Solstice Century Ride

I did it! I can now check off the Century ride from my list. Woohoo. :-)



This ride has been on my list of endurance goals for years, but has eluded me. I've been in shape to do it before, but I've never managed to get it done. I'm so happy to have found the time and energy to make this happen. In reality, it's taken me several years to build up the cycling base to pull it off. While training for ORAMM in 2011, I spent a considerable about of time on my road bike. It was during that time where my vision for my century ride came to me. I knew it would be possible to leave from my front door and head south into the southern part of NC and across the border in the Lancaster area of SC. Last year, when I did the Morrison Metric at the YMCA, I figured out how to link my local ride into that ride which would put me at the century mark. On Friday, June 21st, the longest day of the year, I decided to put my plan to the test.

Building up to the big ride, I did a 56 and 82 mile ride. The 56 miler was rather painful and my 82 miler ended prematurely due to the fact that I ran out of water. My 82 miler was actually supposed to be my 100 miler, but it was Father's Day and I ran out of water. I decided to call in the family to rescue me instead of suffering the last 18 miles.

Foolishly Optimistic

I've been contemplating the race season for the entire month of January. Before that, I had aspirations of really hitting the off season with aerobic bike workouts and some cross training. I even purchased Insanity off Craigslist after navigating the FREAKSHOW that is Craigslist. I injured myself doing Insanity and fell into the abyss. I've been slowly coming out, but it's been a slow process for whatever reason. I have turned a corner.

I have been on a crazy optimistic mental journey recently. There have been three races on my bucket list for the last several years. They all have something different to offer and all of them are HARD in their own unique way. Here's the insanity I'm planning for myself.

April 6th, 2013

September 1st, 2013

November 3rd, 2013              

In November I registered for 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. This was a race I wanted to do before, but it always sells out ridiculously fast. It's like the old days of trying to get concert tickets (I haven't done that in forever) or registering for classes. If you want to get in, you've got to be on the ball. So, I woke up early and got a slot. The race sold out in 36 minutes. I'm not sure I have enough time to get in shape to do this race, but I'm going to try. I've also never rode on any of the trails up in Wilkesboro, so that should be fun.

Warrior Creek Race Circuit

The Shenandoah 100 always intimidated me, but after two ORAMM finishes under my belt, I have no more excuses. It's now or never. This morning I woke up with a vision. I did not plan on doing this race until this morning. I was on the fence about a 3rd ORAMM, but it sold out fast and quickly became a non-option. This will be my first century ride and I'll be doing it on my mountain bike. Hopefully I can crank out a couple of centuries on my road bike in preparation for this race.

The Swank 65 is another race in Pisgah that I've been wanting to do for the past three years. It's late in the season and is also very popular. Every year I think I want to do it, it's sold out. So, like Warrior Creek, I registered as soon as it opened.

What am I thinking? How am I going to prepare for this. One thing that is going to help is the KICKR. I have never ordered something as an "early adopter. That is until now. For this trainer, I just couldn't wait, so I'm one of the lucky first 255 people to get one. It's currently on a boat from Taiwan to the the west coast. From there it will travel on a truck to Atlanta where the nice folks from Wahoo Fitness will ship it to me. There sending weekly status updates to all of us that reserved one. This trainer will sync to an iPhone/iPad and can automatically adjust the power curve manually or based on Strava segments or training plans you program. Basically I'll be able to simulate any ride on this device. I can't wait to try it. More on this thing later.

Showing up when you don't want to

It's not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. -Anonymous

I planned to ride the local YMCA sponsored group ride since early August. It was right after I had done a whole bunch of rides and I was overflowing with confidence. That was before I started my new job and realized that I just didn't have time to ride as much as I thought I would.  I have been so inconsistent with my rides that doubt crept into my brain all week. It reached it's peak on Wednesday when I tried to do a ride on the trainer and quit in 10 minutes. It was a mental and physical struggle to even think about riding, so I bailed out on what was suposed to me my last training ride for the 80 miler I had on the books for today. On  Friday night I wasn't sure I wanted to even show up, but something motivated me and I found myself packing up all my stuff so I could sneak out of the house at 6:15am.

I would have kicked myself it I hadn't shown up, so I thought I would give it the 'ole college try. My only bail out option was the 65 miles turn off, so I decided to take it mile by mile and see how it went. I did at least take care of myself all week trying to stay hydrated. It's so easy for me to forget to do that, so at least I made an attempt to increase my odds of finishing.

