My first 50 mile ride, Complete. Ride the Coast..

My goal was to complete a 50-mile ride by the end of 2015.  With a little help and encouragement from my fellow riders I decided on the “Bike the Coast” ride, which ran from Oceanside down past Del Mar and back.   Looked like a great route for me, the max elevation change was listed as 217 feet which would be great for me knowing how lousy I am at hill climbing.    I drove down the night before and bunked with some friends (Thanks again Erni and Hiro!) as we had an early start.   That night we went to McDonalds and bought a bunch of Sausage McMuffin’s and Egg McMuffins that we could warm in the microwave as we would be on our way before we could get breakfast elsewhere…

Four of us left the hotel at 6AM (Erni, Hiro, Jackie and I) before the sun even came up, and met up with James at the starting area.   Knowing it was going to be HOT out there, they started launching the 50-mile riders about 20 minutes early.    The early part of the ride was uneventful, and we were pushing the pace a bit.   At the eight mile mark it happened again… I got another leg cramp!   I stretched it out a bit and was able to make it to the first of three SAG stations.  These areas were crucial to us, especially with the heat already rising.   The organizers of the ride did a FANTASTIC job with them, plenty of water and electrolyte drink, oranges, bananas, snacks…  I refilled my bottles, ate a banana and a few pretzels to gain salt.   Jackie gave me a couple of pills called “Sport Legs”, and they seem to take care of my cramping problem for the rest of the ride.   Thanks Jackie, you saved my ride!!

When we took off again we were told constantly that the police were out in force, and to be careful to stop at ALL stop signs.    Despite the warnings we saw several of our fellow cyclist receiving tickets.  I’ve seen countless times where cyclists will just blow through stop signs, thankfully my club doesn’t ride that way!

The outbound route had us riding along the coast most of the way.  Was very scenic and I wish I had stopped to take a picture or two.   I had never ridden this course before and was really enjoying it, even though the temperature was rising.  The Santa Ana winds were from the east, no relief from the ocean next to us as would be the norm.    At one point I looked over and saw the Del Mar racetrack, seen it a thousand times from the freeway but this was the first time I saw it from the other side and it looked so majestic.   It was also a sign that we would be leaving the coastline and turning inland soon.  When we did there wasn’t much to look at, just a bumpy path that lead inland.   Finally we hit the main road, and SAG #2 was in sight.   We were supposed to go up another .8 miles and turn around before stopping, but James blew a tire literally across the street from the SAG (which just happened to be a Performance Bike store), so we stopped there first.  Just like the first one this was fully loaded, so we relaxed a bit as James’ tire was fixed.    Then it was on our way again.  As we hit the turn-around we saw a rider down, with a crowd of folks attending to him.  Our assumption was that it was heat related, it was over 90 and wasn’t even 10am yet.   It was sign that the return trip wasn’t going to be as easy at the outbound…

THE WAY BACK: DEATH BY 100 HILLS…
Remember when I said the elevation change for the ride was listed at 200-something feet?   They lied.  About a mile in we were looking up a really nice, long hill.   This was a hill that would do Palos Verdes proud!   I had to walk up the last 1/3 of it.  Turns out there were many more to follow, just not as long or steep as this one.   One by one we got through them, sometimes the rest of the pack would pull over and wait for us slower riders.    Know the best part of going uphill – yup, going DOWN hill on the other side.   Twice my Garmin had me going over 30mph, something I rarely do because one little bump at that speed and you are in trouble.    Slower speeds too, I’ll describe that later.    We were riding along Via de la Valle and passing Del Mar Racetrack on the left, when we saw the ocean again, and rejoined our outbound path along the ocean.  A few miles later we were back at SAG #1, only 14 miles to go!

SURVIVING MY FIRST CRASH:
We were on an uneventful stretch.  Three riders were about 300 yards ahead of Erni and I as we were cruising at about 17mph along a nice straightaway.   Then all of a sudden my front wheel hit a section of uneven pavement, I yelled out something and in the blink of an eye my bike and I were sliding along the pavement.   As I went down I saw my front tire clip Erni’s front tire, and she went down too!  A few seconds later I came to my senses and heard Erni asking if I was ok.   Thankfully she was no worse for the wear, although she had a cut on her knee and the palms of her cycling gloves where torn.    

