It's been a month since my last blog, I'm sorry...

Yeah, it has been a while. I have been busy, but that is just my excuse for laziness.

Since the last post, I did my first ever Tour de Donut. 32 miles with 2 rest stops where they serve big glazed donuts. For each donut you eat you get 5 minutes off your time. Sounds counter productive huh. It is not a serious race - it is a fun race! And it was really fun. Carisa did it on her road bike and I took the tandem with Freddy on the back and the Fred's pulled Jenna in the trailer.  The kids were very excited about the ride. At mile 6 - Jenna started yelling "Where are the donuts, I'm ready!" Needless to say when we got the first stop around mile 12, I tried to give Jenna a bite of my donut and she announced "No, I want my own with sprinkles on it!" Once I explained they were all the glazed variety she had totally lost interest in the ride, Ha! Freddy had 2 donuts at the first stop (the same with myself and Carisa). We took back off and cruised down the road. Everyone just talking and hanging out. There were so many riders of all strengths, you always were passing or being passed by riders. When we got to the last stop - everyone had more donuts and we watched as we saw a guy working on number 16. Thin little dude, I'm thinking how can he do that and not be in a diabetic shock? He was crouched down on the ground hovering over his cup of water as he dunked the donuts in there before eating them. Umm.. yeah.... Fred out... I'm not into competitive eating and watered down donuts do not appeal to me.  Anyways - we finished the ride and everyone had a great time - I'm pretty sure we will be back again next year. Donut count this year... Fred 4, Carisa 4, Freddy 3.  We even went to Farmer Brown's on the way home and got a pizza to go and had it in the car on the way home. Definitely recommend this place (Have to have the Farmer Brown sandwich).

The next weekend was the Air Force Marathon. Carisa was signed up for the 1/2 marathon and I was signed up for the 10K. Yeah we signed up right after New Years - all those fitness resolutions and stuff... why oh why.  Carisa got on a training plan this time (this was now her 2nd 1/2 she has completed), and I wasn't so much on a training plan. I didn't run the first of the year for fear of soreness or injury preventing me from a good Mount Mitchell ride. Then I had every other excuse I could come up with..... 2 weeks before the race I went out and ran 4 miles cold turkey. Just to know I could do it, 12 minute miles... at least I was moving and not walking. Horrible pace but I felt like I could keep going no problem. I intended to run a few more times before the race but that never happened. The day before I knew I had to do something. So I figured if I could run 2 miles and see how I felt I would know how much Motrin to take before the race to make it. I go out and the first mile was 8:34 pace.... I stopped there and walked back home. I wanted to finish on a good note.  Saturday morning and up early to head to WPAFB for the race.  The full marathoners and 10K'ers all left at the same time. I just kept running watching other people - keeping it in my mind if they can do it so can I. I ended up a 59:11 for the 10K - got it done in less than an hour. Nice!  Needless to say that is the farthest I have ran in my life and I have no interest to do it or any more in my future. Carisa got done in less than 2 hours... got her goal. The course got screwed up with the 1/2 runners some ran more and some ran less, I guess that is how it goes.

 

 

Now on to my newest adventure. Cyclocross. Yes, thin mountain bike type tires on a road bike. Includes running over barrier obstacles and riding as fast as you can for 30-45 minute races. All while dodging other riders and sliding in the mud. I figure this should help me keep my fitness over winter and increase my bike handling skills.

 

 



This is the picture from my first cross practice.  I learned if I am not anaerobic I am not going hard enough and it is very important HOW to grab your bike to get over the barriers and even more importantly how to properly jump back on the bike (even though I have been catching myself doing the stutter step). This is so much fun, hard work, but I can see if I stick with it, it will definitely pay off next year.

That's all I have to say about that.

The Lance.....

Lance Armstrong.... many things come to mind when you hear that name. Obviously the Tour de France, fast cyclist, Trek, PED's and many other things. We all loved him in the Tour with his bold attitude showing the world that the USA was a power to be reckoned with..... but looking back is it all worth it? 

