So there I was enjoying my short Memorial Day vacation in Puerto Penasco (thats Rocky Point you gringo). It was remarkably cool and we didn't get in the water as much as we normally would have but it was still a nice time. Tuesday was the last day of the trip and during the last beach session I waded out into the ankle deep low tide to play with the kids when WHAM I felt like I stepped on a nail. I hobbled out and found my foot covered with blood from a small spot on the underside of my right foot. I think its called the pad of my foot a couple inches below my 2nd toe. It started hurting and didn't quit, like a really bad bee sting but that just didn't abate. I tried to gut it out sitting on the beach with my NYT crossword but just couldn't focus. 30 minutes later the other Dad travelling with us got hit also. We had a silent tough guy contest neither willing to admit he was in agony for another 30 minutes while we waited for everyone to get ready to go. Finally admitting that we were hurting we went online and found that an hour in near boiling water (as hot as you can stand apparently denatures the poison) pretty well fixed the problem but left me swollen and purple. Turns out the other guy still was hurting pretty badly several days later. About 8 days later I did some minor surgery and removed a peice of stinger. Its still sort of black and slightly raised but not longer any pain.
I write all this because I had to puss* out of a bike ride a couple days after it happened and I wanted to document my alibi. I played basketball the day after and didn't have any problem other than some swelling after I got home. The bike however nearly had me in tears. The attach point from the shoe to the pedal was just driving right into the stinger and felt like someone driving that same serrated nail in there again. I gave up at the Rincon market and went home. Like 12 miles round trip but I think we made good time.
Showing posts with label Bike. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bike. Show all posts
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, September 10, 2007
Long Way Home
Garmin Data
We rode 46.68 miles on Sunday. For well conditioned bike dudes this is no big deal. For me it was nearly fatal. I got home around 10 AM, ate about 4,000 calories of breakfast and went to sleep for 3.5 hours. Waking up I felt like dog shit the rest of the day. No doubt I wasn't hydrated enough going in and probably barely had enough to drink during the ride.
Dan and I met up at Old Spanish Trail and Houghton around 6 and rolled up to Collier's. Short rest there while Tom, who started late caught up and we rode with just a few short regroup stops up Tanque Verde to Sabino Canyon to Sunrise and stopped at the Dan and Tom's parents place to refill water. Ice water in the bike bottle on a hot day is really one of the underrated pleasures. After a 10-15 minute rest stop we headed back the way we came skipping Houghton and cruising through Tanque Verde (the community I mean). Tom blew a tire at Ridgeside and Speedway and I left him there while he did repairs because the heat was really wiping me out and I figured if I didn't get inside and cool off soon I'd die of heatstroke. Even from there I punked out and made Tina come pick me up at Broadway barely a mile from home.
That was a tough ride and particularly hot. I have now finally conceded that there is no reason to do the full 109 mile El Tour. I think I'll sign up for the 60 and do the full bit after I lose 30 pounds and get in better bike shape.
We rode 46.68 miles on Sunday. For well conditioned bike dudes this is no big deal. For me it was nearly fatal. I got home around 10 AM, ate about 4,000 calories of breakfast and went to sleep for 3.5 hours. Waking up I felt like dog shit the rest of the day. No doubt I wasn't hydrated enough going in and probably barely had enough to drink during the ride.
Dan and I met up at Old Spanish Trail and Houghton around 6 and rolled up to Collier's. Short rest there while Tom, who started late caught up and we rode with just a few short regroup stops up Tanque Verde to Sabino Canyon to Sunrise and stopped at the Dan and Tom's parents place to refill water. Ice water in the bike bottle on a hot day is really one of the underrated pleasures. After a 10-15 minute rest stop we headed back the way we came skipping Houghton and cruising through Tanque Verde (the community I mean). Tom blew a tire at Ridgeside and Speedway and I left him there while he did repairs because the heat was really wiping me out and I figured if I didn't get inside and cool off soon I'd die of heatstroke. Even from there I punked out and made Tina come pick me up at Broadway barely a mile from home.
That was a tough ride and particularly hot. I have now finally conceded that there is no reason to do the full 109 mile El Tour. I think I'll sign up for the 60 and do the full bit after I lose 30 pounds and get in better bike shape.
