I have a problem. I am forming an addiction to riding my bike. Yesterday I rode nearly 70 miles in the course of commuting back and forth to work, and a 'short' recreational ride that I did on the way home. 70 miles. For fun. I rode 13 miles into work, 16 miles at lunch, 16 miles on the way home (via a different route), and a 25 mile sidetrip up the right fork of hobble creek canyon.
What's even worse is that I purposely choose rides in which I will be climbing monstrous hills. Hobble Creek Canyon is essentially 12.5 miles of uphill (of course that's followed by 12.5 miles of downhill). I remember not so long ago when I rode 60 miles for the first time and thought that I was going to die afterwards. My, how things have changed :)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Weekend Update
I have neglected my blog over the last week or so, so I thought that I would give a blanket update of my life in a single post:
Salsa!
I started a Salsa dancing class with Lisa on Thursday night. I've been wanting to take some dancing lessons for a while so when Lisa invited me to join her it seemed like a good opportunity. Ideally, I'd prefer learning to salsa with a girlfriend rather than a sister, but I'll take what I can get. I rode my Harley to the first night of class and I can safely say that I was the only one there wearing combat boots. Believe it or not combat boots are not the ideal shoes for learning to Salsa. I may have to dig up a different pair of shoes for next week's lesson. Unfortunately, I'm going to be dancing solo for my next two lessons. Lisa snuck off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks leaving me without a partner.
The Phone
It is inexplicable, but I have spent over a dozen hours on the phone with Rosey over the last 4 days. It's particularly strange because both of us claim not to be 'phone people' and yet we can't seem to hang up. On Thursday night we talked for 5 hours until nearly 3 in the morning. Saturday night (after talking twice earlier in the day) we talked for three hours until 2 in the morning. It's a good thing that Rosey has a good cell plan with free nights and weekends :)
Gaining a Roommate
On Thursday night as Rosey and I were discussing her plans for moving to Salt Lake I brought up the idea of living together. On the one hand it seems terrifying to move in so quickly, but on the other hand neither of us could imagine living apart once Rosey lived out here. We didn't arrive at a conclusion on Thursday night but after letting it simmer for a couple of days we decided on Saturday for sure that Rosey will be moving in with me when she moves out to Utah in July. I know it's a little crazy but we just decided that we wanted to have an adventure and that we were willing to take a risk.
The Visit
I will be flying out to Alabama one more time in June to visit Rosey before she moves out here. I fly out on Friday the 16th of June and come back on Monday the 19th. The plan is to rent a Harley on Saturday and spend the day riding and camp overnight in some place that I can't remember the name of right now :) On Sunday we will return the Harley and switch gears to riding non-motorized bicycles through Northern Alabama. Sunday night and Monday we will probably just kick back and recover from our weekend adventure.
The Move
Rosey is planning on moving out to Utah in mid-July. The plan is that I will fly out to meet her in Alabama and then we will drive back together. I'm planning on taking a week off of work and turning it into a mini-vacation. We are going to hit Big Bend National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument and Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the drive back. I'm excited, it should be a lot of fun!
The Book
When I wasn't on the phone with Rosey this weekend, I was reading, "Hyperspace" by Michio Kaku, one of Rosey's favorite books. It's a physics book that provides an introduction to higher dimensional space. It can be a bit heavy in parts but it has been a really interesting read for me. One of the things that I really like about Rosey is that she challenges me intellectually. My brain feels like it actually needs to work to keep up with her :)
Stuart Falls
Although I spent most of the weekend in a lethargic state in protest of the cruddy weather, I did manage to get off my ass on Saturday afternoon to go hiking with Owen and Kim. We hiked out to Stuart Falls above Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. Stuart Falls is one of my favorite hikes. Last summer I hiked it several times a week to build up my stamina for hiking in Glacier National Park. I also snowshoed it several times this winter. I had dragged Owen out to Stuart Falls on a previous occasion, but this was Kim's first time ever. It was a pretty good time even though we were hiking in cold weather and a slight drizzle for part of the hike. I put some pictures up here.
Timpanogos Cave
On Monday I was invited to spend the morning and afternoon 'celebrating' Memorial Day with my friends Dale and Bethany. We did a short hike up to Timpanogos Cave and went on the cave tour. Despite having been through the cave on numerous occasions before I still always enjoy it. Although I have to say that the tour guide that we had today was not really the best. She wasn't horrible, but she just wasn't as personable as some of the guides that I have had in the past.
