Give me a Challenge... however small

WOW... my last post on this blog was June 1st. I knew it was a while ago, but not that long. Sadly, there is not much "bike" news that I can pass on. I have been neglecting my bikes, and it shows. It has been too hot over the summer... I have been too busy at work.... I stayed up to late to do homework... and the list of excuses goes on and on. All of them just that... excuses and justifications (in my own mind) to not ride.

On Friday I was reading Mike's blog and came across a word that I had never heard before. "Coffeeneuring". Well, I clicked on the Coffeeneuring Challenge link on his blog and found the rules for a challenge that MG (a DC Rand rider) had created. "Coffeeneuring Challenge" rules as spelled out quite clearly on her blog, and it sounded like just what I needed, a challenge, to get my fat toucas back on the bike.

In a nutshell, I have to ride to 7 different coffee shops (of my choosing) by the end of October. The coffee shops have to be more than a 2 mile ride, the rides can only be done on Saturday and Sundays and you can only visit 1 coffee shop per day. Well, you can visit as many as you want, but only 1 will count towards the challenge.

The prize... the fun and exercise that you get doing the weekend rides is your prize. I am not looking at what I can get, I am REALLY looking at what I can lose. Maybe a couple lb's.

I made my list of coffee shops and made a plan. Saturday morning came around and I got the bike ready to go. Air in the tires, lube on the chain, wiped off all the cobwebs and I was off. I actually put the bike in the car and drove to the B&A trail and rode to Java Diva's. Information about Java Diva's can be found at their website Java Diva's . It ended up being a 16 mile ride at an incredible slow pace. On the way back to the car, I stopped at the Farmer's Market to meet Bev and get some good fall vegetables. It was a great ride, great weather and a great way to start the challenge.

Sunday morning was the true test. Would I get up and ride again? The coffee shop on the list today was City Dock coffee in Annapolis. This would require me to ride over some mountains (OK, just a bit of a stretch, but after being off the bike for so long, I knew they would feel like mountains). I pulled myself out of bed and downstairs to check the temperature to see how to dress. 46 degrees. I had complained all summer that it was too hot to ride, I could use the excuse that it was too cold to ride. I dressed appropriately and off I went. This time from the house I rode to City Dock coffee and then back home. I have not seen the Garmin statistics for that ride yet, but it was 17 miles at a slow pace.

Two down, 5 more to go. Next weekend I will knock out two more coffee shops and get a little bit more of my fitness back in the process.

Thanks for reading and I am going to try to carve out just a little bit of time every couple days to do an entry here.

Catch up post

Ok, so how do I wrap up almost months of not blogging into one post? It really won't be that difficult, because I haven't done a whole heck of a lot, which is a problem. The rainy season (March, April and May) has come and gone, and with rain comes a wealth of excuses why NOT to ride the bike. "It's too wet, It's too cold, If I ride in the wet I'll have to clean the bike completely and I don't have time to ride, let alone ride AND clean..." You get the picture. Needless to say, my miles are down significantly this year. So much so, that I will not even fill out a training log for January - May.

Work has been a strain... but only because I let it be. Delayed roll out of new computers has caused other projects to get pushed back and back and back. I think I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so provided that the light is not attached to an oncoming train, I should be back to some sense of normalcy soon.

I have ridden 4 times in the past 7 days, so things are looking up. Last Wednesday I took the day off to watch the Blue Angels perform. Bev had gotten tickets to the VIP tent, and since I consider myself a VIP, I wasn't going to miss it. Well, the Blue Angels decided to have a close call in Lynchgburg causing them to cancel the next few upcoming shows so that they could do a safety stand down and correct the problems that led to the close call. So, I took my bike and rode from home to the Rusty Bridge and back. On Saturday I joined the SPP bagel ride into Annapolis. A large group of riders came out for that ride because of the beautiful weather. On Sunday I rode with Mike and Bob around the Severn River with a detour out to Crofton for some Caribou Coffee. It was a nice ride at a nice pace with nice people. It doesn't get much better than that. Finally, this morning I joined the 5:46 group ride from the Rusty Bridge. I think there were 14 riders at the start. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday the pace is very fast, but with a large group, enough people, for varying reasons, did not want to go fast. So 4 or 5 of us hung back and rode at a more moderate pace. I have not seen the difference in the scales yet, but I can feel the difference in my attitude and energy levels. I am hoping to ride the 5:46 ride again tomorrow. I'll let you know if I make it or not!

