Categories
cycling my exciting life

Remember that time I accidentally biked almost 80 miles? Yeah, that was great.

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I had this plan for my Sunday. I was going to do the Red, White and Bike Annual Bike for Little Heroes today. Probably the short course (~20 miles) or if I was feeling really froggy I’d maybe do the 36 mile course. You have to understand, in the last month and a half I have quite literally ridden my bike once, which was yesterday when I did 10 miles to make certain my bike was still functional and the chain didn’t need to be greased.

Well, that plan got scrapped the minute I arrived at the event and found my normal riding group. Scott and Alex are evil geniuses and we are all screwed if they ever start cooking meth or something. They arm-twisted me into doing the full course, then shamed me into keeping going when the hills (THERE ARE HILLS NEAR HOUSTON NO REALLY) had me completely demoralized. I really need to learn to fight peer pressure like my DARE officer told me to in junior high.

I don’t think I’ll be able to move tomorrow. I’ve already hit the stage where I can’t stand up without groaning. But I rode nearly 80 miles today, without training for it.

It just makes me think about how important it is when you do something scary for the first time. I rode a century (100 miles) for the first time this year, and also ran a 5k. Before I did those things, I was always intimidated by the idea of doing that kind of mileage. But now that I’ve done them, that block is gone. I know I can do it. I ran a bit over 5k a couple of times in London, and then once I got home just because I knew I could do it and it wouldn’t totally destroy my knees. And now this, because I knew that it was possible for me to do 100 miles and not die. (This time it was just much, much harder.)

It was a bit like that, the first time I submitted a story to a magazine. I got rejected and it didn’t kill me, so I knew I could do it again.

That’s why it’s important to try new things. Whether you succeed or not, it proves that something which seemed so scary can’t possibly kill you. It takes away the fear, because either you beat it once, or it didn’t beat you. It really does make you stronger.

Categories
charity cycling

I Would Bike 100 Miles and I Would Bike 100 More…

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A giant thank you to everyone who supported my Century for UNICEF UK. With your help I raised $757, which comes it to $7.57 per mile I biked on Sunday. I’m incredibly grateful and I know the money will go to helping people who need it! Thank you everyone!!! (Thank you: Chelsea Conlin, Pat Acks, Pat Wells, Mary Ellen Neumann, Miranda Wood, May Fisher, Carrie, Mike Smith, Alyson, and the anonymous donors!)

Though since we didn’t get to $800 I have one again escaped the live blog of Metal Tornado. Hahaha you’ll never get me!!!

I took a few pictures on the ride, but not too many since I was, you know, busy pedaling like a maniac. Album is here if you want to see it. I’m considering going for a helmet cam one if these days… maybe next year. Put it on the wish list.

This was my first century since I started biking seriously a little over a year ago. I feel amazed even writing that. I’ve come so far in such a short period of time. I completed the 100 miles in 5:35:17, which is about an 18.3 mph average. That’s insane. That’s the kind of times I’ve been getting on shorter rides. And just last year when I did the metric century, my average was barely above 15 mph if I remember correctly. And say the end of the ride, we actually did a half assed sprint–somehow! I chased my friends Sam and Leonardo for the last four miles and ended the ride doing 23 mph!!

Most of the credit for my astounding success goes to my amazing friends from the Come Ride With Us meetup group: Scott, Leonardo, Sam, Carrie, John. Everyone was so encouraging. We basically ran a double pace line the whole way (and I wasn’t a total waste if space, I promise, I took my turns pulling) and it felt great to be riding with them. We had lots of people along the way hitch on to the back of our pace line, and that was fun to briefly meet them.

It also helps that the weather was excellent for most of the ride. It was overcast, relatively cool, and it even rained a little… enough to keep the temperatures down without making the roads dangerous. I’m not really sore at all, and my legs were only a little tired yesterday. (Though I did get a nasty sunburn on my arms. It’s literally impossible to put on a fresh layer if sunscreen when you’re sweating that much. Maybe I need to invest in white sleeves.)