Here is my take on Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED's). The UCI (International Cycling Union) test for them, and also do random testing throughout the year. Lance claims to be one of the most tested athletes ever. That may be.... but, I think he used. I think he was able to take the rules of the race... look at them, analyze what his body needed to be better and stay under any measurable levels that would disqualify him. Basically I believe he did absolutely everything medically he could but to the extent he stayed under any limits or detections. Now I also believe that the other top echelon riders did the same - the ones that got caught did not figure it right sometimes and that led to the test failures. Lance was either better or just lucky with the amount of additives he used. Supposedly he has never failed a test (where both the A and B sample were both positive).

With that being said the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) has collected testimony from his team mates that was supposedly the evidence that would prove he doped by either first hand experience or knowledge of it happening. That would have been a 3 ring circus. Since Lance has decided not to go to the arbitration we don't get to see that... although Johan Brunyeel is going through the arbitration - so there still could be a circus coming to town. Any of Lance's skeletons in his closet he was trying to keep there by skipping the arbitration could still come out. That is of course unless Johan drops his arbitration and just takes a life long seat on the Livestrong board to match his lifetime ban from cycling.

His legacy is being determined as we speak.  Yeah he won 7 Tour's... even if he loses the official wins, everyone will remember he won 7 and changed the way winners of the Tour approached the race. Now training specifically for the Tour instead of just trying to peak then, make the Tour the main focus of a entire year of racing. His rough attitude was what we liked when he destroyed other riders, but also why we hated him when his attitude was bigger than his bike shorts here in the US with anyone that crossed him or he just didn't get along with. He tried to take some of his power and make Cancer awareness a bigger thing - everyone had a yellow bracelet right? The everyone made bracelets for everything.

Anyways I digress. I will still continue to ride my bike with my Zym spiked water, and Gu Chomps and Powerbars (all I hope to make me a better rider)........

Top 10 Driving Pet Peeves

This one is a little different.  I recently spent some time driving on the highway and noticed a few things about the drivers in the USA. Even though some things are not illegal, you still wouldn't do them in front of a cop, but out on your own with just the other drivers, it seems to be fair game...... Here are some of the offenses I would like to see penalized....

#1 - Texting while driving. Seriously? You should NOT be doing this at all. If someone is sending you a text, then it cannot be important. It can wait until you are stopped, or at your destination. I will not text you if your child broke an arm, your mom was in a car wreck or what ever, I promise I will call you.

#2 - Weaving through traffic like Speed Racer just to slow down after you pass everyone. Seriously You put the moves on everyone like AJ Foyt in the traffic then slow down after? What was the rush?

#3 - When you merge on to the highway from the on ramp and try to take more than one lane as you merge regardless of where the traffic is you are merging into... or better yet, if someone else is doing the multi lane merge and it causes an even bigger multi lane merge from someone else.

#4 - On the highway with 3 lanes of moving traffic... you run across the occasional driver that has to drive in the fast lane.  Seriously? I even had one guy I came up on and he was in the center lane, only to move to the left lane to let me pass. Really? SLOWER TRAFFIC MOVE RIGHT.

#5 - As you drive down the highway and sometimes other cars will end up driving with you.... you get the occasional driver that is scared of the left lane. They will only pass on the right. Thinking they will be hidden from the cops...lol. Do they realize that a car passing on the wrong side stands out more?

#6 - Just because my truck down shifted going up that hill doesn't mean I want to race your rice rocket.

#7 - I don't care about the graphics, the wheels, or how loud your exhaust is... a VW Beetle is still a chick car. Other chick cars are Mazda Miata, Mini Cooper convertible, and others...

#8 - Passing some one just to get in front of them to turn. This has happened to me 2 times in the last week. The worst was as I turned on Shrine road by Fents Ice Cream (come on everyone knows where that is) I had a bunch of kids in a Ford Ranger pass me only to slam on the brakes to turn into Ryman Baseball Field. Did I mention the rocket scientists in the truck had a kid jumping around loose in the bed of the truck too. Nice.....

