My taste in music is fairly eclectic but one of my favorite bands is Kasabian. This vid has a bit of a different twist....enjoy!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHtnkOoswFQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
29 September 2010
26 September 2010
Rocking a century
Me and the Big Dam Bridge 100 had a rematch today and I think I might've redeemed myself somewhat from the 2008 meeting.......This was my first century ride and I bonked horribly......within the first 30 miles my cycling mentor that I'd trained with all summer noted that I just wasn't my usual self. In 2008, it took me over 8 hours to complete including the rest stops and I didn't have lines like at the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred to blame it on. It was just all me......Not much clue on proper ride nutrition, hydrating, electrolytes etc.... and quite honestly I wasn't as strong physically that year as I am this year.
As an aside, I just want to note that my cycling training is not quite what it should be. On a good week I get 2 days to train, one long ride, one short. On a great week I can squeeze in 3. Most weeks I'm only able to cycle one day and my longest training ride the past 3 months has been last Saturday's 69 miler. I did have the century from last month so I knew I was able to complete the distance but the BDB100 is much hillier than the HHH.
My (tentative) goal was to have a sub 8 hour finish time (including the rest stops) and hopefully a 6ish hour saddle time. Well, not so secretly I wanted a sub 6 hour ride time but didn't know if it would be possible with how hilly this route is. I did feel good this morning despite this week's limited and very screwed sleep patterns. As is my habit, I had a very difficult time getting anything eaten.....stupid nerves but had all my nutrition mixed and packed up. That is one thing I think I've FINALLY gotten dialed in for cycling, now if I could do the same for running :-/.
Get to Little Rock, catch up with all the Searcy crew, speak to a few of the Cabot people and line up.....Fortunately no 45 minute shuffle to the start line since this tour is limited to under 3000 people. Immediately part of our group sprints out hard so we all get separated. Hey, for once I didn't sprint!!!!! Why can't I not do that in running races? Settle in with 4 of the guys I train with and we start to make our way through the crowds of bicycles.
My immediate though after starting though was I have to pee!!!!!!!!!! Managed to make it until the 25 mile rest stop but it was a throw down the bike and run to the portapotties issue by that point!! Sigh, you guys have it so easy in that department. At that stop we also convinced one of the guys who was signed up for the 68 miler to go ahead and ride the 100 mile route, while there we met his wife who had driven out to take pics and cheer him on. Absolutely lovely lady who was very enthusiastic when we asked couldn't he stay out and play longer, lol.
Next stop, we had planned to skip but a couple of freight trains had other ideas, grrr. I'm starting to think I'm jinxed, last month I had to stop and wait for a train at Wichita Falls too. While there though we managed to find part of our group that had sprinted out hard in the beginning.
All of us that train together on Saturday mornings are fairly strong hill climbers due to our ride coordinator's hellacious routes. We were rarely passed and usually passed most of the other cyclists at a fairly brisk rate. I do think we need to add in some flat route interval speed training. Ok back on track (haha) with ride report.
Speaking of interval training, one of the guys in front of me dropped his water bottle and I stopped to pick it up, we had a heckuva time sprinting to catch up with the group who slowed only a little bit, lol. Stopped at the 50 and 61 mile stops but they were very quick ones. I did get to see Iron Marianne at the 61 stop and one of the guys took a pic of us (her camera so will have to wait for her to post it). I was doing quick twitter updates when I'd stop--and was completely overwhelmed with all the cheers from my twitter friends. I was also getting some proper get your ass in gear messages that were very instrumental in keeping me going.
After that we had some monster hills so we all got kinda separated. Tim had skipped that one, Bruce sprinted out ahead, and Tanya, Bob and I formed a nice little pace line for a few miles with some people we didn't know. Tanya and I even dropped the guys for a bit (Gurls Rock!!!). However, my feet decided to start cramping with a vengeance so before Mayflower I fell way back trying to deal with them. Thought I would catch up with them at the 75 stop but I was so focused on continuing to spin and not cry that I blew right by it. Not what I needed!! I was so wanting to get the shoes off for a couple of minutes and I ended up not being able to do so until the 86 mile rest stop. Oh did I mention this is a hilly route? Killing me through here with the feet.
At the 86 I couldn't wait to get those shoes off!!!!!!!!! as well as the gloves and helmet, needed to cool off a bit as well as stretching the feet. Despite all that I was there only a few minutes, with only 14 miles to go I was anxious to get it over with. After this my speed was up and down, I'd get up to 20 mph for a bit then down to 15 mph.......up and down, I was starting to fade fast. Tim caught up to me on the bicycle trail portion of the route, thankfully.... It was so nice having somebody to chat with and next thing we know Bruce has caught us!!!!!!! They stayed back with me for a while but they still had some oomph left so once we got within a couple of miles of the finish line they pulled away, 16ish mph was all I could muster thru here :-(. It was awesome watching them being able to finish so strong though.
I've discovered with my training that I really do hate looking at the mileage or time screens on my bike computer. I keep it on the screen with the cadence and current mph so it was a complete surprise to me when I reached the finish line and the clock read 6:27:10!!!!!!!!!! That includes my rest stops, yay!!! And saddle time? 5:45ish--I forgot to look immediately after finishing so that includes time walking my bike back to the pickup. Below my 6 hour saddle time goal!!!!!!!! And on a challenging course :-)))).
As an aside, I just want to note that my cycling training is not quite what it should be. On a good week I get 2 days to train, one long ride, one short. On a great week I can squeeze in 3. Most weeks I'm only able to cycle one day and my longest training ride the past 3 months has been last Saturday's 69 miler. I did have the century from last month so I knew I was able to complete the distance but the BDB100 is much hillier than the HHH.
My (tentative) goal was to have a sub 8 hour finish time (including the rest stops) and hopefully a 6ish hour saddle time. Well, not so secretly I wanted a sub 6 hour ride time but didn't know if it would be possible with how hilly this route is. I did feel good this morning despite this week's limited and very screwed sleep patterns. As is my habit, I had a very difficult time getting anything eaten.....stupid nerves but had all my nutrition mixed and packed up. That is one thing I think I've FINALLY gotten dialed in for cycling, now if I could do the same for running :-/.