Commander Riker once said “Fate protects fools, little children and ships named Enterprise”.   Well, if that is true you can call my bike “Enterprise” because a crash at that speed should have left me with some serious hurts.  I started taking inventory: feet, and ankles ok, knees… one sore and bleeding.   Worked my way up and everything was good.   I know my helmet hit the ground, but there wasn’t even a scratch on it!   Only issue was knee, not even a scratch on my jersey, shoulder or elbow!   All I had was a 3-inch wide area on the outside of my shin that was scraped up pretty good and a big cut under my kneecap.    Erni called Hiro to let him know what happened and they circled back.   By the time they got to us Erni and I were already back on the bikes and had resumed the ride.   At the next stoplight Jackie gave me some wipes to clean up a bit with – thankfully it looked a lot worse than it felt.   We caught up to James a while later, he had stopped with cramps in both legs.   We only had 3 miles left, so we gave him some liquids and the rest of the Sport Legs pills that Jackie gave me earlier, and were soon on our way.   Not long after we crossed the finish line together.   The doctor at the first aid center had me cleaned up in no time.  :)

TOTAL STATS:
52.2 miles in 4:20
Average speed: 12.0 mph
Elevation change: 1,745 feet  (their estimate of 200-something was just a bit off, eh?)|

THE NEXT DAY…
I was up early the next morning as always.   But there was a problem… I couldn’t put much weight on my left leg right away, the knee I scraped up was really hurting and it wasn’t because of the bandages.   Eventually I got going an after a couple of steps it loosened up a little but was still sore.   It is like that every time I get up from a sitting or standing position…

Right now it looks like it is just sprained, I’ll be on crutches for a few days to give it a chance to rest and heel.  If needed we’ll re-evaluate after that, but thankfully it doesn’t look like anything serious..

Would I do it again: You bet; it is already on my calendar for November 2016!   And I’ll be keeping an eye out for that little pavement bump on mile 44…

Hawaiian vacation - Day 7

Well, the rain didn’t go away.   At least not in the morning….

For the first time since we’ve been here I was ‘rained out’ of recording the morning sunrise.   I was surprised it was raining so hard at 5:45am when I looked outside, but I hadn’t slept well the night before so I ended up going back to bed until 8am. 

We checked the weather reports for all of the local spots, and it didn’t look good.  Rain everywhere.  :(    Since it wasn’t currently raining where we were, we decided to stay in the middle part of the island.   Jen found a waterfall not far from us called Wailua Falls which was really cool.    However the water was mostly brown because of the big rainfall earlier in the day.   Even the beaches seemed brown, so we stayed away and spent the afternoon at the pool.    We BBQ’d again, then went up to the room to start packing up for the flight tomorrow.

And we got our internet connection back late tonight!

Jen and I shared one last night on the balcony.   After she went in I stayed a while and almost fell asleep outside.  So peaceful…

Hawaiian Vacation - Day 6

Rain, Rain, go away….

After the last few days of fun in the sun, we’ve all acquired various degrees of sunburn.   So maybe today wasn’t such a bad idea…

The sunrise was quite breathtaking this morning, I set my camera on a 10-second timer to record it and it came out pretty well.   Jen joined me today, maybe Shannon will tomorrow.

At around 8:30am we had finished breakfast and I was posting up my blog entries when I felt it getting a little damp on the balcony; a small mist had come in and really cooled things down.  As I looked up the clouds opened and it started pouring rain.   I grabbed my Surface tablet and went inside, and came back out with the camera.  The next 20 minutes was a torrential downpour the likes of which I haven’t seen in years!   As it ended we had a really nice rainbow stretching over a few miles from our property.   Not long after that the sun was out and dried up all the rain (OK, I know that’s corny but you know the tune).

But we weren’t done with the rain just yet…

Jen had planned a few things we wanted to see in the northern part of the island, and a beach we were going to check out up there.    About 11AM we got in the car and headed north while the cloud cover was minimal and the temperature about 85.    30 minutes later we approached our first destination – in another torrential downpour of rain!    We went inside a shop and was talking with the owner; she told us it was going to be like this for a while as there was no wind to push the storm away.   She also advised us to drive down to Kapaa, as it was supposed to be nice there.   We smiled and said thank you; Kapaa is where we started from and where our resort is.   LOL

So instead of frolicking on the beach of a very drenched north Kauai we headed back down south.   We stopped for some shrimp at a local place we have wanted to try and got some Mexican food for Daniel and headed for the resort.   After lunch we did the last of our shopping, and hung out at the pool for a couple of hours.   I had been marinating some chicken all day, which I barbequed to perfection (if I do say so myself), and we had a nice dinner in tonight.

