After taking a week off, Vanessa and I got in two good rides this weekend. On Saturday we joined the FMC team and rode in Katy. On Sunday we froze out in Round Top and Fayetteville at the Tri-County Hill Hopper organized ride. All in all I logged 100 miles for the weekend.
For the ride on Saturday. We got up and was at the ride by 7:15. Which was good because as I was loading the bikes I noticed my tire was flat. Since I had not ridden that bike in over two weeks, that should come as no surprise. So I grabbed a spare tire and tubes and headed off to the ride. I got Vanessa's bike ready, then proceeded to change my tire. I looked at my tire and did not see anything but decided to swap tires any way. All was good. I caught up to Vanessa at the first rest stop. We proceeded to follow the route. Being a Purdue Alumni, I harassed another rider in an IU jersey. The wind started to pickup during the ride since a cold front was going to come through. Luckily we did not get rained on, but it did rain on part of the route back to the start. We got into the wet roads, and I hear a big boom. My tire I had changed blew out. I pulled over and told Vanessa to go on. I tried to boot the tire, but it was no use. The sidewall was unpatchable. So I finished the ride with a little over 44 miles.
Sunday was cold. We woke up at 4 am to make it to the ride on time. Since Vanessa and I were both ride marshals, we had to be at the ride marshal meeting at 7 am. It was 37 degrees when we left the house and 33 when we got to the start. The high was only about 65, so we pretty much kept bundled up until the last 12 miles or so. Since this route is through some good hills on the MS150 route, it is a good test to see how the legs hold up. I must admit, that I felt pretty good in the hills. In fact, I decided to turn around after going down lone oak hill, and climb it. As I climbed it, I fliped my bike computer over to show the grade. It said that the climb was 10%. I believe it is pretty close to that. There are not many hill where you can be in your smallest gear, and stand up with out needing to up shift. This one you can. I highly recommend the Tri-County Hill Hopper before next year's MS150. I finished this year with 53 hilly miles.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Mountain Bike Rides
Well. It has been a while, but last Wednesday I took a 10 mile ride along the drainage ditches. It felt good to get on the mountain bike. The last time I rode it was in early December.
On Thursday, I rode the bike to work. It felt good to make that trip again. Hopefully I can make that trek more this year.
On Sunday Vanessa and I went to Double Lake State recreational area. They have a nice 8.1 mile loop. It is a fast course. Several tight turns, but mostly just nice single track. Since it rained over night in Houston, it was still wet to ride on the road. Double lake is a good trail to ride on if it has rained less than and inch or so. It drains nicely. We got to double lake around 11:00. I rode a slow lap with Vanessa. I tried to give her some pointers, but that seemed to be a bad idea. After the first lap, I rode one lap as fast as I could. I was able to complete the lap in 44 minutes and 56 seconds. This was almost 4 minutes faster than my per lap average at the race last May. I am looking forward to the race this year. I need to get on the mtn bike a few more times to do well.
On Thursday, I rode the bike to work. It felt good to make that trip again. Hopefully I can make that trek more this year.
On Sunday Vanessa and I went to Double Lake State recreational area. They have a nice 8.1 mile loop. It is a fast course. Several tight turns, but mostly just nice single track. Since it rained over night in Houston, it was still wet to ride on the road. Double lake is a good trail to ride on if it has rained less than and inch or so. It drains nicely. We got to double lake around 11:00. I rode a slow lap with Vanessa. I tried to give her some pointers, but that seemed to be a bad idea. After the first lap, I rode one lap as fast as I could. I was able to complete the lap in 44 minutes and 56 seconds. This was almost 4 minutes faster than my per lap average at the race last May. I am looking forward to the race this year. I need to get on the mtn bike a few more times to do well.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Bike Thoughts and Goals for 2009.
Well it is February, and I am just now getting down to writing down my thoughts and bike goals for 2009.
