This post is only a year late!

It just occurred to me that i posted a 'teaser' post on here about some upcoming big news...well, that was over a year ago! I didn't remember to follow that post with the actual BIG NEWS.

Well, the news was that I decided to hop on my bike for a short, little, solo bike ride. And by a "short, little, solo ride", I mean just me and my bike going nearly 900 miles and 13 days cycling across the largest state in the continental US: Texas!

 While on the road, I kept a daily journal of all the things I saw and the people I met. Read all about it at this LINK.

I would very much welcome any comments or questions you have about the ride! I am planning (hopefully) on doing a similar ride in the future...perhaps next Summer/Fall.

Thanks for reading...please let me know who, if anyone, is still following this blog.

Jim

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/CXT

BIG NEWS COMING SOON!

..just a teaser post to let you know about a big upcoming event.....stay tuned!

A hint is in the picture below!

Please write back and say hello if you are still following this blog.

Jim

 

2 MS150's in 2 weeks!

I've had no updates on here for a while, but I've still been biking.

Two weeks ago I completed the Houston-to-Austin BP MS150. Most of the bad weather stayed away and we all had a great time at the overnight stop in La Grange and then woke up early on Sunday to cycle the remaining miles into Austin. We finished at the State Capital building. This ride had several different route options, I chose the 150 mile route.

This past weekend, I made the long road trip up to Frisco, TX (just north of Dallas) for the Sam's Club MS150. Saturday morning we started in Frisco and didn't stop until we found ourselves at the Texas Motor Speedway. On Sunday morning we took one lap around the speedway then took off toward the north and then looped back south to end in downtown Fort Worth at Sundance Square. Once again, we had great weather all weekend long. This ride (including the lap around the track) was 162 miles.

Both of the rides are fundraisers for the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Each rider is required to get donations for the MS Society in exchange for being a part of the ride. Unfortunately, I still have a few more dollars to go on my pledges. After the ride in Fort Worth one of my teammates challenged me to also complete the San Antonio MS 150 later in the fall in order to complete the Texas Trifecta of MS150's. It all depends on the fundraising! If I can get donations to help cure MS, I'll gladly do that ride as well! If you're feeling a bit generous (or if you just like making me take part in long, grueling 150+ mile rides), please donate: www.tinyurl.com/JimsSanAntonioMS150Ride

Yup, I'm still pedalling!

Sorry for having no updates for about 9-10 months. But I'm still biking. A few months ago I passed the "exactly 1 year since I started biking" milestone. The total number of miles on two wheels during that year was nearly exactly 1500! I expect to accumulate another 500-700 or so miles during the spring and early summer. Hopefully I'll find time to update this page when I do!

I've already signed up for the 2010 Houston MS150 bike ride as well as the 2010 Fort Worth MS150 ride. Both of these rides will be in the spring. If you'd like to donate to sponsor my ride, please click on the "SPONSOR MY RIDE" link on the right side of this page.

The Great Escape!

In spite of the threat of cold and rainy weather today, my neighbor and I woke up early and rode in a fundraiser bike ride called The Great Escape Bicycle Ride in Manvel, TX. This event is a fundraiser for the Brazoria County Sheriffs Office Reserves. As is typical for these kind of rides, there were several different ride distances to choose from: 14, 40, 52, 70 and 86 miles. Up until this point, my longest ride so far had been 62 miles, which occurred last weekend in Baytown. I figured another 24 miles wouldn't be too bad, so we took off on the 86 mile route.

The morning started out a bit chilly, but it wasn't long before we both realized that this was nearly a perfect day for riding. It wasn't too cold, very little wind, the rain stayed away and we had overcast clouds to keep the temperature from climbing too much...ahhh...PERFECT!

About five and a half hours after we hopped on our bikes, we found ourselves back at the car. A few miles from the finish line I heard a sudden popping noise from my rear tire. It sounded as though a wheel spoke had broken. However, after it happened, I didn't hear anything rattling around or grinding in the chain so I kept on cruising toward the finish line. Once I stopped, I looked back at the rim and noticed that it was severely out of round. Sure enough, a spoke had broken just a few miles from the finish line and the resulting unbalanced tension from the remaining spokes warped the rim! I bet the wheel would not have made it through the entire ride if the spoke would have instead, broken a few miles from the start. Lucky me!

The rain that had threatened to get us wet all morning started about 20 minutes after we finished the ride....Lucky me again!

