Tour de Cure ride report

The Tour de Cure (TdC) is a two day cycling event to raise money for diabetes research. The main route is 75 miles each day and two other routes are offered as well. I participated in the "240k challenge" which is 150 miles.

This was my third TdC and I've enjoyed it each year. I think that this year was probably the best organized of the three years. The volunteers were great, the banquet on Saturday night was pleasantly to the point and the camaraderie was outstanding. I hooked up with a great group of Gyros, Qualcomm, NetApp and unaffiliated riders and on Sunday and we were all pretty good about staying focused at the rest stops and not lingering too long -- figuring that the as the day progressed, it would only get hotter.

The route was pleasant, crossing Falls Lake at about the halfway point, and I enjoyed the minor changes made to the Cary/Apex/Morrisville portion this year. The Masonic Home for Children in Oxford was a great host as well.

It was hot. I tried to ignore it when the weather forecast called for temperatures over 100 degree on Saturday and Sunday. I contacted fellow riders on Friday and they were already changing their plans. A coworker of mine, K1v1n, and I still planned to ride. Our strategy was to minimize our total amount of time outside by riding a steady pace and not lingering at rest stops to socialize. Some groups take a really long time at rest stops and that is never something that I enjoy because the longer I stop, the harder it is for me to get going again.

Both days everything was good until 11:00 or so and then I started to think, "It's hot." By noon both days I started to think, "It's really hot!!!" By 12:30 each day I was thinking, "Dear Lord, is it hot!!" Fortunately, I rolled in between 12:30 and 1:00. Even so, temperture was 97 and the heat index was 102 when I finished on Saturday and even higher when I finished on Sunday.

On Saturday's ride to Oxford I was with a the NetApp group until the middle rest stop and when I was read to leave, the Qualcomm group was leaving so I went with them. Unfortunately, I was dropped going into Creedmoor. I completed the final third of the ride as a solo effort. When I finished, I noticed that a lot of people were coming in alone and I was far from the only solo rider out there. In fact, after taking to K1v1n at dinner, I found that he had much the same experience.



On Sunday morning when we gathered at the starting line, those of us there noticed that we had lost half the riders. This was confirmed by the TdC organizer who also said that the riders alone had raised over $150,000. That's a lot of money.

At the starting area, I found found the Qualcom/Gyros group that I wanted to be with and lined up with them. As we rolled out of Oxford with our police escort, I noticed a girl wearing red shorts with CHE ER on the rear. These were not cycling shorts, just shorts. Wow, that had to hurt. After a few more miles we found out out that her she was a 14 year old high school freshman. The group I was with kind of took care of her and started to call her "Megan the Machine." She made it all the way back to Cary with our group. As someone else in the group said, she didn't know that it was supposed to be hard!

On Sunday morning the most unusual thing happened on my bike ride. I was participating in the Tour de Cure and it was the second day of the tour. I was riding with a group of about 15 cyclists and someone yelled out, "Slowing! Deer!" Then several other riders yelled out, "Deer! Deer!" It was a fawn running on the road in the same direction as we were going. We continued to slow as the fawn continued to run for its life and finally ran into the field to our right. It was still young enough to have spots along its back.

I've seen deer on bike rides before but never had one join the peloton before!



Up next, the Firecracker 100k.

3 Mountain Madness

On Saturday I rode in a cycling event called 3 Mountain Madness. The ride is 75 miles long and involves 9280 feed of ascent according to their websites GPS statics. At the start, they announced that 550 riders had registered. The event was extremely well supported with people at every major road crossing and left turn, well stocked rest areas and showers and lunch afterwards.Riders can sign up for one of three routes: yellow, orange and green. Yellow for now climbs, orange for the 75 milers and green for the folks that thought 75 miles and three climbs was too easy.