Get to Little Rock, catch up with all the Searcy crew, speak to a few of the Cabot people and line up.....Fortunately no 45 minute shuffle to the start line since this tour is limited to under 3000 people. Immediately part of our group sprints out hard so we all get separated. Hey, for once I didn't sprint!!!!! Why can't I not do that in running races? Settle in with 4 of the guys I train with and we start to make our way through the crowds of bicycles.
My immediate though after starting though was I have to pee!!!!!!!!!! Managed to make it until the 25 mile rest stop but it was a throw down the bike and run to the portapotties issue by that point!! Sigh, you guys have it so easy in that department. At that stop we also convinced one of the guys who was signed up for the 68 miler to go ahead and ride the 100 mile route, while there we met his wife who had driven out to take pics and cheer him on. Absolutely lovely lady who was very enthusiastic when we asked couldn't he stay out and play longer, lol.
Next stop, we had planned to skip but a couple of freight trains had other ideas, grrr. I'm starting to think I'm jinxed, last month I had to stop and wait for a train at Wichita Falls too. While there though we managed to find part of our group that had sprinted out hard in the beginning.
All of us that train together on Saturday mornings are fairly strong hill climbers due to our ride coordinator's hellacious routes. We were rarely passed and usually passed most of the other cyclists at a fairly brisk rate. I do think we need to add in some flat route interval speed training. Ok back on track (haha) with ride report.
Speaking of interval training, one of the guys in front of me dropped his water bottle and I stopped to pick it up, we had a heckuva time sprinting to catch up with the group who slowed only a little bit, lol. Stopped at the 50 and 61 mile stops but they were very quick ones. I did get to see Iron Marianne at the 61 stop and one of the guys took a pic of us (her camera so will have to wait for her to post it). I was doing quick twitter updates when I'd stop--and was completely overwhelmed with all the cheers from my twitter friends. I was also getting some proper get your ass in gear messages that were very instrumental in keeping me going.
After that we had some monster hills so we all got kinda separated. Tim had skipped that one, Bruce sprinted out ahead, and Tanya, Bob and I formed a nice little pace line for a few miles with some people we didn't know. Tanya and I even dropped the guys for a bit (Gurls Rock!!!). However, my feet decided to start cramping with a vengeance so before Mayflower I fell way back trying to deal with them. Thought I would catch up with them at the 75 stop but I was so focused on continuing to spin and not cry that I blew right by it. Not what I needed!! I was so wanting to get the shoes off for a couple of minutes and I ended up not being able to do so until the 86 mile rest stop. Oh did I mention this is a hilly route? Killing me through here with the feet.
At the 86 I couldn't wait to get those shoes off!!!!!!!!! as well as the gloves and helmet, needed to cool off a bit as well as stretching the feet. Despite all that I was there only a few minutes, with only 14 miles to go I was anxious to get it over with. After this my speed was up and down, I'd get up to 20 mph for a bit then down to 15 mph.......up and down, I was starting to fade fast. Tim caught up to me on the bicycle trail portion of the route, thankfully.... It was so nice having somebody to chat with and next thing we know Bruce has caught us!!!!!!! They stayed back with me for a while but they still had some oomph left so once we got within a couple of miles of the finish line they pulled away, 16ish mph was all I could muster thru here :-(. It was awesome watching them being able to finish so strong though.
I've discovered with my training that I really do hate looking at the mileage or time screens on my bike computer. I keep it on the screen with the cadence and current mph so it was a complete surprise to me when I reached the finish line and the clock read 6:27:10!!!!!!!!!! That includes my rest stops, yay!!! And saddle time? 5:45ish--I forgot to look immediately after finishing so that includes time walking my bike back to the pickup. Below my 6 hour saddle time goal!!!!!!!! And on a challenging course :-)))).
Oh, Sunday!
On Saturday's ride last week, the other girl that rides with our training group and I hatched up a plan to meet at 7 am Sunday morning for an easy ride of approximately 30 miles as a recovery workout. It ended up being over 40 miles and a hammerfest, lol!!! At least it was flat. :-). After we cleared Kensett 5 of us lined up in a double pace line for a few miles, averaging 20-22 mph, well one of the guys dropped off fairly quickly. Nice, doable pace, no problem, had a couple of strong cyclists pulling the line. Wasn't even feeling the wind......However it wasn't long before the 2 troublemakers started whispering and giggling and next thing I know, one has fallen in behind the other and they take off fast! As in 25-26 mph fast.........on a flat section that pace while maybe I can reach that pace, there is no way in hell I can usually sustain it.
Until this ride.......Everything seemed to fall in place just right, I was 3rd in pace line and I was damned well going to kill myself trying to keep up. I didn't think I would be able to hold out very long and the guy behind me fell off after 1/2 a mile. I however managed to latch onto the wheel in front and held on until they slowed back down to the 20-22 mph pace.....this was not a matter of a single mile, it was closer to 3 and I'm still stoked that I could hold on. Surprised the guys too, lol!!!!! Of course after that I was burned out and fell off the pace less than a mile later with feet cramping, grrrr. I did over 10 miles total at a pace over 20 mph, including that hardass sprint, yay!!!!!!!!
Until this ride.......Everything seemed to fall in place just right, I was 3rd in pace line and I was damned well going to kill myself trying to keep up. I didn't think I would be able to hold out very long and the guy behind me fell off after 1/2 a mile. I however managed to latch onto the wheel in front and held on until they slowed back down to the 20-22 mph pace.....this was not a matter of a single mile, it was closer to 3 and I'm still stoked that I could hold on. Surprised the guys too, lol!!!!! Of course after that I was burned out and fell off the pace less than a mile later with feet cramping, grrrr. I did over 10 miles total at a pace over 20 mph, including that hardass sprint, yay!!!!!!!!
