dj whitebread
Monday, April 14, 2008
MS 150 Report
It all started with a bus ride... a bus ride that had a stop in the middle for Applebees. The place that doesn't have a pasta dish on the menu without alfredo sauce. I know, pasta and tomato sauce is weird and fringe. Anyway, we left Applebee's, headed to the hotel, and got settled. A note here about our volunteer team: they were awesome. They got all of our bikes and stuff to Houston, to LaGrange and back to Austin. Absolutely amazing, we couldn't have done it without them.
The NI team had 111 riders this year. That's pretty huge. A big spurt of growth for the team, which is really awesome.
So back to the recap. Friday night wasn't a good night of sleep. I just wasn't sleeping well, and then a group of people decided to have a raging party outside of our room. But they would go away for a while. Then come back. Then go away, rinse and repeat. Since we were getting up at 5:15 AM, needless to say, I (nor anybody else in our room) didn't get much sleep.
Saturday morning we were able to start the ride from our parking lot since we were just a mile or two off the route. I knew there were a few guys on the team who were pretty determined to beat each other to LaGrange (the end of the first day). I stayed with one of them for a while, but this other guy from the team with a tri-bike jumped to the front at some point and ramped up the pace from a doable 23 to over 26. I at this point sat up and decided that I was going to wait for another group from NI to roll by and join them.
Luckily, that did happen. I got a nice group, and we rolled almost until lunch at the 50 mile mark together. Once the rollers started to show up you could tell that most people on the ride instantly were less comfortable. The wind was pretty strong for the first half, and most of it had been cross wind, but it was nothing compared to what would come later.
So after lunch I was by myself for a while as the group I ate with all got lost getting out of the lunch stop (it was sort of a mess). One NI guy who I was riding with earlier (Marshal, I believe) came up behind me and we rode together for a bit. Then I saw these four Canadians from BP Canada come by, and I had ridden with them earlier. And with them is a woman from NI (Carla) who I had also ridden with earlier. I jumped in with them, and this proved to be a good decision. Our little group of six stayed together for the last 30 or so miles of the ride, and proved to be invaluable as far as I was concerned.
We were trading pulls with the wind, actually attempting to deal with the cross wind as correctly as we could given the crowd, and generally having a good time and keeping the pace up in the process. We stopped at the last rest stop (mile 90) because we were all out of water. I knew the last 5 miles or so were going to finally be tail wind. So we just had 5 miles of bad wind left. Right before the turn into the good wind, we had a large down hill. I started coasting down it faster than one of the Canadians, and he started pedaling to catch me, and I was keeping ahead of him just tucking and coasting. Well, that annoyed him so he attacked. We caught him, and then he urged me to go for it again on the next down hill at which point, three of went for it down the hill, turned the corner and felt the tail wind hit our backs.
A note here: this was all in good fun. This wasn't a race, we were just entertaining ourselves to help the miles go by. Well the three of us were riding along leisurely enjoying the tail wind when Carla pops up from behind us. She had chased us down solo. She kind of just looked back at us and smiled. Well, right after this we headed up hill and the older Canadian just went nuts attacking up the hill. I had no desire to chase up hill at this point in the ride, but we all caught up and I took off down the next down hill and me and the older Canadian stayed together until the end just trading hard pulls. I really wanted to be done at this point, so I was perfectly okay hammering and enjoying the tail wind.
So an advantage of getting done much earlier on the first day than the first time I had done the MS 150 was the lack of a long line at the shower truck. I was able to drop off my bike, grab my clean clothes, and get a shower really quickly. Then I hung out and cheered as NIers came into the tent when they finished. I also had a massage. That was nice. Carrie made it in a little while later. Once it got dark, we all headed to sleep decently early. Even though it was cold, and I was in a sleeping bag, I actually slept really well. I think I was just exhausted.
On the subject of cold, it was in the 40s Sunday morning. I had not expected it to be this cold, and I had nothing for my legs. Even though the event started at 7, I didn't get out of the fairgrounds until 7:45. That was the coldest I've ever been on my bike; I just didn't have enough clothes on. But after 5 or 6 miles I warmed up and I never really felt overly cold again the rest of the day.
All in all, I felt good the second day, albeit a little tired. Before the parks, the wind wasn't much of an issue. In the parks it was non-existent as the giant pine trees block it. However, after the lunch stop in Bastrop, the wind was back. It was a headwind, though, so at least you could get some cover in a pace line. And that's what I did. I really had no shame on Sunday, basically getting into any group that I could. I was feeling somewhat lazy, so I was getting in groups that were going slower than I could have been going, but I didn't see anybody I knew all day, so I just decided to take it easy and enjoy the ride in. I eventually made it in to Austin, and relaxed at the NI tent with some food and enjoyed some sampling from the keg.
From a cycling perspective, this year's experience was superior to the my previous one. I felt people were less spastic on their bikes. I also felt much more confident on my bike, and felt a lot stronger. Even though my legs were tired at the end of the first day and during pretty much all of the second day, they were still doing what they needed to do. I remember rolling into Austin the first time I did it, and literally barely being able to turn my legs over coming up the hills on MLK. This year I was tired, but I just spun myself up the hills and it wasn't a big deal. It's interesting to do the same ride again and see the difference.
Of course, from the giving perspective, it's a great cause, and I was proud to be a part of it again. I would have no problem doing it again... the worst part of the whole thing is the camping out at the fair grounds. But I'm just a wimp in that regard. It's pretty awesome to see 12000 people ride their bikes that far to support the cause of wiping out MS once and for all.
On that note, I know I speak for both me and Carrie when I say thank you very much to all of you who donated to our MS150 accounts. If anybody would like to still give, we have another month to take donations, and all of them are greatly appreciated!
