The Diesel brought his go pro for the ride, and did a great job filming the event. The only problem with the The Diesel is that he did not fully charge the battery, and we did not get the entire ride recorded. Oh well, such is life.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Skate Creek Loop Part 4
This is the final post regarding Skate Creek...Unless it isn't, but I think it is, however I am not totally positive.
The Diesel brought his go pro for the ride, and did a great job filming the event. The only problem with the The Diesel is that he did not fully charge the battery, and we did not get the entire ride recorded. Oh well, such is life.
The Diesel must have spent a serious amount of time editing down the video, and choosing the music. Thanks for all the work. Again, I also want to thank Jim, John, Mark, and Dan for letting us tag along on the ride.
The Diesel brought his go pro for the ride, and did a great job filming the event. The only problem with the The Diesel is that he did not fully charge the battery, and we did not get the entire ride recorded. Oh well, such is life.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Golf...
But wait you say, this is a blog about cycling???? Well right you are, and while the title of this is GOLF, it will be directly related to cycling.
I once read an article stating if you golf, carrying your clubs and not driving, you will burn approximately 2,000 calories. I thought "wow, I suck at golf so I must burn about 3,000 calories!!!" Yesterday I decided to put the article to the test.
Here is the process:
1 - Find someone to golf with me...Thanks Erik
2 - Find a course that will allow me to get the biggest bang for my buck...Thanks Riverbend Golf Complex
3 - Get golf balls...Helloooooo Wallyworld (Walmart)
4 - wear my Garmin HR monitor
5 - bring my Garmin Edge 500
6 - Play golf, if you call what I do out there playing
Just like with racing, I hate being late for golf. Since I did not know exactly where the course was, how heavy traffic would be, and the amount of time to get there, I left very early. Turns out I over estimated, and was at the course with nearly an hour to spare. Once paid, thank you groupon, I was ready to go.
I turned on the Garmin when I walked onto the putting green. After putting for about 30-40 minutes, was not reflected in my game, I had a pulse of 62 bpm, walked 0.6 miles, and burned about 12 calories.
Once Erik was ready, we were off to the first tee and ready to go. In typical first outing of the year fashion, I stepped up to the tee and promptly whacked the ball left, and 20 feet forward. I immediatly though "oh shit, here we go..." I teed up again and this time hit the ball about 230 yards straight down the fairway, second shot was on the green 25 feet from the hole, and 5 shot was in. Yes, I did skip 3rd and 4th, but you really don't want to hear about those two putts, trust me on that.
Periodically through the round, I would give Erik an update on my progress. I would also look like a fool as I would adjust my HR monitor. I pictured a man adjusting a bra strap, at least that is the way I believed I looked.
Erik and I kept playing, and I was getting my money's worth...Erik more so. I know you are not supposed to be happy when your friend is doing worse than you, but I was quite happy. Supposedly golf is a gentleman's game, and you root for your compatriot...I say hog wash!
At the end of the round Erik and I both checked the numbers. Erik told me that I shot a 99 (50 out and 49 in), and he shot a 104 (54 out and 54 in). I was stoked, as I cannot recall the last time I beat Erik in a round of golf. I told Erik that I walked 6.52 miles, had an average speed of 1.5 mph, and burned 670 calories.
The way I figure it, I should have burned around 1200-1300 calories instead. The Garmin basses its calculations on HR, average speed, power output, time, etc. Since there is a lot of standing, the computer perceives there is no work occurring and uses that in its calculation.
While I enjoy golf, it is not the same thrill as cycling, it is slower, and it is not nearly as scenic. However, I have a plan to spice up future golf rounds making it more thrilling for me, and more interesting for everyone else on the course.
.JPG)
.JPG)
What do you think?
I once read an article stating if you golf, carrying your clubs and not driving, you will burn approximately 2,000 calories. I thought "wow, I suck at golf so I must burn about 3,000 calories!!!" Yesterday I decided to put the article to the test.
Here is the process:
1 - Find someone to golf with me...Thanks Erik
2 - Find a course that will allow me to get the biggest bang for my buck...Thanks Riverbend Golf Complex
3 - Get golf balls...Helloooooo Wallyworld (Walmart)
4 - wear my Garmin HR monitor
5 - bring my Garmin Edge 500
6 - Play golf, if you call what I do out there playing
Just like with racing, I hate being late for golf. Since I did not know exactly where the course was, how heavy traffic would be, and the amount of time to get there, I left very early. Turns out I over estimated, and was at the course with nearly an hour to spare. Once paid, thank you groupon, I was ready to go.
I turned on the Garmin when I walked onto the putting green. After putting for about 30-40 minutes, was not reflected in my game, I had a pulse of 62 bpm, walked 0.6 miles, and burned about 12 calories.
Once Erik was ready, we were off to the first tee and ready to go. In typical first outing of the year fashion, I stepped up to the tee and promptly whacked the ball left, and 20 feet forward. I immediatly though "oh shit, here we go..." I teed up again and this time hit the ball about 230 yards straight down the fairway, second shot was on the green 25 feet from the hole, and 5 shot was in. Yes, I did skip 3rd and 4th, but you really don't want to hear about those two putts, trust me on that.
Periodically through the round, I would give Erik an update on my progress. I would also look like a fool as I would adjust my HR monitor. I pictured a man adjusting a bra strap, at least that is the way I believed I looked.
Erik and I kept playing, and I was getting my money's worth...Erik more so. I know you are not supposed to be happy when your friend is doing worse than you, but I was quite happy. Supposedly golf is a gentleman's game, and you root for your compatriot...I say hog wash!
At the end of the round Erik and I both checked the numbers. Erik told me that I shot a 99 (50 out and 49 in), and he shot a 104 (54 out and 54 in). I was stoked, as I cannot recall the last time I beat Erik in a round of golf. I told Erik that I walked 6.52 miles, had an average speed of 1.5 mph, and burned 670 calories.
The way I figure it, I should have burned around 1200-1300 calories instead. The Garmin basses its calculations on HR, average speed, power output, time, etc. Since there is a lot of standing, the computer perceives there is no work occurring and uses that in its calculation.
While I enjoy golf, it is not the same thrill as cycling, it is slower, and it is not nearly as scenic. However, I have a plan to spice up future golf rounds making it more thrilling for me, and more interesting for everyone else on the course.
.JPG)
.JPG)
What do you think?
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wishram Part 3...Refueling
Any avid cyclist knows that you must refuel if you plan to continue riding, which occurs both on and off the bike.
Any ride over 40 miles requires me to bring two water bottles. If it is going to be hot, I place Nuun tablets in both. If it is going to be cool, I place a Nuun tablet in just one bottle. If the ride is going to be over 40 miles, I try to creatively plan a route so I can fill my bottles at convenience stores. There is nothing worse than being on a ride and not having water.
I always bring at least one e-gel on every ride, no matter how short. Rarely do I need to use the e-gel on anything under 30 miles, but it is better safe than sorry. On rides over 30 miles, I tend to bring a combination of gels, bars, and/or other food. One trick I always use is to mix the flabors. There is nothing worse than being on a long ride and discovering you just cannot stomach a specific flavor any longer.
While down in the Wishram area I always took two bottles of water (pretty remote), and enough food for a 70ish mile ride. Why? Well, there is spotty cell service. That means if something were to happen, I cannot be guaranteed that Bella could "rescue" me. Plus, what real manly man would want to call his amazing wife, admit the road defeated him, and take the sag wagon home?
.JPG)
Refueling does not end once you are off the bike, and that is where the real fun begins. In order to maintain my body weight, I need to consume between 1800 and 2000 calories a day...Before I even pedal a single stroke. Factor in that I ride between 600 and 800 miles a week, on average, I burn an additional 1000 - 2000 calories per ride. If you do the math, I burn in the neighborhood of 2800 - 4000 calories a day.
Due to burning so many calories, I get to indulge in one of my favorite pleasures...food and beverage. Lucky for me, the Columbia River Gorge has some great places for me to refuel. In fact, I am positive most of the local restaurants, breweries, and wineries were opened for yours truly.
Some of my favorite haunts are in The Dalles, White Salmon, Hood River, Lyle, and on, and on, and on. Let's see if I can name them all...
1 - Double Mountain Brewery...Amazing beer, and just as amazing food. I like the Hop Lava and pizza
2 - Everybody's Brewing...Delicious full bodied IPA, and a very tasty pub burger.
3 - Clock Tower...Carries an amazing selection of Gorge beers, and good food.
4 - Solara...Brand new brewery with a good hoppy IPA and an amazing wild rice burger.
5 - Cascade Cliffs winery...specializes in Piedmont wines.
6 - Domaine Pouillon...very tasty blends
7 - Jacob Williams Winery...Deep, flavorfull, and full bodied reds
8 - Waving Tree Winery...My very first experience at a winery, and they treat me like family.
Well, I know there are a lot more places that I like to visit, I just cannot remember all of them. On this trip, I visited:
Double Mountain
Everybody's
Solara
Domaine Pouillon
Cascade Cliffs.
I was also joined by Bella and my good friends D & R at each location. All three of them thought I was a total nut job for riding so much while down there. I would be up around 4:30, on my bike and out the door by 6:00. It is a good thing that I rode so much, because I definitely consumed more than enough calories to refuel.
I think the best day was Saturday, where we hit a couple of our favorite locations and Fred Meyer. Why Fred Meyer? I had to get supplies to make my world famous beer brats...Beer, Bratwurst, and Worcestershire Sauce.
Before cooking up the brats, we decided to take a quick hike just 30 seconds from D&R's house. There is a great cliff to hike up, and you get amazing views of the river and surrounding areas. A good time was had by all, and we burned a few more calories which enabled us to indulge in some seriously good brats.
As always, we cannot wait for our next trip to Wishram, it is new adventure around every corner.
Any ride over 40 miles requires me to bring two water bottles. If it is going to be hot, I place Nuun tablets in both. If it is going to be cool, I place a Nuun tablet in just one bottle. If the ride is going to be over 40 miles, I try to creatively plan a route so I can fill my bottles at convenience stores. There is nothing worse than being on a ride and not having water.
I always bring at least one e-gel on every ride, no matter how short. Rarely do I need to use the e-gel on anything under 30 miles, but it is better safe than sorry. On rides over 30 miles, I tend to bring a combination of gels, bars, and/or other food. One trick I always use is to mix the flabors. There is nothing worse than being on a long ride and discovering you just cannot stomach a specific flavor any longer.
While down in the Wishram area I always took two bottles of water (pretty remote), and enough food for a 70ish mile ride. Why? Well, there is spotty cell service. That means if something were to happen, I cannot be guaranteed that Bella could "rescue" me. Plus, what real manly man would want to call his amazing wife, admit the road defeated him, and take the sag wagon home?
.JPG)
Refueling does not end once you are off the bike, and that is where the real fun begins. In order to maintain my body weight, I need to consume between 1800 and 2000 calories a day...Before I even pedal a single stroke. Factor in that I ride between 600 and 800 miles a week, on average, I burn an additional 1000 - 2000 calories per ride. If you do the math, I burn in the neighborhood of 2800 - 4000 calories a day.
Due to burning so many calories, I get to indulge in one of my favorite pleasures...food and beverage. Lucky for me, the Columbia River Gorge has some great places for me to refuel. In fact, I am positive most of the local restaurants, breweries, and wineries were opened for yours truly.
.JPG) |
| Me (right), Bella (left), D&R (back right and left, respectively) |
Some of my favorite haunts are in The Dalles, White Salmon, Hood River, Lyle, and on, and on, and on. Let's see if I can name them all...
