rider. I ended up not finishing the race. I quit with 11 miles to go. Basically one lap short of finishing. I got dropped from the group on the first lap and rode the rest by myself. I was exhausting myself and getting no draft help from other riders. I got to the feed zone to start my last lap and realized that I had stopped sweating. WARNING SIGN ! At that point I could have refilled my bottles and kept going but I decided that I had had enough. This was probably the most responsible decision. I didn't want to spend all day sunday recovering from a dehydration hangover. Man, am I getting old!

The good news is that I hit a new high speed on my road bike. 44.7 mph. This was on the first lap, mid pack in the draft. We were four wide and I wasn't pedaling, just coasting. Not bad.

Weekend

I made it to another friday. I'm tired and as usual, complaining that I didn't get enough riding in. I think I just need to set my mind to the fact that I only ride twice a week. That way I'm not continually disappointed and if I ever do get that third ride in, I'll be overjoyed. 

I have the Sugarloaf race tomorrow. I'm not predicting any finish placement or setting any goals. I just want to finish this one respectfully. We will have a good sized team riding together in this one. There should be four or five of us in the same wave.

The boys had a great night at BMX last wednesday. Cole kept up with his brother but was unable to pull out a victory. Evan took all three races. 

Feeling Better

Saturday's road ride went very well. I felt pretty strong and and stayed near the front of the group. I even chased down a couple of breakaways, which is unlike me. I HAVE to find a way to get in a second mid week ride. I think three days a week will make the difference. 

Spent the rest of the day with the family at the beach. I tried to even out my farmer/cyclist tan. Spent a lot of time looking for shark's teeth. Even went to a restaurant for dinner. Had a great day overall.

BMX

BMX was a good time as usually. The boys are picking up speed and we have been practicing our "jumps" in the front lawn. Several of the other boys that my two have befriended even commented on how well the boys were jumping. This, of course, all contributing to their mother and grandmother's worry lines. Results are exactly as before, with the stronger, more conditioned boy taking three victories over his brother.

We have a new guy at work who is much slower then my normal coworkers. This is causing me to have to "up" my pace to pick up the slack and complete the tasks that I'm expecting to complete. Because of this, I'm finding myself much more fatigued which is making it hard to find the energy needed to do a Thursday ride or spin on the trainer. I feel that performance wise, I need this added day of riding. I just hope that this guy catches on soon and starts to pull more of his own weight.

Last night

I did my tuesday night ride yesterday and the wind was a killer. It must have been gusting up to 20 mph at least. We rode 30 miles and had to work for about 90 percent of it. We still were able to average 21 mph with just two of us. I definitely have to try and get in an easy ride on thursday. I'll ride saturday as well and our next race is a week from then. It will be my most difficult race due to a steep hill that we have to climb 4 times. I don't know the grade but from the pictures it's steep and long. My friends who have competed in this race before have said that it is tough at the beginning and then down right brutal by the last lap.

Fishing

We are taking a break and going fishing this morning with the boys. We go with my father-in-law on the john boat. It's always a good time, even if we don't catch anything. The boys are looking forward to it. They also want to show off there new stick-on tattoos to grandpa. The owner of the bike shop that we go to is heavily tattooed, which has increased their fascination with them. 

Yesterday's morning ride was a killer. It was fast paced from the start. I didn't last for the entire "long ride", but from where I cut it short, I still ended up with 61 miles. My legs were cooked. One of the owners of the bike shop lives about four houses away and we have decided to start lifting weights to supplement our fitness. He has a complete free weight set with a bench and squat rack that he cannot seem to be inspired enough to use by himself. We are supposed to start monday night.

Results

Results are in and I finished in exactly 15th place. Very surprising. I did nip another rider in the last couple feet before the finish line. I'm glad that I chased that guy down, that's what got me in the 15th spot. 

I plan on doing a ride tomorrow morning and then on saturday morning.

The knee has gotten better and did not affect my performance in last weeks road race. I don't think I finished in the position I wanted (top 15), but I feel that I rode a great race. I felt strong right up until the last half mile and I think I rode a pretty smart race. I tried not to do any work and stayed with the front group. Results have yet to be posted.

BMX went well last night. The boys only had each other to race. They were the only two there in their class. It was exciting to see them slug it out on the course. They stayed almost evenly matched until about turn three when strength and conditioning paid off and won three straight victories. they took it in stride with almost no bad feelings.

New Ailments

The poison ivy is subsiding, but there is still some itching in the spots that were the most affected. I also still have a bunch of little bumps on my legs. These are getting better slowly. I bought and used the $29/ounce poison ivy scrub and that seemed to actually be my savior. I have had poison ivy contact in the past but never this bad. 

My new problem is a swelled up knee. This was preceded by a slight and occasional "popping" of the knee. It felt like my knee was slightly going in and out of joint. I wasn't concerned because it happen only once in a while and it didn't hurt. It was more of an annoyance. Then last tuesday it just swelled up. Not huge like a grapefruit, but big enough to notice. I did the ice-heat thing that night and have been wearing an elastic brace at work. I notice that any lateral movement causes discomfort. I didn't ride all week until last night. It was fine on the ride and no addition swelling after. It does seem to be getting better.

