Well we bought Katie a bike a few weeks ago and started doing a Saturday morning ride together to get a little exercise and a cup of coffee. She is coming along really well, the first ride we found out she needed some handle bar adjustments since they were the straight bars we ended up putting bar ends on so it would feel a little more like a road bike position and that made it a lot better.
This morning we took the car into town and parked at the Starbucks at Old Spanish Trail and Harrison then rode to and through the monument. The back side of the monument is still a bit hard for Katie since it seems like it is straight up but it is getting a little easier for me and I am doing it in harder gears now than the first time I did it.
Today however I am writing to complain about the Grasshoppers or locusts or whatever they are that are as big as two of your fingers. We finally crested the backside of the monument and were coasting down the backside at a great pace (34 MPH) and this bug flies straight at me, I cannot swerve duck or do anything to get out of the way of this psychotic insect and it hits me square on the shoulder. Normally I would not complain about this but combine its speed coming at me, my speed and the sheer size of this thing and I am surprised it didn't knock me off my bike.
So let this be a warning to you all, watch out for flying bugs, they could just ruin your day
The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful other than a few horny toads we say and the snakes Katie saw, these were enough to almost make her crash as well since she is so scared of them, on one occasion while she was shivering from the site of one snake she was hit by another kamikaze bug and with the combined effect of the snake and bug she almost rode off the road.
We arrived safe at last back at Starbucks for our coffee, I will be resting the rest of the day drinking water prepping for tomorrows big training group ride with GABA again which will be 90 miles. Can't wait, I will write again soon.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Group Ride 2
Well Sunday I went out for my second group ride with GABA (Greater AZ Bicycle Association). Sunday was an 85 mile ride, I did a short 45 mile ride the previous week and after the 70 mile ride I sort of thought that was easy so I decided to do the longer ride, believe me I am still wondering how wise that was.
So the route started out the same as the previous week heading up Sabino Canyon Sunrise to Oracle then north towards Catalina State park. Rather than the quick break at the park we continued on to Rancho Vistoso, then through some of the back routes (it was all a blur to me) then back down to Tangerine to I10 down the frontage road to Avra Valley the over to Sandarino to ride behind the Tucson mountains, then for the killer around 65 miles we started on Gates Pass Road to then head back up Broadway to get back to Udall park.
For the first two hours everything was fine and I was doing great keeping up with the front pack and I had averaged 19 MPH, from there I continued on a bit at a good pace, until the turn onto Avra Valley road where the group I was riding with separated and then I was alone again. Turning up Sandarino I definitely was feeling it. I had to pull over for a slightly longer break, for the last of my water and to finish a banana. I was only a mile or two from Marana High School and was a few miles south of Avra Valley road, I looked behind me to see if anyone was coming up I could ride with, nothing in site, the few riders ahead of me were long gone so I could not catch them, especially with a head wind and a slight incline. Since I didn't know the exact route my only hope was to get to the gas station I knew was coming up and hope to meet the people in front of me or just wait for some people to catch up. I think it was another 6 miles before I got to the Chevron or whatever it was, the tandem couple were there already and one other rider that passed me. I parked in the shade and went in for some more water, used the restroom surprisingly (I was not dehydrated at this point) and started stretching and resting a bit for the final leg. I had 33 miles left and while I was standing there i thought it was 23 so I thought it would be easy haha. Finally some other riders started pulling in and I struck up some conversations with some of them to my dismay those that had ridden this route before informed me that the next portion till we got past Gates pass was all up hill and of course Gates pass was very steep. Some of the people said they had to walk up it.
I think I rested 20 minutes and felt ready to tackle the last bit and I took off following two other riders, we took turns in the lead to share the load, once I turned up Kinney road I had to drop down to the small cog up front, I was already on the big one in back so this shift made the chain fall off (note to self don't be in the big cog in back when dropping in front). Any way so I have to pull over to get the chain back on. After this start I finally got to some rolling hills but I was thoroughly exhausted so it was little consolation, then the big climb hits. I am zapped and I don't even know how far it is to the top, I pull over in the first parking lot to rest with some other riders and replenish the electrolytes. I started back up and maybe get an eighth of a mile, I am nearly falling over I am going so slow, so I succumb to the sad prospect of walking up the hill.
