We arrived in B.C. safe and sound. The drive was long, but uneventful-in a good way. We had nice weather, minimal hold ups, and everything went as planned. No two ways about it-24 hours of driving is a looooong time in the car!
As planned, we got together with the Ride2Survive group to do the very last group training ride on Saturday morning. It was a 100km ride (60 miles), at an easy pace. Simple, right? Not so fast.....
The group was practicing a rolling paceline. For the non cyclists, it means riding side by side in a long line, and having the left side ride slightly faster than the right side. When the front left side gets past the right side, they roll over to the right line. When you are the last rider on the right side, you pull left and follow the left lane. It's a rolling circle. When it's done right-it's very efficient, and looks pretty darn smooth too.
When it's not going well, it's easy for things to go very wrong. On this day, it wasn't the prettiest paceline, and about 2 riders up from me, someone slammed on their brakes, unexplanably. Unexplained brake slams are never a good thing when you're riding 2 inches off the rider in front of you's wheel. Anyway, long story short, I had to slam on my brakes and to avoid slamming right into the rider in front of me, I did a sharp turn to the right to try to avoid collision. My bike folded, and I hit the bike and the pavement in all sorts of crazy ways. Of all things, I completely smushed my right knee. Yes, the same knee I've been trying desperately to rehab from tendonitis. UGH!! All things considered, I faired pretty well. No broken bones, no ligament pulls, no major issues at all. In fact, after a brief ride in the SAG vehicle (Support and Gear vehicle), I got back on my bike and completed the rest of the training ride.
Now that I've had a day or so, I know the full extend of damage. My knee is extremely sore in side and out. I don't know what I've done, I suspect just trauma. I don't suspect anything broken. My collarbone has a beautiful blue/green bruise on it, which matches the ones on my pubic bone and left knee. I've pulled pebbles out of my right hand, but it seems to have faired pretty well-not too sore. I'm not sure what I hit my right side ribs on, but there is pain under there too.
Crashes happen. That's life. I'm frustrated that it happened to me. But when all is said and done, I must put this in perspective. That same day, a rider in the Ride to Conquer Cancer ride (a 2 day ride that left that same morning for a 2 day 200 some odd km ride down to Seattle) was killed. He was 16 years old and was riding to support his Uncle-a cancer survivor. I can't stop thinking about him. He was killed while trying to do something good. For Den and I, this whole bike riding to raise money for cancer started with him riding the Ride to Conquer Cancer. He did that ride in 2009, mere months after having the lobe of his lung removed to rid him of the cancer. It seemed absolutely absurd that he would aspire to do that ride. He signed up just after getting released from the hospital, when breathing while sitting was a chore and hurt. He wasn't a bike rider, he hadn't been for years. He wasn't even in particularly great shape. Yet, he needed to make a difference somehow for those battling cancer after him. The morning of our training ride, our entire team went on the course on our bikes and rode backwards through it, to cheer on every single rider doing the Ride to Conquer Cancer. That means, we waved to this young man, and wished him well. Just a face in the sea of riders, all smiling. All there for the same purpose. The same purpose the Ride2Survive rides. To put an end to cancer. And that same day, he crashed and died. I crashed and got through it with very minor injuries. Perspective.
Having said all of that, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about not being able to ride on Saturday. I've worked so hard for this. If there is any way for me to fight through the pain and still ride, I will be there. I will not let this stop me if I can help it. It's just a bummer that it's happened so close to the end goal. Regardless, I will be there with the team. We will wish for sunny skies, good memories, and lots of funds raised to fight cancer. But most of all we will wish for all of our riders to make it home safely to their families.
Monday, June 17, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Winding down
I started this blog as a way to document training for an event that quite honestly, I couldn't get my head around how you train for.
After many ups and downs, and many months, my conclusion is that you probably aren't ever truly ready. I doubt I will EVER wake up one morning and say "I'm totally ready to ride 248 miles/400 kms over two mountain passes in a single day". Never.
What does happen over the course of those months (at least what has happened to me) is that you realize that you did what you could, you trained hard, and you will do your absolute best. Perhaps your best will not be good enough, but it's your best. And in that way, I guess I'm ready. I've done my best. I've trained hard. I've trained often. I've varied the type of cycling that I've done. And no-I in no way feel like I'm ready. But I'm as ready as I can be at this point. Does that make sense?
When I think about the event, I actually get butterflies in my stomach, and it's still almost 2 weeks out. I thought that was a 'night before' type of thing. My butterflies must be over achievers.
I feel enormously proud of the fundraising that we've done, and how our friends and family have come together to support us, and this worthy cause. Over the last 5 years, together we (Den and I, and all of you) have raised nearly $30,000 towards cancer research. Forget about all of this jibberish about training rides-THAT's what it's all about.
Den and I went on a training ride Sunday that we've done a few times before. There was a noticeable difference in the way he climbed the 8 mile long hill. He noted a 3 km/hr improvement in his climbing speed, but honestly-I didn't need a computer to tell me that. I could SEE it. He was right on my butt the entire time, whereas previously he would drop off. So yes, there have been improvements in our riding (well......his riding at least. What does that say about mine? LOL). Here are a few pictures from that ride. We had fun!
Lest you think it's been all about road cycling, I assure you we like variety in our life. Have gotten out on mountain bikes (me) and Cruisers (Den) too. Is it wrong to admit that I'd take either one of those types of riding over road cycling? They are all fun in their own right, but maybe because the cruising and mountain biking are relatively new to me.....they sure are FUN!
After many ups and downs, and many months, my conclusion is that you probably aren't ever truly ready. I doubt I will EVER wake up one morning and say "I'm totally ready to ride 248 miles/400 kms over two mountain passes in a single day". Never.
What does happen over the course of those months (at least what has happened to me) is that you realize that you did what you could, you trained hard, and you will do your absolute best. Perhaps your best will not be good enough, but it's your best. And in that way, I guess I'm ready. I've done my best. I've trained hard. I've trained often. I've varied the type of cycling that I've done. And no-I in no way feel like I'm ready. But I'm as ready as I can be at this point. Does that make sense?
When I think about the event, I actually get butterflies in my stomach, and it's still almost 2 weeks out. I thought that was a 'night before' type of thing. My butterflies must be over achievers.
I feel enormously proud of the fundraising that we've done, and how our friends and family have come together to support us, and this worthy cause. Over the last 5 years, together we (Den and I, and all of you) have raised nearly $30,000 towards cancer research. Forget about all of this jibberish about training rides-THAT's what it's all about.
Den and I went on a training ride Sunday that we've done a few times before. There was a noticeable difference in the way he climbed the 8 mile long hill. He noted a 3 km/hr improvement in his climbing speed, but honestly-I didn't need a computer to tell me that. I could SEE it. He was right on my butt the entire time, whereas previously he would drop off. So yes, there have been improvements in our riding (well......his riding at least. What does that say about mine? LOL). Here are a few pictures from that ride. We had fun!
