Cats, heating and clipless pedals...

Racked up 13.6 neighborhood miles this morning, and 20 miles this evening with friends from Velo Valero and others. A good day, but I’m spent as I write about the latest training shenanigans.

The “monster cat from hell” stalked me again this morning, but it was more of a comfort than a concern, since I know where it lives and it knows I’m coming through! I believe mutual respect has been established.

I was able to squeeze in an extra mile before heading home for breakfast and the work day. I used my new LED white light this morning. It was so bright in the pre-dawn hours that I swear a couple of planes circled thinking it was an airport landing light! I felt a good deal more confident because of the LED this morning than I did yesterday, when the novice in me placed a red flashing light on front and back…I figured I need something.

The day was filled with anticipation for this evening’s training ride, which did include hills, because it would be during busy traffic, and with about 20 riders. However, I didn’t see many of the riders for much of the 2-hour gig. I brought up the rear for the entire ride. Hey, someone has to be at the back, right?

My thanks to Andrea “Android” Shull and husband thunder-thighs Chase who, despite obviously being able to ride at speeds twice what I was able to muster, hung with me throughout the 20 miles.

We started from Bullis County Park way outside Loop 1604 on Blanco Road. This was my first experience riding in real high heat. My previous rides in Cibolo and my neighborhoods have been largely early morning or at least well before the heat of the day sets in.

There was a time when I realized I was overheating, and fumbled for a couple of miles trying to pull my jersey zipper down to ventilate myself. Needless to say I wasted a good deal of water on my head in a nervous attempt to cool myself, unable to release the zipper. The zipper was a preoccupation, and several times caused me to wobble dangerously. Fortunately, as I said above, I was the last rider so any harm would have been to me!

Anyway, I finally was able to bare my chest and offer an exit for the body heat. Boy it felt good. Gaining my composure, I set about attempting to again understand the timing of shifting.

Lots of rolling hills on this ride, well there seemed lots to me! Andrea told me that my cadence was too fast. So I selected a bigger, more efficient ring, and it seemed to afford me a feeling of control and clearly more power with less exertion.

Still need to be better prepared for building the down-hill speed in order to achieve the beneficial momentum to drive me up the next hill, so that I don’t slow to the point of searching for the Granny gear and just spin up the hill!

I asked the novice question: “When do you know, when do you commit that you’ll stand up in your pedals to drive you up the next hill?” And to my surprise, the answer came back, YOU don’t stand up! Well at least, the suggestion was that I shouldn’t look to be doing that. It was explained that by standing up in your pedals you are expending energy just to be standing! Energy you could better use to more efficiently “ride” up the hill.

Observations: even at this early stage I think clipless pedals are the way to go. My sneakers are not fixed in one position in the cages, and so I’m forever having to reposition them away from the bike frame. Also, this evening’s ride headed to the west on some roads, and the sun was setting directly into my eyes. I never realized how that situation prevents you seeing very far up the road! Not sure what that means or what I can do about it, but there you are!

Anyway, good lessons learned, again! I’m taking tomorrow off, though might hit the gym to work on some upper-body toning. I’m feeling an ache across my trapezius muscles, especially around the base of my neck, and a little on my front deltoids. So I think a little muscle workout might strengthen them a little. And the workout can’t hurt, right?

I’LL BE BACK…!
Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.

Cats, computers and lonliness of the early morning ride

Training today, road time, was considerably more enjoyable than working the trainer hooked to my bike yesterday. I clocked about 12.75 miles this morning, according to my calculations, since my bike computer remains in the box in my kitchen! (More on the computer later).

That makes 42.75 road miles in 2 outings, two more outings that I've done in the past 42 years...

I overslept again, awakened by my wife at 6:10 am instead of 6:00 am. The reason for why the alarm didn’t go off remains a mystery under close FBI investigation, with heavy mutual finger pointing in my household. I rushed into my bike shorts, catching my toes on the flimsy legs of the shorts several times, slowing my attempt to dress.

