I'm in Washington.
Left Chicago Tuesday, had a train ticket, but ended up on a bus all the way to Minneapolis. Glad that I made it on the first express bus because the one following us broke down in the Chicagoland area and had to be repaired. They arrived 5 hours after us, which made the train 3 hours late departing Minneapolis. I have to say that my overall train experience was excellent despite everything. I couldn't tell you how much sleep I got since I woke up and had to change possitions a lot, but in each of the two 24 hour periods I probably managed 6 hours. I was ready to get off when the time came, but I got a lot of reading, crosswording, gameboying, etc. done and the view was nothing to complain about.
I got picked up by my cousin Lynae and driven back to see family in Lynden. The first shower after a couple days on the train is amazing. I had packed a lot of dry food for the trip (Ritz crackers, peanuts, Cap'n Crunch) so the warm food was great too. I'm really enjoying my time out here to relax a little before the tour starts. My uncle loaned me his bike while mine is still in the box and I put in about 30 miles today. The bike was a little small for me, but I managed. I rode almost to the corner of the US today and did an unofficial practice dipping of my tire into the Pacific. Really pretty country out here and it's nice to have a backdrop of mountains while riding; it's a little different than the absent backdrop of Indiana.
Was invited to stop by the Lynden Tribune by my aunt and got interviewed for an article that will come out next Wednesday. I seem to have a knack for finding my way into print (this is the fifth that I know of).
I already got my first game of Settlers in on this trip! Things are definately looking up.
Tomorrow Tomorrow Tomorrow...I can't wait.
June 27, 2008
June 16, 2008
A Disappointment Few Can Understand
I took off work on Friday and then again today. The purpose was to go up to Michigan and ride in the National 24-hour challenge, a bike race that lasts an entire day. Your place is determined by the total number of miles you complete. Each rider starts at 8:00 AM Saturday on the 122 mile loop, when that is completed they shift to the 23 mile loop and do that as many times as he/she can until 7:15 PM. Finally each rider tries to do the 7.5 mile loop as many times as possible until 8 AM Sunday.
The weather forecast was favoralble with a high around 82 (last year was in the low 90's), and clear. I had a mechanical problem just after the first checkpoint (my whole crank arm came loose and was still clipped to my foot (hilarious afterward)), but I did my best to catch up to the group I had been riding with. This caused me to overexert myself and once I caught them I just dropped off the back of the pack once again. At mile 90 I had hit a wall and was in serious need of some protien and carbs when I noticed a couple of riders stopped at a store on the side of the road. I needed the break and it just so happened that this was the general store of one of those blink-and-you-miss-it towns and they had pizza in the warmer. Best piece of pizza in a long time. A half-hour of eating and letting the food digest was just the ticket. I let a woman training for the Ironman pull me to the end of the first loop and I was feeling pretty good. I took another snack break before starting the middle loop. This loop is pretty hilly so I started slow, but soon found a good strategy to deal with them. Finished in good time with that loop and took another snack break before doing another middle loop. Perfected the strategy from the last loop and managed to do one uphill while averaging over 25 mph. Finished that loop while the sun was setting. Time to throw the light on the bike and get ready for the quick, flat night loops. In the meantime a severe weather advisory had come up and riders were told to ride with discretion. The wind all of the sudden kicked up and the tent which I was using as my base camp (and that I had planned to use for Sea to Sea) got blown apart. I heard later that the wind was 30 mph sustained with 60 mph gusts. The poles of my tent bent and poked through the rain fly. Franticly pulled everything out of the tent and loaded it into the car then took down the fractured pieces of my tent. I then went into the Middle school where the event was being hosted to get the forecast. Scattered showers predicted all night with a rapid temperature drop. I hadn't packed the right gear for riding in these conditions, so I wasn't about to go out there any time soon. I was tired, but my heart-rate was still elevated so I couldn't fall asleep right away. I had set a goal of 300 miles for this race and I was sitting on 169.6. I made a disappointing decision to pack it up at that point. I woke up around 7:00 AM and was able to do one loop, but 177.1 is just no consolation for a goal of 300. I ended up taking 2nd in my age category because only one other person in that category had braved the weather, but I almost felt embarassed accepting it. Last year I had taken 3rd for riding 221.6. I know it's a hard story to relate to, but for how long I had been looking forward to this race it's a big disappointment.
