Finally!

It’s been a few months since I participated in the May MS Bike event. I raised $1,050, which earned me a “Super Cyclist” jersey. The mid-NJ chapter had some issues with ordering a new batch, but after a few follow-up phone calls, my jersey arrived today. It looks good too.

I had a few hours today to myself while my lovely wife took the kids to a birthday party. I dressed up, got my water bottles ready, and made a photocopy of the route cue sheet from my NJ road cycling map book. Instead of trying to write out the directions like last time, I scanned it in and printed it for reference. Much quicker and neater.

I decided to try out some of my route from last week’s Clarksburg Ride that I attempted but got lost during. Since it was late afternoon / early evening, the sun wasn’t beating down and there was a nice breeze. I didn’t get lost this time around, and ultimately decided to follow as much of the route I could in the time allotted.

It took me about 3.5 hours to ride about 43 miles, and I worked on sprinting and keeping a strong pace. I ran out of water towards the end, but soldiered on. I now have 218 miles on the odometer. I’ve got that 600 mile goal in my sights.

This was a pretty nice Father’s Day weekend. I purposely asked that we didn’t do any big dinner or gifts this year. I don’t need it, and we should try to save a little money. What I did want was some free time to hit the gym and go cycling this weekend. This past month (since the MS ride) has been a very long month, with little time afforded to me to work out in the evenings, or go riding on the weekends. We didn’t get to do everything on the potential agenda e.g. movie night, but it was close enough. We have Kung Fu Panda sitting in its Netflix mailer, but we’ll have to watch it next week instead.

Saturday morning, I hit the gym, then my wife had to run some errands. While she was out, Lily and I picked Josh, who had spent the past two days/nights hanging with his maternal grandparents. When she got back, we hit the animal hospital to check out some kittens up for adoption. Afterwards, we did some shopping. I made what some might call a Chinese dinner: chicken fried rice with veggies sautéed in a General Tso’s sauce. Next time, I’ll plan ahead, and have some scallions on hand for garnish!

Sunday was proving to be one packed itinerary. I planned to go cycling in the morning, then we would take the kids to the neighborhood pool, lunch at home, then get ready and go to my father-in-law’s *last* church service. I use the word “last” loosely, since he’s retiring from his primary church, but he’s not actually “retiring.” Ah, I’m not going to get into it again. Whatever.

Cycling

6/19/2011 - my Father's Day ride -- 40 miles

Sunday morning, the kids were sleeping, and my wife was working on her speech for later that evening. I got ready in my cycling clothes, made myself some eggs and stuff for a hearty breakfast, and mapped out a decent ride around the area. I used a book that my wife got me for my birthday last year with routes all around NJ. A little after 8 AM, I was out the door.

I rode for a little while heading up to Cranbury, when I realized that my cyclocomputer wasn’t registering any mileage. It still said 0.0! Argh, I said, and stopped to figure out what was wrong. Now, I figured that the magnet and sensor got jostled on the bus ride back from Tuckerton Seaport last month, but I took the bike for a tuneup last week, and specifically told them it may need alignment. It seems they never bothered to check this out. Speaking in the 3rd person, I will say that Joel was annoyed. I messed around with the sensor, and it started registering, so I got back on the road heading up to Cranbury, NJ.

6/19/2011 -- I've racked up 175 miles so far this year

I didn’t quite follow the route listed, as I decided to not go all the way to the “starting point” marked in the route. Instead I thought I’d try to find one of the streets, and just go from there. Unfortunately, using the route and my iPhone’s Google Maps, I still had issues trying to find some of these streets. I eventually found my way, but I wasted a bit too much of my morning trying to find my way back to the route. I was probably better off just going to the specified starting point. As the morning drew on, it got progressively hotter, but I rode decently. In hindsight, I’m very glad I went for the 2nd bottle cage and water bottle, as I finished both on the ride, and then stopped at the Clarksburg General Store to get another large water bottle for a refill. I was only eight miles away from home, which would get me at about 38 miles in total, so I figured that was pretty good for today. I, of course, after using Google Maps, still went the wrong way, and had to backtrack again. I reached home a little after 12 noon. In total? 40 miles for the day, and 175 miles on the 2011 odometer. I think I can hit 200 miles next ride, which I hope is very soon. Since my personal best is just short of 600 miles in 2004, I’d like to beat that this year. I’m 1/3 of the way there now.

