Striving for competence since 2008, he blogs on bicycle riding, bike travel, and other mostly bicycle related stuff. He chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of an aging
mesomorph attempting to
become a decent cyclist.
I just realized that some time last week I passed the 20,000 mile mark since starting my quest for cycling competence in June of 2008. I think that deserves a moment of silence.
We also leave the day after tomorrow for Missoula, MT where I will be doing Cycle Montana again this year. It's a week-long supported tour through some of the most beautiful scenery in the U.S. There's about 380 miles of riding, I believe. After that, I'm going to be in LosAngeles where I will for sure want to ride up the fabled Glendora Mountain Road. I will be reporting in on these events without fail and videos are a strong possibility.
Today in miserable heat and wind I did my last training ride before going out west . I've been having trouble getting my HR into the upper registers lately but today was just a bit better. I'm feeling fit and ready to go... and excited to get started. My motor functions better in cool mountain air.
Here is part three of the ride in Tennessee. Part four, with suffering on a substantial hill, is still to come. We're out on the rural roads here and you get to see more of the countryside.
Interestingly, I do not believe I ever saw the Harpeth River on this ride and I have no idea whether or not it exists. Did not even see a sign anywhere offering directions to it. Hmmmm...perhaps it is some kind of inside joke the local folks like to play on visitors.
Last week I traveled to Tennessee to ride. Several members of my online tribe, Bike Forums 50+, had agreed to meet up near Nashville for a combination ride/social event. It was a chance to ride in a new and potentially nice place while logging some training miles for the 2012 Cycle Montana tour, which starts later this month. And also to socialize with some nice folks of course.
It was a great event,,, one of my best days on the bike ever! The ride filled up at 1500 riders, with routes of 102, 64, 44, and 20 miles to choose from. The metric century (64 miler) seemed like the right choice for me. The event was sponsored by Nissan and began and ended at their U.S. corporate headquarters in Franklin, TN. Here, I've arrived on Friday afternoon to pick up my event packet:
Since Nissan was a ride sponsor, three professional riders from Team Radio Shack-Nissan-Trek were scheduled to join the fun. Now I'm not really one to idolize celebrities and pro athletes but, I have to admit, this excited me just a little. This is Chris Horner and Ben King at the start of the ride:
Well, like I said above, it was an excellent day on the bike for me. Perfect weather, excellent scenery, good roads, and well-run food and water stops... what more could you ask for?
Usually a metric century is a fairly hard ride for me, but I did the miles without much distress at all, including about 3200 feet of climbing. I did so well, that they gave me a medal at the end:
(They Gave a Medal to Everyone)
Conclusion: the HRR was an epic success for me and I'm really hoping to return next year... maybe even do the 100 miler.
Videos of the event by my production company, Billydonn Productions, are in the works. Here is what has been done so far. Enjoy.
In part two, I actually chased down the pro riders and rode in their draft for a short while. Disclaimer: This is not to be construed as an attempt to claim that I am a really good cyclist!
In part three, still to come, I will prove that by the time it takes me to climb "Pulltight Hill". It's not a pretty sight.
No. I haven't been missing bike rides... far from it! But I'm way, way behind in my blogging. It just seemed that, for awhile, I was just riding with nothing noteworthy really happening. Generally I guess one thing I should report that my use of prescription testosterone has been a big success so far. After five months now, my body composition continues to change for the better as my weight creeps downward (about 207 now) with no loss of muscle mass. I'm starting to think realistically about weighing 190 or less now.
Riding this Spring
To catch up on the cycling, I've put in just over 1700 miles since my last blog entry. And most of it has, until recently, been just pretty much routine. Enjoyable, yes of course... just not really note-worthily so and certainly nothing epic to report. I have been trying to make sure a high percentage of my rides are at least 30 miles in length and my focus has shifted from riding fast to logging a lot of miles at more moderate speeds. We have had wind most every day which is common here in Nebraska. But this year it seems somehow to have more unrelenting than ever. A good many days have been in the 20+ mph range. As those who ride know, this means that there is not really a "neutral condition" day to help you judge your progress. There's nothing to do but HTFU and carry on of course.
Sorting Through My Bikes
I don't believe I've mentioned this before but I have lots of bikes.... eight or nine or something like that. I'm a big fan of LeMond frames because they are good quality, they fit me, and there aren't going to be any more of them made for awhile, if ever. Also the name "LeMond" sounds very sexy and Euro doesn't it?
Anyway, I'm always experimenting with various new parts on my bikes as well as thinking about which bike to ride. But this spring I've sort of evolved toward taking three of my favorite road bikes and perfecting them while putting the others in a safe place for future use. One of the three favored bikes, "Old Reliable" took me through Cycle Montana last summer without incident and is soon to return there in a couple weeks. "OR" is geared for the mountains and is very nearly perfect, so she will not be altered. She has received new handlebar tape... a very tasteful Deda dark blue. Here is Old Reliable, with her new bar tape, in action last week at a ride in Tennessee. She is shod in DT Swiss RR-1s (now called 465s I think it is) in this pic and not the racy Mavics I used last summer.
