My New Toy

Yesterday, I did the 30-mile hill climb again (See my April 19 blog), but this time I used my new toy -- a new (actually refurbished, but new to me) Garmin Edge 305 GPS cycling computer. It does just about everything but scratch my back (and I'm not so sure it won't do that too). I did the 29.4 mile ride in 1 hour and 53 minutes, the same time as I did it on April 19. I burned 1949 calories on the ride (which put a pretty good dent in the chicken fried steak smothered in gravy, hashbrowned potatoes, scrambled eggs, and biscuits I had for Sunday brunch a couple of hours before the ride). I spent 4 minutes in heart rate zone 2, 83 minutes in zone 3, and 27 minutes in zone 4, so I got a pretty good aerobic workout. My highest heart rate on the ride was 162 bpm. My average speed was 15.5 mph and the total climb was 2,371 feet.

Tour of the Unknown Coast

One week ago, I helped a friend put in laminate flooring. I learned that cycling muscles and floor-laying muscles are not quite the same. The day after my thirteen hours of floor laying, my legs were more sore than from any bike ride I've ever taken. I was concerned since I had a big century ride coming up the next weekend. Luckily, by Saturday, my legs were back to normal and I was able to do the century. It's called the Tour of the Unknown Coast and it is billed as "California's Toughest Century". I'll have to admit, it did have a few challenging sections like "the Wall", a one-mile stretch of road that averages 18% grade or "the Endless Hill", that goes up for eleven miles. I felt good on and after the ride and didn't feel like I over exerted at all. I even felt fine the next day (which is more than I can say for floor laying!) My wife, Nancy, came with me for the weekend as well as our dog, Kimmie. We camped for two nights. It was Kimmie's first camping experience and she passed with flying colors.

I had jury duty today and managed to get 50 miles of riding in. I had to report to jury duty at 8:30 this morning in Willits, which is about 15 miles from where I live in Redwood Valley. To get there, I rode over the Ridgewood Summit (elevation: 1953 feet). The highway passes Ridgewood Ranch which is where the famous racehorse Seabiscuit was raised. It took me just over an hour to climb the grade and ride to the courthouse. I didn't get selected for the jury so I rode back over the summit, dropped off some clothes in Redwood Valley, then continued on to Ukiah to the school where I teach (Ukiah High School). I dismissed my substitute teacher who was covering my classes, taught for the rest of the day, worked out in the gym, then rode back to Redwood Valley. I think that may be the furthest I've ridden on a work day.

Today, I rode a 30-mile route that I call the "Eastside Hill Climb". I go up every hill I can find on the east side of Redwood Valley, Calpella, and Ukiah, then loop back to Redwood Valley. I don't know the vertical climb but I suspect it's around 2,000 feet. It took me 1 hour and 53 minutes today. On the ride, I go right past Lake Mendocino, a beautiful lake about 4 miles from my house. With any luck, I'll upload a picture of it so you can see it.

Carole Hester, a lady I know who writes a weekly column for the local paper, interviewed me today and will write an article about my participation in the Ride Across America in this Friday's Ukiah Daily Journal. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Well, some time has passed since my last posting, so now I need to get serious about filling you in on what's been going on. In less than two months, we'll be starting our Ride Across America. It's pretty exciting! I've been doing lots of riding to prepare. In the past twelve months, I've ridden over 5,600 miles. That includes: 6 century rides (including the Death Ride which was 129 miles, and over 15,000 vertical feet in one day), a ride along the entire Oregon coast, rides between home and work (approx. 8.5 miles each way), and lots of local rides. I'm blessed to be in a place where I can ride year 'round, although there are many mornings when it's pretty cold (except by Midwest standards--midwesterners wouldn't consider 30 degrees to be all that cold). Where we live, I can ride on the level if I want or do some serious hill climbing. One of the rides I regularly take includes 8 miles of 10 percent slope. The elevation gain is 4,500 feet in about 37 miles. Over spring break my wife and in-laws accompanied me on a trip to Oregon. They rode in an RV (my SAG wagon) while I rode ahead on my bike. It was pretty wet and cool but still a lot of fun. I completely wore through a chain on the trip due to wet weather and road grime and had quite a few flat tires. I learned my lesson about using cheaper tires. The more expensive tires I had before rarely had flats. I've gone back to them and will use them on the big ride. The pictures you see are ones from the Oregon trip I took the last week in March. There is also a picture from the top of the hill on Orr Springs which is the 10% grade road. It starts about 7 miles from my house and climbs for about 7 miles. I go to the back side of the hill then turn around and come back. It takes me a little less than 3 hours to ride the 37 miles. If you'd like to see more pictures from my Oregon bike trip, click on the following link: http://s303.photobucket.com/albums/nn159/wordwarrior1/?albumview=slideshow

Friday, February 1, 2008

Hi Everyone! Welcome to my blog. This is my first posting on what I hope will be a chronicle of a bike trip I plan to take in the summer of 2008 with Youth for Christ International. On June 17, a group of cyclists from all over the world will depart Anacortes, Washington for a 60-day, 4300 mile journey across America. If all goes according to plan, we will eventually wind up in Bar Harbor, Maine. Stay tuned for pictures and commentary as the trip goes from the planning stage to the actual event.