On Saturday, my flat-inducing buddy and I rode out from his driveway on a 40 miler from Liberty, to Excelsior Springs, back through Kearney, and then on back to Liberty. It was a fantastic, scenic, mildly hilly, and altogether peaceful ride.

Some highlights include the fact that no one yelled at us (nope, not once), neither of us had any mechanical difficulties (perhaps Jon’s Flat Tire Curse has abated?), and the scenery was gorgeous.

In Excelsior Springs, we stopped at a Subway for a refueling at the 20 mile mark. Neither of us were really tired, but we were both getting a bit peckish. The real, if all to brief highlight was there. While we were eating, we noted a rather stout teenager sporting a purple close cropped pointed mohawk come in with his Mom. As we were gathering our gear to leave, he asked us how far we’d gone. A short conversation ensued through which he was very clearly and boldly impressed by what we’d done so far.

Encouraged by his lack of derision and open admiration, we chatted with him for a while, and assured him that 20 miles isn’t that hard if you build up to it. Start with a mile. Then 2. Then 5. Then 10. Slowly, but quicker than you realize, you’re pulling 20 miles, then 40, then metric centuries, and finally centuries. With any luck at all, his admiration will turn into inspiration and he’ll find his way onto a saddle with a water bottle in hand and a granola bar, rather than on the lounge chair with a XBox controller in hand and a bag of Doritos.

Not that those are bad things, mind you; I do love me some gaming and salty preservative chiplets, but there’s gotta be a balance.

We left him, and wished him luck and good fortune, and were back out on the road for another 20 miles.

All in all, a fantastic ride.

Bikes at the Garage Door. The weather was a fantastic 72°F and we were ready to go. Well… I was, you can see all his gear next to the garage door anxiously awaiting him.

My Bike Computer. HR is a little high for just standing around. Though the driveway was a little steep, so I had to work to keep my balance.

Jon’s Bike Computer. The two bike computer pictures were taken seconds apart. There must be some sort of End World-esque time distortion going on to have them show such disperate times. I’m sure that’s it… it’s the simplest explanation.

Jon in front of a Great View. This photo really doesn’t do it justice. It really was beautiful.

Just around the corner from the aforementioned Great View. This one is a better representation, but still doesn’t do it justice. Though you can’t see it, waaaaay off in the distance is Kearney.

Off the Route. We took a detour past Excelsior Springs to enjoy a fantastic twisty turny windey downhill run through a tunnel of trees. It really was awesome. It resulted in having to recalculate our route, and then immediately making a several hundred foot climb over the course of several hundred yards. It was definitely worth it, though.

Jon in the Distance. You can’t see him, but he’s back there.

A Little History.

A Nice Home Nestled in the Trees.

End of the ride stats.

What I’m getting better at (again) is hills. While my average pace last night wasn’t much to speak of in terms of improvement, my energy level throughout the ride, and afterwards, was. I’d ridden all the same hills, at a comparable rate, and had more than enough energy for a quarter mile all-out sprint at the end of the ride to my house. If we didn’t have to rush to make the movie (due to my aforementioned apparent inability to gauge distances), I would have stayed out, though the darkness threatened to envelope us in it’s sweet, but not terribly sticky, embrace. Alas, time was short, and it was time to call it a ride.

Oh, and no flats!

I’m still very obviously lacking the leg strength to maintain a decent pace up the 12-15% grades on this route, but if energy levels are any judge, then improvement is already showing.

I was inspired to push harder by two incidents last night. I will tell you about them now. Here they are, then.

The first, more inspiring and less humorous, occurred on the 2nd of the two sisters on Johnson drive (I’ve mentioned them before, they’re between Mid America Sports Complex and Renner Drive). As I was nearing the middle of the 2nd sister heading east, I saw the lengthened shadow of someone behind me, as cast by the setting sun, and soon thereafter heard a remarkably polite and casual “On your left.” The rider passed me easily, and we exchanged pleasantries.

