Did I Shave My Legs for This?

Cyclists shave their legs, not for aerodynamics like swimmers, but because if you crash, road rash is quicker to heal, and easier to clean without hair stuck to the affected area, so I shaved my legs out of fear. It's a very strange feeling without that barrier between my skin and pants, and it takes a bit of getting used to. How sexy are these legs...

I wasn't able to ride at all last week because I was getting my wheel respoked, again out of fear that a spoke would break during Pelotonia and I'd be out of commission and unable to finish the ride, so I was supposed to be able to pick it up Friday. I go to the shop, it hasn't been done. I was planning on riding Saturday morning, but not now. I go to spinning class instead, just to get back into the groove of pedaling a bike. No problem, I'll ride Sunday was my thought, until... So I pick up my respoked wheel on Saturday, take it home and put it on my bike and something's not right. I look it over and the wheel is touching the frame. I can't ride it like that, that's just a disaster waiting to happen, so I take it back in Sunday when the bike shop opens. It turns out the wheel is way off center, and the guy won't have it done until about 4 on Sunday, so I didn't get to ride Sunday either. At this point, I'm extremely frustrated and starting to get nervous, because taking more than a few days off from riding makes a huge difference in how I'll feel during the ride. This frustration is the root to the title of this post. All I could think of was "I shaved my legs, and only got to ride a freaking stationary bike this weekend?"

Now for the good news, I rode last night and got about 26 miles in and felt great the whole ride. I'm planning on riding again tonight, not a long ride, but getting some hills in just for some last minute reassurance that I'm ready for my first century ride.

4 days and counting...

Take It To The Limit

This week Jenni and I set out on our 64 mile ride at 8:00 as it was supposed to be really hot again on Saturday. We were supposed to ride this ride last week, but the broken spoke in the middle changed that plan, so we rode it this week. We both had a really good ride, and felt good throughout the entire 4:14 we were on the bike.

I think both of us were a little relieved that Red Bank has construction, and we couldn't climb the hill that would have been at mile 61, but we still had a good ride. Both us rode well up the Alum Creek dam, and up the short, but s-t-e-e-p (I hit 39 mph going down) hill at mile 63.

I'm getting my wheel respoked with some stronger spokes this week so I don't have to worry about breaking one in the middle of the Pelotonia ride and having to quit. Hopefully I have my wheel back and am ready to roll by Wednesday or Thursday this week. I'm going to ride 35-40 solo this coming Saturday, then on Sunday we're going to Amanda to preview what should be the hardest part of the course. I'm excited and nervous, 0nly 10 days left before the big ride. I feel ready though after this ride.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Yesterday was without a doubt the hottest day of the year, and to top it off, it was HUMID. Jenni went for a ride at about 8:15 AM and by 8:18, I was dripping sweat, but we weren't going to stop, and we were both felling pretty good on our bikes. We rode, and drank, and rode some more until we could fill our bottles back up (big thanks to the firehouse on Westerville Rd/Big Walnut Rd for the jug of icey cold water for the people using the bike trail to drink.)

Here is where things started to get a little strange. One of the screws came out of Jenni's shoe, so her cleat was turned. I had a tool to tighten the other screw though, so we were good to go.

We got on with our ride trying to beat the heat which really wasn't too bad while riding, because of the constant wind in your face, but that same wind made it tough to ride 3/4 of the time, because cross winds are just as hard to ride in as head winds a lot of the time. Oh well, put your head down and keep pedaling, right. This is what we did until we got to mile 41, and about as far away from the car as we got on the ride when "ping" a spoke on my back wheel snapped. This is the 4th spoke I've broken this year, and haven't ever had that problem before. I don't get it, but it's a pretty cheap fix, and I should be able to ride again by Tuesday or Wednesday. The bad thing about it, is this made my bike impossible to ride for 2 miles, let alone another 22, so we called Jenni's dad and step mom and they came and picked us up because they have a truck and could fit the bikes in the back of the car. I noticed in their truck, their thermometer said it was 90 degrees already.

On a good note, we did get a 41 mile ride in, and I was feeling awesome. I'm starting to be more confident on my bike, and know that I'll be able to do the 100 miles, because I just did 40 and didn't feel like I got a good work out in. I was tired and sweaty, but it wasn't like my legs were exhausted, and I couldn't pedal anymore. I was looking forward to the rest of the ride.

The plan now is to do 50-60 miles during this week, then a 65 mile ride on Saturday and a shorter ride, maybe 50 or so the week after that, and be ready to go for Pelotonia.

I'm still able to title these blog entries after songs, and I have a couple more in mind for the next few weeks.

Against the Wind

Last weekend, Jenni and I traveled to Oberlin to ride in the "Roast Your Buns Tour" set up by a cycling club called the Lorain Wheelmen. The day went like this:

4:15 am- alarm
4:15:01 am- SNOOZE
4:20 am- alarm and some grumbling but get up
5:30 am- on the road to Oberlin
7:50 am- get to Oberlin, and find the Oberlin Depot (An old train station along the bike path)
8:00 am- clip in and start the ride
8:03 am- It wasn't supposed to rain today, was it?
8:04 am- I think, it's a little chilly along with the rain
9:00 am- contemplate cutting 20 miles off the ride and just riding the 50 miler.
9:02 am- Isn't this the "Roast Your Buns" Tour, not the "Soak your buns?"
10:30 am- reach the half way point and discuss going into a restaurant where the other riders are going for lunch.
10:31 am- fill up the water bottles and keep pedaling.
11:00 am- I think I see the sun...
11:15 am- Yep, that's the sun, but I didn't know it came packaged with a nice wind.
11:30 am- 50 miles in, stop in a general store, inhale a sandwich and a liter of water
11:45 am- back on the road... stopping for even 15 minutes feels good on the saddle area, but bad on the rest of me because I stiffen up.
11:46 am- We make basically our last turn, and luckily enough it's directly into the newly blowing wind.
12:30 pm- quads are cramping, and the fronts of my hips are on fire, and as a bonus, I'm out of water.
12:50 pm- Pull into the parking lot and try to get my leg over the bike. 70 miles in the book.
1:00 pm- Wipe down in the McDonalds bathroom and get out of the cycling shorts, because really nobody wants to see me in that
1:15 pm- I think I deserve a milk shake for my efforts today.
1:30 pm- drive back home, looking forward to a shower.

This ride brings my miles logged since May to 521 and 33 hours and 34 minutes, and hopefully adding 2 more hours and 30+ miles to that after work tonight.

Overall it was a hard ride, but fun, with a lot of rolling hills. I think I would have felt better had I not tried to conserve the water in my bottles, and bought water at each of the places we could have stopped. For Pelotonia, I plan to have at least 1 empty bottle at each of the water stops along the route.

I have met my fundraising goal of $1500 for Pelotonia! Many, many thanks to everyone for supporting me. All donations now are just the whipped cream and cherry on top.