Surprise Father’s Day Gifts and Pool Time

The family had a little surprise for me, with cards and gifts, which I appreciated. I can’t wait to try out my new Swiss army knife. We had a short but closing window to hit the pool, so my wife got the kids ready for the pool before I got there, and I showered and got into my swim trunks. We hustled over to the pool, and swam around for the a while. My wife stayed out of the water, enjoying the rays. In too short a time, we had to get back and get ready. I picked up a quick lunch from 7-Eleven for the kids and me, and then we raced to get everyone showered and dressed.

Some of my Father's Day gifts and cards. I like the Star Wars card a lot!

Sunday Evening’s Church Service / My father-in-law’s Retirement Service

Naturally, we out of the house a little later than expected, and still had to get gas for the car. However, we now had less than an hour to get up there and get seats. I won’t mention all the details, but… the good news is that we made it there before 4pm, and the bad news is that I certainly made some enemies on the northbound NJ Turnpike that day. It was hot that day, but the kids were mostly behaved. After all the speeches, we went downstairs to eat and talk. We got out of there around 9pm, but then we had to get a few groceries (and pool shoes for Josh), so we hit ShopRite around 10:15 pm with the whole family. By the time we finally got home and got the kids to bed, we were all very tired.

Okay, it’s been two weeks now, and I haven’t been on the bike since the Bike MS ride in late May. It weighs on me, but I should explain what’s going on.

1. My wife is on the search committee for church as we (as a church) evaluate candidates for the permanent rector. As a result, she’s been gone entire weekends travelling and visiting. I’m home with the kids, so that doesn’t leave any time to go out for a few hours of pedaling. Such is life. Sometimes I have to cover for her, sometimes she has to cover for me. It’s teamwork!
2. Our weekends have been packed with soccer games, parties, and general running around.
3. In the interests of full disclosure, my left knee has been a bit achy since May 21st. I never truly let it recover in May, so I think I’m paying for that now. I’ve been to the gym twice now, as that is my primary mechanism for getting in shape.
4. My bicycle was a little banged up while it was loaded and transported back from the Pinelands school after the ride, and I never had a chance to have it checked out after the ride was over. A turnaround time of a few days is to be expected, but I wouldn’t want to go out again until I knew my bike was in good shape.

Two new water bottles

Thursday evening, I dropped off my bicycle to one of the two bike shops I use for a quick tuneup to ensure everything is in working order, and it will cost me about $34. I got the bike back Friday evening, and it’s in pretty decent shape, including the tires. I also purchased an additional bottle cage and two 20-oz. insulated bottles for my bike. They had to move the bike lock to the back, but now I have two cages to hold two large bottles. Hydration is important, and apparently, I was told that I really need to have two bottles. I can also use a bottle when at the gym, which would cut down on the use of plastic water bottles. When in Rome….

So when am I going to go riding again? Yeah, I don’t know. This past weekend was packed, and next weekend isn’t looking too good either. Sigh. Around the 18th and 19th, I think I get some free time. Also, that would give me the four weeks of time off from the bike that my general physician recommended to me in April, which I ignored. Maybe it’s all working out in my best interests anyway.

I did it! I rode 85 miles in one day.

I decided to not repeat last year’s late morning start and missing the team photo. No, not again. Friday night, I got my equipment together, and placed it next to the door. As soon as I got ready Saturday morning, I take everything there and put it in the car, load the bike, and take off. Saturday morning, I woke up at 5am, and my wife kicked me out of the bed. I got ready, loaded up the car, and was on the road by 6:20 AM. I unfortunately took the somewhat longer route, but got to Monmouth University in West Long Branch by 7:15 AM.