As he sped off, up the steep incline, in the same manner that I would speed off down and equally steep decline, I noted that his speed was obviously aided by the thick bands of rippling muscle in his calves. “Eee Gads, I thought. Look at those ripping muscles in his calves!” Now, lest you think that sounds rather… uh… gay, allow me to remind you that I am an artist at heart, if not in practice, and appreciate beauty in many forms, male and female. It was pretty hot, though. Not as hot as my wife, mind you, but hot in it’s own way, nonetheless. So… *ahem* how ’bout them Bears? Wanna beer?

Suffice to say, his clear lack of struggle and the ease with which he made that climb was inspiring.

The second incident was inspiring not for it’s athleticism, but because it was hysterical. I was somewhere on Midland Drive between I-435 and Shawnee Mission Pkwy when I was passed by a small, rusting, late-model white sedan of some sort. I have no idea who was driving it, but the passenger, an upstanding young man of about 16-17 years of age leaned out the window and yelled “Get on the f*cking sidwalk, a**hole!” I immediately started laughing. Loudly. I couldn’t help it! Perhaps not the smartest thing do to if one wants to avoid confrontation, but I couldn’t help it! It just struck me as incredibly funny. And laugh is what one does when struck by Teh Funny.

Then, to throw fuel to my little fire, he flipped me off! A true sign of intelligence and even wisdom, it was. That, my friends, really set me off. I nearly had to pull over to the side of the road. To add yet another bit of funny to the incident: there is no sidewalk anywhere near that stretch of road. Nowhere. Now, I’m sure the kind young sir meant a sidewalk on another road, somewhere very far away from where the car, which he wasn’t even driving, was located, but still, at the time, the irony struck me, and out popped loud laughter.

I started to worry that maybe my laughing at him, for truth be told, I was laughing AT HIM, would inspire some sort of retribution, and that I would come to find him waiting for me up ahead somewhere. That sobered me a little, but not much, and he clearly had more important things to do than hassle some defenseless cyclist, as I saw him none the more.

To be young and enlightened.

All in all, a fantastic and inspiring, if shorter, ride.

As for the movie. Meh.

First, Matt, yes, we do have hills in Kansas. Anyone who has ever said Kansas was flat didn’t ride a bike through it.

Second, I did it. I rode the whole route. I also barely made it up some of those last hills on Johnson Drive. I didn’t get off and walk the bike up, but it was a close call a couple of times. Knowing that i’d done this before, and simple stubborn pride were really all that kept me in the saddle. Having climbed so many hills in the previous two hours, I’d say I did OK. I’m pretty proud of myself for tackling the task, and getting it done.

Hills I Conquered* Today:

• West on Prairie Star Parkway from 95th to Woodland Drive
• West on W 91st St from Woodland Drive to Pine St
• West on 83rd from Woodland Drive to Monticello
• East on Johnson Drive from the Mid America Sports Complex to I-435 (The Northern Twin Sisters – First the One, then the t’Other)
• Rolling Hills going East on Johnson Drive from I-435 to Rosehill

Even with the inclusion of the nasty (if short) hill on 91st off Woodland Drive, I still made it to the halfway mark in good time. When I’m in somewhat lack-luster shape (today, for example), I’ll take this opportunity to take a break, take a snack, and take stock. I’ll decide here if I want to tackle Johnson Drive or not. It’s not a final decision, as the point of no return is still a mile or so out. My thoughts here today were along the lines of “Sure, why not?”

Having made that decision, I came across road construction. Damn. I’d forgotten about this. It only adds a couple miles to the route, but given that the goal is to climb hills today, I would have rather done without. Oh well… it did add some rolling hills I wouldn’t have seen today, and at least they’re putting in a roundabout. We really need more of those.

Speaking of intersections, I don’t think I came across a single lighted intersection through which a driver didn’t plow through against the red. I realize I’m preaching primarily to the choir here, but for all those a-hat drivers that complain about cyclists “never” obeying the rules of the road, I say tend they own garden first before thee looks to the weeds in another’s.

But that’s beside the point. The point is that I finished the route, even if with slightly less exuberance than in previous rides. That’s pretty cool. Now that I know I can, I’ll probably back off a little and cut a corner or two while I climb slowly back into shape again.