Monday, August 13, 2007
A Series of Near Misses 8.11.07
We decided to ride the Amado to Arivaca (link) road in place of the mountain for a change. I grabbed my Dad's truck (the inside of which always smells like ketchup, I don't think he eats ketchup per se but all his vehicles smell like ketchup...strange) picked up Collier, Dan, the bikes and gas and we were on the road before 6. Arrive in Amado (which appears to be 100% deserted like an apocalyptic dream) and park across from the (they claim) world famous Longhorn Grill. Unloading the bikes we find a bulge in Collier's back tire. Immediately after (coincidence? I think not) a car of Jehovah's witnesses screech to a stop in front of us and they make the 15 year old kid in the tie offer us 'maybe something to read later'. After a quick agnostic roundhouse kick they left.
With all the practice we have had in the last few bike rides, the tube is swapped out in short order. Leaving it fully inflated we go off to gear up but then suddenly hear what must be a gunshot. Obviously the JWs are back and they are pissed. After I got Collier to quit crying (ok not really but I think he was crying on the inside) we figured out that the tire had popped and the echo off the buildings was responsible for scaring the bejeezus out of me.
More tire work.
Repeat.
Change tubes and tires.
Explosion.
Watching creepy people driving by with bass boats and (I'm assuming) dark motives along with a few Border Patrol vehicles we eventually just gave up and decided to go for breakfast at the Longhorn Grill. In front of the Longhorn Grill was a prison transport bus with a broken something that forced the guards to get out and scratch their heads. The restaurant was closed so we declared the entire adventure a bust. I am sure that the ride and breakfast were near misses in that we would surely have died along the way. I am making a movie about the prison bus.
We would have required a hot female to make a solid group of 4. Think American Flyers meets Speed. One guy is the disgraced champion kicked out of cycling not for using illegal drugs but actually having robotic legs replace his own. Cut to the evil scientist (probably Christian Bale cause cycling is pretty Euro and he has sinister teeth) making him the faustian deal in the past, you can tell its the past cause the light is sort of washed out and everyone has funny haircuts. He will sacrifice himself at some point to get redemption, maybe just lose the legs all together. During the closing credits maybe he becomes world champ wheelchair racer as Peter Cetera (like a knight in shining armor....) plays in the background.
One guy is the wise cracking former track star (ie black and because this is Hollywood sure to not get the girl and die...sorry Collier) who as a punishment for his practical joke (something involve icy hot and jockstraps or spiking an oppoents water cooler with Viagra maybe) is assigned to the cycling team of misfits and ne'er do wells. He will be the first to die when we first learn how B-A-D (and we'll thrown in racist to make him reeaaaalllly B-A-D) Christina Bale in fact is.
The hero is the guy with all the potential but no killer instinct who can never win the big one. We know several things about him: 1) he will talk like Keanu Reeves 2) he will get the girl in the end (hmm...that sounds bad) and 3) he will very obviously save the day by riding his bicycle in some way that is impossible (maybe backward at 30 mph or something?). Cut to him trying the impossible thing in the past (que lighting and funny hair) and failing and Michael Caine as his cycling coach (who is probably Christian Bale's dad) saying something profound and cliche along the lines of 'winners don't ride backwards, winners win who don't lose to losers who ride backwards" or some other nonsense.
The girl has ALOT of curves and VERY tight fitting clothes that will be quickly ripped and indecent. I'll be casting Rosario Dawson and Scarlett Johansen in these roles for no real reason other than this is my movie and I respect their work.....or something. Despite being 5'1 and 105 lbs. she will at some point kick the snot out of a couple of 300 lb Samoan guys.
Billy Bob Thornton will reprise his creepy mechanic role from the movie U-Turn as the grease monkey sidekick who fixes up the bikes to go insanely fast or make eggs or whatever.
There are several chase scenes through the mountains, possibly jumping off of things and something along the lines of a Deadman's Curve that no one has ever made it past. The hero will have to eventually catch the bus, climb on, get dragged, jump in and finally save the girl. The bus will obviously blow up at some point and he'll escape with her riding on his handlebars (thats the movie poster btw) to safety.