Only one thing would have made the night complete:  Internet access.    But for the second straight night we have none even though I have paid $50 for a week of higher-speed, multi device access!  I’ve been on the phone (again!) with the properties Internet Service Provider to no avail.  Apparently the entire property is down.   Not happy.    I can’t check my work Email, personal email, or even post this blog.    I have an account on PhotoBucket (which took quite a bit of doing, apparently their site doesn’t like Windows 8.1, but does like the latest beta build of Windows 10) but can’t upload photos there.   We are going through the data plan on our cell phones at a prodigious rate, maybe I should have spent the $50 to add more data to our plan this month instead of paying it to the resorts ISP….

Hawaiian Vacation - Day 5

Wow.   That’s about all I can say about today.    Outside of renewing my wedding vows with Jen today was the most fun we have had the whole trip.     Oh, you’d like me to expand on that?   Ok, I’d be happy to…

The sunrise was awesome as always, but blocked a bit more by cloud cover than previous days.   Maybe I’ve become desensitized to it having seen it 5 days in a row?    I am still capturing it every morning.  Tomorrow I hope to find a spot where I can set my camera in a static position and do a time-lapse series in the exact same spot.   Jen says she wants to watch it with me tomorrow.   I know Shannon wants to see it too.

I didn’t stay long, as we had to be on the road by 7AM.   We scored a couple of 2-for-1 fares for an excursion put on by “Blue Dolphin Charters” and needed to be on the south part of the island by 8am.  Not to provide too much info ahead of time – but if you are even in Kauai BOOK A TRIP WITH THIS COMPANY!.  Any questions?   I am having issues with their website on my Surface Pro, but we had NO issues with their tour and service.   Their staff were helpful, funny, and a joy to be with.

We took a catamaran (I’m guessing about 120 feet long) up the western coast.   We chose the morning trip as the seas are said to be the calmest and there is a better chance of seeing dolphins.   I can’t speak to the former, but the latter was definitely true as we saw a lot of them.   I normally get seasick just thinking about being on a boat, today was no problem although I did take one Dramamine before we left.   We saw some of the most breathtaking shorelines, cliffs, mountains, waterfalls,…. And even came upon several schools of dolphins!    After we turned back we stopped for an hour and were provided with snorkeling equipment so we could take a look at the area ourselves.   Unfortunately there were no dolphins there, sometimes there are and that would have been awesome but still there was much to look at.   It was the first time I had been snorkeling and it was a blast!   The kids had a rough time getting started but once they got going they seemed to enjoy it as well.    I wish we had more than 1 hour to spend there as it was awesome!    But we had to move on, and they provided lunch for us as we resumed our trip back to dock and arrived about 2:30.   We were all tired when we got back and some of us took naps when we got back to the resort.   Tonight’s menu consisted of “See Food”, which for us means “You see food in the fridge, warm it up and eat it”.   Leftovers is another name for it. LOL  Tomorrow I’ll will be making BBQ chicken.  :)

We decided to stay home for the evening and relax/recover… then the fun stopped.  Our internet went out.   I have no idea when I will be able to post this, as I spent an hour on the phone with the 3^rd-party company that provides the resorts’ internet service.   I spent $50 for unlimited number of devices on a higher-speed network for the week we are here – this is unacceptable!

When I get these posted I will work on the picture site I promised.  I really wanted to do that tonight, AND get started on some of the music that I have been working on in my head – but instead I was trying to solve computer problems.   Seems like I do that a lot…

 

 

 

Hawaiian vacation - Day 4

After all of the excitement of Day 3, today was a bit more low-key.  :)

It is raining off-and-on tonight as I type this from our balcony, nowhere near the rain they have been getting back home in Southern California though.  Kind of glad we aren’t there to experience it, and in a way I’m also disappointed that we aren’t there.   Jen was with me for a short while tonight, but retired early.    Despite being low-key today was quite tiring, and we have a busy morning tomorrow…

I took a different camera with me this morning as I got a cup of coffee from the reception desk and walked out to capture today’s sunrise.   The cloud cover was thicker today, so there wasn’t as much to see.  I was glad I didn’t wake Shannon to accompany me; she really wants to see the sunrise before we go back home.   I don’t think the pictures came out as well as the ones I’ve been taking with my Lumia Icon cellphone, so I’ll return to using it tomorrow.

Despite the peacefulness here I am still only sleeping 4.5 – 5 hours a night.   Those who know me well know I have sleep disorders, and my daily schedule which includes 4-5 hours of commute time to/from work a day, does not have enough time to sleep as much as I should.    I had hoped the relaxed schedule here would provide me with the opportunity to sleep more but so far that hasn’t been the case.