* Word is a gross exaggeration

The only problem is on those Johnson Drive hills, my Garmin keeps auto-pausing because I keep falling below the speed threshold. I’m going to have to drop it down below 3mph! LOL

Enjoy!

You might recall that all of last year, or most of it, I rode my bike whenever possible to and from work, and many other miles besides. Logistically, this hasn’t worked out since about mid October. Furthermore, I’ve avoided pretty much any riding outdoors on account of the cold. I proved I could do it last year, and I realized I didn’t enjoy doing it (having forgotten that I already realized it back in my college years when I didn’t own a car). So this year, I’ve spent nearly all of my riding on the rollers. While they do make for a fantastic work out (once you start pedaling, you don’t stop until you’re done – there is no coasting downhill, there are no stops at intersections… it’s all on or all off), they’re also fairly boring when compared to the glorious outdoors.

So, my bikes have been been rather neglected, rejected, and ignored. They made this known to me on this night. I don’t know if it was a dream or not. I don’t typically remember dreams with this (or any) level of clarity. This felt real.

I awoke from a deep sleep, and was immediately startled into complete wakefulness by the horrific sight of two angry bikes, leaning threateningly over my bed. Their frames contorted in barely contained outrage, their cables seething with frustration, their chains grinding with resentment, and their brake levers pulsing with indignation, they lorded over me like cobras. My heart racing, I tried to scramble to the opposite side of the bed, but was caught in the sheets unable to move. Their cables, once smooth and lubricated nicely within supple housings, flayed about like the many heads of a hydra, and with evil and deadly purpose wrapped themselves around me, cutting into my flesh, and pulling me towards them. I was helpless against their will.

“WE HAVE WATCHED AS YOU CLIMB INTO THAT MONSTROSITY IN THE GARAGE, IGNORING US, WE WHO HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO NEW HEIGHTS OF GLORY AND FITNESS! WE SAY UNTO YOU NO MORE!!! WE WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOU HONOR US WITH THE MILES WE DESERVE!!!”

With a final tightening of the cables around my arms and legs, they let me go, and walked… yay walked out of the room. All was silent.

I lay there, bathed in the cold sweat of terror for what seemed like hours, but was likely only a few minutes. You know how time stretches in the quiet of night. Anyway, I eventually fell back asleep (or dreamed I was falling back asleep – whatever), and awoke to the normal alarm. The sheets were rather ruffled about, and the area rug near my bed in complete disarray. The bikes, however, were as I’d left them the night before, or should I say, weeks ago…

Let it not be said that I heed not the warnings presented to me so clear! Saturday morning I took the Dew Drop out for nearly 30 miles over some of the better hills northwest Johnson County has to offer. The Drop was happy. I was happy. I expect to sleep well and undisturbed tonight.

Starting out at around 50°F, and closing out at around 40°F, I was wearing long leggings, a wicking base layer and a windbreaker up top, my Salsa N’Agua gloves, and plastic baggies between my wool socks and shoes. As I said, everything was nice and toasty except my toes. I think it was a combination between poorly set cleats and the cold, but my toes were all numb from the cleat down by the time I hit mile 20.

I took the Kona out. It’s very nearly as heavy as my old Fire Mountain, though the 700c wheels and 37mm tires are better suited for roads than the 26″/2.5″ set up was on the old one. Hence, my low average speed (13.8mph) combined with the relatively high top speed (38.1mph).

I can tell it’s been a while since I’ve really ridden. My HR was generally high the whole time, topping out at 202bpm, and the hills were especially taxing. Still, though I could feel it fading towards the end, my recovery was still pretty strong after completing a climb.

The highlight of the trip was the gorgeous sunset I saw as I was heading west on 83rd. One thing that Kansas has to offer is it’s sunsets. I *wish* I’d brought my camera. It would have been the perfect time to break it out while on a ride.

Oh well… next time.

