Blog slacking

I have been a horrible blogger the past month. There's plenty of cycling and training going on, just haven't had time to update the stats. Look for more updates this week as I try to play catch up... including pictures from Utah which look simply amazing!

Utah Day 2 (Ride 2)

Saturday began with much doubt as to what I should do for the day. Prior to arriving in Utah, I had found out about a century ride in Heber City (about an hour from Salt Lake City). As a companion to the usual posted route map for a century ride came an elevation mapping of the route which had me worried in one specific part: a steady 1-2 mile climb of around 900 vertical feet. Top this off with very cool weather, the threat of rain by late morning, and that it was 5 am (and I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep) I had serious doubts about attending such a ride.

After some pacing around the living room and a debate between the lazy, wanting to sleep in angel on my one shoulder, and the sadist, wanting to hurt ourselves on the bike devil on the other, I realized that if I were to sleep in I'd probably wake up right when the rain was starting and end up wasting a day. So I was off to Heber City.

The charity ride was for bike2bike.org and the people running the show were fantastic. Worried about over or under dressing for the weather (at the start it was about 40 degrees, but would be up in the mid 60's in a few hours) I found out each rest stop had bags that you could put your registration number on so that you can shed layers as you go, and pick them up at the end of the ride. This worked out great as I found the right level of layers by the 2nd rest stop.

I should take a moment to make a side note on the first water stop. It was the site for the olympic biathlon and we got to take advantage of this by biking down to the shooting site and doing a little target practice with some pellet gun rifles in the prone position. This definitely made this ride stand out from any other charity ride I'd done in the past, and probably from any in my future career.

Back on the bike I found quickly found myself at the foot of the beast of a climb that I had been worrying about since the start of my vacation. To add to the drama, I found myself at the foot of the climb with a few riders as we waited for a green light to cross the street and begin our climb. I quickly talked with the other riders that had been waiting and asked for any last minute tips. Low gears, grind away, and think of a happy place were the suggestions I received. Green turned the light and we were off. I dropped to third gear and began my climb. After a few feet I quickly learned first gear and a high cadence was the way to go. I buckled in for the long haul and was surprised to find that i was catching on others that had already been climbing the hill before us. I made it to the the rest stop near the climax of the hill to find some beautiful views.

Top of the hill	Jordanelle State Park

It was at this point I also found that I LOVE climbing. I always thought I was terrible at it, but apparently with the sadist devil on my shoulder cheering me on I found I had the mental strength to not only climb but push myself to pass others as I did so. The devil kept shouting things like "pain is weakness leaving the body", "if that 50 year old guy in front of us can do it, why can't we do it faster?", and "if we stare more at the ground, and can't see the horizon, it looks like we're on flat land."

Heading down the descent of this monster climb, I found a new fear: 30+mph descents on a flat tire. Lukily I held the steering steady so I could slow down to pull over and fix my wheel. With the help of the SAG driver to watch me fix my flat, I came to realization that my front tire was shot. It had an actual puncture in it that was causing anything remotely sharp to jet in and kill my tube underneat. The driver offered me a ride but also told me that the coming miles to the lunch stop were pretty clear with little descents. I decided to take another spare tube from him, and tough it out.

I got to the lunch site luckily with no more flats and found Bob, the ride organizer there with the big SAG truck full of bicycle goodies. He checked out my tire and helped me out with a replacement. Also thanks to Alicia, the massage therapist, who lent me her pump when my little one couldn't get the job done. With a good meal in my belly and a reliable tire on my wheel, I was ready to push on with the ride.

Unfortunately the weather was not going to cooperate with the rest of my good fortune. The winds were picking up and the support folk talked of reports of rain coming from farther north into the ride. Talking with some other riders we all thought it was wise to just cut the ride short and head back home. My legs, lungs, and heart were ready for the 65-100 miles, but my logic was winning the fight. Thoughts of 30-40 mph descents in cold rain on wet roads just wasn't what I had in mind for my vacation. Even the sadist angel agreed.

Heading back I found myself on some long flats with some mighty strong headwinds. I tucked in and tried to provide a draft to Alicia and a few riders who voted me to take the lead. Apparently the lunch crew decided I must have brought the winds with me from Chicago. I, of course, was more than happy to oblige and pull them along as long as they could keep up. At one point I think I was actually smiling as I pictured myself on the Lake Front Trail in the evening winds after a work day.

A short reclimbing of the previous beast and some more headwinds on the highway back to Heber City, I was done with what turned out to be a fantastic vacation ride.

Total miles: ~51

Additional Photos

Top of the switchback	Looking back on the switchback	Storm rolling in
Mountains	Part of Monster Climb

Utah Day 1 (Ride 1)

In regards to next summer's Big Ride across the country, biking in elevation and climbing serious mountains has to be among my top concerns. Some how climbing overpasses in the flat lands of Chicago just cannot seem to quiet these thoughts. Therefore in lieu of the normal vacation of relaxing on a beach I decided to visit a friend in Salt Lake City, UT to conquer these exact issues.

The plan for the trip was pretty simple: arrive with my bike, set it up, bike, bike, maybe take a day off, bike some more, head home.

I got in late Thursday night to a warm welcome from Todd and some great dinner chili with him and his girlfriend. After a great meal (Todd I still need to get that recipe) it was off to the garage to put together the bike. Having been my first trip traveling with my bike I was surprised to find I packed it well and the hard case had held everything together. By far the best protective investment for my cycling investment. The rest of the night was spent shooting the shit as I worked and tweaked my bike and Todd worked on his (motorcycle, not bicycle).

Friday morning I was up surprisingly early, probably around 8:30 am Utah time. To all those that know me, if I don't have to be at work, I'm usually not awake until noon. I guess the anticipation of training was too much to let me sleep in. I light breakfast and I was out on the road. After a few blocks I would have to stop as I realized I still had tweaks to make from the previous night's reassembly: increasing the angle in the seat, leveling off the handle bars, re-centering the lines of the saddle, and so on.

It wasn't long before I found my first climb and my first taste of what it is like to train in elevation. Normally when riding I may feel a tightness in my chest as I find my lungs out of shape, or a muscle cramping in my leg muscles as I find I am pushing them to new boundaries. Instead this time it was burning in my lungs as I took the deepest breathes possible. As for my legs, they would feel fine until after a steep climb. Then it was not a matter of muscle tightness, but rather the feeling of muscles that were not well rested. In both cases, it was obvious it was a lack of oxygen to my lungs and working muscles. Oh the love of elevation!

I found the best solution was to ride myself to near exhaustion for an hour or two, then rest for 30-60 minutes. I repeated this for the rest of the day and by dinner time was climbing with much greater ease. The final total of the day was ~40 miles.