1 - Double Mountain Brewery...Amazing beer, and just as amazing food. I like the Hop Lava and pizza
2 - Everybody's Brewing...Delicious full bodied IPA, and a very tasty pub burger.
3 - Clock Tower...Carries an amazing selection of Gorge beers, and good food.
4 - Solara...Brand new brewery with a good hoppy IPA and an amazing wild rice burger.
5 - Cascade Cliffs winery...specializes in Piedmont wines.
6 - Domaine Pouillon...very tasty blends
7 - Jacob Williams Winery...Deep, flavorfull, and full bodied reds
8 - Waving Tree Winery...My very first experience at a winery, and they treat me like family.
Well, I know there are a lot more places that I like to visit, I just cannot remember all of them. On this trip, I visited:
Double Mountain
 |
| Oops...I was hungry and thirsty, slow down! |
Everybody's
 |
| From Brewmancenw.com |
Solara
 |
| sitting behind the brewery |
Domaine Pouillon
 |
| from Winetrailsnw.com |
Cascade Cliffs.
 |
| early spring picture |
I was also joined by Bella and my good friends D & R at each location. All three of them thought I was a total nut job for riding so much while down there. I would be up around 4:30, on my bike and out the door by 6:00. It is a good thing that I rode so much, because I definitely consumed more than enough calories to refuel.
I think the best day was Saturday, where we hit a couple of our favorite locations and Fred Meyer. Why Fred Meyer? I had to get supplies to make my world famous beer brats...Beer, Bratwurst, and Worcestershire Sauce.
Before cooking up the brats, we decided to take a quick hike just 30 seconds from D&R's house. There is a great cliff to hike up, and you get amazing views of the river and surrounding areas. A good time was had by all, and we burned a few more calories which enabled us to indulge in some seriously good brats.
.JPG) |
| Bella (left) and R (right) |
As always, we cannot wait for our next trip to Wishram, it is new adventure around every corner.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Wishram Part 2...fun!
I awoke to some seriously sour weather, which was only confirmed when I looked at the weather station my friends have in their house. The temperature was 59 F, winds were steady at 22 mph from the west (gusting to 43 mph...found that out once home), and rain was coming fast! Do you think I got on my bike? Hells yeahs I did!
How could I not get on my bike with weather like that? This would be one of those "epic" rides that would hurt, make people go "hmmm", and something I could brag about to anyone who should care but really do not.
The big decision I had to make was go into the wind at the start, or into the wind to finish. I chose going into the wind at the start, and have an easier, more enjoyable ride on the way back. I definitely made the correct choice.
The first half of the ride might have been one of the toughest I have ever done, and at one point I was excited when I hit 12.5 mph!. There were some times that I could barely hit 10 mph, due to the wind, and there are very few flat spots on the route. The temperature was also dropping as the storm quickly approached.
I was determined to log my miles, but Mother Nature had other ideas and turned against me. I started to feel little stabs of pain on my face, arms, and legs. With each pedal stroke, the stabs of pain occurred more frequently. The wind was picking up and even gusting hard enough to move me more than I felt comfortable with. Still, I pressed on...until the skis opened and I had to stop due to wind and rain.
I quickly turned around having completed only 11.69 miles in an eye popping 53 minutes. This might have been the slowest 11.69 miles...EVER! The ride home was unbelievably fast, and I completed the same 11.69 miles in 27 minutes. Again, there is nothing flat about the route. I was moving fast on the ups and downs.
The speeds I hit on the way back made all the pain on the way out worthwhile. It is always tough riding the Wishram area due to temperature, wind, and elevation profiles. This time was no different, and I look forward to another extreme weather ride (hot, cold, rain, wind...I do not care give me your best shot Mother Nature) in the area.
How could I not get on my bike with weather like that? This would be one of those "epic" rides that would hurt, make people go "hmmm", and something I could brag about to anyone who should care but really do not.
The big decision I had to make was go into the wind at the start, or into the wind to finish. I chose going into the wind at the start, and have an easier, more enjoyable ride on the way back. I definitely made the correct choice.
The first half of the ride might have been one of the toughest I have ever done, and at one point I was excited when I hit 12.5 mph!. There were some times that I could barely hit 10 mph, due to the wind, and there are very few flat spots on the route. The temperature was also dropping as the storm quickly approached.
I was determined to log my miles, but Mother Nature had other ideas and turned against me. I started to feel little stabs of pain on my face, arms, and legs. With each pedal stroke, the stabs of pain occurred more frequently. The wind was picking up and even gusting hard enough to move me more than I felt comfortable with. Still, I pressed on...until the skis opened and I had to stop due to wind and rain.
I quickly turned around having completed only 11.69 miles in an eye popping 53 minutes. This might have been the slowest 11.69 miles...EVER! The ride home was unbelievably fast, and I completed the same 11.69 miles in 27 minutes. Again, there is nothing flat about the route. I was moving fast on the ups and downs.
The speeds I hit on the way back made all the pain on the way out worthwhile. It is always tough riding the Wishram area due to temperature, wind, and elevation profiles. This time was no different, and I look forward to another extreme weather ride (hot, cold, rain, wind...I do not care give me your best shot Mother Nature) in the area.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Wishram Part 1...how to get there
Thursday was the day Bella and I had been looking forward to for quite some time...Wishram day! The plan was to be in the car and on the road by 8:30 am, but departure time is not a strong suit of Bella's and we were out of the house at 10:00 am. Oh well...
Wishram is about a 4 hour drive from where we live, and it does not matter if we take the easy way (freeway) or the beautiful way (Chinook Pass). Which way do you think we took? Correctamundo, we went via Chinook Pass, through Yakima and Goldendale, and finally slipping into the Gorge to Wishram. However...I did not drive the whole way. Why waste some perfect weather and scenery in the car, when I could hop and and ride to Wishram? Well, that is exactly what I did.
.JPG)
About 40 miles from Wishram, somewhere close to absolutely no where, I pulled off the road and Bella humored me while I put the bike together. The distance was 22 miles to Goldendale, so I figured close to 40 miles to Wishram.
The first thing I noticed was that it was hot...When we left our house it was 60 F, and where I got out it was 84 F. I also knew that the temperature was only going to rise the closer I got to Wishram, due to it being in the "desert." I was prepared though and had two water bottles, as well as some food.
The second thing I noticed was that my legs were stiff! I do not do well sitting still, much less for 3 hours. Getting out of the car and immediately on the bike did not feel real good at the start, and it took me a long time to get loosened up. Good thing I had a slight downhill...Oh that was just an optical illusion, and I was actually going up on a 1-2% grade for about 2.5 miles.
This is where the fun started, I then had a 4 mile climb and gained nearly 1,000 feet. It is really amazing how much easier and shorter climbs feel when you are in a car. I kept expecting the climb to end, as I went, but the dang thing just went up, and up, and up some more. I knew that I had a long way to go, so I did not push hard on the climb and average just under 12 mph.
What is the best part of climbing??? Knowing that you have really accomplished something is one, but also knowing that there will be a fast descent is the other. It is always refreshing to fly down a mountain, and feel the pain slowly leave your legs. On the descent I easily stayed above 32 mph. I could have pushed hard and really flown, but I knew I still had a lot of miles, wind, and heat to come. I was trying to be smart and tactical....Two traits I do not exhibit very often.
After the easy descent, I was treated to another climb...This one was much shorter (1.5 mi) and easier than the first, so it went by in the blink of an eye. From there I should have had easy "spinning" to and through Goldendale...Should have. Turns out someone thought I was having too good of a time, so they dialed up the wind a few notches as well as cranking up the temperature.
After the second descent, the ride was flatish for a good 8-9 miles, but by no means easy. In fact, I would rate this portion of my ride as the hardest. The temperature steadily climbed, while the wind went from next to nothing to STRONG. So even thought these miles were flatish, they were by no means easy. I worked hard and harder to hold decent speeds. This is also where Bella decided to start the photo story of my ride.
.JPG)
Bella, the ever organized, made a grocery store stop in Goldendale. This worked perfectly, because I would have food and beverage when I arrived in Wishram, and also get to see what I look like pedaling down the road in the middle of no where. Yes, I know that all the drivers think I look like an idiot.
One thing I bet you did not know is that Goldendale is a MAJOR player in the alfalfa market. Here is the proof...
.JPG)
After Goldendale, there is a 4 mile descent into the Columbia River Gorge. Normally there is a very strong wind from the west, which does little to help with the heat. Surprisingly, on this day, there was almost no wind. I was baffled by this, especially since Goldendale had so much wind.
.JPG)
Since there was almost no wind, I knew I was going to be dealing with some serious heat. I am glad that I put nuun tabs in one water bottle, and drank that bottle first. Why? Two reasons...
1 - I would not be low on elctrolytes while riding in the heat. If I drank the regular water first, I would have lost a lot of electrolytes and would not be able to replace them fast enough while riding in the oven.
2 - I could use the regular water to squirt on my head a cool down for about 3 seconds before it evaporated. Doing this with electrolytes would be stupid and just add to the salt build up on my face and clothing.
So how hot was it? 100.4 by the time I arrived at the house in Wishram. Yeah I know what you are thinking, and it is true...I am on the dumber side of fool, but I am still the most intelligent man in my house. I actually enjoyed the heat...On the west side of Washington it is still cold and wet, and that will not change for another couple of weeks. Little did I know that the east side was going to get some west side love real soon.
Part 2 to follow soon...
Wishram is about a 4 hour drive from where we live, and it does not matter if we take the easy way (freeway) or the beautiful way (Chinook Pass). Which way do you think we took? Correctamundo, we went via Chinook Pass, through Yakima and Goldendale, and finally slipping into the Gorge to Wishram. However...I did not drive the whole way. Why waste some perfect weather and scenery in the car, when I could hop and and ride to Wishram? Well, that is exactly what I did.
.JPG)
About 40 miles from Wishram, somewhere close to absolutely no where, I pulled off the road and Bella humored me while I put the bike together. The distance was 22 miles to Goldendale, so I figured close to 40 miles to Wishram.
The first thing I noticed was that it was hot...When we left our house it was 60 F, and where I got out it was 84 F. I also knew that the temperature was only going to rise the closer I got to Wishram, due to it being in the "desert." I was prepared though and had two water bottles, as well as some food.
The second thing I noticed was that my legs were stiff! I do not do well sitting still, much less for 3 hours. Getting out of the car and immediately on the bike did not feel real good at the start, and it took me a long time to get loosened up. Good thing I had a slight downhill...Oh that was just an optical illusion, and I was actually going up on a 1-2% grade for about 2.5 miles.
This is where the fun started, I then had a 4 mile climb and gained nearly 1,000 feet. It is really amazing how much easier and shorter climbs feel when you are in a car. I kept expecting the climb to end, as I went, but the dang thing just went up, and up, and up some more. I knew that I had a long way to go, so I did not push hard on the climb and average just under 12 mph.
What is the best part of climbing??? Knowing that you have really accomplished something is one, but also knowing that there will be a fast descent is the other. It is always refreshing to fly down a mountain, and feel the pain slowly leave your legs. On the descent I easily stayed above 32 mph. I could have pushed hard and really flown, but I knew I still had a lot of miles, wind, and heat to come. I was trying to be smart and tactical....Two traits I do not exhibit very often.
