Monday, May 28, 2007

May 28th, 2007 - 2 days after the ride


Well, it is all finished now; what an incredible day it was! We arrived in Durango on Thursday the 24th. After a brief warm-up ride, Liz and I drove the course. After seeing what I was going to try to do in 48 hours . . . let's just say I was aprehensive. Saturday did finally arrive, and the ride started. The steam whistle started us off; 1000 riders and the train started all at once. Our trip through the San Juan mountain range was quite challenging. 25 miles in, we started a 6 mile climb up to 10,600 feet. With 1 1/2 miles to go in that climb, I started getting cramps. My hamstrings, my calves, and my quads all decided to cramp at the same time. with 20 miles yet to go, and 1.5 left in this particular climb, I wasn't sure how I would make it. I did some on bike stretching and drank more than I wanted of my electrolyte beverage and things got enough better that I was able get to the rest stop at the top of this hill. I ate bananas and filled up my water bottle and was on a 4 mile downhill only to be followed by 4 miles back up to 10,900 feet. with 1.5 miles to go on this climb, the cramps came back, only worse. At this point, the only thing that kept me going was the thought. . . this is easy compared to what the Make-a-wish kids & families have to go through. I reached the top and then hung on and enjoyed the ride down into Silverton. I completed the ride 5 minutes faster than I thought I would at 3 hours and 55 minutes. However, the train arrived in Silverton a bit before I did. As the Cubs fans say, "There's always next year"
It was an incredible day and a wonderful experience. I want to thank everyone for all the kind words, thoughts, prayers and donations. I could not have completed this without the support! The picture shows me 10 minutes after the ride with the mountains I just climbed behind me.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Week ending May 6th

168 miles, 195 pounds -My largest mileage week ever capped off by a 63 mile ride out of Pauls Valley Oklahoma. The Valley Rally went through the Arbuckle Wilderness which included some challenging climbs and as always, the mighty Oklahoma wind. A great ride to cap off a great week of training. In addition, we’re ever so close to meeting our 3 wish goal of $18,000. Another $500 in donations, and we’ll be there. I feel very lucky to have so many people supporting me. Thank you all!

Week ending April 30th

156 miles, 196 pounds - When you ride over 3,500 miles preparing for a ride, it stands to reason that there will be days that just don’t work out so well. That was Saturday of this week. 20 miles into a 70 mile ride, I had a tire blow out. No harm, I carry and extra tube, so I changed it. Another 10 miles, and that one goes. I guess I wasn’t meant to ride that day. It did, however, inspire some new tires/tubes and other maintenance to ensure a great ride in Colorado.