#9 - Speed limit drivers in the Fast Lane. The fast lane is for passing... not driving the speed limit. If you are going to drive the limit with everyone else - just get in the slow lane and drive with everyone else.

#10 - Turn Signals. Some people do not use them. For what ever reason... carrying their coffee, talking on the phone, not paying attention.... the turn signal gets ignored. It is a very useful bit of info for the drivers around you. Use it - they are not optional equipment on your car.

Repairing a Garmin Edge 500

OK - so last Monday on the TNP ride, I got a little crazy. Ended up on the ground. Biggest thing was that when I went down I plainly remember my hand going from the brake lever across the bars and hitting my Garmin. knocking it off the bike. Well.... it came off and still works - but it broke the mounting tabs off the bottom.

The Tabs..

The problem is now it will no longer stay on the bike.. those tiny little tabs are what keep it in place. Turns out this is a more common problem with them the tabs breaking off after I did a Internet search. If your unit is less than a year old and it wasn't wrecked - there is a chance you can get it warrantied. Mine is out of warranty... so after checking around it is $90 in the US to get if fixed. Which consists of sending the unit back and getting a newly refurbished unit back.  Now this is where my cheapness kicked in... if it's $90 to send it back because it broke - I might as well try to fix it first... what am I out - just the time I spend trying to fix it and whatever supplies I buy.

Doing research on Loctite's website for the best adhesive - this is what I used.....

The package says after 24 hours it can be filed, drilled, and worked. So we shall see.

The mix....

And applied to the Garmin...

I let it dry for 24 hours (just... because I had a ride I wanted to use if for that night). I first filed the blobs flat with the round cam... and it filed nicely. Next I filed the tab shapes (a dremel works fine here). Now I had to notch them. The file didn't want to do this to easily - so I took a hack saw blade and made the grooves - then went back with the file and made them a little wider.

The finished product....

I have since used the computer now 5 times over the last 10 days and took it on and off probably 100 times - showing everyone, and I don't transport my bike with it on. Still looks good. Actually when I filed the tabs I kept fitting it into the Garmin bike mount and I made sure to leave it on the tight side, as compared to the factory fit.

 So for $6 at Lowes - you can repair this your self. Get the resin, spend 5 minutes cleaning the Garmin and applying the resin, let it sit 24 hours. File it to fit the mount. Back in business. Worst case is that is still costs $90 to send it back to Garmin as a broken unit.

160 miles in 4 days.... highs, lows, wreckage and PR's!

Well - Sunday Carisa and I were able to get out for a bike ride. We chose to do the Young's Jersey Dairy Charity Ride Warm Up #4 Training ride. It is a well supported 60 mile bike ride.

Carisa and I before the start

When I say well supported I couldn't believe how nice it was. We got there early day of the ride - each paid the $5 fee to ride. We got under way. 120 cyclist. Big group. As we headed out on the road towards Clifton - it was fun seeing all the riders all down the road. The bikes stretched out for miles. The entire day there were always bikes in sight. The first rest stop came up around mile 10 I think. Carisa and I were just getting warmed up and still had plenty of water so we skipped it. Knowing the 2nd stop was around the 27 mile mark. He headed on. We got to the 2nd stop - refilled our water bottles with ice cold water, had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a cup of trail mix, talked with Curtis and we headed back out on the road. Now the rolling hill section. The hills were enough to break up the monotony of the ride. Rolling down one side to blast up the next hill. It became a game with the hills. A game that Carisa and I dominated. We rolled into mile 46 the 3rd rest stop - the lunch rest stop. Asked the people working the rest stop how long they would be here - they said at least another 90 minutes... so Carisa and I headed back out and road for 30 minutes down past Spring Valley and turned around and headed back.