This is humbling of course but we are 67 miles into the ride and a good number of other riders are doing the same thing. Then the most annoying thing happens, some team riders I had seen throughout the day casually pass me whistling and making this hill look easy encouraging me on. To make it worse they rode down and back up a couple of times while I trudged on up. I don't know how long it took me and I thought I would collapse but I finally made the crest, hopped on and coasted down at a brisk 30-35 miles an hour with no pedalling (wow that felt good) Once again I was alone, I knew I had to ride up Broadway so I went the route I knew. I got to the Circle K just before Campbell and pulled in for some more water and had also got a banana. I think at this point I had 10 miles to go. I drank a bunch of water and while trying to psych myself up for the last leg my stomach knots up, I double over in pain and struggle over to the side of the building so I can wrench my guts out. This happened 4 times and then a couple of times with nothing, as I thought hearing about football players having died in practice from dehydration and my head is swimming I can only think to call Katie to come rescue me.
With humility I pick up the phone and ask Katie to come and get me disappointed I would not be finishing this grueling training ride. She sounded worried and was in town and that she would be getting me soon. While I waited though I thought on how many articles I read and heard of friends saying how much better they had felt after getting sick, well to my amazement the same thing happened to me, I called Katie and told her not to come and I hopped on my bike knowing I would be able to make it. After a couple of miles a group caught me and this was all the inspiration I needed to get me back to my car. The last miles were a blur really, I was just holding on to finish. Well I did, riding time was about 5 1/2 hours with total time being about 6 1/2. Not too bad really. I made it home took a shower, took a little nap and packed for my red eye trip to Atlanta that night.
I was tired, I could have skipped the ride and left for Atlanta early gotten a good nights sleep and been just as happy. I was glad I didn't skip it and the very next day I was thinking about my next long ride. This one will be a Century Ride "The Tumacacori" ----this one will be mostly flat though so I think I will manage. Till next time continue riding and beating yourselves up, you will feel better for it.
So the route started out the same as the previous week heading up Sabino Canyon Sunrise to Oracle then north towards Catalina State park. Rather than the quick break at the park we continued on to Rancho Vistoso, then through some of the back routes (it was all a blur to me) then back down to Tangerine to I10 down the frontage road to Avra Valley the over to Sandarino to ride behind the Tucson mountains, then for the killer around 65 miles we started on Gates Pass Road to then head back up Broadway to get back to Udall park.
For the first two hours everything was fine and I was doing great keeping up with the front pack and I had averaged 19 MPH, from there I continued on a bit at a good pace, until the turn onto Avra Valley road where the group I was riding with separated and then I was alone again. Turning up Sandarino I definitely was feeling it. I had to pull over for a slightly longer break, for the last of my water and to finish a banana. I was only a mile or two from Marana High School and was a few miles south of Avra Valley road, I looked behind me to see if anyone was coming up I could ride with, nothing in site, the few riders ahead of me were long gone so I could not catch them, especially with a head wind and a slight incline. Since I didn't know the exact route my only hope was to get to the gas station I knew was coming up and hope to meet the people in front of me or just wait for some people to catch up. I think it was another 6 miles before I got to the Chevron or whatever it was, the tandem couple were there already and one other rider that passed me. I parked in the shade and went in for some more water, used the restroom surprisingly (I was not dehydrated at this point) and started stretching and resting a bit for the final leg. I had 33 miles left and while I was standing there i thought it was 23 so I thought it would be easy haha. Finally some other riders started pulling in and I struck up some conversations with some of them to my dismay those that had ridden this route before informed me that the next portion till we got past Gates pass was all up hill and of course Gates pass was very steep. Some of the people said they had to walk up it.
I think I rested 20 minutes and felt ready to tackle the last bit and I took off following two other riders, we took turns in the lead to share the load, once I turned up Kinney road I had to drop down to the small cog up front, I was already on the big one in back so this shift made the chain fall off (note to self don't be in the big cog in back when dropping in front). Any way so I have to pull over to get the chain back on. After this start I finally got to some rolling hills but I was thoroughly exhausted so it was little consolation, then the big climb hits. I am zapped and I don't even know how far it is to the top, I pull over in the first parking lot to rest with some other riders and replenish the electrolytes. I started back up and maybe get an eighth of a mile, I am nearly falling over I am going so slow, so I succumb to the sad prospect of walking up the hill.