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| I know what you're thinking......."How can someone do all of that training and still be pear shaped?" :-) |
Since I've been kind of slack on the blog lately, I haven't yet mentioned that just over a week ago, Den and I completed the Elephant Rock Century Ride down in Castle Rock, CO. (Century ride meaning 100 miles-for the non-cylclists reading this). We got up at 4:00am to pack the car and drive down (hour drive away). It's a popular ride, with approximately 7,000 riders doing various distances. The 100 mile ride is advertised as just over 3,000 feet of climbing. Den's GPS at the end of the ride said 6,000. A *tad* different......and not in our favor! Mr. Literal was not pleased. Mr. Literal is also known as Mr. I Hate to Climb Hills. Put those two together, and whooooo boy, I'm glad I can only hear well in one ear! :-) In addition to the distance, and the climbing, we also had to contend with a 30 mile per hour head wind for a good majority of the ride. I liken this to pulling a heavy carrier and a couple of kids behind you at all times. There was a LOT of grumbling about it on the ride, and I swear to you it wasn't even all Den! LOL. No seriously, it was the talk of the ride. On one particular rest stop, we were actually contemplating taking a right turn on the course instead of a left-to allow us to cut off the extra loop that turned it from a 60 mile ride into a century ride. Of course Mr. Perspective had to step in and time our stop to coincide perfectly with a man with a prosthetic leg-who also was doing the 100 mile ride. Sometimes perspective is a great thing. In this instance, it allowed us to suck up our whines (or at least not be so verbal about them......inner turmoil *may* have still been there) and be so thankful for what our bodies are allowing us to do. We are healthy and strong and must only overcome our minds. Indeed, we are truly fortunate. Anyway, we were out on the course for 8 hours, with just over 6 1/2 hours of that in the saddle. It wasn't that fun, and it wasn't our best century (only other one we've done is the Whatcom Century ride in Bellingham, WA and it was so amazingly beautiful and fun!), but you know what? We did every mile of it. It will be our longest training ride before Ride2Survive. We've reasoned it by saying that A) it's extremely difficult to be a mule and pack everything you would need on your body for such a long ride. This was the longest supported ride we would be able to find. B) We were riding it on our own....so even though the team has done a 200km (120mile) training ride, there is strength in numbers. Riding that long on our own has to count for something (!!??).
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| Cruising around our neighborhood, so stinking happy with his Father's Day (early) gift. |
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| Hall Ranch, Lyons, CO. So amazingly beautiful there, and such a wicked cardio up! LOVED IT! |
So there it is folks. Tomorrow morning at first light, we depart on a long 2 day drive to B.C. We bumped up our original plans so that we can ride one training ride with the R2S group. This Saturday we'll ride 100 km (60 miles) with the group (it's taper time!), and besides a few other short rides, that's IT before ride day. It'll be great to meet all of the new riders, see all of our old friends again, and get back to riding in a peloton (which is SO FUN!).
All of our training has lead to this. I have internal pressure to complete every mile of the ride, if for no other reason than to put to rest this self doubt that I have and prove that your mind can overcome a lot of things. That, and the fact that I've said I'm going to do it and asked friends and family for money support. I know it's not about the bike. I get that. It's about raising money for cancer. But finishing this ride will feel so good and feel like one last final kick at cancer, which has caused so much grief for so many of us. Ride2Survive as a group, has raised over $2 MILLION dollars for cancer research, and done it without taking a single cent from the cause. Volunteers that come together and raise that much money? Amazing.......and something I'm so proud to be a part of.
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I started this blog yesterday but got distracted by a phone call telling me that the bike shop found a bike for me. Yay! After much consideration, I decided on a Specialized Amira Expert, Lululemon team edition colors. It's near impossible to find. We found one in the wrong size in Boulder, which allowed me to see it in person and know that it was pretty darn great looking. :-) The shop found one in California and they're going to have it shipped (Specialized has none, this was found at another Specialized dealer). Unfortunately, it'll get here long after we start our drive to B.C. so it'll have to be a "Yay, you finished (attempted?) the Ride2Survive" reward bike.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
More of the same....
Ride, stretch, rinse, repeat. Doing our best to get out there several times per week, and trying to mix up what we're doing. Saturday was a long(er) ride. 74 miles total for me (Den was shorter because we started by driving to Boulder in the car, and I decided to ride home instead of drive). We climbed up to a tiny little place called Raymond. Besides a few houses, the only thing there was a tiny general store. If it weren't for cyclists, I'm not sure it would even be in business. The amount of cyclists there using this as a refueling stop was hilarious!
Similar to our previous climbing rides, this one was basically all gradual climbing up. The grade varied from about a 4% to an 8%. Den put a new cassette (I think? I'm a bike knowledge loser.....I could have that wrong) on my bike, which gave me an extra 'easy' gear that I've never had before. I appreciated it-it made riding up so much easier! (He would argue that I didn't use it, but I think I did?! LOL). Anyway, as always, the ride DOWN the hill was pretty great. We didn't coast though, we hooked up with another random rider and pushed ourselves to the limit, pedaling our butts off the whole time. It was FUN!
We rode again Monday, and Tuesday too. In the last 4 days, we put in 129 miles.
They should come in handy this weekend when we tackle a century ride called E-Rock (Elephant Rock) down in Castle Rock, CO. We're trying to round up a few other riders to ride together with us to 'share the load', but we may end up on our own. This will probably be our longest training ride before Ride2Survive. It'll give us 160 km's, which is short of the 200km training ride that the Ride2Survive team will do......but we figure since we're pretty much doing it on our own instead of in a pack, it's close. It's nice that we get to use it as a training ride and have it be supported too. Non supported long training rides are a total pain.....always thinking about where you can refuel or use the washroom, or having to carry all of your own supplies.
Two weeks from today we'll be on the road to Vancouver already. We leave June 12th for the two day drive. We bumped it up so that we can get a bit more time in Vancouver, and do at least one training ride with the team. On Saturday, June 15th, the team has a police escorted ride that we hope to join them on. The police close off the street to let us sail through the lights. It's supposed to be pretty fun. I've never done it and am looking forward to it!
As the the knee.....I'm doing OK. Still going to Physiotherapy twice a week, and it's making a difference (that, and the icing, stretching, and brace I'm wearing). I'm hopeful that I'm going to be OK for ride day. This Sunday's century ride will be the real test.
There's talk of a new bike coming my way too. I sent Den a picture of a bike I liked, and in typical Den fashion, he's obsessed with researching and finding me a bike. Kind of hilarious actually. He gets something in his head and he has a single track mind!!! Don't be surprised if I'm riding a new bike within days.........
Some pictures from our gorgeous ride up St. Vrain on Saturday. We had a perfect hot day, and were surrounded by this all day long. LOVED it!
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| Unfortunately, this only captured just under half of the cyclists....but you get the idea. The store was only about the size of my walk in closet! |
We rode again Monday, and Tuesday too. In the last 4 days, we put in 129 miles.