Due to some aforementioned chaos, I wanted to get out and clear my head some. Unfortunately, before I could clear my head, I first had to fix (yet another damn) flat. They’ve been plaguing me lately. It seems every time I want to get out and ride these days, it’s either one tire or another, on one bike or another. It’s tiresome. Last night, it was last-straw sort of frustrating. I found the hole, didn’t find anything in the tire, replaced the tube and admittedly amidst a small amount of cursing, finally got out the door.

It didn’t take long for my mind to turn away from flats to the issues at hand, and turn it did. Over the course of the 33 miles, I did exactly what I set out to do…

1) Get miles in. Not many, but every little bit counts.
2) Confront my current personal demons. Again, not many, but they’re mean and they have spiky forearms and big horns.
3) Deal with those demons and claw my way out of the dark place I’d found myself in.

All three goals accomplished, insofar as one can over the course of a couple hours, I rolled slowly into the driveway, tired from pushing the hills and in a much better place.

The rest of the evening was relaxed. I had dinner, watched Heroes, and played with my online spreadsheets a while before heading to bed. For some reason, I went downstairs again and looked at the tires to make sure they were still pressurized. Nope. The previous flat had returned.

You have got to be kidding me. Again?! Another?!

That was it. I was done with it. I wasn’t going to stop until I find the culprit.

Filled up the sink with water. Aired up the tire and spun it in the sink until I saw air bubbles. I found the hole, stripped out the tube, and *very* closely examined the tire this time for little poking things. I was in a rush before and didn’t notice, but sure enough, there it was… a *tiny* little metal fragment buried in the tire. The pressure of the tube was enough to cause a puncture, but otherwise, it was all-but-invisible.

I got that little demon out. It took a while and I had to dig deep to get it, but I got it out.

Matthew had scheduled a paintball session for Friday afternoon, but my brother and I were really too concerned with making sure we were prepared for the Big Ride, and requested that it be rescheduled for Sunday (we were banking on not being too tired). He was agreeable, and so my brother and I drove down to Bergen Park (again) and met up with the rest of the “Warm Up” ride participants. While we were waiting, we noticed (how could we not) a silver Porsche Carrera drive up with a bike rack on top carrying a nice Scott. We couldn’t help but make a little fun of it. I mean, seriously… a Carrera, with a bike rack? C’mon. Turns out that it’s the Team Evergreen Club President!

I want to be a bike club president if it allows me to afford a Porsche!

He gives a bit of a speech to us, talking about the origins of the ride, and how it’s turned into one of, if not The premiere single day event in the country. He wishes us all the best of luck, and we all click in and set out….

…on a hard ride with some seriously confidence busting hills.

Triple Bypass “Warm Up” ride

It turned out to be a much more difficult ride than either of us imagined, or hoped it would be. We made it, but we were a lot more tired than we should have been after 16.5 miles. The altitude wasn’t affecting either of us as much as we expected it to, but the ride leaders set a mean pace. Naturally, we had to keep up. Dropping simply wasn’t an option.

That night, the GF made another dinner. This time she made home made Scallop and Shrimp Alfredo with Angel Hair pasta. It was an another amazing dinner. That GF of mine can cook, and loves to do so. Everyone who’s had anything she’s made loves that she loves to, as well.

Taking a lesson from our bike commuting experiences, we packed all our gear after dinner, knowing that in the morning we’d be too tired to be sure we’d gotten everything. Then, a couple of glasses of wine settled our nerves and we went down for an early bed time around 9:30pm.

Neither of us slept that well. We were anxious and nervous and excited all at the same time. We’d been preparing for over 8 months in our own separate ways, and as difficult as it was to believe, it was almost time…

After the success of the previous day’s ride, my brother and I wanted to ratchet it up a notch on Thursday. Not a huge notch, mind you, we were still cognizant of working ourselves too hard too early. We didn’t want to come down with altitude sickness, or stress our bodies too much before the Big Ride on Saturday. But we were also very pumped up. That meant more climbing and at a higher altitude.