I hiked most of the way up and the entire way down with one of Dale's two kids on my shoulders. It amuses me to carry extra weight when I hike now considering how much weight I've lost over the last year. I could've carried both of Dale's kids at the same time and still would have been lighter than the last time that I hiked up Timpanogos :) Here are some pictures from our hike.
Salsa!
I started a Salsa dancing class with Lisa on Thursday night. I've been wanting to take some dancing lessons for a while so when Lisa invited me to join her it seemed like a good opportunity. Ideally, I'd prefer learning to salsa with a girlfriend rather than a sister, but I'll take what I can get. I rode my Harley to the first night of class and I can safely say that I was the only one there wearing combat boots. Believe it or not combat boots are not the ideal shoes for learning to Salsa. I may have to dig up a different pair of shoes for next week's lesson. Unfortunately, I'm going to be dancing solo for my next two lessons. Lisa snuck off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks leaving me without a partner.
The Phone
It is inexplicable, but I have spent over a dozen hours on the phone with Rosey over the last 4 days. It's particularly strange because both of us claim not to be 'phone people' and yet we can't seem to hang up. On Thursday night we talked for 5 hours until nearly 3 in the morning. Saturday night (after talking twice earlier in the day) we talked for three hours until 2 in the morning. It's a good thing that Rosey has a good cell plan with free nights and weekends :)
Gaining a Roommate
On Thursday night as Rosey and I were discussing her plans for moving to Salt Lake I brought up the idea of living together. On the one hand it seems terrifying to move in so quickly, but on the other hand neither of us could imagine living apart once Rosey lived out here. We didn't arrive at a conclusion on Thursday night but after letting it simmer for a couple of days we decided on Saturday for sure that Rosey will be moving in with me when she moves out to Utah in July. I know it's a little crazy but we just decided that we wanted to have an adventure and that we were willing to take a risk.
The Visit
I will be flying out to Alabama one more time in June to visit Rosey before she moves out here. I fly out on Friday the 16th of June and come back on Monday the 19th. The plan is to rent a Harley on Saturday and spend the day riding and camp overnight in some place that I can't remember the name of right now :) On Sunday we will return the Harley and switch gears to riding non-motorized bicycles through Northern Alabama. Sunday night and Monday we will probably just kick back and recover from our weekend adventure.
The Move
Rosey is planning on moving out to Utah in mid-July. The plan is that I will fly out to meet her in Alabama and then we will drive back together. I'm planning on taking a week off of work and turning it into a mini-vacation. We are going to hit Big Bend National Park, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument and Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the drive back. I'm excited, it should be a lot of fun!
The Book
When I wasn't on the phone with Rosey this weekend, I was reading, "Hyperspace" by Michio Kaku, one of Rosey's favorite books. It's a physics book that provides an introduction to higher dimensional space. It can be a bit heavy in parts but it has been a really interesting read for me. One of the things that I really like about Rosey is that she challenges me intellectually. My brain feels like it actually needs to work to keep up with her :)
Stuart Falls
Although I spent most of the weekend in a lethargic state in protest of the cruddy weather, I did manage to get off my ass on Saturday afternoon to go hiking with Owen and Kim. We hiked out to Stuart Falls above Aspen Grove in Provo Canyon. Stuart Falls is one of my favorite hikes. Last summer I hiked it several times a week to build up my stamina for hiking in Glacier National Park. I also snowshoed it several times this winter. I had dragged Owen out to Stuart Falls on a previous occasion, but this was Kim's first time ever. It was a pretty good time even though we were hiking in cold weather and a slight drizzle for part of the hike. I put some pictures up here.
Timpanogos Cave
On Monday I was invited to spend the morning and afternoon 'celebrating' Memorial Day with my friends Dale and Bethany. We did a short hike up to Timpanogos Cave and went on the cave tour. Despite having been through the cave on numerous occasions before I still always enjoy it. Although I have to say that the tour guide that we had today was not really the best. She wasn't horrible, but she just wasn't as personable as some of the guides that I have had in the past.