They should come in handy this weekend when we tackle a century ride called E-Rock (Elephant Rock) down in Castle Rock, CO. We're trying to round up a few other riders to ride together with us to 'share the load', but we may end up on our own. This will probably be our longest training ride before Ride2Survive. It'll give us 160 km's, which is short of the 200km training ride that the Ride2Survive team will do......but we figure since we're pretty much doing it on our own instead of in a pack, it's close. It's nice that we get to use it as a training ride and have it be supported too. Non supported long training rides are a total pain.....always thinking about where you can refuel or use the washroom, or having to carry all of your own supplies.
Two weeks from today we'll be on the road to Vancouver already. We leave June 12th for the two day drive. We bumped it up so that we can get a bit more time in Vancouver, and do at least one training ride with the team. On Saturday, June 15th, the team has a police escorted ride that we hope to join them on. The police close off the street to let us sail through the lights. It's supposed to be pretty fun. I've never done it and am looking forward to it!
As the the knee.....I'm doing OK. Still going to Physiotherapy twice a week, and it's making a difference (that, and the icing, stretching, and brace I'm wearing). I'm hopeful that I'm going to be OK for ride day. This Sunday's century ride will be the real test.
There's talk of a new bike coming my way too. I sent Den a picture of a bike I liked, and in typical Den fashion, he's obsessed with researching and finding me a bike. Kind of hilarious actually. He gets something in his head and he has a single track mind!!! Don't be surprised if I'm riding a new bike within days.........
Some pictures from our gorgeous ride up St. Vrain on Saturday. We had a perfect hot day, and were surrounded by this all day long. LOVED it!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Feeling so happy, things are looking up!
So the last 2 weeks have been really low key. (aka: done not much of anything training wise). After a 12 day break, I went for a short 21 mile ride with a friend. It was low key, not at all fast, not much climbing, and not very long. A great way to test out the knee. Unfortunately, even though I rode it with the brace on, my knee started hurting about 1/2 way through.
Friday I went to see my new Physiotherapist for the first time. She was GREAT! She asked me a ton of questions, did an assessment, and asked me all about my goals. Or in this case: goal-singular. For me, this is all about Ride2Survive, and getting through it. I really don't care much about anything else at this point.
She did some pointed laser therapy on the spot that is causing me problems, and along with some other things-put an Iomed bandage on it (http://www.amazon.com/Iomed-Iontophoresis-Electrodes-Companion-80/dp/B000U64W2G) with steroids under the bandage. She reassured me that I have tendonitis, not tendonosis. One is acute. One is chronic. It takes a lot longer than a few months to develop the chronic tendonosis. She told me that I can continue to train, and let the pain be my guide. If it's excruciating, it's giving me a message to stop. If I can tolerate it, I'm fine to continue........as long as I promise that after the ride I am to take a good long break from cycling and give it time to fully heal. DEAL!
So this morning's plan was to head out with a group that we met last year, but found really quite fast. Den contacted them, and then said they'd love to have us. They were only going out for a couple of hours this morning, and originally both of us were going to go. Parker (son) however, had different plans for us. He was up through the night in our room with a high fever. I have no idea where it came from-he went to bed healthy! So there was no way I was going to leave him alone (Madison had plans this morning). Den said that since he's gotten in several good training rides over the last 2 weeks, and I hadn't really done any, that he would volunteer to stay home with Parker. I was happy because I was really curious what would happen with my knee.
The group of guys I met up with were great. They said they often break out into two different groups/different speeds. We started out and were going about 20 miles per hour for the first 1/2 hour. Sounds fairly fast until you realize that tucked into a group it really isn't that fast at all. I *may* have goaded them on by asking them if they were taking it easy for "the girl". About 15-20 minutes later, the ride pace suddenly picked up! LOL. So anyway, the good news is that we did about 32 miles, we at times rode pretty fast, and my knee was pretty darn good the whole time. A few deep pangs at one point that had me concerned, but they went away (??). I'm thrilled with whatever that physio girl did to me! Can't wait to see how it continues to improve, as I'm scheduled to go see her twice a week for the next two weeks.
Hoping this trend of feeling pretty good continues! I just have to take it easy and not push it too hard, either in distance or in climbing.
Friday I went to see my new Physiotherapist for the first time. She was GREAT! She asked me a ton of questions, did an assessment, and asked me all about my goals. Or in this case: goal-singular. For me, this is all about Ride2Survive, and getting through it. I really don't care much about anything else at this point.
She did some pointed laser therapy on the spot that is causing me problems, and along with some other things-put an Iomed bandage on it (http://www.amazon.com/Iomed-Iontophoresis-Electrodes-Companion-80/dp/B000U64W2G) with steroids under the bandage. She reassured me that I have tendonitis, not tendonosis. One is acute. One is chronic. It takes a lot longer than a few months to develop the chronic tendonosis. She told me that I can continue to train, and let the pain be my guide. If it's excruciating, it's giving me a message to stop. If I can tolerate it, I'm fine to continue........as long as I promise that after the ride I am to take a good long break from cycling and give it time to fully heal. DEAL!
So this morning's plan was to head out with a group that we met last year, but found really quite fast. Den contacted them, and then said they'd love to have us. They were only going out for a couple of hours this morning, and originally both of us were going to go. Parker (son) however, had different plans for us. He was up through the night in our room with a high fever. I have no idea where it came from-he went to bed healthy! So there was no way I was going to leave him alone (Madison had plans this morning). Den said that since he's gotten in several good training rides over the last 2 weeks, and I hadn't really done any, that he would volunteer to stay home with Parker. I was happy because I was really curious what would happen with my knee.
The group of guys I met up with were great. They said they often break out into two different groups/different speeds. We started out and were going about 20 miles per hour for the first 1/2 hour. Sounds fairly fast until you realize that tucked into a group it really isn't that fast at all. I *may* have goaded them on by asking them if they were taking it easy for "the girl". About 15-20 minutes later, the ride pace suddenly picked up! LOL. So anyway, the good news is that we did about 32 miles, we at times rode pretty fast, and my knee was pretty darn good the whole time. A few deep pangs at one point that had me concerned, but they went away (??). I'm thrilled with whatever that physio girl did to me! Can't wait to see how it continues to improve, as I'm scheduled to go see her twice a week for the next two weeks.
Hoping this trend of feeling pretty good continues! I just have to take it easy and not push it too hard, either in distance or in climbing.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Rest, rest, and more rest
Today is day 8 of no activity. :-(
Yesterday I went to see the specialists at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. They were very thorough, and even though I'm far from a Pro cyclist, they took my case seriously to try to help me get back to riding.
After the initial consult, and feeling around, she told me I have quadriceps tendonitis. She followed it up with an ultrasound of the area to show me what's going on in there. She took the time to show me a healthy tendon, and then the inflamed tendon of mine. Very interesting!
So the good news is that I don't have any tears or anything serious (which I suspected because at that point, the week of no riding had significantly improved my pain level!).