This is a pretty good movie but it will need some karate/ninja to make it perfect.
With all the practice we have had in the last few bike rides, the tube is swapped out in short order. Leaving it fully inflated we go off to gear up but then suddenly hear what must be a gunshot. Obviously the JWs are back and they are pissed. After I got Collier to quit crying (ok not really but I think he was crying on the inside) we figured out that the tire had popped and the echo off the buildings was responsible for scaring the bejeezus out of me.
More tire work.
Repeat.
Change tubes and tires.
Explosion.
Watching creepy people driving by with bass boats and (I'm assuming) dark motives along with a few Border Patrol vehicles we eventually just gave up and decided to go for breakfast at the Longhorn Grill. In front of the Longhorn Grill was a prison transport bus with a broken something that forced the guards to get out and scratch their heads. The restaurant was closed so we declared the entire adventure a bust. I am sure that the ride and breakfast were near misses in that we would surely have died along the way. I am making a movie about the prison bus.
We would have required a hot female to make a solid group of 4. Think American Flyers meets Speed. One guy is the disgraced champion kicked out of cycling not for using illegal drugs but actually having robotic legs replace his own. Cut to the evil scientist (probably Christian Bale cause cycling is pretty Euro and he has sinister teeth) making him the faustian deal in the past, you can tell its the past cause the light is sort of washed out and everyone has funny haircuts. He will sacrifice himself at some point to get redemption, maybe just lose the legs all together. During the closing credits maybe he becomes world champ wheelchair racer as Peter Cetera (like a knight in shining armor....) plays in the background.
One guy is the wise cracking former track star (ie black and because this is Hollywood sure to not get the girl and die...sorry Collier) who as a punishment for his practical joke (something involve icy hot and jockstraps or spiking an oppoents water cooler with Viagra maybe) is assigned to the cycling team of misfits and ne'er do wells. He will be the first to die when we first learn how B-A-D (and we'll thrown in racist to make him reeaaaalllly B-A-D) Christina Bale in fact is.
The hero is the guy with all the potential but no killer instinct who can never win the big one. We know several things about him: 1) he will talk like Keanu Reeves 2) he will get the girl in the end (hmm...that sounds bad) and 3) he will very obviously save the day by riding his bicycle in some way that is impossible (maybe backward at 30 mph or something?). Cut to him trying the impossible thing in the past (que lighting and funny hair) and failing and Michael Caine as his cycling coach (who is probably Christian Bale's dad) saying something profound and cliche along the lines of 'winners don't ride backwards, winners win who don't lose to losers who ride backwards" or some other nonsense.
The girl has ALOT of curves and VERY tight fitting clothes that will be quickly ripped and indecent. I'll be casting Rosario Dawson and Scarlett Johansen in these roles for no real reason other than this is my movie and I respect their work.....or something. Despite being 5'1 and 105 lbs. she will at some point kick the snot out of a couple of 300 lb Samoan guys.
Billy Bob Thornton will reprise his creepy mechanic role from the movie U-Turn as the grease monkey sidekick who fixes up the bikes to go insanely fast or make eggs or whatever.
There are several chase scenes through the mountains, possibly jumping off of things and something along the lines of a Deadman's Curve that no one has ever made it past. The hero will have to eventually catch the bus, climb on, get dragged, jump in and finally save the girl. The bus will obviously blow up at some point and he'll escape with her riding on his handlebars (thats the movie poster btw) to safety.
This is a pretty good movie but it will need some karate/ninja to make it perfect.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Mt. Lemmon Ride 7.29.07 (10 Miles Up)
Felt really good going up today and didn't crash at all coming back down. I finally figured out how the watch stores data and so I made a quick table below to show the altitude changes. 10 was a good milestone and from the looks of it the next 2 or so will be relatively easy followed by a big climb up to Windy Point.