Dressed, I grabbed my bottles of Powerade and water, headed for the garage and pumped 115 PSI into my slumbering blue Cannondale! Gloves. Helmet…no lights! It’s still quite dark even at 6:15 am. I had two toy red flashing badges. I stuck one on my jersey pocket and the other on a front break cable. I know, I should have had a white light on the front. My thought was that at least “car up” and people walking would see a moving light…

My buddy Lloyd Hensley came through later in the day with a strong, LED white light that I’ll use tomorrow.

It was amazing to me to see so many of my neighbors on the streets of my sub-division during my 45-minute ride. “Hello.” “Good morning.” “How are you?” Echoed on the quiet streets of my sub-division as I passed track-suited shapes in the pre-sunrise conditions.

This was my first experience riding around parked vehicles, and making space for passing vehicles or vehicles reversing out of driveways. Even the drivers were welcoming, and waived as they passed. Wow, what a nice neighborhood I live in!

I’m still frustrated by using the wrong left-hand lever to shift, especially as my heart rate peaks and my breathing becomes hard with the hills. But it all feels good, despite the loneliness of riding alone!

On Saturday, there were a couple of times when fenced dogs, and a few that weren’t, made threatening noises or movements towards my training-ride buddies. So riding alone this morning, I was prepared for a couple of houses where I knew dogs resided.

At one point of the ride I detected a metallic clinking noise. I know we have to be sensitive to noises on the bike, so I’m looking all over the bike to find the source of the noise…not watching the road. This investigation also challenged my shifting prowess, and so I ended up in the Granny Gear on the smallest ring several times…suddenly pedaling very, very quickly, but going nowhere!

The metallic clinking noise continued and seemed to be getting louder. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I detected movement quickly coming towards me. My heart skipped a beat and began to race, as I prepared for my first threatening-dog encounter.

I quickly looked in the direction of the movement, fumbling but succeeding in shifting to a larger ring. Then the object of my brief cycling nightmare sprang into view, and in a split second scanned the road ahead to see what I would hit as this huge animal attacked…

The animal turned out to be a 4-pound black and white cat with a bell attached to its collar, the source of the metallic clinking!

This morning’s ride felt good. I was actually a little tired when I got to my office. But I put that down to the reality that I didn’t get to bed until half-past midnight!

BIKE COMPUTER
I purchased ($39.99) a Cannondale IQ114 14-function computer with cadence. Looks good on the box. The computer appeared as a gray square object in the window of the box. I was ready to rack up the miles now, able to verify my MPH and establish an efficient cadence. Not so fast Tony! There’s about 4-feet of wiring, a couple of O-rings, a dozen zip-ties, and a few other things in this package that turned out to be my Pandora’s Box! Despite the instructions, and despite being handy with electronics, no way am I going to overcome the instructions and mount this on my own. So I’ll be heading to my friends at Bicycle Shack in Boerne on the weekend!

Looking forward to my 6:00 am neighborhood, solo training ride Wednesday, and also a training ride Wednesday night (6:30 pm) at Bullis County Park with the Velo Valero team, and training-ride leader Andrea Shull. Remember, I have barely 10 weeks to prepare.

C ya on the road!
Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.

2 Free Tickets to Sydney, Australia...

Did I mention that in Pauline's memory I am personally donating to the Valero Bike to the Beach two free round-trip tickets to beautiful Sydney, Australia?

To be entered in this drawing, all a person need do is raise a minimum of $1,000. For every subsequent $1,000 raised, another entry will be placed in the drawing in that person's name. The more money a person raises, the chances of their name being drawn increases, too!

Ernst & Young has agreed to audit the drawing, to take place on Dec. 4 (coincidentally, which would have been Pauline's 52nd birthday), at our 2008 Awards and Volunteer Appreciation Party. The drawing is open to anyone and everyone*, including registered bike participants, volunteers and persons with MS; it's all about the fundraising. All I ask is that you sign up for the ride; perhaps you will consider joining Pauline's Last Hurrah.

Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.

Early morning "trainer" work is not for me.