I have my second road race on sunday. It's a shorter race but I'm still looking forward to going. I'll have to make sure I stay near the front. The shorter distance will mean faster speeds and it will be easier to get dropped if you don't ride smart. I'm going to hope for improvement over the last race and shoot for a top 15 finish.

Camping Weekend 2

We got back today from camping and had another great weekend. We did get some rain and high wind on saturday night. Our tent has reached it's final days. We had severe leakage from the top and seepage up from underneath. All our bedding and one of our children got soaked. My wife and I have decided that we are definitely getting a pop-up camper this year. This was our first non-biking camping trip and I did have a good time. 

Unfortunately, during the week, I have developed a severe case of poison ivy on both legs. The itching and bumpy rash have come to a apex over the weekend. I am using a topical creme which helps a lot but there is still a ton of scratching that needs to be done. I bought some poison ivy scrub today and I noticed that the bumps are starting to disappear, so by tomorrow I should be much better.

What the F...!?

While listening to music on the computer after dinner, "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues came on. Not being a big MB fan to begin with, when the talking crap at the end came on, I immediately jumped ahead to the next song. Well I'm sure you know what came next....."why did you change it? That's the best part of the song!"

What the hell is with people!?!? This song sucks, especially that part!! I think that the people who are into that song are the same wingnuts that go crazy over Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights." COME ON PEOPLE!! We don't need to revel in the crap that was the anthems of our youth. 

I can picture it: the year was 1989. You're all dancing around in a tight circle, screaming the lyrics to these songs at the top of your lungs. Each one of you wearing at least one colored polo shirt with the collar popped. Losers!

Ok, I know, bold statements. Let the fallout begin...

Disappointed Boys

The afternoon rain has started, and as much as we need it, it has caused the cancellation of BMX racing for today. Because the track is packed clay that is trucked in and hand graded, they cover it when there is the threat of rain to prevent erosion. Personally, I'm kind of glad. I can use the break and a good dinner for once.

Hello? Anyone there?

I have had no time to update the blog. Work has gotten busier, and now that we go to BMX two times per week and and I train on tuesdays, it's tough to find time to do anything. I definitely feel run down. I think it is partly because I'm not eating as well as I was. Because we are doing a lot of running around, I have been just grabbing something small before I go to bed. It's also getting hotter already, and it takes it's tole on your energy when you work outside in it all day. I just have to get better organized so I have time to eat better and still get all of our stuff done.

BMX is tonight and the boys are always excited. I can almost guarantee a phone call at about 3:30 from them, wondering "where are you?" We have also gotten them riding jerseys, which they wore for two days before they let us wash them.

We are going camping again this weekend. We have a site at a park in Naples. We are going with the same couple that we went with before as well as another family of a woman my wife works with. It should be fun but there are no bike trails as we know them. This will be our first non-biking camping trip. I'll probably go crazy. 

My next road race is the "Spring Fling" in Deland Florida. It's a two day event with a circuit race on saturday and a road race on sunday. I'll enter both races.

BMX Night

We went to BMX on monday for practice and again last night for practice and the race. The racing was exciting. There were 4 boys this time. One was a boy from school that we know and one was a younger boy who has been racing for a while. They have three races, each scoring points based on finishing position. In the first race Evan was third and Cole was forth. In the second race, Evan stayed in second until the very end when about ten feet from the finish line, he started to coast and his friend from school got past him at the line. Evan was third and Cole was fourth again. The last race both boys were tired and the results were the same. 

I'm trying to find the perfect balance between practice and racing. The boys love to ride but they get so tired that by race time the can't keep up the pace. I've started going later in the evening so that they only have about an hour of practice, but it's obvious that I still have to refine the timing. 

Overall, very fun and very proud of the results!

Road Race questions?

Sorry, I forgot to give mileage. The loop was 9 miles, so we completed 36 of the 45 intended miles.

Road Race

Finished my first road race and I'm very happy with the results. I finish 21st out of about 45. I stayed with the lead group for the first of 5 laps. About 3/4 mile before the start/finish line the paved road transitions to a dirt-gravel road. As we turned right (90 degrees) on to the gravel, two riders wiped out right in front of me and to my right. I had to slow to a crawl and ride around them. By then I lost the lead group. I stayed in a group of about 8 for the remaining laps until the last one, which was just my teammate and myself then. They shortened our race from 5 to 4 laps because of the heavy rain that started to fall during lap two and continued until the end of the race.

Overall I'm very happy with my performance and my finishing position. I look forward to the next one.