19 September 2010
Some days a title escapes me
I think when I last posted I said I would have all week off........Didn't quite happen that way. Tuesday, a call to International midday revealed that Eaton had approved the warranty work (finally) and that my truck was repaired. Turned out to be a matter of the wiring harness to the xy shifter--yes, one of the parts that had been replaced last month. James' truck however developed problems with the starter (again) and the air conditioner needed repairs so I agreed to take his load down to Laredo for him Tuesday night. I did discover a wonderful thing though on the two days I was out--ever since I'd been assigned to this truck I pretty much had a constant amber check engine light--shops couldn't figure it out. Well since, the wiring was repaired this past week, no more amber light, yay!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday--ran at Winfield, TX--yes, I paid the exorbitant $10 they charge to park but I wanted to get past the Mt. Pleasant scales and at 1245 am there was going to be nowhere else to park....It was only a little over 3 miles but hilly and there was NO knee pain, whew!!! The trip to Laredo and back was fairly uneventful--dare I say even boring, lol.....and I managed to get 1567 miles done in exactly 47 hours.....that includes 2 mandatory 10 hour breaks plus showers and a workout. Not bad if I do say so myself, especially since I drive a 64.5 mph truck.
Friday--ran just over 3 miles plus 1/2 mile on the elliptical at the health club. Not my choice but since James has been sick and out of working out for nearly a month he felt more comfortable there. I also nearly did a face plant on the treadmill, ugh.......the new place doesnt provide towels and a sweaty hand on a slick bar doesn't work quite well. That afternoon we met a personal trainer for the free consultation--got weighed, measured, poked, prodded, asked to do pushups & situps. I managed 30 guy pushups then 20 knee pushups in the one minute alloted....not shabby since I haven't done any in a few weeks. And the weight? Well I monitor that every week so no surprise but I am in the 118 pound range right now :-/. Good news is that this guy is trying to find space and buy spin bikes for spinning classes, YES!!!!!!!!
Saturday--Suffer day on the bicycle chasing the fast guys (mind you I didn't say keep up with them, lol). I even wore the jersey to prove it was Suffering Saturday....Oh that brings me to my new shorts! Rage Cycling offered to sell me a pair of bib shorts at an excellent price if I would be willing to test out a pair of the guys' version with the female chamois. Unfortunately they're a size medium and I really need a small but they work just fine. No shifting or bunching of the chamois and OMG the bib shorts are so freaking comfortable!!! No waistband to chafe or cut into you.
Back to the workout......today was going to be a repeat of last week's route that got cut short at 20 miles due to the storms. Yikes, HILLS!!! Big hills in the first 15 miles, not my preferred way of riding......I kinda like to warm up for 5-10 miles before working hard. Plus there was a little, tiny issue of only getting around 3 hours sleep, lol. While I didn't feel as good as I did last week, I think I did pretty darn well. Managed to bump up my ride average from the 15ish mph range up to 16.4 mph today for the 70 miles. I was also able to keep the fast guys in sight after they caught us (slower group had a 15 minute headstart) for a while even. Of course at that point they weren't pushing super hard for them, haha.
Image of today's route (the yellow dotted line)
This is why I'm always so freaking slow, lol!!!!!!! While these aren't west coast mountains, they're not tiny by any means either.
One high point of today's ride was when we all regrouped just south of Pleasant Plains on Hwy 167 and all 12 of us were in a double row peloton cycling 22-24 mph for approximately 3-5 miles. Had to have looked impressive, I know being in it felt impressive. Then we hit the big hills again and it was every man & woman for themselves.......
Two of us almost got taken out by a minivan today though. She did what we thought was going to be a simple u-turn then pulled up next to us and turned right straight into where Tim & I were pedaling on the shoulder. No turn signals, no nothing. Me and Tim had to grab the brakes for an emergency stop and literally we could've pounded on her van if we weren't so busy with avoidance manuevers.
Workout totals
95.02 miles cycling (will add 20-30 more tomorrow)
6.42 miles running
.5 mile elliptical
and of course yesterday's fitness test of pushups and situps
Wednesday--ran at Winfield, TX--yes, I paid the exorbitant $10 they charge to park but I wanted to get past the Mt. Pleasant scales and at 1245 am there was going to be nowhere else to park....It was only a little over 3 miles but hilly and there was NO knee pain, whew!!! The trip to Laredo and back was fairly uneventful--dare I say even boring, lol.....and I managed to get 1567 miles done in exactly 47 hours.....that includes 2 mandatory 10 hour breaks plus showers and a workout. Not bad if I do say so myself, especially since I drive a 64.5 mph truck.
Friday--ran just over 3 miles plus 1/2 mile on the elliptical at the health club. Not my choice but since James has been sick and out of working out for nearly a month he felt more comfortable there. I also nearly did a face plant on the treadmill, ugh.......the new place doesnt provide towels and a sweaty hand on a slick bar doesn't work quite well. That afternoon we met a personal trainer for the free consultation--got weighed, measured, poked, prodded, asked to do pushups & situps. I managed 30 guy pushups then 20 knee pushups in the one minute alloted....not shabby since I haven't done any in a few weeks. And the weight? Well I monitor that every week so no surprise but I am in the 118 pound range right now :-/. Good news is that this guy is trying to find space and buy spin bikes for spinning classes, YES!!!!!!!!
Saturday--Suffer day on the bicycle chasing the fast guys (mind you I didn't say keep up with them, lol). I even wore the jersey to prove it was Suffering Saturday....Oh that brings me to my new shorts! Rage Cycling offered to sell me a pair of bib shorts at an excellent price if I would be willing to test out a pair of the guys' version with the female chamois. Unfortunately they're a size medium and I really need a small but they work just fine. No shifting or bunching of the chamois and OMG the bib shorts are so freaking comfortable!!! No waistband to chafe or cut into you.
Back to the workout......today was going to be a repeat of last week's route that got cut short at 20 miles due to the storms. Yikes, HILLS!!! Big hills in the first 15 miles, not my preferred way of riding......I kinda like to warm up for 5-10 miles before working hard. Plus there was a little, tiny issue of only getting around 3 hours sleep, lol. While I didn't feel as good as I did last week, I think I did pretty darn well. Managed to bump up my ride average from the 15ish mph range up to 16.4 mph today for the 70 miles. I was also able to keep the fast guys in sight after they caught us (slower group had a 15 minute headstart) for a while even. Of course at that point they weren't pushing super hard for them, haha.
Image of today's route (the yellow dotted line)
And image of the elevation chart (used my garmin 305 for this)
This is why I'm always so freaking slow, lol!!!!!!! While these aren't west coast mountains, they're not tiny by any means either.
