Keep on ridin'...

Today was another solo ride, so not quite the distance of some of my group rides, but still enough to get my muscles working! The morning started off kinda cloudy, and I did fear rain for a short while, but after checking the weather and seeing only a 10% chance I decided to take a chance! And boy am I glad I did; the weather was beautiful!

Small snag in today's ride; I got about a mile or so out and realized that I was a COMPLETE idiot; I hadn't worn my helmet! So I had to turn around and get that, and my biking gloves (no where near as critical). Once that was set right, I started off again. All in all, a generally normal ride other than that! About halfway through or so the sun came out and followed me the rest of the ride; however, that meant that I ended up sunburned! So I have a pretty funny tan now. =)

Only two weeks til the 150! I'm riding 62 miles next week in the Space Race, and then timet o taper down, eat some carbs, and rest up! I can't wait!

Back to the grind!

This past weekend, I had every intention of biking ~30 miles on Sunday. However, due to gaming all day Saturday and the sleep deprivation surrounding that, I did not get that ride in. Luckily though, I had to work late last night, so I got myself up at a normal work-day hour and got out on the bike! I didn't get the full 30miles in, but I did at least get 23!

Exciting part of this ride was my new iHome2Go! It's a speaker for an iPod, and it looks just like a water bottle on your bike! Mom got it for me, so I got to rock out a bit during my ~2 hour ride. Only bummer was I was on my Exercise playlist instead of my General playlist, which is only about 50 minutes of music! So I had to listen to the same songs twice. Ah well, I like the songs! =)

The ride did kinda hurt my quads, though; I haven't biked since the 14th, and I've been fighting the cold through all that, so I guess my body just wasn't ready for it. But it's getting really close! I can't believe I only have 2 more training weekends until the ride! Better make them count!

Waging War...

So alas, I did not get out on a long ride this past weekend. I woke up with a sore throat on Friday, and it progressed into a full on cold as the day went on. So this weekend my body "waged war" on the interloper, draining me of all energy.

I did make it to both Spinning classes last week, and I attended Yoga tonight (despite still feeling pretty drained), so I am at least keeping up with training. This Sunday I don't have plans for any organized ride, but I'm planning to get out for at least 30 miles this week. I get to try out my new iHome for my iPod; gift from my momma! The MS150 (and most organized rides) don't allow you wear headphones on the rides, for safety reasons. But I've seen a lot of people with speaker systems on their bikes, and evidently those are allowed! So now I can listen to some tunes while I'm out cruisin'. =)

Other exciting news! My sister is coming down to bike the MS150 with me! Exciting stuff! So now I won't have to ride alone, and we'll have some good tunes to listen to...despite being sick all weekend, I would have to say the week ended on a fairly high note!

As for my sister, she needs to raise the $400 minimum pledge, so if you were thinking about donating to me, it would be better for you to donate to her. Her page is: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/TXHBikeEvents?px=7833558&pg=personal&fr_id=12962

Thanks!

New record!

Well, distance at least; even though last week I didn't do the full 50 mile route, I redeemed myself today! I biked 55 miles today on the Pearland Cycling Club's "The Great Escape" ride!

The morning was a bit of a bummer, as last night we had to set our clocks ahead! So I lost an hour of sleep just to that silliness. I got up at 6am (which felt like 5am...oh wait... ;) ), got myself packed, and headed out to Manvel High School. The morning was quite chilly, but I knew at least it wasn't going to be as cold as the last night I started at Manvel High School (that was my first group ride, Ride to the to Rescue). As we arrived at the high school, though, we were shocked to see a VERY different sight than Ride to the Rescue; the parking lot was PACKED, and worse, the Port-a-Potty line was crazy too!

Nonetheless, I soon got on the road, and for the first short bit of the ride my wheel was making a "funny" noise. Luckily I had to stop at a stop light, so I checked it out; it appeared my sensor for my speedometer had shifts slightly and was hitting the fork of my front wheel. With a quick realignment, the annoying sound was gone! As with most bike rides, a huge group of people started off all bunched up together, and I would pass some, and be passed by others. The first rest stop came, and yet again the port-a-potty line was crazy! So I decided to pass this one and head for the next stop at 20 miles.

The first 20 miles were generally pretty good! And it was really cool towards the end of that stretch, I was actually the "lead dog" in a pace line; I had GUYS following in my draft! And I was averaging about 16-17mph in general, so I was feeling pretty good! Being about 1.25 hours in to the ride, I knew I was already off to a better start than last week's ride, putting me only 10mi in about the same time. However, arriving at the 20mi rest stop, I was saddened to once again see a ridiculous port-a-potty line. This time, however, I had no real choice but to stop, so I lost over 30 minutes at this rest stop.