Race Results

We had a great night at BMX. Evan rode great and continues to show improvement. Cole finally got over his fear of the starting gate. It took a little encouragement from me but I think what really did it was that one of the older boys (about 12 to 14 years old I'm guessing) saw that he was afraid, and came over to talk to him. He told him that it would be alright and that he would ride with Cole. Well this boy was an amazing rider and could clear all the jumps and ride a wheelie and all the other cool stuff that Cole admires. And he was also a really nice boy. He would talk to Cole and ride along beside him at Cole's speed. He gave him tips and advise and really bolstered his confidence. By the time the racing started, he was ready.

They divide the groups by age and ability, so it ended up that the boys had only to race each other. They ride three separate races. It was evident that all of Evan's riding paid of and all of Cole's playing did not. Evan totally crushed Cole in each race. By the third race Cole was physically exhausted but Evan was still ready to ride more. See Grog, Base miles pay off!!

We are extremely proud of both boys and now that Cole has overcome his fear, I hope that he will ride more. You can see that he has a natural ability on the bike, but he just needs to be stronger. We will continue to go on mondays and wednesdays as long as the interest is there.

Tuesday ride

We had or tuesday night road ride along the beach again last night and it went well. I felt pretty good overall. I finished with 29 miles with an average speed of 20 mph. My next ride will be thursday. The boys have BMX tonight. They both plan on doing the race tonight as well, not just practice. I hope the weather holds out.

No Race

The boys had a good practice session last night but no race. I guess they only race after wednesday's practice and they race on sundays. The practice is definitely paying off. I see improvement each night we go. Evan is just burning it up and Cole is starting to overcome his fear on the starting gate. I think that now that they know more and more kids there, the peer pressure is starting to give him more courage. We will race after wednesday's practice.

Road ride tonight for me.

Catching up

We've been very busy since last post. Wednesday night's BMX went very well. The boys are doing great and this week we've decided to go on monday and wednesday. They also want to enter the actual race that follows the practice session. I'll let you know the results tomorrow.

I missed the saturday ride due to an alarm clock error. I think part of it may have been my body telling me I was exhausted. I made good on it on sunday though. I rode the recovery ride sunday morning which gave me about 48 miles of which I tried to pull as often as possible while we were riding into the wind. My plan is to ride tuesday and thursday. 

My first road race is this saturday. I'm a little nervous due to the fact that I've never competed in one. On top of it, there is only one other guy that I know of on our team that is racing Cat 5 so I won't have much help on the course. I'm going to try and glean any and all information I can about road racing from my friends this week. This race should be interesting!

Tuesday ride

Started riding the tuesday night beach ride out of Venice. Now that the time has changed, we can get in the 30 mile ride before dark. If was a fast ride which I enjoy because it really pushes you but only for a short distance so you can go all out. My computer showed an average of 20.4 over the 30 miles with a max of 29. not too bad for the first ride of the season with this group. It will probably be my regular tuesday ride. 

Camping Weekend

Camping was great. We had such a good time. The weather didn't totally cooperate but we made the best of it. Friday night it started raining around 5:30. We hadn't yet reached our exit off the highway so we decided that if it was still raining when we got there, that we would go straight to a hotel. Neither of us wanted to set up a tent in the rain. On top of that, we wouldn't have been able to start the fire. It ended up being a good decision because it started to Pour. We went straight to the hotel. While unpacking the necessities, and loading valuables from the trailer to the car for safe keeping, I realized that our air mattress bag was full of water and our tent was soaked. We would have been miserable had we decided to try to set up camp.

The next day we had a nice Cracker Barrel breakfast and drove the 20 minutes to the campground. It was pretty windy which helped dry out all our stuff super fast and we were set up in no time. The boys and I rode several trails on Saturday and Sunday as well as the dirt jump area. We took my wife on the trail with us Sunday and we were both amazed at how well the boys rode. They seem to have made a huge jump ahead in their ability.

After a very tired drive home, we unpacked and put everything away, took much needed showers, and quickly fell asleep. One thing that we have made a definite decision on was that we will be getting a pop-up camper. My wife said that even in the rain we would have been able to set up and comfortably hang out inside playing games if we had one. I'm glad that she agrees.

Proud Papa

Two nights ago, on a whim, I asked the kids if they were interested in going back to BMX. The one son that had done it previously said sure. My other boy who was too afraid to ride the track asked if he could go too. I said of course, thinking that he just wanted to go and watch. He surprised me by saying that he wanted to "show them how it was done". We went there last night and on the starting hill (the one they ride down to build speed), he was slightly intimidated, but went down slowly just the same. When he got to the finish, he was all smiles. "Can I do it again?", was the question of the night. Without exaggeration, he rode it at least 12 times. My other son who had rode previously this year, gave up after 4 laps, wanting to run and play with his friends there instead.  I couldn't believe how well he did and how many times he rode. Of course it didn't hurt that on his second lap, the CUTEST little 8 year old girl met up with him and rode with him the entire time, talking to him and helping him. She was adorable, and followed him around all night. That's my boy!!! I think we will definitely be back next week. I may be grooming a new world champion, but it may be too soon to know for sure.