Todays miles: 86, Total miles: 507.8

A One-Way Trip To Outer Space

Q: "Outer Space" is generally defined to start at what altitude?

This weekend I participated in the Gator Ride in Baytown, TX, a ride of about 1200 bikers, which is a fundraiser for the YMCA. The ride had two noteworthy features: First, within a mile or two of the starting line, we started the climb over the huge and beautiful Fred Hartman Bridge that crosses over the Houston Ship Channel (click the picture below for a very cool picture). Second, about 10 miles later, we hopped off of our bikes and took a short ferry ride on the Lynchberg Ferry.

Other than the cool bridge and ferry crossings (oh and let's not forget that we rode past the San Jacinto Monument), the first half of the ride was rather easy and very fast. The group that I was riding with averaged about 20-21 mph for most of the first 30 or so miles of the route. By the time that we had reached rest stop #3, we had approached the outskirts of the cool town of Crosby, TX.

At this point, the ride was going great, but then we turned back south/southeast to head to the finish line. By this time the wind had started to pick up (blowing at 20+ mph) and we were riding directly into it. Most of the last 20 miles of the ride were difficult not only because of the wind but also because I was peddling like crazy to keep up with a very good group of riders from our Johnson Space Center riding team, TMC (Team Mission Control). All of these riders are very good and fast riders, so I considered it quite an accomplisment that I was able to keep pace with them through the first 54 miles of the ride. I took a few more minutes than TMC did at the final rest stop, so I cruised the last 8 miles on in to the finish line by myself. Distance today: 62 miles, Total miles: 421.8 miles

A: It is generally accepted that Outer Space starts at an altitude of 62 miles (the same distance I rode today), and that altitude is called the Karman Line.

Biking Uphill....Both Ways!!

Even with some wind, rides of 30-40 miles at an average speed of 15 mph don't seem to present much challenge anymore....good for me! I now need to practice three things: 1) increased distance (rides in the 70-100 mile range), 2) rides on two consecutive days, 3) hills, hills and more hills. The MS150 ride will have plenty of all 3 of these challenges!

This past weekend, I figured I'd work on the last two items on the list. Saturday, I woke up and cruised about 38.5 miles in about 2.5 hours. Then, since the Houston area is as flat as ...well, you can make up your own analogy...I decided that I would bike back and forth over the Kemah bridge (see the picture below) on Sunday morning. The bridge has a cloverleaf-like intersection at each end, so you can start biking at one end of the bridge, and after about 2 miles of pedaling up the bridge, down the otherside and then up it again from the other side, you're back where you started without having to ever stop. A lot of runners and bikers in the area use this bridge as 'hill training'. Although there is lots of car traffic on the 4-lane highway bridge, fortunately, the shoulders are very wide, so it's a great place to ride and run.

Since I've never biked hills much since I've started training, I didn't know how difficult this may be. I had planned on only 3 round trips on the bridge. However, after the 3rd circuit, I felt like doing it again! I wasn't as tired as I thought I would have been, but later in the day, my legs knew that they had been pedaling up hill for the first time! I look forward to riding this bridge each weekend between now the MS150.

Total distance for the weekend: 46.3 miles. Total distance since I started: 359.8 miles

One Tenth of the Daytona 500!

Today I participated in my second organized group ride. It was the Ride To The Rescue bike ride starting at Tom Bass Park on the southern edge of Houston. I didn't get the exact count, but there were several hundred riders participating in todays ride. The ride was a fundraiser for area animal rescue groups. There were three routes to choose from: 30 miles, 50.1 miles and 63 miles. My neighbor and I chose the 50 mile route. Until today, my longest ride had been 35 miles, so I was anxious to see how I would handle the increased distance. As it turns out, I did just fine! In fact, my average speed for the 50 mile ride (15.0 mph) was faster than the average speed for the 35 mile ride (12.7 mph) from 2 weeks ago! I completed the 50 miles (one tenth of the distance of the upcoming Daytona 500) with an average speed of approximately one tenth of the average speed of last years Daytona 500 winner (152 mph). Watch out Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon...here I come!

After todays ride, my tally of total miles on two wheels since I started this adventure is: 313.5 miles.

35 Miles - Attempt Number 2

Well, I decided to try the same route that I attempted last weekend. However, my bike is now outfitted with a spare inner tube and an air pump. Fortunately, I didn't need either of those today. In spite of a very strong 20 mph wind from the north, I managed to finish the route after a fun ride of 2 hours and 45 minutes. Click the map below for the route!