Why I ride?

For anyone who has gotten an email from me you may have noticed my signature line that says "Would the person who stole my motivation please return it, no questions asked!" This past weekend I had my motivation returned to me by two SPP members.

On Saturday I managed to force myself to get my bike gear on and head out for a ride. I was leaving the house too late to make it to the starting point of the 7:30 ride on time, but I decided to head in that direction and intercept the group as it headed to Annapolis. Well, as it turned out I only saw Chip heading down the trail. I turned around and we headed into Annapolis to enjoy a nice leisurely ride, a hot beverage, and some good conversation. On my way home I realized that I have really missed the camaraderie that we have riding together as a group. Sharing a laugh, talking about whatever happens to be the topic of the day, or sometimes (for me anyway) sucking in as much air as possible and trying to hang onto the back of the group. That ride helped to return a portion of my motivation.

The rest of my motivation was returned when I received the following email from Dangerous Dan this morning:

       Dear Chris:
           I found a package of motivation on the side of the road, a little tattered, it had bite marks and dog spit on one corner, but otherwise it is intact and fully functional. I didn't know who it belonged to, so I kept it safe and took it with me for a ride every now and again to keep it charged up. I had it with me on our night perm in January and it really liked all the long hours and cold miles so I knew it belonged to an experienced randonneur. Yesterday it was really in its element and enjoyed the scenery and camaraderie of the group. It pulled me over the hills, and pushed on the descents, it waived to the ducks in the stream, and the horses in the pastures, and mocked the farm dogs behind their fences. It has been good company.


Now that I know it is yours I would like to reunite you two as soon as possible. So I will keep it on the bike and get it to you when we ride together next which I hope will be soon. See you on the roads:

Dangerous Dan

I promised Dan that I would relieve him of my motivation sometime this week. Along with my motivation, Dan and Chip have returned my appreciation for the people that ride with SPP as well.

So to answer the question "Why I ride?" it is not only to get my heart rate up and burn calories, but to spend some time with some great people who share a common interest.

A slow start to a new year

So it is the last day of January, and I just totaled up my miles ridden for the Severna Park Peloton mileage challenge. It was quite an embarrassing number. I could go on and on with the excuses about how cold it has been, and the snow and ice are not exactly the conditions that I want to ride in and the list goes on and on. The truth of the matter is that I have not had the motivation that I need to get out of bed and on the bike.

Last year, I worked very hard to get in shape for the 550 mile ride through the mountains of New England in July. I had a goal. Something to work towards, and because I was registered and had solicited sponsors the help raise money for diabetes I felt that I had to ride those miles or be embarrassed in July. After the New England Classic was done, so was I. I thought it was just a "burnt out" feeling and a little bit of time off the bike and I would be right back to riding almost every day. But, the more days I didn't ride the harder it seemed to force myself to get on the bike and ride. Because I was working towards my R12, I still found myself riding some to maintain what little fitness I had left in order to ride the 200k's.

So, here we are in a new year, and I have started the month out with an all time low for me in regards to mileage. I need a goal. A target to work towards. I am not going to do the 550 mile New England Classic again, but I am considering the shorter 150 mile version. The amount of money that has to be raised is much more manageable, and I won't have to take a whole week off from work to do the ride. I have my eyes on an event that I may possibly consider. I believe registration is in April and once I have officially registered, I will let everyone know what it is. So, stay tuned, for updates.

I could use some Global Warming.

We have been stuck in a deep freeze of late, and it is beginning to get on my nerves. There is a forecast for snow this afternoon, which could make Mike's 200k tomorrow a bit more...ah...dare I say... 'epic'!

I looked back at my 2009 training log and I did a so so job of recording the temps on the days that I rode, and I recorded 22 degrees as the coldest day that I rode. Given the temps of the past couple weeks, 22 degrees would seem like a heat wave.