Icing twice a day. A brace to alleviate the pressure on the tendon running over my knee. Instructions to do foam rolling for 10 minutes a day to stretch out my quads/hams/upper legs (they're tight and pulling on the tendon, causing the pain). Physical therapy twice a week for the next while. And orders to take it easy on the bike. No more Flagstaff type climbs. She said Left Hand Canyon is fine (the ride up to Jamestown). Easy gears as much as possible, avoid the hard gears.
She seemed confident that this can be overcome and not get worse. I'm thrilled with that!
In the meantime, Den's been training away.......did Flagstaff again, this time leaving from our house. He also rode with a neighbour/friend out to Carter Lake to get in some more miles (80 miles). He's going to leave me in the dust!
I'm afraid I won't be ready. Den keeps telling me I'm ready to ride this thing tomorrow, but I honestly don't feel that way at all. :-/
Training is hard on the body!
Yesterday I went to see the specialists at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. They were very thorough, and even though I'm far from a Pro cyclist, they took my case seriously to try to help me get back to riding.
After the initial consult, and feeling around, she told me I have quadriceps tendonitis. She followed it up with an ultrasound of the area to show me what's going on in there. She took the time to show me a healthy tendon, and then the inflamed tendon of mine. Very interesting!
So the good news is that I don't have any tears or anything serious (which I suspected because at that point, the week of no riding had significantly improved my pain level!).
Icing twice a day. A brace to alleviate the pressure on the tendon running over my knee. Instructions to do foam rolling for 10 minutes a day to stretch out my quads/hams/upper legs (they're tight and pulling on the tendon, causing the pain). Physical therapy twice a week for the next while. And orders to take it easy on the bike. No more Flagstaff type climbs. She said Left Hand Canyon is fine (the ride up to Jamestown). Easy gears as much as possible, avoid the hard gears.
She seemed confident that this can be overcome and not get worse. I'm thrilled with that!
In the meantime, Den's been training away.......did Flagstaff again, this time leaving from our house. He also rode with a neighbour/friend out to Carter Lake to get in some more miles (80 miles). He's going to leave me in the dust!
I'm afraid I won't be ready. Den keeps telling me I'm ready to ride this thing tomorrow, but I honestly don't feel that way at all. :-/
Training is hard on the body!
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| Got a new helmet as one of my Mother's day gifts. It's so LIGHT! Specialized Prevail helmet. Den tells me the world champion wears the same one. LOL! |
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| Den's view on the way down the Flagstaff Climb |
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Knee pain
Over the last few weeks, my knees have been bothering me on the rides. Some people said it was too much riding, too soon. Some people suggested my seat was too low. Some said it was my cleat position. Some said it was that I pushed too hard of a gear and needed to do light, fast spinning instead.
I wasn't too worried about it because there were a lot of potential contributing factors and I was trying to work through them all.
Sadly, despite trying to pay attention to ALL of those things (cleats and seat fixed, took time off from riding, and really focused on lighter gears), after Sunday's ride, my right knee is in extreme pain. It's different than anything I've felt before, it actually concerns me that I've done some damage to it. I'm icing it, taking ibuprofen and resting it, but it feels just as bad as when I got off the bike on Sunday. I'm thinking I'll need to get a scan of some sort, or an expert to take a look at it. The chances of it correcting itself seem really low, and I run the risk of permanently damaging something if I continue to ride (may have already done damage....who knows?).
I'm super bummed. I'm proud of the training I've done. Sunday I did some really fast training with a group, followed by a solo jaunt over to the Boulder foothills again, and then climbed the Flagstaff hill up to the Amphitheater, and rode all the way back home. All in all, I did just over 76 miles that day (122kms). The climb up to the Amphitheater was brutal. Not really any breaks, and a fairly steep pitch. It had our heart rates screaming the entire time. A little bit more about it here: http://303cycling.com/flagstaff-hill-climb-boulder-colorado
This week's plan is to rest the knee....and ice the knee......and try to figure out what is going on with the knee. I can't even do alternative exercise at the moment-it's that messed up. :-(
I wasn't too worried about it because there were a lot of potential contributing factors and I was trying to work through them all.
Sadly, despite trying to pay attention to ALL of those things (cleats and seat fixed, took time off from riding, and really focused on lighter gears), after Sunday's ride, my right knee is in extreme pain. It's different than anything I've felt before, it actually concerns me that I've done some damage to it. I'm icing it, taking ibuprofen and resting it, but it feels just as bad as when I got off the bike on Sunday. I'm thinking I'll need to get a scan of some sort, or an expert to take a look at it. The chances of it correcting itself seem really low, and I run the risk of permanently damaging something if I continue to ride (may have already done damage....who knows?).
I'm super bummed. I'm proud of the training I've done. Sunday I did some really fast training with a group, followed by a solo jaunt over to the Boulder foothills again, and then climbed the Flagstaff hill up to the Amphitheater, and rode all the way back home. All in all, I did just over 76 miles that day (122kms). The climb up to the Amphitheater was brutal. Not really any breaks, and a fairly steep pitch. It had our heart rates screaming the entire time. A little bit more about it here: http://303cycling.com/flagstaff-hill-climb-boulder-colorado
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| View after the climb |
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| Success.....and a red face!!! |
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
A couple of set backs....
After our B&B weekend, Den fell quite ill. I was thinking it was initially just a bad hangover, but it was actually a rather nasty stomach bug that had him tied to the washroom for 5 days. Five days of NOTHING to eat, and barely anything to drink (couldn't keep anything in). It was actually pretty horrible, and left him severely dehydrated and weak. I think he lost 6 lbs. By Friday he was able to keep a few crackers down, and was feeling like he was turning the corner. He had missed a lot of riding that week, and really wanted to get back out there for his weekend rides.
I myself was having some trouble in the motivation department too. I didn't ride Monday through Wednesday. I have no excuse. Thursday I went and ground out hills in my big ring for an hour, but that's all I did through the week.
Saturday we were scheduled to ride our bikes to the Boulder foothills and climb a local hill called NCAR. It's called that because the hill leads to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It's about a 2 mile climb that varies from a 6-8 percent grade. Den drove his car over to the foothills because he was still not feeling very strong/energetic after not eating for so many days. I rode my bike over (about 18 miles from our house). We rode up and down NCAR 3 times, and then I happily accepted a ride back to the house. I justified it by saying that we need to spend some time with our kids!!!! Those two have been ripped off in the family time department lately.
Sunday we hooked up with 2 of our neighbors and did a 60 mile ride. Den rode strong until about the 50 mile mark, and then his legs started cramping up. We figure it's a symptom of dehydration still. Pretty great that he was able to do as much as he did though, and he did ride the entire 60 miles-we just slowed down to finish out. I felt great and strong the entire ride.