After the easy descent, I was treated to another climb...This one was much shorter (1.5 mi) and easier than the first, so it went by in the blink of an eye. From there I should have had easy "spinning" to and through Goldendale...Should have. Turns out someone thought I was having too good of a time, so they dialed up the wind a few notches as well as cranking up the temperature.
After the second descent, the ride was flatish for a good 8-9 miles, but by no means easy. In fact, I would rate this portion of my ride as the hardest. The temperature steadily climbed, while the wind went from next to nothing to STRONG. So even thought these miles were flatish, they were by no means easy. I worked hard and harder to hold decent speeds. This is also where Bella decided to start the photo story of my ride.
.JPG)
Bella, the ever organized, made a grocery store stop in Goldendale. This worked perfectly, because I would have food and beverage when I arrived in Wishram, and also get to see what I look like pedaling down the road in the middle of no where. Yes, I know that all the drivers think I look like an idiot.
One thing I bet you did not know is that Goldendale is a MAJOR player in the alfalfa market. Here is the proof...
.JPG)
After Goldendale, there is a 4 mile descent into the Columbia River Gorge. Normally there is a very strong wind from the west, which does little to help with the heat. Surprisingly, on this day, there was almost no wind. I was baffled by this, especially since Goldendale had so much wind.
.JPG)
Since there was almost no wind, I knew I was going to be dealing with some serious heat. I am glad that I put nuun tabs in one water bottle, and drank that bottle first. Why? Two reasons...
1 - I would not be low on elctrolytes while riding in the heat. If I drank the regular water first, I would have lost a lot of electrolytes and would not be able to replace them fast enough while riding in the oven.
2 - I could use the regular water to squirt on my head a cool down for about 3 seconds before it evaporated. Doing this with electrolytes would be stupid and just add to the salt build up on my face and clothing.
So how hot was it? 100.4 by the time I arrived at the house in Wishram. Yeah I know what you are thinking, and it is true...I am on the dumber side of fool, but I am still the most intelligent man in my house. I actually enjoyed the heat...On the west side of Washington it is still cold and wet, and that will not change for another couple of weeks. Little did I know that the east side was going to get some west side love real soon.
Part 2 to follow soon...
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Frivolous!!!
I am really bothered, sometimes upset, by the fact that many people in America tend to think cause and effect is someone else's problem and not a result of the poorly thought out actions.
Buying hot coffee (which is what most people want), placing it in your lap (not the smartest move, but I do it with drinks), and then getting upset when you spill and burn yourself...What does one do? Easy, sue the company that provided the hot coffee.
Play football (American), hit your head into other heads and bodies for years, refuse to admit you are injured, continue to play...What does one do? Easy, sue the NFL for allowing you to do such a stupid act.
How do those two statements relate to cycling??? Good question. There is now a lawsuit against Strava.com due to the death of a cyclist in 2010. I will not go into the details, you can read them from the above link. However, I will give my thoughts on the matter.
Anytime I hear of a cyclist, or person for that matter, having an untimely death I feel horrible for the family. Even though death comes to us all, no one expects its arrival. Worst of all, parents never expect to outlive their children. I do not know the details of the cyclist's family...Was he married, did he have children, were his parents still alive??? Regardless, there are now people in the world who will live with his memory and not him. I sincerely wish the best for his family, but hope the lawsuit is thrown out of court before a single word is spoken
What bothers me is that the family somehow believes, or has been convinced by someone, that this is the fault of a cycling website. Unless I am wrong, this person chose to descend the road at high speed, this person chose to take risks on the descent, and this person chose to "compete" for a KOM.
To my knowledge, Strava has never commanded anyone to take undo risk or intentionally break the law to earn a KOM. I love using Strava, and will try and improve my positioning on KOM leader boards.
Before I started using Strava, and since I have been using Strava, I always tried to go fast and faster. I always knew my best times for a given route. I always knew how long it took me to climb. I always knew how quick I descended. I ALWAYS have tried to better those times.
Trying to best my times, or a friends time, has nothing to do with Strava. Rather, it has to do with my competitive nature. Ask anyone who knows me, I HATE TO LOSE...I want to be the fastest! If something happens to me, which I hope nothing does, it is not the fault of Strava, or any other website! It is my fault for taking a risk and competing against myself, my friends, or a name that I saw with a better time.
Buying hot coffee (which is what most people want), placing it in your lap (not the smartest move, but I do it with drinks), and then getting upset when you spill and burn yourself...What does one do? Easy, sue the company that provided the hot coffee.
Play football (American), hit your head into other heads and bodies for years, refuse to admit you are injured, continue to play...What does one do? Easy, sue the NFL for allowing you to do such a stupid act.
How do those two statements relate to cycling??? Good question. There is now a lawsuit against Strava.com due to the death of a cyclist in 2010. I will not go into the details, you can read them from the above link. However, I will give my thoughts on the matter.
Anytime I hear of a cyclist, or person for that matter, having an untimely death I feel horrible for the family. Even though death comes to us all, no one expects its arrival. Worst of all, parents never expect to outlive their children. I do not know the details of the cyclist's family...Was he married, did he have children, were his parents still alive??? Regardless, there are now people in the world who will live with his memory and not him. I sincerely wish the best for his family, but hope the lawsuit is thrown out of court before a single word is spoken
What bothers me is that the family somehow believes, or has been convinced by someone, that this is the fault of a cycling website. Unless I am wrong, this person chose to descend the road at high speed, this person chose to take risks on the descent, and this person chose to "compete" for a KOM.
To my knowledge, Strava has never commanded anyone to take undo risk or intentionally break the law to earn a KOM. I love using Strava, and will try and improve my positioning on KOM leader boards.
Before I started using Strava, and since I have been using Strava, I always tried to go fast and faster. I always knew my best times for a given route. I always knew how long it took me to climb. I always knew how quick I descended. I ALWAYS have tried to better those times.
Trying to best my times, or a friends time, has nothing to do with Strava. Rather, it has to do with my competitive nature. Ask anyone who knows me, I HATE TO LOSE...I want to be the fastest! If something happens to me, which I hope nothing does, it is not the fault of Strava, or any other website! It is my fault for taking a risk and competing against myself, my friends, or a name that I saw with a better time.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Give them some room
While reading the interwebs, and other blogs I frequent, I found a link on http://www.dcrainmaker.com/ for a new street sign in Texas. I must admit that I am a huge fan of the sign!
Here in the great state of Washington we have a similar law. The problem is that many drivers either do not know about the law or do not follow the law. This does not mean that all drivers do not follow the law, just many do not.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of having a side mirror come close enough to you that you almost feel it touch you. Another favorite of mine is the guy who has a trailer and you could write a message on the side, due to the closeness of the trailer. I also like big diesel truck guy who mashes the gas right as he passes you. It scares the crap out of you, and then you get the added bonus of riding through a black cloud of exhaust.
There are also the drivers I love to wave a thank you to. They are the ones that get completely in the other lane, if there is no on coming traffic. If there is traffic, they edge over to the yellow line, so that you know they intend no harm. I love those drivers and try to always acknowledge them with a friendly wave and thank you.
Drivers need to remember that cyclists have just as much right to the road as cars. Drivers also need to remember that our intent is not to cause problems or be obstacles. We just want to enjoy the scenery, get a workout, and see new places.
Cyclists need to remember that while we have a right to the road, cars are bigger, faster, and can do more damage than we can. We also need to remember that our job is to stay out of the way. Most states have a law that states we are to ride as far to the ride as is safe. Cyclists should also remember to follow the same laws as motorists. That means obeying traffic signals, stop signs and other postings. By ignoring those we just frusterate drivers and they generalize those actions to all cyclists.
Hopefully these signs, in Texas, will educate and reinforce the law to the general public. I am always amazed at the risks some drivers take. They do not think of the ramifications of their poor decisions while driving closely/too close to cyclists. From a person who has been hit, I can tell you that it SUCKS major!!!
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| from bikesnick; http://www.thewashcycle.com/ |
There is nothing quite like the feeling of having a side mirror come close enough to you that you almost feel it touch you. Another favorite of mine is the guy who has a trailer and you could write a message on the side, due to the closeness of the trailer. I also like big diesel truck guy who mashes the gas right as he passes you. It scares the crap out of you, and then you get the added bonus of riding through a black cloud of exhaust.
There are also the drivers I love to wave a thank you to. They are the ones that get completely in the other lane, if there is no on coming traffic. If there is traffic, they edge over to the yellow line, so that you know they intend no harm. I love those drivers and try to always acknowledge them with a friendly wave and thank you.
Drivers need to remember that cyclists have just as much right to the road as cars. Drivers also need to remember that our intent is not to cause problems or be obstacles. We just want to enjoy the scenery, get a workout, and see new places.
Cyclists need to remember that while we have a right to the road, cars are bigger, faster, and can do more damage than we can. We also need to remember that our job is to stay out of the way. Most states have a law that states we are to ride as far to the ride as is safe. Cyclists should also remember to follow the same laws as motorists. That means obeying traffic signals, stop signs and other postings. By ignoring those we just frusterate drivers and they generalize those actions to all cyclists.
Hopefully these signs, in Texas, will educate and reinforce the law to the general public. I am always amazed at the risks some drivers take. They do not think of the ramifications of their poor decisions while driving closely/too close to cyclists. From a person who has been hit, I can tell you that it SUCKS major!!!
Monday, June 18, 2012
Skate Creek Loop Part 3
Skate Creek Loop Part 1
Skate Creek Loop Part 2
We formed a pretty fast pace line as we quickly approached Packwood. Jim was leading, followed by David (forever known as The DIESEL), myself, and Jon brought up the rear. We all shared the workload as we rode towards our next climb (Backbone Ridge). As always, the plan is to climb at your own rate and then regroup at the top.
Backbone Ridge is about 2.6 miles with an average gradient of 4.2%. I rode at a pretty good clip, but did not want to over do it since we still had quite a bit of work left for the day. Once at the top, I was joined by The DIESEL, who is really enjoying his compact crank, and shortly there after Jim and Jon. The climb was perfect, I do not think I saw one car, I enjoyed the views, and got a good workout.
We again formed a solid pace line, and rotated when each person felt their speed dropping. The DIESEL was "the man!" I wish I took note of the time he started his pull, but guessing off the top of my head, I would say he pulled everyone for a good 10-15 minutes! After he finished I took over and settled into a good rhythm. We were still going downhill, but it was not steep and there were some small rollers along the way.
I was busy doing my job, and enjoying it, when I heard Jim yelling something at me..."This is our turn!!!" as I motor pass the turn. I quickly hit my brakes, slowed and turned into the gas/convenience store. I am pretty glad they let me know to stop, or I could have ended up in Idaho. After all, I am directionally challenged! We decided this was a good place to refill water bottles, eat some food, and talk for a few before hitting the last 20 miles home.
This might be the most memorable moment, for me, of the entire ride...
I walked into the gas/convenience store and noticed there were about 3 customers and 8-10 employees. If this were my business, I would want a different ratio! I saw an older woman behind the counter, near the register, and asked if I could fill up my water bottle (20 oz.). If you did not know, this is a pretty common practice with cyclists...you can only carry so much water. The woman looked at me, totally deadpan, and said "it'll cost ya." I wish I could have seen my face, because I was completely shocked, surprised, bewildered, and confused. I nicely asked how much, thinking she was pulling my leg, joshing me, yanking my chain...JOKING! How much do you think she said?
