Freeze comes early

16 miles is not a long way to go, especially when riding at 60 to 70% of maximum heart rate. But at temperatures below 50 degrees it feels a lot longer than it should. Okay, you're from up North where 50 degrees is summer weather for you and I am a wimp. Sure, I'll be you're Huckleberry on this one. Just come and join me in the 100+ degree days this summer and we'll see who is complaining now. Anyway, it was a good ride. Felt good to stretch the legs, especially after the Turkey bowl induced pain that lasted three days.

I will just say this, the Colts looked good last night. It was a playoff type atmosphere in the RCA Dome and the Colts handed it to my Steelers! It was good to see Big Ben back but it wasn't enough. I thought we could run on them and control the clock but I was wrong. Coach Cowher said it best. “There’s not much to say. They pretty much dominated us. Our offense to their defense, they were pretty smothering out there, and we really couldn’t get anything going. Their offense and their defensive front pretty much dominated tonight, and you can’t deny that.” Thanks Bill for saying nicely that we got our head handed to us. Next week is a big game. We must beat Cincy to have a chance at the playoffs. There are too many good 7-4 teams right now to expect to make it as a wild card team. WE MUST WIN THE DIVISION!!! Okay, enough.

Turkey Bowl

What is Thanksgiving without playing some football. About 40 guys showed up to the park to play including my two nephews, Alex and Mo, Cassie, and Craig. It was great. We played for over two hours. The day after is not that fun. I got up and rode in the fog this morning to try and work out the pain in my legs. I haven't used these muscles since the last turkey bowl. It is good exercise and I will live with the pain.

We had a great Thanksgiving. The food was awesome! We fried the turkey and it came out great. It was juicy and full of flavor and it only took an hour to do. This is the way to do the turkey. I am hooked. Why wait five our for the oven when it can be fried outside in an hour. It was real nice to have my sister's family over. I was so beat from football that I didn't do much but today should be better. I just have to get out of work early.

Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fiery Cycling

We went and saw the new Potter movie. Cassie and Craig were so excited to go. The movie was good but the book is better. I should have known it would happen. Books and imagination cannot be matched by the movies. Anyway, I rode for an hour in the garage. My legs feel good and ready for the Turkey bowl on Thursday. It will be fun. To all, I hope and wish a wonderful Thanksgiving.

8:03 for 3 miles

In reading a Carmichael book on cycling, it stated that to be in excellent shape, you should be able to do 3 miles in 8 minutes. Well, on Saturday, I scared the heck out of 8 minutes. I was only 3 seconds over. Next time I do my fit test, I will break the 8 minute barrier. The first half of the fit test did not go well. It took me about 9 minutes but it was cold and the legs, although having ridden for 20 minutes, were still cold as well. After getting warmed up and the buffers flowing, I blew out the second 3 mile stint. Amazing as well was my heart rate was almost identical, 167 to 166. The increase in heart rate for the fit test also was a good thing. I can sustain longer at a higher threshold. All the riding is helping, not only psychologically but physically as well. This was the second good thing that happened to me this weekend.

On Friday night, I got the call. It actually did come. They made an offer that I cound not refuse. I have since worked out some details and accepted. Onward and upward we will go. I know that moving is difficult. It is hard to find new friends and be able to trust people. At least we will have the church and other members to help us. It is nice to know that they are there for us. We worked on the house and met with a real estate agent on Monday night. Now, if all continues as it has been going, this too will work out to our benefit. Patience and faith, soon enough we will be on to the next chapter as well.

Lance sighting!

Here I was riding along, focusing on the training intensity, the cadence, the pain and I look over and there he is. The man, riding along, grimacing from the pain, punishing and pushing himself to the limit, squeezing out every ounce of energy. It felt good to be suffering with and like him. I think we all learn a lot from our suffering. Dealing and coping with stress, patience, longsuffering, humility, diligence are amoung them. Too bad the Lance sighting was on my laptop in the garage rather than on the road where we'd had a chance to chat. Just a little warm up ride tonight and tomorrow is the big freeze. The workout was excellent last night. Each time I do the video, I think I get better. The legs are feeling better. I'd like to see a difference on the scale but it will happen in time. Look patience again! By the way, no word yet.

Trainer Days

Since being able to stay at home the last couple of days, I have been on the trainer. It has been too cold to be outside riding. Last night I hung 0ut with Chris and this morning was just a day of 20 minutes worth of tempo with 45 minutes of riding. The legs feel solid and good. Tonight will be another night with Chris and the time trial video. It is always tough but I am getting better at the pain. The hard part is passing the time. Reading has helped but still, it is hard to sweat and deal with pain while trying to focus on the words or understand what is going on. I should get out tomorrow morning before work and ride on the road before Saturday. I hope to ride long on Saturday again, 60+ miles. We'll see what the plans are and go from there. I'll probably have to be up early to go and get things done. No problem.

"Anticipation is making me wait!" This is more painful that the MS 150. Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Glad that the Army taught me patience. It will all be over soon and will have been well worth the wait to get it done. I am happy yet curious how all of this will play out. I have had several people question me about the house already. Wow!! Patience, it will all work out how it is supposed to work out.

