A Very Good Day

At 7:00 this morning, I was sitting in my car, in the dark, next to a practice soccer field. I was waiting for Bob and Sarah to arrive so that I could join them for their weekly Dawn Patrol. Around 7:30, they rolled into the parking lot, and we made our final preparations.

As we headed down the White Rock Trail toward the lake, the sun had officially risen seven minutes earlier, but we only saw what filtered through a layer of thick, gray clouds. Rolling down the trail, choking on clouds of gnats, Sarah and I wondered what Bob had eaten for breakfast. Saint Bob, who always claims to ride at a steady 13-14 mph, was 20 yards ahead, thundering along at 17 mph!

And I thought I was going to get a recovery ride after yesterday's 42-mile tempo ride.

We had a really good ride and lots of laughs, which was plenty to be happy about on its own. What made it even better is that it was a landmark for Sarah: her first 50-miler! Congratulations, Sarah.

Legs or No Legs - That was the Question

This past weekend, Sara and I did back to back rides on the now infamous Grapevine 25 mile course.

Saturday, I had no problem with the flats or the downhills but I gotta tell ya, riding up the MOUNTAINS in Grapevine was burning the heck out of my legs. Sara on the other hand had one of her best rides ever. She was riding strong every mile of the ride.

Sunday, what a difference a day makes. Now, it was my turn to feel great. The Grapevine Mountains were now the Grapevine hills. No Gu, just legs. Great ride for me. Sara was strong but felt the fatigue of back to back rides.

We rode safe and we averaged 13.8 on Sunday. We are getting ready for May 5-6, 2007.

Ride safe and help us raise money to find a cure for MS.

Weekend Update

First of all, dear reader, let me assure you that this really is a team blog. It's just that the rest of the Wheeler Dealers are...

• busy taking care of their families
  
• retired (which, paradoxically, means they're quite busy)
  
• out riding their bikes
• just a bit shy
  

...and haven't got 'round to posting anything yet.

Friday

Sarah and her family hosted a team meeting at their house. In attendance were Bob, Cliff, Elizabeth, and I (along with our family members/support teams). The order of the evening was thick-crust, custom-made pizzas, masterfully prepared outside on the grill by Sarah's husband, along with fizzy soft drinks and adult beverages. Serving as official greeters as we arrived were Sarah's charming and precocious daughter and her best friend, who presented each of us with a freshly-picked dandelion.

This was only my second Wheeler Dealers team meeting, but already I'm gathering that the time I spent brushing up on Robert's Rules of Order would have been better spent riding. That's not to say that there was no business done, because we did spend a fair bit of time discussing who had legs and which team members would be best suited to ride together during the MS 150. It's just that there were no minutes to be read, and no one felt compelled to weigh down the mood with all that dreary business of moving this, seconding that, and tabling the other.

Saturday

For the first time this year, I went out on one of my favorite group rides. We rode 32 miles through the rolling countryside east of Plano, at a pace in the low 15s. The morning started out a little chilly, but by the first stop I was stripping off my tights and arm warmers and applying sunblock.

Sunday

I hadn't done any back-to-back days of rides with any significant distance so far this year, so I took advantage of an official MS 150 training ride sponsored and led by Richardson Bike Mart. The starting point was different from that of Saturday's ride, but at 35 miles and a 15.6 mph rolling average, the distance and pace were nearly the same and we traveled much of the same route. 30% of my total calories burned came from fat, and there was much rejoicing.

Both of the weekend's rides went well, and I largely avoided the hip pain that plagued me after the kick-off training ride. Still, the mild soreness in my legs is telling me that I still have a fair bit of work to do over the next month or so.

Motivation Boost

After my recent new car purchase, Mazda sent me a "Zoom-Zoom" decal. I thought that was neat, but rather than applying the decal to my bumper—where "Zoom-Zoom" translates roughly as "Officer, please give me a ticket"—I used it to adorn the top tube (the only tube, in fact) of my recumbent bike.


Now, when I walk past my faithful steed on my way through the garage into the house after a draining commute home from work, it's like it's whispering to me:

Zoom-Zoom. You know you want to.

Speaking of motivation, I'm looking forward to getting a blank Champions Against MS bandanna when I pick up my ride packet in a few weeks. My plan is to have it signed by my friends with MS, and to carry it with me for inspiration during my training and the MS 150 ride itself.

2007 Sam's Club MS 150 Kick-off Party and Training Ride

Yesterday was The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Lone Star Chapter's official 2007 Kick-off event, held out at Texas Motor Speedway. Sarah, Cliff, and I arranged to meet up for the 9am check in and a bit of socializing before the start of the ride. I arrived a bit early and bumped into John, one of my coworkers, who kept me company while I waited for my teammates. After we'd unloaded our bikes and gear, Cliff had John snap a photo of the Wheeler Dealers contingent:

Mike, Sarah, and Cliff: ready to roll

We couldn't have asked for a better day for a ride—sunny, warm, and calm—and the three of us got antsy waiting for the speechifying to end so that we could get on the road. "The road", in this case, was a five-mile loop of frontage road that encircles the speedway grounds. Traffic was sparse, but police were stationed at each of the intersections where normally we would have had to obey stop signs, so it was a great opportunity to just... go. The public address was still going on about something, so we just slipped away and started the ride together.

Cliff and I had decided that we would shoot for 45 miles (9 laps), which meant that we'd have to keep up a reasonably brisk pace if we were to finish while there was still some barbecue left. Sarah said she didn't figure she'd go that long, because she had other commitments.

My original plan was to take advantage of the closed course to keep my heart rate in the moderate zone and just get a nice fat-burning workout. My will was weak, though, and I ended up pushing the pace all morning. At around 30 miles, I met up with Cliff again. He observed that a lot of riders seemed to have packed it in for the day, and in the interest of getting fed, we agreed to ride two more laps together and then head in for some lunch.

At the end of the day, I'd logged just a fly speck shy of 41 miles at a personal best average of 18.5 mph. I suspect Cliff's average was even higher, despite the time he spent helping out with a couple riders who crashed about half an hour into the ride.

We're off and running!