When I got home today my mom told me that Amtrak has shut down service to some areas due to flooding. So now I might need a new tent and new transportation to Seattle.
All this with just one week before I am supposed to leave.
The weather forecast was favoralble with a high around 82 (last year was in the low 90's), and clear. I had a mechanical problem just after the first checkpoint (my whole crank arm came loose and was still clipped to my foot (hilarious afterward)), but I did my best to catch up to the group I had been riding with. This caused me to overexert myself and once I caught them I just dropped off the back of the pack once again. At mile 90 I had hit a wall and was in serious need of some protien and carbs when I noticed a couple of riders stopped at a store on the side of the road. I needed the break and it just so happened that this was the general store of one of those blink-and-you-miss-it towns and they had pizza in the warmer. Best piece of pizza in a long time. A half-hour of eating and letting the food digest was just the ticket. I let a woman training for the Ironman pull me to the end of the first loop and I was feeling pretty good. I took another snack break before starting the middle loop. This loop is pretty hilly so I started slow, but soon found a good strategy to deal with them. Finished in good time with that loop and took another snack break before doing another middle loop. Perfected the strategy from the last loop and managed to do one uphill while averaging over 25 mph. Finished that loop while the sun was setting. Time to throw the light on the bike and get ready for the quick, flat night loops. In the meantime a severe weather advisory had come up and riders were told to ride with discretion. The wind all of the sudden kicked up and the tent which I was using as my base camp (and that I had planned to use for Sea to Sea) got blown apart. I heard later that the wind was 30 mph sustained with 60 mph gusts. The poles of my tent bent and poked through the rain fly. Franticly pulled everything out of the tent and loaded it into the car then took down the fractured pieces of my tent. I then went into the Middle school where the event was being hosted to get the forecast. Scattered showers predicted all night with a rapid temperature drop. I hadn't packed the right gear for riding in these conditions, so I wasn't about to go out there any time soon. I was tired, but my heart-rate was still elevated so I couldn't fall asleep right away. I had set a goal of 300 miles for this race and I was sitting on 169.6. I made a disappointing decision to pack it up at that point. I woke up around 7:00 AM and was able to do one loop, but 177.1 is just no consolation for a goal of 300. I ended up taking 2nd in my age category because only one other person in that category had braved the weather, but I almost felt embarassed accepting it. Last year I had taken 3rd for riding 221.6. I know it's a hard story to relate to, but for how long I had been looking forward to this race it's a big disappointment.
When I got home today my mom told me that Amtrak has shut down service to some areas due to flooding. So now I might need a new tent and new transportation to Seattle.
All this with just one week before I am supposed to leave.
June 11, 2008
The Curse of the Commute
Last Monday was the first time I made the commute from Highland to Chicago on my bike. I had been saying I was going to do it since before I broke my hand, but I'd just been putting it off for many different reasons. However, my friends, John and Lindsey, from Chicago rode down that Sunday and stayed overnight with us and intended to ride back into the city in the morning so there was no weaseling out this time.
In order to be on the road in time to make it to work and get cleaned up in time we had to get up at 5 AM and it was still dark out. As many of you will find out I am typically a morning person, but to me morning implies that the sun has cracked the horizon. My dad joined us until he needed to turn back to make it to his work on time so it was a comfortable pack. There were three really rough stretches of pavement and/or traffic and during the last of these three my rear tire sprung a leak. I hate getting flats because they seem to occur when I am the most enthusiastic about riding and they kill that mood, but with three people taking care of it we were rolling again before all good cheer was lost. Even with the delay we made it to the museum with half and hour to spare.
So now that the monkey was off my back I decided to save a little money in my last couple of weeks at work by riding the bike instead of the train. It also happens to be the museum campus' commuter challenge week to see which institution (The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, or the Shedd Aquarium) can have the most employees ride to work at least once. I made it to work no problem, I even found a smoother route, but on the way home I got another flat and was still 15 miles from home. I switched out the tube and went to pump it up, but I couldn't get the pump to work. Any time I got air going in, it would leak back out before i could get past 20 psi. I called my home to get a ride and my dad came to pick me up. I was not in a good mood. Here I thought I had all my gear ready, but now I will need to go get something else. When I got home I set about changing the tire only to discover that my new tube already had a hole in it and it wasn't the pump after all. Whew.