Everyone was arriving after 7am

There were lots of people arriving in the morning, and I got parking, then walked into the Boylan gymnasium to drop off paperwork at the Team CentraState table. So did I forget anything that day? Yes. I forgot the rider packet they mailed me earlier this month with my rider number and luggage tags. I ended up heading over to the “Solutions” table to get a replacement tags.

Interesting story — Friday night, I got a message from a mutual friend of my wife & me, who has a work colleague/friend who was to ride the 170-mile two-day ride, but a companion backed out. The mutual friend knew I was riding, and put me in touch. I called this colleague/friend, Jacqui, and she decided to ride the one-day Saturday 85-miler with me instead. I figured this would be good, since I’m helping someone out, and it’s nice to have company. We met up in the gym Sat morning after I participated in the team photo, and then got our bikes ready.

8;05 AM, after a speech and “opening ceremonies”, we were off! The mapped route was 85 miles from West Long Branch down to Tuckerton. We had rest stops for stretches and snacks/drinks every 15 miles or so. If you check out the map (previous link), the route hugged the Jersey coast for the most part down to Seaside Heights, then took us all across the water on a long bridge (Rt 37, “Little League World Champions Blvd”) towards Toms River. This part of the ride was cool, as they closed of two lanes on the bridge for us, and I’ve never ridden on such a large bridge before.

Lunch stop

We went inland the rest of the day. Apart from the rest stops, we had lunch at mile 52 at an elementary school in Lacey Township. I don’t believe I was ever so happy to see a turkey sandwich in my life. Lots of food, and a DJ playing music for entertainment. Around 2PM, Jacqui and I hit the road for the next 35 miles. At this point, 50+ miles has been the most I’ve ever ridden on my bike. When I got back on after lunch, my saddle-area was aching very badly, and my legs were feeling the first pangs of muscle fatigue. I’ve never asked my body to go farther than this, so it started to rebel. Still, we went on, and my posterior settled down for the most part. Over the next 35 miles, I started to experience more pain in my neck, my lower back, and a lot in my left wrist. The wrist pain go so bad, I struggled to find a comfortable position for my left hand to hold the handlebar. My knee held up surprisingly well, but the rest of me wasn’t so hot.

Mile 85, 5:05 pm, we pulled into the Pinelands Regional Junior High School, and I was happy to not go any further. There was an option to now complete a 15-mile “power loop” around the school, to make it a full 100 miles for the day. However, since I wasn’t much shape, and it was getting late, I ended my flirtation with trying for another 15 miles. I’ve never done 85 miles in one day, so there’s no reason to be crazy to try for 100. I can leave that for next year!

Jacqui and I just after arriving at the Pinelands school

We loaded up the bikes on the bus, and the bus eventually left around 6pm. We got stuck in traffic northbound on the Garden State Parkway, and arrived back at Monmouth University at 8 PM. I hobbled back to my car with the bike, loaded up, and drove home. I got home at 9:00 PM, and I was pretty tired. Of course, I had plans to go see Thor, but that’s another story.

All in all, I’m happy that I could do the ride this year. I started training back in February, dieting and exercising towards a better, healthier lifestyle. I lost 12 lbs along the way, and my doctor likes my blood test results and weight loss. I like accomplishing a new cycling milestone in my life. I liked riding and realizing that I’m not half bad climbing hills. I like that I raised $1,050 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. I like that I’m now a “Super Cyclist” for MS, and I earned myself a cool 2011 Super Cyclist jersey. These are all good things.

Photos are now up in the May 2011 Photos gallery, so please enjoy.

I think I’m basically ready for Saturday’s big 85-mile ride. I’ve got two more days to go, and although I’m a little nervous about attempting to traverse that long distance, I’m sure it will be fine in the end. I’m even considering, depending on how fast I ride throughout the day, to attempt the 15-mile “power loop” at the end. More on that later.