One high point of today's ride was when we all regrouped just south of Pleasant Plains on Hwy 167 and all 12 of us were in a double row peloton cycling 22-24 mph for approximately 3-5 miles. Had to have looked impressive, I know being in it felt impressive. Then we hit the big hills again and it was every man & woman for themselves.......
Two of us almost got taken out by a minivan today though. She did what we thought was going to be a simple u-turn then pulled up next to us and turned right straight into where Tim & I were pedaling on the shoulder. No turn signals, no nothing. Me and Tim had to grab the brakes for an emergency stop and literally we could've pounded on her van if we weren't so busy with avoidance manuevers.
Workout totals
95.02 miles cycling (will add 20-30 more tomorrow)
6.42 miles running
.5 mile elliptical
and of course yesterday's fitness test of pushups and situps
14 September 2010
The waiting game
Yes, I'm still at home.........the shop where Lola is currently residing is waiting on Eaton to review and approve the warranty work on the transmission (again). At least I am able to spend the time waiting at home, looking to get some good quality training rides in. Kinda like today's that totally kicked my arse and trashed my legs. Went out chasing the guys in what I described as a full on, balls to the wall, take no prisoners sufferfest. While my mph average is 15.9 over the 25 miles, you gotta remember that hills (and how!) were included. During one of the recovery legs (read: downhill) I spoke to one of the guys who handily (footily, haha) enough happens to be a doctor of the feet. He says that I probably have neuroma, ugh........but at least I have a doc that I can consult with without having to go through the pesky referral process that you usually have to endure. And since he has the same thing, he knows how to treat it without telling me that I can't train (oh, the horror!!!).
12 September 2010
Puppy chow
Saturday's training ride........oh boy, what a morning.....Since it was gonna be a hilly sufferfest of a ride again, 4 of us slower riders agreed to leave out 15 minutes earlier than the faster guys. Gives us a bit of a headstart and provides a bit of a challenge to the speedsters with us playing rabbit, lol. It also doesn't burn me out at the very start by trying to keep up at a faster pace before I get the old muscles warmed up.
The route started us out on Fairview Road.......it seems to go on forever and those damned hills just seem to get steeper. Actually Tanya pulled up next to me at one point and asked was the road ever going to end, lol!!! Appropriately enough I was wearing my Suffer jersey, yes it was a deliberate choice ;-).
On one of the few flat sections, Keith and I had the first run in of many with dogs that we were to experience. Some black lab mix came hurtling out of its yard to protect it from us interlopers and slammed straight into my rear wheel. It then kind of stumbled, spun about and right into Keith's path where he went over it with both wheels. Amazingly enough both of us managed to stay upright and the dog streaked back into its yard. I can't imagine it not being seriously injured though with skinny wheels carrying over 200 pounds going over the top of it. I feel slightly sorry about that but at the same time this wasn't just a dog that was looking to play, its intention was to bite. I'm all for people having guard dogs but at the same time they should take the time to properly train the animals instead of just turning them loose to do whatever.
Near the end of Fairview Road it started to rain on us......cooled it down considerably but since I'm nearing the end of the life of my tires it was making me a bit nervous. Last time I rode in the rain, I went down and the thump of my helmet off the pavement is still way tooooo fresh in my memory. Just took it very easy on the downhills and curves, reminding myself to relax and not tense up--that's a surefire way to make sure you do go down, having a deathgrip on the bars.
After the dog kamikazing my rear wheel I also discovered that I was having "transmission" problems. It had bent the hanger with the impact so I couldn't shift down into my lower gears enough to spin going up the hills. It was a stand up and power through, thankfully there wasn't any Dugout or Joy mtn type climbs, otherwise I might have been doing a lot of walking.
Next dog encounter was a yellow lab that thankfully just chased after us for a moment and then we happened upon the dog who wouldn't give up...........It was a smaller black lab/beagle mix(I think) and the dog just wouldn't quit........at least it was friendly and just wanted to play but it still kept darting at our wheels until one of the guys deliberately nudged it with his bike. At that point it just ran along the side of the road with us--uphill section so we weren't terribly fast. The dog stopped to take a dump and we thought it would give up. Nope, caught back up with us. We hit a downhill and lost it......momentarily.........the next uphill it was right back there with us. 5 miles down the road we stopped at our turnoff to decide which way due to the rain and the darned dog was still hanging with us.......sigh.....
At the stop, we held up to wait for part of the faster group (1/2 of them had already turned back because of the rain) and noticed huge storm clouds approaching. Patrick decides he's taking off to try and beat the heavier rains but the other 3 of us decide to stay.........and then the lightning starts. Once the other 2 catch us we made the decision to call for somebody to come pick us up. Better to play it safe when it comes to very low visibility and the possibility of being electrified.....Patrick amazingly did beat the rains in!!!!!! Oh well, looking at the hills on the trip home I don't know that I could have made it anyways with the bent hanger.
The route started us out on Fairview Road.......it seems to go on forever and those damned hills just seem to get steeper. Actually Tanya pulled up next to me at one point and asked was the road ever going to end, lol!!! Appropriately enough I was wearing my Suffer jersey, yes it was a deliberate choice ;-).
On one of the few flat sections, Keith and I had the first run in of many with dogs that we were to experience. Some black lab mix came hurtling out of its yard to protect it from us interlopers and slammed straight into my rear wheel. It then kind of stumbled, spun about and right into Keith's path where he went over it with both wheels. Amazingly enough both of us managed to stay upright and the dog streaked back into its yard. I can't imagine it not being seriously injured though with skinny wheels carrying over 200 pounds going over the top of it. I feel slightly sorry about that but at the same time this wasn't just a dog that was looking to play, its intention was to bite. I'm all for people having guard dogs but at the same time they should take the time to properly train the animals instead of just turning them loose to do whatever.
Near the end of Fairview Road it started to rain on us......cooled it down considerably but since I'm nearing the end of the life of my tires it was making me a bit nervous. Last time I rode in the rain, I went down and the thump of my helmet off the pavement is still way tooooo fresh in my memory. Just took it very easy on the downhills and curves, reminding myself to relax and not tense up--that's a surefire way to make sure you do go down, having a deathgrip on the bars.
