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

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!

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!

Got My Kicks on Route 96

Friday night, I took a small cruise around my neighborhood (about 1.7 miles) and then took a break on saturday knowing that I'd be pedaling like crazy the next morning for my longest ride so far!

So, Sunday morning I put my bike in the back of my jeep and drove a few miles to a convenient starting location just north of the intersection of highway 146 and highway 96.

My plan was to ride the entire length of highway 96 from 146 to interstate 45 and then back again! The one-way trip is 6.4 miles. So, for those of you who who flunked 2nd grade math (you know who you are), that is 12.8 miles round trip. The outbound trip went great. It was easy and relaxing and very little traffic. I finished it in just under 35 minutes. The return trip was a bit harder as it was against the wind. That portion of the trip took about 50 minutes (including 3 1-2 minutes stops for water). So 85 minutes of riding and a distance of 12.8 miles. Thats an average of just over 9 mph. During the outbound trip, I averaged just under 12 mph but the wind on the return trip slowed me down significantly. The lesson learned for the day...the wind doesn't blow! It sucks! :-)

Also, I just added up all the miles that I've ridden so far since starting on October 21. According to my log book, I'm at exactly 50 miles! Way to go, me!

Here's a map of the route for 11/09/08. I really liked this route. It's close to home and most of the route has big, wide shoulders to ride on. There are not many stop lights and not much traffic early in the morning. I have a feeling I'll be riding highway 96 alot during the next several months. Also, it has one big tall overpass along the route, which will provide me with good practice at climing hills. I'll need that! The race from Houston to Austin will have tons of climbing to do as I cruise through the Texas Hill Country.

The MS150 - First Entry!

My First Entry...hmmm. That phrase has two meanings in this case. On one hand, it represents that this is my first real blog entry about ANYTHING! On the other hand it also signifies my first entry into a bike race....ever! I'm going to ride the MS150 next spring. The MS150 is a fundraiser/bike ride (not actually a race really) from the Houston area to Austin to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation. Its approximately 150 miles broken up into two days of riding. I think that there are 3 different bike rides/fundraisers in Texas that go by the name "MS150". One is, of course, the ride from Houston to Austin. Another is from Frisco, TX to Dallas, and the third is from Corpus Christi to San Antonio. There may be others throughout the country, but I'll leave that as "exercise for the reader", as they used to say in all of my college textbooks!

I've been riding my old, inefficient mountain bike (I bought it nearly 14 years ago while in college at Texas Tech) now for about 2 weeks just to see if I actually had a reasonable chance to finish the event. I've been riding atleast a mile or two each night since then.....and the verdict is in...I think I can...I think I can...I think I can! My old decrepit knees seem to be much much more friendly toward biking than I expected.....running, jogging, playing basketball....not so much. But biking...yeh, I think this can work! I've pedaled approximately 32 miles during the past two week already! This weekend (11/09/08), I'm planning on a 12-15 mile ride Sunday morning! wish me luck!