Well the rain went away and we had beautiful weather this week. What better time to get back on the bike and continue the training for the MS150. We are now 1 month away from the MS150.
Since the rain cleared up on Sunday, the hope was that the trails would be dry enough to ride on Wednesday at Cypresswood. NWCC was having their weekly mountain bike ride after work. So I took my bike with me and rode with the group. I got in a good 11 miles and got in just at dusk. The last few miles I pushed it to get in before dark. Since part of the group took the road back to the car, I did not push it to hard.
On Thursday I talked to Mike and Juan and we decided to take a quick 28 mile loop that Juan rides from the neighborhood. Overall the route is on some decent, but busy roads. Luckily people were nice and passed with space. The most interesting part was the initial sprint up 249 between our neihborhood and Boudreaux Rd during rush hour. We left the house about 6:15. I was glad I took my lights since it was just turning dark when we got home. I finished a 32 mile ride with a 18.4 average. 20 mile of the route I registered a 19.9 average. Overall not bad. After the ride we went to get something to eat.
The last thing before riding this weekend, I installed my new tires. I was doing some research online about my tubeless wheels. After having problems with my valve stems on my mountain bike last weekend, I went to www.notubes.com. I saw that they had a road tubeless kit to turn any 700c wheel into a tubeless setup. after doing some more research, I decided that this may be something to try. Since I was due for new tires before the MS150 anyway, it seemed like a good time to try it out. They arrived Friday, so who was I to wait. I came home from dinner and proceed to convert my current wheels to tubeless. Overall I was quite impressed, the whole process was not to bad. After taking off my old tires, tubes and rim tape, I noticed some dirt in the rims. After a quick cleaning, I proceeded to install the rim tape provided with the kit. Next I instaled the old tires and tubes and inflated them to set the rim tape. Once that was done I proceeded to remove the tires and tubes. Install the new valve stem, and mount the tires, soap the bead and pump it up. At this point I noticed that my rims were not welded but seated rims. even with the new rim tape, I could hear the small hiss of excaping air. Even with the his, I could hear the bead was holding. That was good. So I removed the valve core and installed the Stan's sealant, and proceed to inflate the tires again. This time I put the small leak at the bottom and rocked the tire side to side. In no time the his got less and less. I slowely rolled the tire around rocking it as I went. All hissing stopped and the tires held air. I followed the same process with the other wheel and all is good. I am looking forward to riding them tomorrow to see how it goes. The big test will be on Sunday when I do a long ride on them. With any luck I will get a smooth ride and a really good tire life. I will keep you posted on my thoughts.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Wet Week for Riding.
This has been a rough week for riding. I did get in a few miles on the mountain bike on Tuesday. Since the forecast looked like rain for the rest of the week. I figured I would get in some mountain bike miles while I could. I rode around the drainage ditches in the area. It was around dusk so I had my front and rear lights on for visibility. I finished with about a 10 mile ride right at an hour. After the ride I noticed that my rear tire was low on air, so I decided it was time to put in some new sealant. I think I finally figured out why. My valve stem was not properly seated so I was losing air slowly. Hopefully that is done.
Saturday was a busy day. We had a wedding to attend, plus it was raining almost all day. So I decided it was time to fix the mountain bike wheels, and ride the bike on the trainer. So I loaded up the 23 mile route for Montgomery, TX on the computrainer and decided to ride 10 miles of the route. This gave me a good solid 30 minute high intensity workout. Sunday I decided to forgo any training and spend time with the in-laws since this will be the last weekend they will be with us.
MS150 update:
Fundraising is going slow, but progressing. My personal goal is $1000. Last year I personally raised almost $850. If you would please consider a donation, even as small as $5 or $10 will help. I support this cause because I am thankful that I can enjoy my time on the bike. A diesese like MS could take that away from me, like it does so many others. I ride to Austin to suppor those who can't. Please consider a donation via the "support my ride to Austin" link to the right, or via the link below
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/sabeard
Thank you for reading my blog, and your support on the MS150.
Saturday was a busy day. We had a wedding to attend, plus it was raining almost all day. So I decided it was time to fix the mountain bike wheels, and ride the bike on the trainer. So I loaded up the 23 mile route for Montgomery, TX on the computrainer and decided to ride 10 miles of the route. This gave me a good solid 30 minute high intensity workout. Sunday I decided to forgo any training and spend time with the in-laws since this will be the last weekend they will be with us.