After the dog kamikazing my rear wheel I also discovered that I was having "transmission" problems. It had bent the hanger with the impact so I couldn't shift down into my lower gears enough to spin going up the hills. It was a stand up and power through, thankfully there wasn't any Dugout or Joy mtn type climbs, otherwise I might have been doing a lot of walking.
Next dog encounter was a yellow lab that thankfully just chased after us for a moment and then we happened upon the dog who wouldn't give up...........It was a smaller black lab/beagle mix(I think) and the dog just wouldn't quit........at least it was friendly and just wanted to play but it still kept darting at our wheels until one of the guys deliberately nudged it with his bike. At that point it just ran along the side of the road with us--uphill section so we weren't terribly fast. The dog stopped to take a dump and we thought it would give up. Nope, caught back up with us. We hit a downhill and lost it......momentarily.........the next uphill it was right back there with us. 5 miles down the road we stopped at our turnoff to decide which way due to the rain and the darned dog was still hanging with us.......sigh.....
At the stop, we held up to wait for part of the faster group (1/2 of them had already turned back because of the rain) and noticed huge storm clouds approaching. Patrick decides he's taking off to try and beat the heavier rains but the other 3 of us decide to stay.........and then the lightning starts. Once the other 2 catch us we made the decision to call for somebody to come pick us up. Better to play it safe when it comes to very low visibility and the possibility of being electrified.....Patrick amazingly did beat the rains in!!!!!! Oh well, looking at the hills on the trip home I don't know that I could have made it anyways with the bent hanger.
mish-mash
First off, I do have to give another huge thanks to my friends Brice & Patti for taking time out to help me last Sunday with my motorcycle tire issues. I ended up running over a nail with my rear tire somewhere between Tupelo and New Albany, MS. A stop at the Pilot to check the tire pressure (no doubt the tire was low, my entire bike was vibrating like most people mistakenly believe all Harleys do), a quick airing up and cursory inspection that I somehow missed the nail on, a bit of fuel splashed in and I was off again. Only to have the bike start shaking violently again within 5 miles. I pulled off on an exit ramp and this time examined the tire much more closely.....yep, found the culprit that time. Brice and Patti had stopped at the same Pilot so I gave them a quick call to find out if they'd already left out....they had but hadn't passed the ramp where I was parked. They very kindly agreed to go back to New Albany Wal-Mart to grab some cans of tire sealant whereupon they were guided to get the cans that had the fixed nozzle rather than the flexible hose type by an old guy who said those were the kind for "motorsickles". Yep, that's how he pronounced it, ugh...... Unfortunately that type of can will not work on my bike because the brake rotor prevents a solid connection..... Brice & Patti drove back then when we discovered the other problem, Brice very kindly offered to stay with my bike while Patti drove me back to Wal-Mart so I could get the other type and a cigarette lighter powered inflator.
After that they stayed with me, following me to West Memphis (with 3 more stops to check the air pressure)where James met me in the pickup just in case it had to be hauled in rather than riding on home. I owe them big time!!!!!!!!! No doubt that they are a couple of my best friends. So why didn't I get it repaired out on the road? First off, most places will NOT touch motorcycle tires, not near as easy to get on & off as car tires. Second, this was Mississippi on a Sunday of a holiday weekend so absolutely no motorcycle repair shops are open. I would have just been towed somewhere to sit until Tuesday so while the sealant stuff isn't the ideal way to treat a motorcycle tire flat it did get me home eventually. And what a rough ride it was......the green slime stuff unbalanced the tire so much that the ride was miserable, it's not like my bike is comfortable to begin with. I made it all the way home on it though, quite proud of that.
Monday I had a 70 mile training ride planned that I ended up skipping because during the ordeal of Sunday my period started........and it decided to be one of those that make me violently ill. As noted in previous post, I spent most of Monday throwing up......and ending up with a nosebleed that I didn't think was ever going to quit. Bad part of it was I still had to leave for Tennessee that afternoon, ugggghhhhhh. Sometimes I wish I had a normal job where I could call in sick and stay home to loll about in bed feeling sorry for myself. Instead I have to hold a steering wheel and feel sorry for myself, lol........
Tuesday, felt much better but like I've already written, I mucked up my right knee, which is still twinging a bit. No running since then and I'm feeling damned cranky about it. Didn't help that Mexico wanted my load asap on Wednesday & a tiny little tropical storm named Hermine was throwing some major rain, wind, and flooding into my path. Despite H's best efforts I made it to Laredo by 1700 Wednesday afternoon and was hooked up to my return trailer by 1800......thought I was gonna be back up to Pearsall or Von Ormy before bedtime, yep, "thought".
My usual walkaround revealed decent tires and all lights working but the permit box on the nose of trailer was missing and a MAJOR air leak on one of the hoses leading to a brake chamber. Oh joy......our Laredo shop used to be awesome about getting the trailers repaired quickly and properly but those days are long gone. Got in line (only one in bay ahead of me), wrote up what needed repairing and settled in for a 2 hour wait.....
Finally it's my turn, knowing that a written account of the issues isn't enough, I pull down the trailer hand valve and walk back with the mechanic to show him EXACTLY where the air leak was. You can hear the damn thing hissing from the cab so I shouldn't have had to do that even but I know from experience that yes, I do, grrrr. Truck & trailer is pulled into the shop and I have a choice, stand around outside getting eaten up by the mosquitos or sit inside our dungeon of a drivers lounge that has absolutely no ventilation. Opted for the bloodsuckers, lol.
1.5 hours later I'm out of the bay and I notice while at the exit to our yard that my brakes don't seem to be working as well as they should............stop, pull down the handvalve, step out of the truck and yeah, the airline has NOT been repaired. They replaced 2 tires in 1.5 hours but didn't touch the 2 items I'd written up!!!!! Do I need to tell y'all that I was highly peeved??????? I'm literally cussing but not very coherently because I'm that angry. Turn around and find the shop foreman, who then tells me that they'd already pulled somebody else into the trailer bay and I would have to wait because they didn't want to ask that guy to wait any longer. He even asked couldn't I go park in the back to sleep 2-3 hours then wake up to check back in. NOOOOOOOO! I can't and won't do that. This is a 5 minute job, I have 2 fucking crescent wrenches and if they would just give me the damn hose I can replace it, of course they wouldn't do that.......I knew that if I listened to him a second longer I was going to say something that would probably cost me my job so just turned and walked off. He then realized just how angry I was and told me to pull up to the bay and he'd replace it in the parking lot.