Holiday Inn Distress

Monday was a bust. I was traveling to visit customers in Mexico and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. It said it had a fitness room. The problem was the fitness room. It did not have a stationary bike. So I rode the tread mill. I really dislike tread mills. At least I got a half an hour of cardio in and some supersets. I felt better that I did something rather than not having done anything at all. I skipped Tuesday. Getting home late does not help with the exercise regiment. Tonight will be a fruitful experience, I hope.

HHH 100 Remembered...

I found this picture today. It is from this year's Hotter 'N Hell in Witchita Falls. This was in the local paper. The blurry yellow guy is me. How do I know you ask? The bike, the jersey color, the helmet color, the shoes, the water bottles, and the "Grateful Dead" jersey wearing, bearded guy in front of me. Jens and I followed this guy for several miles. He was pulling this brisk pace, above 20 MPH. We jumped his wheel and covered some miles in very short time. Thinking back on this ride, we had planned on it for months. It seemed like it never would come. When it did, it lived up to its hype and the ride was outstanding! Great support, great groups to ride with, and everyone seemed very friendly. Definitely a ride for 2006 at the 25th anniversary of the largest ride in the U.S.

Castroville or bust!

After hoping for rain, the rain did not come. We met at 7:30 AM and wait a little while for everyone to show up. By 8 AM, we left. The inagural 50 mile bike ride for Crew/Team 695. We had Peter, Nathan, and Greg. Several leaders showed up as well. Jay, Andy, Jan, Jens, and myself. We started slow, trying to ride with everyone. By mile 10, I figured it was time to let the legs go. Jens and I said good-bye to Nathan. Peter and Jan were a ways up and we started to ride for them. It took a little bit to get there and it was made difficult by the wind but we caught up to them a mile outside of Rio Medina. We rode with them to Rio Medina, stopped for the restroom, and continued on to Castroville. The four of us rode together till the first climb, about a mile and a half outside of Rio Medina. The mountain bikes just don't ride a well on the pavement as the road bikes and Jens and I dropped them. It was nice to ride with Jens and talk. Nothing in particular just gab and "hang out" (for the lack of a better term). We stopped in Castroville and got a little to eat and wait for the others. About 10 minutes later, Peter and Jan show up. Another ten minutes, Andy and the food/drinks show up. Good timing! Everyone was hungry and wanting something cold to drink. We waited another twenty minutes or so. That is when Jens and I said time to go. We got on the bikes and took off. This time, the wind was with us and aiding us instead of hampering our progress. Nathan was only a half mile or so from Castroville but Jay and Greg were a ways up, closer to 3 miles away.

I knew that Jens needed to get back and I wanted to get back to maybe catch some of Cassie's meet or to help with the boys. Christine was a trooper and took the boys with her to Cassie's meet. She left well before I did. I just need to remember to be as supportive when she needs me. We averaged over 20 MPH on the 28 or so miles home. The wind helped as well as the sense of urgency to get back. As I opened the garage, Christine text messaged me. I called her and let her know that I had just gotten home. I did not go down the the meet. I later called and found out that Peter and Nathan had finished while Greg was still out on the course. We will have three get the merit badge. Funny thing happened on the course, we found Mike Brady riding looking for us. He held on for a little while with Jens and I but then got dropped as well.

The day ended well by being able to spend some quality time with Christine. We ate, talked, hung out, played 70's four square, watched a movie, and fell asleep. Good day, good week on the bike - over 100 miles this week. And so it begins...

Note: Thanks to Christine, her love and support are ever present and I need all of it.

Not seeing must see TV.

Remember when must see TV was on Thursday nights and NBC was packed with hits: Seinfeld, Frasier, ER, and some other ones that I cannot seem to remember right now. If it is not Sports or Law and Order, well, I don't seem to watch much of it at all. There is too much stuff to do instead of watching TV. Last night, Colin actually ate something off of his dinner plate for the second time this week. Christine has figured it out. He wants to be outside. Well, that is his reward. Eat and you can leave, well, go outside to play at least. Hopefully tonight will be the charm.

The garage was good to me last night. Nothing like sitting on the bike for an hour in the garage. I think I am getting the hang of the trainer. I got the workout again last night with Carmichael. It is starting to make sense to me. All I need to do now is push harder and ride longer. I figure I need to be on the bike for 250+ miles a week by May and I will be okay. I have this notion in my head that I should ride the sum of the weekly rides on Saturday. For example, if I ride 50 miles Monday through Friday, it should be 50 miles on Saturday as well. That way I hit the magical number of 100 for the week. This week it will work. At 250+ miles per week, that is 125+ on the week days (25+ a day) and 125+ on the weekend. Should prove to be exciting.

Thanks Chris!

I am sitting there in the garage suffering through another hour with Chris. It all came to me. I finally got it! I did the climbing video tonight and after four tries, I finally got. I learned how to keep my heart rate at the climbing heart rate while changing pedal cadence. Now I understand how intensity does not change but pedal cadence can in a climb and the effect it has on the body. All of this is thanks to my "friend" Chris Carmichael and his video series. It was an hour on the bike with high intensity. It felt good.