I decided to get back on the horse the next day to try for a successful commute. John wanted to get a few training miles in before this weekend's race (details in my next post) so he rode South and we met half way. We then proceeded to ride up toward the lakefront trail. Wouldn't you know it, half a mile from the trail John picked up a piece of glass and my commute stayed perfect in the blown tire category. It was 7:42 when we were rolling again and we were 6.5 miles away from the museum and i deciced that I wanted to be there by 8:00. So I pulled John and we hammered down the trail making it with one minute to spare. Thre ride home was uneventful. THANKFULLY.
This morning I made it to work very fast, 18.25 mph fast, and that included slowing down for traffic signals and stopping if necessary. I am out of spare tubes so I am taking a bit of a risk given the recent statistics. If I make it home tonight without incident it will be a huge sigh of relief.
In order to be on the road in time to make it to work and get cleaned up in time we had to get up at 5 AM and it was still dark out. As many of you will find out I am typically a morning person, but to me morning implies that the sun has cracked the horizon. My dad joined us until he needed to turn back to make it to his work on time so it was a comfortable pack. There were three really rough stretches of pavement and/or traffic and during the last of these three my rear tire sprung a leak. I hate getting flats because they seem to occur when I am the most enthusiastic about riding and they kill that mood, but with three people taking care of it we were rolling again before all good cheer was lost. Even with the delay we made it to the museum with half and hour to spare.
So now that the monkey was off my back I decided to save a little money in my last couple of weeks at work by riding the bike instead of the train. It also happens to be the museum campus' commuter challenge week to see which institution (The Field Museum, The Adler Planetarium, or the Shedd Aquarium) can have the most employees ride to work at least once. I made it to work no problem, I even found a smoother route, but on the way home I got another flat and was still 15 miles from home. I switched out the tube and went to pump it up, but I couldn't get the pump to work. Any time I got air going in, it would leak back out before i could get past 20 psi. I called my home to get a ride and my dad came to pick me up. I was not in a good mood. Here I thought I had all my gear ready, but now I will need to go get something else. When I got home I set about changing the tire only to discover that my new tube already had a hole in it and it wasn't the pump after all. Whew.
I decided to get back on the horse the next day to try for a successful commute. John wanted to get a few training miles in before this weekend's race (details in my next post) so he rode South and we met half way. We then proceeded to ride up toward the lakefront trail. Wouldn't you know it, half a mile from the trail John picked up a piece of glass and my commute stayed perfect in the blown tire category. It was 7:42 when we were rolling again and we were 6.5 miles away from the museum and i deciced that I wanted to be there by 8:00. So I pulled John and we hammered down the trail making it with one minute to spare. Thre ride home was uneventful. THANKFULLY.
This morning I made it to work very fast, 18.25 mph fast, and that included slowing down for traffic signals and stopping if necessary. I am out of spare tubes so I am taking a bit of a risk given the recent statistics. If I make it home tonight without incident it will be a huge sigh of relief.
June 3, 2008
My weekend with the Big Dogs
So the long gaps between blogging continue as I put more and more training in.
I've done a few rides over the normal tour day average and I'm confident that I am in good enough shape right now to do any single day the tour throws at me. Yet, I'm not sure if I will be able to line those days up back-to-back-to-back... Aaron and I rode our bikes one Sunday morning thirty miles south to DeMotte to give a presentation to one of the CRC churches and were pleasantly surprised when Jill showed up a few minutes into the service. Apparently she was going to head us off at a point along the way since she was coming from a different direction, but when she took a break to get a coffee we rode on by since we didn't know to look for her. Sorry Jill, I'm glad you toughed it out and made it there and even spoke despite the laryngitis. The ride back was much faster since we didn't have to deal with the nasty headwind.