This morning we started off at the Church at Koala, the church that the Pastor who performed our ceremony presides over.   As awesome as his ceremony was yesterday, his sermon today was equally good.   Even Shannon liked it, she told me “I wish we had this church in Long Beach.”   From there we stayed down south to see the “Spouting Horn”, where the water runs under a series of rocks and shoots high into the air.   Quite impressive, actually.   On the way down we drove through the “Tunnel of Trees”, a section of the highway that is covered by tall trees that hang over the roadway above – trust me I’m not doing it justice here as it is quite a sight to see.

After that we returned to our resort and changed clothes and spend the rest of the afternoon at the same beach we visited earlier.   We rented a couple of boogie boards and had a great time, I even got to ride one for a while.  Lol    Daniel cut his foot on something, and we ended up returning to the resort sooner than planned, he stayed up in the room as the rest of us spent a couple hours down by the pool.   We tried the Mai Tai from the poolside bar and were not impressed.

OK, what is the deal with Mai Tai’s in Hawaii???    We have yet to find one what we really like, and to be honest the best one we have had was one we made at home with a simple recipe we found online (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mai-Tai/).   Maybe everyone is trying to outdo one another rather than focusing on the final result...

 

Hawaiian vacation Day 3 - Jen's big surprise

As promised, this entry is a day late.    We had a late night last night, but it was a GREAT night.   One that my wife Jennifer will certainly never forget…

It started with another quiet morning.   As I have done every morning I walked to the shore and photographed the sunrise.   The cloud formations have been a little different every morning, providing a unique view to the beginning of each day.   We did a little shopping, saw a hula demonstration, just taking things easy in the early part of the day.   We had a busy evening ahead; yet Jen was the only one who didn’t know what was in store.

Earlier in the week I told Jen that we were driving down to the south part of the island to meet up with a cousin of someone I work with.    She knows I work with someone from Hawaii, but he has no cousin here - I just needed a cover.    I had been communicating with someone here for something that I hoped would rock her world.  We left for the southern part of the island at 5:00, and not knowing the traffic patterns in the area and it turns out we left too early, so we walked around a small mall before going to the address he provided me to meet up with him.   The address he gave me was for his church; when we saw that I was afraid Jen have things figured out.

It was there we met Harold.   After a few moments of small-talk I turned to Jen and took her hands and looked into her eyes as I asked her the question I’d been planning for weeks: “Jennifer, will you honor me by renewing our wedding vows?”   The look of surprise on her face made all the planning worth it as she instantly responded “Oh my gosh, yes!”

I was really lucky to find Harold (aka Pastor Kilborn), as he took care of EVERYTHING.   He worked with me to select the right location, obtained the beach permit we needed and performed  the perfect ceremony for us.    We followed Pastor Kilborn's truck as we drove to a remote little cove in Keoneloa Bay where her performed our ceremony with Daniel capturing the event on video and Shannon taking pictures.   It was perfect, lighthearted at times and serious at others.   I’ll be posting pictures online soon, and the video as well if we can find a place to host it.

From there we went to dinner at a restaurant that Pastor Kilborn recommended.   It was a bit pricey (what isn’t in Hawaii?) but it was very good.   Afterwards we returned to our resort, and after getting the kids settled we relaxed with a bottle of Jen’s favorite champagne.

In short, it couldn’t have gone better.  Jen was beaming all night, you couldn’t have rubbed the smile off her face with sandpaper!  Lol   I REALLY surprised her; she said she didn’t remember talking to me about renewing our vows but was thrilled that I had taken the initiative to make it happen.   That was the whole point of this vacation for me – to give her something she would remember for a lifetime.

As we left the cove I told pastor Kilborn that 25 years from now we were going to do this again, and to go ahead and mark it on his calendar.    Actually,  I hope it won’t take us that long to return here!

My Facebook post with a picture from the ceremony has generated over 120 likes – that’s by far a record for me!    It was great to see some of the names of friends, old and new, who have virtually joined us in our celebration!    We really wish our oldest daughter MaryBeth and her family could have joined us, as well as Don and Susan Dewey who married us nearly 25 years ago.   Were we selfish to have run off and do this in a faraway land?   Maybe.   But I really think that this night will be just as memorable for Jen as our wedding was 25 years earlier… and that was what I was hoping for.

 

Hawaiian vacation - Day 2

I am back on the balcony after day 2 of our trip.   It is not as humid tonight, and Jen has joined me, enjoying a Pina Colada as I am enjoying a bit of my favorite French Vodka.  We’re talking about what we want to do the next few days and when to have some downtime as well.   Shannon came to join us for a bit, Daniel is asleep after our busy day.   It is sprinkling on and off, which makes a nice contrast to the sound of the ocean.   Pretty much everything shuts down at 10pm here, so it is very peaceful at night.   Even the other people who are out on their balconies are quiet – enjoying the same sounds we are.

