The Bike Transplant

My new thing after watching the tour is to add le in front of everything…

Today my legs feel like they have big cinder block bricks attached…solo 30 miles last night, riding in zone 4/5. Up late for good dinner and conversation after. However I’m dragging now. Hopefully I will be rejuvinated by lunch…Yay le burrito.

As for other things, two great rides this weekend….almost 100 miles of riding…almost in need of another chain now the way the miles are ticking off this year. As I mentioned before august is going to be really busy….planning to cut back during the weeks to allow adequate rest.

In other news…planning bike seminar for the new riders and team…”Blacksheep Squadron”…Becky get your friends together now…topics to cover:
1. The Basics, tire repair, simple shifting and brake adjustments, lubing chain.
2. Bike Fit
3. Advanced techniques, and bike skills

One last thing, Mom gave me one of her spare Pulse Oximeters on the last trip to NM. Well gave me and Becky one so we could keep tabs on our breathing pre, post riding. Thanks again mom. So far, everything looks good. I’m a gadget freak so its one more cool thing to document. The PO indicates what I already feel, cycling has helped my asthma…pre ride HR 65, sat 96%, post ride (5 mins after) HR 75, sat 96%…quick recovery.

Wish I had more pictures to post…le sigh…but I’m sure I’ll have some soon…

J

Hooray for Hills!

Okay, the wednesday night roundup…once again another good evening ride. Our route was a new one that kept us north of most major traffic routes. Our route mainly went east to west and back. The weather managed to cooperate and no rain occured but we did have a nice SE wind which provided a push on the way out and a little extra resistence on the ride home with gusts to 22mph and straightline winds around 15mph.

Legs felt good for the 24 miles. Top speed of 40mph, average at 18mph. I forgot my hrm…but won’t last time. Legs felt good for the entire ride…however drained towards the end..I was definitely pushing a little harder on the way back knowing it was a shorter than usual ride. That said, legs are now in top shape as the wind was more of a nuisance, and I gunned the throttle on every hill, even gave Pat and Jake a 20 ft head start before I launched my attack to reel them in and drop them on the steep long ones.

Becky and I also headed back to Tranquility last night for another mountain bike ride. She once again picked up some new skills and learned what looks like a good descending technique and her speed downhills is improving. She’s still climbing like a champ. However she started to run low on energy towards the end…next time powergels.

J - out have a good weekend…ride safe

Becky and I casually discussed a future goal the other day that I want to put down here to remind myself. So here goes…in 3 years time…we will both take sabaticals from work…pack our bags…leave the kitties with family and head to europe with Bikes in tow….not for a week…not for 2 weeks..we are talking to live for at least a couple months…..riding and experiencing life abroad.

Thoughts?

So ok, I’m going to cram 2 weeks worth of updates into 1 post so here goes.

First off, I raced the omaha cycling weekend. First road races in forever and my first ever crits. 2 crits in Cat 5….Papillion Twilight Crit and the Babcook Memorial Crit. Both were awesome courses. In the PTC course was .7 miles with 8 turns, one at full speed after a downhill…yahoo 30+ mph in a turn. First lap was a prem lap…went hard got second on that lap. dropped the main group and decided to stay out and see what would happen. 6 laps later I’m getting passed and dropped by peloton. Hung on for 19 out of 28. In the BMC the course was .5 miles 3 turns, long uphill straightaway and one nasty turn. Much better (especially after being worried my legs would be toasted from day before). Held out for about 15 laps before being spit out. Took several pulls at the front helping to set a blistering pace trying to catch the leader. Legs felt good. Held out for 13th overall out of 25.

Did hill repeats at tranquility last week in prep for Cornhusker State Games on Sunday the 20th…yay my B-day. I figured I would turn 30 by killing myself in an xc race. However I was not able to preride the course and my legs felt dead from a week of hard work so I nixed the racing plans and did a nice 35 miler with Beck instead. Shes getting stronger but still has to overcome mental toughness. Shes learning something new now everyride and her enthusiam is improving as a result also. She finally learned a good technique for standing on her bike and rocketed past me going uphill…17mph so I had to quickly grab a couple gears to ride with her. I’m excited to see what a good solid year of training will do for her…and I’m sure it will set her up nicely for her tri next spring. It was a nice way to turn 30. Thanks Beck

As for me…I’ve been taking it easy last couple days. Hill repeats and race pace efforts deadened my legs for a couple days. Tonight is the Wednesday night hammerfest…So should be fun as always.

One last thing…Becky did her first Trail ride on her Cannondale aka 6 last night. We rode tranquility. She loved it…and she showed how much she is improving. She rode a nice consitent pace and a good strong cadence. Might just make a good mountain biker of her yet….

As for everythinge else…thanks to everyone for showing up to help ring in my 30th year. It was a great time… I look forward to many more years and many many more miles exploring the roads and trails.

I figure if the pros ie team chipotle use it why not me!
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