1 - $0.05
2 - $0.10
3 - $0.25
4 - $0.50
Hahhhhhh...Trick question, the answer is none of the above! She said "$0.32." Again with a totally serious look on her face, but I still thought she was joking. I went through the process of pulling everything out of my jersey pockets to find my "emergency" $5 bill. Her counter now looked like a thrift store. Here is a list of what came out of my jersey pockets:
1 - rain cape
2 - knee warmers
3 - arm warmers
4 - 2 energy gels
5 - 2 power bars
6 - beanie to keep my head warm
7 - cell phone
8 - nuun tablets
9 - ID
10 - 2 credit cards
11 - $5 bill
At this point I was realizing that she was serious. Me being a spiteful SOB, thought about using my American Express to pay for the water. Why the Am Ex, because I get 1.5% cash back and also because they charge the vendor the most for card use. In the ended I decided to use my $5 bill and increase the weight I was carry...I now had four $1 bills, and $0.68 in change. You know the saying, "train heavy and race light."
After paying for my 20 oz. of water, I shared the story with the guys. The guys all told me they just filled up and did not ask. We all had a good laugh, spent a little more time talking and eating, and then got back to business. Here we come Ashford, 20 miles to go.
The next 12 miles were going up at a very moderate 2 - 3% gradient, forested, and scenic with Skate Creek flowing on the right side. We also saw a ton of GREAT spots to camp and fish for trout. There were, again, almost no cars on the road and we were able to talk while riding at a casual pace.
Jim kept telling me that I could take off and ride at my own pace. It became a bit of a joke, and he would say he could see my fingers twitching as if I were about to change gears and accelerate. I kept telling Jim and the others that I would ride with them, and that it was no big deal. After a bit I told the guys that I might jump out of the pack at the end to "win." I am uber competitive!!!
Once we finished the gradual 12 mile climb, it was sweet sailing to Ashford. We again formed a good pace line and shared the workload for the last 12 miles. As always, my good friend The DIESEL, gave multiple solid efforts on the front, and me being strategic positioned myself to pull just before him. Why is this strategic you ask???
Well, I am glad you asked...Remember my uber competitive statement? The DIESEL was doing another solid, and I could see the main highway, AKA the finish, up ahead. I, sitting at the back, started to get all twitchy and let a small gap open between myself and Jon. I then switched into a higher gear and started a gradual acceleration. Just as I was about to ride into Jon, I again shifted, pulled out of the draft and accelerated for all I was worth ($4.68, yep that is all). As I passed The DIESEL, I looked over and gave him a nice word of encouragement..."SUCKA!!!!!!!"
I flew past The DIESEL, looked over my shoulder and noticed I had the gap. I guess they did not know this was really a race. The DIESEL tried his best to catch me, but I was able to sit up and give a victory salute as I soft pedaled the last 20 meters.
I was spent from the effort, The DIESEL was spent, and Jim said his mind wanted to go but his legs said "no, no, no."
What a GREAT ride! The Cyclopaths are a good group of guys, and all strong riders. I have now been told that I am an official Cyclopath, and I am honored to be considered a part of the group. I hope to represent well, and do them proud on future rides.
Thanks for the ride Jim, Jon, Dan, Mark, and The DIESEL.
Skate Creek Loop Part 2
We formed a pretty fast pace line as we quickly approached Packwood. Jim was leading, followed by David (forever known as The DIESEL), myself, and Jon brought up the rear. We all shared the workload as we rode towards our next climb (Backbone Ridge). As always, the plan is to climb at your own rate and then regroup at the top.
Backbone Ridge is about 2.6 miles with an average gradient of 4.2%. I rode at a pretty good clip, but did not want to over do it since we still had quite a bit of work left for the day. Once at the top, I was joined by The DIESEL, who is really enjoying his compact crank, and shortly there after Jim and Jon. The climb was perfect, I do not think I saw one car, I enjoyed the views, and got a good workout.
We again formed a solid pace line, and rotated when each person felt their speed dropping. The DIESEL was "the man!" I wish I took note of the time he started his pull, but guessing off the top of my head, I would say he pulled everyone for a good 10-15 minutes! After he finished I took over and settled into a good rhythm. We were still going downhill, but it was not steep and there were some small rollers along the way.
I was busy doing my job, and enjoying it, when I heard Jim yelling something at me..."This is our turn!!!" as I motor pass the turn. I quickly hit my brakes, slowed and turned into the gas/convenience store. I am pretty glad they let me know to stop, or I could have ended up in Idaho. After all, I am directionally challenged! We decided this was a good place to refill water bottles, eat some food, and talk for a few before hitting the last 20 miles home.
This might be the most memorable moment, for me, of the entire ride...
I walked into the gas/convenience store and noticed there were about 3 customers and 8-10 employees. If this were my business, I would want a different ratio! I saw an older woman behind the counter, near the register, and asked if I could fill up my water bottle (20 oz.). If you did not know, this is a pretty common practice with cyclists...you can only carry so much water. The woman looked at me, totally deadpan, and said "it'll cost ya." I wish I could have seen my face, because I was completely shocked, surprised, bewildered, and confused. I nicely asked how much, thinking she was pulling my leg, joshing me, yanking my chain...JOKING! How much do you think she said?
1 - $0.05
2 - $0.10
3 - $0.25
4 - $0.50
Hahhhhhh...Trick question, the answer is none of the above! She said "$0.32." Again with a totally serious look on her face, but I still thought she was joking. I went through the process of pulling everything out of my jersey pockets to find my "emergency" $5 bill. Her counter now looked like a thrift store. Here is a list of what came out of my jersey pockets:
1 - rain cape
2 - knee warmers
3 - arm warmers
4 - 2 energy gels
5 - 2 power bars
6 - beanie to keep my head warm
7 - cell phone
8 - nuun tablets
9 - ID
10 - 2 credit cards
11 - $5 bill
At this point I was realizing that she was serious. Me being a spiteful SOB, thought about using my American Express to pay for the water. Why the Am Ex, because I get 1.5% cash back and also because they charge the vendor the most for card use. In the ended I decided to use my $5 bill and increase the weight I was carry...I now had four $1 bills, and $0.68 in change. You know the saying, "train heavy and race light."
After paying for my 20 oz. of water, I shared the story with the guys. The guys all told me they just filled up and did not ask. We all had a good laugh, spent a little more time talking and eating, and then got back to business. Here we come Ashford, 20 miles to go.
The next 12 miles were going up at a very moderate 2 - 3% gradient, forested, and scenic with Skate Creek flowing on the right side. We also saw a ton of GREAT spots to camp and fish for trout. There were, again, almost no cars on the road and we were able to talk while riding at a casual pace.
Jim kept telling me that I could take off and ride at my own pace. It became a bit of a joke, and he would say he could see my fingers twitching as if I were about to change gears and accelerate. I kept telling Jim and the others that I would ride with them, and that it was no big deal. After a bit I told the guys that I might jump out of the pack at the end to "win." I am uber competitive!!!
Once we finished the gradual 12 mile climb, it was sweet sailing to Ashford. We again formed a good pace line and shared the workload for the last 12 miles. As always, my good friend The DIESEL, gave multiple solid efforts on the front, and me being strategic positioned myself to pull just before him. Why is this strategic you ask???
Well, I am glad you asked...Remember my uber competitive statement? The DIESEL was doing another solid, and I could see the main highway, AKA the finish, up ahead. I, sitting at the back, started to get all twitchy and let a small gap open between myself and Jon. I then switched into a higher gear and started a gradual acceleration. Just as I was about to ride into Jon, I again shifted, pulled out of the draft and accelerated for all I was worth ($4.68, yep that is all). As I passed The DIESEL, I looked over and gave him a nice word of encouragement..."SUCKA!!!!!!!"
I flew past The DIESEL, looked over my shoulder and noticed I had the gap. I guess they did not know this was really a race. The DIESEL tried his best to catch me, but I was able to sit up and give a victory salute as I soft pedaled the last 20 meters.
I was spent from the effort, The DIESEL was spent, and Jim said his mind wanted to go but his legs said "no, no, no."
What a GREAT ride! The Cyclopaths are a good group of guys, and all strong riders. I have now been told that I am an official Cyclopath, and I am honored to be considered a part of the group. I hope to represent well, and do them proud on future rides.
 |
| David, Me, Jon |
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Skate Creek Loop Part 2
Read Part 1 here
Once we were all warm and toasty, quasi rehydrated, and refueled with gels and bars, we made for the exit. To our surprise, the sun had started to break through the clouds, and the temperature was a tad warmer. Good thing too, we had a long fast descent and I wanted the roads dry from the mist.
As I have stated in other posts, I am the smartest man in my house. Thus, I made sure to ask Jim about the descent. Jim told me the descent is technical in spots, and that the road has some poor surfaces in locations. I am glad I asked!
Upon departing from the Lodge, we immediately discovered our desired road was closed. This was not a major problem, it just required us take a detour and we missed out on a stunning views. After a short descent and a quick rise, we saw why the road was closed...It was completely covered in snow, maybe 5-6 deep!
Once the descent began in earnest, we hit speeds of nearly 40 mph...Had I not been wearing my parachute, also know as my rain cape, I could have hit speeds of 50 mph. That would have been pretty cool!
There were some great hairpin turns that allowed us to carve some sweet lines, and long straights to drop into tight tucks and go even faster. There was also the bad road surface. Since road bikes have no suspension, you can be bounced around pretty good and crash, or you can use your legs as a sort of suspension.
At one point, I was in a tuck, near 40 mph, and did not see a really bad stretch of road...until I hit the section. I felt the dip, the up, and the shake, and new my bike was not in a good position. Somehow I kept my balance and pushed through the trouble...upright, and unscathed! David was behind me about 30 feet, and said that my rear wheel came off the ground about 6 inches and went to the left. If you are not sure, I will tell you this is not a good thing. You want your rear tire on the ground, and directly behind your front.
After that section of road, I was a little more cognizant of the road surface. The rest of the way down was less technical, but there were a few spots that I had to avoid. The problem...you could not see them until nearly on top of them. I therefor made sure to turn and give a deliberate point so the rest of the group would know to avoid that area. Jim was not sure what I was doing until it was too late. Luckily he came out OK.
Once off the fastest portion of the descent, we realized how warm and sunny it had become. We pulled off to remove some layers, hydrated, ate some food, and then it was back to business. At this point we had about 20 miles to Packwood, it was getting really warm, and we were flying.
Stay tuned for Part 3...tomorrow, and hopefully a GoPro video of the ride including the descent.
Once we were all warm and toasty, quasi rehydrated, and refueled with gels and bars, we made for the exit. To our surprise, the sun had started to break through the clouds, and the temperature was a tad warmer. Good thing too, we had a long fast descent and I wanted the roads dry from the mist.
As I have stated in other posts, I am the smartest man in my house. Thus, I made sure to ask Jim about the descent. Jim told me the descent is technical in spots, and that the road has some poor surfaces in locations. I am glad I asked!
Upon departing from the Lodge, we immediately discovered our desired road was closed. This was not a major problem, it just required us take a detour and we missed out on a stunning views. After a short descent and a quick rise, we saw why the road was closed...It was completely covered in snow, maybe 5-6 deep!
Once the descent began in earnest, we hit speeds of nearly 40 mph...Had I not been wearing my parachute, also know as my rain cape, I could have hit speeds of 50 mph. That would have been pretty cool!
There were some great hairpin turns that allowed us to carve some sweet lines, and long straights to drop into tight tucks and go even faster. There was also the bad road surface. Since road bikes have no suspension, you can be bounced around pretty good and crash, or you can use your legs as a sort of suspension.