The day started with Jen and I watching the sunrise.   Our Facebook friends got a look at some of the pictures we saw; later today I hope to get an online gallery up somewhere to share the pictures we are taking so look for a link in an upcoming blog entry.    We talked about how we are going pool our pictures and create an album to commemorate our 25 anniversary trip to Hawaii.

Today was kind of different.   We started with our obligatory meeting with the timeshare folks – I’m guessing it is the same with all timeshares that when you visit them they want to ‘update” you on what is new in their program.  OK, what they really want to do is sell you more points/time.   We upgraded 2 years ago and are happy with the level we are at.   By at least attending the meeting we get som e perks, and scored 2-for-1 prices on a couple of events we’ll be going on in a few days.  Stay tuned.

After that it was shopping.   Last night I went to the local Safeway and was shocked to see how high the prices were.  $7 for a gallon of milk?   $5 for a small container of pancake syrup?    Eggs were almost $1 each!     Well we found out where the CostCo is, and the WalMart (only one of each on Kauai) and found the prices much more reasonable.   Guess we are in the ‘tourist zone’ .   Gas is about $3.70, surprising lower than our recently-inflated $4.30 in Los Angeles.   Some sort of shortage pushed our prices up almost $1 in the last week.    After that we took the kids to Kealia Beach about 5 miles north of our resort.  The beach here is very scenic, but isn’t fit for swimming as there are a lot of rocks and a 3 foot shoreline.   They had a blast there for a while, when we returned we went to the pool at our resort before heading up to our room for dinner.  

I guess we were all pretty tired.   In fact I am finishing this entry on Saturday morning because I fell asleep on the balcony – Jen had to wake me up so I could climb into bed.   LOL

Saturday will be a big day, and my post may be a bit late because of it.   Trust me, it will be worth the wait. :)

Hawaiian vacation - Day 1

It is about 8:45 PM here in Kauai.   Shannon and Jen are asleep, Daniel won’t be far behind.   I’m sitting outside on the balcony, listening to the waves from the beach about 100 yards away.   It has been a very busy, very loud, day today and I need some downtime.  It has been a while since I practiced any form of meditation, but the last few weeks it has been on my mind.   Perhaps I am currently in a place that will inspire me again. Right now I am just enjoying the only quiet time I have experienced all day, not so much seeking my center or seeking inner peace as much just experiencing the world around me

Our flights today were quite uneventful; quite enjoyable actually, starting with a 5 hour jaunt on an Airbus 330 to Maui.   Those who know me well know I LOVE airplanes and love to fly; let me tell you this was probably the best flight I have ever been on!   I’ve spent thousands of hours in various versions of Flight Simulator, and I can’t wait to get home to try out the 330 for myself!   After an hour layover we were on a Boeing 717 to Lihue, and aircraft I have (virtually) flown many times.    After we arrived traffic was busy in Lihue, much more than I expected but then again it was 5pm.  

I was the only one who didn’t sleep on the flights, which makes it even more odd that I’m the only one still awake although if you are reading this you know I have sleep disorders.   There has been a gentle rain off-and-on since we arrived, not enough to really cool the ambient temperature though which has left it quite humid.   Much more so than I remember from my list visit to Hawaii 11 years ago while working for Merle Norman during our annual convention in Honolulu.    

I found a local grocery store (Safeway), and I was shocked at the prices.   EVERYTHING was much more expensive than what we pay for on the mainland, even in LA!    Maybe it is because we didn’t go far enough away from the ‘tourist area’?    We will find out tomorrow, as I found a local Costco and WalMart to compare against.   Our resort has fully-stocked kitchens, so finding a local grocery store with reasonable prices is key.

I have moved back inside.   As much as I LOVE the sound of the ocean it was just too humid tonight.  Jen wanted to join me outside but she was just too tired.  Maybe tomorrow it won’t be so humid.

Tomorrow we’ll probably just hang around the resort most of the day after going shopping and doing our obligatory meeting with the timeshare folks.   There is a happy-hour by the pool in the afternoon, and I’m looking forward to spending some more time down at the beach.    I’m starting to wind down now, so I’ll hold off on posting pictures until tomorrow – I promise they will be worth the wait.  :)

Tour de Cure 2015: Ship to Shore, Long Beach CA April 26, 2015

Note: Picture links at bottom of post.