Oh, and Lola the truck had been making my life miserable this past week too.......The new thing was the Stop Engine light & buzzer going off several times a day starting on Wednesday. Gauges read perfectly normal, a look under the hood revealed no issues, all fluid levels exactly where they should be and no billows of smoke pouring out of the exhaust stack. After the first 5-6 times of popping the hood and discovering no issues, I just got to where when the warning would sound I'd find a safe ramp to pull off on and shut the truck off then immediately restart it. Since there were no outward signs of problems I just assumed that a sensor had gotten moisture in it while being washed Tuesday, however, it was getting very irritating very quickly......The truck is now at the International dealer again.....The issue? Engine fault codes are indicating a problem with the XY shifter that was just replaced last month at Temple. Sigh........
After that they stayed with me, following me to West Memphis (with 3 more stops to check the air pressure)where James met me in the pickup just in case it had to be hauled in rather than riding on home. I owe them big time!!!!!!!!! No doubt that they are a couple of my best friends. So why didn't I get it repaired out on the road? First off, most places will NOT touch motorcycle tires, not near as easy to get on & off as car tires. Second, this was Mississippi on a Sunday of a holiday weekend so absolutely no motorcycle repair shops are open. I would have just been towed somewhere to sit until Tuesday so while the sealant stuff isn't the ideal way to treat a motorcycle tire flat it did get me home eventually. And what a rough ride it was......the green slime stuff unbalanced the tire so much that the ride was miserable, it's not like my bike is comfortable to begin with. I made it all the way home on it though, quite proud of that.
Monday I had a 70 mile training ride planned that I ended up skipping because during the ordeal of Sunday my period started........and it decided to be one of those that make me violently ill. As noted in previous post, I spent most of Monday throwing up......and ending up with a nosebleed that I didn't think was ever going to quit. Bad part of it was I still had to leave for Tennessee that afternoon, ugggghhhhhh. Sometimes I wish I had a normal job where I could call in sick and stay home to loll about in bed feeling sorry for myself. Instead I have to hold a steering wheel and feel sorry for myself, lol........
Tuesday, felt much better but like I've already written, I mucked up my right knee, which is still twinging a bit. No running since then and I'm feeling damned cranky about it. Didn't help that Mexico wanted my load asap on Wednesday & a tiny little tropical storm named Hermine was throwing some major rain, wind, and flooding into my path. Despite H's best efforts I made it to Laredo by 1700 Wednesday afternoon and was hooked up to my return trailer by 1800......thought I was gonna be back up to Pearsall or Von Ormy before bedtime, yep, "thought".
My usual walkaround revealed decent tires and all lights working but the permit box on the nose of trailer was missing and a MAJOR air leak on one of the hoses leading to a brake chamber. Oh joy......our Laredo shop used to be awesome about getting the trailers repaired quickly and properly but those days are long gone. Got in line (only one in bay ahead of me), wrote up what needed repairing and settled in for a 2 hour wait.....
Finally it's my turn, knowing that a written account of the issues isn't enough, I pull down the trailer hand valve and walk back with the mechanic to show him EXACTLY where the air leak was. You can hear the damn thing hissing from the cab so I shouldn't have had to do that even but I know from experience that yes, I do, grrrr. Truck & trailer is pulled into the shop and I have a choice, stand around outside getting eaten up by the mosquitos or sit inside our dungeon of a drivers lounge that has absolutely no ventilation. Opted for the bloodsuckers, lol.
1.5 hours later I'm out of the bay and I notice while at the exit to our yard that my brakes don't seem to be working as well as they should............stop, pull down the handvalve, step out of the truck and yeah, the airline has NOT been repaired. They replaced 2 tires in 1.5 hours but didn't touch the 2 items I'd written up!!!!! Do I need to tell y'all that I was highly peeved??????? I'm literally cussing but not very coherently because I'm that angry. Turn around and find the shop foreman, who then tells me that they'd already pulled somebody else into the trailer bay and I would have to wait because they didn't want to ask that guy to wait any longer. He even asked couldn't I go park in the back to sleep 2-3 hours then wake up to check back in. NOOOOOOOO! I can't and won't do that. This is a 5 minute job, I have 2 fucking crescent wrenches and if they would just give me the damn hose I can replace it, of course they wouldn't do that.......I knew that if I listened to him a second longer I was going to say something that would probably cost me my job so just turned and walked off. He then realized just how angry I was and told me to pull up to the bay and he'd replace it in the parking lot.
Oh, and Lola the truck had been making my life miserable this past week too.......The new thing was the Stop Engine light & buzzer going off several times a day starting on Wednesday. Gauges read perfectly normal, a look under the hood revealed no issues, all fluid levels exactly where they should be and no billows of smoke pouring out of the exhaust stack. After the first 5-6 times of popping the hood and discovering no issues, I just got to where when the warning would sound I'd find a safe ramp to pull off on and shut the truck off then immediately restart it. Since there were no outward signs of problems I just assumed that a sensor had gotten moisture in it while being washed Tuesday, however, it was getting very irritating very quickly......The truck is now at the International dealer again.....The issue? Engine fault codes are indicating a problem with the XY shifter that was just replaced last month at Temple. Sigh........
08 September 2010
Not what I originally intended to write
Is there anything more irritating than writing a blog post then hitting the wrong key thus deleting it all? My motorcycle flat tire adventures & my rescue by Brice & Patti will have to wait another few days now. I might even add in Monday's adventure of vomiting so much that I had a nosebleed... Well maybe no more elaboration on that last is necessary, yuck :-(.
Just one quick note though. I seem to have injured my right knee this morning while on a recovery run in Tennessee. 2.6 miles in, between steps my knee just started hurting. Didn't twist or land funny, just an overuse injury I suppose. No choice but to hobble back the 1.3 miles back to my truck. Icing the knee as I'm writing this & have kt tape on it. Hopefully a day or 2 of babying it & I'll be back to normal. Cross your fingers please.