This time, Matthew took us down to Bergen Park again to pick up my bike, and a few other odds and ends, and drove us all the way up to Echo Lake at the foot of Mt. Evans Road. Matthew drove back down to Bergen Park to wait for us. What a star!

Echo Lake to 12,000ft and back to Bergen Park

The climb up Mt. Evans Road is, all and all, a little steeper than up to Juniper Pass from Bergen Park. Combine the additional grade with the additional altitude, and we were working harder. But the extra effort was well worth it. It’s absolutely gorgeous up there. Made all the more compelling by having gotten there under our own power. All the pictures we took simply don’t do it justice… if you’ve not seen it, you owe it to yourself to head up thataway sometime.

At 12,200ft or so, we had to turn around in spite of a strong desire to continue on. Hunger pangs started to hit, and that’s a sure sign that it’s time to reduce effort and refuel. So turn around we did, and enjoyed yet another fast downhill run back to Echo Lake where we grabbed a light lunch and proceeded to climb back up to Juniper Pass before throwing it in neutral and letting gravity have her way with us back to Bergen Park. We didn’t sprint downhill like we did the day before, but it was still a blast!

While heading back, we stopped to check out one of the “scenic overviews.” While there, we met a local couple who were all to happy to help out a couple of flatlanders with a picture. Our camera batteries were dead, so she took this one and e’mailed it to us later.

Also on the way down… we saw a short (what appeared to be) Mexican man walking two wolves up towards the pass. I’m not sure if they were pure bred or mixed, but they were huge, they were gangly, they were grey, and they were gorgeous. If the camera batteries weren’t already dead, I would have stopped to take photos.

That night, the GF cooked up a fantastic meal of prime rib, roasted fennel, and crab cakes. Mmmmm…. is there anything crab cakes can’t do? It was so good, our hosts thanked *us* for the dinner, never mind that they were putting us up for the entire week free-of-charge.

After dinner, my brother found an organized warm up ride for the Triple Bypass being put on by Team Evergreen. It appeared pretty low key, and more of a tour of the Bergen Park area than anything, so we committed ourselves.

I’m used to waking up early in order to ride into work with time to cool off. My normal 05:00 CST wake-up time nearly came through for me, and I woke at 06:30 MST, and was unable to go back to sleep. So I got up and joined our host who was already up with coffee ready. It wasn’t long before my brother was up, and we started planning the week’s training. He was very concerned with not overdoing it, and fortifying ourselves with proper nutrition. I’ve been winging this whole thing from the start, so I continued that trend and just went with the flow. He been counting protein grams, and making sure to get the ride types of food at the right time during his preparation. I’ve been eating frozen pizzas and whatever else the GF puts in front of me. Granted, I’ve been eating *better*, but I’ve not been strict by even the least strict sense of the word “strict.” For the most part, I’ve been training like I ride… by the seat of the pants.

Elk Meadow to 10,000ft and back to Bergen Park

So, we eat what he recommends, and hang out for a few hours catching up, chatting with our hosts, and generally enjoying the start of our vacation. At around 11 or so, we packed up the truck with our cycling gear (including our bikes), and son #2 drove us down to Bergen Park, where we hit a local bike shop and had a quick bite to eat before hitting the road. While at the bike shop, I had them true my wheels and check the rear derailleur as it felt a little off. As it turns out, the derailleur drop out is bent a little. I opt to ride it as is, and take them up on the offer to fix it overnight. Wheels trued up, Son #2, who I will refer to as “Matthew” (b/c that’s is name) dropped my brother and I off on Highway 103 just west of Bergen, and we set out. Our plan was to ride for about 30 minutes, and then do 15 second sprints followed by 15 second recovery or another 15 minutes before turning around. Things didn’t really work out that way. 30 minutes came, and we just felt like continuing the slow climb up, which, as it turns out, wasn’t nearly as hard as we thought it would be. We set a nice slow pace of around 7mph, and just rode… and rode… and rode. Bergen is at about 7,700ft, and we probably started at around 7,900ft. After an hour, we were just a couple hundred feet shy of 10,000, and decided it would be criminal to not hit that mark. 10,000ft arrived, none the worse for wear, and we turned around to reap our reward.