Garmin Data
Mt. Lemon Data
Garmin Data
Mt. Lemon Data
| | Altitude | Altitude Change | Grade % |
| Start | 2,888 | 0 | 0 |
| Mile 1 | 3,132 | 244 | 4.63% |
| Mile 2 | 3,389 | 257 | 4.87% |
| Mile 3 | 3,659 | 270 | 5.11% |
| Mile 4 | 3,930 | 271 | 5.13% |
| Mile 5 | 4,220 | 290 | 5.50% |
| Mile 6 | 4,493 | 273 | 5.16% |
| Mile 7 | 4,736 | 243 | 4.60% |
| Mile 8 | 5,095 | 359 | 6.80% |
| Mile 9 | 5,316 | 221 | 4.18% |
| Mile 10 | 5,485 | 169 | 3.20% |
| Week | Bike Miles | Run Miles | Swim Miles | Basketball Hours |
| 1 (7/16 - 7/22) | 40 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 (7/23 - 7/29) | 25 | 2.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 (7/30 - 8/5) | ||||
| Total | 65 | 2.5 | 4 |
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Mt. Lemmon Ride 7.22.07 - Blown Tire
Exciting ride today. We planned to go up 8 miles from the base which is 3 further than I have ever gone. We got off to a late start and 1 guy had a flat on the approach to the mountain and the 4 of us didn't actually start climbing until 6:25. We missed a guy we were going to hook up with at the base but apparently he did the same ride on his own.
Knowing this was going to be further than past rides I went more slowly on the first couple of miles and I felt pretty comfortable throughout. This was the first time I've taken my new bike up the mountain and I loved it. The last bike only had 2 gear choices in the front and it was great having a whole new range on the 3rd (smallest) ring. I tried hard to stay off the easiest gear to keep that for 'the hard parts' but that ended up frankly being most of the way. I wound up stopping a little short of mile 8 at the Bug Trail parking lot. Like a donkey I missed getting out of my pedals and fell and got a booboo on my elbow. I am a dork.
Coming down was alot of fun until it wasn't. I started last and quickly caught up to the gang finally getting onto the big gear and really cranking along. The views descending were truly incredible and for some reason I had my first real 'oh sh**' moment coming around a curve and staring into an abyss of a canyon. It felt like I was a million miles up.
Chill and I set a pretty good pace and according to the little GPS machine we peaked at 40.7 mph until I hit a rock. Apparently going about 36 mph I hit something with my back tire and knocked a chunk out as you can see below.
click the tire for a blow up of the blow up
Having never blown a tire at speed before I instinctively grabbed both breaks too hard and then my front tube popped. I fishtailed a little but managed to get it under control and amazingly my heart rate barely moved. Once I got stopped all the adrenaline kinda left me with the shakes but luckily in the moment I basically stayed cool. One of the guys was kind enough to ride down and get a truck to come get me because there was no way to repair the tire. I was annoyed I didn't get to finish the ride, all that climbing and then to miss out on the run down the mountain sucks.
MotionBased GPS Data:
7/22/07 Mt. Lemon Ride (Climb)
7/22/07 Mt. Lemon Ride (Descent - Blown Tire)
Knowing this was going to be further than past rides I went more slowly on the first couple of miles and I felt pretty comfortable throughout. This was the first time I've taken my new bike up the mountain and I loved it. The last bike only had 2 gear choices in the front and it was great having a whole new range on the 3rd (smallest) ring. I tried hard to stay off the easiest gear to keep that for 'the hard parts' but that ended up frankly being most of the way. I wound up stopping a little short of mile 8 at the Bug Trail parking lot. Like a donkey I missed getting out of my pedals and fell and got a booboo on my elbow. I am a dork.
Coming down was alot of fun until it wasn't. I started last and quickly caught up to the gang finally getting onto the big gear and really cranking along. The views descending were truly incredible and for some reason I had my first real 'oh sh**' moment coming around a curve and staring into an abyss of a canyon. It felt like I was a million miles up.
Chill and I set a pretty good pace and according to the little GPS machine we peaked at 40.7 mph until I hit a rock. Apparently going about 36 mph I hit something with my back tire and knocked a chunk out as you can see below.
click the tire for a blow up of the blow upHaving never blown a tire at speed before I instinctively grabbed both breaks too hard and then my front tube popped. I fishtailed a little but managed to get it under control and amazingly my heart rate barely moved. Once I got stopped all the adrenaline kinda left me with the shakes but luckily in the moment I basically stayed cool. One of the guys was kind enough to ride down and get a truck to come get me because there was no way to repair the tire. I was annoyed I didn't get to finish the ride, all that climbing and then to miss out on the run down the mountain sucks.