A blog entry on that Tennessee adventure will be forthcoming VERY soon. I'll also blog on the other two bikes-in-transition in that blog entry.
Taco Ride
I did have one semi-noteworthy ride recently that ought to be reported. Did a local Thursday night ride here that is mostly done by drinkers who have a cycling problem. With friends Dusty and Megan I rode up the Wabash Trace Trail to Mineola, Iowa and the Mineola Steakhouse for beer and tacos. Good company and a good time.
(Photo Credit: Megan)
Here's a couple videos I made of the May 17th Taco Ride... courtesy of Billydonn Productions.
(Reader Reminder: Pics are clickable!)
We have had a couple weeks of really cold weather lately and one significant snowstorm. But we're getting that behind us now... weather will be in the low 50s tomorrow for the first time and those piles of dirty snow are disappearing fast now. We have continued to workout indoors twice a week in the Velo Garage and I've also been able to up the frequency and intensity of my core and upper body workouts. All of this has been productive and I have been able to see that in the power numbers I'm making on the trainer.
All in all, I 'm feeling really good thanks, no doubt, at least in part to the testosterone supplementation I've been on for five weeks. I am very, very happy with that.
We go an espresso machine for the Velo Garage, which has worked out very well for the Sunday morning sessions when I pick up fresh bagels and creme cheese.
I'm expecting to do about another month of indoor riding before the real outdoor season begins. I did get in an absolutely great outdoor ride last Friday in one of my favorite regional parks. There's a hill there that used to bully me and I like to go out there and challenge it periodically. Some day I will dance up it on my pedals... at lest that's my plan. Here's a look:
It was a good day be alive!
My goal beginning now is to try for at least one good outdoor
Since my last post the weather has continued to break records for sunniness and warmth around here. Sure, we have had a cold snap or two during January, but we have also had lots of days in the 40s, and just had two sunny days in a row in the 60s! I feel energized, more happy than sad, cheerful, motivated at work... all highly abnormal for the dead of winter. The snowblower is getting dusty in the garage.
Though I am convinced that something awful must be coming, I sure am enjoying this while it lasts! Here's a video sample of a ride from January 9th, the finish of a 30 mile ride over to the Wabash Trace trailhead in Iowa. It was a glorious day when you feel it is good to be alive!
Despite the good weather and opportunity to ride outside more often than normal, I have kept up my twice-a-week indoor training sessions with Coach Dusty and the Velo Garage crew for two solid months now. It is a good opportunity to ride with younger and stronger riders without getting dropped all the time! I took the leap and purchased a Cycleops powertap about six weeks ago to use in these sessions, which has been useful and interesting. The powertap is a harsh mistress though... she never fakes it!
Sara, Rick and Dusty
These training sessions seldom last much more than one hour but they're all about intensity. I think it is going to pay off when the strength is needed for the long rides of the summer.
Above I'm rehydrating the night I made my goal of 5000 miles for the year.
We did up the intensity a little last week!
Finally, dear diary, I had my annual physical exam a couple weeks ago and, inspired by those hokey "Low T" commercials, I had the doc do that test on me. I didn't really expect any issues and I checked out great for everything EXCEPT for testosterone levels! Well that's not stuff I want to be low on and I'm now using a gel product called Testim.
Initial results from this are entirely positive. I have more energy and am definitely recovering from hard exercise much faster. This may be another reason for my good humor of late! Men, get tested. It may not be just age that you are feeling.
Well, there's only about two hours left of the year 2011 so this seems like a pretty good time to reflect on the year's accomplishments. There have been a good many things to savor in my cycling life this year. I met my goal of 5000 miles plus another 226 or so. This exceeded 2010's mileage by about 200 and I did it in about 25 fewer rides. My average speed was faster than ever before. I am feeling incredibly healthy and stronger than ever. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I did not cash and get hurt.
I rode in some beautiful places this year, the most noteworthy being my week in Montana in June.
A number of "Bike, Wine, Food" events held by Omaha's Bikemasters
bike shop were extremely enjoyable.
Meeting and introducing my new Chinese friend Jinli Liu to the joys of road recreational cycling was a really great experience and I have already posted about that.
We are now getting into the indoor riding season: a chance to rest up a bit from a year of long outdoor rides and gain the benefits of short but intense training sessions indoors. For the last month a group of us from UNO have been training twice a week in our friends' "Velo Garage". This is really a blast and highly productive. I will be posting more about the Velo Garage experience soon.
More than anything though, I think it's the plain old enjoyment of the everyday rides that have made this year's cycling experience mean so much to me. I don't seem to get tired of that. Most of these everyday rides are solitary experiences and I guess I enjoy that too. But good people and special places do add something very special at times. There is a lot to look forward to in 2012.