So it was a fun weekend. I am very proud of Carrie for completing her first century, and then doing another big ride the day after. This is by far the longest time she's spent on the bike, and to do it with that many other people on the road and all the other craziness is very impressive in my book. Yay for Carrie!
The only bad thing I want to point out about this weekend is that our DVR didn't record Paris-Roubaix. And Boonen won in a break by out sprinting them in the velodrome! Argh.
But now it's back to work. I dropped the bike off for a few repairs this morning. I hope to do a few rides this week, and some races this weekend. No more travel, however, until after the May 8th OSDI deadline. It will be nice to spend a few consecutive weeks in Austin and hopefully get lots of riding and lots of work in. I also need to start fitting in a little swimming and running here and there to get ready for my tri on May 10th.
I hope everybody's weeks are starting out well!
Labels: Carrie is awesome, cycling, MS150, OSDI, pro racing
4:53 PM |
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Work and bike
That's mainly been my focus since I've returned. Went for a ride on Monday, went to the MS150 logistics meeting at NI on Tuesday, and tonight I went for a ride and then attended the cycling club meeting regarding this weekend's race.
In between that has been work and limited time at home, which is unfortunate as I have a lovely, beautiful wife. I was able to cook supper tonight though, even though it was a bit rushed. I poached some fresh redfish in a white wine broth with mushrooms, broccoli, and roasted red peppers. We had that with some toasted Israeli couscous (the fat kind) that was cooked with some vegetable broth and spiced up with a little Tony's. I remembered that I actually bought the mushrooms for tomorrow's night supper. I guess I will pick some up tomorrow. The couscous could have been better, but like I said, I got all of that together pretty quickly so I didn't really have much time to think it all through.
I'm planning on doing a roasted chicken atop tagliatelle with mushrooms and leeks. I'm excited. The tagliatelle sauce is inspired by a Jamie Olliver show I caught recently. However, will be leaving out all the butter. ;)
Back to the bike, I'm feeling good. I went rode my hilly ride today, starting at campus, and I was able to push myself more than I expected. It's all about embracing pain... that's what I've realized. When it hurts keep pushing, your body will most likely keep on giving. I'm not talking about the kind of pain you get when something is messed up, I'm talking about the tired, I think I might vomit pain. That can be pushed through. I still have eons to go before I would call myself in shape, but I'm slowly feeling better and starting to realize that I may be able to get there one day.
As for school, the work is progressing. I've been productive this week. I'm just worried that I'm going to run out of time. I really need to get certain features implemented and ready to go by the end of the weekend. I have other stuff to work on.
Thanks again to all who have donated!
Labels: cooking, MS150, racing, training
10:25 PM |
Monday, March 31, 2008
MS 150 Donation Reminder
A big thanks to those who have already donated!
However, Carrie and I still would like to get more donations to meet our goal of $400 raised per person. The links below will take you directly to a form to fill out.
Asking for money is something that does not come easy for me at all. So I appreciate everybody's patience with us as we try to reach our goal. MS is a terrible disease, and the money raised helps to fight it!
Labels: MS150
10:06 PM |
Thursday, March 20, 2008
MS 150
While I have been mainly discussing the cycling aspects of the MS 150, the bigger motivation for the ride is the effort to rid the world of MS. It is a cause I believe in strongly as the disease has actually affected one of my loved ones.
Towards that effort, riding in the MS 150 brings with it a responsibility to raise money to fight MS. Clicking here will allow you to donate directly to my MS 150 account and help me raise the money I have pledged to raise. Any amount is appreciated, and will help the fight.
I will post Carrie's link as well, as since we are both riding, we are both trying to raise money.
Thanks for your support!!
Labels: MS150
3:10 PM |
Monday, February 18, 2008
Start of non-sick week
I feel much better today. My cough seems to have progressed a lot. I was really tired over the weekend and I ended up doing a lot of sleeping. I was able to get out on my bike for a little bit yesterday afternoon, however, and that felt good. Though it is pretty shocking to see how slow I am. I'm going to have to kick my butt just to get through the MS-150... racing just seems like a long gone dream at this point. Maybe I'll try to target some tris during the summer. My main concern before the MS-150 is just having enough distance in my legs (and in my backside) to get through it at a decent pace.
My rescheduled haircut is today. Thank goodness... my hair is getting kind of wiley.
Dad came in for a quick lunch on Saturday, and it was good to get a chance to hang out with him.
I'm just really glad to be at school for a full day of work. It's been a long while.
I'm going to the dynamic strength class as the gym tonight. That should be exciting... I really enjoyed it a few weeks ago when I went, I'm looking forward to another ass kicking.
I think that is it. Take it easy, everybody.
12:07 PM |
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Cheaha
Sadly, because of work reasons, it really looks like I will not be able to make it to the Cheaha challenge this year. There is a big conference deadline just a few days afterwards, and traveling three states over that close to a deadline is a bad idea. It looks like my goals for the Spring will be the MS150 and the collegiate conference championships.
Ha, of course, I actually have to ride my bike to do either of those... yikes.
Labels: Cheaha, MS150, out of shape
12:15 AM |
Thursday, October 04, 2007
I did it.
I just registered for the MS-150. Carrie has registered for it as well, so we will both be trying to raise money for this great cause. More info about that in a future post.
From a cycling point of view, doing 180 miles over two days just two weeks before Cheaha will be a great gut check to make sure I have put in enough saddle time this year.
So Jeff, if you happen to check my blog before your email for some reason, I'm in. Apparently they are already up to 45%, so the time to register is now.
Also, if there anybody else who would like to make a trip to Texas to ride 180 miles this coming April, feel free to sign up.
Labels: MS150
9:34 AM |
