An Iron Man I'm not

Yesterday was the season-opener race with Theron that is the Ironman Bicycle ride in Lakeville, MN. In usual goodness there was breakfast at Theron's; waffles (w/peanut butter) and cripsy bacon. A taped Paris-Roubaix got us excited as we readied ourselves for what was sure to be a cold day.

My morninng started shortly after 5am as I rolled out of bed, trying to find my cold weather clothes in the dark. You see, just for this ride, the temps dropped about 35 degrees and snow came the day before. The forecast for this morning was to start out at 29 and get to 45 by 3pm. Now where did I see me booties?

After gathering my gear by the light of my phone, I headed to the garage to get my bike ready. Tyson was coming to pick me up this dark, cold, glorious morning. I rummaged through the garage and found all my stuff; earmuffs, booties, and long fingered gloves.

I had my bag packed and food ready to go. I decided to continue my poaching streak, but better myself by not partaking in the food at the stops.

Tyson arrived and I was actually ready to go (thanks for being a few minutes late Ty!). We jumped in the Golf and headed to the above-mentioned breakfast while cracking jokes about the temperature.

As we readied our bikes, we were now noticing how cold it really was. But soon enough we were on our way. The question was brought up as to how far we were willing to go. For me, this was going to be my longest ride by far, so I yelled 62! Theron directed the same question to Ty, who thankfully responded with 62 as well. Whew. We made the turn and noticed that there were CONSIDERABLY more people doing our ride than the 100. I think when we split off, I saw 3 people headed for the century.

The ride was going okay. For Ty and myself. Theron had a cramp in his knee that was buggin' him quite a bit. Later on we saw 2 guys walking their bikes and I noticed the chain on one was broken. Ty had a tool, so we headed back and we got them up and running again. I like to think that I saved their lives, as they might have froze to death walking. This way, I got them back on their bikes to stay warm.

By the time the fist rest stop arrived things were feeling okay; toes, face, fingers seemed to be around "normal" operating temperatures. Ty and I hung out while Theron got his bike adjusted.

As we left the first rest stop - which should be closer than the current 28 miles it's at - we were with a large group. Things were going well and then Theron decided his knee was feeling better and he went around the group. As we hit the rollers, Ty gapped me and I was starting to feel my legs - not in a good way. I managed to keep the two T's in sight up the road and started to close the gap a bit by the time the second stop got close. Theron came back to see how I was doing and missed a city sign in the process. Ty gave several victory salutes while we laughed and applauded his "effort".

The mileage was flying in now. We were only about 16 miles from the end or so and the sun was coming out. The wind wasn't nearly as bad as it's been in the past and parts of the road were new. The usual "head-wind death march" wasn't all that bad (maybe it's because I was tucked in with the two T's) and went mych faster than year's previous. We were making good time towards the end and as we entered Lakeville, Theron's race began. He put the hammer down and left us behind. My legs were getting a bit more tired and I was managing, but not at all like I had hoped to ride it. But, the last little climb to the school was finally in sight and we were done.

Back at the car we agreed that the clothing choice worked out well. With the occassional chill at the stops, the layers proved to be just right. Changing outside was another story! The sun was shining, but it was still mighty cold out.

We parted ways and Ty took me home after a good day on the saddle. I finished up my evening with some water and stretching at the gym. Today I'm happy to report that I'm not all that sore. I can tell that I rode, but I can also walk normal.

Thanks for the ride guys!

Numbers of note:
Starting temp (best guess): 29 degrees
Finishing temp (bank sign): 35 degrees
Starting weight (after waffles): 199
Finishing weight (at the gym): 194.3
Miles ridden: 62
Energy Gels consumed: 4
Water drank: not enough - maybe 20 ounces?
Sprints won: zero

A slight slump

The past weekend was gorgeous outside. Sunny, barely a breeze and warm. I didn't make it out on the bike. At all. There were offers, but my schedule just didn't allow it. Meanwhile, Scott and Theron hammered out a sweet ride.

However, Monday after work I finally hooked up with my neighbor for a ride. He and his wife recently got bikes and last year I managed to help him with some minor adjustments and repairs, but we never managed to hit the road.

Last night I introduced him to the Eagan 18 loop and we cruised along pretty well. The conversation was good and the wind was a bit stiff. Enough to make the flats a bit of a workout.

We finished in about an hour and are looking forward to more rides.

I did manage to make it to the gym over the weekend for a quick workout:
Lats
Curls
Bench
Leg extension
Bench
Triceps
Crunches

My lowerback hasn't bothered me at all after a ride, which I'm attributing to my increased focus on those muscles. Or maybe I just haven't been on the bike for a long ride yet.....

