The Final Countdown

Since last July I’ve had my sights set on a goal of riding the Seattle to Portland bike ride. This is a right of passage for Northwest cyclists to say that they have completed this ride. It’s a 204 mile ride that is typically broken up into two days unless you’re nuts enough to do it in one which I’m not. I completed this ride back in 2007 as a solo effort but this year I’m going to do it with Jenny and my oldest son which should be a lot more fun. As neither one of them have ever completed a century this will be a great opportunity for them to pick up numbers 1 and 2 on consecutive days.

Now to the nerdiness of my cycling goals
Last July when we decided to do the STP I drew up a plan of how many miles I would need to ride each week in order to enjoy the ride and be ready when the event came around. Being the cycling nerd that I am I set up a spreadsheet to track my progress to the goal. After the first 3 weeks I fell behind my goal and in November and December my cycling grew almost nonexistent due to the holiday season level of slacktitude that I achieved. For those of you not familiar with the term Slacktitude here is the definition because I’m sure you’ll want to incorporate this into your everyday vocabulary.

Slacktitude, [slak-ti-tood] – A sedentary state caused by excessive sleep and massive consumption of pie, cookies, and cheese cake.

Because of the high level of stacktitude that I obtained during the holidays I generated myself an almost insurmountable cycling goal deficit. I thought about just deleting my goofy spreadsheet but I kept at it. Over the last 4 months I really kicked it in gear and have clawed my way out of the slacktitude hole that I dug and have surpassed my STP goal.



So, the STP is less than two weeks away and all that’s left are some dress rehearsal rides this week and some recovery next week. I’m planning on taking a lot of pictures of the ride. More to come.

Photo of the Week

This morning Jenny and I went on a training ride on some rural roads.  We passed a lot of cows on our way and I could have sworn that I could hear the cows cheering for us.  It must have been the wind.  Anyway, here is the picture of the week.

What's in Your Seatbag?

A couple of times a year I go through my seat bag and clear out the weird things that I end up carrying around with me on my bike. I usually do this before the winter riding starts and then in the spring. Since I'll be riding back to back centuries in a couple of weeks I was curious what I had in my seat bag. Above is what I found.

* Spare Tube, I haven't had a flat in over 2 years. I hope this tube still holds air but I really don't want to find out.
* Multipurpose Tool
* Tire Levers
* 87 Cents, not sure where this came from and why I'm carrying around pennies.
* Tylenol and Ibuprofen, I don't ride anywhere without some Vitamin I and T. I don't use it very often but when I do it works like a champ
* Powerbar, I really hate these things. I'm not sure why I'm carrying it with me because even if I was bonking I might not even eat it. As you can tell it's been smashed in the back of my bag for quite some time.
* Black Cherry Almond Clif Bar, I saw this at the grocery store and it sounded great. When Jenny saw it she turned her nose up at it. So it's all mine. I'll probably eat it this Friday. Already looking forward to it.
* Glass Cleaners, I don't use these very often but they come in handy in getting road grime off of your sunglasses.
* Surgical Glove, I use this to change tires or put on dropped chains. That way you don't have to ride with a grease covered hand the rest of the ride. I love these things.

Well, that's it. I going to get rid of that power bar and replace it with a Gel and when I do the double century a couple of chamious creme packets will also be added. See anything I'm missing?

Blistering Ride

Last week my neighbor told me about a group ride in Snohomish on Saturday morning so I decided to check it out.  On Friday I also got a call from my buddy Dan at work asking me if I had any riding plans for Saturday morning so I invited him to the group ride (that I had never been on).  Last week Dan finished one of the toughest centuries in the state in 5 hours so I knew that he would want to ride with the fast group which was fine with me since I wanted to give the fast group a try also.  On Saturday morning we both showed up at the start of the group ride and headed out with the fast group.

 

The 1^st Commandment of Group Riding

As we headed out on the group ride I heard a honking noise 3 or 4 times.  At first I didn't pay much attention to it but after a while I put two and two together and realized that the rider in front of me was clearing his nose unannounced.  GROSS!!! I can't say I know everything about group riding but I do know the first commandment.

 

"Thou shalt not launch snot rockets on a group ride if thy colleagues are in the general vicinity"

 

Once I figured out what was going on I quickly passed the offender but every time we stopped or slowed down he would ride passed me so it became a game of pass the snot launcher.  To be honest this really isn't my favorite game even though there was element of danger involved. 

