Tour de Vine, Day 2

100 miles in two days. I only rode 25 miles on the second day. I am trying not to be too hard on myself, because the goal was 150, and I hope that I did not let down my supporters. But several things led to my decision to do only 25 miles, and I will try not to make them sound like excuses. I did not get enough sleep, it was already very hot and humid by the decision time (first rest top at 12 miles), and my asthma was acting up (despite being on therapy for two weeks). IT band issues were popping back up, this time in both legs. My seat really hurt, and my arms had issues.

On Saturday the hardest part was the last 15 miles, not because of the heat, but my arms. They went from achy to excruciating in minutes. Not in the joints, but the triceps. I could barely hold on to my handle bars. At the last rest stop, with only 10 miles to go, I was not sure I could finish. A very nice medic gave me some Advil and rubbed some Icy-Hot into my arms and it help A LOT.

On Sunday, after only 12 miles of riding, my arms were acting up again, especially because the Walnut Creek area is very hilly and you have to push with your arms to get up hills. So I did not want a repeat of the previous day with a possibility of getting driven back because of my arms.

After 25 miles, I felt great back at the finish line. And after a shower and nap I even got some house work done. Injury free, that is the important part. Knowing your boundaries. And biking for a good cause.

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Tour de Vine, Day 1

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WOW! what and awesome day of riding.  Great people, great support, great team, great friends.  Liz was a huge help, pacing, encouragement, drafting.  We stopped at most of the rest stops, and Liz kept us on schedule (10 minutes per stop) so we did not cool down tool much.  Started at 7am, ended at 2:30pm, that's 7.5 hours of riding!  Our moving average was 13 mph.  It only felt really hot in the last 2 hours.  Got back before the big thunderstorm, but it cut our after party short.

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Afterward I got a 50-min massage, which was so worth it.  Then off to Amy's post ride pool party which was a lot of fun.

A big thanks to Jenny and Jere and Tom who manned our team tent at the event.  Thank you to Liz who rode with me all day.  Thank you to the team for pitching in for Amy's gift.  Thank you to Amy for leading such a great team!

Good night and ready to do more tomorrow.  Probably will only do 25 or 50 miles, we will see how I feel in the morning.

Another Beautiful Sunset

This is Millington Road, along the Free Union loop I have done four times (different variations), the last two after work with my new friend and team mate Liz.  We are about the same ability and we are planning on riding the tour together.  I am glad to know that I will have a constant companion on the long ride, and we can encourage each other and draft too.

Only four days to go.  I am very excited.  My total mileage for the season is 330.  I read in the tour handbook that you should get up to 500 miles before the date, but I feel ready.  The plan is 75 miles on the first day, and then wait and see how I feel on the second day, but at least 25 or 50.

High Altitude Training

Ok, so maybe not mile-high training.  Today we biked Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park, from Loft Mt Wayside to Big Meadows and back.  The park is high enough elevation to feel considerable cooler than Charlottesville, and the tree cover is beautiful and shady. 

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The plan was for 60 miles (30 out, 30 back), but at Swift Run Gap I stopped and asked and Amy pick me up on her way out of the park. I felt like a quitter, but considering everything I did this weekend it did not seem too bad.  I still did 43 miles, and it was the largest climb in one ride for me - 1300'.

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Me and Amy at Big Meadows Visitor Center on Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park. She beat me up the mountain by 45 minutes! I was glad to finish, and beat the thunderstorm looming in the background.

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Saturday I rode 53 miles and the climb was 700'.  96 miles in one weekend.  Not bad.  And I feel pretty good.  A little sore and tired, but no major muscle or joint issues.

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Today's Ride - 35 miles

Except for the shady sections, it was a hot ride today, and a little windy towards the end, but it felt great to get back out there.  I took a long warm-up and stopped to stretch several times, plus before and after the ride.  I am sill feeling a little scared to push my speed for fear of hurting my leg again, which is still a little stiff.  Thank you Amy and Mattie for organizing the ride and staying with me. 

34.4 miles went by pretty quickly.  And even though I stopped a lot, my average speed was a good 12 mph.

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Back in the saddle.

The bike saddle, that is.  After two weeks of moderate rest after I hurt my leg, I ramped up my riding.  I have been riding my bike to work almost every day, which is a great way to wake up in the morning and wind down in the afternoon. 

I was traveling for the last five days to Ohio for my brother-in-law's graduation from U. of Toledo Law School.  We also stopped at the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and the Heinz Museum in Pittsburg.  I tried to exercise as much as I could at the hotel gyms.

This weekend it's back to training with the MS150 Team. 