At one point, I was in a tuck, near 40 mph, and did not see a really bad stretch of road...until I hit the section. I felt the dip, the up, and the shake, and new my bike was not in a good position. Somehow I kept my balance and pushed through the trouble...upright, and unscathed! David was behind me about 30 feet, and said that my rear wheel came off the ground about 6 inches and went to the left. If you are not sure, I will tell you this is not a good thing. You want your rear tire on the ground, and directly behind your front.
After that section of road, I was a little more cognizant of the road surface. The rest of the way down was less technical, but there were a few spots that I had to avoid. The problem...you could not see them until nearly on top of them. I therefor made sure to turn and give a deliberate point so the rest of the group would know to avoid that area. Jim was not sure what I was doing until it was too late. Luckily he came out OK.
Once off the fastest portion of the descent, we realized how warm and sunny it had become. We pulled off to remove some layers, hydrated, ate some food, and then it was back to business. At this point we had about 20 miles to Packwood, it was getting really warm, and we were flying.
Stay tuned for Part 3...tomorrow, and hopefully a GoPro video of the ride including the descent.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Skate Creek Loop Part 1
I had been waiting for this ride since last Saturday. It is another Cyclopath ride, but was cancelled last week due to weather. The plan was to meet up in Ashford at 7:00, drive to the start, and be on the road by 7:30. I have to say that we did a good job, because we were on the road by 7:33!
There were 6 of us, Jim, Jon, Dan, Mark, David, and myself, and we started with a casual pace...We only had 79 miles and 6300 ft of climbing to tackle, why hurry. About 5 minutes into the ride Mark experienced a flat. We all pulled over, and as cyclists do, watched as he and David changed the tube. If you have never seen a group of cyclists, when one of their group has a flat, it is quite comical.
.JPG)
David and Mark made quick work of the flat and we were off in no time. After a few miles were were at the Park entrance, and started to climb towards Longmire. This is a pretty gradual and easy climb, but you are still gaining in elevation. I sat on the front and was doing some good work, when I was told that we opened some gaps.
Jim decided to pull over at Longmire, with David and Jon, to wait for Mark and Dan. They told me to go ahead and just wait at the Paradise visitor center....So I did. It was quite overcast, but some of the views were still amazing. It also did not take long before I was noticing quite a bit of snow on the sides of the road. Each vertical foot equaled more snow and cooler temperatures.
Once I was in the "clouds" I experienced quite a bit of mist and some pretty cool winds. I was actually happy to get the cool wind, as I was getting very warm from the amount of work I was doing while climbing.
I also really enjoyed the fact that there were almost no cars on the road. This allowed me to choose the portion of road that was smoothest. Sometimes that was on the right, sometimes in the middle, and occasionally on the left. I try not to make it a habit to ride anywhere other than the right side of the road, but could not resist since there was no traffic. If I saw more than 8 cars during the 21 mile climb I would be shocked and eat Mark's bad tire (more on that later).
Once at the top I met a very nice family. I noticed they had a Bianchi on top of their car, and made the sarcastic comment "I see you took the easy way up." The father laughed and said no, my wife rode from the entrance and we met her hear. We made small talk, and I found out she was training for the RAMROD. No that has nothing to do with try to beat me up, it stands for Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day I also learned that she was now planning on hiking up the mountain a ways with her family...More power to you!!!
.JPG)
Once I finished my conversation, I went back to the road to cheer on the guys. 1, 2, 3, me...Where were Dan and Mark? We decided to get some water, use the restrooms and wait. Still no Dan and Mark, and I was now getting VERY, VERY, VERY cold. David, Jon, and I went to the lodge, to warm up as Jim waited, waited, and waited.
.JPG)
While in the Lodge, yours truly discovered there was a MONSTER fire place, AND it actually had a fire going. (If there is one thing that all people should know, is that I LOVE fire. In fact, if you have a fire, and are within 10 miles of me, I will probably show up at your house. Another thing you should know is that you should have something preventing me from playing with the fire.) I immediately took up residence in front of the fire.
Soon Jim too was in the lodge saying that he still had not seen them, and then went back out to wait some more. Once completely warm and content, Jim reappeared and said that Mark and Dan made it to Paradise, but that Mark had another flat. As a result, Mark did not want to ride the whole route on a tire that had now flatted two times in less than 20 miles, and I could not blame him.
Once Jim was warm, we decided we should get moving, as we still had near 60 miles to ride. We walked out to a great surprise...Sun! I knew the next part of the ride was going to be GREAT!
There were 6 of us, Jim, Jon, Dan, Mark, David, and myself, and we started with a casual pace...We only had 79 miles and 6300 ft of climbing to tackle, why hurry. About 5 minutes into the ride Mark experienced a flat. We all pulled over, and as cyclists do, watched as he and David changed the tube. If you have never seen a group of cyclists, when one of their group has a flat, it is quite comical.
.JPG)
David and Mark made quick work of the flat and we were off in no time. After a few miles were were at the Park entrance, and started to climb towards Longmire. This is a pretty gradual and easy climb, but you are still gaining in elevation. I sat on the front and was doing some good work, when I was told that we opened some gaps.
.JPG) |
| Taken with my iphone, while riding, by me... |
Jim decided to pull over at Longmire, with David and Jon, to wait for Mark and Dan. They told me to go ahead and just wait at the Paradise visitor center....So I did. It was quite overcast, but some of the views were still amazing. It also did not take long before I was noticing quite a bit of snow on the sides of the road. Each vertical foot equaled more snow and cooler temperatures.
Once I was in the "clouds" I experienced quite a bit of mist and some pretty cool winds. I was actually happy to get the cool wind, as I was getting very warm from the amount of work I was doing while climbing.
I also really enjoyed the fact that there were almost no cars on the road. This allowed me to choose the portion of road that was smoothest. Sometimes that was on the right, sometimes in the middle, and occasionally on the left. I try not to make it a habit to ride anywhere other than the right side of the road, but could not resist since there was no traffic. If I saw more than 8 cars during the 21 mile climb I would be shocked and eat Mark's bad tire (more on that later).
Once at the top I met a very nice family. I noticed they had a Bianchi on top of their car, and made the sarcastic comment "I see you took the easy way up." The father laughed and said no, my wife rode from the entrance and we met her hear. We made small talk, and I found out she was training for the RAMROD. No that has nothing to do with try to beat me up, it stands for Ride Around Mt. Rainier in One Day I also learned that she was now planning on hiking up the mountain a ways with her family...More power to you!!!
.JPG)
Once I finished my conversation, I went back to the road to cheer on the guys. 1, 2, 3, me...Where were Dan and Mark? We decided to get some water, use the restrooms and wait. Still no Dan and Mark, and I was now getting VERY, VERY, VERY cold. David, Jon, and I went to the lodge, to warm up as Jim waited, waited, and waited.
.JPG)
While in the Lodge, yours truly discovered there was a MONSTER fire place, AND it actually had a fire going. (If there is one thing that all people should know, is that I LOVE fire. In fact, if you have a fire, and are within 10 miles of me, I will probably show up at your house. Another thing you should know is that you should have something preventing me from playing with the fire.) I immediately took up residence in front of the fire.
.JPG) |
| Evidently the people at Paradise have been warned |
Once Jim was warm, we decided we should get moving, as we still had near 60 miles to ride. We walked out to a great surprise...Sun! I knew the next part of the ride was going to be GREAT!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Mud Mt Dam
I decided to take Tuesday off after 3 consecutive days of riding and some serious vertical feet in my legs. However, I was able to contact my friend, David, to arrange an afternoon ride on Wednesday. The weather was supposed to be nice, partly cloudy, and above 60 F. I figured this would be a great day to ride...
Turns out, again, things were not as advertised. It was above 60, 60.000001 F, but there was some wind and lots of clouds. Still, it was not a bad day and David was able to join me for the ride. Because I am gearing up for the TEARs rides, I really need to start climbing more. As a result, David and I decided what better way to increase the climbing on a ride, than to do repeats of Mud Mt Dam.
If you are unsure what a repeat is, what a repeat is, what a repeat is, then think about how it sounds. Repeats involve riding up a climb, then down the climb, back up the climb, etc. You do these until completely mad, bored, or have accomplished your goal. Since David and I did not have a set goal, we would probably be considered mad when finished.
David and I were lucky enough to have the wind at our backs for the ride out to Mud Mt Dam, and we dealt with almost no wind on climb (very forested). Since we did not have a set number of repeats in mind, we rode the climb at a pace that made talking difficult. On the last time up the climb a couple started to waive at us, obviously thinking we had gone mad. I decided to have fun and yelled, "how the hell do you get off this damn (get it) mountain?" They started laughing and cheered us on.
In all we did 4 repeats, all above 10 mph, and one HARD effort where I averaged 12.2 mph. The climb has an average gradient of only 5.1%. However it is a very difficult climb due to the constant grade variations. With constant variations it is extremely difficult to find a good rhythm, and I am a rhythm type of climber. After the 4th repeat we decided to head back home via HWY 410. This meant two nice, fast descents, and one long drag that is slightly up and into the wind.
David did a lot of work keeping our speed up on the first and second descent, and I rewarded him by killing myself on the long drag in between, fighting the wind and slight upward tilt of the road as I went. I almost looked liked Tony Martin, due to the drool and snot pouring out of my mouth and nose.
Once in Enumclaw, David and I kept up a good pace, rode side-by-side, and had a good conversation before splitting to head to our respective homes. All said and done, my ride was 40.6 miles and over 2900 ft of climbing.
I took off yesterday, am taking off today, but planning on doing an 80 mile ride with some good climbing tomorrow. So far the weather is not looking great, and there will be some good wind. Look for a report Tomorrow evening or Sunday morning.
Cheers
Turns out, again, things were not as advertised. It was above 60, 60.000001 F, but there was some wind and lots of clouds. Still, it was not a bad day and David was able to join me for the ride. Because I am gearing up for the TEARs rides, I really need to start climbing more. As a result, David and I decided what better way to increase the climbing on a ride, than to do repeats of Mud Mt Dam.
If you are unsure what a repeat is, what a repeat is, what a repeat is, then think about how it sounds. Repeats involve riding up a climb, then down the climb, back up the climb, etc. You do these until completely mad, bored, or have accomplished your goal. Since David and I did not have a set goal, we would probably be considered mad when finished.
David and I were lucky enough to have the wind at our backs for the ride out to Mud Mt Dam, and we dealt with almost no wind on climb (very forested). Since we did not have a set number of repeats in mind, we rode the climb at a pace that made talking difficult. On the last time up the climb a couple started to waive at us, obviously thinking we had gone mad. I decided to have fun and yelled, "how the hell do you get off this damn (get it) mountain?" They started laughing and cheered us on.
In all we did 4 repeats, all above 10 mph, and one HARD effort where I averaged 12.2 mph. The climb has an average gradient of only 5.1%. However it is a very difficult climb due to the constant grade variations. With constant variations it is extremely difficult to find a good rhythm, and I am a rhythm type of climber. After the 4th repeat we decided to head back home via HWY 410. This meant two nice, fast descents, and one long drag that is slightly up and into the wind.
David did a lot of work keeping our speed up on the first and second descent, and I rewarded him by killing myself on the long drag in between, fighting the wind and slight upward tilt of the road as I went. I almost looked liked Tony Martin, due to the drool and snot pouring out of my mouth and nose.