The next 15 miles was an out and back to the same place, and here I dealt with a little bit of wind. My mph dropped to around 14, but I knew that at least I'd have a good wind on the way back! Around 6 miles was the turnaround, with a small rest stop; I stopped to take off my final piece of "warm" gear and stuff it in my backpack, and then headed back on the road again. Another brief stop at the 20-mile rest stop, for another potty break, but this time there was no one there! Thanks goodness! So back on the road again...

Final rest stop was around 46 miles, and there I met a woman named Karen wearing a special MS150 jersey; it says "I have MS...It's WHY I ride!" She was riding a recumbant bike, and it was great to meet another person with MS that is still out there riding! We chatted for a short bit, and then I went about the last 8 miles of the ride. All was well until about 1.5 miles out; a large group of bikers were at a stop light, but we didn't have enough weight to trigger the light that we were waiting to go! It went through 2 full cycles before FINALLY letting us pass (we ended up all trying to scrunch together so the car behind us would move up and set off the sensor). But soon after, I was back at the high school and getting some much needed rest as I changed out of my shoes, etc.

Now, into the evening, I'm feeling very drained actually. At this exact moment, I don't even want to do another long ride next weekend; maybe I'll give myself a week off, we'll see. I was thinking of doing a 40mile ride in Houston, and I probably will and then take the following weekend off. But right now, I'll relish in my success by curling up in bed, resting my legs, and reading before some well deserved sleep. =)

Pedal Thru the Pines!

I headed about 2.5 hours away from Houston this weekend to try the "Pedal Thru the Pines" ride in Bastrop, TX. I had heard that it was a good ride for hills, and since Houston is pretty much flat, I figured this would be a good time to practice!


This ride started an hour later than the rest, at 9am. And it was a good thing too, cause we didn't get in to our hotel in Bastrop until after 11pm last night! Then I had to fit my new helmet, make sure the Camelbak was ready (I borrowed it from a friend to see if I liked it), and just generally make sure I was ready to go. Nonetheless, by the time the ride started the weather was beautiful! The sun was shining, and the temp was warm enough that I actually did not have to wear my jacket! =)

The ride's website has this to say: "Many riders find the route challenging because of the hills through the state parks. The route is through probably the most challenging part of the BP MS150 and the first 14 miles are very hilly. Riders have to climb two steep hills in the first 4 miles of the ride that many find challenging. For the next 10 miles there are several short, but steep hills that quite a few riders need to walk up." And they aren't kidding! I managed to make it up the first hill, but on the second hill I nearly fell because it was just so steep, I couldn't get enough power, and almost couldn't unclip. The next two hills I tried again, but this time I wimped out early enough to be able to unclip. And the final hill I don't think I made it up at all before I had to unclip to climb it. It was crazy! The other hills, though, made for a GREAT workout, and I definitely got my heartrate up. =)

However, after about 10 miles, it was already ~10:15. I knew that if I did the entire 50 mile ride, I would be biking ALL DAY. So on the second to last hill, I called James & Co and let them know I was changing to the 27 mile route, so I would be finished much earlier than expected. Then I finished out the last major hill, got through to the first rest stop, and recharged.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful; just rolling hills through the rest of the state park. The next rest stop came much quicker than the first, and there was a guy handing out "Pickle Juice." Yes, it IS pickle juice! One of the senior cyclists swears by it; says he's ridden miles and miles and never got cramps. So I tried it out, just to see. It probably wouldn't have been that bad about halfway through the bottle, but drinking the whole thing was a bit much.

Heading out of that rest stop, I started biking with a woman named Tiffany, who was fairly new to biking herself. We biked the last bit from that rest stop to the finish line, and that definitely helped make the last of the ride much more enjoyable! Thanks to Tiffany, and best of luck to you in the future of your biking!

Way to go Team!

Today was the 4th annual Team Shell ride, supported by the Team Shell MS150 team. I was under the impression the weather was going to be quite nice, so originally I did not put my standard 3 layers of clothing on...but then decided it's always easier to take them off than wish I had them on! And I'm lucky I did; when we arrived at Sun & Ski around 7:45am, I was concerned it might be a bit colder than I had expected. Luckily, though, once that sun came up the day turned out to be yet another beautiful day for riding!