The alarm went off at 5:30AM as planned.   I didn’t get as much sleep as I had hoped because I was in San Diego for a one-day Microsoft Azure event the day before, but hey isn’t that what coffee is for?    I grabbed a cup of coffee and a bit of breakfast before loading up the bike and heading down to the Queen Mary.   Jen was scheduled to work one of the rest stops along the way and didn’t need to be there until 8:30.   Turns out it was a good thing she didn’t need to be there early…

As soon as I got there I realized something was wrong.   I hadn’t even unloaded my bike when I realized I forgot my cycling shoes!  I have only had them for a few weeks and I guess I’m not yet in the habit of grabbing them.    My ride wasn’t leaving until 8:30 and fortunately we live close to the Queen Mary so Jen was able to bring them to me there before going to her assigned spot.   For those who don’t know, cycling shoes ‘clip’ into specialized pedals so you can gain power by pulling as well as pushing the pedals.   To ride with sneakers would have nearly impossible because the top of these type of pedals are smooth – with nothing to grip they would slide right off.

Now that I was properly dressed I headed off to the staging area.    I found my teammates, signed in and got (another) cup of coffee as I waited for our launch.  Hiro and Jackie went on the 61 mile ride and launched at 7:45.    Erni (Hiro's wife) and Deb went on the 11 mile ride which left at the same time as the 33 mile ride Alex (our club leader) and I went on.  Sue was signed up for the 33 mile ride, not sure if she changed her mind and did the 11 mile instead.   She was worried about doing all the hills...

We launched about 8:40 and were in a loose pack as we traversed downtown Long Beach.   The previous weekend was the Long Beach Grand Prix and many of the barriers and grandstands were still in place.  Our cycling traffic was certainly moving slower today than the Indy Cars were moving last weekend. :)  About a mile into the ride we rode over their finish line and I exclaimed “Finish line – we’re done!” which got quite a few laughs from my fellow riders.

A short time later we turned west and were looking straight at the Gerald Desmond bridge.   If you’re reading this you probably know I have a fear of heights, and this was the part I was dreading – not only this bridge but the Vincent Thomas Bridge in the distance.  This one was a shorter span but had a higher angle while the latter is much longer but not as steep.     With friends next to me and Earth, Wind and Fire playing from my old HTC 8X cell phone I tacked the first bridge with no problem.   Well, OK it was difficult... but I was up for it.   We waited at the top for the rest of our riders, I snapped off a picture before we pressed on.    Near the bottom of the bridge one of the riders had crashed; I didn't see it but the back of his helmet was badly damaged yet he was sitting up as he was being attended to by volunteers.  I made sure my downhill descents were a bit slower after that.   That was the only issue I have heard about during the ride.

Two miles later came the Vincent Thomas Bridge which was much harder, but again we all made it to the top.   After we all took a few pictures we started down the backside of the bride heading for the rest stop at Ports O’ Call.

Well, not all of us… As soon as my foot pressed the right pedal I got a cramp in my calf.   The worst cramp I have ever had!

I have a high pain threshold; I broke my thumb playing hockey two months ago, and didn’t miss a shift (including the one where I actually broke the thumb) much less a game because of it, but this was nasty.  One of the other riders who may have had some medical training (I heard someone call him Doctor something or other) came over and gave me some tips as I stretched it, and I stayed behind about 5 more minutes before I resumed riding and it felt OK but not quite right.  A few minutes later I saw Alex on the side of the road with his bike upside down with a flat tire.   I stopped and stayed with him as he quickly repaired it.    Then we moved on, uneventfully, to the rest stop.


DECISION TIME:   Do I turn back?

This was where the 11 mile ride ended.   Those folks were having their bikes loaded into trucks and the riders took a harbor cruise back to Long Beach where they were to be reunited.   The rest of our teammates were nowhere to be found so we assumed they all went back (we never did catch up to Sue so we assumed she went back too).  Alex did a little maintenance on his bike while I refilled my Gatorade bottle and grabbed a banana and some strawberries.  