With all good intentions, I set the alarm for 6 a.m. for this morning, looking to use the “trainer” my buddy Lloyd Hensley loaned me for use at home. I jumped out of bed, no aches from yesterday’s first 30 miler! On my way back from the bathroom, stopped for a glass of water, still ready to go! But my wife was sleeping on the sofa next to my bike. Oh darn! I can’t wake her, right? So I crept back to my warm bed, with Granny Gears and Big Ring Gears dancing in my head.

6:15 am rolled around, and standing before me was my wife of 28 years, Anchana, whispering: “Hon, time to get up. Time to train…!” I love her, I really do…

So, downstairs I go, grumbling at Pauline, grumbling at the challenge that got me to this point, pulling on t-shirt, shorts and looking for my sneakers…remember, I haven’t yet graduated to clipless pedals.

Turning on the ceiling fan. Firing up the TV, still wiping sleep from my eyes, I mounted my wheeled steed ready to take on the world for the next hour…OUCH! I forgot about the butt-bone ache. Yep, the nether region was still a tad sensitive from yesterday’s saddle battle.

I pedaled slowly for 15 minutes, I figured that would help me warm up a little and find the most comfortable spot on the saddle. No, I didn’t stretch (sorry Lisa Dannembaum Shaw). So, I figured I’d done enough warming, and kicked it into the Second Ring…yes, shifting gears with authority, as I learned on the road yesterday.

Moving through the gears, feeling good. I was ready: “Engage the Big Ring!” I figured this was it. After all, I’d mastered 30 whole miles yesterday, let’s try something nasty. I moved through all the gears I had on the rear wheel and then stood in my pedals as if cycling victorious through the Arc D’ Triumph in Paris…I stood pedaling for, oh, at least 45 seconds before QUICKLY AND WITH AUTHORITY shifting back to the Granny Gear and the smallest cog I could find! Boy, I’d forgotten until that moment how my thighs felt Sunday as if impaled on forks!

I slowed the pace, working out the thigh ache, watching yet another series of news stories reporting another story about how unfair the news coverage has been on the elections…recycled from the previous half-hour segment, and then the weather, oh yes, and the traffic reporting for the umpteenth time!

My cadence was much easier with zero pressure, as I thought to myself: “Self, this is boring!” I lasted about 40 minutes during this session, thinking all the while that I’m going to hit the streets tomorrow morning rather than sit here, watching the same old news, and nearly being decapitated by my ceiling fan.

Don’t get me wrong, this is all quite exciting to me. I am looking forward to the Valero Bike to the Beach (Oct. 4-5), but I think I’ll benefit more from riding bumpy roads, suffering through “moving” saddle time and looking for potential attack dogs rather than sitting on a trainer for 1 hour each morning. Like many, I’m remembering that I need to be mentally challenged as I train.

Tomorrow will be a new day, with a new approach to training…the streets of Helotes!

Later dudes and dudettes! Tony

Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.

Wheels Down...7:45 am, this is it!

"Ride Safe." "Call out hazards." These were basic reminders to me and my 8 riding companions by my buddy Pete Templin. Pete is the co-Chair of the Ride Marshal initiative for the Valero Bike to the Beach. So I know I'm in good hands.

My mantra: "Be one with the bike." How different can it be from the bike I rode last in 1968? Ouch! Short of using a John Deere tractor seat, nobody could have prepared me for the butt-bone ache I experienced throughout much of the 30 miles of the ride. But my fellow road combatants reassured me that the ache will pass after about 300 miles or so, after I’ve “become one with the bike!”

“Pauline, are you there?”

The early part of the outbound ride was pleasing. Cool breezes, gorgeous countryside, and the ever-present whooshing noise of the wind passing through my helmet strap and over my ears. A unique experience; I was one with the road.

Now the left brake handle controls those big cogs at the front (3 of them), and the right brake handle controls all those gears at the rear, you see I did learn something. So that sounds easy enough. I quickly learned that you have to use authority as you twist either brake handle to shift…otherwise you’re left literally spinning, slowing and with nowhere to go very quickly!

With encouragement from Pete--who I felt bad with him hanging at the back of the pack with yours truly--I gradually “became one with my bike” and did shift with authority, though still uncertain about which direction to shift and when, though the “why” became obvious very early on.