Here is the average at the 50 mile mark - 50 miles in 2 hours 31 minutes = 19.87 average speed

Returning back to the lunch stop now with 67 miles. The lunch there was catered by BarleyCorns (I had heard of it but never had it before) - and it was delicious. They had either chicken salad sandwiches, or turkey sandwiches, sliced watermelon, homemade pasta salad, homemade potato chips, soda, water, cookies, trail mix, tons of food. All you can eat. I love these kinds of stops.

On the way back to Young's Carisa tells me she wants to make it a Century. As we road along I came up with a route for her to ride to hit the correct mileage and I would go get the truck so that I could pick her up and get back to Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up the kids. I peeled off and ended up with 90 miles, leaving Carisa to finish the last 10 on her own. She did it like a Champ. I am so proud of her. Ride time was 5:27 - total time was just a hair over 6 hours (and that was because I would not stop eating at the lunch stop...lol). So average speed was 18.3mph total for the 100 miles - pretty darn strong for the first century ever (and for someone who got into road biking basically 5 months ago).

Carisa at mile 100- still smiling, Got to love that!

Monday was the TNP Ride at the reservoir and on the last race lap - I was riding with Mike chasing down Colin - we went through the last turn and there was a on coming car coming - and we were flying wide around the corner. I ended up bumping Mike and went down on the road. According to my Garmin - I was doing 29mph, and 8 feet later I was stopped. Other than a bruise on my hip, and a sore shoulder I was fine. The bike had torn up bar tape on one side (which of course was new that day..lol) and the brake hoods had holes burnt into them, and a huge scuff on my saddle. I laid there for a moment trying to catch my breath... I was still at race pace laying on the ground - heart rate still at 180 bpm. Everyone was asking me if I was ok - I was, just needed a second to breathe. I saw some people checking my bike out and it was beaten but still ride-able, just like me. I get up and stand up - hop back on the bike - finish the lap and head out on the cool down lap. I feel like an idiot. I can't believe I wrecked. I was just glad I didn't take down Mike. This was my first major road wreck. the funny thing was I have no idea how I can land on the road at 29mph - only end up bruised. My clothes were not even torn up, no blood. I have now used all my luck up. No Lottery tickets for me.

Tuesday was the STSP Ride. I was beaten and bruised - could barely lift my left arm above my head. I  did manage to swap out my brake hoods, and re-wrap my handle bars with new tape. I swapped the scuffed seat with the one off my mountain bike (its a mountain bike - gives it character now). And showed up to the ride like nothing happened. I found out quickly on the road - there would be no sprinting for me - and the hills would definitely be a workout as I could not stand and pedal. The left shoulder wanted nothing to do with it. Ended the ride with 25 miles and felt better, glad I got to spin my legs out some.

Wednesday - the Blue Streak Time Trial at WPAFB. 10 miles of Speed... 10 miles of Pain..... 10 miles of truth. Just you vs. the road. There is no hiding on the time trial. You must find a place that pain doesn't matter, suffering is enjoyed, and no matter what your speedometer says, it is not fast enough. I no longer have a time trial bike, no areo bars, no fancy aero wheels. I made the choice at the beginning of the season to do it on the road bike. Today's time 25:34 which translated into 23.2mph average speed. Not too shabby, I really wanted to break a 24 average. I think recovery will make the next one better. Riding 150 miles in the 3 days leading up to the time trial probably didn't help either. But what you going to do, if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger.  Tonight's time was my only 10 seconds slower than my Personal Record. I road my non-aero bike almost as fast as I have ever done this course before. Beaten and Bruised... nice. It is on for next month. Also a shout out to my wife - she road a PR also tonight... 27:53, Great Job!!

Carisa coming in at the finish!

Summer Update - 5K and 2 Crits

It's been a while....

I'm back from vacation and busy with summer. It is amazing how quickly time flies.  So much to do and so little time. Even without a regular job, I still seem to manage to have a crazy long to do list.  And it seems that working out and doing chores never seems to match up well. As I talk with my friends about this... we seem to be thankful that there has been no rain lately... no grass to cut. Otherwise our houses would look like abandoned meth labs.  Its just crazy. Finding a balance is tough.