I can tell you with no qualms whatsoever that flying down a mountain at 35-45mph, taking the corners and curves tight on a bike built for racing is one of the singular joys in life. I won’t say it’s better than sex, but I will say it comes damn near. I really put my Torelli through the paces, learning it’s limits in ways Kansas is simply not equipped to offer. We were laughing the whole time, pushing ourselves more than we intended, but we couldn’t help it! The spirit grabbed hold and would not let go. And then came The Curve. I’d replaced my brakes pads a few weeks back with brake pads I thought would be better. Let’s just say I’m glad they proved inadequate on an inside curve where I would have gone into the cliff face, rather than off the side of the cliff. I didn’t actually hit the cliff face, but I did leave the road surface and was headed that way. Lesson learned, we continued our downhill run, perhaps a little more cautious, but having a blast all the same.

Aside from leaving the pavement once, I was incredibly pleased with how the Torelli performed. It was absolutely perfect, cornering on rails, and dipping lower than I ever thought it would, only to bounce back up for the straightaways like it was coming up off a trampoline. What a fantastic bike to have for those 45mph runs. The triple crank also came in damn handy. I don’t think I would have been able to make it without it. I probably could have used another cog on the low end, but I made do just fine.

Arriving back in Bergen Park, I drop the bike off at the shop to have them bend the drop out back into place, and we head back to the cabin, feeling very good about being able to finish the Triple Bypass. We made the climb up to 10,000ft quite easily, and had the time of our lives on the way down.

A few hours later the bike shop calls me back and tells me that not only is the drop out bent (easily fixed), but the rear derailleur is bent as well and one of the chain tensioner cogs is loose (fixable only with a replacement part). It still works, though, so I decide I’m not in the mood to spend $300, and tell them to adjust it as best they can, and I’ll replace it later. That disappointing call out of the way, my brother and I and Matthew (who you’ve already met) and Andrew (son #1) get back to playing Halo 2.

We’re nowhere near as good at Halo as we are at riding.

We got to the ride start after stopping off at a coffee shop for some coffee and swag and hung out in the parking lot waiting for the rest of the pack to show up. One guy drove up in a silver Carerra with a bike rack on top. What a sight that was. He got out, an old wizened fellow with silver hair, stocky of build and yet with the definition of one used to long ride in a bike saddle. I have to admit, we did make a little fun of the fact that he drove a Porche to a bike ride, and with a bike rack, no less. As it turns out, however, he’s the Team Evergreen club president. Who’d've thunk it?

At 12:55 they called everyone together. There were about 30 of us, and they gave the typical “thank you for showing up, ride safe and obey the law” speech. The club president mentioned the growth of the Triple Bypass over the years, saying that it far outstripped what the original organizers had in mind, and that it was one of, if not the premier one day ride in the nation.

All I know is that it’ll be a defining challenge for myself and my brother.

After the short speech, we were on our way. All in all, it was, in a word, tough. It was a lot more effort than either myself or my brother anticipated, and we’re hoping it didn’t set us back too much the day before the Big Ride tomorrow. I think he’s more worried than I am. I’m used to riding day after day after day. Him? Not so much.

Not only was today more physically taxing, it was more mentally taxing. I think the reason, at least in part, is that we didn’t know when the climbs would end. They were steeper, and we didn’t know how long they’d go. Tomorrow, though we’ll be climbing hard for miles upon miles, we know going into it that we’ll be climbing for miles upon miles. We can steel ourselves before the first pedal stroke, thus saving us any mental anguish that comes from asking the question “When will it end?!” We didn’t have that today. Additionally, we rode considerably harder and faster today just to stay with the pack. Wise? Maybe not. But it’s what cyclists do.

We spoke with a couple of the other guys that are riding tomorrow, and they mirrored our sentiment that the climbs today were more difficult than, at least, the climb up to Juniper, the first peak we’ll arrive at tomorrow.

All the same, it was another gorgeous ride in Colorado.

