DNF

Yup, that's the result of my first Century, big fat Did Not Finish.

I've been experiencing some knee pain these last few weeks and it reared it's ugly head up big time during the century.

I got through all the real tough riding no problem (all the climbing was in the first part of the ride). But then around mile 40 it got real bad. I felt it starting around mile 15 or so, but as the day wore on it just got worse and worse. Like I said at about mile 40 I knew I was not going to finish the ride. Every pedal stroke just hurt worse than the one before it.

Two guys I was riding with helped me get to the end by pulling for me (letting me draft off of them). It actually helped a lot. Those last two miles were really bad.

Lotus was waiting for me at the 3rd check point (mile 53) with the monkey to cheer me on. Luckily she actually had my van with her, so my bike actually fit inside along with the car seat.

Oh well, what are ya gonna do. It sucks because I totally could have done it and I spent a LOT of time training for it, so not to complete it is a downer. But stuff happens, you just need to accept it and move on.

Almost There

The Century is almost here. It's next Sunday, Oct 5th. I feel I'm pretty ready for it. We actually did a ride last week, which I feel was actually harder than the Century will be. That ride was 92 miles and went from near the 56 to Alpine, via Ramona and Santa Isabel. That ride had a lot of climbing in it, about 3 times more than the actual Century, so I feel I should be able to handle the 102 miles of the century.

I went riding today and struggled to do 50, but that was mainly due to a new pain I'm getting in my right knee. Hopefully this was just a today problem, not one that will persist, since I have not really had this problem in the past.

Silence is Golden

I feel like I had one of my most enjoyable rides ever today. I went riding this afternoon after hustling through what I had to get done at Pendleton today. I was going to go ride in the morning, but I just wasn't feeling it dog...

Anyway, My bike had recently developed a clicking sound. Upon each revolution of the cranks it would go "click". When there is a lot of other noise around you, you don't notice it much. But when you are strugling up a hill at 6MPH you hear nothing but that damn clicking!!!!!!

I had just taken my bike into Trek about 2-3 weeks ago and they put on a new chain and cleaned the gears. The sound started right after that. So of course it was their fault (of couse I am wrong again).

It was just a coincidence. My actual hub was dirty, in that there was sand or dirt in it. So the mechanic told me he would take it apart and clean it and that should make the clicking go away.

I am happy to report it did!!!!

When I started my ride I could not believe how quiet my bike was. All I could hear was the whiring of my wheels. for a cyclist it's almost nirvana like. If you ever watch a time trial it's the sound you hear there. just one guy pedaling; whir,whir,whir. It was fantastic.

My First Century

Last Saturday I did my first Century!!!

I didn't even realize I had done it until Dave (one of the ride leaders) had mentioned it to me at mile 63.

Wait for it.......

Yes we did a metric century, 100 kilometers!!!!

5 hours in the saddle...

Ohhh I hurt.

I went out and bought some new shorts this week. Hopefully that will help.

Honey Springs Road

My ride this last saturday was a doozy. I had no idea there was such a creature so close to where I live.

This last Saturday we rode from the Rancho San Diego area to the Chula Vista Trek store, back out Otay Lakes to the 94 and then up HONEY SPRINGS ROAD.....

It sounds nice enough, but trust me 7 miles of climbing in 104 degree heat (and I mean climbing, a little over 2000 feet of climbing) can really test a cyclist. Quite a few people actually didn't make it had to stop and get picked up so they could fight another day. If you live in Chula Vista and are familiar with Chick-Filet hill imagine going up that for 7 miles in 104 degree heat. I actually had to stop 3 times myself just for a breather each time.

I drank 5 bottle of fluid (either Gatorade or water), ate 8 fig newtons, 2 Gu packs, and 2 sport bean packs and still came back 3.5lbs lighter than when I left that morning.

After the hill we still had about 15 miles of riding to get back to the start, but after the hill, that was nothing. Here is a link to the ride.

The real kicker of it, was the heat and the fact that the hill came in the back part of the ride. Until now, most of our climbing has been in the front part of the ride, which makes sense, as each week builds upon the previous. Next week has even more total climbing, but it's broken out a bit more and no single hill as severe as HONEY SPRINGS ROAD.

I'm insulted (I think)

I was on my Saturday group ride last week and one of the ride leaders was riding behind me. One of the things we were working on was drafting last week, which means riding as close as you can to the guy in front of you as you have the nerve to do. The closer the better, but usually you want to stay within 1 tire length (ya I know, it's a bit scary, but if you trust the guy in front of you not to make any sudden changes, it's not that bad. But becuase we are all newbies I only trust a handful of the group so far). When you are drafting behind someone, they say you usually use 30% less energy than they guy who is on the lead. It's bizarrly true. Besides the actual incline of the road the wind or just wind resistence can truely affect your ride. If it's really windy, the wind itself can actually stop you in your tracks.

But anyway we were riding up the PCH and the ride leader behind me says, "Hey, you give good draft". If he wasn't actually bigger than me, I would be insulted, but since he is, we both kinda laughed. My bike is set a bit more upright than most road bikes, so I would give a larger draft than most.

It's my bike set up, ya that's it.

THOR WINS!!!! THOR WINS!!!!

Thor Husovd the God of Thunder won stage 2 in the Tour de France on Sunday!!!

It was very close, there were a few riders nipping at his heels, but he held them off to take it at the line.

THOR WINS!!! THOR WINS!!!

(Insert Thunder clap here)

Have a nice day.