I ran my first 5k race this year - although it wasn't official (I didn't offiically sign up). I just went over to Northwestern (which I can see from my house) and ran the Northwestern 5k (which runs nearly past my house on the roads I run on...lol). So I just got a new to me used Garmin 405... pretty cool thing here. Shows time, pace, distance and pretty much anything you wanted to know (except the next lotto numbers). Now this was the first run with it.... and my 3rd run all year.. before the start I had a 5.1 whopping miles all year long. That's bad. The theory was no running before Mt Mitchell - no shin splints, sore kness - nothing. No runnning, no risk.  I digress.... back to the run. We all took off and headed out Nancy Dutton drive, turning on Penny pike and then on to Dredge road. Yeah Dredge... hold on - stopping a flashback from high school where you had to meet someone out there for an afterschool fight...... ok - better now. Part way down Dredge you turned around at the water stop and headed back the same way and finished on the school track.  As I ran... .I didn't think it was hard.. it wasn't painful. I just questioned it. Why run... biking is so much more fun. My feet can't coast.....  I hope there are no Strava segments on here or this is going to be ugly.  ANYWAYS... as I headed back, everyone went straight in to the track to the finish. I turned and went up towards the middle school and ran around there until I hit my 3.1 miles. Finish time was 28:43 - a new personal record for me. Not super fast by any means, but with the training I was happy. Headed over to the official finish now to watch and cheer on the rest of the runners. It was a good time. Next year I will preregister for it and be ready.

Enough about running. This last weekend was the Tour d'Burg in Miamisburg. Criterium racing. A .6 mile loop with 6 corners in it. Tight, Fast and Crazy on a road bike in a group of riders.  My kind of thing. Big Dave ran this race and it was hosted by Team Dayton Cycling. Very nice event, and everyone was super friendly.  I did the Cat 4/5 race first - race for 40 minutes and see how many laps you can get in. I stuck with the main pack until about 5 laps to go (right around 30 min mark - even though I had been feeling it for the last 6 minutes...lol) So I fell back into the straggling line of hangers on... all trying to get back on the pack and not get dropped and lapped. I think there was approx 60 racers in the race to start.  With about 4 laps to go I passed a United Dairy Famer rider and he jumped on my wheel. Alright - someone to work with so we don't get passed by the main pack. I led 2 laps and he just road there. I swung to the left, nothing... he followed. I slowed the pace from 23mpg to 19mph and he stayed there... ok- he is going to stay in my draft until the end and rip past me fresh as a daisy... yeah right. I decided then to hit the next corner and start pounding again... leave him. I ramp up the speed and I'm back up to 24mph... next corner still on the gas.... on the front straight and I look back... I have about 15 yards on the guy... Sweet.. just need to hold it for a couple more laps. Next I hear the lead group vehicle coming around... I'm going to get lapped. The Tour d'Burg car goes by me and points and tells me pull out - so I'm not in the way. DANG! The dude that messed with me kept me from finishing. I should have just kept going and I would have finished on the lead lap. Live and learn. My next race is about an hour away - the Masters Race (means old guys). But before that - Freddy brought his bike for a kids race. One hot lap for the kids. I got him lined up and road off to watch. Freddy told me afterwards one of the other dad's told his kid before the race that he better win or he was going to take his Xbox away from him.... Nice..... Anyway, Freddy took off and did Great. I think he maybe got 5th out of like 13-14 kids. He finished with a smile on his face and that is all that matters!  My next race was coming up and the heat was going up.... I think the computer averaged 100 degrees for that race. It was hot. It started and the pace wasn't as bad as the earlier race... or at least it didn't seem so.... but long story short... about 6 min from the end and I was dragging off the main field again. This time I didn't let up. I kept working. I finished the entire race without being pulled. Nice.  The results - ended up 8th in my first race (even being pulled out), and in the Masters I was 12th.  Not too bad.

