11-2-06
10 miles
Yeah 10 miles is pretty lame, but it is 10 miles further than having not ridden at all. Temp was a cool 55 degress with winds of 12 to 15 mph. My first chilly ride of '06 reminds me I have no cold weather gear. I'm considereing IllumiNite( see tips and gear) .Currrent odometer is 2777. Which means I've only ridden about 250 miles since the the completion of the '06 MS 150in April. There are lots of reasons/excuses for the lack of miles but I am trying to refocus and get moving again.
04-15-06
87.25 miles
This was the Space Race a week ago. I have had many problems with the TREK 7100 hybrid. I This was my first ride on the TREK 1000 road bike ( Ebay ). I road 40 or so miles on it prior to the Space Race, and made some adjustments. Post ride I was really saddle sore, muuuch more than reasonable. So I decided to pay for a fit at the LBS ( local bike shop). It's money well spent to have somone who understands the mechanics of the body and the machine look at you on the bike and help you " dial it in " I had 3 flats in the first 5 miles, and didn't get the opportunity to finish the 100 mi route which was my goal. All things considered not a bad ride. I was generally pleased with my conditioning level but at the same time convinced I am probably not properly prepared for the 150. However, this is only a mild hindrance. Austin or BUST!
02-04-05
39.7 miles
This was a sweet ride. Very comfortable for the most part, in spite of a hideous wind. I rode with the beginner group from Bike Barn in Webster Tx. Really good people, very supportive. I was even able pull one of the weaker riders for a while. I was probably inthe middle third of the group of 15 to 20 in our flight. That was a wonderful place to start. I need to learn some etiquette as well as the practice of riding in a pack. I would love to ride with them again tomorrow, but I gotta get in to work.
01-30-06
20.76 mi. This was a good ride with a avg heart rate of 118. Just below my target of 120. I broke another spoke. What's more, I broke one on the cassette side of the hub. Means I have to get speciality tools to get the cassette free just to install a spoke. C'est la vie. Glad to be on the bike though.
01-28-06
15.29 mi. This was one of those glad to see my body still works, now let's get home rides. I was in a bit of a time crunch but I don't remember why. This was a night ride, and I still needed to get some sleep.
01-15-06
I was late for a club ride today so I rode alone out by the San Jacinto Monument. At 8:30 AM the temp was probably in the upper 50's. It was both earlier and cooler than I am used to. I rode 4 overpasses which is as close to a hill as we get in the Houston area. The wind was brutal. The medication was slowing me down. Average speed 11.2mph. Heart rate peaked @ 124 with an average of 94. I was just glad to see the speedo in double digits. Man, have I got a bunch of work to do.
01-14-06
Saw my cardiolgist good news and bad news. Good news is my nuclear stress test looked good. Bad news is my blood presssure is still high. So he beat me and put me back on my medication for high blood pressure. One the the two medications is a beta blocker. Not that it really means anything to me except it lowers my heart rate substantially. Typically 20 - 25 beats per minute when exercising. That is why today's 10 mile ride showed an avg heart rate of 90 with a peak of 104. This was a miserable ride. I was fatigued, winded and spent when i got home. I found a rear brake dragging when I got home.
01-10-06
Took a walk today with a little jogging. 2 1/2 miles 46 minutes. Not great but it is really important to get aerobic exercise as often as possible. Average heart rate 126 peaking at 176 while jogging. Longest sustained jogging time is currently 2 min 45 sec ( 1/4) mile. I've only done it three times.
01-07-06
A complete loss interms of training this week. I slept late today got dressed and went out to ride. It was a absolutely spectacularly clear day. Perfect weather for a ride. As I wheeled my bike to the driveway, I found 3 broken rear spokes. I was crushed. It was too late to get parts and ride ,too late to go into work. The good news is they're broken on the on the hub opposite the cassette. I can replace them and true the wheel myself.
01-01-06
Today's ride was 14.42 mi. Max speed 17.7 mi. 1 hour 12 minutes with an average speed of 11.9 mph. Heart rate max 140 with an averge of 127. Again not my finest outing but somtimes it's important just to get through it. I probably need to let my body recover. I haven't ridden 70 miles in the previous 6 weeks. So 70 mi in the last three days was a bit of a shock to the system. The weather has been unseasonably warm and beautifully clear. It's tough to stay off the bike.
12-30-05
This was a poorly planned outing. Not pretty but effective. Normally, I ride 10 to 20 miles per outing. I ride from my house in the vicinity of the Houston Hobby airport to points south. I had planned on a 20 mile ride at the most, but when I checked my odometer at the 10 mile mark I noticed I was close to the 1400 mile mark. I have been riding for 11 months and was just 36 miles from 1400. I had to do it, it was just another nine miles to the turn. I plodded on. When I made the turn at 19 miles, I checked the odometer, expecting to see 1381 with 19 miles to get home. Instead, it was 1372. I had miscalculated it was 46 not 36 miles to 1400 and I needed another 5 miles before the turn. I had been in the saddle for an hour and a half and daylight was fading quick. I was demoralized but I need to turn now. I set my headlight and taillight to strobe and the additional strobe on my bacpack. I rode home in the dark on the shoulder of Hwy 35. The longer I rode the better I felt phsyically. I had worked the cramps out of my feet. My calves though sore, were no longer threatening to cramp. I added th extra mile to the trip home when I pulled into my driveway ther odometer read 1400.1 miles It took me 3 hrs 35 min in the saddle to cover 46.28 miles. I was depleted average heart rate was 146. | 