 

Decisions

I also noticed as we rode along that the fast group was only maintaining a pace of ~15 MPH.  I'm really not a speed demon but as we rode along both Dan and I were looking at each other like "This is the pace of the fast group"?  To make matters worse after about 5 miles we stopped for a rest break and as we stood around staring at each other I started telling Dan of another route I knew in the area.  Sensing that neither one of us wanted to continue at the current pace or dodge any more mucus missiles we agreed to abandon the group ride and explore the other route.   

 

Desperation Drafting

As we headed out on the alternative route we kept a really fast pace which actually felt good.  As we started into the first of many rolling hills I noticed that Dan didn't slow much from his fast pace at all.  At that point I knew I could be in trouble because there was just no way that I could maintain that speed up the hills too.  I was able to catch Dan at the top of the hill but not without much leg and lung burning occurring first.  Lucky for me, Dan didn't seem to have a problem with me drafting in order to catch my breath.  Well, the momentary drafting turned into long term drafting as I found that this was going to be the only way to keep up with him.  To be honest, it was a ton of fun to ride this route so fast.  In fact, at one point we came upon a pace line of 4 riders and before we knew it we had blown passed them like they were standing still.  After a while we were able to ride side by side as my legs recovered a little bit.  Toward the end of the ride I took a pull or two but they didn't last for more than a minute at a time as I just didn't have much left in the tank at that point. 

Dan putting the hammer down

 

Slow Ride Home

Toward the end of the ride Dan and I parted ways as we live in opposite directions.  At this point I had 10 more miles to ride to get home and I felt like I had been thoroughly baked at 350 degrees until golden brown.  So my game plan for the rest of the ride was to not have a full body muscle cramp and to keep my tires on the ground. 

 

As I walked in the door of the house I was tired but still had a smile on my face because it was a great ride.

 

Stats:

63 miles

2501ft  elevation gain

Snot rockets dodged countless

 

Video of the Week

I've always wanted to give someone "The Look" in a race and then drop the rest of the peloton like a bad habit.  Since I don't race this has just become dream of mine.  Every now and then when Jenny and I are riding we practice "The Look" on people we know won't ever see it.  It really serves two purposes.  First, it gives me practice if the chance ever comes up and most importantly, it cracks both of us up.  It's just one of those inside jokes that I never get tired of.  The other day Jenny gave an unexpected jogger "The Look" and I actually got it on video.  OK, it might not be funny to you but it just cracks me up.  Jenny's got skills.  Here's the original a video of "The Look" (it's about 20 seconds into the video) and then Jenny's version.   

Have a great weekend and if anyone gets the chance to give "The Look" do it once for me.

Thoughts From the Saddle

Last Friday Jenny and I did a 67 mile training ride. This is one of our favorite routes because it's mainly rural roads that are lined with thick forest on either side. The first 40 miles of this route are full of rolling hills which get your legs and lungs burning on the way up and your heart pounding on the way down because of the speed. The last 27 miles are fairly flat which used to be my favorite section but last Friday things were different.

I must have eaten my Wheaties on Friday because the hills didn't really bother me that much and when it came to the descents it was the most fun I have had on a bike in a long time. Every time we got to a descent I would tuck down into the drops and get as aerodynamic as I could. Occasionally, I was able to go the speed limit or above so naturally I pulled into the middle of my lane because if I was going the same speed as a car I think I deserve more of the road. In addition, there just weren't that many cars on the road anyway.

This ride got me thinking about life and how sometimes it feels a lot like a long section of rolling hills. We all have hills in our lives where things just don't go our way or things are hard. While suffering up hills on a bike I often question why I like to ride and why I put myself through the torture. I've found if I just keep spinning my legs, put my head down, and tell myself "you can do it, you can do it" before I know it I'm cresting the hill and looking over at the descent that I get to enjoy. At that moment I remember why I like to ride bikes. It's the sense of accomplishment and thrill of the descent.

I guess in life sometimes we just need to put our heads down, keep our legs spinning, tell ourselves we can do it and eventually we'll get to the top of the hill we're fighting through. In the end everyone deserves a good descent now and then.

Enjoy the ride!

Photo of the Week

This weeks photo was taken a couple of years ago in the winter.  Jenny and I got caught in a rain storm 10 miles away from our car.  As we kept riding the rain got steadily harder but it didn't dampen our spirits for some reason.  It was one of the better rain rides I've ever been on.  By the time we got back to the car I literally poured water out of my cycling shoes.  The hot shower after that ride never felt better.  Makes me appreciate summer all the more these days.

Have a great weekend!