I can’t wait to see where I am next year! (And I’ll warn you now, I’m planning to do another century for UNICEF UK next year, so start saving your pennies now. Pretty please?)

Categories
charity cycling

T-minus 14 Days: Training Update for my #CenturyForUNICEF

The Katy Flatland Century (you know, that thing I’m dedicating to UNICEF UK) is now just two weeks away. Less than that, technically. By this time two Sundays from now, I plan to have gorged myself on margaritas and a giant chimichanga at Chuy’s. If I can stay awake that long. But I wanted to give a little update on training for it.

I’m honestly incredibly nervous about riding a full century. I’ve only ever done a metric century (100km, or 62 miles) and a full century isn’t far from being twice that length. I’m afraid my legs will give out, or I’ll just run out of energy. (Though I’m planning to down fig newtons and bananas at every support station like a champ in order to combat that!) Committing to doing this ride for charity means that I’m resolved to not wimp out or give up, but there’s still the niggling fear that I just won’t physically be able to hack it.

I feel a little bit better about my chances after this week of training. I did a 60 mile ride yesterday, which is just two miles shy of matching my longest ride ever. I’m not going to claim it was easy, but I did it. And I wasn’t in immense pain today like I’d been a year ago after the metric century. I’m definitely in better shape than I was. In fact, I was in good enough shape to get back on my bike this morning and do another 40 miles. So this weekend I did 100 (technically 100.5) miles and I’m still capable of walking. Next step–do it all in one day, in two weeks.

Total this week, I did 180 miles, as you see preserved for posterity above. That is the most I’ve ever ridden my bike. I’m hoping to get close to that next week. As long as the weather cooperates, I’m going to do another 60 mile ride next Saturday, so keep your fingers crossed for me.

I can do this. (And you can still help. Even just $1 can make a big difference to a kid.)

Categories
charity cycling

Riding a century for UNICEF UK

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I’m going to get on my bicycle in less than three weeks and ride 100 miles. The story is basically that I’m nuts. July in Houston is fricking hot. It’ll probably take me 6-7 hours to do.

Why?

Personally, it’s a challenge. Last year I achieved the metric century, which is 100km. This year I’m in better shape and I want to test my limits. I’m lucky that I can set those kinds of challenges for myself. There are a lot of people throughout the world who face the far greater challenge every day of just trying to eat enough or find clean water. I wish I could give everyone the opportunities I had growing up, and the opportunities I have now. Just making sure everyone has food and water is a good start.

I’m dedicating my first century to UNICEF UK; they do a phenomenal amount of work to help children in desperate situations. A little bit of money goes a long way. I’ve put my money where my mouth is and put $1 per mile I’m going to ride on July 21st into the pot. You should join me. I’ll do all the hard work and the gross sweating. All you have to do is throw some money at my Just Giving page–and at no risk of a chafed backside.

Every little bit helps! Ride with me!

And what the hell. If you guys can manage to get me to $801 (random number there), the day before (July 20) as I am carbing up I will finally liveblog Metal Tornado. Or something equally awful if that turd of a movie isn’t on Netflix any more. I AM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS.

Categories
cycling

The kindness of strangers

Just a short little story to share because I have had way too much to drink tonight and we’re not even going to discuss the number of cupcakes I’ve ingested, other than it’s a sum that rhymes with “regret.”

Earlier today, I did another forty mile loop on my bike. I did one yesterday as well, since I’m trying to hammer out as much mileage as I can each weekend in preparation for cycling my first full century – that’s 100 miles in a single day. (By the way, I’m dedicating my first century to UNICEF UK and raising funds for them. You should totally go donate. Even a single dollar, which is just one penny per mile I’m going to cycle on July 21st, can make a huge difference in the life of a child.)

Anyway, since these were miles 98-138 for my week and  quads were feeling a bit whiney, I’d dropped from my peloton and was riding the last twenty miles effectively solo. About five miles from my end point, I ran out of water. This does not sound like a big deal, but when it’s going to be another 20 minutes and it’s 97 degrees in Houston, that becomes a problem. (Think about it this way. I rode 40 miles today and drank approximately 3.5 liters of water while doing so.)