My calf was still tight, but not bad.   If I continued the ride there was no turning back, I’d miss the boat and would still have to ride all the way back to the Queen Mary.   I actually thought about turning back.  But then I thought of all the people who contributed to the cause on my behalf, and the 29 million Americans who have Diabetes.  As I took out my cell phone to text Jen that we had cleared the bridges I found a card I placed in my bag a few days earlier... one of my supporters left me a card of encouragement a few days earlier and I wanted to have it with me to keep me going.   How could I face her and my other supporters at work tomorrow and say, “Yeah, well, you know I got a cramp and it really hurt so I only completed 1/3 of my ride?”   I was still reading the card when Alex came up to me and said “Ready to go?”    Yes, I was.  :)

I had a running joke with Alex about the possibility of using his name in vain during the ride for convincing me to go this far.   It IS a joke (you knew that, right Alex?).   Originally he approached me about six months ago and asked if I would support him in the ride.   I told him I wasn't going to just support him – I was going to ride with him!    I knew the hard part of the ride wasn’t the bridges we just cleared, it was the hills in Palos Verdes.  I rode through part of PV last Saturday in a tour-sponsored training event, but what we rode then was the back-side of the route – which only the 100 and 61 mile riders rode.   The next 9 miles had us ascend 1840 feet according to my cyclometer.   This was even harder than dealing with my fear of heights going over the bridges!   I had been told that one spot in particular was especially tough, and that most riders end up walking their bikes up it.   It was about a 10% grade, and just when you thought you had completed it the road turned to the left and you saw that you were only half-way there.   Alex made it all the way, but I only made it about half way of each section.    If I hadn't done those darn bridges I might have made it!   I wasn’t alone, some riders walked the entire way.    Shortly afterwards we were on level ground and overlooking Long Beach - we could see the Queen Mary in the distance and it seemed so far away.    Then finally we started to reap the rewards of our hard work as most of the rest of the way to Rest Stop 2 was downhill.

And for the record: I never did anyone's name in vain during the entire ride. :)

More fruit, top-off the Gatorade bottle again, drink a little water...    Let me tell you, the ride coordinators really did a FANTASTIC job at the rest areas, they really took care of the riders!    The wind was starting to pick up but it was still nice and cool as we resumed.  Just 13 miles separated us from the finish line.   I was told later there was supposed to be one more rest area between where we where and the finish line, but they closed up early and I never knew where they were.

THE FINAL STRETCH: Downhill at its finest.

For the next 4 miles or so we were riding mostly downhill, but after the accident I saw earlier I was riding the brakes pretty hard and Alex got ahead of me.  He stopped a few times to let me catch up but eventually we were separated.   I didn’t mind, he is a much more accomplished rider and part of his reason for sacrificing part of his ride to ride with me; I was thankful that he stayed with me during the rough parts of the ride and was OK with him kicking it into gear during the final stretch.    We were on flat ground for several miles as we rode through the port again, and my legs were starting to recover and I was surprised to see that without even trying I was picking up speed again.   I was so in the zone that I didn't even notice my music had stopped playing!    There were a few tall overpasses to clear, but much easier than the two monster bridges we traversed before.  Soon we turned right and were headed into downtown Long Beach.   A couple quick turns later I was on a bike path and I was treated to the sight of the nearby Queen Mary!    One more overpass to climb, and like a rookie I started out way too fast and used more energy than I should have.   My thighs were burning as I neared the crest, but I was able to persevere and soon I was coasting down to the bottom.   About 500 yards later I was cheered on as I crossed the finish line.

The final stats: according to my cyclometer:
Distance: 33.3 miles in 2:52 (moving time)  for just over an 11mph pace
Including rest stops and repair time the time was 4:01 or just over 8mph

Overall I am happy with my performance.   I overcame my fear of heights, and given the amount of climbing we did I’m happy with the pace.   I really didn’t train on hills very much, which is something I will be working on more in preparation for next years’ ride.

And for next year, I have an idea on how to do better at fundraising.   Not ready to announce it yet but instead of just asking people to donate as I did this year, my plan is to provide them with something in return as well as my gratitude.   Stay tuned…

THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF MY SUPPORTERS!  To those of you who supported me financially as well as in spirit - please know that I couldn’t have done this without you!!!   

Pictures

My buddy Alex and I before the ride
My friends and teammates Hiro and Erni before the ride
At the starting line
Looking back over the Vincent Thomas Bridge
Looking over Long Beach from atop the Gerald Desmond bridge
Overlooking Pacific Ocean in Palos Verdes

Jen and her team at mile 62 rest stop

Jen and I after the ride

Getting ready for the 'big ride'...

One week to go until the ‘big ride’, the Long Beach Tour de Cure to benefit the American Diabetes Association.    For more information about my participation please visit: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/lousyracuse

It felt strange to be getting ready for a ride on Saturday alone, my wife Jen has been riding on Saturdays with me but isn’t riding in this event.  She is still fairly new to cycling but catching on fast.   Next year we’ll find an event to ride together.