The ride started out pretty well. I averaged about 19 mph approaching the first climb. At mile 17, things changed. Someone in the group behind me said, "It's a sharp uphill at the beginning and then it levels out some." The yellow arrows went straight. I made the right turn onto Sauratown Mountain Road and saw what the other rider was talking about. The climbing seemed to go on and on and on. Then there was a sign that said, "Road Ends 500 Feet" and I knew that I had made it. I saw my riding friend Jim at the turnaround and stopped to get a drink and say hello. I took his photo and then braced for the descent. I had been worrying about the descent for several weeks after learning that a fellow rider, Danny Thomas, was seriously injured coming down Sauratown.

One down, two to go.

I made it down Sauratown fine and ran into some friends at the rest stop shortly after Sauratown. I went on to the second climb of the day. A short 15 minutes later I was at the bottom of Hanging Rock. Wow, 15 minutes was not a lot of time to recover for this flatlander. Hanging Rock was the shortest peak of the three climbs but only a short time after Sauratown, it was not easy. There was an event photographer on the climb. That could be a scary photo! On my way down Hanging Rock, I could see the expressions of the climbers. People were really working.

At this point, it became kind of interesting. For some reason, I was under the impression that it would be flat to rolling between Hanging Rock and Pilot Mountain. This is not the case. Climbing Climbing Climbing. I spent a lot of time under 10 mph during that time. I felt like it was slow more than difficult.

I made it to the rest stop at about mile 60., the final "big" rest stop before Pilot Mountain. One person that I ride with frequently said to me, "Pilot still intimidates" when I asked him if he was doing the 75 mile route. I stopped and chatted with some riders and refilled my water bottles. I was told that there was a rest stop at the bottom of Pilot but it was pretty much a water only stop. Someone else had advised me that Pilot is 2.4 miles. She said, "Remember Pilot's only 2.4 miles long. Yes, the longest 2.4 miles you will ever experience, but still only 2.4 miles."
At the ranger station I checked my odometer and did the appropriate math. I had been advised that the first 1.6 miles were the worst. I began to pedal up the mountain. I was going very slowly -- often 4 mph or less. Pedaling. Pedaling. One mile, gone. Nearly halfway. Another switchback and another. Oh now. This is the part that people talk about. The riders in front of me have gotten off their bikes and are walking. Pedaling. Pedaling. I pass the walkers and they are encouraging. I know that if I can make it around the next corner, the grade will ease up some, and it does. It is just as I was told. The tree canopy opens above me and the grade eases somewhat. I pedaled up Pilot Mountain. I did it. I rode to the overlook but there was no view. It was too hazy. I asked a rider who was resting to take my picture. Yes, it may look like a picture of me in a parking lot but it's me in a parking lot at the top of Pilot Mountain.

From there it was "just" the descent and about 10 more miles. It was on the descent that I saw the warning sign for trucks -- 10% grade. I knew that I was in business when I rejoined with the yellow route.

The event was really fun! I've already added it to my calendar for next year -- May 30, for those keeping score.

My first 100 mile bike ride

Today I completed my first 100 mile ride. I participated in the Raven Rock Ramble. Last year, I rode the 100 kilometer route but this year, I went The Distance -- 105.39 miles. For a short section just before the 70 mile rest stop, my bike and I were not friends. After that stop, though, we made up.

I rode with six other riders -- Larry, Sandra M., Chris, Fred, Tom and Doug. We frequently ride together on Saturday and Sunday shop rides. It was funny because none of I realized that Chris only does Sunday rides with us and Doug typically does Saturday rides with us and that they had never ridden together before.

Below is a photo taken after 91 miles for riding. The top photo was taken before the ride. The side photo was taken at the first rest stop.



The route was nice, although there was a section where we saw "a whole lotta nothing" and Doug complained that he wanted his iPod to make it more interesting.

The route:

Raven Rock Ramble 100 mile route

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Another day in the saddle!

Today was another good riding day. It was nice and sunny out and was in the high 40s when we started and about 60 degrees when we finished.