32.3 Miles And A Nice Walk!

Q: Whats the origin of the word "tire"?

I started out this morning with a plan of riding 35 miles, my longest ride so far. This didn't work out quite as planned, but I still did manage to ride longer than my previous best of 20 miles. The weather was a bit chilly with some wind, but all considered, it was a nice, relatively easy ride....But then, less than 3 miles from the finish, I heard a POP and my otherwise smooth-riding bike became noticably not-so-smooth! My first flat tire! That's OK, by this time, the temperature had warmed up a bit....perfect walking weather!

A: The earliest tires were strips of metal placed around wooden, spoked wheels. The metal was heated and wrapped around the wheel and then both ends of the strip were fastened together. As the metal strip cooled, it would shrink and tighten around the wheel, serving the purpose of "tieing" the wooden spokes into the wooden wheel. In spite of metal tires not surviving the ever-changing progress of technology, the original name of tire did surive the test of time.

Auld Lang Syne! It's 2009!

Q: January 1st has not always been the date recognized as New Year's Day. What was the original date?

Ok, so I've done my part to begin a trend of staying fit in the new year...but just barely so! I biked just a short 5.4 miles today. I will likely have less time for riding during the next 6 weeks due to my involvement in First Robotics. However, I'll get in as many rides as possible and I'll let all of you know about it right here on this page. So check back here when you can!

A: The old Roman Calendar recognized March 15th to be the beginning of the year. Seems a bit strange until you realize that March 15th signifies the time of year when warmth is returning, trees are starting to turn green again and farmers would soon be planting new crops. So that seems like as good a time as any to recognize the birth of a new year! However, that all changed in the year 153 BC, when New Year's Day was officially moved to January 1st. For more weird calendar trivia, check out the entry for October 6th at one of my other webpages HistoryByTheDay.com.

Queueing Q&A

Q: How many years during the average lifetime does a person spend standing in line or waiting?

I had to buy new tires for my vehicle today. This job usually requires a 2-3 hour BORING stay in the waiting room as the mechanics do their magic. Instead of reading a book or newspaper while sitting around with other similarly bored customers, I decided this would be a great opportunity to sneak in another bike ride; afterall, the weather was perfect! After 19.4 miles of riding, I pedaled into the parking lot of the shop just as my vehicle was being backed out of the garage...perfect timing!! As I was paying for my new tires, I noticed several customers, bored as could be, thumbing through the the kinds of magazines that litter waiting rooms everywhere! It felt good knowing that I had managed to find a way to make good use of time that would otherwise be wasted!

A: According to this webpage, the average person spends 3 years of their life waiting in various lines.

Snow In Houston!!

Ok, ok, so I'm violating my self-imposed rule of ONLY making entries in this blog that are related to biking and me preparing for the 2009 MS150. The reason for this exception is because of the rarity of snow in Houston. The last time it snowed here was Christmas Eve, 2004. The time before that was........who knows!?!?!? Well anyway, here we are on December 10th, 2008 and it's snowing...and snowing rather steadily and intensely (at least for Houston). It started snowing about 6pm tonight and its still snowing 6 hours later!

I'm currently brainstorming about ways that I can mount a snowplow on the front of my bike so I can put in another 30 or so miles this weekend!

Enjoy the pictures of a rare Houstonian Snowfall!

Here's a strange sight - A snow-covered banana tree!

Same Route - But MUCH quicker!

I decided to spend my Sunday morning cruising 19.6 miles (the same route I rode on November 15th...see map below). This is my first long ride with my new bike. I finished the route a full hour quicker than I did with my old bike! Wow! Way to go, me...and my new Felt Z90 bike! I'm now looking forward to more organized rides like the "Bike the Bend for Literacy" ride I participated in a few weeks ago in Rosenberg, TX! During that ride, I was among the very few out of approximately 400 riders who were riding mountain bikes. Needless to say, I got passed by nearly everyone. But with my road bike, hopefully I'll be the one doing the passing and yelling out "Passing on the left!"

Zoom-Zoom!!!

In spite of the reference to a television commercial in the title of this entry, my new Felt Z90 bike is not a Mazda! However, it sure is FAST! I didn't have much time on Sunday, but I did get a chance to get out and take my new bike for a spin. It was a very windy day, but in spite of significant wind, I was able to nearly double my speed compared to my mountain bike! I only had time for a ride of just under 7 miles along Highway 96 (from highway 146 to Louisiana Ave. and back), but WOW, what a difference it makes to be riding a real road bike!