For the past 3 months, I’ve been working out at least 2-4 times a week. Most of the time, it was only twice a week, but sometimes I was able to squeeze in an additional workout or two. The whole knee injury in Feb certainly through a monkey wrench into the plans, but I’ve mostly recovered. I may take it light on my knee for 1-2 weeks after all of this so I can let it recover with quality. I worked out last night, and I’m no worse for wear. Back at 194 lbs,

Today is my “Friday”, since I’m taking off tomorrow. I have no major plans, but want to run a few errands in prep for Saturday:

• Get a super-short, race-ready haircut.
• Ask my local bike shop to make a quick evaluation whether my bike is in decent shape for Saturday. I inspected and cleaned it recently, so I think it’s going to be fine. Still, if I have a problem at mile marker 70, I’m going to rue the day.
• I have a eye doctor’s appt in the morning, as I wouldn’t mind some new trial contacts on Saturday, vs struggling with my current worn-out pair.
• I’d like to meet my exquisite wife for a quick lunch in the area.
• I need an oil change for one of the cars.
• I plan to squeeze in one more workout at Gold’s. I may do cardio, but I’ll most likely focus on weight-training. Okay, maybe light cardio — how can I resist?
• I need to go over the registration paperwork and the separate personal checks that I need to submit.
• Probably do some cleaning up around the house.
• Lastly, go to bed early for once.

The last item, about going to bed early, is pretty important. Last year, I woke up late, and with the hour drive to Monmouth University (and getting lost trying to find the correct entrance), I missed out on the Team CentraState group picture at 7:30am. Argh, that still bugs me. Of course, I was so wired last year, I didn’t go to bed until 2am the night before. This year, I’m making the group photo!

I’ve never done 85 miles before, so yeah, I’m a little nervous, but I’ve got from 8am to 6pm. Riding at least 16 MPH should get me there in about 6 hours, which would be around 2pm. Now, here’s the interesting part — there is an option at the end to follow a marked 15-mile loop. If I have the energy for another hour of riding, I could ride another 15 miles, and make it a full 100 miles (also called a ‘century’ ride.) Again, I haven’t done more than 51.5 miles (back in May 2004), and that took me 6 hours when I was more fit and thinner. How the heck would I do 85 or 100 miles in about the same time?

Well, I figure that the Valley Forge ride consisted of a lot of me getting lost in the Philly suburbs and going uphill many places. Also, I was fairly inexperienced at the time. I’m older and less fit, but the Jersey shore route will be fairly flat (to uphill bridges though, I’ve been told), so as long as the wind is to my back, I should make good time. I’ve done 50 miles in 3+ hours since May 2004 on more reasonable terrain, so I don’t think this will be as bad. Compared to last year, I’ve got better shoes and pedals, new handlebar tape (with extra gel padding), I’m lighter, and I’ve been working on my cardio and muscle-building for three months now. I’m definitely in better shape than I was last year.

In the end, I’m ready for Saturday, rain or shine. Um, okay, not the “rain” part, but I’m ready for Saturday…. shine or partly cloudy. Overall, I’m pretty psyched!

I have a terrible confession to make. I’ve been secretly “slumming it” on my bike by using unofficial cycling eyewear. I know, I know, I want to vomit too. I’ve never been one for fancy-shmancy sunglasses, as I’ve always been fairly happy to slum it with the cheap $8 ones you find at kiosks. Whenever I hit the road on my bike, I wear the same pair of sunglasses.

I thought, for a change, let me pick up a decent and somewhat inexpensive pair of eyewear specifically made for sports, including cycling. I found a decent $30 pair over at Performance Bike, and they appeared to fit the bill. Nice large frame to help keep the wind and dirt out of my eyes, interchangeable lenses for varying light conditions, and they’re grey. I like grey.