A little bump in the road

So I think I overdid it. My right thigh has been hurting for three days now, I think it is the IT Band. I have not done anything since Thursday, except ride to and from work on Friday and house work, but the muscle spasms are not going away. And it hurts to sit in a chair at work too. Jeesh. I found a box and elevated my monitor and keyboard and stood all day at work, rocking out to my tunes while doing SoildWorks. It worked pretty good, because standing (and moving) is less painful than sitting (and not moving). I have been icing it and taking ibuprofen. Looks like I will be out all week.

Wednesday's Ride

Springtime is known for it's temperature swings, and we have had some for sure. Just two weeks ago we had 80-90 degree days for several days, but Wednesday's after work ride started around 58, and ended at 49 degrees. Now I am used to hiking in the cold-20 degrees is cold for hiking, and well 49 is cold for biking. I am still getting used to the difference between biking and hiking temperatures! By the end of the ride, my hands and toes were numb!

Luckily the MS150 tour is in the summer, and we are progressively getting warmer, or I would need to get some more warm riding clothes (something that stops the wind and does not flap).

This time I took a shorter route than the rest of the team because of the cold and creeping darkness. I knew the route and I was ok riding by myself, besides, except for a small shortcut, I was on the same roads as the group. But, on the way back I missed the turn from Plank Rd onto Old Lynchburg Rd, which added 2 miles to my trip, but I made it back ok. On the upside, during my side trip I rode past a little bog with lots of spring peepers (frogs) chirping loudly.

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Today's Ride and Cookout for MS150

Today we had a cookout at Amy's house, our fearless MS150 Team Leader.  Beforehand some of us did the same loop we did last week.  Compared to the Walnut Creek area rides, the loop was very flat, and my average speed went up quite a bit.  This made me very happy.  And I was faster than last week! 


Here are my training rides to date:

DATE  LOCATION    Dist(mi) Time(hr) Avg Spd(mpg)

3/31 Earlysville     13.5  1.00     13.5

4/4  Standardsville  14.7  1.20     12.

4/7  Candlewyck      13.7  1.25     11.

4/10 Walnut Intl Tri 22.4  2.00     11.

4/14 Walnut Sprint   19.4  1.75     11.

4/15 Candlewyck      13.7  0.92     15.

        total miles: 97.4 

Note my average speed 4/7 versus 4/15.

The cookout was a big success and I think we got some more people to join the team, and a few more people to volunteer at the OASC tent on the first day of event (June 12).

I forgot the gps at home, but I timed the hike, and the loop was the same as last week.

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Trying not to overdo it.

Things have been very busy here. My mind has finally returned to this world (and country, time zone, etc), and I am in full gear training mode. The spring weather is good for the mood, but hard on the sinuses. I seem to have a perpetual sore throat from the pollen too. But I still love springtime in central Virginia.

Wednesday was a great training ride (for the MS150 Tour), this time from Amy's house (our team leader). The route lead us past some nice houses, country churches, farms, country clubs, and the Foxfield horse race track. I am really enjoying these rides because I am seeing some parts of the area that I have never seen or appreciated before. You absorb your surrounding so much more on a bike than when you drive fast in a car. I wish I could have taken pictures along the way.

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Thursday was me and Tom at BeerRun with Jere and the club. A spring thunderstorm made things interesting. We got an awesome bottle of Pinot Noir from Central Otago, NZ, a region we visited near Queenstown.

Friday was a great Karate practice. I spent the first hour teaching Basic One to a pair of 10-year-old white belts. The next 1-1/2 hours I spent working on my One-Steps and knife defenses with Amir (sp?), an awesome black belt whom I had not worked with much before now.

Saturday morning was another successful training ride. We rode 22 miles from Walnut Creek Park, the route of the Charlottesville Triathlon International Distance. My longest ride yet, and I managed to keep up my previous average speed. Again the scenery was beautiful with the trees in full bloom. We drove past several creeks along the side of the road that were flowing well due to the recent spring showers. The road itself was in bad shape and made for a rough ride. I felt pretty good afterward, and thought, "Maybe I can do the International Distance Triathlon," but then I would have to now run 7 miles, and that does not sound like fun.

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Saturday night Tom and I went to wine tasting (NZ wines), a club event, and sushi afterward.

Sunday was a 10 mile hike in the Shenandoah, but those pictures will have to wait for another day.

Today was an easy swim in the pool.

A small summary of my last 5 days. I am getting tired just writing about it. Time to get some well deserved sleep.

Today's bike ride

Today was the first of my MS150 Tour De Vine training rides.  It was with the OASC team and they were very nice to stay with me even though I was a little slow.  We went 13.5 miles, and my average speed was 13 mph.  The last hill was hard, but I managed it just fine without stopping.  The ride made me realize how easy my commute really is!  I still have a way to go for training, but I am committed to completing the tour.

Thanks James for letting me borrow your GPS.

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From MS 150 Rides

Please consider sponsoring my bike tour by donating to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Your help is much appreciated.