We leave for camping tomorrow. We are all excited. We'll pack the trailer and car tonight and leave about 1:00pm tomorrow. hopefully the weather will be good.

Weather

An impending rainstorm that never appeared eliminated my hopes for riding my mountain bike last night. The bad weather was expected for later in the day. And local radar confirmed that it was coming, but I don't think it actually ever materialized. The risk of wasting all the time and gas to drive to the trail just to be rained out, caused me to stay home. Instead I rode the trainer and watched more Tour de France videos. I'm a little disappointed, but I did get a good ride in on the trainer. I won't be doing the saturday ride because we will be camping, but I hope to be on the bike a lot over the weekend.

I did officially register for the Webster-Robaux road race.  After we get back from camping, I'm going to have to really buckle down. I have started back up with my core training.

Camping

We are going on a family camping trip this coming friday and I can't wait. We'll be at Santos, where there are plenty of bike trails and even a little pump track for the boys. This will be our first camping trip that is just our family. We have always had other people go with us or meet us there. Never just the four of us. I hope we don't kill each other. 

Grog and his family camp all the time by themselves. I envy them in that they can go and camp and keep themselves entertained the entire time. Even on trips that have nothing to do with biking. We, on the other hand, are camping at the bike trails. Baby steps. I would think the key is games and activities. My wife and I will have to make sure we bring things like Uno, and maybe some board games, and probably the football or baseball gloves. Me, I'm content with games like "let's watch this burn in the fire", and just reading. 

I think we will be fine and have a great time. I am really looking forward to it. Just in case, I'm bringing about a cord of wood.

Yesterday

Saturday's road ride was probably my best performance in a while. I was able to stay with the group for the entire short ride (40 miles). I was even able to stay with them, albeit in the back, during the sprints. It was a good ride and I felt good physically afterward. I wasn't totally exhausted. I finished with 51 miles. I think it made a difference that I was able to ride earlier in the week. I somehow have to find the time to ride a few more times during the week.

Spooky 2

In reply to Grog's comment on the last post, it was definitely an interesting ride. It's actually a great place to road ride because there is almost zero auto traffic. In the daytime on weekends I've seen people using the uncleared lots as place to ride atv's. Some that are more open were being used as airfields for remote control airplanes. The only thing that concerned me that night was that I could picture these remote areas as being the perfect place for kids to party. I could see myself stumbling past one of these redneck drunk-fests in my matching spandex. At that point my overactive imagination envisioned them releasing their pack of rabid pitbulls (the official dog of rednecks in FL.) to run me down. I was calculating in my head how long I could ride at 30 mph and at what point I would hear the low rumble of Super Swamper tires on a jacked up pickup truck with cherry bomb exhaust as the chase began in ernest. 

Like I said, overactive imagination. I will ride there again, especially when the time change goes into effect. Either that or with my HID headlight.

Spooky

I rode 18 miles last night in the dark on my road bike. I stopped on the way home from work and bought a small LED headlight, more for safety then for illumination. I rode on these back roads that have no houses and no street lamps. Man, it was SPOOKY. I haven't been back there much and in the dark, your senses get a little disoriented. On top of it, this area is so void of development that most of the streets don't have street signs. I had to kind of ride around until I found a bigger intersection that had signs so I could tell where I was at and which way to go. I might not do that again. 

I am trying to be newly inspired and prepare myself for road season. It seems however, more and more difficult lately to find the time to ride during the week.

Back in the saddle... Again

Finally got back on the bike after a prolonged recovery period. After the 12hour, I just didn't have the energy or ambition to ride. I made it worse by staying up way past my bedtime on several nights. Today I did the saturday morning road ride with the Cycle Haus group. These guys are Fast!!!! But that is where I aspire to be. These guys will crank it up to over 27 mph and then start going fast. Seriously, when I was doing 27, they flew past me at the sprint like I was stopped and changing a flat. I got dropped several times and finally gave up and headed home. The last 6-10 miles home were brutal, with an intense headwind and no help. I finally pulled in my driveway with 65 miles, well worth the suffering. I'll be back with them next week.

No camping

Our camping plans for this weekend are a bust. The two places that we wanted to go are both booked full. We didn't want to travel farther than about 1.5 hours from home. Oh well, we will try again soon.

12 Hour Results

The twelve hour results are up on goneriding.com. We finished in third place for the co-ed division. Not a bad comeback for us considering I had a flat that I couldn't repair on the very first lap and had to run with my bike for 6 miles. That definitely cost us second place. All in all, I had a good time and our team was really strong. 

I'm now focusing on ramping back up for my first road race in march. It's called the Webster-Robaux. It is supposedly a good race for a first time road racer.

We also plan on doing a camping weekend this coming saturday. I think we are going to Alafia to camp and ride.

Rain, Rain

A much needed rain fell yesterday, destroying any chance for riding. We are in desperate need of rain but it seems to come at inopportune times. More rain is scheduled for today. I guess I would rather it rain now then on the weekend. I Hate riding in the slop! Racing in it totally sucks. 