This is humbling of course but we are 67 miles into the ride and a good number of other riders are doing the same thing. Then the most annoying thing happens, some team riders I had seen throughout the day casually pass me whistling and making this hill look easy encouraging me on. To make it worse they rode down and back up a couple of times while I trudged on up. I don't know how long it took me and I thought I would collapse but I finally made the crest, hopped on and coasted down at a brisk 30-35 miles an hour with no pedalling (wow that felt good) Once again I was alone, I knew I had to ride up Broadway so I went the route I knew. I got to the Circle K just before Campbell and pulled in for some more water and had also got a banana. I think at this point I had 10 miles to go. I drank a bunch of water and while trying to psych myself up for the last leg my stomach knots up, I double over in pain and struggle over to the side of the building so I can wrench my guts out. This happened 4 times and then a couple of times with nothing, as I thought hearing about football players having died in practice from dehydration and my head is swimming I can only think to call Katie to come rescue me.
With humility I pick up the phone and ask Katie to come and get me disappointed I would not be finishing this grueling training ride. She sounded worried and was in town and that she would be getting me soon. While I waited though I thought on how many articles I read and heard of friends saying how much better they had felt after getting sick, well to my amazement the same thing happened to me, I called Katie and told her not to come and I hopped on my bike knowing I would be able to make it. After a couple of miles a group caught me and this was all the inspiration I needed to get me back to my car. The last miles were a blur really, I was just holding on to finish. Well I did, riding time was about 5 1/2 hours with total time being about 6 1/2. Not too bad really. I made it home took a shower, took a little nap and packed for my red eye trip to Atlanta that night.
I was tired, I could have skipped the ride and left for Atlanta early gotten a good nights sleep and been just as happy. I was glad I didn't skip it and the very next day I was thinking about my next long ride. This one will be a Century Ride "The Tumacacori" ----this one will be mostly flat though so I think I will manage. Till next time continue riding and beating yourselves up, you will feel better for it.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Longest Ride to Date
Well I had hoped to have had quite a few posts up here by now, I had many ideas and had even started to post on one of them but as you all know life tends to take the time away in a day and since this is really an extra thing to do it is the first to go. You would have all been thrilled to hear about my heroism in battling the scorpion infestation or my near death experience in my Mountain man Triathlon or just how fun my first and actually only group ride so far.
I had also hoped this writing would be after the Tour de Scottsdale which I have been training for for the last few months or really the last two. Due to circumstances beyond my control and I will blame it a little on the economy the coordinator for the event who was supposed to have had all the Ensynch participants registered just happened to get laid off the day the online registration closed. I was told my company was going to pay for it and that I could probably expense the registration and be ok. I tried to get official approval on this but did not so I simply didn't want to foot the one hundred dollar registration so I gave up on the idea.
Well late Saturday afternoon I decided that since I did all this training I ought to do the ride anyway (this probably wasn't very smart since I had not been hydrating). So I wake up after seven on Sunday and laze around a bit, grab a breakfast burrito and drink about 40 ounces of water got all my stuff ready and headed out for my adventure at about 9:20 AM. I had only an idea on where I would be riding so i started off towards Saguaro National Monument and from there I was not tired so I continued on heading towards Sabino Canyon. At Snyder I stopped at Circle K for some water and a banana and was about an hour and a half into the ride and felt pretty good, I was at almost 30 miles at this point and was very happy at this point. Once I was a little rested I headed toward Sabino Canyon, a little past and started to head back into town.
In order to get my 70 mile goal I sort of did some odd meanderings among the different streets, I stopped at Roadrunner Bicycle where I bought my bike for some Hammer Gel and to top off the air in the back tire since it felt a little soft or since I am such a big guy it put way to much pressure on the tire. At this point I was a little over 40 miles into the ride and still feeling pretty good, I I went straight back home (by way of Old Spanish Trail) I would have only been been a little over 60 miles so I had to take to the streets again.
Well bu the time I got back to Old Spanish Trail for the last leg I was about 51 miles into my ride and exhausted, I went slowly up to Saguaro National Monument and pulled in for my final rest and to refill my water bottles once again. I think I sat there fro about 15 minutes recovering and started out for the final 16 miles of which I think 10 were uphill and today I think it was against the wind.