I hiked most of the way up and the entire way down with one of Dale's two kids on my shoulders. It amuses me to carry extra weight when I hike now considering how much weight I've lost over the last year. I could've carried both of Dale's kids at the same time and still would have been lighter than the last time that I hiked up Timpanogos :) Here are some pictures from our hike.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Wipe Out
I totally wiped out on my bicycle on my way back from lunch yesterday afternoon. I was pulling back into the Novell parking lot when I noticed that the sprinklers were on up ahead of me and were doing a pretty good job of watering the pavement. Most of the parking lot is paved with asphalt except for a small patch right in front of building H that is smooth concrete. I was approaching the building from the South and needed to make a hard left to get to where I parked my bike on the West side of the building. This took me right over the patch of smooth, wet concrete. I've had trouble here before on my motorcycle when the pavement was wet so I slowed way down on the bike.
I was probably going 20 MPH when I pulled into the Novell parking lot and slowed down to a good 10 MPH as I was approaching the wet pavement. Well, apparently I didn't slow down enough because as soon as I turned my handlebars, my bike went flying out from beneath me and my body slid a good 6 to 8 feet on the concrete. Ouch! The most embarrassing part was that there were a good half a dozen people standing in front of the building who witnessed the whole event. They all rushed over to see if I was OK. Fortunately I was. My head did hit the ground but it was little more than a light tap. I had enough forward momentum that it was really more of a slide than a fall.
After taking a couple of seconds to regain my composure I hopped back on my bike and rode the rest of the way to the side of the building. I didn't do any major damage but I've got some small patches of road rash and a couple of bruises today.
I was probably going 20 MPH when I pulled into the Novell parking lot and slowed down to a good 10 MPH as I was approaching the wet pavement. Well, apparently I didn't slow down enough because as soon as I turned my handlebars, my bike went flying out from beneath me and my body slid a good 6 to 8 feet on the concrete. Ouch! The most embarrassing part was that there were a good half a dozen people standing in front of the building who witnessed the whole event. They all rushed over to see if I was OK. Fortunately I was. My head did hit the ground but it was little more than a light tap. I had enough forward momentum that it was really more of a slide than a fall.
After taking a couple of seconds to regain my composure I hopped back on my bike and rode the rest of the way to the side of the building. I didn't do any major damage but I've got some small patches of road rash and a couple of bruises today.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Living the Dream
I had an incredible weekend with Rosey in Alabama! The photos are here.
What surprised me the most about meeting Rosey was that I didn't get nervous at all; not even when I got off the plane in Birmingham. When we finally met it was like I had known her forever and this wasn't really our first meeting. In fact, I was so comfortable around her that I think that it made her a little uncomfortable at first :)
We talked alot. We laughed alot. We even laughed about some of the things that we talked about. It amused us both that we were comfortable enough to talk about a number of things that were atypical for 'first date' conversations. Even when we weren't talking it was just good to be in each other's company.
Our drive up to Bankhead National Forest was one such occasion where we didn't talk a whole lot but were still comfortable and just enjoyed being together. It was a beautiful day, my iPod was cranking good music through the stereo, and we just sat holding hands and enjoying the passing scenery and the warm sunlight beating down through the windows of Rosey's Silver Rodeo.
Holding hands was something that we did a lot of over the weekend. In fact it seemed like hardly a moment went by where we weren't touching each other in some (totally innocent :) way. I loved that; I'm a very kinesthetic person.
Kissing was another thing that we did a lot of. We must have kissed a thousand times. It almost got to be a problem. On several occasions, we were just about to head out somewhere when we would 'accidentally' get locked in embrace and inevitably get distracted from our original plan :)
Camping in Bankhead National Forest was awesome. We backpacked in several miles alongside the Sipsey River, sometimes hiking in the river itself. We setup camp at a spot on the bank of the river where we could hear a waterfall in the distance. There were a ton of waterfalls. Well, Rosey called them waterfalls, I called them water trickles :)
Rosey did all of the packing for the trip. It was almost amusing to me (in an endearing sort of a way) how thorough she was. She thought of everything. She actually bought me a special pair of shoes for hiking in the river and a head mounted flashlight for hiking the trails at night (both of which came in handy).