As I lined up at the starting line, it was a sea of spandex. Muscle toned freaks in team jerseys, tri bikes, water bottles, gps units, and shaved legs. Here I was with hairy legs and full of doubt wondering when I would be dropped and forced to suffer a solo slog on the back roads of NC and SC. The start was moderately fast. 18mph then slowly creeping up to 20mph. I wasn't sure what to do as my solo rides have been around 18mph. In a group ride I can generally go up 2-3mph without too much suffering with the aid of the draft but not for 80 miles. I decided to try and hang on. Mile 10, turned into mile 20, then 30 and I was feeling generally great. At mile 37 I had to make a decision as that was the last turnoff for the 65 milers. I was hanging good with 7-8 bike team members, so I really didn't hesitate at the turnoff. I was going to do the whole enchilada. Then it happened, everyone turned right except for 3 team riders and me. It was the 4 of us. There was a ton of miles ahead and I really didn't want to solo 45 miles, so another decision. Try to hang with these guys or turn back. By now my legs were feeling the twinges of cramps, but I decided to try and hang on. As a mountain biker, I'm really enjoying learning the rules of road biking like how to draft, taking turns pulling at the front of the pack. Its a total adrenaline rush. I love it. Through 51 miles I was able to pull a 20.3 ave. which if you asked me before the ride would have been a joke. I was hoping for a 16/17 ave. After that I let the team riders go and suffered by myself for a little while.

The next 15-20 miles was mostly solo, but I could occasionally hook up with some other riders at the rest stops where I filled myself with bananas and orange slices. Mmm tasty. Overall, I never really cramped that bad and although I was suffering, it was totally manageable. I'm convinced the SportLegs capsules I was taking every hour kept me from totally bonking. My speed dropped significantly without the aid of drafting, but overall I ended up with an 18.3 ave., which was far better than I expected. If you re-read the quote I started with maybe now it makes a little more sense. I was so convinced that I was not able to do the ride, when all I had to do was try. I'm so glad that I did. This was the longest ride I've ever done. I wanted to get to 100 to make it a true century, but that will have to wait until another time. Good times on the road today.

Limitless

The two weeks have been fantastic. FANTASTIC. In a lot of ways I felt like kid again. Although I had a lot of personal stuff to take care of, I set aside a good amount of time to play, and play I did. Here's what I've been up to over the past several weeks (lots of pics).

Before I get started, I have to mention that after a few days off of work I felt limitless. Did you see the movie? I had ridiculous amounts of energy that allowed me to play for part of the day and be responsible the the other part. It was great. Mine was done without the aid of a little pill however.

Limitless Trailer

I couldn't help but remember the beginning to my journey as I watched the trailer. I got slammed in the eye and stung by a bee my last week of work. I looked super awesome. this picture was before it turned black and only really shows the swelling.

My excuse for looking like this, I'm an engineer (who likes to ride his bike).

It all started with a trip to Roanoke. The wife had a girls weekend in Christiansburg and I was going up to Roanoke to pick up a new mountain bike I has in the works since April. All my bikes are typically black, so I went a little crazy with this build and went with purple and gold. I was really excited the way it turned out.

Purple Santa Cruz Tallby LT (TBLT)

Right after picking the bike up from the shop, I headed out to my favorite riding spot in Roanoke. North Mountain. This is the same trail I did the Dragon's Tale race on in April. This time however, I'd be riding up to the ridge from the other direction. Out of the parking lot I saw that the trail was extremely overgrown with briars and stinging nettle. I'd come to regret that later, but I had a nice ride on North Mountain. I didn't feel all that great on the climbs, so I held back a little and took the road back to my car knowing that I had another ride planned for later in the day.

The 2.2 miles up to Deer Trail killed me, but the descent was great and allowed me to test out the big suspension on the TBLT. I was a little tentative on the way down due to storms that took a lot of trees down, but I made it out without incident. EXCEPT for the fact that I got a tick on the ride that I didn't notice until dinner. I hate ticks.

I love going to Roanoke. Not only is it a great place to ride a bike (any kind of bike), but my kids also love to go. My in-laws live in South Roanoke, so it's an awesome location to get some decent road rides or even mountain bike rides out the door. The in-laws are great with the kids and a super accommodating by allowing me to sneak out for some rides. My wife's brother and his family also live in Blacksburg, so it's always a good time to get the cousins together as well.

Just before dinner one night, I snuck out for a ride on Mill Mountain. I can ride to these trails from there house and they are surprisingly good. Really good for bing right next to downtown Roanoke. 

Junk Car Trail on Mill Mountain

It wasn't all about biking though. I had a great time at the park with the kiddos too. This park was at the Elementary School the wife went to as a kid. 

The kids loved the tire swing.

On the turf with their cousin.

Afterwards, we went to 7-11 for some Slurpees. That certainly made me feel like a kid again!!!

After returning to Charlotte, I used Monday to get some personal stuff done. I needed to get my drug screening for the new job done and I had some weeding to do. I had just received a nasty gram from the homeowners assoc. that the weeds next to my mailbox were to the level of a warning. Sheesh. I went medieval on those weeds and then took it upon myself to paint the mailbox, cut some stencils, and re-paint the house numbers on the paper holder. Way more ambitious than I would get under full time employment. Limitless!.