I tried them out today on a quick 70-minute ride, and they were good. This pair of Scattante (Performance Bike’s in-house brand) also comes with a case and cleaning wipe.

Laurita Winery

On Sunday, the Laurita Winery in New Egypt, NJ, hosted a training ride opportunity for some of the big MS Bike Ride teams participating later this month. They marked out a 15-mile loop starting from their winery, and included a free wine-tasting. From what I notes on their website, his is tied into their “Spring Fling” event, so this is all probably a marketing/ promotional thing. Still, why not take advantage? A number of the Team CentraState ride group would be attending, and this would be an excellent opportunity to try out my knee, and my new gear. The ride starts at 9am, people could so as many loops as they want to reach 15 miles, 30 miles, 45 miles, etc. I was aiming to achieve 30 miles for the day. That’s a healthy distance in my book.

I was running a little late this morning, as I still had stop and pick up some Gatorade and a Powerbar. I got caught in some local traffic, but I got to the winery by 9:06am. Most of the team were just finishing stretching, so I hurried to park, unload the bike, sign in, and jump on. Again, another ride where I didn’t get to stretch properly, and specifically was supposed to. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Thankfully, the first loop around went well, and I kept up with the slower half of the team. My knee held up fine, and I wasn’t in bad shape. We kept a decent pace at around 15-20 miles per hour. We stopped back at the winery after completing the first loop to rest and for those intending to head home. The team rested for what I thought was an all-to-brief 5 mins, and mounted up again.

Clocked my first 34 miles of the season, May 1st 2011

I was about to depart with them, when I realized I had forgotten my helmet on a bench. I went back to get it, but by then the group was gone. I hurried along, but there was no sign of them. How fast were they going? I guess they didn’t realize I was doing the 2nd loop with them. Ah well, no big deal. I’m more of a solo rider anyway. Instead of being despondent, I took a deep breath, and said hell with it, I’ll go at it alone. And I was fine. The route was marked with spray-painted green pine tree symbols, so I wouldn’t get lost. I had no issues during the second loop, and I kept a comfortable 14 MPH pace. I reached the winery just before noon, and loaded up the bike. I saw at least one CentraState rider in the parking lot, so I think the rest were getting in on the free wine-tasting.

Free or not, it was a little early for me to be drinking, and I had to get back to meet my family. They were getting out of church, i needed some lunch, and Josh had a soccer game at 2pm. The weekends are so busy these days, but it was good to fit in a little riding time. This morning, I reset my cyclocomputer odometer, so now I’ve clocked my first 34 miles of the year.

The best news of all? The most difficult part of the ride was not my knee, but adjusting to the new SPD-SL pedals. They’re a little tricky to get into, but practice will make perfect. So, to recap, I’m not too terrible off. I need to lose another 8 lbs in three weeks, but my knee should be able to hold up for the big ride, if I take care of it. I’m pretty saddle-sore, but that’s to be expected.

24 days to go until the MS Ride, and I haven’t even been on one training ride. My training has primarily been around strength-training and cardio at the gym. At least I’m regular about it. This weekend, there’s an initial team ride at the Laurita Winery, which looks to be an interesting place. In anticipation of the new cycling season, and because recently celebrated my birthday, I got some new cool upgrades to my bike. Before I get into the upgrade details, let me recap my upgrade history.

The bike itself is about 9 years old now, but that’s, like, 2 in bicycle years. Since purchasing it in late October 2002, I’ve upgraded it a few times. My history on the bike has been spotty, which I freely admit:

• I didn’t get to ride it more than 1-2 times in 2002.
• In 2003, I remember tooling around like a novice in regular shorts and the original toeclip pedals (which I despise), but eventually upgraded the pedals to SPD type in June 2003. I also got decent road cycling shoes.
• In 2004, I was the most serious about the sport. I rode 1-2x a week. I started wearing the right clothes, and added a cyclocomputer in March 2004.
• From 2005-2009, I didn’t do much riding, due to the kids being, work, travel, etc.
• Last year (2010), I got back on the horse, and I rode about 258 miles, which isn’t a personal record by any means, but it was an improvement over the last four years. I paid for some much-needed replacement of worn-out parts, and I upgraded from a the big cushioned saddle to something more respectable. I also ditched the pocket-protector of cycling — the kickstand.