Instead of the usual Saturday right down to Seal Beach and beyond, two others riders from my Saturday ride and I went on a training ride on Saturday, starting in Torrance and winding through the streets of Palos Verdes.   Or should say ‘hills’ of Palos Verdes!   Our Saturday ride is mostly flat with a couple of inclines on the way to Warner/PCH, but this was different.  This ride is a monthly training ride on the streets where will be riding in the Tour.   VERY scenic, overlooking the ocean and passing by multi-million dollar houses.  Jackie and Hiro took off first on the longest ride, while I went out with the second group.   Although a bit more challenging our group did just over 22 miles.    It is always hard to judge how far to go out because when you get to the turn-around point you still have to get back, in retrospect I should have voted to go on a bit further but I took the side of caution as this was new terrain for me.
I didn’t realize that most of the way back was downhill.   I’m hoping that is the direction we go on Sunday, after climbing the bridges to get there the streets of Palos Verdes will be a bit tougher than they were on Saturday.    No matter, I plan to conquer them in either direction.  :)

Cycling with the Microsoft Band

Those who know me well know that I am big on Microsoft products, so it should come as no surprise that when the Band was released late last year I was one of the first ones to acquire one.   Being my first smart watch/fitness tracker I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it has been a good experience.  Although not being a runner it was more of a smartwatch to me, mostly allowing me to preview/read text messages and email.  Until last week that is, when Microsoft surprised me with a band update that included a cycling tracker!

I’ve been riding off and on for about 2 years, about 8 months ago I got serious about it when I joined a cycling club that rides on weekends.    I have a cyclometer that does a good job tracking time and distance, but I hadn’t sprung for the heart monitor.    How I have all three in once device on my wrist!

So how did it go?    A little rough at first…

As we were getting ready to depart I started the new Cycling app on the band.   It said “Start a new ride.  Press action button to begin and go.”    So I hit the button and saw the display say “Searching for GPS…”.   I figured it would find the GPS in a few seconds and all would be well, after all it said press the button and go…

That was my second mistake.    9 miles later during a break at the Seal Beach Pier I looked at the display expecting to see some cool telemetry data, instead I was shocked to see the message “Press action button and go.”   Huh????     I already did that!!

Attn Microsoft: you need to change those messages.     I take some blame for not testing it out first, but when it says “Press action button and go.” I should have to wait for something to happen before pressing the button a second time.  

Ok, nothing lost – I have the telemetry data on my Cateye Stealth 50 cyclometer.   Chalk it up to experience, and track the rest of the ride on the Band.   As we departed for our Warner Ave I hit the action button and saw a time that starting counting so I knew I was in business.   I could feel an occasional buzz on my wrist, and assumed it was mile markers.  I would have looked but I was a bit busy.  LOL    I left it running during our break at Warner, and again at the Coyote Crossing Bridge.  Then we got back to the shop... and the display was dark.   GRRR!

My first mistake was I didn’t have it fully charged.   I thought I had it at about 70% (I use it track my sleep as well so it wasn't fully charged), I should have but it on the charger before I left but it ran out before the ride finished.   I think the display was on while time during the first 9 miles, which likely drained the battery.

My review, part deux: Success

I don’t usually ride both Saturday and Sunday, but my wife gave me the Sunday off so I thought I’d try it again the next day.    This time I had a full charge and knew what to do, and it worked PERFECTLY!    I rode the same 26 mile route in 1:46 (my best recorded time), and the results were very close to what my GPS-based cyclometer said (about .1 mile difference, although with some of the ride being on trails and not roads I think that would be considered acceptable).    It was about 2 hours later that I thought to take note of the battery level, and it was still at 60%.

I had my cell phone (Lumia Icon) in the transit bag under my seat, I don’t know if it syncs periodically or not as I was a bit busy riding; I’ve been told the Band has very little on-board memory though.   The report from the phone was cool, showing where I rode faster and slower, what my speed and heartrate was at each split (mile).   Cool stuff!

All in all I’m quite pleased with the new addition to my Microsoft Band, although a few little UI changes would help the first-time cycling user.

The Microsoft Band has been available the last few days on the microsoftstore.com website, and there are rumors that it may be available at selected Best Buy locations.   It can sync with IOS and Android devices as well as Windows Phones.

I’ve been tempted to try wearing my Band while playing hockey to see how it does; I know that Windows blogger Paul Thurrott has worn his while playing basketball.    However I sweat a lot under those big leather gloves, and have taken more than a few slashes on my wrists over the years so I’m thinking that might not be a good idea.  :)

On a final note:  I have a BIG ride coming up next month, my first cycling event.   You can read all about it here: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/lousyracuse