The next day I headed to the Uwharries for another spin on the mountain bike. I intended to head up to Pisgah, but just wasn't feeling up to it. The Uwharrie trail system is much more forgiving if you're having a bad day. As it turned out, I hd a pretty good day on the bike.

Stopping for some fuel.

My eye finally healed! just in time for the new job!

In addition to the mailbox, the back part of my yard hasn't seen any work in 4-5 years. The tree in the picture below wasn't even visible. This work took be the better part of two days and consisted of me getting destroyed by mosquitos one night and attacked by fire ants the next day. Oh yeah, remember the stinging nettle from Roanoke? That destroyed my legs too. So for the record, stinging nettle, ticks, mosquitos, and now FIRE ANTS. I'm also super allergic to anything that itches so I was a real mess. As I write this days later, the itching is only now bearable.

Yard Project.

I also had a great breakfast with E at the Flying Biscuit after a ride on the Greenway. It so rare that we actually eat by ourselves quietly. It was great.

Biking with E on the Greenway.

After all that, and on a whim, we packed up and headed to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. The kids loved it.

A loving it.

L loving it.

T loving it.

This was a cool restaurant at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle. We didn't go, but this looked like something that needed to be in Vegas. After 5 years in Hilton Head, which has nothing like this, we had a good time with the kids.

The girls enjoying their treat on the boardwalk.

Burying A int he sand. She loved it.

T Cannonballed for hours.

L rode the water slide a lot. So did I.

For my last hurrah, I drove up to Lak Norman for a ride on the trails there. I've been wanting to do that for years, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity. It was a perfect day ont he trails. Mid 70's for the entire ride. Nice.

 Figuring out the trails

 Enjoying a break by the lake.

Wish I had time to kayak

After all that, it's time for bed. I have a new job to start tomorrow. :-)

New Beginnings

After I graduated college and starting working for the man, my mom bought me this motivational picture and frame. I used to have it on my desk at my first job, but it has been hidden in a cabinet for the last 7 years or so. After last week, I though of it immediately and went right to its location and pulled it out.

sorry for the bad photo.

The reason it is so relevant is that I quit my job at Honeywell last Monday. I have spent the last 8 years there and now I'm starting a new position on August 1st. It's a little hard to move on but comes at the right time and I'm very excited. 

As I touched on in my last post, I really haven't been riding as much as I would like to. My fitness has suffered as a results, but that's ok. I needed a little down time. Realizing that I'll need my fitness in a few months for our annual trip to Pisgah, I started a pseudo plan to get my legs back. It started on Friday with an invitation from my coworker for a group bike ride. I was reluctant to go because my current level of fitness and group rides are not exactly complementary. I decided to give it a go for two reasons. 1) I really like the dynamic of a group ride and 2) I wanted to get a true feeling for how in or out of shape I was.

I have only done 1 group ride before and it was an all out suffer fest. I tried to hang on to an "A" group with an average of 22-23 mph. It was hard, but I loved it. I got dropped on that ride, so I had that in the back of my mind as I considered doing another one (in worse shape). The ride email said 19/20 mph average which I knew was at my threshold. I could barely hold 17/18 on my solo rides and "my" rule of thumb is +2mph for a group ride with the benefit of drafting. Nevertheless, it was still on the edge of my capabilities, but I showed up at 8:30am anyhow.

The ride started off tame which was great. Sometimes you're sucking wind almost immediately. I was able to get warmed up without too much trouble and was even able to hold a conversation for the first 8 miles. Around mile 10 and on the open road is when I started to crack. We were hitting 21-22 in the straights and I just couldn't hold the wheel of the person in front and was dropped slowly off the back. I considered quitting, but I was able to keep the pack within reach and rejoined at the next stop light. Over the next 10 miles I hung on as best I could, but it wasn't a matter of if, rather only, when I wold be dropped. Around the half way point, I lost contact with the group and my group ride turned into a solo effort from that point forward. I was also the furthest I'd ever ridden from home on roads I wasn't familiar with. Luckily, I had my Garmin to guide me home.

I had been keeping tabs on my physical needs all morning. It was really hot, so I was drinking and taking supplements to keep on top of it. After getting dropped, once I found my route home on my GPS, I stopped for a minute, took another salt tablet and drank the rest of bottle #1 and slogged it back to the car. After downloading the ride, I was very happy with the data. I averaged 18.4mph over 34.5 miles. Not the best ride ever, but not the worst either. with some proper rides over the next few weeks, I should be back in shape in no time. Let's see how that holds up.