Gearing up.... Slowly

I'm finally feeling better from this cold but I continue to have an annoying cough from time to time. Everyone I've talked to who has had this cold says that the cough lingers for up to three weeks. Great! I've recovered from saturdays' road ride and will ride again tonight. That may be the only riding I get to do before the pre-ride on friday. If I have time, I may try to run on thursday. I'm looking forward to the race and hope we do well. We have a very strong and experienced team this year, I just hope we are fast. It would be nice if Grog and Lori were able to make the race. I'm under the impression that is is still a very faint possibility.

Still Recovering

Well I finally got back on the bike today. I've been sick for over a week. I rode fifty miles today but it took all I had. I gimped home the last six miles with my legs just aching. I'm also about 5 pounds lighter then I should be. I've found out through trial and error that my body performs it's best at about 180 lbs. The 12 hour race is next saturday. I hope I'll be ready for it.

Triathlon Complete

Well we finished the triathlon in pretty good shape. My wife completed the entire event but once she finished said, "Ok, I'll never do that again." She did well but she just reaffirmed her lack of competitiveness. 

I, on the other hand, suffered immensely.  My head and lungs were very congested and I had a very difficult time getting enough air in, especially during the swim. Even the bike portion wasn't as pleasant as I had hoped. But I finish in 1hr 15min. 

One thing I have to mention is the positive review of Hammer's "Heed" sports drink. In the morning I asked my wife if she wanted some gatorade in her water bottle. She said sure. I looked but couldn't find the powdered mix I thought we had so instead I mixed her some Heed and didn't tell her. After the race she asked, "did you put some of your stuff in my bottle?" I cautiously asked "why?", worried that it may have upset her stomach or something. She answered, "I thought so, that stuff works awesome!" Apparently about two miles into the start of the bike, my wife's body was asking her "What, are you crazy!!!?? What do you think you are doing to us!?!?" She said she even thought about quitting. Instead, she just relaxed and started to drink some of her bottle while she pedaled easy. A few miles later it just kicked in and she said she felt full of energy. She said her legs "just wanted to GO!" Afterward she was very thankful that I spiked her drink.

T - minus 12 hours

Well the race is tomorrow and my health will definitely be in question. I changed medicine to something that is specifically designed to drain the pressure in my head. I took one dose and a nap and I feel a little better. I could actually breathe out of one nostril. 

I'm looking forward to the race but I found out today that it will be a lot less "organized" then I would have liked. There will be no bike racks in the transition area so we will have to lean our stuff on trees, fences, etc. If they have a full 200 entrants, then that will be a lot of bikes laying around. I'm just spoiled by the fact that most race promoters whose events I go to really have their act together. When I go to one outside of that circle, it's a high standard for comparison and I usually have something to complain about. My wife just says it's because I'm an elitist snob.

My wife seems unnerved by the fact that it is 12 hours away.

Medical Degree? Who needs it!!!

Well probably contrary to all medical advise, I spent $30+ dollars on my sisters chemical concoction for fighting colds. I took it throughout the day yesterday and had a good full 8 hours of sleep last night and I must say that the symptoms are slightly starting to subside. I will continue to take it today and tomorrow and hopefully by sunday I will be fine. I haven't trained at all since tuesday. I have just felt weak and wednesday my joints ached. I've never had a cold that made my joints ache before. I do plan to race sunday no matter how I feel.

Cough, Cough, Type

Well the cold is back and of course it is at the worst time. I have no energy and a constant cough. I forced myself to ride last night thinking that I could sweat it out a little. But this morning my head is as stuffy as ever. I knew my training goals for this week were a bit lofty. Hopefully I can shake some of this before sunday.

To answer back on Grog's comment, I plan on letting my wife totally run her own race. Actually, the way the race is formatted, once I drop in for the swim, I probably won't see her until the end. I asked her last night how she felt about the race and she said that she is not worried about it. She thinks that she will be more nervous as the day approaches but right now she is ok. Her biggest concern is doing all three events. She knows that individually, she could easily complete each discipline, but linking them all together is where she is worried. In her mind she knows that she could always walk any portion of the run section. And I have to admit, her walk isn't just a stroll. Her walk speed is probably just a step below her "jog".

Five days left.

How do I feel?

My friend asked me how I feel about the upcoming triathlon and I thought it would make a good blog topic so here goes. 

I feel good!...............

Seriously, I feel very good about it. I'm in good shape for a tri this short (400m-12M-2M) and I feel very strong on the bike. I always seem to peek after my race season. 

During the race season I was able to get my weight down to 175lbs. I thought that this would be my answer to my lack of performance problems on the race course. Well it wasn't. And actually I felt somewhat sluggish all season. After the holidays I jumped back up to 186. 

