I'm finally going on vacation. I've been going for 7 months straight now without a break. We're loading up the van and leaving to Utah to visit family and friends. I've put my bike on the back of the van so I can get some altitude training in. One of my instructors from BYU who happens to be my same age is training for the LOTOJA. It is a 206 mile race from Logan, Utah to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It starts at 4,000 ft and has three climbs over three mountain passes over 8,000 ft. I'll be riding with him for the next few weeks and getting back into the swing of things after taking two weeks off to rest my legs after the Seattle to Portland.
My legs felt a bit tired since the STP but they've recently been feeling a bit more bouncy and I'm really wanting to get out and ride. I would have gone yesterday but it was about 96 degrees and the family was all miserable. We've been sleeping downstairs for the past few days since it's about 85 degrees upstairs. The thermostat (inside the house)read 76 at 8am this morning. It is currently 102. Next year I will have an air conditioner.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Mile 68
This is about 30 seconds before a text was received stating that two members of our group had crashed and were out of the STP.
200 miles later...
Five days ago I rode my bike from Seattle, WA to Portland, OR. It was very cool. I decided to do this around Christmas giving me 6 months to train. This required that I buy a bike. January 7th I made the purchase and started my training in earnest. As my other posts show, I have been gradually improving each week/month and have really enjoyed the sport. On June 13th I rode in my first Century. (100 miles)(The Flying Wheels Summer Century) It took me 5:00:31.
As I got closer to the STP (Seattle to Portland) ride, I knew that I'd prepared myself physically but I was still concerned with my mental state. At that point I was hoping to finish in under 12 hours of riding time. 12 hours on a bike is a loooooong time and although I finished a marathon last year, I was very concerned with my ability to focus for 12 hours and not rub tires whith someone in front of me and take us both out of the race. You don't have that concern in a marathon. There's a lot more to worry about when you're going 20-25 mph while your front wheel is 6 inches behind the person in front of you.
I got to the starting line at about 4:55 am. The first wave of one-day riders left at 4:45. They don't want all 2,500 riders flooding the street all at once so they staggar starts in 10 minute increments. I noticed two guys wearing Utah State cycling jersey's and said hello. As we rolled across the starting line I found out there were six of them who were all riding together. Friends from various states who train for and then ride in big events. All of them are LDS and went to USU or BYU. I found out they were wanting to finish in a sub 11 hour time. With my initial goal being sub 12 hours I abandoned my plan and joined this group hoping that I could draft off of them and make up the extra time. At the mid-way point we had finished 100 miles in 4 hours and 50 minutes which was a good 10 minutes faster than the century I did in June. I ultimately finished in 10:23:30 of riding time. I was very surprized. At around mile 140 my right knee started to ache. I had to slow by 1-2 mph the rest of the day and was very sore for a few days. I still have a bit of pain in the knee, but I think with another week of rest, things should be back to normal.
I was directly behind 3 different people who blew tires, and I saw dozens of people on the side of the road repairing flats during the day. I was very lucky that I didn't have any mechanical issues. Two of the guys in the group I was riding with were taken out by a wild cyclist. They crashed and ended up with a bent rim bend derailer at mile 65 taking them out for the day. Including a few guys from work I connected with as well, there were 10 of us riding together. Two finished about a minute ahead of me, I was in a group of 5 who finished together, and the others didn't make it all the way to the end. Jennifer and the kids were there at the finish line with posters cheering me through my mid-life crisis. They've been very supportive of the entire training season as well. As soon as we got home Jennifer was online trying to find other rides for me to enter. There were about 150-200 who finished ahead of me, but I feel extatic about how it all went. I was not expecting to do that well at all. It's easy to see how a cycling team can work together for the benefit of the group.
I intend on doing this again next year. After my marathon last year, I expected to keep running too, but cycling is so much more fun. More expensive, but also more fun.
As I got closer to the STP (Seattle to Portland) ride, I knew that I'd prepared myself physically but I was still concerned with my mental state. At that point I was hoping to finish in under 12 hours of riding time. 12 hours on a bike is a loooooong time and although I finished a marathon last year, I was very concerned with my ability to focus for 12 hours and not rub tires whith someone in front of me and take us both out of the race. You don't have that concern in a marathon. There's a lot more to worry about when you're going 20-25 mph while your front wheel is 6 inches behind the person in front of you.
I got to the starting line at about 4:55 am. The first wave of one-day riders left at 4:45. They don't want all 2,500 riders flooding the street all at once so they staggar starts in 10 minute increments. I noticed two guys wearing Utah State cycling jersey's and said hello. As we rolled across the starting line I found out there were six of them who were all riding together. Friends from various states who train for and then ride in big events. All of them are LDS and went to USU or BYU. I found out they were wanting to finish in a sub 11 hour time. With my initial goal being sub 12 hours I abandoned my plan and joined this group hoping that I could draft off of them and make up the extra time. At the mid-way point we had finished 100 miles in 4 hours and 50 minutes which was a good 10 minutes faster than the century I did in June. I ultimately finished in 10:23:30 of riding time. I was very surprized. At around mile 140 my right knee started to ache. I had to slow by 1-2 mph the rest of the day and was very sore for a few days. I still have a bit of pain in the knee, but I think with another week of rest, things should be back to normal.
I was directly behind 3 different people who blew tires, and I saw dozens of people on the side of the road repairing flats during the day. I was very lucky that I didn't have any mechanical issues. Two of the guys in the group I was riding with were taken out by a wild cyclist. They crashed and ended up with a bent rim bend derailer at mile 65 taking them out for the day. Including a few guys from work I connected with as well, there were 10 of us riding together. Two finished about a minute ahead of me, I was in a group of 5 who finished together, and the others didn't make it all the way to the end. Jennifer and the kids were there at the finish line with posters cheering me through my mid-life crisis. They've been very supportive of the entire training season as well. As soon as we got home Jennifer was online trying to find other rides for me to enter. There were about 150-200 who finished ahead of me, but I feel extatic about how it all went. I was not expecting to do that well at all. It's easy to see how a cycling team can work together for the benefit of the group.
I intend on doing this again next year. After my marathon last year, I expected to keep running too, but cycling is so much more fun. More expensive, but also more fun.
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