2008 Summary:
I finished up 2008 as a so so year for my bike riding. My quick summary involved teaching 12 students in the LAB Road 1 class in The Woodlands. I finished my 4th Hotter'n Hell 100. I intended to do some mountain bike races. Needless to say Hurricane Ike had different plans. After Ike, registration for the 2009 MS150 opened up. So Vanessa and I are preparing for our 5th ride from Houston, TX to Austin, TX. Vanessa became certified to teach the LAB bike safety classes also. We rounded out 2008 by teaching Group Riding Skills classes, and occasionally getting in a weekend ride or two.
2009 So far:
For the MS150 we are once again riding with FMC Cyclers. The team is a little over 170 riders this year, which is a large increase from the 109 riders we had last year. I was asked to be the Safety Coordinator for our team. Since our team requires every rider to take a bike safety class every two years, it is my job to track who needs a class, and organize classes to get the team educated. Turns out that is like hurding cats. ;-) We decided to get the jump on the safety classes. We started teaching classes in October within two weeks of registration. In 2008 we taught 5 classes, 1 in Oct, 2 in Nov, and 2 in Dec. We kicked off January in full swing and held a class every weekend from Jan 10th to Jan 31st. We had such great demand, that we even added two classes in Feb. To date, our group of 6 instructors have taught group riding skills to over 300 of the 13000 riders in the 2009 BP MS150.
2009 Goals:
Lastly my plug for the 2009 BP MS150:
As stated above, This is Vanessa and my 5th MS150. We participate in this ride for two reasons, it is a great physical challenge to cover the ride from Houston to Austin each year. I notice I get stronger each year. The second reason, is because I do get stronger each year, I raise money for those who can not. Because of my efforts to fund raise, every day we get closer to understanding the debilitating disease, and finding a cure. Please support our efforts by considering a $25 donation. You can donate via my personal fundraising link.
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/sabeard
Thanks for your support.
2008 Summary:
I finished up 2008 as a so so year for my bike riding. My quick summary involved teaching 12 students in the LAB Road 1 class in The Woodlands. I finished my 4th Hotter'n Hell 100. I intended to do some mountain bike races. Needless to say Hurricane Ike had different plans. After Ike, registration for the 2009 MS150 opened up. So Vanessa and I are preparing for our 5th ride from Houston, TX to Austin, TX. Vanessa became certified to teach the LAB bike safety classes also. We rounded out 2008 by teaching Group Riding Skills classes, and occasionally getting in a weekend ride or two.
2009 So far:
For the MS150 we are once again riding with FMC Cyclers. The team is a little over 170 riders this year, which is a large increase from the 109 riders we had last year. I was asked to be the Safety Coordinator for our team. Since our team requires every rider to take a bike safety class every two years, it is my job to track who needs a class, and organize classes to get the team educated. Turns out that is like hurding cats. ;-) We decided to get the jump on the safety classes. We started teaching classes in October within two weeks of registration. In 2008 we taught 5 classes, 1 in Oct, 2 in Nov, and 2 in Dec. We kicked off January in full swing and held a class every weekend from Jan 10th to Jan 31st. We had such great demand, that we even added two classes in Feb. To date, our group of 6 instructors have taught group riding skills to over 300 of the 13000 riders in the 2009 BP MS150.
2009 Goals:
- For starters I hope to update my Blog more frequently.
- Ride to work more (Average 2 days per week)
- Complete my 5th MS150
- Average 100 miles per week (I started this off in the hole)
- Compete in 5 mountain bike races
- Complete my 5th HH100 with a 20mph average speed
- Finish the Bike Around the Bay again
- Continue educating cyclist how to interact with traffic
Lastly my plug for the 2009 BP MS150:
As stated above, This is Vanessa and my 5th MS150. We participate in this ride for two reasons, it is a great physical challenge to cover the ride from Houston to Austin each year. I notice I get stronger each year. The second reason, is because I do get stronger each year, I raise money for those who can not. Because of my efforts to fund raise, every day we get closer to understanding the debilitating disease, and finding a cure. Please support our efforts by considering a $25 donation. You can donate via my personal fundraising link.
http://main.nationalmssociety.
Thanks for your support.
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