Focus Pocus

Focus. Somewhere between April and June, I lost focus on my plans for 2012. In business terms, I had a terrible second quarter. The kind of quarter where you have to look back and ask "what happened?". I started off the year great with the off road tri, the Charlotte 10 miler, and then the Dragon's Tale and then flamed out. There's a reason for that which I'll get to later. Mentally, I just needed to check out for a little while. I kept a decent base of cycling, but gave up running completely. That's ok with me though. I really love mountain biking and have gotten in a decent amount of trail so far this year. 

My mountain bike project is nearing completion and should be done towards the end of July. I'm really excited about a longer travel full suspension 29er. More details on that coming soon as well.

I've also discovered Strava in the last few months. I really love this app since it works with any GPS enabled device. Your phone, or in my case, my garmin tracks your ride (or run). The cool thing about it is that it tracks your performance over segments (either ones you create or ones that the community creates). You get awarded PR's, and performance medals to keep your motivation high. The more I use it, the more I like the features. Garmin should pick up this company to make Garmin Connect even better. Well, I say that, but it would probably kill the spirit of Strava, so maybe its better that they innovate on their own. Anyhow, I love their app, so I thought I'd pass it along.

I just got back from our annual trip to Hilton Head Island. We've been going there for 5 years now. It's hard to believe it's been that long. The kids are growing up so fast too. All of them were babies when we first started going. Mommy and Daddy were even enjoyed the vacation this year as the kids are soooo much easier to handle than the little ones who ate sand, threw fits, and cried all night. What an awesome time at the beach. It was my first vacation of the year and man I needed it.

Harbour Town Lighthouse.

Bike Project TBLT Greenlighted an Saturday Solo

I've been busy the past several weeks figuring a few things out. For the past three weeks, I've been battling a non-illness that has made me pretty lethargic. Lack of energy, mild headaches, explosive diarrhea. Ok, I'm kidding on the last one there. I think it explains my brain cloud post a few weeks ago. Maybe allergies, I dunno, but whatever it was, I'm ready to turn the page. After this weekend I feel like the positive energy is flowing.

I've been motivated lately to sell off some (more) bike stuff. This weekend I sold another bike, my road bike, so the list is up to:

1. Trek Mountain Bike
2. Trek Road Bike
3. Mountain Bike Wheelset
4. 2 Mountain Bike Tires
5. Shimano MTB Crank

The green machine and the one on the far right of the photo are gone. With the influx of old bike ca$h, I've been plotting what to do next. Lately, I've been enjoying going downhill more than uphill. I'm less interesting in the racing scene this year and more interested in the smile on my face. When I bought my "race" bike I struggled with the 80mm suspension decision. It was a step backwards from my 120mm Trek, but moving to a 29r platform picked up the gap nicely. My Jet9 is an awesome bike and I still love it, but I'm still wanting a larger cushion in the mountains, so I pulled the trigger on Project Santa Cruz.

Let's just say that Santa Cruz released a bike on April 1st that I haven't been able to pull out of my head. It's a 135mm (5"+) long travel bike. It's been so popular that the wait is currently out to August for custom builds. Since I'm always tinkering, I decided to wait for the frame only option so that I could build it up the way I wanted it. A lot of stuff I own is black. Its a neutral color that I tend to gravitate towards. I don't know why, but I'm forcing myself to try something different on this project. PURPLE. That's right, I'm going with a purple themed Santa Cruz Tallboy LT (TBLT). It's supposed to look something like the photo below.

Because the wait is so long, I decided to get an early start on the wheelset. Purple I9 hubs laced to Stans ZTR Flow rims. I just got the email on Friday that they are done and the photo looks fantastic. The good news is that I can run them on my current bike while I wait.

I can hardly contain my excitement for the frame. Over the next several weeks I need to pick out the rest of the parts for the build. Very exciting for me. For you, probably not so much unless you like riding your bike down the side of a mountain like me.

In other random news, I was able to test a new product out over the weekend. I struggle with cramps in longer endurance events and if I don't pay attention to it, it completely cripples me. During the Dragon's Tale race, with less than 5 miles to go, I had to climb over a guy completely destroyed my muscle cramps. He was literally writhing in pain in the middle of the trail. just so you don't think I'm a total jerkface, someone was already helping him. I've been THAT GUY so many times before. Now, I'm smarter and rely on electrolytes to keep replenishing the stuff that is lost through sweat. This product has a minimalist concept. Why include other stuff you don't need and I like the idea so I picked up a bottle of Salt Stick caps at REI.

The first ride was a success. I decided to only take one of these before my 25 mile solo EPIC on Saturday to see how well it would perform. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but hot enough to have an effect over an extended ride. I had a great ride and pushed it at probably 90-95%. I never had a inkling of cramps until I stood up on the pedals on the gravel road back to the car. Before I declare success on the new fuel, I'll need another long ride in Pisgah to test my limits.

Saturday was a great day to ride!!! :-) I snuck out early on Saturday to hit the Uwharrie National Forest.