Can I admit that I'm sick of my bike? I like when we're out riding, but I hate that we *have* to do it so much. I hate how much time it's taking from our kids. I hate that it's our only focus lately. So I handed off my cycling shoes to get repaired and I'm taking a few days off. I won't be riding probably until the end of the week. Den went out on his own last night and did a few hill repeats by our house. He's lost his training partner.........which is probably just fine anyway, since it's supposed to SNOW again tomorrow. What the heck is with this place? Tomorrow is MAY! This past weekend we were riding in over 70 degree weather and being careful not to burn. Crazy.
I introduced myself to the Insanity DVDs yesterday. The first DVD was definitely insane. I might have set a new sweat record......and if you know me at all, that's saying a lot. Who knows what today will bring? My muscles are really sore from yesterday, so it'll be *interesting* to say the least......
Happy training to everyone else out there!
I myself was having some trouble in the motivation department too. I didn't ride Monday through Wednesday. I have no excuse. Thursday I went and ground out hills in my big ring for an hour, but that's all I did through the week.
Saturday we were scheduled to ride our bikes to the Boulder foothills and climb a local hill called NCAR. It's called that because the hill leads to the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It's about a 2 mile climb that varies from a 6-8 percent grade. Den drove his car over to the foothills because he was still not feeling very strong/energetic after not eating for so many days. I rode my bike over (about 18 miles from our house). We rode up and down NCAR 3 times, and then I happily accepted a ride back to the house. I justified it by saying that we need to spend some time with our kids!!!! Those two have been ripped off in the family time department lately.
Sunday we hooked up with 2 of our neighbors and did a 60 mile ride. Den rode strong until about the 50 mile mark, and then his legs started cramping up. We figure it's a symptom of dehydration still. Pretty great that he was able to do as much as he did though, and he did ride the entire 60 miles-we just slowed down to finish out. I felt great and strong the entire ride.
Can I admit that I'm sick of my bike? I like when we're out riding, but I hate that we *have* to do it so much. I hate how much time it's taking from our kids. I hate that it's our only focus lately. So I handed off my cycling shoes to get repaired and I'm taking a few days off. I won't be riding probably until the end of the week. Den went out on his own last night and did a few hill repeats by our house. He's lost his training partner.........which is probably just fine anyway, since it's supposed to SNOW again tomorrow. What the heck is with this place? Tomorrow is MAY! This past weekend we were riding in over 70 degree weather and being careful not to burn. Crazy.
I introduced myself to the Insanity DVDs yesterday. The first DVD was definitely insane. I might have set a new sweat record......and if you know me at all, that's saying a lot. Who knows what today will bring? My muscles are really sore from yesterday, so it'll be *interesting* to say the least......
Happy training to everyone else out there!
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| Approaching the NCAR climb. Absolutely stunning scenery. |
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| The NCAR building is up on the left of the picture, the road winds up and left. |
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| No idea why, but I was hurting SO bad on the first climb. Luckily the next 2 climbs weren't bad. Weird when that happens.......? |
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| The NCAR hill gives great views over the city (and shows how darn flat it is when you look anywhere other than west!) |
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| Compliments of Sunday's ride. Never seen that happen before! |
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday........nothing.
Monday was a great day to take off after 3 great training days on the bike.
Tuesday? Hmmmm. Two rest days in a row is probably OK, right?
Wednesday?
It's Wednesday night at 7:30pm and there is no motion towards the bikes. It'll need to be a trainer workout. I'm not thrilled with the prospect. Please give me the motivation to get off this chair and out of this rut. I can't let 3 days turn into 4.............we do not have the luxury of this many days off the bike in a week. :-(
Tuesday? Hmmmm. Two rest days in a row is probably OK, right?
Wednesday?
It's Wednesday night at 7:30pm and there is no motion towards the bikes. It'll need to be a trainer workout. I'm not thrilled with the prospect. Please give me the motivation to get off this chair and out of this rut. I can't let 3 days turn into 4.............we do not have the luxury of this many days off the bike in a week. :-(
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Asbury B & B (bikes and booze) was a success
Despite the crazy snow dump we had a few days before everyone was due to arrive, the riding camp was successful. We were soooo lucky that we had great riding days Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had no plans to ride on Monday, which is a good thing since it started snowing again and continued all through the day. Today it's Tuesday and it is STILL snowing. Winter wonderland all over again. April 23rd. Pathetic!!
Day one of the camp we rode a 65 mile (105 km) loop from our house to a little town called Lyons. It was a fairly flat ride. Everyone did great, but there were a few grumbles towards the end about being ready to be done riding. We had a wicked head wind and cross wind for most of the ride back. The start of the ride was a tad cool, but while we were underway we were totally fine. The sun was out and was doing a good job of keeping us warm.
Day two we rode from the house to a "famous" place called the Morgul Bismark loop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgul-Bismark
Races are held there, and it was featured in a movie called "American Flyers". It has some steep climbs, including 'The Wall', which is a gradual one mile climb that ends in a 12% grade. In addition, we did some speed work on Cherryvale Road in Boulder (which might possibly be my favorite road to ride on here). It has some great rollers and we were working as a team to get some good speed going. VERY fun. Everyone loved today's ride. It was only 35 miles (56 km), but very fun. Some gorgeous views of the mountains from there too.
Day three we left the house (well, Siobhan, Graham and I did.....Chris and Den drove) to head to the foothills in Boulder. It was a beautiful morning, and the ride into town was not difficult at all. 21 miles of bike lanes, beautiful views and easy riding. Nice start! When we arrived at the coffee shop meeting point, we joined up with the guys, and also Den's cycling coach Ann Samplonius. She rode with us this day and took us up to Ward. The climb to Ward is a 16 mile climb.....with the first 15 miles being not too bad (maybe 4-5% grade?) and the last mile is 11%.
http://303cycling.com/The-Climb-to-Ward-Boulder-bike-rides
It was actually pretty brutal. There was a LOT of self talk going on there, and a lot of grinding it out on the pedals! We all made it though, which felt pretty great. Ward is so high up (9,450 ft elevation) that the snow up there was still deep and prevalent! Didn't take long for the sweat we worked up to get COLD! After fueling up, emptying out and filling up water bottles, we started our descent. This was either the highlight of the day or the worst part of the day, depending on who you are (Siobhan hates descending.....and well, if you hate descending, this isn't your favourite position to be in......it's a LONG way down!). Some of us took off and reached speeds of 50 miles per hour (80 km) going down. Yeeeee hawwww!
Unfortunately, we stopped at the bottom to regroup, and I noticed I was in my big ring from the descent still. Not great for the new climbing challenge ahead of us (up the back side of Lee Hill Drive). I made a quick (slow) turn around to change into my small ring, and slid out on the loose gravel. Darn it! Took out my left elbow pretty bad, and minor cuts and bruises on both hands, and down my hip and left leg. We still had work to do though, so I rolled my ripped shirt and pinched off the blood, and we carried on. I'm thankful that I was going at that slow speed when I spilled. A wipe out at 50 miles per hour would be a nightmare!
At the end of that, we dropped off the rented bikes in Boulder, and went back to our place to celebrate a successful few days. We *might* have played as hard that night as we rode the last few days. Was a fun night, and capped off a great cycling weekend!