MotionBased GPS Data:
7/22/07 Mt. Lemon Ride (Climb)
7/22/07 Mt. Lemon Ride (Descent - Blown Tire)
| Week | Bike Miles | Run Miles | Swim Miles | Basketball Hours |
| 1 (7/16 - 7/22) | 40 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 (7/23 - 7/29) | ||||
| Total | 40 | 2 |
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bike Gear
Let me start by saying I know close to nothing about bicycles. I just like riding. Recently some jerk broke into our workshop and stole my old bike along with a ton of tools. It was a fine bike, but now I don't miss it. With the insurance replacement money I bought a slightly used bike and alot of replacement kit.
First, I got the really very yellow KHS Flite 500. I have Northwind Hornet shoes for giant men which attach me to the bike via Speedplay Zero Pedals. I have a little bag that sits under the seat in which I carry 2 spare tubes, tire levers and 3 CO2 quick refill cartridges. There are 2 water bottles that I usually keep 50-50 with water and Gatorade. For data collection I am just about to get the Garmin 305 (link) w/ Cadence (link) and Bike Mount (link). For music I used to take our 30 GB Ipod and soft of velcro it to the handlebars but have lately been using the much smaller and easier to mount 1 GB Ipod shuffle. Laundry cycle notwithstanding I usually go in my school colors AZ Wildcats jersey. I carry my phone in the back jersey pocket and a wallet in the underseat bag. The blue Bell Helmet is a must and when recnetly shaved I wear an UnderArmor skull cap to keep the helmet from chafing my head. I don't have racing sunglasses per se but the blue Oakley Minute shades I have work pretty well.
It's alot of gear but I don't think it's too, too much.
First, I got the really very yellow KHS Flite 500. I have Northwind Hornet shoes for giant men which attach me to the bike via Speedplay Zero Pedals. I have a little bag that sits under the seat in which I carry 2 spare tubes, tire levers and 3 CO2 quick refill cartridges. There are 2 water bottles that I usually keep 50-50 with water and Gatorade. For data collection I am just about to get the Garmin 305 (link) w/ Cadence (link) and Bike Mount (link). For music I used to take our 30 GB Ipod and soft of velcro it to the handlebars but have lately been using the much smaller and easier to mount 1 GB Ipod shuffle. Laundry cycle notwithstanding I usually go in my school colors AZ Wildcats jersey. I carry my phone in the back jersey pocket and a wallet in the underseat bag. The blue Bell Helmet is a must and when recnetly shaved I wear an UnderArmor skull cap to keep the helmet from chafing my head. I don't have racing sunglasses per se but the blue Oakley Minute shades I have work pretty well.
It's alot of gear but I don't think it's too, too much.
Training Ride 7/17
Rode the Colossal Cave out and back (link) today with Chill and Big D. Great weather and a really nice ride. I didn't know the exact distance we were riding and set an arbitrary 1 hour goal for myself on the outbound leg. Finished in 1:01:01 so not bad considering we went about .6 miles past where we should have. I didn't keep track on the way back but its much faster being mostly downhill, we averaged 30 mph for a big chunk of it between Camino Loma Alta and where the road turns north out of Rincon Creek. Feeling like a tough guy I passed an old guy who got on Old Spanish Trail at Camino Loma Alta and pretended to be polite saying 'Good Morning' as I blew past him on the big downhill. Apperantly Chill did and said the exact same thing right behind me and it was all wonderful until he passed and totally dropped me on the hill coming out of Rincon Creek. I'm a total noob on the bike and days like this help me remember that.
The new Garmin 305 (link) w/ Cadence (link) and Bike Mount (link) arrives today so I'll be able to post some detailed maps with all the good data along for future rides along with a review of the 305.
The new Garmin 305 (link) w/ Cadence (link) and Bike Mount (link) arrives today so I'll be able to post some detailed maps with all the good data along for future rides along with a review of the 305.
| Week | Bike Miles | Run Miles | Swim Miles | Basketball Hours |
| 1 (7/16 - 7/22) | 28 | 2 | ||
| Total | 28 | 2 |
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