I rode just over 62 miles in preparation for the Frostbite Tour 100k in two weeks. I've been going to one of the local shop rides (btw, Emma stopped by to say, "Hi"). Today I wanted to add some miles so I went to and from the ride on my bike. I'm still loving the Madone.

I feel like I'm on track for my riding goals:

• 100 mile ride - entered Raven Rock Ramble 100 mile route and may do a 100 mile route at the MS150.
  
• Improved climbing - entered 3 Mountain Madness
• Tour de Cure (entered), MS150 (deciding which one)
• gain some speed
• mountain biking (need to become independently wealthy so I have more time!)
  

I'm happy. I wanted to share!


Note: The route is actually 51 miles. The mapping software does not seem to have the correct data for Horton's Pond Road.

Entered an English century

I'm very excited. I found some people to ride with in the Raven Rock Ramble and we're doing the full English century! This is the same group that is doing 3 Mountain Madness at the end of May. This will be my first full century. The longest that I've ever ridden before is 87.61 miles from Darlington, SC to North Myrtle in the old MS 150 Breakaway to the Beach route.

I've discussed my 2008 goals a few times here and I'm happy to have made a decision on this. It helps that my riding is going well. In fact, I rode over 275 miles this month which is about 200 miles more than I had last January.

Tying up loose ends

Celebrations: Birthday, Christmas, Dog Day Afternoon

Back in November, I wrote about my angst over the holidays, my birthday and my brother visiting from out of town. I selected Option 2 and went out to eat for my birthday. We had a nice time and I'd do that again.

We had or usual Christmas Eve gathering at my parents' house, with Darling Brother there and had Dog Christmas at my house on the 27th. DH and I had a pleasant enough time on Christmas Eve. The food and wine were both great. Grandma was scheduled to go to Atlanta for holiday but changed her plans at the last minute. DB was there, having arrived in town on earlier in the day.

DB had very little to say on Christmas Eve and acted as though we were interrupting his football watching. I was pleasantly surprised that he gave gifts. I do hope that he liked what we gave him but I may never find out.

Grandma sent a thank you note saying thanks for the gift. The cookies were good. I'm guessing that means that the digital photo frame was not a hit! Actually, I think that she'll like that more once she is in her new place.

That brings us to Dog Christmas. We've never brought Hannah or Emma to my parents' for Christmas Eve and since my folks have come over to my house for my birthday on the 25th, the dogs have given gifts (it started with bark...) and received gifts. Since we moved my birthday celebration and I still wanted to have people over, we called it Dog Christmas. My mom made some beautiful quilts for the dogs this year!

DB was invited as well and he was told that it was optional. He came and then was rude to the dogs! Shoving them aside and prompting me to call him on it, saying, "Don't shove them! They live here!" DB just made a face. I don't think that he said a complete sentence to anyone the entire "visit" and he had nothing to eat or drink. His body language indicated that he didn't want to be there and he made rude faces and gestures. Why on earth did he come? The only good thing that came out of that I was not the only one to notice this.

Grandma

As you may have guessed from Grandma's change of plans this holiday, she has not been feeling well. After her 911 call, emergency room visit and appointment with a surgeon, it was determined that she should be taking Metamucil. She eats whatever despite the fact that her diet hasn't been working for her. She continues to take her medicine in some random way, not as it was prescribed.

Christmas week, she said to my mom that she was ready to look at assisted living places first discussed back in June. Mom decided to strike while the iron was hot and they took a tour of Abbotswood. The tour went well and Grandma asked to see a second place, Independence Village. I'm not sure if she is on the waiting list for Abbotswood or not. She started talking about placing furniture in the apartment there...

That about ties up the loose ends from 2007.

Goals

I'm working on my goals for 2008. I'm making good progress on them but I may need to modify a few

• core, I saw the YogaFit stuff and was inspired
  working on core but haven't gotten the DVD and probably won't
• try mountain biking and hopefully get a bike (and use it!); got a mtb, using it
• English century; still looking, in fact, I'd love some suggestions for this. It may be that I work on climbing more -- enter the 3 Mountain Madness 75 and figure if I can climb Pilot...
  