Day one of the camp we rode a 65 mile (105 km) loop from our house to a little town called Lyons. It was a fairly flat ride. Everyone did great, but there were a few grumbles towards the end about being ready to be done riding. We had a wicked head wind and cross wind for most of the ride back. The start of the ride was a tad cool, but while we were underway we were totally fine. The sun was out and was doing a good job of keeping us warm.
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| Day one-ride to Lyons. On Route 66! |
Day two we rode from the house to a "famous" place called the Morgul Bismark loop. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgul-Bismark
Races are held there, and it was featured in a movie called "American Flyers". It has some steep climbs, including 'The Wall', which is a gradual one mile climb that ends in a 12% grade. In addition, we did some speed work on Cherryvale Road in Boulder (which might possibly be my favorite road to ride on here). It has some great rollers and we were working as a team to get some good speed going. VERY fun. Everyone loved today's ride. It was only 35 miles (56 km), but very fun. Some gorgeous views of the mountains from there too.
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| Celebrating their first trip up "The Wall" |
http://303cycling.com/The-Climb-to-Ward-Boulder-bike-rides
It was actually pretty brutal. There was a LOT of self talk going on there, and a lot of grinding it out on the pedals! We all made it though, which felt pretty great. Ward is so high up (9,450 ft elevation) that the snow up there was still deep and prevalent! Didn't take long for the sweat we worked up to get COLD! After fueling up, emptying out and filling up water bottles, we started our descent. This was either the highlight of the day or the worst part of the day, depending on who you are (Siobhan hates descending.....and well, if you hate descending, this isn't your favourite position to be in......it's a LONG way down!). Some of us took off and reached speeds of 50 miles per hour (80 km) going down. Yeeeee hawwww!
Unfortunately, we stopped at the bottom to regroup, and I noticed I was in my big ring from the descent still. Not great for the new climbing challenge ahead of us (up the back side of Lee Hill Drive). I made a quick (slow) turn around to change into my small ring, and slid out on the loose gravel. Darn it! Took out my left elbow pretty bad, and minor cuts and bruises on both hands, and down my hip and left leg. We still had work to do though, so I rolled my ripped shirt and pinched off the blood, and we carried on. I'm thankful that I was going at that slow speed when I spilled. A wipe out at 50 miles per hour would be a nightmare!
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| Yeouchy |
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| The gang, starting our climb |
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| My view for a segment (taken by the GoPro....) |
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| Looking good Team R2S! |
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| Trying to give grade perspective..... |
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| Does this climb ever end? No. All up, no flat. |
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| Almost there. Hurting now!!! (or is that Hurling?) |
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| How cold us it at elevation 9,450 ft? Cold!!! Someone's not impressed! |
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| Refueling (unaware that the GoPro was set to take a picture every 4 seconds. We have no idea we're being recorded) |
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| Cleaning out the ice from my cleats. Cold up there! |
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| Anne giving Siobhan a pep talk before descent. |
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| Off Graham and Siobhan go.....one of the last pictures before the Go Pro exploded off my bike! |
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Back to the trainers
The weekend was great for riding. We finally got to meet and ride with Den's cycling coach. We met up to do some more climbing in the local foothills/mountains. Climbed for about 13 miles that day, then turned around and set a new downhill speed record (again) for me. Broke 80km/50 miles per hour. Then, another brutal climb up the back side of Lee Hill Drive in Boulder, before screaming down the hill again and finishing the ride.
Lee Hill Drive in Boulder is a significant hill for us. When we first came out to do some house hunting and were looking in Boulder, one of the houses we wanted to see was up Lee Hill Drive. It's a winding, steep climb up into the mountain. The hill was filled with cyclists and we were in absolute awe that they could climb it. It didn't help that we were out of breath just walking up a flight of stairs at the time (ahem....still are some days!). That elevation/altitude thing is real, especially when you just step off of a flight from sea level.
Because of that day, Lee Hill has always been in the back of our minds as the ultimate test of cycling fitness. We have yet to climb it from the front side, and I don't even think we're ready for that yet. As I said above though, we did a bit of climbing on it Saturday from the back side, and that was punishment enough! Some day we'll do the front side......
Sunday we were supposed to get out to ride, but the winds were unbelievably crazy. We passed. I've been blown off the road by wind three times in Colorado already (never before that). That's enough, thankyouverymuch!
Den did some treadmill work on Sunday instead. I sat on the couch and ate bon bons. What? Balance, right?
Monday it snowed all day. I don't even want to talk about it, it's so crazy. Snow in April. Really? What kind of madness did we move to? Last year in March and April we were in shorts. This is our second snow dump in April so far this year. Not impressed.
So the trainers came out again last night, much to my chagrin. At least it's nice to have an option to train when the weather doesn't cooperate.
This is the view outside of our window right now.
We have 4 friends flying in, starting on Wednesday of this week (that's tomorrow). We're hosting a cycling camp. A TRAINING camp. To say that this snow dump is ill timed is an understatement. I'll be hugely bummed if this ruins our weekend. I know we'll have fun regardless (wine anyone?), but it would be nice to get some great cycling in too!
Lee Hill Drive in Boulder is a significant hill for us. When we first came out to do some house hunting and were looking in Boulder, one of the houses we wanted to see was up Lee Hill Drive. It's a winding, steep climb up into the mountain. The hill was filled with cyclists and we were in absolute awe that they could climb it. It didn't help that we were out of breath just walking up a flight of stairs at the time (ahem....still are some days!). That elevation/altitude thing is real, especially when you just step off of a flight from sea level.
Because of that day, Lee Hill has always been in the back of our minds as the ultimate test of cycling fitness. We have yet to climb it from the front side, and I don't even think we're ready for that yet. As I said above though, we did a bit of climbing on it Saturday from the back side, and that was punishment enough! Some day we'll do the front side......
Sunday we were supposed to get out to ride, but the winds were unbelievably crazy. We passed. I've been blown off the road by wind three times in Colorado already (never before that). That's enough, thankyouverymuch!
Den did some treadmill work on Sunday instead. I sat on the couch and ate bon bons. What? Balance, right?
Monday it snowed all day. I don't even want to talk about it, it's so crazy. Snow in April. Really? What kind of madness did we move to? Last year in March and April we were in shorts. This is our second snow dump in April so far this year. Not impressed.
So the trainers came out again last night, much to my chagrin. At least it's nice to have an option to train when the weather doesn't cooperate.
This is the view outside of our window right now.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Let the pictures do the talking
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| Brutal hard workout tonight!!! |
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| Sensors all over me to feed the computer my movements and see how close they are to the recommended set up. Very cool..... |
Monday, April 8, 2013
Cycling weekend
It was a cycling weekend!