Had some problems with the bike, and had to drop some cash to get it up to par. Problems included a bent rear derailleur drop out, and insufficient braking power. The rear derailleur is bent, but not so bad that it doesn’t work. It just doesn’t work perfectly.

My brother and I got out yesterday and rode about 18 mile from 7,500ft to *just* over 10,000ft. We both felt fantastic.

We got out again today and rode from about 10,000ft to 12,000ft, and then back down to 7,500ft. We still feel fantastic. Up above the timberline, we were loving life.

So far, though we can still feel the effects of altitude are minimal.

In short, thus far, this place rocks! Our hosts are incredible, the riding has been going great, and it is absolutely gorgeous out here. Riding in Kansas when I get back is going to be boring.

Unfortunately, in the chaos that yet remains my Monday morning routine, I left my Edge 705 at home, so I wasn’t able to record the ride. It felt a little like going commando, but without the fun.

The ride itself was a focused ride. I forced myself to pay attention to my cadence and heart rate. Since I didn’t know exactly what they were, I went by gut feel. Who knows how well I did, but I was pretty wasted when I got home. I’m not sure how much of that was effort and how much was not eating enough through the day. Around 20 miles, I was feeling a little beat, so I stopped to get a Gatorade. That brought me out of my funk, and I was able to head into the winds without much difficulty.

There were quite a few fellow cyclists out, but not a one of them was going my way.

This morning I opted for the standard ride in. The main reason was not being wasted and too sweaty by the time I got here. I’m going to pick up some fruit and pasta at lunch, and set myself up with a nice snack about an hour before I leave.

Over on my commute routes page, I’ve laid out the route I intend to take every day this week. ~35 miles home every day, today through Thursday, and nearly the same loop again on Friday. In the mornings I’m going to buck up and take my 15 mile route into work, going well out of my way out to Lackman before doubling back and heading back into Overland Park.

It is going to be an exhausting week, but it’s designed to break me down. Next week I’ll be in full recovery mode with little to no exercise while my body repairs itself for the Triple Bypass, by which time I’ll be the stronger for the effort I pour out this week.

I’ll probably be posting some pretty boring stuff this week. Dry accounts of how I’m feeling, how the rides went and the like. I want to be able to look back and see exactly where I was and how I felt about it.

I don’t expect much in the way of commuter or lawn mower racing posts this week, but you can always hope. ;)

Aside from the water, I really did try to maintain a relaxed pace. I was shooting for an average somewhere in the 14-16mpg range, and ended up at 16.9 over nearly 85 miles.

I’m pretty beat now. I would have been fine, but instead of taking a turn off Johnson Drive on Barker, I shot straight east to tackle the hills between Barker and Renner. Between those, and the hills on Renner between Johnson and Midland Drive, I was beat.

This was also the maiden voyage of both the triple crankset and the Edge 705. The triple cranks worked flawlessly. My buddy did a fantastic job. Never a missed switch, and perfect in that they maintained my high end, but dropped the low end to crazy easy. Unfortunately, he installed the brake brake pad holders (I’m really not sure what they’re called) backwards. Every time I applied the brakes, the wheel pulled the pads out of their mounting just a little bit, until they were almost all the way out and rubbing. Yours truly, genius that he is, didn’t think to grab his multi tool on the way out, so he had to call his fantastic GF to bring it to him. That made for a 30 minute break after 12 miles of riding. But I got the brakes flipped around, and everything was golden from there on.

The Edge 705 worked well also… for the most part. It froze up three times, forcing me to reset it. Fortunately, it kept the data, and I was able to pick up almost where I left off. My mileage is probably a little off, but not by much. I’m going to look into why it’s freezing up, but I bet the only fix is a firmware update… it currently has the most up date firmware available, so it’s a waiting game.

Summary: Fantastic ride. Great hills. Loving life.

Next week is a one way trip from my house to Bloomington Beach at Clinton Lake. That’s going to be another 85+ miler.

