I hope that everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Right now I am sitting on the couch watching a movie and the fire in the fire place, sitting beside our very good smelling Christmas tree. We just had a great dinner of the left overs from yesterday and they were just as good today as yesterday.
After a good afternoon of doing a little black Friday shopping it is nice to come home and relax.
No to get up tomorrow and hopefully put in a few more miles to take care of the extra turkey that I ate yesterday. And then of course enjoy the great football on tomorrow.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Endurance Racing
So with my weekend cyclocross race chances at an end I was happy to see today that DORBA ( Dallas mountain biking group) has decided to grow their frozen four hour series to three six hour races. I have not done any 6 hour races since I moved from North Carolina and to be honest I have only ridden my mountain bike twice since I have moved to Texas. I am really excited about the series and the first race is scheduled for 12/13 so I guess it is time to hop back on the bike and try to find some form. Hopefully the last three weeks of time off the bike will have been a nice "rest" and allow me to still have some legs so that I can actually do the first race in the series.
I may have missed the big cross races but endurance mountain bike races will be a nice way to start back with some winter base miles for this next season.
I may have missed the big cross races but endurance mountain bike races will be a nice way to start back with some winter base miles for this next season.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Cyclocross weekends
OK so wouldn't you know it. Last weekend 2 cross races in Dallas. This weekend 2 cross races in Ft. Worth. All part of the Texas cyclocross race series that has stops in Austin and Huston. So it would make sense that I would get sick last weekend and not be able to race and now on Friday I am starting to feel better but after two weeks of not riding my registration fee would simply be a nice donation to the cause. While I don't mind not winning a race I at least like to go into a race knowing that I have a chance to not finish last. Given my lack of a true cyclocross bike (have to use my hardtail mountain bike for now) and the probable lack of legs it looks like I will be leaving the cross racing for me to just some weekday training races that I can catch once classes are over in a week or so. That and the good Belgium beer I have waiting in the fridge. MMMM Delirium Nocturnum......MMMMMM.
Maybe next cross season will be better. Now accepting cyclocross bike sponsorship (ie. bike donations). :)
It is nice to have my wife back in town after a long 10 days of being out of town for work. We all missed her (me and the four legged crew).
Maybe next cross season will be better. Now accepting cyclocross bike sponsorship (ie. bike donations). :)
It is nice to have my wife back in town after a long 10 days of being out of town for work. We all missed her (me and the four legged crew).
Monday, November 3, 2008
Swimming
So I recently started doing some serious (or at least pretty serious) swimming. I actually got a real swimming suit (nike jammers) and goggles and set a weekly swimming time.
At first I could only make it to the end of the pool before I had to take a break. Then I could do a full lap without stopping.
Well last week I hit a new mark. I swam a full mile without stopping at all. I was pretty tired at the end but very happy that I had made it!
So what is the next mark- 1.5 miles, 2 miles? or just faster?
At first I could only make it to the end of the pool before I had to take a break. Then I could do a full lap without stopping.
Well last week I hit a new mark. I swam a full mile without stopping at all. I was pretty tired at the end but very happy that I had made it!
So what is the next mark- 1.5 miles, 2 miles? or just faster?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
VOTE
So in case there is any one reading this who has done gone out and voted yet or have no plans to do so on election day, let me just say this------GO VOTE!
Our ability to go out and vote and make our beliefs known is one of our greatest freedoms. If you do not use your freedom then it does not seem like such a big deal when you lose them. Who cares if the government can tap our phones, as long as it prevents terrorism. Somethings we must stand up and scream about so that we do not lose. Sometimes the cost is not worth the gain. Losing our privacy so that we are "safer" is not as easy a trade. Nor should it be one we have to make.
Sometimes we must stand up and say ENOUGH!
So go out and make your voice heard. GO VOTE!
Our ability to go out and vote and make our beliefs known is one of our greatest freedoms. If you do not use your freedom then it does not seem like such a big deal when you lose them. Who cares if the government can tap our phones, as long as it prevents terrorism. Somethings we must stand up and scream about so that we do not lose. Sometimes the cost is not worth the gain. Losing our privacy so that we are "safer" is not as easy a trade. Nor should it be one we have to make.
Sometimes we must stand up and say ENOUGH!