Ironically, after all of that preparation, there was one thing that we actually forgot to pack in: the cooking kit. So, we had a sterno stove and plenty of food but nothing to cook in :) Fortunately, Rosey had packed enough snizzacks (snacks) to last us an entire week. So we didn't starve by any stretch of the imagination. Rosey was still a little disappointed by the oversight. She had worked so hard to prepare a 'perfect' camping trip only to have her plans thwarted by a delinquent cooking kit.
It's hard to pick a favorite moment from the weekend, but I could at least throw out a few moments that would be competitors were I to make such a distinction. It would be one of: laying with my head on Rosey's lap on the rocks behind the 'waterfall' above our campsite, taking an impromptu 'shower' beneath the waterfall up the hiking trail from our campsite, cuddling beneath the sheets in the tent and wasting away the morning talking on Sunday, or giving and then receiving a full body massage on Sunday night back at the hotel in an attempt to relieve our sore muscles.
When we talked later in the weekend about how the other person differed from our expectations going into the weekend I told Rosey that she was pretty much exactly what I had expected. I wasn't disappointed or caught off guard in any way. I think that's why I was able to feel so comfortable around her.
It almost freaked me out how closely Rosey matched my 'dream'. The only bad thing about that is that the whole weekend felt like a dream. Had she differed from my imagination it would have dragged me back down to reality and grounded me a little. But she didn't. It felt like I spent a weekend living inside of my own dream.
I suppose that in the grand scheme of things that there are worse problems to have than living in your dreams :) Nonetheless, I am hoping to be able to snatch Rosey from the ether and pull her down into my everyday life where she can keep me company. Or maybe I'm looking at things the wrong way. Maybe what I need to do is to find a way to elevate myself into the ether to join her.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Sweet Home Alabama
Well after nearly 7 weeks, I am finally flying out to Alabama this afternoon to meet Rosey. I'm not nearly as nervous right now as I expected to be. I'm sure that it will hit me like a ton of bricks when I get off the plane in Birmingham. We're probably just going to hang out tonight, but tomorrow we're getting up early and heading off to do some backpacking in Bankhead National Forest. I'm excited, this will be my first overnight backpacking trip. Well, I suppose that I should start packing.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Before and After
I have wanted to post some before and after pictures for a while but I've been waiting for 'after' to actually happen. Well, it hasn't happened yet, I still have more weight that I want to lose, but I thought that it would be fun to post these pictures anyway. So, here goes:
In just under a year I have dropped a little over 100 lbs going from 325 down to 222 and lost 10 inches from my waist going from a size 46 to a size 36. Wow, that's a lot of weight.
Although I have slowed down a little I am still very active and am hoping to lose another 20 to 25 lbs. At this point I am no longer actively pursuing a weight goal. I am simply eating well and exercising regularly and hoping that the weight will come off naturally as my body finds a new equillibrium. So far it seems to be working.
In just under a year I have dropped a little over 100 lbs going from 325 down to 222 and lost 10 inches from my waist going from a size 46 to a size 36. Wow, that's a lot of weight.
Although I have slowed down a little I am still very active and am hoping to lose another 20 to 25 lbs. At this point I am no longer actively pursuing a weight goal. I am simply eating well and exercising regularly and hoping that the weight will come off naturally as my body finds a new equillibrium. So far it seems to be working.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Assault on Sundance
For years I have driven the steep and twisty road up to Sundance and passed cyclists chugging their way up that seemingly interminable hill. I always thought to myself, "What a bunch of bad-asses". Seriously, you have to be in pretty good shape to tackle a hill like that. I secretly wished that someday I would be in good enough shape to bike up Sundance. Well, today was that some-day.
I started this morning at my house in Spanish Fork, rode through Mapleton, Springville and Provo to the mouth of Provo canyon where I started to climb up to the turn-off to Sundance and the Alpine Loop. I did take a quick pitstop at Vivian Park to relieve some fluids and replenish others. Once I got on the Alpine Loop Road, I just started chugging. It wasn't necessarily pretty... I had to kick it into my lowest gear and I was leaving a trail of sweat behind me. But I did it!
In fact, not only did I get to Sundance but I continued up the road another 3 miles, past Aspen Grove to the parking lot for the Timp hike. I probably could have ridden further but the road was closed. Coming back down that hill kicked ass! I was going so fast that it was almost a little frightening at times. I don't normally ride with a helmet but I brought one along today precisely because I knew that I was going to be cruising down this hill. Of course, at the speeds that I was going I'm not sure that the helmet would have done much good.