I mentioned Mike's 200k tomorrow. Mike, Clint and Earl will be riding the Sailing Down to Solomons 200k tomorrow. This will be the completion of Mike's R12 award. Clint is one of the founding fathers of the Severna Park Peloton, and does a great job of brain washing... ah... I mean... recruiting SPP members to ride in these long rides. Clint is SUPER supportive of everyone in the group. His latest victim.. I mean... recruit is Earl, who on this ride will be doing his first 200k.Bonne Route!

If you noticed, I changed the background of my blog. The obvious reason for the change was the forecast for snow, but after I changed it I noticed the sign on the right hand side of the page. Even though it is German it pretty much sums it up for me.... "Workin' .....DAMN."

December 200K - Nottoway Ramble

Yesterday, I completed my 12th 200k in as many months, qualifying me for my R12 award from Randonneurs USA (http://www.rusa.org/). This is a goal that I set back in February, and I cannot explain how happy I am that I have achieved it. I will post a blog entry at a later date to reflect on that achievement. For now, let me talk about the Nottoway Ramble because there is MUCH to cover.

There were a few requirements that I was looking for when I was choosing my ride for December. I wanted to ride on a dry day that was as warm as possible. Well, for those of you that have been awake for the month of December you know that pretty much the whole country has been experiencing a cold spell, and a 200k in San Tropez was not only beyond my budget, but probably would not count towards my R12. So, after days of watching weather.com's 10 day forecast I saw that Friday was going actually break into the 40's so I targeted that day. This weekend is my weekend with Emily so after re-arranging the travel plans that were already in place, I was able to make it work.

I requested to ride this perm from the owner (Ron Malinauskas) and we managed to get all the requisite paperwork done via email. He provided great support for me by way of recommending a hotel, directions from the hotel to the start, information about where to park, recommendations for lunch and map images of the route. In addition to all this, his cue sheet was excellent. It was detailed and the cue's were extremely accurate.

So after a night in the hotel (which was nice) I headed out to the start. The temp was a balmy 24 degree's, but I knew that it would warm up into the high 40's so I was not too discouraged. I was layered pretty well with my Shower Pass jacket, a couple Under Armour layers and the moisture control system. As I started out, I was bit chilly, but soon I was toasty warm pedaling  to the first control.

The first control was The General Store in Yale, VA. Well, I would be willing to bet that it was the ONLY store in Yale, VA. It was definitely a step back in time. The woman that was behind the counter was very kind and very southern. I asked for an egg sandwich on and english muffin and she said they didn't have english muffins just biscuits and toast. OH YEAH, I forgot... I am in the south, so it is biscuits with everything. I got my egg sandwich on a biscuit, sat down at the dinning room table that was in from of the store and enjoyed the warmth. After about 30 minutes there I jumped back on the bike and headed to the next control.

As I pedaled away from the store, I did a quick mental inventory of how I felt. I was fed, I had water AND some hot coffee in my insulated bottle (thanks Dave) I had been diligent up to that point in regards to my e-caps, my back, legs and toucas felt fine... so far so good.

The next control was an information control at mile 58+. I made it the information control, gathered the information, enjoyed a Snickers bar and some coffee and headed to Waverly. The route owner had mentioned am Italian place in Waverly where he likes to stop for lunch. I wasn't really hungry at the time that I arrived there, but I did need some water so I bought a bottle of water from that place and headed on my way. Again, a mental inventory showed that I was in a good place.

The ride from Waverly to the 2nd control, again was uneventful. I did notice that most of the roads that I was on were tar and chip and seemed to rattle quite a bit. I did notice that my shoulders were getting a bit sore, and I attributed that to both lack of riding prior to this ride and the vibration of the road surface taking its toll. I arrived at the 3rd control, which is at mile 82+. It was a small store that was operated by a woman that did not speak very good english. It was about lunch time so I asked if they sold sandwich and all they had were frozen sandwiches that could be microwaved. I chose the philly cheese steak sandwich and added some chips and a coke. I lingered at the store for a good while, struck up a conversation with the ice cream delivery man who happened to be from Salisbury Beach, MA originally so we talked Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics for a while.