Sunday we climbed up to Jamestown again, and added a little extra climb in on the way back. It was a beautiful day, but not long after starting, we realized we had a nasty head wind to contend with. For the first 5 miles, it was coming directly at the side of us. At one point I let out a 'girl scream' because I was 95% sure I was going down. It blew me off the road and I was completely out of control. So scary! I managed to fight my bike back onto the road and keep it upright. At that point, we weren't sure what we would end up accomplishing.
At the 5 mile marker, we turned to begin our ascent. Now we were taking the strong wind right in the face. It was definitely adding insult to injury. Climbing, AND a head wind? Not fair. We decided right then and there that we would only be able to do 1/3 of the climb, and then turn off and loop back to the car. We were getting passed constantly. Boulder is filled with professional cyclists. To them, this climb is nothing. It was embarrassing to get passed like we were standing still! We fought the wind (slowly) to the turn off, and then I made the call-Nope, let's keep climbing as long as we can. This was our technique the entire climb. We set a goal, made it to the goal and decided that we should press on. We realized at this point that it was mental strength getting us up there. On ride day, you can bet there will be times we want to give up. We need to learn how to press on, regardless of obstacles.
As you would imagine, we felt GREAT when we reached the top. Just a 2 minute 'stuff food in our mouths' break, and we started the descent. Shortly after starting to descend, a team of 4 professional cyclists passed by us. They were tucked in, giving it their all to get down the hill the fastest. They were peddling their hearts out too. As they passed me, I decided to tuck (try to make myself as aerodynamic as possible) in and gain some speed.
Seriously.....the most hilarious part of the entire day was watching as I came up from behind and completely caught them off guard. They keep looking over their shoulder like "WTF?", and then peddling more to go faster. I had to use my brakes to stop from overtaking them (not a word of a lie). They were the cocky kind of riders.....after they passed us, they expected that they were in front and didn't even attempt to stay to one side of the road. They were all over the road, thinking they were blazing the trail down. Then comes me. I set a new personal downhill speed record that day. 79 kms an hour, or 49 miles/hr. Crazy fast. (Now, my new goal is to break 80kms some day. Den says there is a good opportunity to do it on ride day).
After the descent, we had another climb ahead of us. As we headed up the road, we saw it ahead in the distance....and I'm not going to lie-it was totally intimidating. Our mantra that day was to overcome mental fear though, and we pressed on. It wasn't pretty. We were almost ground to a stop at one point, but both of us climbed that sucker too......and boy did it feel good to get to the top and know it was nothing but downhill from there on in.
YAY!
Sunday we climbed up to Jamestown again, and added a little extra climb in on the way back. It was a beautiful day, but not long after starting, we realized we had a nasty head wind to contend with. For the first 5 miles, it was coming directly at the side of us. At one point I let out a 'girl scream' because I was 95% sure I was going down. It blew me off the road and I was completely out of control. So scary! I managed to fight my bike back onto the road and keep it upright. At that point, we weren't sure what we would end up accomplishing.
At the 5 mile marker, we turned to begin our ascent. Now we were taking the strong wind right in the face. It was definitely adding insult to injury. Climbing, AND a head wind? Not fair. We decided right then and there that we would only be able to do 1/3 of the climb, and then turn off and loop back to the car. We were getting passed constantly. Boulder is filled with professional cyclists. To them, this climb is nothing. It was embarrassing to get passed like we were standing still! We fought the wind (slowly) to the turn off, and then I made the call-Nope, let's keep climbing as long as we can. This was our technique the entire climb. We set a goal, made it to the goal and decided that we should press on. We realized at this point that it was mental strength getting us up there. On ride day, you can bet there will be times we want to give up. We need to learn how to press on, regardless of obstacles.
As you would imagine, we felt GREAT when we reached the top. Just a 2 minute 'stuff food in our mouths' break, and we started the descent. Shortly after starting to descend, a team of 4 professional cyclists passed by us. They were tucked in, giving it their all to get down the hill the fastest. They were peddling their hearts out too. As they passed me, I decided to tuck (try to make myself as aerodynamic as possible) in and gain some speed.
Seriously.....the most hilarious part of the entire day was watching as I came up from behind and completely caught them off guard. They keep looking over their shoulder like "WTF?", and then peddling more to go faster. I had to use my brakes to stop from overtaking them (not a word of a lie). They were the cocky kind of riders.....after they passed us, they expected that they were in front and didn't even attempt to stay to one side of the road. They were all over the road, thinking they were blazing the trail down. Then comes me. I set a new personal downhill speed record that day. 79 kms an hour, or 49 miles/hr. Crazy fast. (Now, my new goal is to break 80kms some day. Den says there is a good opportunity to do it on ride day).
After the descent, we had another climb ahead of us. As we headed up the road, we saw it ahead in the distance....and I'm not going to lie-it was totally intimidating. Our mantra that day was to overcome mental fear though, and we pressed on. It wasn't pretty. We were almost ground to a stop at one point, but both of us climbed that sucker too......and boy did it feel good to get to the top and know it was nothing but downhill from there on in.
YAY!
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| Pictures NEVER do the inclines justice....but you can sort of see the road curving up to the left in front of us |
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Up early for a training ride
Today it's Broomfield to Lyons. We need to head out early (7:00am) because we need to be back for Maddie's volleyball games.
I'm starting the ride with two sore knees (one brought on by running, one brought on my cycling I think.......I'm hoping my bike fit on Thursday will help solve that), really sore leg muscles from the plyometrics I did on Tuesday(!).....or maybe it's the volleyball that I played on Thursday. Haven't played in YEARS, so it worked different muscles.
Oddly, not too much of it seems brought on by cycling, which is primarily what I've been doing. We did a nice easy spin for an hour last night, and my legs were sore from the outset!
There is a lesson in there. I might need to back off when I'm not riding......or I'll never make it to ride day. Den thinks my ailments are hilarious (especially when you add in my poor balance, sometimes sore back, my head that aches when the weather changes (from surgery still), etc). SUCKS GETTING OLDER!
Oatmeal has been downed. Bikes are ready. Kids are still sleeping. The sun is up (although it's not warm yet...) Off we go!
Update:
So as we're riding today, this post was going through my head. What a WHINER I am. Yes, I had lots of aches on the ride today, but on a positive note:
We got up and did 50 miles today.
The sun was shining (OK, so it shines a lot here......but still. SO nice!)
We rode into Lyons and had an awesome cappuccino before turning around.
Although I had pains, my body let me do the ride (!).
Best of all.......as is the case with EVERY ride, we were so glad we went, after we were finished!
I'm starting the ride with two sore knees (one brought on by running, one brought on my cycling I think.......I'm hoping my bike fit on Thursday will help solve that), really sore leg muscles from the plyometrics I did on Tuesday(!).....or maybe it's the volleyball that I played on Thursday. Haven't played in YEARS, so it worked different muscles.
Oddly, not too much of it seems brought on by cycling, which is primarily what I've been doing. We did a nice easy spin for an hour last night, and my legs were sore from the outset!