This year, since I’m serious about cycling, I got some serious new upgrades. I purchased a new, more stylish helmet, to replace the worn out unfashionable silver Bell helmet I purchased back in Oct 2002. I purchased new Shimano 105 SPD-SL pedals, so I’ll be trying a new pedal model that should give me better support and power with each stroke. Finally, I purchased new Specialized road shoes to replace the Pearl Izumi road shoes that I bought back in June 2003.

Of all the improvements, the biggest are the pedals and shoes. While the old SPD pedals are easy to clip in and out of, they don’t provide much support. Sometimes my feet would experience a little pain in the arches, as I am working off these tiny platforms. With the SPD-SL pedals (and the new shoes), I’ll have wider platforms to provide support, and the new shoes will give me the rigidity to support my arches. This particular cleat set provide a little “float”, which gives me a little wiggle room and eases the pressure on my knees.

I picked up the helmet last week as a gift for my birthday, I bought the shoes and pedals this week, and I had the pedals and cleats installed today. I also had the saddle height adjusted for my height. What’s left? Cycling sunglasses that won’t cost me an arm and a leg. I’m on the hunt for them now, before Sunday’s training ride.

Bell Solar helmet	Specialized road shoes
Shimano 105 PD-5700 SPD-SL pedals	Shimano SPD-SL Cleat Set Float SH11

I’ve participated twice now in the Multiple Sclerosis Society – NJ Metro Chapter’s “Coast the Coast” bike tours down the Jersey shore. It’s a great event, you help raise funds for charity, and you feel good about yourself. Last year was the first time I worked with a team (Team CentraState, associated with the hospital and gym) to raise mone collectively. That was a particularly nice experience, since I made new friends of sorts. I would use the word “camaraderie.”

This year, I figured why not, let’s do it again. However, I need to get in shape.

1. I hate being this overweight.
2. It’s harder to pull all my extra weight on the road.
3. Did I mention I hate being this overweight?

I’ve decided to do this weight-loss thing for real. The office campus gym is nice, but I never get to go. No late hours, I never get to the office early enough, and no weekend hours. And no cycling classes. Time for a real gym, which is when I used to lose weight, back when I was a member of my local NYSC. I looked at two gyms — CentraState Wellness (where the cycling team is affiliate and are members) and Gold’s Gym (which is cheaper and closer to my house.) If I join a real gym, pay actual money, regularly attend spin classes, and have a big cycling event to get in shape for, I believe these are all excellent motivators to help me lose weight. Long term, I want to be fit, and I’m afraid of contracting some terrible disease like diabetes if I don’t take care of myself.

Today, Team CentraState bike tour members were participating in a free spin class at CentraState itself. Instead of being lazy and chilling out at home on a Saturday morning,  I drove over there, and got in with a free pass. This was my first spin class, and it’s certainly exhausting. My rear still aches, but I suppose it’ll get better.

Afterwards, I took a tour of the CentraState facilities itself. While it’s very nice, it’s also very expensive, and not very convenien for me geographically. Part of the appeal of any gym is its accessibility. I’m checking out Gold’s Gym tomorrow. I like the idea of being at CentraState, but 25 mins to get to the gym for a workout? Oye ve.

By the way, after working out, I went to check out the health fair they had going on in the lobby. The MS Society had a registration table, so I registered…. for the 85 mile tour! I planned initially to do just the 50 again (3rd time in a row), but one of my friends on the team is apparently doing the 85 mile ride from Monmouth University to Tuckertown. I’m apprehensive, but honestly, I don’t want her to show me up. If she’s brave enough for an 85 mile Bataan death ride, then so am I. All the more reason to start getting in shape now.