Just one quick note though. I seem to have injured my right knee this morning while on a recovery run in Tennessee. 2.6 miles in, between steps my knee just started hurting. Didn't twist or land funny, just an overuse injury I suppose. No choice but to hobble back the 1.3 miles back to my truck. Icing the knee as I'm writing this & have kt tape on it. Hopefully a day or 2 of babying it & I'll be back to normal. Cross your fingers please.
06 September 2010
Tupelo 14.2
This crazy race starts at 0500, which is a great thing because because Mississippi in September is usually brutally hot.......this year we caught a break, starting line temperature was 49F!!!!!! Can you believe that we caught such a break? Fantastic especially for the marathoners......However this necessitated an 0330 wakeup in order to get breakfast and more importantly COFFEE. My first tweet of the day was holy moly it's early, lol.
I rode over with Doug & Mark so that I wouldn't have to fire up the very loud Harley at an unseemly early time and disturb the other hotel guests. Met up with the other Arkansas runners for the group photo, joined the very long restroom lines, y'know all my typical pre-race stuff :-))). Lining up for the race in the dark was very cool, literally & figuratively. I was being teased mercilessly by the guys about me always taking off so fast but I had no plans of doing so.......at least until Mark did then I just followed him!!!!! He is a talker, definitely somebody you want around in a long race. I loved the starting in the dark, you couldn't see the hills so it didn't feel like near as much work, hahaha.....
Beautiful course, and some of my Arkansas peeps that weren't running went out and helped at the mile 3 water station, very nice getting personal cheers :-)))). Mark & I also spoke to Dana who was running marathon number 33 of 52 in 52 weeks to raise money for South African orphans, very inspirational! Please go check out her blog and leave her a comment encouraging her and maybe donate if you are able to do so.
At another point we fell in with a couple of ladies who were running the marathon for fun, they were stopping to take pictures & chatting with as many people as possible. They were also keeping a very fast pace, impressive. We'd started meeting the marathon leaders who had hit the turnaround point and of course I knew about 1/3 of them......I kinda burnt myself out trying to keep up with them so around mile 11 I started fading, ugh. I'm so in not race shape right now. I felt bad about slowing Mark down and kept encouraging him to go on but he stayed with me until around 13 when I told him if he didn't go on I'd be upset, he took off like a shot then!!!!! He'd been holding waaaay back for me, lol.
After I finished he ran back to run in with Doug and Tim (Tim's longest distance to date btw, congrats!). I got some sugar in my system with a banana and orange, hug my girl Patti (who finished a minute behind me), then walked out to take pictures of the guys.
My official finish time was 2:12:56, 36th female, 14th in the 40-98 "age group" and I think 95th overall. I'll take it considering I rode a century the weekend before, lol. Also ended up with just over 20 miles on the day altogether.
August stats
Running 75.56 miles
Cycling 253.91 miles
I have a few more things to talk about that happened Sunday but I'm running out of time. Will try and get to it tonight or tomorrow.
I rode over with Doug & Mark so that I wouldn't have to fire up the very loud Harley at an unseemly early time and disturb the other hotel guests. Met up with the other Arkansas runners for the group photo, joined the very long restroom lines, y'know all my typical pre-race stuff :-))). Lining up for the race in the dark was very cool, literally & figuratively. I was being teased mercilessly by the guys about me always taking off so fast but I had no plans of doing so.......at least until Mark did then I just followed him!!!!! He is a talker, definitely somebody you want around in a long race. I loved the starting in the dark, you couldn't see the hills so it didn't feel like near as much work, hahaha.....
Beautiful course, and some of my Arkansas peeps that weren't running went out and helped at the mile 3 water station, very nice getting personal cheers :-)))). Mark & I also spoke to Dana who was running marathon number 33 of 52 in 52 weeks to raise money for South African orphans, very inspirational! Please go check out her blog and leave her a comment encouraging her and maybe donate if you are able to do so.
At another point we fell in with a couple of ladies who were running the marathon for fun, they were stopping to take pictures & chatting with as many people as possible. They were also keeping a very fast pace, impressive. We'd started meeting the marathon leaders who had hit the turnaround point and of course I knew about 1/3 of them......I kinda burnt myself out trying to keep up with them so around mile 11 I started fading, ugh. I'm so in not race shape right now. I felt bad about slowing Mark down and kept encouraging him to go on but he stayed with me until around 13 when I told him if he didn't go on I'd be upset, he took off like a shot then!!!!! He'd been holding waaaay back for me, lol.
After I finished he ran back to run in with Doug and Tim (Tim's longest distance to date btw, congrats!). I got some sugar in my system with a banana and orange, hug my girl Patti (who finished a minute behind me), then walked out to take pictures of the guys.
I was just about to grab a beer when Charity asked me if I'd meet her mom at mile 23 and run her on in. Of course I can't say no to her or Tala so despite the fact that I hadn't run practically any in the past 3 weeks (last long run was a 17 miler 8/15) Patti & I did a run/walk back. Along the way we picked up water cups to throw in the trash at the mile 25 water stop and again when we got to the mile 23 rest stop. We had a nice chat with the guy in charge of that stop while waiting on Tala and got to cheer on runners (good karma, right?).
Just before Tala got there, a woman came thru that said she was really struggling and she started back running when Tala and I left out. She'd stayed a few steps behind us and when I noticed she was there I invited her up to run and chat with us. I don't know how much motivation I actually am but I did try and chat with the girls and get them through the last 3.2 miles the best I could.
I do have a couple of grumbles........first there was an incident with the city and county cops involving Leah. I'm not going into details here but let's just say that with over 75 Arkansas folks in a race this small we can make quite an impact. Also the 14.2 miler female age groups........the guys were in 10 year increments, the women weren't. The final age group for women was 40-98 years old--not that I would have placed anyway but still that's not exactly fair to those that would've.
My official finish time was 2:12:56, 36th female, 14th in the 40-98 "age group" and I think 95th overall. I'll take it considering I rode a century the weekend before, lol. Also ended up with just over 20 miles on the day altogether.