I plan on taking it slower, looking for saddle time, rather than a higher average. I don’t want to be beat by the time I get home. I learned a lesson while I was out with Reed and Randy. They took it a little slower than I typically do, and by the time Reed and I parted ways, I still felt very fresh. It was weird feeling energetic after having ridden 80 miles already. Weird in that “Oh! This feels great!” sort of way.

After a very difficult couple of weeks at work, and more to come, I just want to get out and ride and enjoy it, rather than push myself to exhaustion.

Also, this ride will catch me back up to Randy on bikejournal.com.

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Great month for commuting to work. I took three VPN days and two drive days, but other than that, I was steady. I rode my Kona even on the day I had to wear a suit and give an InfoSec presentation to the Board. To date, I’ve saved $165 by riding to work instead of driving. It’s not monumental, but it’s not bad, either.

Training

April was a much better month than either March or February, and slightly better than January, but I absolutely have no choice but to make May and June stellar. The highlight of April was tracing the Spring Classic ’08 route from my house. A good ride, that one, especially considering I did it the day after helping the GF’s parents move. I was tired, but I was determined.

Errands

None to speak of. Still sans chain, so we’ll see how May works out. Thing is, I don’t get out much for errand type things, and when I do, they’re typically pretty far away. Anymore, the GF has taken it upon herself to get a lot of errandy things done, and while she does like to ride, she’s not the dedicated masochist that I am.

Mileage Goals

Here’s where April really stands out. I had 499.83 miles (*just* shy of 500!), which was 121% of my goal for the month. I brought my overall deficit down from 225 at the end of March to 135 at the end of April. I still have some ground to make up from February, but with the increase in training, I expect to see that disappear in a few of weeks. My daily average of 25 miles was also much better than previous months.

Fitness

One thing I haven’t really looked at is the health benefits of all this riding. I know I feel better, am generally more awake and alert, as well as more assertive and steadfast in all things, but where’s the hard evidence that all this stuff is paying off? How do I know I’m actually doing myself any good?

Here’s one way… When I started, my average HR was sitting at around 164bpm, while my average speed was somewhere in the neighborhood of 15. At the end of April, my average HR has decreased to about 154bpm, while my average speed has increased to 17(ish). In the middle of that, my average cadence increased from 79 to 81. I’m faster at a higher RPM with less real effort. That’s solid.

I don’t know what my resting HR was at the beginning of the year, but right now it’s at around 58. Again… solid.

Memorable Moments

• Tortuous hills on 135th right after leaving Olathe Lake on my Spring Classic Absentee ride.
• Getting a flat on the way home from work. My first.
• The first time I turned a simple commute into a leg busting hill fest, while at the same time going from 9 miles to 16.
• Realizing that I wasn’t as tired after 16 hilly miles in April as I was after 7 flat miles in December.
• New tires.

I plan on going out both days, once for a long ride (>= 80 miles), and again for a shorter ride (< = 40 miles). If I can pull about 120 miles out of the weekend, I'll be one happy camper!

For the shorter route, I'm thinking of taking off from my house and running my standard Renner/Johnson Drive loop. It's not very long, but it's got hill.

For the longer route, I'm debating a couple different routes... An out and back between Legends and Lawrence, or a repeat of the Spring Classic '08 route. Both are very nice routes, combining both distance with elevation gain. I think I like the Spring Classic '08 route a little better, but it's been quite a while since I rode the LL route. One downside to LL is that it saves two of the biggest, most grueling hills for the very end. I actually got off an walked for a little bit the last time I rode it with my brother. I was a bit heavier and far less spritely then, though. No walky walky this time. Another downside is that to keep it to 80ish miles, I need to drive to the starting point. I'm not ready for 110 on my own w/o support just yet, which is what would happen if I left from my driveway.

Another couple of weekends and I'll make a go of it. But not just yet. If I choose LL, I'll drive to Legends and go from there. Driving to the start is a pretty big mark against LL right now, but we'll see.

Shortie… Renner/Johnson Dr. Loop

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Less Short…

Spring Classic ’08

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Legends to Lawrence and Back

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Ugh. Hills. Wind. Long. Tired. Collapse now. Thank you.