The stretch of road I was on was fairly lonely. I recalled having seen a gas station, so I turned around to go there, and… it was boarded up and extremely creepy up close. But I did see people around, a bunch of [motorcycle] bikers gathered outside what was apparently a biker bar. Before lunchtime. A bar surrounded by several groups of gangly, feral kittens. I approached, since I know bars do tend to contain water to go with the alcohol.

“You here for church?” one of them asked me.

I was a bit flummoxed, to be honest. And they did, indeed, all have Bibles. I said no, but thank you, I was just hoping to trouble them for water. And a nice older gentleman in a leather vest filled up my Camelbak with cold water from behind the bar.

After I thanked them, one lady told me to be safe out there. The drivers are crazy, and, “it’s important you ride safe. It’s safer for all of us.”

I’d never really heard it put like that, but she put it down there simply, that cyclists and motorcyclists should view each other as natural allies. I liked that, and I hadn’t expected it at all.

The drivers in Texas sure are crazy, but it’s also true that generally, the strangers are very kind. And I wanted to share that as well.

Categories
cycling

I buy stuff

I bought two things today that I’m very excited about, one for my head and one for my butt. Whee! I’ve been wanting a new saddle for my bike pretty much since I started regularly riding more than 20 miles at a time, and finally just did it because I was tired of my sit bones being in blazing agony by mile 23. I went for something more curved than the standard Bontrager saddler that came with my Lexa, and boy could I tell the difference. I did a 25 mile ride and it was like riding on a cushion of… uh… fake leather filled with gel, really.

Never underestimate the power and worth of a good saddle.

And the other exciting thing is I finally got a good pair of sunglasses, since I realized I’d need something to protect my eyes and block out the wind better now that I have contacts. These ones are pretty awesome – shatter proof, which is important, and they also come with three sets of lenses that are easy to change out. So I’ll have a set of clear lenses for night rides and such.

Expensive, but very worth it. I’m not planning to use these babies for driving. I’m figuring a pair of cheap grocery store sunglasses ought to be good enough for that. But man, I look about a thousand times more badass now too. Bonus.

Categories
cycling

In which Google Maps tries to kill me.

I used Google Maps a lot when I was in Houston, to map routes for getting around by bike. There, it served me really well – hey, I got through the summer alive, right? There aren’t a lot of bike lanes are shared road space, but the mapping algorithm was really good about taking me on low-traffic streets in an effort to keep me from being mowed down by cars.

I’m going to have to be a lot more careful about it in Denver. The problem is that there are many, many more bike trails in Denver than there are in Houston. But unlike Houston, the majority of trails that are marked for bikes in Denver are gravel trails. I really don’t feel good about riding on them. Maybe if I had a mountain bike, but with road tires it’s too easy to fishtail and just lose it.

I got a reminder of that today when I was trying to ride up to Longmont. The maps sent me on to a set of trails through an open space. I rode a little ways in, almost lost it in the gravel, and then decided to walk the rest of the way through to the street since it didn’t seem that far.

Which it wasn’t, except for the part where I got really, really lost and spent about twenty minutes walking in aimless circles.

The street was another problem entirely. It was a dirt track with gravel. And while I was trying to decide how much further to talk, a cloud of the biggest mosquitoes I’d ever seen descended on me. In broad daylight. It was like Hitchcock had done a movie called The Mosquitoes just right there.

You think it’s funny? Next time try to run while pulling along a bike through mud while slapping evil mutant insects who have lost their proper fear of the day star.

If I die of West Nile, let it be known that Google Maps killed me. Next time Google Maps, please try to bump me off in a more traditional way, like driving me off a cliff. I’ll be happy as long as nothing’s biting me.

Categories
cycling rants

It’s my road too.

Dear person who honked at me:

Look, a car horn isn’t really the best communication medium there is. I guess we could try morse code, or set phrases like the general 10-codes, but outside of that I don’t really know what you’re trying to tell me. Of course, I have some guesses.