I was pretty damned proud of myself on the ride home. My legs were sore and I was riding a little slower than usual, but damnit, I held my head high :) And just then when I was feeling like I had conquered the world, a car full of kids drove by and shouted, "Fatass!" as they passed. I know that I shouldn't have let it bother me, but it kind of hurt my feelings. I was more than a little pissed off. Eventually I calmed down though and decided to take it as a brutal but valid reminder that as far as I've come I still have more to go.
Oh, by the way, the ride total was 60 miles today. It wasn't the longest ride that I've been on but it was one of the most challenging ones.
I started this morning at my house in Spanish Fork, rode through Mapleton, Springville and Provo to the mouth of Provo canyon where I started to climb up to the turn-off to Sundance and the Alpine Loop. I did take a quick pitstop at Vivian Park to relieve some fluids and replenish others. Once I got on the Alpine Loop Road, I just started chugging. It wasn't necessarily pretty... I had to kick it into my lowest gear and I was leaving a trail of sweat behind me. But I did it!
In fact, not only did I get to Sundance but I continued up the road another 3 miles, past Aspen Grove to the parking lot for the Timp hike. I probably could have ridden further but the road was closed. Coming back down that hill kicked ass! I was going so fast that it was almost a little frightening at times. I don't normally ride with a helmet but I brought one along today precisely because I knew that I was going to be cruising down this hill. Of course, at the speeds that I was going I'm not sure that the helmet would have done much good.
I was pretty damned proud of myself on the ride home. My legs were sore and I was riding a little slower than usual, but damnit, I held my head high :) And just then when I was feeling like I had conquered the world, a car full of kids drove by and shouted, "Fatass!" as they passed. I know that I shouldn't have let it bother me, but it kind of hurt my feelings. I was more than a little pissed off. Eventually I calmed down though and decided to take it as a brutal but valid reminder that as far as I've come I still have more to go.
Oh, by the way, the ride total was 60 miles today. It wasn't the longest ride that I've been on but it was one of the most challenging ones.
Three Hundred and Fifty Three
Three Hundred and Fifty Three. That's the number of emails that have been sent back and forth between Rosey and I over the last 37 days. It's nuts, but I love it.Who is Rosey? Rosey is one of the most incredible girls that I've ever met. We were introduced through Yahoo Personals. She is currently living in Alabama but is planning on moving to Salt Lake in the near future. She posted her personals profile in Salt Lake in order to meet some people before moving out here. Neither one of us started off looking for something more than friendship, but we instantly clicked and could tell that there was a possibility for something more.
One of the first things that caught my attention about Rosey's profile was her love of the outdoors. She is really into biking, hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, camping... basically anything outdoors :) If that were the only thing that we had in common I would have been really impressed, but there is so much more. The next thing that really got me interested was that, in her profile, Rosey mentioned that she was really into Physics, Philosophy and Eastern Religion. She is a frighteningly intelligent person.
In one of our early emails we were discussing the Tao Te Ching. I had mentioned that I had read it but that I was underimpressed by the philosophy contained therein. Rosey countered with some very interesting insights into the nature of nihilistic belief systems. I was incredibly impressed but I began to wonder to myself, "What if she is all intellect and there is no lighter side to her?".
Just as I was pondering that question I received a new email from Rosey entitled "Cheesy Poofs". I bust out laughing immediately before even opening it. She had sent me a video of herself doing an impression of Cartman, a character from the cartoon, "South Park". She definitely has a lighter side :) From the Tao Te Ching to Cheesy Poofs in 30 seconds or less... seriously, how cool is that?
Our list of similarities and compatibilities is really pretty long. We frequently have moments when we are talking to each other where we really get freaked out because one person will say something that totally mirrors how the other person feels about something.
The thing that I probably love best about Rosey is her ability to dream. She is capable of imagining her life different than it is now and is taking the necessary steps to bridge the gap between the real and the imagined. She sets goals and then follows through with them. This is evident both in her plan to move out to Utah and in the fitness goals that she has set for herself. I love that about her.