It was a very long slow final leg with a few bursts of energy and I even passed someone (they may have been 80 tho). By the time I turned onto Pistol Hill rode for the final spurt with a mile uphill climb I realized that i would be about 3/4 of a mile short of my goal and had to make up the distance, I turned on a side rode which ended up being uphill of course but got an extra mile and a half out of the detour, so I was good to go home. Coming off the detour onto Colossal Cave Road is normally my favorite part of this route since it is downhill for a few miles and one part I can get up to almost 45 miles an hour, today however held no joy for me in this leg as I was completely depleteded of energy and had a horrible headwind, my normal fast part I could only get to 36t miles an hour and I was being blown all over the road. With as weak as I was at this point I decided not to push t either since I would have been very likely to crash. Once at the bottom of the hill I had only a mile and a half to go, mostly up hill again and I crawled up the hill standing on the pedals going only about 8 miles an hour.
Turning into my driveway had to have been one of the biggest reliefs I have felt in a very long time, even more so than when you know you should have been pulled over for speeding and the officer was not paying attention.
The only danger on the ride was right around Best Buy on Broadway when someone did a u-turn with no room to pull it off, nearly got hit, nearly ran me over then decided to drive in the bus/bike lane for a quarter mile at 10 miles an hour. The car had handicap plates and the guy looked about 80 (could have been the guy I passed later).
So all in all it was a great ride, I was very glad to have finished it, I am dead on the couch now but am hoping to make a quick recovery and get a ride in tomorrow or the next day just to burn off the lactic acid. Total ride time was 4 hours and 21 minutes and total time gone was about 5 hours and twenty minutes, not the best ride but at over a 16 mile average by myself I will take it. Definitely can't compare to an actual event but I was very happy to have finished it.
Till next time have fun and I will hopefully be back soon with something maybe a little more interesting.
Justin
I had also hoped this writing would be after the Tour de Scottsdale which I have been training for for the last few months or really the last two. Due to circumstances beyond my control and I will blame it a little on the economy the coordinator for the event who was supposed to have had all the Ensynch participants registered just happened to get laid off the day the online registration closed. I was told my company was going to pay for it and that I could probably expense the registration and be ok. I tried to get official approval on this but did not so I simply didn't want to foot the one hundred dollar registration so I gave up on the idea.
Well late Saturday afternoon I decided that since I did all this training I ought to do the ride anyway (this probably wasn't very smart since I had not been hydrating). So I wake up after seven on Sunday and laze around a bit, grab a breakfast burrito and drink about 40 ounces of water got all my stuff ready and headed out for my adventure at about 9:20 AM. I had only an idea on where I would be riding so i started off towards Saguaro National Monument and from there I was not tired so I continued on heading towards Sabino Canyon. At Snyder I stopped at Circle K for some water and a banana and was about an hour and a half into the ride and felt pretty good, I was at almost 30 miles at this point and was very happy at this point. Once I was a little rested I headed toward Sabino Canyon, a little past and started to head back into town.
In order to get my 70 mile goal I sort of did some odd meanderings among the different streets, I stopped at Roadrunner Bicycle where I bought my bike for some Hammer Gel and to top off the air in the back tire since it felt a little soft or since I am such a big guy it put way to much pressure on the tire. At this point I was a little over 40 miles into the ride and still feeling pretty good, I I went straight back home (by way of Old Spanish Trail) I would have only been been a little over 60 miles so I had to take to the streets again.
Well bu the time I got back to Old Spanish Trail for the last leg I was about 51 miles into my ride and exhausted, I went slowly up to Saguaro National Monument and pulled in for my final rest and to refill my water bottles once again. I think I sat there fro about 15 minutes recovering and started out for the final 16 miles of which I think 10 were uphill and today I think it was against the wind.
It was a very long slow final leg with a few bursts of energy and I even passed someone (they may have been 80 tho). By the time I turned onto Pistol Hill rode for the final spurt with a mile uphill climb I realized that i would be about 3/4 of a mile short of my goal and had to make up the distance, I turned on a side rode which ended up being uphill of course but got an extra mile and a half out of the detour, so I was good to go home. Coming off the detour onto Colossal Cave Road is normally my favorite part of this route since it is downhill for a few miles and one part I can get up to almost 45 miles an hour, today however held no joy for me in this leg as I was completely depleteded of energy and had a horrible headwind, my normal fast part I could only get to 36t miles an hour and I was being blown all over the road. With as weak as I was at this point I decided not to push t either since I would have been very likely to crash. Once at the bottom of the hill I had only a mile and a half to go, mostly up hill again and I crawled up the hill standing on the pedals going only about 8 miles an hour.