Maybe you’re trying to tell me that you think I should be on the sidewalk. Funny thing is, that’s actually illegal in a lot of places. Bicycles are considered vehicles and as such, we’re supposed to be in the street. And moreso, people like me who regularly commute via bicycle tend to cruise along at 20+ mph when we get going. I don’t want to collide with a child or a family pet when going that kind of speed. It wouldn’t end well for anyone.

So nothing personal, but I don’t know you well enough to be willing to break the law for you, grievously injure someone’s kid, or put myself in the hospital.

Maybe you’re trying to share with me that you’re really annoyed there’s a bottleneck where cars can’t go zooming around me, an I’m impeding your progress by up to thirty seconds. You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t have much sympathy for that. You can make up time a lot better than I can with just my quads and a couple of wheels to power me along.

Maybe you’re trying to tell me that you saw another cyclist do Terribly Assholish Thing X, and you now hate all cyclists. Look, I’m sorry that someone was a jerk to you, but that doesn’t mean I’m a jerk or deserve to be punished for their mistakes. When I was little, a dog bit me on the face. I still have a scar. But you don’t see me going around and being mean to every dog I meet because I got the crap scared out of me once.

Maybe you’re trying to tell me that you don’t want to share the road with me. Tough shit, it’s my road too.

Maybe you’re trying to share the important information that your car is equipped with a horn. Well, that’s nice to know. Good for you. 

But this is the thing. When you honk at me, I can’t hear any of that nuance. All I get out of it is: Just wanted you to know, I’m an asshole.

Hope that’s what you were trying to convey.

Categories
cycling Team Loki

Team Loki at the Buffalo Bicycle Classic

Team Loki is officially registered for the Buffalo Bicycle Classic in Boulder, Colorado on September 9. It’s a charity ride where all the net proceeds (~$60 per person) go to scholarships for students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Which is, not coincidentally, my school.

Currently we’re a team of two on the 35 mile ride – my brother and I. (We’re only doing 35 miles out of deference for the fact that my bro is insane and only has a single speed bike.)

If you’re in Colorado and would like to join us for the ride, there’s still plenty of time to register. To register as part of the team, click through to the “Select Categories” screen and pick the “Buff Classic Team Rider” button. Team Loki is in the existing team scroll down list. Our password is: hiddlesisourking

The 35 mile start time is 0900, so we’ll be meeting up then to ride together. If you decide to join in let me know so we can make sure to meet up! Should be a fun time, and I’m not just saying that because there is beer at the end!

Categories
cycling

Dog vs. Man Collision

This is something that happened at the Katy Flatland Century, which is still bugging the crap out of me.

After leaving the third rest stop on the metric century route, a dog ran across the road right behind me. It startled the hell out of me, and for a minute I thought he was going for my tires. (Which is a thing that happens.) But instead the dog went barreling full-bore into the cyclist behind me and literally knocked him off his bike.

I stopped and ran back to help. I’m guessing the dog was okay – he ran into the yard of the house we were passing, and there were other dogs there so I didn’t want to go check and intrude on their territory. The cyclist was mostly okay. He had his helmet on, but he tore up his knee pretty bad and was hurting. Me and another cyclist helped him get back on his feet, get his chain back on his bike, and then he headed back to the rest stop, probably to call it a day.

The other guy that stopped to help seemed pretty sure the dog hadn’t been going after the cyclist either. He thought the dog might have wanted to cross the road and just timed it badly, maybe a little scared by us. Which makes sense, the way it happened. (However, dogs chasing you while you’re on your bike and going after your legs or the tires is a thing that happens, and it’s scary.)

What bothers me about the whole thing is that this dog was just wandering around. The front yard of that house was open, so all of the other dogs were free to wander as well with no one to watch them. I understand Katy is kind of out in the country, so to speak – it’s all fields and the occasional house in that area – but there’s a road right there, and it has a speed limit of 45. There were plenty of cars on it with us as well.

Just seems like a bad, bad idea to me. The poor dog probably got through colliding with a cyclist okay. That wouldn’t be the case with a car.