The mid-way was The Pie Shop or the Cake Shop or the something or other like that where they sell good pies. I surprised myself by feeling full of vigor and ready to keep going. I was glistening from the effort, and was equally surprised to walk after dismounting. I had this vision for 48 hours leading up to the ride of rubber legs, but that didn’t eventuate. We rested, Pete lined up two pieces of chocolate pie, I bonded with my other ride teammates. Hit the head, surprised I still had feelings in that area! Topped up with water and ice and hit the road again.

The second-half of the return ride was exhilarating for the first half mile, which was a slow decline, and “with authority” I shifted to the Big Ring and mashed. Wow, speed at last (remember this is downhill)!

I’m not using clipless pedals yet. Remember, I’m not “one with my bike” yet, so remembering to “shift with authority” is what’s on my mind, not remembering to unclip! But the cages I’m using allow my sneakers to occasionally move closer to crank arm, and so my bike will begin to rhythmically squeak, as the rubber of my sneaker sole rubbed against the metal. It was quite funny, because the Society tells you to “listen to your bike” so you can identify potential problems before they become problems.

Anyway, I readjusted my foot positioning, and the squeak stopped. But by this time, my forward momentum was slowing and I frantically, without authority, shifted out of the Big Ring to my “Granny” savior…my thighs now felt like they had been impaled on the fork Pete had used earlier to eat his chocolate pie.

And so it was for the remainder of the back-leg of the training ride, trying to maintain an efficient cadence, with images of forks stuck in both thighs, and smiling at and agreeing with those around me on how good I looked considering this was my first ride for more than 40 years. Eleven MPH later, I can’t wait for the next training ride.

Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.

Getting ready to train, but what brought me here?

Forty two years later. It’s 7:45 am (Sunday 7/27/2008) in Cibolo, Texas, and I’m sitting on a bicycle for the first time in more years than a number of my friends have been alive! Adding to my amazement is that I’ve lined up with several friends to ride THIRTY miles. OMG! I was reassured that the selected route was relatively flat and so would help me “become one with my new bike!”

Pauline appeared close by, as a beautiful deep orange sun breached the horizon through a mix of low clouds and rising mist. It was inspiring! But that didn’t stop the pounding in my chest and the ever-present question on my mind: “Tony what have you gotten yourself into?” (more on the training ride later).

What craziness brought me to this point? As many know me, I’ll do anything to raise money to find a cure for multiple sclerosis (and until now find a cure for my dear sister Pauline), and hopefully by my antics inspire others to fundraise for the National MS Society Lone Star Chapter. Well, last Thursday (7/24), an individual suggested he would match any fundraising I secured, up to $50,000, but that I had to ride and finish the Bike MS: Valero Bike to the Beach (Oct. 4-5, 2008). Naturally, if you know me, given my blind passion I’m not about to leave that amount of money on the table; I looked over at my future donor, and square in the eyes I confidently said: “Done, I’ll happily take your money.” I’ll show him, right? After a handshake to seal the deal, I then realized I had just 10 weeks to get ready to ride the 160 miles of this 2-day event!

Since then I’ve had lots or hearty slaps on the back with accompanying, “well done Tony” from my well-meaning bicycle friends. And then lots of advice on how to accomplish the necessary level of training to fulfill the challenge, and then lots of invitations to come out and train with many groups and individuals.

Guys, small technical problem, I don’t own a bicycle! Another reality check after agreeing to my donor’s demands.

I’ve made some very good friends in the past 6 years working at the Lone Star Chapter, and one of them stepped up with no coaxing on my part to donate to my cause a 2008 Cannondale Synapse. Thank you Stephanie and Brian at The Bicycle Shack, Boerne.

Now I’m ready to suck it up and pedal down to train for the Bike to the Beach, and achieve my dream of riding with my brother and our nephew (Pauline’s youngest son, both flying in from Australia) to honor my sister’s memory, under my team: Pauline’s Last Hurrah. Anyone can help me fundraise.

My fundraising goal is $50,000, in order to maximize the matching pledge of $50,000 by my donor, which will realize $100,000 once I cross the Finish Line in Corpus Christi!

Read Pauline's story and support my fundraising in her memory.