Turning into my driveway had to have been one of the biggest reliefs I have felt in a very long time, even more so than when you know you should have been pulled over for speeding and the officer was not paying attention.
The only danger on the ride was right around Best Buy on Broadway when someone did a u-turn with no room to pull it off, nearly got hit, nearly ran me over then decided to drive in the bus/bike lane for a quarter mile at 10 miles an hour. The car had handicap plates and the guy looked about 80 (could have been the guy I passed later).
So all in all it was a great ride, I was very glad to have finished it, I am dead on the couch now but am hoping to make a quick recovery and get a ride in tomorrow or the next day just to burn off the lactic acid. Total ride time was 4 hours and 21 minutes and total time gone was about 5 hours and twenty minutes, not the best ride but at over a 16 mile average by myself I will take it. Definitely can't compare to an actual event but I was very happy to have finished it.
Till next time have fun and I will hopefully be back soon with something maybe a little more interesting.
Justin
Monday, June 2, 2008
About the Survey on the side
Now obviously being the person that I am I do not find any of the items in the survey to be a waste of time...I am merely invoking some possible conversation and debate for things I find absolutely necessary for me to survive each and every day.
If you were to ask me a few months ago what I found to be the biggest waste of time i would have had to have said sleeping. recently however after my first triathlon and not being able to fit very well into my company sponsored jersey(This will be documented at some point) I decided it was time to get in gear and really get in shape. I had tried once before while getting ready for the Ragnar Relay (amazing 24 hours of pure insanity and the occasional run will post on that too) but it never really took, well not since high school really. Any way rambling there I know but back on track I used to regard sleep as a required evil that got in the way of my life and all the things that are so important to get done each and every day (like checking in on Calvin and Hobbes or today's woot). So to combat this useless evil called sleeping I was just short of having a caffeine IV, I literally drank up to 6 energy drinks in a day, had coffee, and countless energy mints. The result of this insanity was that I wouldn't get to sleep until after two each morning, and then I would get up early and start the cycle all over again.
As a result of this reckless behavior I would end up in bed around 10 in the evening and either watch TV and fall asleep having just finished a bowl of ice cream or some strawberry whoppers (or both) a huge diet root beer or an actual beer. As you can imagine this did not help in me fitting into the above mentioned jersey for my triathlon.
So again back on track (once again). As a result of my vow to actually fit into that dreaded jersey by the next triathlon I have since changed my answer to watching television, although I still enjoy doing this I now set my TV to sleep and am actually sleeping well before the TV goes off (usually within ten minutes) as opposed to before having to reset the timer because I was not really tired yet.
If you were to ask me a few months ago what I found to be the biggest waste of time i would have had to have said sleeping. recently however after my first triathlon and not being able to fit very well into my company sponsored jersey(This will be documented at some point) I decided it was time to get in gear and really get in shape. I had tried once before while getting ready for the Ragnar Relay (amazing 24 hours of pure insanity and the occasional run will post on that too) but it never really took, well not since high school really. Any way rambling there I know but back on track I used to regard sleep as a required evil that got in the way of my life and all the things that are so important to get done each and every day (like checking in on Calvin and Hobbes or today's woot). So to combat this useless evil called sleeping I was just short of having a caffeine IV, I literally drank up to 6 energy drinks in a day, had coffee, and countless energy mints. The result of this insanity was that I wouldn't get to sleep until after two each morning, and then I would get up early and start the cycle all over again.
As a result of this reckless behavior I would end up in bed around 10 in the evening and either watch TV and fall asleep having just finished a bowl of ice cream or some strawberry whoppers (or both) a huge diet root beer or an actual beer. As you can imagine this did not help in me fitting into the above mentioned jersey for my triathlon.
So again back on track (once again). As a result of my vow to actually fit into that dreaded jersey by the next triathlon I have since changed my answer to watching television, although I still enjoy doing this I now set my TV to sleep and am actually sleeping well before the TV goes off (usually within ten minutes) as opposed to before having to reset the timer because I was not really tired yet.
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