With all the email chatter amoung the XC bikers about 12 and 8 percent grades on the first day, I went out today and included some 17-19 percent grades in along with my last, 50-plus mile training ride. Time to put my "A" personality" to bed and enjoy some light (read, short) rides before my flight next Thursday with my roomie. We are scheduled for rain tonight and most of next week. So, maybe I'll just take CrossRoads' suggestion over the next 6 days and get some sleep and give the legs a bit of a break before the long push.
I hope my spelling improves. It seems that I spend more time going back into these posts to correct my errors, than I did with the original entries. Someone suggested that we have a literary contest, for a beer, to see who gets the first book contract. I plan to pay up the first day I see him so that the pressure is off me. I have enough trouble with this blogging stuff.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Warmth (heat) Comes to NJ
Well the weather forcast was correct, and we are getting the 80-90 degree weather over the past few days that was promised. We expect a couple of more days with like weather and then back into the more seasonable 60's. Despite a fair number of miles over the past couple of months, the hot weather still has its own challenges. I'm glad we've had a bit of exposure to this prior to the heat of the desert that we will experience a couple of weeks from now. It's clear that you can't drink too much water in this kind of weather. I'm hoping that my time in Vietnam, and working in steel mills during the summers while going to college might help me manage the heat and time we will spend in the desert. But the truth is, each day will be different, and stuff from 40 years ago has absolutely nothing to do with today.
A number of fellow XC riders have been busy swapping emails over the last couple of days. Apparently, most of them have sent their bikes along to LA, and everyone is having a slight case of cabin-fever, and wants to get going. One of the XC riders sent us all a picture of his yard today April 27th, covered with at least 6 inches of snow (in Denver, Co) and mentioned that he apparently will not be doing the long ride he planned for today!!! So, as the story goes, if you have it bad, don't worry, it can always be worse, and this snow in April appears to be proof of that.
A number of fellow XC riders have been busy swapping emails over the last couple of days. Apparently, most of them have sent their bikes along to LA, and everyone is having a slight case of cabin-fever, and wants to get going. One of the XC riders sent us all a picture of his yard today April 27th, covered with at least 6 inches of snow (in Denver, Co) and mentioned that he apparently will not be doing the long ride he planned for today!!! So, as the story goes, if you have it bad, don't worry, it can always be worse, and this snow in April appears to be proof of that.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Tic-Toc...Tic-Toc...Tic-Toc
Two weeks and two days to the first actual ride day of the XC tour. Bob and I made our final commitments today by way of shipping our bikes to LA. Now we breakout our other individual bikes just to be able to continue putting some riding in over the next two weeks.
We are supposed to get some warm weather over the next few days (70's and 80's) which will hopefully mean more consistently warm weather, finally. This warmer weather will also, hopefully, provide us with a bit of a transition to the very warm weather that we are expedting in the west, particularly the desert. I really am tired of the layers of clothes and temperatures in the 40's and 50's degrees that we've consistently had to ride in up until now.
While I'm enjoying the current slow-down and transitional training, part of me just wants to get this show on the road! Smile ya all......... :>)
We are supposed to get some warm weather over the next few days (70's and 80's) which will hopefully mean more consistently warm weather, finally. This warmer weather will also, hopefully, provide us with a bit of a transition to the very warm weather that we are expedting in the west, particularly the desert. I really am tired of the layers of clothes and temperatures in the 40's and 50's degrees that we've consistently had to ride in up until now.
While I'm enjoying the current slow-down and transitional training, part of me just wants to get this show on the road! Smile ya all......... :>)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Final bike adjustments and packing for shipment to LA
I took my bike over to the bike shop today (Knapps' in Lawrenceville Township, NJ) for some final adjustments and packing for shipping to LA. I've been trying different bike set-ups, including an aerobar, and ultimately needed to decline the aerobar setup as it was too close to my legs and gave me some bruises on my thighs when I jumped out of the saddle to climb a hill. Pete, the owner at Knapps' has been very helpful, and patient with this "on again, off again" exercise with me.
We (when I say "we", I will be referring to my roomie, Bob Fuller and myself) will actually be shipping the bikes later in the week, as we await some extra spokes for the bike before final packing. As suggested by CrossRoads, we are shipping 2 weeks prior to the official ride date so as to allow for possible mis-routing(which never happens, right?); and, time for the bikes to be assembled and available when we arrive a couple days early. We wanted to take a bit of "shake-out" ride on Friday before the official Saturday May 9th sign in with CrossRoads. The first official day of riding is actually Sunday, May 10th.
It's a typical N.J. weather day here today: mid-forties, and rainy, with a windchill in the high thirties. So, I really won't miss the bike. I will have an older bike to ride on the nicer days between now and our flight to LA on Apr. 7th.
We did have a pleasant surprise over that last 4 days, with some weather in the low and mid-sixties. Bob and I did a 100 miler two days ago, with the added pleasure of a 16 mph headwind for the last 50. All I can say is that it was a good indication of what we might see in the desert, but was not exactly fun. Our return route was into the west, with the failing sun, and I can honestly say that going west to east on the XC ride will likely be a bit nicer not having the sun in your eyes toward the end of the day.
I used by camelback for the first time on a 70 mile ride last Friday. You can see below how the camelback is also recovering, and getting ready for the century rides in the desert in about 3 weeks. It's amazing to me that we spend so much money to get light bikes; only to add 10 pounds of water, a cell phone, a camera, spare bike parts, etc. on to the bike. Good thing that I lost 20 pounds since last year at this time to make up for the extra gear that I will be carrying that I normally would not carry.