Weight: 195

My overall mood towards training is waining a bit. I like to be out riding, but when I want to tell myself to actually push it, I'm just not that interested. I also ate some tiny cookies last night after dinner. Normally that doesn't happen. Maybe I'm overtraining! ha. I'm hoping it's just a couple days phase and I'll be back to being more motivated very soon.

For fun:
Check out what a search on Google Images for "silly bikes" returns.

I forgot to mention

My last weigh in put me at 194 - woohoo!

Cool riding

So this Sunday was a good day for riding. I almost made a ride with Dan on Saturday afternoon, but realized that we had friends coming over sooner that I thought and had some cleaning up to do. So Dan came over and tried on the sizing kits from Champion. It would have made for an interesting ride because it was snowing. But it didn't happen for me.

Instead, I hooked up with Theron in the afternoon on Sunday and he came to my house and we rode the Eagan 18. It was a bit windy and chilly, but not chilly enough to get toes numb. We rode a decent pace and Theron LOVED the hills, he he. As we started the long climbs on Cliff road, we met a guy riding his Cannondale T500 and he looked like he had seen some miles. Turns out it was his only mode of transportation at the moment and he had already logged 1600 miles this year. 1600!! He was an interesting fellow to talk to and I was glad we took the time to chat. I'm sure Theron was too, cuz it took most of the first climb.

As we neared home, one of the streets has the speed limit radar sign so we kicked it down to see if it would pick us up. Sure enough and we posted 32 into a headwind. I think Theron was still accelerating. That finished the ride for us and we took it easy back home.

The sun was out and there weren't any clouds. It was a great to be riding instead of working.

Thanks Ty

I was bummed that I was unable to attend Wiken's ride this morning as the weather looked to be the best of the season so far and the route and pace looked to be a good workout.
At about 2pm I decided to head out on my Eagan 18 loop:


Since I hadn't checked my phone all morning I thought I would before I left.
1 voicemail. It was Ty. I called him back. No answer. No problem, so I changed and got ready to go. In the meantime Ty called back and said he was lookin to ride and he was ready to go right now. Perfect.

We agreed to meet at Minnehaha and decide where to go from there. The temp outside was about 60 with 7mph winds. The ride to Minnehaha was fantastic (mostly cus there's a long downhill) and I think I saw a dozen people on bikes before I met up with Ty.

When I met Ty he was sportin his new ride and it looked sharp! I drooled over the new bike and fondled the SRAM shifters. Dead Sexy. And Ty's new shoes and helmet looked stellar. We left the Falls and decided to head to St. Paul via Summit. The riders were out in full force. It was amazing. Everyone was out riding today. Kids, parents, team members, families with Burleys, trail-a-bikes, BMX, mountain, recumbants, anything and everything was out. The hands were waving and the heads were nodding. It was great to see so many bikes out enjoying the weather.

You would think that since Ty broke his neck that it would have set him back a bit - no way. The dude is coming back just as strong. I managed to put a gap on him climbing the Smith Bridge, but after we got to the top he was off like there wasn't even a hill anywhere near him. Or maybe it was his new bike? Either way he's still fast. Maybe next time I'll try the Vulcan Nerve Pinch when he passes me.

We cruised along 13 back to the Mendota Bridge and that where we split up. I had a great headwind the rest of my way home. I kept the pace up though and made the Fat Tire (that Ty bought!) taste even better once I got home.

So Ty - thanks for the ride. But mostly thanks for the Fat Tire.

Breaking News!!

I've been waiting to post this for a bit, but I'm proud to announce that something special has happened with BCR. For the last couple of months I've been in talks with a major company about the acquisition of BCR. That's right. It started awhile back when I met a rep at a trade show and we began talking about the product. He noticed my BCR shirt and soon the topic shifted to what it was, how it started, etc. After about 30 minutes I left with his business card and a request to email him in a week. I did and he brought up that he liked the idea of what BCR was and wanted to work out a deal with me. They wanted to bring BCR under their wing and help grow the team nationally. After several long phone discussions and email exchanges, I'm happy to announce....BCR has been bought by Pacifica!!

I know there may be lots of questions, so I'll try to answer some here:

What does that mean for BCR?
Well, we now have a "parent company" that is willing to provide us with advertising and support that was once unimagineable to us.

Will we still have team rides?
Yes

Do we get free bikes?
Yep!

As a perk to having a parent company we'll have team vehicles, trailers, mechanics and access to Pacifica bikes at all Toys R Us and other department stores. PLUS - they're going to send out a newsletter! We're also in talks about having a touring stage show that would chronicle BCR's rise to power. This would mean all sorts of public appearances and autograph sessions - cool! Maybe even tv spots?!

Of course, nothing will change. BCR will maintain it's small team, rider oriented feel.

I hope you're as exicted about this as I am. There are going to be some great things to come from this!

The Grizz