Now through much healthier eating and more productive training, I'm back down to 180. I think my body likes this weight. I don't feel heavy, I feel muscular. I've never been stronger on the road bike and I'm able to keep up with the "fast guys" for quite a long period of time. I know part of the reason for that is also because I'm riding Smarter when I'm in a group but my conditioning helps. I still have a spare tire around the waist, but I know that I'm like a hundred sit-ups away from looking like Mathew McConaughey with his shirt off ................yeaaaaah right.

I think I'll finish well in the tri.

My wife on the other hand doesn't really mention the race. When I asked her last night if she was going to run today she said "oh, I don't know". I didn't say anything. I'm just going to let her do her own thing. I honestly think though that if I hadn't prepaid for the race, she, at this point, would have no problem with saying that she wasn't interested in doing it.  So I don't know. Maybe she will surprise me.

Countdown

Well the countdown to the triathlon starts today. It is only 7 days away. My training schedule, hoping everything goes as planned, is as follows. 

Tuesday- mountain bike ride. 

Wednesday - run 3 miles

Thursday- possible road ride

Friday- run up to 5 miles

Saturday - easy road ride

Sunday - Triathlon

We will see if I'm able to stick to the schedule. It's a lofty goal for me with everything that's going on at my house. On top of it, one of my kids is sick. I hope my wife or I don't catch it before the race.

Saturday Road Ride

Well I went down to Fort Myers for the Saturday road ride. I've done that ride several times before and it's ok. It can be so blistering fast that there is no hope in hanging with the "A" group, but today the hard core guys were saving it for their sunday century. I finished near the front of the group with 40.9 miles completed and a average of 20.6 mph.

The thing I don't like is that the ride is a 40 minute drive south of me so round trip you're looking at an hour and twenty minutes in the car for a 2 hour ride. My normal sat. rides I'm able to Ride to the ride. It's a great feeling because you can jack up your total mileage going to and from plus you arrive totally warmed up. 

I love the saturday rides. They are my meter stick to which I compare myself to some of the best road riders in the area.

Gentle reminder

As my sister informed me that she is ultra competitive and then reminded me that She beat me out of the womb, I feel that it is my obligation to tell her that she is also winning the race to be OLD!!!

I do feel bad about this and I have to say that age is a state of mind. 

BUT,.....YOU ARE OLD FIRST!!!  NAH!  NAH!  NAH!!

Brain Damage?

My brain is just wired in a completely different way then my wife's. 

Let my start by saying that her running partner did not show up the other night because she was sick. My wife did not want to run alone so she came home, picked up our boys at her mom's, and while there, took a brisk walk around the block at their house. They did do what we call the "big block" but it's still probably less then a mile. Not quite what I would call "Training". When I questioned her on it and dutifully reminded her that the triathlon was a mere days away (11 to be exact), she seem almost unconcerned. Not the type of unconcern that someone has when they train for an event every single day for 6 months and they decide to sleep in an extra hour instead of doing the saturday road ride one month before the actual event. NO, this was the type of unconcern that a person might have if they were just doing the event for the experience, not worried about how they finished, and just happy to be involved, meet new people, and content in the idea that they completed the entire course.

WHAT?!?!?!.... I try to stay calm. I breathe deeply. I repeat my calming mantra, "These pretzels are making me thirsty, these pretzels are making me thirsty."

After I relax, I'm able to analyze the whole situation and start to focus not on what I perceive as the problem (why doesn't she take this seriously...at all), but on my own possible issues. Why can I not "just have fun"? Why is it the competition that makes it fun for me? Even on club rides, the fun is in going faster then the other guy. Trying to drop him or blow him up. Beating someone up the only hill on a road ride. First one to a stop sign. I compete, that's how my brain is wired. Maybe it's second child syndrome, growing up always trying to do better then my sister who is older and naturally got all the "good stuff" that kids find important first. All I know is this: If you put a turd in a bag. Write first place on the bag. Then I'll race you for it!

Is this weird? Am I broken? I think the people that I most hang out with are the same way. That probably just reinforces the bad behavior.

Well they say the first step in problem solving is identifying the problem. Baby steps. I betcha I'm cured first!.....sorry, that slipped out. 

Rain out

Well the tuesday night ride got rained out as far as I'm concerned. It was raining with thunder at my house at 5:00pm and the storm was moving south. The trail is 45 min. south of me, hence no ride for me. Once the rain blew through, I was able to get in a 2 mile run. I did it in 17:21, which is an improvement for me since my last run. I haven't heard from my wife yet to see how her run went.

Staying the course

Well the training for the upcoming triathlon and 12 hour race continues. Yesterday I took a day off but tonight is our tuesday night ride which usually turns into an off-road hammer fest. My friend made sure I was coming and has sort of taken me under his wing so to speak by training me and giving me constant riding criticism. This guy is a good friend and a great coach. I'm glad he is helping me and I know I will improve if I just listen and do what he says. That's the hard part. Fighting off the laziness. I need to also plan a run this week.