MS150 update:
Fundraising is going slow, but progressing. My personal goal is $1000. Last year I personally raised almost $850. If you would please consider a donation, even as small as $5 or $10 will help. I support this cause because I am thankful that I can enjoy my time on the bike. A diesese like MS could take that away from me, like it does so many others. I ride to Austin to suppor those who can't. Please consider a donation via the "support my ride to Austin" link to the right, or via the link below
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/sabeard
Thank you for reading my blog, and your support on the MS150.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Tough day on the bike
Well, this week is a lighter week on the bike. I rode to work on Thursday. Pretty uneventful 34 mile route trip. The commute trips really help out with the miles but they can get tough carrying all my stuff back and forth. I left home at 6:03 am, and got to work about 7:30. I left work at 6:00, got home a little past 7:30.
I was planning to ride on Friday, but ended up sleeping longer than planned. So I worked it out to ride with the FMC team today. They were hosting the ride at Montgomery. I worked the start so our team captains could drive sag. This meant that I was one of the last few to leave. I was planning to ride at least the 47 mile route. So after a short warm-up in the first 3 miles, I took of and kept a comfortable pace. I ended up holding a good average, around 17 mph, for the first 10 miles. The second 10 I was smoking it up. I completed the second 10 miles with a 21 mph average. I caught quite a few of the riders in front of me. Which makes sense when you are among the last to start. At Richards I decided that it would be best to do the 47 mile route instead of the 69 mile route. After leaving Richards I realized why I was moving so well. I had a nice tail wind, which was now a head wind. I caught a rider in front of me and the two of us decided to stick together. We stayed together for about 10 miles. Then I could not keep the pace and slowed it down a little. I ended up finishing with 47 hilly miles with a 17 mph average. Not bad considering the head wind we had.
I was planning to ride on Friday, but ended up sleeping longer than planned. So I worked it out to ride with the FMC team today. They were hosting the ride at Montgomery. I worked the start so our team captains could drive sag. This meant that I was one of the last few to leave. I was planning to ride at least the 47 mile route. So after a short warm-up in the first 3 miles, I took of and kept a comfortable pace. I ended up holding a good average, around 17 mph, for the first 10 miles. The second 10 I was smoking it up. I completed the second 10 miles with a 21 mph average. I caught quite a few of the riders in front of me. Which makes sense when you are among the last to start. At Richards I decided that it would be best to do the 47 mile route instead of the 69 mile route. After leaving Richards I realized why I was moving so well. I had a nice tail wind, which was now a head wind. I caught a rider in front of me and the two of us decided to stick together. We stayed together for about 10 miles. Then I could not keep the pace and slowed it down a little. I ended up finishing with 47 hilly miles with a 17 mph average. Not bad considering the head wind we had.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Friday commute, and MTB on Saturday
Friday I rode to work. It is not a tough ride, nor to long, but two 17 mile rides in a day add up over time. I can tell when I have to carry my laptop with me on the bike. The added weight does slow me down. But hey, it is good training. I figured that I needed to ride the bike since I was only going to get one day of riding on the weekend.
On Saturday the wind was bad, constant at 15 mph with gusts to 25-30 mph. Time to hit the mountain bike trails. I met my neighbor and we hit the trails along Cypress Creek close to the house. Gary had not been on those yet, so it was fun. We covered most of the trails, the area at the YMCA has not been cleared out since Ike. Also we found out that they closed off the gap in the fence that let us get out when we followed the trail through there. So after a little back tracking, we ended up with a 22 mile ride. The wind was tough on the way back home.
On Saturday the wind was bad, constant at 15 mph with gusts to 25-30 mph. Time to hit the mountain bike trails. I met my neighbor and we hit the trails along Cypress Creek close to the house. Gary had not been on those yet, so it was fun. We covered most of the trails, the area at the YMCA has not been cleared out since Ike. Also we found out that they closed off the gap in the fence that let us get out when we followed the trail through there. So after a little back tracking, we ended up with a 22 mile ride. The wind was tough on the way back home.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Two good rides
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.
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 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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