So go out and make your voice heard. GO VOTE!
Balance (or what I learned about life from cycling)
Balance- It is a pretty simple word that means so much. Staying up right on a bike, Not falling over, keeping the rubber on the pavement....It seems so simple but it is not. Think back to when you were a kid and you were learning how to ride for the first time and you did not want to remove the training wheels. Maybe think back to the first time that you rode with clipless pedals and did not want to fall and do something like break your arm.
Once you get past the training wheels and the clipless pedals the training comes. Pushing yourself on hard intervals and trainer workouts until you are ready to puke. Or riding so hard that you can taste the blood in your mouth and feel the searing in your lungs just trying to stay on the wheel of the guy in front of you so that you don't get dropped in the middle of nowhere in a 20 mph wind.
And we all do it so that we can get faster, stronger, more able to attack at just the right time. Then again if all we do is go hard then we just end up tired and not able to even hold a 10mph pace, so we have to balance the hard rides with the recovery rides.
And then there is life...............
Balance is just as important in life as it is on the bike. Balancing demands of work/school, family, training and everything else can sometimes not go as smoothly as we and other folks would like. Sometimes work can be all consuming and you end up not spending any time on the bike and just enough time with family so that they remember your name. But then all of those other things and people start to remind you that you need to spend sometime with them. The family (wife) starts to make sure to schedule time with you for dinner and a movie and every time that you walk by your bike your legs start to ache, reminding you of all of the hours that you have spent on the bike building the form that you are losing.
So sometimes you spend a few more hours on work one week as long as the next you make sure to spend a few more hours doing those things that you neglected the week before. But then again with just the right balance.............then maybe everything will continue to work out and everyone will stay happy.
So just like on the bike rather than wobbling to one side just to wobble to the other next, staying up right and keeping "the rubber side down" is not as easy as we make it look sometimes.
Obviously since my last post was back in August I have not done the best job with balance in the last month or so but life seems to be coming back into balance and keeping it that way seems a little more manageable.
Here's to keeping life a little more balanced.
Once you get past the training wheels and the clipless pedals the training comes. Pushing yourself on hard intervals and trainer workouts until you are ready to puke. Or riding so hard that you can taste the blood in your mouth and feel the searing in your lungs just trying to stay on the wheel of the guy in front of you so that you don't get dropped in the middle of nowhere in a 20 mph wind.
And we all do it so that we can get faster, stronger, more able to attack at just the right time. Then again if all we do is go hard then we just end up tired and not able to even hold a 10mph pace, so we have to balance the hard rides with the recovery rides.
And then there is life...............
Balance is just as important in life as it is on the bike. Balancing demands of work/school, family, training and everything else can sometimes not go as smoothly as we and other folks would like. Sometimes work can be all consuming and you end up not spending any time on the bike and just enough time with family so that they remember your name. But then all of those other things and people start to remind you that you need to spend sometime with them. The family (wife) starts to make sure to schedule time with you for dinner and a movie and every time that you walk by your bike your legs start to ache, reminding you of all of the hours that you have spent on the bike building the form that you are losing.
So sometimes you spend a few more hours on work one week as long as the next you make sure to spend a few more hours doing those things that you neglected the week before. But then again with just the right balance.............then maybe everything will continue to work out and everyone will stay happy.
So just like on the bike rather than wobbling to one side just to wobble to the other next, staying up right and keeping "the rubber side down" is not as easy as we make it look sometimes.
Obviously since my last post was back in August I have not done the best job with balance in the last month or so but life seems to be coming back into balance and keeping it that way seems a little more manageable.
Here's to keeping life a little more balanced.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Hotter'n Hell-WOW
So yesterday I did Hotter'n Hell and all I can say is wow. The distance, the crowd, the temperature, the effort all of it was bigger than what I had done before. Ok so it was not so hot and the wind was not too bad but it was still crazy.