No word yet from MW. Patience is a virtue. I must wait and see.

12.9 miles

It was a good day today. All seemed to flow well in the plant with Terry out for training. Lisa called me from Milgard to congratulate me on the progress with Simi. I had a great conversation with the VP of Operations. What amazes me about the whole process is the consistent response from all with whom I have spoken with concerning the direction of the company. I like it. I hope to be part of it soon.

I was so excited after the phone conversation that I went for a ride. Just a good 12.9 miles around the Babcock horn. I average above 17 MPH. It amazes me that only a bit over a year ago, I was averaging 13 to 14 MPH on the same route. It would be nice to raise the MPH another 2 to 3 MPH in the next year as well. We will see. I did two supersets after the ride as well. It felt good. I have been looking at the next year and I have found several century and double century rides in the next year to ride as well. There is one through Death Valley that looks cool. It is in October so I should be more than ready to ride it. We will see what else I will ride. I wonder what my bike thinks about when I am not riding it? Things that make you go hmmm.....

Heavy Legs

In the first real day of riding in two weeks, the legs felt real heavy. I just wanted to get out and ride a bit of the route we will ride next weekend with the Scouts. There are a few bad intersections that might be troubling to cross but I think it will be all right. The gravel trucks will not be too bad if we get down 471 early enough. Otherwise, the ride went well, a little wind but I still managed 17.5 MPH over the 26 miles. I've got to get the plan together for the STP. I figure I have to riding 250+ miles per week going into the STP. Slowly I will get there. I saw a ride in Bicycling Magazine up Mt. Shasta in Northern California. It is 130 miles of fun with rides up the mountain. Sure, after the STP I will be ready to tackle anything.

After riding, I washed the car, threw the football with Cassie and Craig while evading Colin on his bike. Afterward, we had light sabres fights. I got tired of dieing and saying, "Craig, I am your father." So, we went on a short ride around the neighborhood. We say Bishop Baldwin out so we stopped and talked to him. He's excited about the ride next week as well. I told him about the Exodus. We'll see how this turns out next week. Now it is time to do the normal Saturday stuf.

After the ride, Craig was talking to me about the ride. He said he did not quit on the ride because Lance wouldn't quit. He made me smile. Remember, always be healthy and LIVESTRONG! Thanks Craig for listening and believing.

Ride for the Roses

The photographers for the Ride for the Roses have started to post some of the pictures online. I thought I'd share a few. It was a fun century for a good cause. There was some 30 or so miles into a strong wind. It was difficult but made all the time riding with a tailwind that much better; 30 plus MPH was never so easy! My dad rode with me and actually finished before me. I had some GI distress brought on by Odwalla but my total bike time was less than my dad's. We hope that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) can reach its goal to eliminate cancer death and suffering by the year 2015. Donating to the Lance Armstrong Foundation is a good way to help not only reach this goal but to help cancer victims. Donations can be made at www.livestrong.org.

After looking at the pictures from the ride, I feel like I look like one of my favorite running backs from the Steelers. Yes, you know who. It is the Bus! I remember the first time I saw him run. It was at a BYU home game versus Notre Dame. Bettis got the ball on one play and virtually ran over all the defense on his way to the end zone. The worst was the free safety who came up and hit him high, only to be rolled up like a burrito as Bettis took it to the house. Don't get in the way of a moving bus! On a cycling note, the Chilly C Cycling Bus stayed at the station last night. No routes were run.

The First Step ...

The first step on the path to the 2006 STP was in the garage. Since it was Halloween and a little rain, I decided to ride in the garage. I got to watch Colin pass out candy to all the trick o’ treaters. Colin went from giving one piece of candy to the kids to a handful, and we still didn’t pass out all of our candy. Well, we did but as the kids came home, we sorted their candy for the “undesirable” candy and recycled it back to the neighborhood. It probably wasn’t our neighborhood anyway as there were many kids I did not recognize. Colin just kept giving away candy. He loved it. When there was a lull, he would start asking where the kids were, already prepared with a handful of candy. It was fun for all three of us, Colin, Christine, and I. Craig and Colin both dressed up as football players. They were the only two I saw. Cassie was a princess, cute as always. It was a fun Halloween. Plus, the Steelers won a close one at Heinz Field, 20-19 over the Ravens. It is always good when the Steelers win.

About the riding, I got on for an hour just to ride some endurance miles. Kept the heart rate between 130 and 140, ending up averaging 134. Afterwards, I did the Chilly C superset, which consists of medicine ball toss from the back, pounding the abs with the ball, sit-ups with the medicine ball, leg lifts, and pushups. Did three sets of those to add about 20 more minutes to the work out. It felt good and I am a little sore this morning but nothing severe. Tonight will be a video night, either climbing or time trialing. I see how I feel. I am leaning towards the time trial video. I have 20 pounds to lose during the next seven months. A journey starts with one step.