On the other hand, my wife has slightly increased her training for the triathlon. She has been riding the trainer at night at least one day a week and she is supposed to run tonight. The plan is 2 miles (which is the race distance). I know that doesn't seem like a lot of preparation, but considering that she almost never rode or ran before, it's definitely a step up. I also think that she is starting to realize that the race is only 12 days away. She only wants to finish, but I think she also might want to do better than her friend. I hope the experience triggers some sort of actual interest and that she continues to train and exercise.

Weekend

Well the week ended with some cold and rainy weather. I got my saturday morning road ride in but unfortunately picked up a drywall screw in the back tire about 3 miles from home (at the end of the ride). When I pulled out the screw, the remaining hole was too big to just replace the tube and ride home. There goes a fifty dollar tire. I had to call for a pick up and ride home. Totally sucked.

Sunday morning was our club "fun day" for new riders. We had a great turn out of club members, but due to the frigid temps, high winds, and scattered rain, we had very few new riders. Oh well. We did have plenty of food for the pot luck lunch.

No ride tonight.

Making a Comeback

Thanks for the tip on the airborne. We have used it in the past as well. I do feel better today. If the weather permits, I will probably ride tomorrow. I also have our clubs new rider day on sunday which we are hoping doesn't get rained out.

The Cold is Winning

Well a serious head cold has instantly taken over the house. We had a rain day at work yesterday, so I came home at 11am, ate lunch and then slept until 4pm. My wife is sick as well and got home by 1pm. We all ate chicken soup for dinner (which I don't like), and went to bed early. I feel better today but I still suffer from a majority of the effects of the cold. Hopefully I'll be well enough to ride by tomorrow.

Two problems

Well I was gathering my gear for the tuesday night ride and noticed a strange jagged line on the back of the stem on my hardtail. I ran my finger over it and sure enough, Cracked! Not a big deal, but will need replacing. Also my wife and I have seemed to contract head colds simultaneously last night. So, let the misery begin.

Recovery Day

I feel great! I've always been able to recover quickly, but I haven't had any soreness or other issues which is usually what happens. I went to bed early sunday night and got plenty of sleep so I wasn't even tired on monday. My butt was a little rough which I didn't notice until I did a recovery ride on the trainer last night, but that will heal fast. I do say that for me, using a supplement such as Sport Legs (which is what I used) or enduralytes from Hammer prod. is definitely the way to go. I took 4 at the beginning as per the bottle instructions and then 3 every hour after(roughly every 25 miles was what I looked for). I did experience some minor cramping in the top in my thighs (quads?) at about the 58 mile mark, but I just kept my effort steady and shifted to an easier gear and pedaled through it. Anyway, for a long ride, I think the stuff is worth it.

I plan on doing a ride tonight if it doesn't get too cold. We'll see what happens.

Personal Best

Ok, I decided to do my first century ride today. I planned it last week but have had no time for any century specific training and actually didn't ride at all during the week. But the ride went well and I am quite pleased with my performance. Due to some errors in following the course map, I only ended up with 90 miles. But I averaged 18+ mph and finished in 4:48:00. 

I started out riding with what I would call the "A" group and hung on for all of 18 miles with an average speed of 24mph. We took a right turn and I didn't get out of the saddle immediately, which was my mistake. They took off and shot me out the back like I had dropped anchor. I rode mile 18 through 58 by myself. I was trying not to let the second half of the 100 mile group catch me. At 58 miles I hooked up with a strong guy and we rode together for about 20 miles when we decided that due to the strong headwinds, we would wait for the rest of the group and get some help fighting the wind. It worked well until a second map reading error in this group cut out about 3 more miles. 

Finally finishing the ride, I was very satisfied with the way I felt and performed. That was the longest distance I've ridden at one time. I'm glad I did it and I'm inspired to add more base miles.

Pick your battle or fight for every scrap?

So we had a computer glich several days ago that I erroneously attributed to a forwarded email that we received from a friend of a family member that also uses our computer. Even though The glich was not caused by said email, I still, as king of my castle, decreed that we will no longer be accepting forwarded emails from anyone that I felt may unknowingly send us a virus or other problems attached to their emails. Coincidentally, 98% of the forwarded messages that turn out to be religious in nature, or chain letter types come from these people.(please note that I take a special pride in "breaking" the chain)

Well once the decree was nailed to the computer desk(figuratively), Hell began to slightly break loose. I was immediately asked if My friends (including the one that sends the interesting porn) were to be included in this new law? "Absolutely not! My friends know exactly what they are sending!" was my reply. That's when a larger chunk of Hell broke free and I decided that my brief reign as king was probably over for that night.

After talking with my trusted and "all knowing of everything computer" IT guy,(my title for him, not his), we both agreed that there is a possibility of a greater percentage of malicious content being attached to seemingly non-threatening emails such as prayer chains and "amazing picture" type emails.