Before heading out to the next control I made a slight wardrobe adjustment. Knowing that the difference in temperature would be about 25 degrees, I knew that as the ride wore on I would be sweaty and my layers would not be able to keep up with wicking the moisture away from my body. So I brought along fresh moisture control system and an additional Under Armour base layer (all packed in a zip loc bag, in the pocket of my Shower pass jacket) After making the adjustment, I felt warm and dry, almost like this was the start of the ride. Mental inventory.... getting fatigued and ready to be done, but feeling good.

Well, that feeling changed rather quickly as I was headed to the next control. At about mile 85+ I see up ahead a dog that was laying on its front porch decides that it wants to take a run at me. The front yard that he is in is not the big, so by the time I get to his house, he is already in the road waiting for me and barking. Well, I accelerate to try to out run him and he is barking a way that you just know if he gets a chance... he would like nothing more than take a bite out of you. I manage to get past him and then I have a decision to make... the road bears right or goes straight...I can't slow up and look at the cue sheet or I will be minus one ankle... I chose to go straight... I chose poorly. After making the decision to go straight there was a speed bump in the road that I managed to bunny hop, but in doing so one of my snickers bars came out of my bento box. CRAP... I have lost chocolate. The dog did not chase me too long, but it was like he knew I would be back. He didn't meander back to his yard, he laid down by the sign at the intersection waiting for me. So, after stopping and thinking this through (here I am trying to out smart a f*%#in dog) the plan was to ride back to the intersection on the extreme far right hand side of the road and head back from where I came and then after the dog settles down again, ride past him again and bear right this time like I was suppose to. Well, things worked out better than I expected... kind of... I headed up the road, and the dog figured this time he would lead me a little bit more, which allowed me to slow enough to take the left hand turn that I need to take to put me on the road I needed to be on. I pedaled pretty fast, and was pretty proud of the way that worked out. I didn't hear any barking, a quick look over my left shoulder I could see the dog. Well, that was because he was in my blind spot just over my right shoulder... and when he finally barked, it scared the crap out of me and I about fell off my bike. I looked to my right and there was Cujo. At that point the dog looked HUGE. I could have sworn that I was looking eye to eye with him. I accelerated a little bit and he gave up the chase. Mental inventory... Not as good as it was before.

Over the next 20 miles or so, there were SEVERAL dog encounters. With the first encounter still fresh in my mind, I was VERY aware of any barking that I heard. In this area, the majority of the houses are farm houses with really long driveways. With me watching for ANY movement heading towards the road, I was pretty much able to pick up my speed as soon and I saw the dogs head my way, and none of them go very close.

However, there was one dog that almost put me over the edge. At just about mile 100 I saw a truck coming down a real long driveway heading to the road I am on, with a dog running along the drivers side. A wonderful... this guy is bringing the dog to the road, so much for my head start. As the truck turned on the road headed towards me, the dog was still chasing but now along the passengers side on the side of the road. Well, I tried to position myself so the truck would be between me and the dog and maybe the dog would miss me entirely. HA HA HA... you think that would happen? Not a chance. The dog saw me... went to all stop turned around and began the chase. This dog was fast and just would not stop chasing. I looked back one time and saw that the gap had opened a bit and I figured he has begun to give up, so I slowed a bit... he kept right on coming and was getting closer. I was winded and felt the twinge in my thigh of an impending cramp... I can't very well stop and chew and ecap at this point, so I slowed down and just figured if he catches up to me, I deal with it when it happens. I had my water bottle in hand if I needed it. After slowing up a little I looked back and saw that his tongue was hanging out of his mouth and that he had slowed a bit too, so I pushed for one last time and was able to discourage him enough to quit chasing. Now, because of the first incident with Cujo, I had become acutely aware of my next cue on the cue sheet. I knew that at mile 104.4 I had to take a left. I know that this encounter started at about 100+ mile mark and it couldn't have been too much more than a mile before the next cue, so I figure that this dog chased me for nearly 3 miles... which doesn't seem like much, that is unless your the one being chased. I made the left hand turn at mile 104.4 and did another mental inventory ... really BAD! I have ridden with riders who do not want to dogs to chase them because they are afraid they will get hit. I yelled "STAY" and "NO" and "GO HOME" like they do... to no avail. I have even seen riders almost get hit themselves to try to prevent a chasing dog from getting hit. I am not proud to say it, but at about mile 102 I was praying for a car to come along and either hit the dog or hit me.