So far Rosey and I have only spoken via email and over the phone. We haven't actually met in person yet. However, that is about to change. The weekend after next I'm flying into Birmingham, Alabama to meet Rosey for the first time. Will the sparks fly? I don't know for sure but I'm hopeful. If we have even a tenth of the passion for each other in person that we have in our emails then I am sure that things will go spectacularly.
Rosey is such an amazing person that I seriously wonder what the hell I've done right in my life to deserve a shot at being with a girl like her. I'm not going to let that shot go to waste. Wish me luck! :)
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Non-Competitive Ride
Several people have asked me about this so I thought that I would clarify it here. The 100 mile bike ride that I did on Sunday was a non-competitive ride. That means that there wasn't a winner and there were no places assigned to individual riders. I believe that most of the participants think of it more as a personal challenge to be able to complete a 100 mile ride. The wind and the rain made it an even greater challenge than it would normally be.
A lot of people have also confused this Minnesota Ironman Bike Ride with the Ironman Triathlon. I am not certain whether or not the two events are affiliated in any way. But this was just a bike ride and certainly was not a triathlon. It might be kind of fun to train for and participate in a regular triathlon but I'm not sure that I'd ever want to do the real Ironman triathlon. It sounds way too grueling.
A lot of people have also confused this Minnesota Ironman Bike Ride with the Ironman Triathlon. I am not certain whether or not the two events are affiliated in any way. But this was just a bike ride and certainly was not a triathlon. It might be kind of fun to train for and participate in a regular triathlon but I'm not sure that I'd ever want to do the real Ironman triathlon. It sounds way too grueling.
Monday, May 01, 2006
St. Paul's Most Wanted
We had a little excitement this morning before leaving Jame's place. Chris and I were packing our bags and just about to leave when James stopped talking mid-sentence dropped his glass of water on the counter and started running full speed out of the house, down the street and into the woods. Chris and I just gave each other funny looks and wondered what the hell just happened. A couple of minutes later James emerged from the woods and explained that he had seen a couple of kids running out of the house across the street carrying several bags of stuff that obviously was not theirs. James called 911 and within two minutes the street was lined with cop cars. Within four minutes there was a K9 unit sniffing out tracks in the woods. Within 10 minutes they had arrested the two little punks that had broken into the house and were hauling them off to the police station. Way to go James! It turns out that these kids had been responsible for several break-ins in the neighborhood over the last couple of weeks.
Ride Photos
We didn't get a ton of photos but the ones that we did get are posted here.
By the way, the bike in the foreground of the picture does not belong to any of the three of us. It just happened to be sitting there.
By the way, the bike in the foreground of the picture does not belong to any of the three of us. It just happened to be sitting there.
A Hundred Miles Of Rain
It was cold, it was wet, the wind was fierce, but I rode hard and took no prisoners. The most difficult part of the ride was fighting the wind. There was a 20 MPH wind blowing from the East all day long. Unfortunately nearly 50 miles of the ride was riding directly into the wind. There were several times when the wind was blowing so hard that I had to stand up on my pedals as if climbing a hill just to keep enough forward momentum on the bike to prevent falling over.
The gear that I bought did a reasonable job of preventing me from freezing in the 45 degree temperatures all day long but it didn't help much to keep me dry. In the first 5 miles of the ride my socks were soaking wet and shortly after that everything else was as well. Surprisingly that didn't bother me so much as long as I kept moving. It was only when we stopped that it really became a problem.
The adverse weather conditions actually caused a lot of grief for the event organizers. It was taking everyone significantly longer to complete the ride than they had planned. We started riding at 8 in the morning and I didn't finish until nearly 5 PM. James finished a little after me closer to 6:30PM and Chris was having technical difficulties so he dropped out near the 75 mile mark.
The three of us had ridden together for most of the day but at the 65 mile mark I split off and wanted to open it up on my own for a while. It was actually kind of fun to test my legs out on a road bike. On that last 35 miles I was really riding hard and passing people like they were standing still. Not a single person passed me on that stretch of the ride. I'd like to think that I was just riding like a madman, but it could be that all of the really strong riders were already in front of me.
I have to admit that I was a little bit of an asshole at one point during the ride. I was climbing a fairly large hill but was taking it really easy because I didn't want to get too far ahead of Chris and James. A group of bikers came chugging past me riding in formation. As they passed the lead biker looked at me with contempt for going so slow as if he were saying to me, "You have no right to be here". It kind of pissed me off.