Once in Enumclaw, David and I kept up a good pace, rode side-by-side, and had a good conversation before splitting to head to our respective homes. All said and done, my ride was 40.6 miles and over 2900 ft of climbing.
I took off yesterday, am taking off today, but planning on doing an 80 mile ride with some good climbing tomorrow. So far the weather is not looking great, and there will be some good wind. Look for a report Tomorrow evening or Sunday morning.
Cheers
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Ride to work
Yesterday, Tuesday, might have been my last ride to work, and as such, I wanted to try and go for a few PR's. On the way to work there are 3 climbs, 2 are on strava, and on the way home there is a descent and a climb. I was also hoping to best my PR of 20.7 mph to work, and move up the strava leader board for the other segments..
While I had all these hopes and dreams, the stars were not aligned. I also, conveniently, forgot that I did nearly 10,000 ft of climbing and 85ish miles between Saturday and Sunday
I left for work at a good time, the skis were clear, and the temperature was near 50 F. It did not take long to warm up and settle into a good pace. By the time I arrived in Orting I was on track for beating my current PR. The only real obstacle in my way was the Old Soldier's Home climb. If I could crest the climb in under 5 minutes, I would easily beat PR for the whole trip. The climb has an average gradient of 8.3%...Which puts the climb in the "pain locker" category.
I decided to try a new strategy for the climb...Do not go all out and save some for the last half of the climb. This is difficult for me, but I figured I should give the strategy a shot. Turns out the tactic resulted in my best result, in some time, but not a PR. I was 5 seconds from tying my current PR, though I did not know this, for the climb. Still, I felt I had a legitimate shot at beating my PR for the entire ride.
Even though my legs and lungs were on fire, I dug deep into my "suitcase of courage", thanks Phil Ligget, and pressed hard. As I approached my turn onto Meridian, I noticed things were not going to line up right.
1 - I had just been passed by about 6-8 cars.
2 - There was no one in the turn lane on Meridian...changes the light patterns.
3 - The light was currently green and none of the cars were at it when it turned yellow.
4 - There were 3 cars still waiting when I got to the light.
As a result, I had to slow and stop for the light, which affects the time. While I do not know how much time, avg speed, the light cost me, and I knew it was going to be significant.
Once through the light, it was hammer time!
No, not MC Hammer...
I worked just below my red line and felt I was gaining some of my lost time. As I neared the turn into Sunrise, I knew I was about to experience the same issues as I encountered with my turn onto Meridian. However, it was worse this time. I stopped behind the cars, then I would roll forward as one car turned, then stop, then roll forward, then stop, then roll forward, then stop. This definitely crushed any hopes I had of a new PR.
I finally made it through the light, and was determined to continue working hard. I still had "some dumb hill" to try and gain a strava PR on. As I approached the hill I went for it. I went past my red line and kept pushing. I pulled on the handle bars and I crushed my pedals. Gravity and the bumpy surface were my enemies. Not only must they be destroyed, but they needed to be humiliated.
Once over "some dumb hill" I was able to make quick work of descent, and sprint the last bit of road into work. I pulled into the parking lot knowing that I would not have a PR, but was hoping for one of my better rides.
After my accident, I set the goal of 20 mph average to work. This year, as a result of training for races, I was able to set a PR at 20.7 mph. Turns out that I was peaking at the time and have not come close since...Until this ride.
When I caught my breath, I clicked through my Garmin pages and saw an average of 20.5 mph. I was both excited and disappointed at the same time. Excited because I am past my peak and had all the stops. Disappointed because I still wanted a PR...Oh well, such is life.
One the way home my goals of getting 2 PR's were dashed when my legs just had no energy. I decided to go for the descent of Old Soldier's Home. My current PR for the descent is 39.7 mph, and I knew that if there were no cars in front of me I could get the PR.
Again, the stars were not aligned, and a school bus plus 4 cars got ahead of me. While descending a driver decided that I obscured his vision and made a risky pass while in a corner. I was maintaining the gap between myself and the cars in front of me, that is why I know it was his vision being blocked rather than stupidity...Why else would a highly intelligent individual choose to make a pass, in a corner, when I was exceeding the speed limit and not losing ground on the traffic in front of me.
At the bottom of the descent, I was able to draft off the driver and other cars for the straight away. During that time I was pedaling at 35 mph, for a distance of about 0.5 miles. I could have kept this up for a bit longer, but had to slow for a 90 degree left hand turn.
After the turn I decided to shut it down and take a pleasure cruise home. I reflected on how the stars were not aligned, and that I did not set one PR for the entire commute. Things did improve as I turned onto my street and looked towards my house. There was Bella, sitting outside, reading, wearing her sexy cowgirl hat, waiting to cheer my to the unofficial finish line.
Bella then immediately said all the important things I needed to hear...
1 - you look sexy (like she really needed to inform me of this, my theme song was sung by Right Said Fred)
2 - I looked hot (I took think to mean the same as above, though she informed me it was about the temperature, not my looks)
3 - I am an amazing cyclist (while also true, and reiterated by my mother, it is good to hear someone else agrees with me)
4 - Here, have the amazingly cold and frosty beverage.
My day was then complete. Hope all had a day as good or better than mine.
While I had all these hopes and dreams, the stars were not aligned. I also, conveniently, forgot that I did nearly 10,000 ft of climbing and 85ish miles between Saturday and Sunday
I left for work at a good time, the skis were clear, and the temperature was near 50 F. It did not take long to warm up and settle into a good pace. By the time I arrived in Orting I was on track for beating my current PR. The only real obstacle in my way was the Old Soldier's Home climb. If I could crest the climb in under 5 minutes, I would easily beat PR for the whole trip. The climb has an average gradient of 8.3%...Which puts the climb in the "pain locker" category.
I decided to try a new strategy for the climb...Do not go all out and save some for the last half of the climb. This is difficult for me, but I figured I should give the strategy a shot. Turns out the tactic resulted in my best result, in some time, but not a PR. I was 5 seconds from tying my current PR, though I did not know this, for the climb. Still, I felt I had a legitimate shot at beating my PR for the entire ride.
Even though my legs and lungs were on fire, I dug deep into my "suitcase of courage", thanks Phil Ligget, and pressed hard. As I approached my turn onto Meridian, I noticed things were not going to line up right.
1 - I had just been passed by about 6-8 cars.
2 - There was no one in the turn lane on Meridian...changes the light patterns.
3 - The light was currently green and none of the cars were at it when it turned yellow.
4 - There were 3 cars still waiting when I got to the light.
As a result, I had to slow and stop for the light, which affects the time. While I do not know how much time, avg speed, the light cost me, and I knew it was going to be significant.
Once through the light, it was hammer time!
I worked just below my red line and felt I was gaining some of my lost time. As I neared the turn into Sunrise, I knew I was about to experience the same issues as I encountered with my turn onto Meridian. However, it was worse this time. I stopped behind the cars, then I would roll forward as one car turned, then stop, then roll forward, then stop, then roll forward, then stop. This definitely crushed any hopes I had of a new PR.
I finally made it through the light, and was determined to continue working hard. I still had "some dumb hill" to try and gain a strava PR on. As I approached the hill I went for it. I went past my red line and kept pushing. I pulled on the handle bars and I crushed my pedals. Gravity and the bumpy surface were my enemies. Not only must they be destroyed, but they needed to be humiliated.
Once over "some dumb hill" I was able to make quick work of descent, and sprint the last bit of road into work. I pulled into the parking lot knowing that I would not have a PR, but was hoping for one of my better rides.
After my accident, I set the goal of 20 mph average to work. This year, as a result of training for races, I was able to set a PR at 20.7 mph. Turns out that I was peaking at the time and have not come close since...Until this ride.
When I caught my breath, I clicked through my Garmin pages and saw an average of 20.5 mph. I was both excited and disappointed at the same time. Excited because I am past my peak and had all the stops. Disappointed because I still wanted a PR...Oh well, such is life.
One the way home my goals of getting 2 PR's were dashed when my legs just had no energy. I decided to go for the descent of Old Soldier's Home. My current PR for the descent is 39.7 mph, and I knew that if there were no cars in front of me I could get the PR.
Again, the stars were not aligned, and a school bus plus 4 cars got ahead of me. While descending a driver decided that I obscured his vision and made a risky pass while in a corner. I was maintaining the gap between myself and the cars in front of me, that is why I know it was his vision being blocked rather than stupidity...Why else would a highly intelligent individual choose to make a pass, in a corner, when I was exceeding the speed limit and not losing ground on the traffic in front of me.
At the bottom of the descent, I was able to draft off the driver and other cars for the straight away. During that time I was pedaling at 35 mph, for a distance of about 0.5 miles. I could have kept this up for a bit longer, but had to slow for a 90 degree left hand turn.
After the turn I decided to shut it down and take a pleasure cruise home. I reflected on how the stars were not aligned, and that I did not set one PR for the entire commute. Things did improve as I turned onto my street and looked towards my house. There was Bella, sitting outside, reading, wearing her sexy cowgirl hat, waiting to cheer my to the unofficial finish line.
Bella then immediately said all the important things I needed to hear...
1 - you look sexy (like she really needed to inform me of this, my theme song was sung by Right Said Fred)
3 - I am an amazing cyclist (while also true, and reiterated by my mother, it is good to hear someone else agrees with me)
4 - Here, have the amazingly cold and frosty beverage.
My day was then complete. Hope all had a day as good or better than mine.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Hill repeats...FUN!
Today was supposed to be the Skate Creek Loop with the Cyclopaths, but the weather at Paradise was supposed to be in the 30's, 20-25 mph winds, and chances of snow...As you can guess that ride was put off till another day. Instead we did the Camp 1 Rd climb, with a whole lot of repeats.
Leon and I were the early birds of the bunch and arrived at the designated parking area at 6:00 am. The temperature was a VERY warm 45 F, with a little wind, and wet roads. From where we parked to the top of the climb was a hair over 5 miles. However, we did most of the repeats on the last 1.3 miles.
The area has almost no traffic, and is very wooded. It is near a gravel quarry, and in the middle of a logging forest. IT is also very quiet and beautiful...While climbing, you even get views of Tacoma and the Olympic Mountains, when the clouds allow.
If you look at the profile, it looks like a saw that a magician would use to cut his beautiful assistant in half...do not tell Bella, but I think I might try this with her :)
Leon and I had a great time climb, descending, climbing, descending, climbing, descending, climbing, descending...I think you get the point, but it sure is fun to type climbing and descending repeatedly (did I really just say that...intended). On the climbs, Leon and I would talk. It was a blast, and I was happy to see that Leon enjoyed talking as much as I. If you have not noticed from all my posts, I am not on the short side of verbose. Not sure where I got this ability, thanks mom, but it comes in handy when there are awkward silences...I fill them with awkward talking.
After a while, Les decided to make an appearance. Les quickly stated that he wanted to try and earn a strava KOM for the segment we were riding. I told Les that he had a great idea and I would partake in the attempt too...I forgot that I had already climbed a total of 4800 ft prior to his arrival.
After unloading my water, emptying my bladder and losing my rain cape, Les and I were ready to go. I took off like a bat out of hell, thanks Meatloaf, and was quickly making a move up the climb. Les was somewhere behind me thinking "what a fool."
I probably went a little to hard at the start, but was still holding some good speed as I climbed. I managed to arrive at the top before Les, but was really hurting. Les was not far behind, and looked a whole lot better than I. This is when I remembered that I had already climbed 4800 ft, and going for a KOM was probably not the best idea.