We (when I say "we", I will be referring to my roomie, Bob Fuller and myself) will actually be shipping the bikes later in the week, as we await some extra spokes for the bike before final packing. As suggested by CrossRoads, we are shipping 2 weeks prior to the official ride date so as to allow for possible mis-routing(which never happens, right?); and, time for the bikes to be assembled and available when we arrive a couple days early. We wanted to take a bit of "shake-out" ride on Friday before the official Saturday May 9th sign in with CrossRoads. The first official day of riding is actually Sunday, May 10th.
It's a typical N.J. weather day here today: mid-forties, and rainy, with a windchill in the high thirties. So, I really won't miss the bike. I will have an older bike to ride on the nicer days between now and our flight to LA on Apr. 7th.
We did have a pleasant surprise over that last 4 days, with some weather in the low and mid-sixties. Bob and I did a 100 miler two days ago, with the added pleasure of a 16 mph headwind for the last 50. All I can say is that it was a good indication of what we might see in the desert, but was not exactly fun. Our return route was into the west, with the failing sun, and I can honestly say that going west to east on the XC ride will likely be a bit nicer not having the sun in your eyes toward the end of the day.
I used by camelback for the first time on a 70 mile ride last Friday. You can see below how the camelback is also recovering, and getting ready for the century rides in the desert in about 3 weeks. It's amazing to me that we spend so much money to get light bikes; only to add 10 pounds of water, a cell phone, a camera, spare bike parts, etc. on to the bike. Good thing that I lost 20 pounds since last year at this time to make up for the extra gear that I will be carrying that I normally would not carry.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Introduction
Over the past 13 years I have ridden an annual 500 mile - 7 day charity fund raiser for a charity in Trenton, NJ, that is a home for runaway and abused children, called the Anchor House Foundation. Since I have now retired, I thought it was time to "kick it up a notch", and I am training for a cross country ride from Los Angeles, California to Boston, Mass. During the course of this ride I will increase my solicitations on behalf of Anchor House, and I encourage you to check out the web site of this worthy cause to see if, in fact, you might be inclined to lend your financial support; see http://www.anchorhouseride.org/. At the AnchorHouse web site you will see more about that ride, and find links to the major web site for the Anchor House Foundation.
Here's a picture of me on the left with a couple of fellow riders from one of the Anchor House rides past. I've somehow managed to loose a number of pounds (over 20) for this XC ride over the past year, in anticipation of having to lug that extra weigh over the 3,400 miles in 43 days of riding as opposed to the 500 miles over 7 days of the Anchor House ride. As a slight aside: Last year during the Anchor House Ride my roommate for the 13 years of the ride talked me into shaving my beard and hair. I said I would if the other riders would "kick in" some money to see me do it. So in mid-week we raised $685 from the other riders, and we donated it to the Anchor House for the kids. I've kept the hair off because it I was virtually bald anyhow, and it is much cooler while riding (but, admittedly, not as pleasant in the winter). I lost an hour of sleep the night I committed to doing the shaving because it took an hour to do the shaving in stages, which include a little help from my roomie to get the back of my head. Fortunately, I got the hang of shaving what I couldn't see, and he did not have to leave his wife and move in with me and my wife.
I will be doing the cross country (XC) ride with a fellow geriatric (Bob Fuller) who has his own blog (http://www.bykruslatoboston.blogspot.com/). We will be doing the ride with approx. 18 other riders (paying customers), and are supported by CrossRoads Cycling Adventures, which has its own web site at http://www.crossroadscycling.com/ We also had both been raised in the midwest (Ohio and Michigan respectively), both been in the military and served in Viet Nam, and coincidentally, both worked for the same company for a combined 60 years. (And you thought that I was kidding about the geriatric comment). And, we both have been riding the annual fund raiser for Anchor House for a number of years. Hopefully, I won't be too tired to add to this blog over the course of the XC ride. See ya............
Here's a picture of me on the left with a couple of fellow riders from one of the Anchor House rides past. I've somehow managed to loose a number of pounds (over 20) for this XC ride over the past year, in anticipation of having to lug that extra weigh over the 3,400 miles in 43 days of riding as opposed to the 500 miles over 7 days of the Anchor House ride. As a slight aside: Last year during the Anchor House Ride my roommate for the 13 years of the ride talked me into shaving my beard and hair. I said I would if the other riders would "kick in" some money to see me do it. So in mid-week we raised $685 from the other riders, and we donated it to the Anchor House for the kids. I've kept the hair off because it I was virtually bald anyhow, and it is much cooler while riding (but, admittedly, not as pleasant in the winter). I lost an hour of sleep the night I committed to doing the shaving because it took an hour to do the shaving in stages, which include a little help from my roomie to get the back of my head. Fortunately, I got the hang of shaving what I couldn't see, and he did not have to leave his wife and move in with me and my wife.I will be doing the cross country (XC) ride with a fellow geriatric (Bob Fuller) who has his own blog (http://www.bykruslatoboston.blogspot.com/). We will be doing the ride with approx. 18 other riders (paying customers), and are supported by CrossRoads Cycling Adventures, which has its own web site at http://www.crossroadscycling.com/ We also had both been raised in the midwest (Ohio and Michigan respectively), both been in the military and served in Viet Nam, and coincidentally, both worked for the same company for a combined 60 years. (And you thought that I was kidding about the geriatric comment). And, we both have been riding the annual fund raiser for Anchor House for a number of years. Hopefully, I won't be too tired to add to this blog over the course of the XC ride. See ya............
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