Afif started the ride with a safety/route briefing, and then handed the megaphone over to me. Knowing I had been diagnosed with MS, he had asked me to speak a few words to the team sometime; many of the riders don't necessarily know someone with MS, and so it helps to inspire/motivate some people to be able to connect with someone that is actually receiving benefits from what they are doing. I had planned to tell them about all the benefits I have received since I've been diagnosed; instead, I got a bit emotional as I thanked them all for riding the MS150, and how much it meant to me. I do truly appreciate everything the riders have done in the past, and will do this year, and I wanted them to know that.


As we started to head out as a group, I quickly had to run back to the car to get my sunglasses (as many of you know, I am ALWAYS forgetting something!) and the first riders (22+mph) headed out. They split us up into speed groups so that we weren' all clumped together, and trying to pass later, etc, and I think that worked out great! Sunglasses firmly in place, I got into place and joined the 15-17mph crowd. As we headed out, I did a much better job clipping into my shoes (all day, in fact!). As we headed out of the mall, a woman started riding beside me and thanked me for the speech and inspiration. She was wonderful for me on this ride, because I managed to stay with her the entire ride (in general), so I didn't have to bike entirely "alone"! So a big thanks to Kathy, though I don't know her last name! Thanks for keeping me company. =)

The first part of the ride was tougher perhaps than anything else I'd done so far; the first rest area wasn't for about 20 miles. My other rides I had become accustomed to 10-12 miles between stops, so perhaps I had become spoiled! After we passed the 10 mile mark, I kept counting down the miles til we could reach 20; I wasn't specifically hurting, but I just wanted to be able to get some food! =) I had stashed a banana and some Clif Shot Bloks in my jersey; they has warned us that they weren't actually staffing any rest areas, so although a location was available, we were on our own as far as providing our drinks and nutrition. I had briefly lost Kathy shortly before this, so we met up at this Rest Area and then continued on together.

Next 12 miles to the next rest stop were a bit tough; the wind was really blowing along some of the country roads, and by now most of the riders were spread out. So Kathy and I were trying very hard to push through, though our speed definitely dropped to about 12mph. Finally, another pair of riders came up and got in front of us, so we tailed on to them and followed them pretty much to the next rest stop. At this rest stop, I refilled my water bottles, visited briefly with Afif (who also was there...but he had done the 60+ mile route, not the 44 =) ), and then Kathy and I headed out for the home stretch. 12 more miles to go!

The final part of the ride was a great way to end the ride. The wind was at least only a cross wind, and the shoulders were fairly large, so Kathy and I just kinda took it eay and rode side by side to chat for the last leg of our journey. As we were nearing our final turn back towards Katy Mills, however, we saw some flashing lights and what looked to be stopped traffic. "Please don't let there be an accident with one of the bikers!" I thought. But luckily, as we came up to the cops, they directed us through the nearby parking lot; there was a parade going on that traffic was stopped for. We were going the same direction of the parade, so when we exited the parking lot we just kinda rode down the street, tried to "blend in" to the parade, and then continued on to the finish!

Overall, it was another great ride! These two rides definitely make up for the very cold and traumatic experience of my first ride. =) And after the ride, we got to snack on some Subway sandwiches, and I took a brief shopping trip into Sun & Ski Sports. I bought myself a new cycling jersey, on sale! I'll plan to wear it for my ride next week, in Bastrop State Park...50 miles, oh man! Wish me luck!

Safety First!

I forgot to post for Sunday of last week; I went to the required Bike Safety Training for Team Shell last Sunday afternoon, meaning I got to pick up my jersey! I did once again fall off my bike during the training; it was still the fault of my new bike shoes and being unable to unclip! This time, though, I had to keep things even; I fell to my left (no...that was sarcasm...I didn't really purposely fall on my left instead of right ;) ). This fall actually screwed up my bike a bit temporarily! It was crazy! First, my bike tilted off centerline, quite dramatically actually. Then, I noticed the rear brake had shift so that the left side of it was continuously touching the rim (meaning the brakes were squealing until a nice guy helped me fix it...and the seat). Finally, the gear shifter on my left handlebar also got shifted, but that didn't really seem to have any major effect other than cosmetic. And then I come to find out the next day that I have a HUGE dark bruise on my hip where I fell. It was quite impressive, actually. ;)

But falling aside, I managed to get through my bike safety training, met Afif, our team captain, and got to pick up my Team Shell jersey. Exciting stuff!!!