Catch Up post

Time slips by...

I have kept up my training as much as possible since my last posting. On Monday Feb 11th I got it together to commute to work by bike. It went very well. I'll plan to do that every day that I can.
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Unfortunately, I had to travel to Denver the next day for work. I stayed at an Embassy Suites with a gym that had stationary bikes and other equipment so I managed to get in a one hour workout Tuesday night. Wednesday was a long day, but I made it back into the gym on Thursday morning for 1/2 and hour.

Friday I was our departure day for Flagstaff, AZ for a friends and family vacation. I strapped the bike to the roof of the van so I can try and keep up the training while on vacation. Part of the drive was along part of the route that I will be taking on the trip to Vegas. Let's just say that the training must continue...

We reached Flagstaff on Saturday evening and on Sunday I went for a short, but difficult ride. Flagstaff is at 7000 feet. I went a bit over 9 miles, up and down hills, dodging the icy patches and trying to keep my toes from freezing.

Here's the route I rode:

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=7831

The elevation map doesn't look right to me, but the total gain of 900 feet seems about right. After the ride we went to Sedona for the day.

Monday we went to the Grand Canyon, and yesterday my "training" coninued with a day of snowboarding at the Arizona.

It's supposed to snow off and on for the rest of our time here so my training will probably be more snowboarding.

Commute to work day

This is it going to ride to work for a commute today. Except...forgot my shoes in the locker room yesterday. %$&#! Well, there's always Monday.

Lunch Time

Went for a lunch time ride from work today. Got a chance to check out the showers at the gym and get a little ride in before a meeting. Only went about 11 miles, but it was good to keep the saddle time going.

Here's the route I took.

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=7593

Bike instead of Car

I went to the coffee shop this morning and I didn't drive the car, I rode my bike. Round trip was 5-1/2 miles, not much but it's more than I would have done if I drove.

Until I broke my ankle surfing last summer, that's another story, I was a regular at a Saturday morning basketball game. After playing hoops we'd head off to a local coffee shop to BS for an hour before heading off to do whatever needs doing on a Saturday. I've been doing this for at least 7 years, maybe longer. Needless to say a broken ankle changed my participation.

The basketball guys have been very generous in supporting my ride and I wanted to stop by and chat. I was right there they were.

No map this time, got a busy Saturday, but at least I got a little bit of riding in and a cup of coffee.

The First Climb

Well, I didn't really look closely at what I was getting into when I signed up for Ride Ataxia II. I was a bit suprised to find out that I will be do a 4,000 foot climb on the first day. The only way I'll be able to do that is if I do some of my training in the hills.

Today I took my first trip into the hills. Luckily we have some good hills nearby to ride on.

I forgot how hard hill climbing can be. The first part of the climb was easy enough, but the near the end the climb got steep. It was hard just to keep going forward. Lungs started burning, legs turned to rubber.

Mileage was less then the previous rides, but with 1500 feet of climbing, I think I'll feel this one more.

Map of the ride.