That's when I decided to revisit the discussion armed with that newly found "factual" evidence. I think it took all of 1 minute for the discussion to turn into something slightly uglier and I had to remind my beautiful wife that I was just making her aware of new found information and not looking to fight. I also had some examples of the lack of computer savvy of some of the email senders (ie: emails about attachments with no attachment, emails with all the forwarded info but the actual forward not included, emails with just a closing sentence but no content). 

I don't think my wife is really interested in the stacks of hard factual info that I have accumulated in support of my original decree. I will now allow all forwards entrance to the castle without prejudice. Firewalls and anti virus protection be damned! All I can say is that I am secretly planning the ultimate "I TOLD YOU SO!!"

The best laid plans

Well, got absolutely no riding in last night, and I'm not at all happy about it. I got home later then usual but figured that I would ride the trainer instead. Well before that could happen, I was faced with this ever growing mountain of laundry that has at some point during all our recent company, become the Everest of our bathroom. Apparently at some point, the finely tuned and oiled machine that is the laundry process at our house, has dropped a major cog somewhere. I'm also partly to blame for this. I'm no Martha stewart but I do know how to do laundry. So I carefully separate out a load of "darks" which coincidentally contains mostly my clothes, (I've been kindly "Asked" in the past not to wash my wife's laundry), and carry them off to the garage where the washer is. Drop them on the floor and search for the soap bottle. 

Well you may or may not know but nowadays, soap is bottled in a Highly concentrated form. A bottle 6 inches tall contains enough soap for like eighty loads of laundry. My wife noticed earlier in the week that we had half a bottle left so she bought a second full bottle. One of our well meaning house guests decided to wash some blankets and sheets that they were using when they slept here. I can only assume that this person only purchases the "old style" non-concentrated  style of soap because a bottle and a half later and we have the Cleanest two blankets and one sheet out there. (of course some various small items got washed as well) Needless to say, none of my laundry got washed last night and we now have Everest in the bathroom and Mt. Fuji in the garage. 

Well I was unhappy to say the least. Then I remembered that it was Thursday night. Grey's Anatomy night. This is the one and only show that my wife watches regularly on television. And of course it's a new episode tonight, so there will be no Tour de France dvds on the tv. So instead I went to bed and slipped off into an angry slumber on a calm, cool Tibetan night, under the shadow of Mt. Everest.

IT guy comes through!

Thanks for the time fix. I think it will work now. I will look for the bill.

What's up with the time?

The time that is listed for my posts is totally screwed up. It said this last post was at 3am?!?

Oh well. I don't know if it is something I have to fix or if it's the sites problem. IT Guy, get on it! ........Just kidding.

Too Busy

Well, real life is just too busy. We have finally seen the last of our house guests and visitors for a while. And last night I was just able to get dinner made and eaten by 8pm. Put the kids to bed and then both my wife and myself crashed and went to bed. Absolutely no riding of any kind.  did manage to cut the end of my fingernail off while making dinner. Of course it's the type of cut that both leaves the nail bed exposed, as well as has such jagged edges that it's bound to snag and tear off the entire nail before it can grow out.

I do have a rather lofty riding goal set for this weekend. I am not going to write about it yet because I'll feel like a turd if it doesn't work out or I don't complete it. Stay tuned.

I plan to finally do some training after work today.

Well the camping trip was a blast. I got to spend a lot of time with my boys playing and riding our bikes. Building the fire is also always a big hit. The boys are just awesome on their bikes. We rode a beginner trail at the park twice and the boys rode like they were born on a bike.

My wife's friends were fun and we enjoyed their company. My children just love their girls.  We also got a surprise from two of my friends who called at 8am on Sat. and said the it was pouring at the 12 hour race in Oleta and they were going to bag it and come camp with us. They showed up about 2pm, so I did get in a "real" ride. 

All in all, great trip, perfect weather, and great friends. Definitely a re-do!

On a different topic, rode our bike club's nighttime off-road time trial last night and got beat by one guy that was a little bit of a wake-up call. I just have to be on my bike more, no doubt about it. 

Yikes, that's COLD

Freezing temperatures (sub 40 degrees... come on, I live in Florida) have curtailed my riding. I did put the bike on the trainer and rode for a hour. The dvd's my wife got me for christmas truly help. I have all seven of Lance's tour victories. It makes the chore of riding the trainer so much more bearable.

We also leave for a biking/camping trip for the family today. We are tent camping so I hope the weather warms up. I'll give a full report when we get back.

New Years Day Ride

Well the big ride was cancelled. High winds and constant rain until 11:00 am Made everyone bail before it started. I was pretty disappointed but enjoyed the time playing with the boys and watching movies. Once both boys fell asleep on the couch around three for a much needed nap, I pulled out the trainer. I put in the 2000 Tour de France DVD and watched and spun for an hour. The dvd definitely made using the trainer tolerable.

The temperatures are dropping rapidly and rumor says we may see the 20's tonight so I don't think I'm going to go run. I've been fighting a on again - off again cough and I don't want it to gain a foothold. Maybe more trainer tonight.