So, I let them pass and then decided to show them what I was really made of. I started pedaling at my full capability, easily caught back up to them, paced the leader for a couple of yards, gave him a dirty look and then went flying past him without even breaking a sweat. When I got to the top of the hill I turned around and came back down. I probably could have passed them a second time but I didn't want to rub it in that much and I wanted to get back to riding with Chris and James.
Unfortunately no bad deed goes unpunished by Karma. A minute after coming back down the hill I got a flat tire and had to stop. Luckily James had a spare tube and all of the right tools for getting flat swapped out. We were back on the road in a couple of minutes.
That was the first of 3 flats that I had while riding. The second happened after I had split off from Chris and James. Unfortunately I was not bright enough to think to carry a pump or spare tube with me when I left. So, I stopped another biker and used his pump to put a little air back into my tire. I knew that it wouldn't last forever but I was hoping that it would at least get me to the next rest stop in 6 miles. I got about 5 miles before the tire had so little air that I couldn't continue. Fortunately a guy from a local bike shop (they were all there manning the race) happened to drive by and helped me swap out a second tube. This time we found a big chunk of glass embedded in the tire.
All in all I really had a lot of fun. The weather did make it a little grueling but it wasn't too bad. My month of training definitely paid off for me. I wouldn't have survived the ride if I had just shown up without any training all. I might have survived in fair weather, but not with the crap that we had yesterday.
The gear that I bought did a reasonable job of preventing me from freezing in the 45 degree temperatures all day long but it didn't help much to keep me dry. In the first 5 miles of the ride my socks were soaking wet and shortly after that everything else was as well. Surprisingly that didn't bother me so much as long as I kept moving. It was only when we stopped that it really became a problem.
The adverse weather conditions actually caused a lot of grief for the event organizers. It was taking everyone significantly longer to complete the ride than they had planned. We started riding at 8 in the morning and I didn't finish until nearly 5 PM. James finished a little after me closer to 6:30PM and Chris was having technical difficulties so he dropped out near the 75 mile mark.
The three of us had ridden together for most of the day but at the 65 mile mark I split off and wanted to open it up on my own for a while. It was actually kind of fun to test my legs out on a road bike. On that last 35 miles I was really riding hard and passing people like they were standing still. Not a single person passed me on that stretch of the ride. I'd like to think that I was just riding like a madman, but it could be that all of the really strong riders were already in front of me.
I have to admit that I was a little bit of an asshole at one point during the ride. I was climbing a fairly large hill but was taking it really easy because I didn't want to get too far ahead of Chris and James. A group of bikers came chugging past me riding in formation. As they passed the lead biker looked at me with contempt for going so slow as if he were saying to me, "You have no right to be here". It kind of pissed me off.
So, I let them pass and then decided to show them what I was really made of. I started pedaling at my full capability, easily caught back up to them, paced the leader for a couple of yards, gave him a dirty look and then went flying past him without even breaking a sweat. When I got to the top of the hill I turned around and came back down. I probably could have passed them a second time but I didn't want to rub it in that much and I wanted to get back to riding with Chris and James.
Unfortunately no bad deed goes unpunished by Karma. A minute after coming back down the hill I got a flat tire and had to stop. Luckily James had a spare tube and all of the right tools for getting flat swapped out. We were back on the road in a couple of minutes.
That was the first of 3 flats that I had while riding. The second happened after I had split off from Chris and James. Unfortunately I was not bright enough to think to carry a pump or spare tube with me when I left. So, I stopped another biker and used his pump to put a little air back into my tire. I knew that it wouldn't last forever but I was hoping that it would at least get me to the next rest stop in 6 miles. I got about 5 miles before the tire had so little air that I couldn't continue. Fortunately a guy from a local bike shop (they were all there manning the race) happened to drive by and helped me swap out a second tube. This time we found a big chunk of glass embedded in the tire.
All in all I really had a lot of fun. The weather did make it a little grueling but it wasn't too bad. My month of training definitely paid off for me. I wouldn't have survived the ride if I had just shown up without any training all. I might have survived in fair weather, but not with the crap that we had yesterday.
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