• climb better. I feel that I was not a very good climber this year; working on it
• gain some speed; working on it
• stay healthy; working on it
• Tour de Cure in June, MS150 in September; entered TdC (MS150 registration isn't open yet)
  

Bag lady, reuse me

I bring my own bags to the grocery store with me when I go to pick up a few things. I feel good about doing this and I would like to expand my use of byo bags but the stores themselves are holding me back. Retailers don't make it easy. If I hand them a bag, most clerks are either at a loss or they think that they need to jam everything into one bag regardless of size or weight. The cashiers seem to wonder why is this crazy person handing me a bag? You don't want this perfectly good plastic bag that I have here? Even at the Farmer's Market they want to put my produce in plastic! As a result, I tend to keep this to either small trips or self-check out trips.

The other problem that I have is me. I stopped in Staples the other day to pick up two things for DH's home office. I had a bag with me. The clerk put my purchases in a plastic bag before I had a chance to hand over my own bag. ARG!

In addition, I sometimes have a hard time remembering to bring them in, particularly when I am in a hurry. For example, today I ran an errand at lunch. The bags are in the car. I went into the store, found what I wanted, paid for it and only then, as the cashier was handing me a bag, did I recall that I should have brought a bag in with me. I need to continue to work on this even though I've beene at it for a while. In fact, it was one of my 2006 Goals (I don't do resolutions, I just set goals. My goal setting is not tied to the beginning or end of the year. It's more fluid than that.). What I wrote then:

I think that it would be good for me to start using reusable grocery and/or produce bags -- maybe not for my "big" shopping trip but for the little ones that I do between times. I think that would be something good for me to work on.

Paper versus plastic? That's a false dichotomy, the correct answer is neither! Both paper and plastic bags consume resources and will eventually end up in the landfill. Just the Thing to Carry Your Conscience In:

Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags a year, recycling less than 1 percent of them, according to the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research and advocacy group in Washington.

In addition, it is clear that recycling alone is not the answer. Most sources agree, only 1-3% of plastic bags are recycled each year and only about half of paper bags are recycled. Seldom recycled, plastic grocery bags face bans in S.F.:

Less than 1 percent of 100 billion plastic bags tossed each year get recycled.

Up next, working on bringing my own travel mug when I go for coffee.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Resources and References:

• What can be recycled in Apex?
• I have a set of bags from ReusableBags.com and two bags that I got free from Whole Foods.
• Paper vs. Plastic Bags
• Plastic bags are killing Us
• Where will my plastic bag be in 2507
  

Training Plans

Since aggravating my lower back a few years ago, I've worked with a coach. Well, I call her a coach because I don't know of a word for it. I get training plans from her every other week. This keeps me sane -- or rather, keeps me from doing anything crazy or stupid with my training -- and it simplifies my life. My goal ride for the past two years has been the MS150. I completed my third MS150 last month and I started to think of my goals for the upcoming year. This is what I have come up with

2008 Goals...

• core, I saw the YogaFit stuff and was inspired.
• try mountain biking and hopefully get a bike (and use it!)
• English century
• climb better. I feel that I was not a very good climber this year
• gain some speed
• stay healthy
• Tour de Cure in June, MS150 in September

I guess I need to find an English century to put on the schedule!

The current plan:

Wednesday - 60 min elliptical and lifting

Thursday - Spin class and core work

Friday - Off

Saturday - Tour de Pig (Hey, the logo is a pig riding a bike. How can I go wrong?)

Sunday - NCBC Fall Rally

Monday - Off or easy spin class

Tuesday - Spin class and core

Wednesday - 60 min elliptical

Thursday - Spin class and core

Friday - Off

Saturday - Ride 60-90 min, easy pace

Sunday - Brewery Ride

Monday - spin class