To make my mental state even worse leading up to the marathon with the dog, my Garmin was showing "Low Batteries". I know why this happened, and I am pretty ticked at myself for letting it happen. I used the back light in the morning at the start of the ride while it was dark, and my intention was to stop when it was light to turn that off so each time I hit the joystick on the Garmin to change displays it wouldn't use the back light. Well, as I was riding, with the big gloves on, I was able to turn the headlight to flashing and the helmet light off, but the gloves are too bulky for configuring the light on the Garmin. So it finally died very close to the end (mile 116 according to the Garmin file). It tried to turn it on along the way to mark the points along the way, similar to what I did in July, and at a couple spots that worked, however the spot that I wanted it to work the most (the final information control), I turned on the power, but forgot to turn on the timer, so it did not register that. I did get the last few hundred yards to register the time that I finished.

So, yes, I finished. The R12 is complete and I now can take a month or 2 off from these 200k rides. After the 130 + mile ride I met Amanda and Emily at Chik-fil-A in Virginia Beach. We got our meals to go and Emily and I headed back up to Maryland. We got home just after midnight. That made for a very long day.

Garmin details:

NEGLECT....

In a word, that pretty much sums it up. I have neglected my bikes, my blogging and watching what I eat. If I neglected my job as much as I have neglected the things listed above, I would be without a job. If neglected a pet in this way, I am sure I would be visited by the SPCA, and if I neglected my relationships on the same level as the other things I have neglected, I would be a very lonely person.

So, now that I am aware of the neglect, and have confessed it here on the blog, I am working on a plan to pay sufficient attention to my riding, blogging and eating. I did ride on Sunday with Mike. We did a lap around river, which amounted to 30 miles. This is the first time we had ridden together in a while. As we started out I asked him if he wanted to hear the list of excuses I was using to stay off the bike, or if he wanted to hear the truth. He knew what the truth was. I have been lazy. Sure, I could blame it on work because I am very busy at work getting ready to do a datacenter virtualization project. I could blame the cold weather, because it has been unseasonable cold over the past couple weeks, but that is why I have Under Armour cold gear. On Sunday, when Mike and I rode, it was in the 30's and VERY windy, yet I was sweating when I got home, and did not feel cold during the ride. So, bottom line... I have been neglectful.

Moving on, the ride on Sunday was a struggle. I started from the house, which means that I get to climb UP Deep Creek Ave to start the ride. My legs and lungs were hurting and I had only ridden four tenths of a mile. As I was riding to meet Mike, the headwind was strong enough that I had to pedal down hill to maintain speed. That is VERY frustrating. I was telling myself that I did not want to ride around the river, I would propose to Mike that we just do an abbreviated ride due to the wind. Well, before I could mention my plan to Mike, he had already planned which direction we should go around the river to optimize the wind direction with the hills that we would face. OK, so I just shut my mouth and went along for the ride. This is the reason that it is always better to ride WITH someone. I had already talked myself out of riding around the river, but I did not want to be the "lightweight" who couldn't handle the wind. I am glad that I rode around the river.

Looking ahead, I have scheduled my 12th 200k for Friday December 10th. I will be riding in Windsor, VA which I hope will prove to be just a degree or two warmer than here in Maryland. There will be a ride report following that ride, and I am sure I will do an entry to re-cap my  twelve 200k's. So, stay tuned.

Below is my Garmin info from Sunday's ride. You will notice that the heart rate looks a little funky. I think that my heart rate monitor needs a new battery OR I need a new heart. As we were climbing the hill on Veteran's Highway I looked down and saw that my heart rate reading in my Garmin read 0.0. When we crested the hill (and I could breath again) I told Mike that either my heart rate monitor was malfunctioning, or my heart stopped on the hill. SInce I was still pedalling, I assume it was just the battery on my monitor.