Leon, at the time current holder of the KOM, thought I probably was the knew leader. I was hopeful, but did not know any of the leader board times. Turns out that I did not get the KOM...I am behind Scott and Leon, but I think I might go for another attempt tomorrow.
All said and done, I rode 51 miles and climbed nearly 6500 ft. I had a good time chatting with the guys and look forward to my next ride.
Have a great weekend!
Leon and I were the early birds of the bunch and arrived at the designated parking area at 6:00 am. The temperature was a VERY warm 45 F, with a little wind, and wet roads. From where we parked to the top of the climb was a hair over 5 miles. However, we did most of the repeats on the last 1.3 miles.
The area has almost no traffic, and is very wooded. It is near a gravel quarry, and in the middle of a logging forest. IT is also very quiet and beautiful...While climbing, you even get views of Tacoma and the Olympic Mountains, when the clouds allow.
.JPG) |
| cool old stump with a no trespass paper |
If you look at the profile, it looks like a saw that a magician would use to cut his beautiful assistant in half...do not tell Bella, but I think I might try this with her :)
 |
| Looks like fun...right??? |
Leon and I had a great time climb, descending, climbing, descending, climbing, descending, climbing, descending...I think you get the point, but it sure is fun to type climbing and descending repeatedly (did I really just say that...intended). On the climbs, Leon and I would talk. It was a blast, and I was happy to see that Leon enjoyed talking as much as I. If you have not noticed from all my posts, I am not on the short side of verbose. Not sure where I got this ability, thanks mom, but it comes in handy when there are awkward silences...I fill them with awkward talking.
After a while, Les decided to make an appearance. Les quickly stated that he wanted to try and earn a strava KOM for the segment we were riding. I told Les that he had a great idea and I would partake in the attempt too...I forgot that I had already climbed a total of 4800 ft prior to his arrival.
After unloading my water, emptying my bladder and losing my rain cape, Les and I were ready to go. I took off like a bat out of hell, thanks Meatloaf, and was quickly making a move up the climb. Les was somewhere behind me thinking "what a fool."
I probably went a little to hard at the start, but was still holding some good speed as I climbed. I managed to arrive at the top before Les, but was really hurting. Les was not far behind, and looked a whole lot better than I. This is when I remembered that I had already climbed 4800 ft, and going for a KOM was probably not the best idea.
Leon, at the time current holder of the KOM, thought I probably was the knew leader. I was hopeful, but did not know any of the leader board times. Turns out that I did not get the KOM...I am behind Scott and Leon, but I think I might go for another attempt tomorrow.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Yesterday's Ride Home
SUCKED!
You already know about the weather from the morning, and when I left work things looked great. It was partly cloudy, a light breeze and warm enough to not require knee warmers.
I left work late enough to not have any student traffic near, which is always a good and safe thing. Rode up the hill and turned left onto the road that will take me to the main drag. I even caught the light, which rarely happens. I was feeling good, and quickly approaching the long down hill. Usually I hit speeds around 35, without hammering, luckily for me I did not.
Just as my speed really started to pick up, I heard a noise and felt the awful feeling of no air in my tire. I slowly braked to a stop, got off my bike, and inspected my rear wheel. Turns out I managed to puncture my sidewall, and lost all air. The glue could not seal the hole, and that meant trouble.
As I said yesterday, I am the smartest man in my house, so I was prepared for an incident such as this...My wheels will work with or without a tube. I proceeded to take off the tire, clean out the glue, unscrew the valve, insert my brand new tube, and begin the process of re-seating the tire.
Getting the tire to re-seat was tough. I could not believe how still the bead was, but it make sense because there is no tube applying pressure towards the rim. I finally got the tire on, and started to fill the tube with air...The air would not take. Turns out that my brand new tube had a hole in it.
Now I am 2 miles from school and nearly 19 miles from home, with no way to ride my bike. My good friend E, drove by not knowing I was stranded and gave me a friendly honk. I really considered showing him my appreciation, while also showing him he was #1 in my book, but alas I did not. I called another friend, who shall remain nameless, but he did not have his phone on. I called another friend, but he was in a meeting. I called Bella, who works 45 minutes away, but she was not at her desk. I finally remembered my sister-in-law lived about 3 miles away, and called her.
Thank you Valerie for coming to my rescue, driving me 45 minutes home, and humoring the fact that a pasty, white, skinny guy in spandex was in your car.
I now need to get a new tire, and try to patch the current tire. I can easily say that the last 2 weeks have not been the best.
Good luck to all.
You already know about the weather from the morning, and when I left work things looked great. It was partly cloudy, a light breeze and warm enough to not require knee warmers.
I left work late enough to not have any student traffic near, which is always a good and safe thing. Rode up the hill and turned left onto the road that will take me to the main drag. I even caught the light, which rarely happens. I was feeling good, and quickly approaching the long down hill. Usually I hit speeds around 35, without hammering, luckily for me I did not.
Just as my speed really started to pick up, I heard a noise and felt the awful feeling of no air in my tire. I slowly braked to a stop, got off my bike, and inspected my rear wheel. Turns out I managed to puncture my sidewall, and lost all air. The glue could not seal the hole, and that meant trouble.
As I said yesterday, I am the smartest man in my house, so I was prepared for an incident such as this...My wheels will work with or without a tube. I proceeded to take off the tire, clean out the glue, unscrew the valve, insert my brand new tube, and begin the process of re-seating the tire.
Getting the tire to re-seat was tough. I could not believe how still the bead was, but it make sense because there is no tube applying pressure towards the rim. I finally got the tire on, and started to fill the tube with air...The air would not take. Turns out that my brand new tube had a hole in it.
Now I am 2 miles from school and nearly 19 miles from home, with no way to ride my bike. My good friend E, drove by not knowing I was stranded and gave me a friendly honk. I really considered showing him my appreciation, while also showing him he was #1 in my book, but alas I did not. I called another friend, who shall remain nameless, but he did not have his phone on. I called another friend, but he was in a meeting. I called Bella, who works 45 minutes away, but she was not at her desk. I finally remembered my sister-in-law lived about 3 miles away, and called her.
Thank you Valerie for coming to my rescue, driving me 45 minutes home, and humoring the fact that a pasty, white, skinny guy in spandex was in your car.
I now need to get a new tire, and try to patch the current tire. I can easily say that the last 2 weeks have not been the best.
Good luck to all.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Good weather...NOT!
After not riding yesterday, I carefully examined the weather report to today. Everything was looking good...Partly cloudy, and no rain. When the weather is good, DRY, I ride my race bike.
This morning I was moving on the slow side of snail speed. Add to it that I needed to still put some things on the Wilear, and I was way behind schedule. My goal is to be out the door, pedaling down the road, by 5:30 am. I was not even close today.
Being a the most intelligent man, in my house, I have learned my lessons (partly) and brought my rain cape...Good thing too. About 15 feet out of the driveway it started to rain, and I was on my good bike...Ahhhhhhh! In addition to being on my Wilear, I did not have fenders since I do not ride the Wilear in the rain.
I am officially at the point where I want sun, warmth, and no rain...I need summer to begin, and I need it ASAP!
Even with the rain, I still had a good ride. I averaged almost 20 mph, and would have been over 20 mph had I not caught a few lights. I earned my third best time on the Old Soldier's Home hill, and even carried good speed with the parachute that was keeping me dry.
Today's ride home should, cross your fingers, be dry. If so, I plan on pushing it and possibly doing AP Tubbs Rd climb and the climb back up to my house. If all goes well, I can move up the strava leader boards for the climbs.
This morning I was moving on the slow side of snail speed. Add to it that I needed to still put some things on the Wilear, and I was way behind schedule. My goal is to be out the door, pedaling down the road, by 5:30 am. I was not even close today.
Being a the most intelligent man, in my house, I have learned my lessons (partly) and brought my rain cape...Good thing too. About 15 feet out of the driveway it started to rain, and I was on my good bike...Ahhhhhhh! In addition to being on my Wilear, I did not have fenders since I do not ride the Wilear in the rain.
I am officially at the point where I want sun, warmth, and no rain...I need summer to begin, and I need it ASAP!
Even with the rain, I still had a good ride. I averaged almost 20 mph, and would have been over 20 mph had I not caught a few lights. I earned my third best time on the Old Soldier's Home hill, and even carried good speed with the parachute that was keeping me dry.
Today's ride home should, cross your fingers, be dry. If so, I plan on pushing it and possibly doing AP Tubbs Rd climb and the climb back up to my house. If all goes well, I can move up the strava leader boards for the climbs.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Tuesday's ride to work
As everyone already knows, I am not much of a sleeper. If you add the fact that I went to bed at 8:30 (yes, I really said 8:30), then you can probably guess I was up EARLY!!! It was pitch black, Bella was sound asleep on my half of the bed, and I could hear the rain. I looked at the clock and saw 2 am, and I knew I was toast. I tried for about 40 minutes to fall asleep, but that wonderful bliss never occurred.
I started thinking about the classes I had to teach, how I still needed to charge my bike light, and the weather. Until July, the weather is always a concern here in the wonderful Pacific Northwest. As I lay there thinking, about all the above, I could not help but hear the heavy rain falling. This made me weigh how much I truly wanted to ride to work. I have already spent countless hours in the cold, wind, and rain this spring training, and I just was not that motivated to spend another minute. I finally decided to watch some races, from my DVR, and hopefully sneak a quick cat nap before I had to decide on riding to work.
When I record a bike race, I always set the DVR for an extra 1.5 hrs...I would hate to miss any action! I enjoyed the opening TT for the Criterium du Dauphine, and then received a special bonus. After the TT, one of my favorite movies was recorded...American Flyer's. I know it is a bit cheesy, but it is still a favorite movie of mine.
With each minute of the movie and the still falling rain, it was becoming less and less likely that I would ride to work. Bella sensing my mood to me to just drive, but I still felt the small urge to ride. I paused the movie and decided to get ready for work, turn on the news, and then make the decision.
After getting out of the shower I heard, on the news, the final piece of information to help me make my decision. Rain, Rain, Rain, and Wind, Wind, Wind. Turns out the wind was 14 mph, with gusts up to 20. It was at that moment that I made my decision.
I chose not to ride, and instead use my bonus time to watch more of American Flyer's. Evidently, I offended the cycling gods...10 minutes into my bonus time, the power went out. Now it was too late to ride, I could not enjoy any more American Flyer's, and decided I might as well go into work. What a total bummer, I guess I should braved the nasty rain and wind.
Lesson Learned.
Have a great rest of the day.
I started thinking about the classes I had to teach, how I still needed to charge my bike light, and the weather. Until July, the weather is always a concern here in the wonderful Pacific Northwest. As I lay there thinking, about all the above, I could not help but hear the heavy rain falling. This made me weigh how much I truly wanted to ride to work. I have already spent countless hours in the cold, wind, and rain this spring training, and I just was not that motivated to spend another minute. I finally decided to watch some races, from my DVR, and hopefully sneak a quick cat nap before I had to decide on riding to work.
When I record a bike race, I always set the DVR for an extra 1.5 hrs...I would hate to miss any action! I enjoyed the opening TT for the Criterium du Dauphine, and then received a special bonus. After the TT, one of my favorite movies was recorded...American Flyer's. I know it is a bit cheesy, but it is still a favorite movie of mine.
With each minute of the movie and the still falling rain, it was becoming less and less likely that I would ride to work. Bella sensing my mood to me to just drive, but I still felt the small urge to ride. I paused the movie and decided to get ready for work, turn on the news, and then make the decision.