Being an Indiana resident, though, has made me wary of the portion of the tour that will be spent in the Rockies, so this past weekend I went to Iowa just west of the Illinois border to take part in a race that claimed to be for those looking for a tough ride. The race is hosted by the Ultra Midwest Big Dogs, a loose knit endurance cycling club from all over the midwest. The name of the race is the Balltown Classic which is the name of the town which has the longest continuously operated restraunt in Iowa. The race is 200 miles long. You leave from DeWitt and ride 100 miles to Balltown then come back. There is an option, however, for those riders who are not quite ready for such an extreme race or are just getting back in shape for the season. Coming off of my hand injury and knowing that the longest day on tour is 113 miles I decided this would be the better choice. I sure was thankful at the end of the day. The race started at 5 AM before it was even light out and the hills were real and often. I reached the 60 mile checkpoint in 3 hours and 45 minutes (initially I thought it was a 50 mile checkpoint, imagine my surprise when someone at the 45 mile mark told me that there were only 15 more miles to the checkpoint.) After the checkpoint my performance trailed off and I couldn't seem to get back up to speed after cresting each hill. My total time ended up being 7 hours and 55 minutes, but that includes the 25 minute break and an equipment issue that forced me to finish the last 15 miles wearing only one shoe (the cleat separated from my other shoe and I wasn't carrying the proper allen wrench to reattach it.) On top of that the 100 mile option ended up being 108 miles (for the 200 mile riders the distance back was shorter.) I felt so great when I was finally off the bike because I knew no day on the tour could defeat me (terrainwise). I hadn't heard how many feet of climbing there were in this race until I was done: 6000! I checked my Shifting Gears book when I got home and only the second to last day has that much, not even any of the days in the mountains. On top of all this there was a constant head and cross wind of 10-20 mph. The only way I could have even considered doing the 200 would be to have the wind at my back the whole way home. I did have one noteworthy new accomplishment in all this: I went over 45 mph on one of the downhills.
Three weeks from today I am hopping on the train to take me to Washington, it's amazing how close it has gotten to the start of this adventure.
I've done a few rides over the normal tour day average and I'm confident that I am in good enough shape right now to do any single day the tour throws at me. Yet, I'm not sure if I will be able to line those days up back-to-back-to-back... Aaron and I rode our bikes one Sunday morning thirty miles south to DeMotte to give a presentation to one of the CRC churches and were pleasantly surprised when Jill showed up a few minutes into the service. Apparently she was going to head us off at a point along the way since she was coming from a different direction, but when she took a break to get a coffee we rode on by since we didn't know to look for her. Sorry Jill, I'm glad you toughed it out and made it there and even spoke despite the laryngitis. The ride back was much faster since we didn't have to deal with the nasty headwind.
Being an Indiana resident, though, has made me wary of the portion of the tour that will be spent in the Rockies, so this past weekend I went to Iowa just west of the Illinois border to take part in a race that claimed to be for those looking for a tough ride. The race is hosted by the Ultra Midwest Big Dogs, a loose knit endurance cycling club from all over the midwest. The name of the race is the Balltown Classic which is the name of the town which has the longest continuously operated restraunt in Iowa. The race is 200 miles long. You leave from DeWitt and ride 100 miles to Balltown then come back. There is an option, however, for those riders who are not quite ready for such an extreme race or are just getting back in shape for the season. Coming off of my hand injury and knowing that the longest day on tour is 113 miles I decided this would be the better choice. I sure was thankful at the end of the day. The race started at 5 AM before it was even light out and the hills were real and often. I reached the 60 mile checkpoint in 3 hours and 45 minutes (initially I thought it was a 50 mile checkpoint, imagine my surprise when someone at the 45 mile mark told me that there were only 15 more miles to the checkpoint.) After the checkpoint my performance trailed off and I couldn't seem to get back up to speed after cresting each hill. My total time ended up being 7 hours and 55 minutes, but that includes the 25 minute break and an equipment issue that forced me to finish the last 15 miles wearing only one shoe (the cleat separated from my other shoe and I wasn't carrying the proper allen wrench to reattach it.) On top of that the 100 mile option ended up being 108 miles (for the 200 mile riders the distance back was shorter.) I felt so great when I was finally off the bike because I knew no day on the tour could defeat me (terrainwise). I hadn't heard how many feet of climbing there were in this race until I was done: 6000! I checked my Shifting Gears book when I got home and only the second to last day has that much, not even any of the days in the mountains. On top of all this there was a constant head and cross wind of 10-20 mph. The only way I could have even considered doing the 200 would be to have the wind at my back the whole way home. I did have one noteworthy new accomplishment in all this: I went over 45 mph on one of the downhills.
Three weeks from today I am hopping on the train to take me to Washington, it's amazing how close it has gotten to the start of this adventure.
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