There is a lesson in there. I might need to back off when I'm not riding......or I'll never make it to ride day. Den thinks my ailments are hilarious (especially when you add in my poor balance, sometimes sore back, my head that aches when the weather changes (from surgery still), etc). SUCKS GETTING OLDER!
Oatmeal has been downed. Bikes are ready. Kids are still sleeping. The sun is up (although it's not warm yet...) Off we go!
Update:
So as we're riding today, this post was going through my head. What a WHINER I am. Yes, I had lots of aches on the ride today, but on a positive note:
We got up and did 50 miles today.
The sun was shining (OK, so it shines a lot here......but still. SO nice!)
We rode into Lyons and had an awesome cappuccino before turning around.
Although I had pains, my body let me do the ride (!).
Best of all.......as is the case with EVERY ride, we were so glad we went, after we were finished!
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| The town of Lyons. So cool/different there. Beautiful too. |
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| Exciting Saturday night. Oooooh, the knees are hurting! |
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
The cost of doing this ride
The costs associated with doing the Ride2Survive are adding up.
- It costs $400.00 to sign up for the ride ($200 each). This is necessary to cover off any costs associated with the ride (ie: transportation, food, etc) so that we don't take any funds from the donations we get. We are SUPER strict on using 100% of the funds that are donated towards cancer research and not admin, etc costs.
- We typically donate $500.00 ourselves. We want to put our money where our mouths are. How can we in good conscience ask others to donate if we are unwilling?
- Bike fittings for both of us: $550.00 ($275.00 each). If we weren't doing the ride, we wouldn't get them done......but we don't want to chance being uncomfortable on our bikes when we have to spend 17 hours on them.
- The gas alone to drive up to B.C. and back will probably be $300.00 (guessing?)
- A hotel one night on the way up $125.00
- Dog in a kennel for the week. Cheapest: $140.00
Without even factoring food on the road, or the costs of a trainer (optional), or the cost for new bike saddles ($350.00- for seats on our bike-you could argue that we don't *need* them, but again.....17 hours on an uncomfortable saddle?)
I don't see how we won't end up out of pocket over $2,000; even without factoring the extra costs in.
So that is the financial cost. Then, there is the time commitment 'cost'. This is HUGE. The training required to be able to do this ride, or even attempt to do the ride is humungous. We trained on Easter. No-we didn't have to.....but there are limited times during the week that you can get out for several hours to ride......and we need to do it MULTIPLE times a week. We will be gone from our kids a LOT over the next few months. There is no way around this. When we get closer to ride day, every weekend we'll be gone one of the days for basically the entire day (between 5-7 hours on a single bike ride, every week for several weeks). There is no denying that there is a 'cost' to our children.
My mind has been swirling over the last few days about these things. The time. The money. The commitment it takes to do this. The fact that even though I like riding my bike, that doesn't mean I want to ride it every second day for hours.....or feel guilty about missing a ride.....or have every thought consumed with making sure we get enough training in. It's a LOT to take on.
But then, I think about the cost of NOT doing the ride. More families hear the news that their daughter, son, husband, wife, father, mother, grandparent have cancer.......and all of the stress, agony and uncertainty that goes with that. I remember what it felt like the first time we heard it with Den, and I remember that in that moment, we would have given ANYthing to make it go away. Honestly, anything. Nothing else seemed to matter once we found out he was battling cancer. And then I think about what it was like a few months ago when we thought there was a possibility that it had come back. - as sadistic and negative as it sounds, I have to tell you that I had envisioned myself as a widow. My mind went there. But we are the lucky ones. The ones that get to live productive 'after cancer' lives.
The 'cost' of doing this ride doesn't seem as big once you factor in the cost of NOT doing it.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Kicking it up a notch
*Someone* was having a hard time with motivation to get out training. That same *someone* had a birthday recently. So I bought him a cycling coach as a gift. Three months of coaching.
Wow-the switch has flipped. He is a riding machine now-on his bike most days of the week. He did 3 workouts on his trainer, plus 3 outdoor rides this past week. His coach sends him his required riding, and he uploads all the data so she can see what's going on. It's WORKING! She's a retired professional racer. Raced for 20 years and has a passion for teaching. So far we love her. Her name is Anne Samplonius. After I found her and decided she might be the one (based on a little bio on a website I found, and her philosophy on coaching), I was chatting her up and she said "Did you pick me because I am Canadian?". I HAD NO IDEA. Pure coincidence, but cool all the same!
As an added benefit, I go along for her suggested rides outdoors. We did a fairly short ride on Friday (24 miles), a faster paced ride on Saturday with a group (38 miles) and then a hill training session on Sunday (27 miles).
Yes, we trained on Easter Sunday. Now *that's* dedication! And since it was our hill training ride, we rode 8.5 miles up the side of a mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. My favourite ride so far, despite the climbing. Funny thing about the climbing though.......when you look up this particular route online, it ranks it a 2 star ride (out of 5, for difficulty). I didn't find it that hard, but honestly-it makes me shudder what a 4 or 5 star climb would look like. YUCK!
Of course......descending after all that climbing is super fun! I got up to 38.4 miles per hour (62km/hour) and Den was over 40 miles per hour (65/66km per hour). It's not a record for us, but it was fun none the less!
As an added bonus......burning those calories (darn boy burned twice what I did!) made eating the kids' Easter candy less guilt ridden!
Wow-the switch has flipped. He is a riding machine now-on his bike most days of the week. He did 3 workouts on his trainer, plus 3 outdoor rides this past week. His coach sends him his required riding, and he uploads all the data so she can see what's going on. It's WORKING! She's a retired professional racer. Raced for 20 years and has a passion for teaching. So far we love her. Her name is Anne Samplonius. After I found her and decided she might be the one (based on a little bio on a website I found, and her philosophy on coaching), I was chatting her up and she said "Did you pick me because I am Canadian?". I HAD NO IDEA. Pure coincidence, but cool all the same!
As an added benefit, I go along for her suggested rides outdoors. We did a fairly short ride on Friday (24 miles), a faster paced ride on Saturday with a group (38 miles) and then a hill training session on Sunday (27 miles).
Yes, we trained on Easter Sunday. Now *that's* dedication! And since it was our hill training ride, we rode 8.5 miles up the side of a mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous. My favourite ride so far, despite the climbing. Funny thing about the climbing though.......when you look up this particular route online, it ranks it a 2 star ride (out of 5, for difficulty). I didn't find it that hard, but honestly-it makes me shudder what a 4 or 5 star climb would look like. YUCK!
Of course......descending after all that climbing is super fun! I got up to 38.4 miles per hour (62km/hour) and Den was over 40 miles per hour (65/66km per hour). It's not a record for us, but it was fun none the less!
As an added bonus......burning those calories (darn boy burned twice what I did!) made eating the kids' Easter candy less guilt ridden!
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| At the top of the climb was a tiny little town called Jamestown. Lots of hippies around, strumming their guitars barefoot in the park! :-) |
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| Dinner with the family that night. |
Our email went out for donations a few days ago too. Hoping we can meet our target!
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