August stats
Running 75.56 miles
Cycling 253.91 miles
I have a few more things to talk about that happened Sunday but I'm running out of time. Will try and get to it tonight or tomorrow.
Tupelo
Ahhhh, peer pressure.......that insidious little thing that causes you to sign up for crazy things months in advance or do wicked insane things just because all the cool kids are doing it. Y'know, like the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred, the Tupelo 14.2 miler, etc, etc.........Fortunately I did resist the lure of doing the 3-3-3 this year (5k in Little Rock, Tupelo, and a 5k in Memphis), I just opted for Tupelo, lol......
This week has been crazy, emotional recovery from the HHH (not much physical recovery required though), pms, James being ill (he has shingles?????), the emotional aftermath of a friend's revelations, 11.5 days of being cooped up either in my truck or a rental vehicle, and my longest ever solo motorcycle trip.
I kicked off Saturday with a short ride (26ish miles) to test out the new pedals.......which I hate! They do have a wider platform but can only clip in on one side.....this resulted in my foot constantly slipping off the pedal and hyperextending my left leg--I always clip in & out with my left leg first when stopping--as well as a very painful thud to the girly bits because I would slide forward on the seat rather abruptly........OWIE!!!!!!! Also going up a very steep hill, I'd stood up on the pedals to power up started to sit down and boom! I went over.......I'm not quite sure what happened but one of the guys behind me said that one of my feet became unclipped as I started to sit back down. Yeah, they're not gonna work. I also have a nice little bruise and knot on my right ass cheek because of that little mishap.
Back home to finish loading up the motorcycle for the trip to Tupelo........in the process receiving many, many lectures from James on what to do and how to be safe and to call or text every so often so that he knew I was ok.....helmet on and I was off.
It was quite a nice ride although short of a rigid I think my motorcycle is the most uncomfortable bike to ride ever due to where I have it lowered so much. I'm going to have James adjust that as soon as he gets to feeling well enough, I'm a confident enough rider now that I don't have to flatfoot it at stops anymore like I did in the first couple of years. While it looks great being lowered so much I'm sick of going airborne whenever I hit a bump due to no give in the suspension.
Another issue I've discovered, evidently my head used to be quite fat.......my motorcycle helmet no longer fits properly, kinda loose now :-(, that's a problem because it's a $300 helmet!!!!! Also the aftermarket shield I put on tends to try to pop open at speeds in excess of 70mph so I spent a good deal of time holding it shut with one hand......I did pass a Ferrarri that was poking along at one point, lol.
Tupelo--find the running store where our packet pickup was and met Doug (met him at the Hogeye 1/2 earlier this year) and another twitter friend there where we discussed what time & where we would meet for dinner with some of the others. Yes there was a tweetup!!!!!! Coolness! I was also able to meet Eric another trucker/cyclist that I'd been speaking to for a while and he was able to make it to dinner with us.
This week has been crazy, emotional recovery from the HHH (not much physical recovery required though), pms, James being ill (he has shingles?????), the emotional aftermath of a friend's revelations, 11.5 days of being cooped up either in my truck or a rental vehicle, and my longest ever solo motorcycle trip.
I kicked off Saturday with a short ride (26ish miles) to test out the new pedals.......which I hate! They do have a wider platform but can only clip in on one side.....this resulted in my foot constantly slipping off the pedal and hyperextending my left leg--I always clip in & out with my left leg first when stopping--as well as a very painful thud to the girly bits because I would slide forward on the seat rather abruptly........OWIE!!!!!!! Also going up a very steep hill, I'd stood up on the pedals to power up started to sit down and boom! I went over.......I'm not quite sure what happened but one of the guys behind me said that one of my feet became unclipped as I started to sit back down. Yeah, they're not gonna work. I also have a nice little bruise and knot on my right ass cheek because of that little mishap.
Back home to finish loading up the motorcycle for the trip to Tupelo........in the process receiving many, many lectures from James on what to do and how to be safe and to call or text every so often so that he knew I was ok.....helmet on and I was off.
It was quite a nice ride although short of a rigid I think my motorcycle is the most uncomfortable bike to ride ever due to where I have it lowered so much. I'm going to have James adjust that as soon as he gets to feeling well enough, I'm a confident enough rider now that I don't have to flatfoot it at stops anymore like I did in the first couple of years. While it looks great being lowered so much I'm sick of going airborne whenever I hit a bump due to no give in the suspension.
Another issue I've discovered, evidently my head used to be quite fat.......my motorcycle helmet no longer fits properly, kinda loose now :-(, that's a problem because it's a $300 helmet!!!!! Also the aftermarket shield I put on tends to try to pop open at speeds in excess of 70mph so I spent a good deal of time holding it shut with one hand......I did pass a Ferrarri that was poking along at one point, lol.
Tupelo--find the running store where our packet pickup was and met Doug (met him at the Hogeye 1/2 earlier this year) and another twitter friend there where we discussed what time & where we would meet for dinner with some of the others. Yes there was a tweetup!!!!!! Coolness! I was also able to meet Eric another trucker/cyclist that I'd been speaking to for a while and he was able to make it to dinner with us.
Yep, I was able to make it into one of the "Wish you were here Dan" photos and I didn't even have to go to Hooter's!!!!!!
The awesome Eric & me. He'd brought me a gift of a Mellow Johnny's chain cover (chain condom, ha-ha!!) for my bicycle that I'm going to start carrying on the truck. That was VERY thoughtful, thank you again!
Great dinner & chatting was had at Vanelli's and I had lots of friends coming through from Arkansas saying hi with lots of hugs. So for those worried about me meeting up with some of my twitter friends, I was well-chaperoned :-))). Vanelli's by the way is awesome, I was able to get a very yummy lemon-pepper chicken with some of the best grilled green beans ever.
03 September 2010
HHH photos
These are some of the pictures taken by the photographers at the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred. I apologize for the "me" overload.
The last photo.....I'd asked James if I looked somewhat ok.....he said I looked fine, yeah I think there's a bit of passive aggression going on, lol. So there's what I look like after a hundred miles cycling, not a pretty sight :-)))), I was too tired to suck the gut in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)