Now, that I have my road bike and I'm well on my way to being ready for the LONG bike ride in the Spring, I guess this is as good a time as any to encourage all of you to donate a few dollars to help cure Multiple Sclerosis. At the top right of this page, you'll see a link that says "Click Here To Donate And Sponsor My Ride in the MS150". All of the victims of the nasty disease would be very grateful for any donations that you make....and so would I!

A Yellow Bike On Black Friday

After researching several different road and hybrid bikes during the past few weeks, I finally went and test rode several of them today after work! I settled on a new 2007 Felt Z90. After riding several, this one stuck out as feeling the most comfortable! Also, this was the last of the 2007 models that they had in the store, therefore, it was on sale so they could make room for the newer models. Here's a picture of the model that I bought! Hopefully, I'll get some time this weekend to give it a spin! My old mountain bike will finally get to take well-deserved vacation!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!

Trivia: On average, how much turkey meat is consumed by each American per year?

To make up for the pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes that I'll have later this afternoon, I decided to go for a bike ride this morning. I left the house about 8:20 and finished my favorite 10.0 mile route in about 62 minutes. Click on the map shown in the 11/11/08 entry below for a picture of the route I took.

Clicking a few buttons on the calculator tells me that I've cruised a total of 112.4 miles since I started on October 21!

Well, I better wrap up the entry for today. Afterall, like all other Americans, I have 18.7 pounds of turkey to eat during the next 12 months...and I'm going to get a head start today!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I Biked The Bend For Literacy!

TRIVIA QUESTION: What percentage of Americans are 'functionally illiterate', meaning that they read below a 5th grade level?

I participated in my first official group ride over the weekend. It was in Rosenberg, TX in Fort Bend County (about 45 miles straight west of where I live). The ride was called "Bike The Bend For Literacy." The ride was an official training ride for the MS150 and lots of money (over $30,000) was raised for the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County. There were about 400 riders in the event. Three different ride distances were available: 19 miles, 32 miles and 59 miles. I joined the 19 mile ride since I don't yet have my road bike. It may not sound like much, but 19 miles on an old inefficient mountain bike with solid rubber tires is quite a work out. As mentioned below, I rode about 20 miles last weekend as well. When I started this adventure a little over a month ago, I told myself that when I get up to doing 2-3 20 miles rides with my old bike, then I'd buy a road bike. I expected that I'd be ready for that in mid-to-late December. Well, by that measure, I'm about a month ahead of schedule. I'm definitely looking forward to getting the new bike within the next week or two.

The picture shows the route for the Bike The Bend For Literacy ride. Click it for a larger view!

ANSWER: According to survey results on www.ftbendliteracy.org, 21-23% of Americans are functionally illiterate. However, if we all support groups like the Literacy Council of Fort Bend County that number can be much lower!

20 More Miles!

Today, I decided to try a ride of nearly 20 miles. It was rather windy, but so it goes with living along the gulf coast! Here's a map of the route. I drove about a mile to the green arrow circle and started my ride there. The numbers along the red line count off the miles during the ride. Total distance: 19.6 miles (click the image for a larger view). A few more rides like this and it'll be time to upgrade to a road bike and give my mountain bike a rest! Total distance since I started this adventure about a month ago: 79.6 miles.

Veterans Day Ride - 11/11/08

Trivia: who remembers the origin of the Veterans Day Holiday?

I had the day off work on Tuesday (11/11/08 - Veterans Day), so I decided to try to dodge the rain drops and go for a ride. I went on a similar route (but slightly shorter) to my ride from 2 days earlier. 10 miles along highway 96 from 146 to highway 3 and back again. This time the wind was stronger than Sunday but from the opposite direction. Here's a map of the ride. Nearly exactly 10 miles.

I may not get any riding in this weekend. I may be off to Florida to watch space shuttle Endeavor blast off. There is a chance that rain may delay the launch, so we may not go.

And now, a bit about the trivia question. Many of the old-timers may remember that November 11th used to be called Armistice Day. After World War II, the holiday became known as Veterans Day in the U.S. and Remembrance Day to those people living in the British Commonwealth and National Day to those living in Poland. So what is the origin of Veterans Day/Armistice Day? November 11th, commemorates the armistice signed between Germany and the Allies to end the fighting on the Western Front of WWI. In spite of the agreement, some hostilities continued in Russia and southwestern Asia for a little while afterwards. The armistice, which effectively ended the first World War, was signed at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918....now you know!