After getting out of the shower I heard, on the news, the final piece of information to help me make my decision. Rain, Rain, Rain, and Wind, Wind, Wind. Turns out the wind was 14 mph, with gusts up to 20. It was at that moment that I made my decision.
I chose not to ride, and instead use my bonus time to watch more of American Flyer's. Evidently, I offended the cycling gods...10 minutes into my bonus time, the power went out. Now it was too late to ride, I could not enjoy any more American Flyer's, and decided I might as well go into work. What a total bummer, I guess I should braved the nasty rain and wind.
Lesson Learned.
Have a great rest of the day.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
TEARs Part 1 complete
Today I felt strong enough to actually get back on the bike. After dealing with food poisoning for a full week, I was concerned about distance and climbing. Turns out that I did not really need to worry about either.
In case you have forgotten, TEARS is an acronym I created to describe The Epic Annual Ride series. My goal is for each ride to be 50+ miles (hopefully closer to 100 miles), involve some good amount of climbing, and to hit high points in my area.
Due to the food poisoning, Terry and I thought 50 miles, the minimum, would be a big enough test for the day. We started in Greenwater and rode to Cayuse Pass and then onto Chinook Pass. Cayuse is at a lofty elevation of 4,675 ft, and Chinook Pass hovers at 5,430 ft. From Greenwater, the total elevation change was a tad over 3,900 ft.
Upon arriving in Greenwater, Terry, Roger, and I leisurely unloaded the bikes and geared up. The temperature was about 42 degrees F, the skies were cloudy, and I was cold. We did some small talk, and then finally decided to get the show on the road. The plan was to take it easy on the way out sticking together. Once past Crystal Mt. Rd., everything starts to go up, up, and away, and we agreed to "climb at your own pace" regrouping at Cayuse Pass.
As the road started to rise, I knew I was in for a good day. My legs felt strong, and I quickly started to open a gap on Terry and Roger. I settled into a good rhythm and enjoyed what I could see of the river and mountains. It was very cloudy, and sometimes foggy. The higher we climbed, the more the temperature dropped.
It did not take long before I was seeing snow on the side of the road, and then walls of snow. Last year, there were 20 ft tall banks of snow at Cayuse pass. I knew it would not be as high this year, but was still hoping for a nice bit of snow.
Once I arrived at Cayuse pass, I could see there was still quite a lot of snow. If you knew me, you would know that this makes me scream like a little girl receiving her first Barbie doll.
I immediately rode over to the snow, leaned my bike against the snow, and proceeded to take multiple pictures of the snow and my bike. What a beautiful site to behold...My sexy, gorgeous machine with a back drop of snow. I almost shed a tear!
Terry and Roger were about 15 minutes behind me, and could tell I was freezing. I could tell they did not really want to stop either so we proceeded to get a move on it...we still had another 800 vertical feet to climb and about 3.5 miles in order to get to Chinook Pass.
I started out riding beside Terry and Roger, making small talk when I noticed a car coming towards us. Next thing I knew the car was honking...Not a malicious honk, rather a friendly beep, beep, beep. I figured the person either needed something or wanted to ask a bike question. I looked over my should and saw the car slowing, so I turned around and slowly pedaled towards to car.
Who would have guessed. Turns out that the person driving the car was my teammate, Joe, who now lives in Yakima. He was driving and telling his wife how he was jealous that he was not biking. Then he said I know that guy, as he realized "that guy" was yours truly.
We made small talk as I again proceeded to get cold and started to shiver. After a couple of minutes we parted ways and I told him I now have a carrot to chase. I again settled into a good rhythm and quickly caught up to Terry and Roger. I said "hi" and they said "there he goes."
I reached Chinook and had about 4 minutes to wait before they arrived. At this point, it was about 39 degrees F and there was a very light snow falling. IT WAS COLD! We chatted for about 2 minutes, took a few pictures and then made the fast descent back towards Crystal Mt. Rd.
It did not take long before I realized something was seriously wrong with my bike...I developed quite the wheel wobble, but I was not going more than 25 mph. That is when I remembered that I never fully tightened my quick release after changing my brake pads. I pulled off the road, made the 30 second adjustment and caught up to the guys at Cayuse Pass.
From there it was smooth riding all the way back. Once we hit Crystal Mt Rd, I was able to remove my rain cape and get to business doing serious work at the front. Terry put in some real good efforts and split the workload with me. Together we made short work of the remaining miles back to Greenwater.
For the first installment of TEARs, I have to say it was a resounding success. We accomplished a goal, I was stronger than I expected after the food poisoning, I met a new person to ride with, and we had a good time.
Not sure when or where the next TEARs ride will happen, but I am already excited and scheming!
In case you have forgotten, TEARS is an acronym I created to describe The Epic Annual Ride series. My goal is for each ride to be 50+ miles (hopefully closer to 100 miles), involve some good amount of climbing, and to hit high points in my area.
Due to the food poisoning, Terry and I thought 50 miles, the minimum, would be a big enough test for the day. We started in Greenwater and rode to Cayuse Pass and then onto Chinook Pass. Cayuse is at a lofty elevation of 4,675 ft, and Chinook Pass hovers at 5,430 ft. From Greenwater, the total elevation change was a tad over 3,900 ft.
Upon arriving in Greenwater, Terry, Roger, and I leisurely unloaded the bikes and geared up. The temperature was about 42 degrees F, the skies were cloudy, and I was cold. We did some small talk, and then finally decided to get the show on the road. The plan was to take it easy on the way out sticking together. Once past Crystal Mt. Rd., everything starts to go up, up, and away, and we agreed to "climb at your own pace" regrouping at Cayuse Pass.
.JPG) |
| Natural Break and picture opportunity |
As the road started to rise, I knew I was in for a good day. My legs felt strong, and I quickly started to open a gap on Terry and Roger. I settled into a good rhythm and enjoyed what I could see of the river and mountains. It was very cloudy, and sometimes foggy. The higher we climbed, the more the temperature dropped.
It did not take long before I was seeing snow on the side of the road, and then walls of snow. Last year, there were 20 ft tall banks of snow at Cayuse pass. I knew it would not be as high this year, but was still hoping for a nice bit of snow.
Once I arrived at Cayuse pass, I could see there was still quite a lot of snow. If you knew me, you would know that this makes me scream like a little girl receiving her first Barbie doll.
 |
| I love Barbie!!!! |
I immediately rode over to the snow, leaned my bike against the snow, and proceeded to take multiple pictures of the snow and my bike. What a beautiful site to behold...My sexy, gorgeous machine with a back drop of snow. I almost shed a tear!
.JPG) |
| Some serious snow at Cayuse Pass |
Terry and Roger were about 15 minutes behind me, and could tell I was freezing. I could tell they did not really want to stop either so we proceeded to get a move on it...we still had another 800 vertical feet to climb and about 3.5 miles in order to get to Chinook Pass.
I started out riding beside Terry and Roger, making small talk when I noticed a car coming towards us. Next thing I knew the car was honking...Not a malicious honk, rather a friendly beep, beep, beep. I figured the person either needed something or wanted to ask a bike question. I looked over my should and saw the car slowing, so I turned around and slowly pedaled towards to car.
Who would have guessed. Turns out that the person driving the car was my teammate, Joe, who now lives in Yakima. He was driving and telling his wife how he was jealous that he was not biking. Then he said I know that guy, as he realized "that guy" was yours truly.
We made small talk as I again proceeded to get cold and started to shiver. After a couple of minutes we parted ways and I told him I now have a carrot to chase. I again settled into a good rhythm and quickly caught up to Terry and Roger. I said "hi" and they said "there he goes."
.JPG) |
| Roger left and Terry Right at Chinook Pass |
I reached Chinook and had about 4 minutes to wait before they arrived. At this point, it was about 39 degrees F and there was a very light snow falling. IT WAS COLD! We chatted for about 2 minutes, took a few pictures and then made the fast descent back towards Crystal Mt. Rd.
.JPG) |
| Me left and Terry right at Chinook Pass |
It did not take long before I realized something was seriously wrong with my bike...I developed quite the wheel wobble, but I was not going more than 25 mph. That is when I remembered that I never fully tightened my quick release after changing my brake pads. I pulled off the road, made the 30 second adjustment and caught up to the guys at Cayuse Pass.
From there it was smooth riding all the way back. Once we hit Crystal Mt Rd, I was able to remove my rain cape and get to business doing serious work at the front. Terry put in some real good efforts and split the workload with me. Together we made short work of the remaining miles back to Greenwater.
For the first installment of TEARs, I have to say it was a resounding success. We accomplished a goal, I was stronger than I expected after the food poisoning, I met a new person to ride with, and we had a good time.
Not sure when or where the next TEARs ride will happen, but I am already excited and scheming!
Friday, June 1, 2012
Take a week off!!!
What the heck??? I am not allowed to take a week off. My brain and body are not wired to take a week off, but that is exactly what I have/am doing.
From a previous post, you know that I caught a nasty case of food poisoning. Without going into all the crappy (yes that was intentional) details, let us just say it was not an enjoyable experience. As a result, I knew, and was not so gently told, to take time off. I told both Bella and the Doc that I could still ride, they both told me negative. I think Bella even mentioned the D word (D-I-V-O-R-I-C-E) would occur if I even thought of my sweet, sexy, two wheel steed (Wilear Izoard). In Bella's words, "I will not sit here and watch you kill yourself and then try to clean up the crap (intentional again)!"
So...it has been almost a week since I last rode and my legs feel great. I have also lost quite a bit of weight due to having food poisoning and my new diet, so I should soon be climbing like a mountain goat.
You are thinking..."wait you said diet." Yes I did. It is called the BRAT diet and consists of absolutely no variation, creativity, or even being filling. While I do like most of the food, I just cannot seem to get full and eating the same stuff 4,000 times a day gets old...FASSSSSTTTTTTT!
B - Bananas (as we cyclists say, it has natures wrapper)
R - Rice
A - Apple Sauce (I now HATE)
T - Toast
How much of each of these can you eat? Can you do that day after day after day? Meal after meal after meal? I am and I cannot wait to eat something BIG, FILLING, GREASY, and is anything other than a BRAT food!
Like I said above, my legs do feel very rested. This is perfect, as I am about to really increase my miles as summer comes. I also plan to do lots of climbing and hopefully put the hurt on Scott V and Brent. Especially Brent "I rode 8,000,000 miles" Nebraska.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
From a previous post, you know that I caught a nasty case of food poisoning. Without going into all the crappy (yes that was intentional) details, let us just say it was not an enjoyable experience. As a result, I knew, and was not so gently told, to take time off. I told both Bella and the Doc that I could still ride, they both told me negative. I think Bella even mentioned the D word (D-I-V-O-R-I-C-E) would occur if I even thought of my sweet, sexy, two wheel steed (Wilear Izoard). In Bella's words, "I will not sit here and watch you kill yourself and then try to clean up the crap (intentional again)!"
So...it has been almost a week since I last rode and my legs feel great. I have also lost quite a bit of weight due to having food poisoning and my new diet, so I should soon be climbing like a mountain goat.
B - Bananas (as we cyclists say, it has natures wrapper)
R - Rice
A - Apple Sauce (I now HATE)
T - Toast
Like I said above, my legs do feel very rested. This is perfect, as I am about to really increase my miles as summer comes. I also plan to do lots of climbing and hopefully put the hurt on Scott V and Brent. Especially Brent "I rode 8,000,000 miles" Nebraska.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
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