On to the next phase

The Santa Fe Century is done, my Team in Training rides are history. So what comes next? I discovered while riding the Santa Fe ride that I don’t care lots about riding long distances. I like going uphill even less, although I am much better at it than I was before the training. I do enjoy riding with a group and the first part of the Santa Fe ride as all the Team in Training riders started out together was great fun. I accomplished my other major riding goal in joining Team in Training (besides riding at Santa Fe): I established my pattern and habit of getting out on the bike regularly. Although I miss the occasional Sunday ride due to travel or conflicts, I am riding almost every week and it is part of my planned schedule. 

I really like the Bike and Chowder Club Sunday rides a great deal. I still have to work at them, especially if there is a lot of climbing, but I can manage the 35-40 miles I get for the day pretty comfortably. The folks who ride on Bike and Chowder rides are a very friendly bunch and, as the name implies, we like to eat. If you are ever find yourself in Las Cruces and wanting to ride, check us out.

The next thing is to get to the gym so I have a little project to do – find a gym. I’ll post my discoveries as they come along.  

No, a miracle did not occur…

but I did manage to train enough to ride 82 miles of the Santa Fe Century! Special thanks to Gilberto Porras, TNT Coach and Jay and Chrissy Kleberg, Roger Siegel, Evelin Eichler and Trish Duque, TNT Mentors for all of their support. Extra special thanks to Eileen and Steve Simon for their extraordinary SAG support and to Debbie Webster and Christine Holder for all their support and encouragement.

Now I need your help to complete my fundraising. This is all about helping the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society find cures for leukemia and other blood cancers and provide support to patients with these diseases. Please contribute through my Team in Training page.

On the bike

Today I took my first ride of 2007. This was also the maiden voyage for my 2006 RANS Stratus XL. I’m still getting the hang of riding it. This was my first two-wheeled recumbent ride and I still oversteer (a polite understatement for the weaving across the road that passed for me going up hills). On the other hand, I rode in luxurious comfort on the padded seat with mesh back and a frame that is a fascinating mix of flex to smooth out the bumps yet totally rigid in transfering power (I use the term advisedly) from my legs to the pedals. Thanks to John Cunningham of Recumbent Brothers Cycles for getting me on this sweet ride!

Since I’ve been off the bike for at least 3 months and eating too well, I was not very fast. I managed a whopping 7.58 mile ride at an average speed of 9.9 miles per hour. Still, it is a start. The good news is that it was still light when I finished at 5 p.m., so I will be able to ride on weekday afternoons when it is warmest. I have been a wimp about winter riding this year, so it is wonderful to have afternoons in the 50s and above. Now I can start my 2007 ride log!

In the beginning…

It’s almost the end of January and I haven’t posted anything about New Year’s resolutions. I actually have a couple. One is about finishing remodeling the house – if I say anything about that, it will be on Please pardon the inconvenience. My other resolution is to lose weight – a lot of weight! This is try number two, since that was one of my resolutions last year.

That means getting way more active. So tonight, I signed up for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training. Here’s how it works: I train to ride a century (100 mile bike ride) and raise a minimum of $4,200 in contributions to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and then I go ride the ride. 75% of the contributions up to the minimum go to Society programs and 25% cover the costs of trainers and getting people to the ride. Any contributions above the minimum go 100% to Society programs, effectively reducing the percentage to fundraising and training overhead. I’m training to ride America’s Most Beautiful Ride, a century ride around Lake Tahoe.

You can help me get there, and more importantly, help support research on blood cancers to save lives, by donating generously at my Team in Training page. If you would like to donate in the real world instead of online, please e-mail me at macbikegeek@comcast.net.

I’ll post my adventures in training here and keep encouraging you to contribute if you haven’t already. So here I go!