We left Lewisville at 3:30am to get to Wichta Falls by 5:30am and eat and get ready for a 7:09 start time. We made it there in plenty of time and picked up our packet and shirts (Good thing that we pre-registered b/c the line was long). As we were getting ready the sun had still not started and folks were already gathering at the start by 6am. The races left at 6:40 (still no sun). We lined up by 6:45 and the crowd was already very very large. We moved up as close as we could to the start but we were still aways back. The crowd of riders stretched for 11 blocks. After a jet fly over and a cannon blast we started walking our bikes for a little while before we could get to the point that we could get one and ride. Shortly after we started I saw 4 pairs of spare tires on the ground and I would have stopped to get them if I would not have been run over! When we finally got started I spent most of the first 20 miles in the oncoming lanes of traffic (thankfully there was no oncoming traffic) passing folks who had started prior to us. I would have hated to start any further than the half a block back that we did start.
I guess that is what happens when you have 11,000+ riders!
After about 60 miles we actually stopped for more water and gatorade. We made it to the 62 mile "Hell's Gate" several hours before the 12:30 cut off. They stop letting people pass and do the 100 mile route at 12:30 for heath safety concerns. After the 60 mile rest stop we powered on and kept up a great pace. Other than stopping for a flat and a lose crank (neither on my bike) we did not stop except for the 60 mile rest stop. At mile 80 the only thought that I had was what Todd had told me about never having a good ride over 80 miles. I kept topped off on water and gel and other than the hot spots on my feet I felt great. I took some really good pulls from mile 90 to the end and kept the pace over 20mph. We finished in 5 hours and 7 minutes and had 4 hours and 44 minutes of total ride time. An average of 21.3mph for the whole ride goes to show how flat the ride was. The roads were either flat or a false flat. Many of the roads were very well paved but the rest were typical harsh chipseal. The number of polar water bottles that I saw on the ground was astounding. I stopped counting after 20 bottles.
I still can't believe that I finished my first 100 mile ride in about 5 hours and I still felt fresh enough this morning to do strong ride ( I just could not hold back on the hills and sprint points- my legs were screaming but I had to go for them).
It was pretty nice to do something big like this the weekend before classes start up and the grind begins again.
We will see if I decide to do Hotter'n Hell again but I am very glad that I did it and it was, as they say, "An Experience Fundamentally Texas!"
We left Lewisville at 3:30am to get to Wichta Falls by 5:30am and eat and get ready for a 7:09 start time. We made it there in plenty of time and picked up our packet and shirts (Good thing that we pre-registered b/c the line was long). As we were getting ready the sun had still not started and folks were already gathering at the start by 6am. The races left at 6:40 (still no sun). We lined up by 6:45 and the crowd was already very very large. We moved up as close as we could to the start but we were still aways back. The crowd of riders stretched for 11 blocks. After a jet fly over and a cannon blast we started walking our bikes for a little while before we could get to the point that we could get one and ride. Shortly after we started I saw 4 pairs of spare tires on the ground and I would have stopped to get them if I would not have been run over! When we finally got started I spent most of the first 20 miles in the oncoming lanes of traffic (thankfully there was no oncoming traffic) passing folks who had started prior to us. I would have hated to start any further than the half a block back that we did start.
I guess that is what happens when you have 11,000+ riders!
After about 60 miles we actually stopped for more water and gatorade. We made it to the 62 mile "Hell's Gate" several hours before the 12:30 cut off. They stop letting people pass and do the 100 mile route at 12:30 for heath safety concerns. After the 60 mile rest stop we powered on and kept up a great pace. Other than stopping for a flat and a lose crank (neither on my bike) we did not stop except for the 60 mile rest stop. At mile 80 the only thought that I had was what Todd had told me about never having a good ride over 80 miles. I kept topped off on water and gel and other than the hot spots on my feet I felt great. I took some really good pulls from mile 90 to the end and kept the pace over 20mph. We finished in 5 hours and 7 minutes and had 4 hours and 44 minutes of total ride time. An average of 21.3mph for the whole ride goes to show how flat the ride was. The roads were either flat or a false flat. Many of the roads were very well paved but the rest were typical harsh chipseal. The number of polar water bottles that I saw on the ground was astounding. I stopped counting after 20 bottles.
I still can't believe that I finished my first 100 mile ride in about 5 hours and I still felt fresh enough this morning to do strong ride ( I just could not hold back on the hills and sprint points- my legs were screaming but I had to go for them).
It was pretty nice to do something big like this the weekend before classes start up and the grind begins again.
We will see if I decide to do Hotter'n Hell again but I am very glad that I did it and it was, as they say, "An Experience Fundamentally Texas!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