I know my blog gets wordy... boring... drawn out... but when I hear from others who read it, it does make me feel good. I was never a writer in school and this shows I'm sure. But I do find it relaxing. I hope that others enjoy it. I know some posts are better than others and this one wasn't great - just felt like I needed to get something going as it has been too long. But I promise if you stick with me I will improve and get better. Thank you for your support!

My vacation baby and Strava KOM's

OK - I just got home from a little over a week of vacation. I know, rough life. Destination was North Topsail Island, NC.

On the way down we made a pit stop in Greensboro to stop and see the Mellanders. Paul moved to real mountain bike and real BBQ country and hasn't looked back. This is my only time to hang out with everyone and enjoy some good food with friends.  The Mellanders surprised us with some great homemade ravioli - I was shown the path so it could be in my future. I always enjoy these educational cooking dinners - they give me the confidence to try to make new things and make my cooking better. It was Paul who took me under his wing and helped me become the cook I am today. Thank you Paul (and Maureen too!) My family and friends Thank you too!

Next up the beach. Carisa and I brought our bikes. We each got out and got some miles in when we could (early mornings and nap times). I ended up with over 125 miles in there. Topsail is a very bike friendly community. I never felt in danger once while riding (from traffic). My first ride out there was to get the lay of the land - and ride over the inter coastal bridge to the island. Man the wind on the bridge is a little un-nerving. Being not too happy with heights doesn't help either, as you ride along and notice that if you would swerve and hit the guardrail, it is the perfect height to hit it and hold the bike back but launch me off in to the gator waters below.....

The Strava segments I found..... Sneads Ferry Bridge: 3rd out of 19.  Never could get over the bridge without a cross wind of some kind. Not bad- that is a true effort shown. Sneads Ferry Bridge East Bound: tied for 8th out of 13 (with Carisa) - same deal, crosswind but now winded from just attacking the other direction. 210 Sneads Ferry to Surf City: 1st out of 17, I totally saved myself just for this segment this day. It was a full gas time trial effort. Head down and pound it out. My ride home was ugly. Topsail Townline Sprint - this was a toughy, only got one shot at it and there was no clear way to tell where it started and stopped. So I did my best guess and hammered again. 3rd place out of 19. Should be 2nd - as 1st and 2nd was done on a tandem, and they only got me by 1 second over a half mile. DANG! The last segment I found was 210 Surf City to Sneads Ferry. First out of 22. Not too bad. Again when I did this I treated it as a Time Trial and took my time to warm up there before hammering it home and getting it. I was toasty after this one.  Overall the riding was great!

The food in Topsail is very very good. I love seafood. Plenty of places to go that cook fresh seafood. Also lots of places there that have really good junk food. Some of my favorites places I remember were Riverview (best hush puppies and grilled shrimp and fish), The Corner Bake Shop (Amazing cookies, cinnamon rolls, and croissants), Daily Dip has very good ice cream. We also visited Wilmington and hit Chop's Deli and had one of the best sandwiches I have ever had there - the Amsterdam (it was a daily special, not normally on the menu) and then we went to Kilwin's. Both of those places were excellent.

I came home and weighed myself. Moment of truth. I gained. I gained A LOT. I did eat pretty much anything I wanted, just like the old days. SEVENTEEN POUNDS. Yes you read that right. I left weighing 190lbs. Saturday when we got home I got on the scale and it said 207. I expected a gain - maybe 8 pounds, 10 max.... but 17? HOLY COW! Needless to say Sunday I was back on MyFitnessPal. So vacation weigh must not be a real weight - or maybe it didn't have a chance to grab hold. Getting back to my cheerios, regular lunch and dinner, Sunday night I got on the scale again, about the same time as the day before. I weighed 195lbs... are you kidding me - 12 pounds? INSANE...... that is a ton of water and junk weight. The foods on vacation must be full of salt and other retaining things..... it is all I can figure. Craziness.